Ancient Alba

The Pictish stone at Aberlemno. In 685AD, the Picts, led by King Bridei Mac Beli defeated an army of Northumbrian Angles at the battle of Dunnichen. The Northumbrian king, Ecgfrith, was killed in the battle. The battle of Dunnichen secured the independence of Pictland for the next 200 years or so and paved the way for the kingdom of Alba. The battle was recorded in a number of sources including Bede's history of the English people, Nennius' Historia Brittonum, the Anglo-Saxon chronicles and the Irish annals. According to Bede, "The very next year (685AD), that same king (Ecgfrith), rashly leading his army to ravage the province of the Picts, much against the advice of his friends, and particularly of Cuthbert, of blessed memory, who had been lately ordained his bishop, the enemy made show as if they fled, and the king was drawn into the straits of inaccessible mountains, and slain with the greatest part of his forces, on the 20th of May, in the fortieth year of his age, an...

In 843AD, Kenneth Mac Alpin united Dalriada and Pictland, establishing the kingdom of Alba. Kenneth Mac Alpin was a king of Dalriada who claimed the Pictish kingship through his mother, who was a Pictish princess. However, there is very little information as to how this actually took place. It was a chaotic time in the history of Alba and Scotland. The Vikings were raiding Dalriada and Pictland. In 839AD, there was a famous battle where the Gaels and the Picts were defeated by the Vikings. A Pictish king and his brother and a king of Dalriada were killed in the battle. According to the Annals of Ulster, “The heathens won a battle against the men of Fortriu, and Eóganán son of Aengus, Bran son of Óengus, Aed son of Boanta, and others almost innumerable fell there.” This led to a vacuum of power in Pictland. The Pictish king, Uurad, succeeded Eoganan and ruled for 3 years. He was followed by his son, Bridei, who ruled for only one year. Bridei was followed by 3 other kings who all ru...