List of kings of the Picts

List of kings of the Picts

Text reading Rex Pictorum in MS Rawlinson B 489 (Annals of Ulster)

The list of kings of the Picts is based on the Pictish Chronicle king lists. These are late documents and do not record the dates when the kings reigned. The various surviving lists disagree in places as to the names of kings, and the lengths of their reigns. A large portion of the lists, not reproduced here, belongs with the Caledonian or Irish mythology. The latter parts of the lists can largely be reconciled with other sources.

Pictish kings

Pictish kings ruled in northern and eastern Scotland. In 843 tradition records the replacement of the Pictish kingdom by the Kingdom of Alba, although the Irish annals continue to use Picts and Fortriu for half a century after 843. The king lists are thought to have been compiled in the early 8th century, probably by 724, placing them in the reigns of the sons of Der-Ilei, Bridei and Nechtan.^[1]

Irish annals (the Annals of Ulster, Annals of Innisfallen) refer to some kings as king of Fortriu or king of Alba. The kings listed are thought to represent overkings of the Picts, at least from the time of Bridei son of Maelchon onwards. In addition to these overkings, many less powerful subject kings existed, of whom only a very few are known from the historical record.

Mythical kings of the Picts are listed in the Lebor Bretnach's account of the origins of the Cruithne. The list begins with Cruithne son of Cing, who is reported to be "father of the Picts". The account of the Pictish Chronicle then splits into four lists of names:

• The first is a list of the sons of Cruithne;
• The second is a list of early kings with no distinguishing information other than dates;
• The third is another list of early kings with neither stories nor dates, all of whom have two names that begin with "Brude". It is possible that "Brude" is an ancient title for "king" from another source, which was misinterpreted as a name by the compiler (cf. Skene p.cv);
• The fourth is a list of later kings. The first of these to be attested in an independent source is Galam Cennalath.

The dates given here are drawn from early sources unless specifically noted otherwise. The relationships between kings are less than certain and rely on modern readings of the sources.

Names

Orthography is problematic. Cinioch, Ciniod and Cináed all represent ancestors of the modern Anglicised name Kenneth. Pictish "uu", sometimes printed as "w", corresponds with Gaelic "f", so that Uuredach is the Gaelic Feredach and Uurguist the Gaelic Fergus, or perhaps Forgus. As the Dupplin Cross inscription shows, the idea that Irish sources Gaelicised Pictish names may not be entirely accurate.

Kings of the Picts

Colouring indicates groups of kings presumed to be related.

Early kings

Early historical kings

The first king who appears in multiple early sources is Bridei son of Maelchon, and kings from the later 6th century onwards may be considered historical as their deaths are generally reported in Irish sources.

Later historical kings

Kings of the Picts 839–848 (not successively)

The deaths of Eógan and Bran appear to have led to a large number of competitors for the throne of Pictland.

Kings of the Picts traditionally counted as King of Scots

Cináed mac Ailpín (Kenneth MacAlpin in English) defeated the rival kings, winning out by around 845–848. He is traditionally considered the first "King of Scots", or of "Picts and Scots", allegedly having conquered the Picts as a Gael, which is turning history back to front. As most modern scholars point out, he was actually "King of Picts", and the terms "King of Alba" and the even later "King of Scots" were not used until several generations after him.^{[citation needed]}

King of Alba

See also

• Siol Alpin
• Origins of the Kingdom of Alba
• List of Kings of Dál Riata
• List of Kings of Strathclyde

Further reading

• James E. Fraser, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland Vol. 1, From Caledonia to Pictland, Edinburgh University Press (2009) ISBN 978-0-7486-1232-1
• Alex Woolf, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland Vol. 2, From Pictland to Alba, Edinburgh University Press, (2007) ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5

References

1. Woolf, "Pictish matriliny reconsidered", p. 153.
2. Other names are only given where they differ significantly. See also Names above
3. Salway, Peter. "Kings of Pictland (Caledonia)". 2014. The History Files. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
4. Bannerman, pp. 92–94, identifies this Gartnait with Gartnait son of Áedán mac Gabráin, founder of the "genus Gartnait" of Skye.
5. Woolf, "Pictish matriliny reconsidered, pp. 160–161, suggests has been suggested that "grandson of Uerb" should be read son of Uerb. Alternatively, it has been suggested that Uerb may represent a legendary apical ancestor such as the Fer map Con in the ancestry of Run map Artgal in the Harleian genealogies. The sons of Uuid are presumed to be related.
6. For the identification as a son of Cano, grandson of Áedán mac Gabráin, see Bannerman, pp. 92–93.
7. Another list names Nechtan son of Fochle.
8. Dumville, David. Annales Cambriae, AD 682-954, Texts A-C in Parallel (PDF). Department of Anglo-Saxon Norse and Celic, University of Cambridge. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
9. Previously thought to have been an Irish gaelicisation, now known to be an authentic form of his name found on the Dupplin Cross.
10. Grandson or grandnephew of Onuist per Broun, "Pictish kings", son of Fergus mac Echdach in older works.
11. Dumville, David. Annales Cambriae, AD 682-954, Texts A-C in Parallel (PDF). Department of Anglo-Saxon Norse and Celic, University of Cambridge. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 30 June 2024.

Sources

For primary sources, see External links below

• Adomnán, Life of St Columba, tr. & ed. Richard Sharpe. Penguin, London, 1995. ISBN 0-14-044462-9
• Anderson, Alan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History A.D. 500–1286, vol. 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. ISBN 1-871615-03-8
• Bannerman, John, Studies in the History of Dalriada. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1974. ISBN 0-7011-2040-1
• Bannerman, John. "The Scottish Takeover of Pictland and the relics of Columba" in Dauvit Broun and Thomas Owen Clancy (eds.) Spes Scotorum: Saint Columba, Iona and Scotland. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1999. ISBN 0-567-08682-8
• Broun, Dauvit, "Dunkeld and the origin of Scottish identity" in Broun & Clancy (1999).
• Broun, Dauvit, "Pictish Kings 761–839: Integration with Dál Riata or Separate Development" in Sally M. Foster (ed.), The St Andrews Sarcophagus: A Pictish masterpiece and its international connections. Four Courts, Dublin, 1998. ISBN 1-85182-414-6
• Clancy, Thomas Owen, "Caustantín son of Fergus (Uurgust)" in M. Lynch (ed.) The Oxford Companion to Scottish History. Oxford & New York: Oxford UP, 2002. ISBN 0-19-211696-7
• Herbert, Máire, "Ri Éirenn, Ri Alban: kingship and identity in the ninth and tenth centuries" in Simon Taylor (ed.), Kings, clerics and chronicles in Scotland 500–1297. Four Courts, Dublin, 2000. ISBN 1-85182-516-9
• Skene, William F. Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots, and other Early Memorials of Scottish History. Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House, 1867.
• Smyth, Alfred P. Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000. Reprinted, Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1998. ISBN 0-7486-0100-7
• Woolf, Alex, "Pictish matriliny reconsidered" in The Innes Review, Volume XLIV, Number 2 (Autumn 1998). ISSN 0020-157X
• Woolf, Alex, "Ungus (Onuist), son of Uurgust" in M. Lynch (2002).

External links

• Norway book: "Jomsvikingslaget i oppklarende lys", informs the Pictish kings escaped to the coast of Norway, instead of being murdered at Scone.
• CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork.
  • The Corpus of Electronic Texts includes the Annals of Ulster, Tigernach, the Four Masters and Innisfallen, the Chronicon Scotorum, the Lebor Bretnach (which includes the Duan Albanach), Genealogies, and various Saints' Lives. Most are translated into English, or translations are in progress.
• Annals of Clonmacnoise at Cornell.
• Linguistic analysis of legendary kings.