Ancient Alba

A few months ago, I published a book about King Arthur called 'Arthur, Prince of Mar'. I argued that King Arthur was a king of the Picts who fought alongside the native Britons against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century AD. I had good reason to believe that this was the case. In an old Welsh genealogy called the Descent of the Men of the North, there is a famous king called Arthwys son of Mar who lived during the 5th century. I identified Mar as the province of Mar in Aberdeenshire. Furthermore, the French monk, Lambert of St Omer explained in the early 12th century that King Arthur was a ‘Dux Pictorum’, a leader of the Picts. Any Arthurian enthusiast will be familiar with the term ‘Dux Bellorum’, which means leader of battles. A Welsh monk called Nennius explained in the 9th century that King Arthur was a Dux Bellorum who fought 12 battles against the Anglo-Saxons in his famous work, Historia Brittonum. The Picts were the native tribes of Scotland who united with the Gaels in...

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...

In Strathspey, close to the town of Grantown-on-Spey, there are two identical Class I Pictish stones. They date to around the 5 th /6 th centuries. They are located on the north bank of the River Spey. One is located at Inverallan and the other is located further down the river at Finlarig. Finlarig is actually located slightly north of the River Spey. The original location of the stone was at Ballintomb farm at the confluence of the River Spey and River Dulnain. The symbols include the crescent moon and V rod above the rectangle and Z rod. I’m not aware of any other identical stones which are so close to each other. This suggests they could be boundary stones. They could be marking the land of a local chief. There is an old hillfort at Lower Craggan just down the river from Inverallan. However, very little is known about it. The rectangle and Z rod is a common symbol in the area. There are two examples at Craigellachie and another close to Elgin. See the maps below for more info. W...

The Pictish beastie is one of the most iconic Pictish symbols. But what does it represent? It may be a Kelpie (a water horse of Scottish folklore), a dolphin, an elephant, a horse or a mythical creature. It even looks like a duck billed platypus. However, they are only found in Australia. The Kelpie was a water horse which lived in the rivers, streams and lochs. It would take the form of a human being and lure its victims into the water. However, I don’t think the Pictish beastie represents a Kelpie. It’s positioning on many of the Pictish stones suggests it’s a political or religious symbol. It often appears next to symbols like the double disc and Z rod and the crescent moon and V rod. I thought it looked like a Roman horse brooch. The Picts may have come across these through trade or plunder when raiding Britannia.  Roman horse brooch   It may also be a hybrid mythical creature worshipped by the Picts. Perhaps a horse and a dolphin? It was common for many cultures to create...

The Class II Pictish stone at Dyce On the southern bank of the River Don in Aberdeenshire, at a place called Dyce, there are two Pictish stones. They are found in the ruined chapel of St Fergus. One of the stones is a Class I stone dated to around the 5 th /6 th centuries, whereas the other is a Class II stone dated to around the 7 th /8 th centuries. The Class I stone includes two symbols - a Pictish beastie and a double disc and Z rod. The Class II stone includes a Christian cross, four symbols and Ogham script on the side of the stone. This post will focus on the Class II stone. The stone probably commemorates two individuals as there are two symbol pairs – the crescent moon and V rod and a triple disc and the double disc and Z rod and mirror case. The Ogham script reads - EOTTASSARRHETODDEDDOTS MAQQ ROGODDADD Like the Ogham script on the Brandsbutt stone, there are very few interpretations as to what this means. It clearly refers to an individual who is the son of Rogodadd....

www.canmore.org.uk In the small town of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, there is a Pictish symbol stone with two symbols and some Ogham script on the left hand side of the stone. The stone is known as the ‘Brandsbutt stone’. The symbols include a crescent moon and V rod and a snake and Z rod. Ogham stones are mainly found in Ireland. However, there are a few in Wales and Scotland, mainly in Argyll and the north east. This suggests there was some level of Irish migration to these areas. The Ogham inscriptions usually include a personal name or two personal names e.g. X son of Y. However, the Ogham script on the Brandsbutt stone is unusual, to say the least. This, and other Ogham inscriptions on Pictish stones, have led people to believe that the Picts may have spoken some kind of pre Indo-European language. The Ogham script reads – IRATADDOARENS This may be a Pictish name. However, some scholars have suggested that ‘Ira’ is Old Breton for ‘here lies’. The Picts may have had a similar wo...