Scottish Kings: Indulf, Dub mac Maíl Coluim

INDULF (954 - 962 AD)
Ildulb mac Causantín, anglicised as Indulf, nicknamed An Ionsaighthigh, "the Aggressor" (born c. 910 - died 962) was king of Scots from 954. He was the son of Constantine II (Causantín mac Áeda); his mother may have been a daughter of Earl Eadulf I of Bernicia, who was an exile in Scotland. John of Fordun and others supposed that Indulf had been king of Strathclyde in the reign of his predecessor, based on their understanding that the kingdom of Strathclyde had become a part of the kingdom of Alba in the 940s. This, however, is no longer accepted.

King Indulf

The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says: "In his time oppidum Eden", usually identified as Edinburgh, "was evacuated, and abandoned to the Scots until the present day." This has been read as indicating that Lothian or some large part of it, fell to Indulf at this time. However, the conquest of Lothian is likely to have been a process rather than a single event, and the frontier between the lands of the kings of Alba and Bernicia may have lain south and east of Edinburgh many years before Indulf's reign.

Indulf's death is reported by the Chronicon Scotorum in 962, the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba adding that he was killed fighting Vikings near Cullen, at the Battle of Bauds. The Prophecy of Berchán, however, claims that he died "in the house of the same holy apostle, where his father [died]", that is at the céli dé monastery of St Andrews. He was buried on Iona. Indulf was succeeded by Dub (Dub mac Maíl Coluim), son of his predecessor. His sons Cuilén and Amlaíb were later kings. Eochaid, a third son, was killed with Cuilén by the men of Strathclyde in 971.
954 - Indulf captures Edinburgh from Northumbria.

DUB KING OF SCOTLAND 962 - 967 AD
Dub mac Maíl Coluim (Modern Gaelic: Dubh mac Mhaoil Chaluim), sometimes anglicised as Duff MacMalcolm, called Dén, "the Vehement" and Niger, "the Black" (born c. 928 - died 967) was king of Alba. He was son of Malcolm I (Máel Coluim mac Domnaill) and succeeded to the throne when Indulf (Ildulb mac Causantín) was killed in 962.

The history and legends of Scotland confirm the existence of "purely Black people." We see one of them in the person of Kenneth the Niger. During the tenth century Kenneth the Niger ruled over three provinces in the Scottish Highlands.

The archeologist and writer David McRitchie declared that the Moors dominated Scotland as late as the time of the Saxon Kings: He stated with scholarly authority: So late as the tenth century three of these provinces [of Scotland] were wholly black and the supreme ruler of these became for a time the paramount king of transmarine Scotland.

We see one of the black people ­- the Moors of the Romans - in the person of a King of Alban of the tenth century. History knows him as Kenneth, sometimes as Dubh and as Niger. We know as a historic fact that a Niger Val Dubh has lived and reigned over certain black divisions of our islands and probably white divisions also, and that a race known as the "Sons of the Black" succeeded him in history.

While later chroniclers such as John of Fordun supplied a great deal of information on Dub's life and reign, including tales of witchcraft and treason, almost all of them are rejected by modern historians. There are very few sources for the reign of Dub, of which the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba and a single entry in the Annals of Ulster are the closest to contemporary.

The Chronicle records that during Dub's reign bishop Fothach, most likely bishop of St Andrews or of Dunkeld, died. The remaining report is of a battle between Dub and Cuilén, son of king Ildulb. Dub won the battle, fought "upon the ridge of Crup", in which Duchad, abbot of Dunkeld, sometimes supposed to be an ancestor of Crínán of Dunkeld, and Dubdon, the mormaer of Atholl, died.

The various accounts differ on what happened afterwards. The Chronicle claims that Dub was driven out of the kingdom. The Latin material interpolated in Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Cronykl states that he was murdered at Forres, and links this to an eclipse of the sun which can be dated to 20 July 966. The Annals of Ulster report only: "Dub mac Maíl Coluim, king of Alba, was killed by the Scots themselves"; the usual way of reporting a death in internal strife, and place the death in 967. It has been suggested that Sueno's Stone, near Forres, may be a monument to Dub, erected by his brother Kenneth II (Cináed mac Maíl Coluim).

It is presumed that Dub was killed or driven out by Cuilén, who became king after Dub's death, or by his supporters. It is related that his body was hidden under the bridge of Kinloss, and the sun did not shine till it was found and buried. An eclipse on 10 July 967 may have originated or confirmed this story. Dub left at least one son, Kenneth III (Cináed mac Dub). Although his descendants did not compete successfully for the kingship of Alba after Cináed was killed in 1005, they did hold the mormaerdom of Fife. The MacDuib (or MacDuff) held the mormaerdom, and later earldom, until 1371.

Scottish King: Malcolm I

MALCOLM I (943 - 954 AD)
943 - Malcolm I becomes king: Máel Coluim mac Domnaill (anglicised Malcolm I) (c. 895–954) was king of Scots (before 943 – 954), becoming king when his cousin Causantín mac Áeda abdicated to become a monk. He was the son of Domnall mac Causantín. Since his father was known to have died in the year 900, Malcolm must have been born no later than 901. By the 940s, he was no longer a young man, and may have become impatient in awaiting the throne. Willingly or not—the 11th-century Prophecy of Berchán, a verse history in the form of a supposed prophecy, states that it was not a voluntary decision that Constantine II abdicated in 943 and entered a monastery, leaving the kingdom to Malcolm. Seven years later, the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says:

Malcolm I

[Malcolm I] plundered the English as far as the River Tees, and he seized a multitude of people and many herds of cattle: and the Scots called this the raid of Albidosorum, that is, Nainndisi. But others say that Constantine made this raid, asking of the king, Malcolm, that the kingship should be given to him for a week's time, so that he could visit the English. In fact, it was Malcolm who made the raid, but Constantine incited him, as I have said. Woolf suggests that the association of Constantine with the raid is a late addition, one derived from a now-lost saga or poem. He died in the shield wall next to his men.

In 945, Edmund I of England, having expelled Amlaíb Cuaran (Olaf Sihtricsson) from Northumbria, devastated Cumbria and blinded two sons of Domnall mac Eógain, king of Strathclyde. It is said that he then "let" or "commended" Strathclyde to Máel Coluim in return for an alliance. What is to be understood by "let" or "commended" is unclear, but it may well mean that Máel Coluim had been the overlord of Strathclyde and that Edmund recognised this while taking lands in southern Cumbria for himself. The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says that Máel Coluim took an army into Moray "and slew Cellach". Cellach is not named in the surviving genealogies of the rulers of Moray, and his identity is unknown.

King Edmund

Máel Coluim appears to have kept his agreement with the late English king, which may have been renewed with the new king, Edmund having been murdered in 946 and succeeded by his brother Edred. Eric Bloodaxe took York in 948, before being driven out by Edred, and when Amlaíb Cuaran again took York in 949–950, Máel Coluim raided Northumbria as far south as the Tees taking "a multitude of people and many herds of cattle" according to the Chronicle. The Annals of Ulster for 952 report a battle between "the men of Alba and the Britons [of Strathclyde] and the English" against the foreigners, i.e. the Northmen or the Norse-Gaels.

This battle is not reported by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and it is unclear whether it should be related to the expulsion of Amlaíb Cuaran from York or the return of Eric Bloodaxe. The Annals of Ulster report that Máel Coluim was killed in 954. Other sources place this most probably in the Mearns, either at Fetteresso following the Chronicle, or at Dunnottar following the Prophecy of Berchán. He was buried on Iona. Máel Coluim's sons Dub and Cináed were later kings.
954 - Malcolm I killed by men of Moray

Scottish Kings: Donald II, Constantine II

DONALD II (889 - 900 AD)
Domnall mac Causantín (Modern Gaelic: Dòmhnall mac Chòiseim), anglicised as Donald II (born c. 860 - died 900) was King of the Picts or King of Scotland (Alba) in the late 9th century. He was the son of Constantine I (Causantín mac Cináeda). Donald is given the epithet Dásachtach, "the Madman", by the Prophecy of Berchán. Donald became king on the death or deposition of Giric (Giric mac Dúngail), the date of which is not certainly known but usually placed in 889. The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba reports:

Donald II

Doniualdus son of Constantini held the kingdom for 11 years [889–900]. The Northmen wasted Pictland at this time. In his reign a battle occurred between Danes and Scots at Innisibsolian where the Scots had victory. He was killed at Opidum Fother [modern Dunnottar] by the Gentiles. It has been suggested that the attack on Dunnottar, rather than being a small raid by a handful of pirates, may be associated with the ravaging of Scotland attributed to Harald Fairhair in the Heimskringla. The Prophecy of Berchán places Donald's death at Dunnottar, but appears to attribute it to Gaels rather than Norsemen; other sources report he died at Forres.

Donald's death is dated to 900 by the Annals of Ulster and the Chronicon Scotorum, where he is called king of Alba, rather than king of the Picts. He was buried on Iona. The change from king of the Picts to king of Alba is seen as indicating a step towards the kingdom of the Scots, but historians, while divided as to when this change should be placed, do not generally attribute it to Donald in view of his epithet. The consensus view is that the key changes occurred in the reign of Constantine II (Causantín mac Áeda), but the reign of Giric has also been proposed.

The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba has Donald succeeded by his cousin Constantine II. Donald's son Malcolm (Máel Coluim mac Domnall) was later king as Malcolm I. The Prophecy of Berchán appears to suggest that another king reigned for a short while between Donald II and Constantine II, saying "half a day will he take sovereignty". Possible confirmation of this exists in the Chronicon Scotorum, where the death of "Ead, king of the Picts" in battle against the Uí Ímair is reported in 904. This, however, is thought to be an error, referring perhaps to Ædwulf, the ruler of Bernicia, whose death is reported in 913 by the other Irish annals.
890 - Exodus of the Strathclyde Britons to Gwynedd (in Wales).

CONSTANTINE II (900 - 943 AD)

Constantine II

900 - Constantine II succeeds Donald II
904 - Constantine's forces defeat Vikings at the Battle of Strathearn
937 - Battle of Brunanburh: Alliance of Scots, Celts, Danes, and Vikings, defeated by Aethelstan of England who takes the title of King of all Britain
943 - King Edmund of England extends his rule into southern Scotland,
943 - Abdication of Constantine II

Constantine, son of Áed (Medieval Gaelic: Constantín mac Áeda; Modern Gaelic: Còiseam mac Aoidh, known in most modern regnal lists as Constantine II; died 952) was an early King of Scotland, known then by the Gaelic name Alba. The Kingdom of Alba, a name which first appears in Constantine's lifetime, was in northern Great Britain. The core of the kingdom was formed by the lands around the River Tay. Its southern limit was the River Forth, northwards it extended towards the Moray Firth and perhaps to Caithness, while its western limits are uncertain. Constantine's grandfather Kenneth I of Scotland (Cináed mac Ailpín, died 858) was the first of the family recorded as a king, but as king of the Picts. This change of title, from king of the Picts to king of Alba, is part of a broader transformation of Pictland and the origins of the Kingdom of Alba are traced to Constantine's lifetime.

His reign, like those of his predecessors, was dominated by the actions of Viking rulers in the British Isles, particularly the Uí Ímair ("the grandsons of Ímar", or Ivar the Boneless). During Constantine's reign the rulers of the southern kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia, later the Kingdom of England, extended their authority northwards into the disputed kingdoms of Northumbria. At first allied with the southern rulers against the Vikings, Constantine in time came into conflict with them. King Æthelstan was successful in securing Constantine's submission in 927 and 934, but the two again fought when Constantine, allied with the Strathclyde Britons and the Viking king of Dublin, invaded Æthelstan's kingdom in 937, only to be defeated at the great battle of Brunanburh.

Æthelstan or Athelstan (Old English: Æþelstan[a], Æðelstān[b], meaning "noble stone"; c. 894 – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to 939.[c] He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern historians regard him as the first King of England and one of the greatest Anglo-Saxon kings. He never married, and was succeeded by his half-brother, Edmund. In 943 Constantine abdicated the throne and retired to the Céli Dé (Culdee) monastery of St Andrews where he died in 952. He was succeeded by his predecessor's son Malcolm I (Máel Coluim mac Domnaill).

Left: King Æþelstan

Constantine's reign of 43 years, exceeded in Scotland only by that of King William the Lion before the Union of the Crowns in 1603, is believed to have played a defining part in the gaelicisation of Pictland, in which his patronage of the Irish Céli Dé monastic reformers was a significant factor. During his reign the words "Scots" and "Scotland" (Old English: Scottas, Scotland) are first used to mean part of what is now Scotland. The earliest evidence for the ecclesiastical and administrative institutions which would last until the Davidian Revolution also appears at this time.

By the early 940s Constantine was an old man, perhaps more than 70 years of age. The kingdom of Alba was too new to be said to have a customary rule of succession, but Pictish and Irish precedents favoured an adult successor descended from Kenneth MacAlpin. Constantine's surviving son Indulf, probably baptised in 927, would have been too young to be a serious candidate for the kingship in the early 940s, and the obvious heir was Constantine's nephew, Malcolm I. As Malcolm was born no later than 901, by the 940s he was no longer a young man, and may have been impatient. Willingly or not—the 11th-century Prophecy of Berchán, a verse history in the form of a supposed prophecy, states that it was not a voluntary decision—Constantine abdicated in 943 and entered a monastery, leaving the kingdom to Malcolm.

Although his retirement may have been involuntary, the Life of Cathróe of Metz and the Prophecy of Berchán portray Constantine as a devout king. The monastery which Constantine retired to, and where he is said to have been abbot, was probably that of St Andrews. This had been refounded in his reign and given to the reforming Céli Dé (Culdee) movement. The Céli Dé were subsequently to be entrusted with many monasteries throughout the kingdom of Alba until replaced in the 12th century by new orders imported from France. Seven years later the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says:

Edward the Elder's coin

[Malcolm I] plundered the English as far as the river Tees, and he seized a multitude of people and many herds of cattle: and the Scots called this the raid of Albidosorum, that is, Nainndisi. But others say that Constantine made this raid, asking of the king, Malcolm, that the kingship should be given to him for a week's time, so that he could visit the English. In fact, it was Malcolm who made the raid, but Constantine incited him, as I have said. Woolf suggests that the association of Constantine with the raid is a late addition, one derived from a now-lost saga or poem.

Constantine's death in 952 is recorded by the Irish annals, who enter it among ecclesiastics. His son Indulf would become king on Malcolm's death. The last of Constantine's certain descendants to be king in Alba was a great-grandson, Constantine III (Constantín mac Cuiléin). Another son had died at Brunanburh, and, according to John of Worcester, Amlaíb mac Gofraid was married to a daughter of Constantine. It is possible that Constantine had other children, but like the name of his wife, or wives, this has not been recorded.

The form of kingdom which appeared in Constantine's reign continued in much the same way until the Davidian Revolution in the 12th century. As with his ecclesiastical reforms, his political legacy was the creation of a new form of Scottish kingship that lasted for two centuries after his death.

Scottish Kings: Constantine I, Áed mac Cináeda, Eochaid

Constantine I ( 863 - 877 )
870 - Alt Clut, Dumbarton Rock, captured by the Norse-Gael or Viking leaders Amlaíb Conung and Ímar after six month's of siege.

Constantine I

AEDH (877 - 878 AD)
Áed mac Cináeda (born c. 840 - died 878) was a son of Cináed mac Ailpín ("Kenneth MacAlpin"). He became king of the Picts in 877, when he succeeded his brother Constantine I. He was nicknamed Áed of the White Flowers, the wing-footed (Latin: alipes) or the white-foot (Latin: albipes).
The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says of Áed: "Edus [Áed] held the same [i.e. the kingdom] for one year. The shortness of his reign has bequeathed nothing memorable to history. He was slain in the civitas of Nrurim." Nrurim is unidentified.

The Annals of Ulster say that in 878: "Áed mac Cináeda, king of the Picts, was killed by his associates." Tradition, reported by George Chalmers in his Caledonia (1807), and by the New Statistical Account (1834–1845), has it that the early-historic mound of the Cunninghillock by Inverurie is the burial place of Áed. This is based on reading Nrurim as Inruriu.

A longer account is interpolated in Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland. This says that Áed reigned one year and was killed by his successor Giric in Strathallan and other king lists have the same report. It is uncertain which, if any, of the Prophecy of Berchán's kings should be taken to be Áed. William Forbes Skene presumed that the following verses referred to Áed:

Áed mac Cináeda or Donald I

129. Another king will take [sovereignty]; small is the profit that he does not divide. Alas for Scotland thenceforward. His name will be the Furious.
130. He will be but a short time over Scotland. The will be no [word uncertain] unplundered. Alas for Scotland, through the youth; alas for their books, alas for their bequests.
131. He will be nine years in the kingdom. I shall tell you—it will be a tale of truth—he dies without bell, with communion, at evening, in a fatal pass.

Áed's son, Constantín mac Áeda, became king in 900. The idea that Domnall II of Strathclyde was a son of Áed, based on a confusing entry in the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, is contested.

EOCHAID ( 879 - 889 )
Eochaid mac Run, (born c. 860 – died after 889) known in English simply as Eochaid, may have been king of the Picts from 878 to 889. He was a son of Run, King of Strathclyde, and his mother may have been a daughter of Kenneth MacAlpin (Cináed mac Ailpín). His kingship is usually portrayed as some form of joint rule with Giric. The evidence for Eochaid's rule as king of the Picts rests on the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, where it is written:

And Eochodius son of Run king of the Britons, grandson of Kenneth by his daughter, reigned for 11 years; although others say that Ciricium (Giric) son of another reigned at this time, because he became Eochaid's foster-father and guardian. And in his second year Aed son of Niall [Aed Finliath] died. And in his ninth year, on the very day of St. Cirici (Cyrus), an eclipse of the sun occurred. Eochaid and his foster father was now expelled from the kingdom.

This is the record of Eochaid's reign, such as it is. The death of Aed Finliath son of Niall Caille is dated to 20 November 879, and the solar eclipse to 16 June 885. The chronicler's "although others say" shows that the confusion concerning Eochaid is nothing new.

Some variants of the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba king lists do not include Eochaid. The Duan Albanach omits both Eochaid and Giric, jumping from "Aodh, of the white flowers" (King Áed mac Cináeda) to "Domhnal, son of Cusaintin the fair" (Donald II, son of Constantine I (Domnall mac Causantín)). The Duan also omits earlier kings, such as Selbach mac Ferchair, although whether these omissions are by accident or design is unknowable. David Dumville's suggestion that the surviving record may be corrupted by cases of damnatio memoriae is unprovable, but should be borne in mind. Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Cronykl of Scotland (c. 1420) and George Buchanan's Rerum Scoticarum Historia (1579) know of Giric, but not of Eochaid.

American Celticist Benjamin Hudson, relying on the Prophecy of Berchán in his 1996 book of the same name, is confident that Eochaid can be identified and that he was indeed a Scottish or Pictish king. The Prophecy is not without its critics, and the entry which is assumed to identify Eochaid, calling him the Briton of the Clyde, refers to his mother as "the woman of Dún Guaire (Bamburgh)", which raises unanswered questions.

David Dumville, relying on the Chronicle alone, appears to accept that Eochaid was king, while Archie Duncan, arguing from the same source, flatly rejects the idea that Eochaid was king and attributes the supposed joint reign to Giric, and to Giric alone. There is evidence independent of the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba and the related king lists which may argue for Giric's kingship, but none for Eochaid. The quoted Chronicle entry could have Eochaid removed, and still be readable, whereas it would not remain so without Giric, whose name day is mentioned as the date of the solar eclipse. In short, there is no consensus as to whether Eochaid was king of the Picts or king of Strathclyde or no king at all.
889 - Death of Eochaid; Donald II grandson of Kenneth becomes king.