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Subject: The Genealogy of the Early Medieval Scottish Kings
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 1995 11:57:00 +0000


The Genealogy of the Early Medieval Scottish Kings
by: Michael R. Davidson

This article is Copyright 1995 by Michael R. Davidson. It may be
reproduced in unaltered form for personal or private use. It may be
cited for personal or private use. Any commercial or other use requires
consent of the author.

This represents version 1.0.0 of this document. It will be updated and
corrected periodically.
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or corrections, I can
be contacted via e-mail at , or reached at the
following address:
Holland House A214
18 Holyrood Park Road
Edinburgh EH16 5BD
Scotland
tel: 0131 - 667 - 1971 ext. 3064
For as long as demand is not severe, I will reproduce this article,
along with succession tables of the kings of Dal Riata and the early
medieval Kings of Scots, for cost plus postage. I expect this to be
about #2.00 for U.K. respondents, and $5.00 for anyone else.

Contents:
Copyright/Availability Information
Introduction
The Prehistoric Section
The Dal Riata and the Pseudo-Historical Section
The Kings of Dal Riata
The Fall of the Picts, and the Rise of the Kings of Scots
Glossary
Bibliography

Introduction

Because of what seemed like a good deal of demand on the net, I decided
to produce this genealogy of the early Scottish kings. A good deal of
this material is the subject of academic debate, but almost all
historians, with one or two notable exceptions, accept unbroken descent
between Fergus Mor mac Erc, the first king of Dal Riata, and Malcolm
Canmore, King of Scots in the eleventh century. This has been organized
including short historical introductions, followed by the genealogical
material and short biographicals. The introductions can be ignored, but
do contain a good deal of (hopefully!) useful background material. I
have included a glossary of some of the weirder terms used, and closed
with the all important bibliography. Enjoy!

Michael R. Davidson
Edinburgh
23 October 1995

I. The Prehistoric Section

>From the seventh century onwards, Irish monks were involved in
manufacturing a history for themselves to fill the gap between biblical
history and (their) modern history. As a result, any competent medieval
Irish historian could trace the supposed genealogy of any of the modern
kings of Irish descent back to Adam, through fabulous, then biblical
antecedents. This has been done, for interest's sake only, as this
section has no historical reliability. I have, here, given the names as
they appear in early Irish documents, and adopted, of the many possible
versions, that from various sections of the twelfth-century Irish
manuscript known as Rawlinson B. 502.

[From Rawl. B. 502 115c21-39]
Adam. Seth. Enos. Cainan. Malalel. Iareth. Enoc. Methusalam.. Lamiach.
[From Rawl. B. 502 117g2-68] Noe. Iafeth. Gomer. Rifad. Esru. Sru. Iara.
Ara. Aoy. Aboth. Aurtecht. Ethecht. Mair. Seim. Bainb. Thoe. Agnomain.
Fetheoir. Lamfind. Glunfind. Foeniusa Farsaid. Niuil Nemnaig. Gaedail
Glais. Ebir Scuitt. Noenail. Nuadat. Alldoit. Airceda. Deatha. Bratha.
Bregain. Brige. Nemain. Bile. Miled. Erimoin. Ireoil Fatha. Ethreoil.
Fallaig. Tigernmais. Senbotha. Smretha. Smirguill. Fiachach Labrinni.
Oengusa Olmugaeda. Moen. Rechtada Rigdeirg. Demail. Dein. Sirnai.
Aillella Oalchloen. Nuadat Find Fail. Aedain Glais. Sineoin Bricc.
Muiredaig Bolcgraig. Fiachach Tolcrai. Duach Ladcra. Echach Buadaig.
Augaine Mair. [From Rawl. B. 502 162d7-53] Cobthaich. Meilge. Irero.
Conlaid. Ailella Casfiaclaich. Laebchuire. Fir Almaich. Fir Anaraith.
Fir Raith. Fir Cetharraid. Echach Altlethain. Oengus Turbich Temra.
Fiachach Fir Mara. Ailella Erann. Feradaig. Forggo. Maine. Airnnil.
Rothrir. Triir. Rosin. Sin. Dedad. Eir. Ailella Ain. Eogain. Eterscela.
Conaire Moir. Cairpre. Daire Dornmair. Cairpri Chrommchinn. Lugdach.
Conair Caem. Coirpri Rigfota. Cintae. Guaire. Cincce. Feidelmid.
Fiachach. Echdach. Achir. Find Feicce. Croithluithe. Cormaicc.
Feideilmid. Oengusa. Feideilmid. Oengusa Fir.

II. The Dal Riata and the Pseudo-Historical Section

The Dal Riata, the people from which the Scottish kings are descended
from, were originally settled on the north east coast of Ireland.
Perhaps as early as the third century, and no later than the fifth
century, they began to settle on the west coast of what is now Scotland.
It is in the late fifth century that the names in the genealogy begin to
take on some historical credibility. In any case, the ruling dynasty of
the Dal Riata had established itself in the area corresponding to modern
Argyll by the late fifth century. The most important information for
this period is the text, probably first written in the seventh century,
known as the _Senchus Fer nAlban_, or 'History of the Men of Scotland.'
Its early material however, seems to have far too neat an appearance.
Rather than make a fruitless effort to separate fact from fiction, I
will instead quote from the _Senchus_, and let the reader come up with
their own conclusions. (The genealogies make Eochaid Munremar a son of
Oengus Fir, the last name in the above section.)

Two sons of Eochaid Munremar .i. Erc and Olchu. Erc, moreover, had
twelve sons .i. six of them took possession of Scotland .i. two Loarnds
.i. Loarnd Bec and Loarnd Mor, two Mac Nisses .i. Mac Nisse Becc and
Mac Nisse Mor, two Ferguses .i. Fergus Bec and Fergus Mor. Six others
in Ireland .i. Mac Decill, Oengus, whose seed, however, is in Scotland,
Enna, Bresal, Fiachra, Dubthach. Others say that this Erc had another
son who was called Muredach.
Olchu, son of Eochaid Munremar, had, moreover, eleven sons who live in
Murbolc in Dal Riata, Muredach Bolc, Aed, Dare, Oengus, Tuathal,
Anbolmaid, Eochaid, Setna Brian Oinu, Cormac. (Translation Bannerman)

Fergus Mor, one of Erc's sons, is generally considered to be the
earliest historically authenticated ancestor of the kings of Scotland,
but it is just possible that Fergus had a father Erc who had a father
Eochaid Munremar.

III. The Kings of Dal Riata

Here begins the historical section of this genealogy. For the most part,
this has been summarized from relevant parts of Bannerman's _Studies in
the History of Dalriada_, and Anderson's _Kings and Kingship in Early
Scotland_. Dates may disagree slightly with other work; I have based my
dates on the corrected chronology in the _Annals of Ulster_. I have
retained the Irish forms of names, but translated eponyms in
parentheses. The child marked with a * is the ancestor of the later
persons in the genealogy. The order of the children by no means
represents their order of birth, as this is impossible to determine.

Fergus Mor mac Erc ('Big Fergus', 'Great Fergus')
Like all those that appear in this genealogy, Fergus' birthdate is
unknown. The _Annals of Ulster_ in 499 note "A battle in which Mac Erca
was victory." This may or may not refer to Fergus. Annals record that he
died in 501, and he was the father of at least one son, who succeeded
him in the kingship.
Children:
1. *Domangart

Domangart mac Fergus
Domangart succeeded to the kingship upon his father's death in 501. The
_Senchus_ and other sources note that Feidelm Fotchain bore Domangart
two sons. According to the genealogies, Feidelm was the daughter of
Brian mac Eochaid Mugmedon, the ancestor of the kings of Airgialla, in
the northern part of Ireland. Annals make no mention of Domangart
excepting his death in 507, and he was succeeded by his son Comgall.
Children:
1. Comgall died in 538, and was succeeded by his brother Gabran.
2. *Gabran.

Gabran mac Domangart
Gabran succeeded to the kingship upon his brother's death in 538. Welsh
sources claim that Gabran married a certain Luan, daughter of Brychan,
the founder of the Welsh kingdom of Brycheiniog. There are problems,
however with accepting this as fact, as it appears that the traditions
of two Brycheiniogs, one in Wales and the other in northern Britain,
were merged by medieval writers. Gabran's forces were defeated by the
Picts in 558. He died in the same year, and was succeeded by Comgall's
son Conall. Gabran gave his name to the Cenel nGabrain, one of the four
divisions of the Dal Riata. Most of the kings of Dal Riata, and later
Scotland, were drawn from the Cenel nGabrain. According to the
_Senchus_, Gabran was the father of five sons.
Children:
1. *Aedan.
2. Eoganan, d. 595.
3. Cuildach.
4. Domnall.
5. Domangart.

Aedan mac Gabran
Aedan succeeded to the kingship upon his cousin Conall's death in 574.
There is an entertaining story in Adomnan's _Life of Columba_ which
relates how Columba would have preferred to support Eoganan as king.
According to the life, an angel commanded Columba three times to support
Aedan, and Columba did not relent until the angel struck him with a
scourge. In 575 Aedan attended the Convention of Druim Cett in Ireland,
which apparently convened to decide the political relationship between
Dal Riata and the kings of the Northern Ui Neill in Ireland, whose power
was growing. In 581 he led an expedition to the Orkney islands, and he
won a victory at the Isle of Man in the following year. In 590, he won a
battle against the Maetae, his British neighbours, but lost two of his
sons in the battle. In 596, in the first battle between Scots and
English, two more of his sons were slain. In 600, he lead an army
against the English of Northumbria, but was decisively defeated at
Degsastan. He was victorious in a battle against the Picts sometime
between 596 and 606. He died, at the age of seventy-four according to
the annals, in 606, and was succeeded by his son Eochaid Buid. The
_Senchus_ notes that he fathered seven sons, but other sources tell of
two others, Artur and Domangart.
Children:
1. *Eochaid Buid.
2. Eochaid Find, killed 590.
3. Tuathal.
4. Bran, killed 596.
5. Baithine.
6. Conaing, drowned 622.
7. Gartnait. (The same Gartnait that was king of the Picts and died in
599?)
8. Artur, killed 590.
9. Domangart, killed 596.

Eochaid Buid mac Aedan
Eochaid succeeded to the kingship upon his father's death in 606.
Adomnan's _Life of Columba_ notes that Columba, (correctly of course)
prophesized the death of Eochaid's older brother's, and Eochaid's
succession. Eochaid reign appears to have been quiet until the end, but
in 627, the forces of Dal Riata, led by Eochaid's successor, Connad
Cerr, were victorious in a battle in Ireland. Eochaid died in 629, and
was succeeded by his second cousin Connad Cerr. The _Senchus_ records
his eight sons.
Children:
1. *Domnall Brecc.
2. Domnall Dond.
3. Conall Crandomna, joint king of Dal Riata with Dunchad son of Duban
from 650 until his death in 660.
4. Conall Becc.
5. Connad Cerr.
6. Failbe, killed 629.
7. Domangart.
8. Cu-cen-mathair, died 604.

Domnall Brecc mac Eochaid Buid
Domnall Brecc succeeded to the kingship in 629, when his predecessor and
distant relative Connad Cerr was killed in Ireland after a three month
reign. Domnall was either incompetent, unlucky or both; he never won a
battle. His first defeat came in 635 in a battle which was possibly
against the Picts. In 637 he was defeated at the battle of Mag Rath in
Ireland, and from this point on the kings of Dal Riata completely lost
control of their Irish possessions. It was probably about this point
that Domnall was demoted to the position of joint king with his third
cousin Ferchar, son of Connad Cerr. Domnall was defeated yet again,
possibly by the Picts, in 638. He finally met his death in 642, at the
hands of the Britons of Strathclyde, and his death was triumphantly
recorded in one rescension of _Y Goddodin_, a famous seventh-century Old
Welsh poem. He was succeeded by his joint king Ferchar. The _Senchus_
fails from this point on, so far fewer names of children are recorded.
Children:
1. Cathusach, died 650.
2. *Domangart.

Domangart mac Domnall Brecc
Domangart succeeded to the kingship in 660, when the joint kingship of
his uncle Conall Crandomna and Dunchad son of Duban ended with Conall's
death. Nothing about Domangart's reign is mentioned by the sources until
he was killed in 673, and succeeded by his cousin Maelduin.
Children:
1. *Eochaid.

Eochaid mac Domangart
Eochaid succeeded to a kingship in turmoil in 697. In 695, Domnall Donn,
the king of Dal Riata and Eochaid's father's cousin was killed by the
Cenel Loairn, a rival branch of the Dal Riata. The Cenel Loairn
claimant, Ferchar Fota, was then recognized as king of Dal Riata. When
Ferchar died in 697, Eochaid briefly held the kingship, until he was, in
turn, killed by the Cenel Loairn. Ferchar's son Ainbcellach succeeded in
the kingship.
Children:
1. *Eochaid.
2. Alpin, probably expelled from the kingship of Dal Riata by Oengus,
king of the Picts in 736.

Eochaid mac Eochaid
Eochaid became king of Dal Riata in 726, when his Cenel Loairn
predecessor was 'ousted from the kingship'. He survived a Cenel Loairn
attack on his authority in 727, led by Selbach son of Ferchar Fota, and
managed to hold his position without challenge until his death in 733.
Following Eochaid's death, it appears that the kingship was shared
between his brother Alpin, and Muiredach, the Cenel Loairn claimant,
until Dal Riata was subjugated by Oengus, king of the Picts, in 736.
Children:
1. *Aed Find.
2. Fergus, succeeded to the kingship upon his brother's death in 778,
died in 781, and was succeeded by Domnall son of Constantine, of unknown
ancestry.

Aed Find mac Eochaid
Aed probably re-established independence from Pictish overlordship, and
the kingship of Dal Riata, when the Picts were defeated by the
Strathclyde British in 750. He was on the offensive against the Picts by
768, when he raided their territory. Nothing else about his reign is
recorded. He was succeeded by his brother Fergus upon his death in 778.
Children:
1. Conall, succeeded to the kingship of Dal Riata in 807, after
defeating his rival Conall son of Tadc, and died c. 811. (No suggestion
about Conall's ancestry has, to my knowledge, been made. This is my
suggestion.)
2. *Eochaid.

Eochaid mac Aed Find
Nothing is known of him except the names of his father, brother, and
son. He did not succeed to the kingship
Children:
1. *Alpin.

Alpin mac Eochaid
Little more is known about Alpin than his father Eochaid. He was
certainly dead by 840, when his son took the kingship of Dal Riata. A
late source states that he died in 834 fighting the Picts. He did not
succeed to the kingship.
Children:
1. *Kenneth.
2. Donald, (Domnall mac Alpin) became king upon his brother's death in
858, died 13 April 862, and was succeeded by his nephew Constantine son
of Kenneth.

IV. The Fall of the Picts, and the Rise of the Kings of Scots

In 789, the branch of the Cenel nGabrain represented by the descendants
of Fergus mac Eochaid took control of the kingship of the Picts. For the
next fifty years, with the exception of one three year period of joint
kingship, they had a monopoly on its power. Since Fergus' descendants
also had a claim to the kingship of Dal Riata, there are also several
examples of individuals holding the two kingships subsequently or even
simultaneously. The Pictish kingship was the gem of eighth and ninth
century Scotland, and the success of the descendants of Fergus in
holding it marginalized other branches of the Cenel nGabrain. It
probably explains why the children and grandchildren of Aed Find, which
represent the line we are concerned with, are so obscure. It is probable
that they would have disappeared from recorded history were it not for
the disaster which was to befall the descendants of Fergus, here
recorded in the _Annals of Ulster_ for the year 839:

The heathens (i.e. Vikings) won a battle against the men of Foirtriu,
and Eoganan son of Oengus, (the king of the Picts) Bran son of Oengus,
Aed son of Boanta (the king of Dal Riata), and others almost
innumerable fell there.

Eoganan and Bran were grandsons of Fergus, and their death probably left
the descendants of Fergus without a viable candidate to the kingship,
leaving a power vacuum in Scotland. This presented a golden opportunity
for other dynasties to assert their position, and the sons of Alpin were
all to happy to seize the moment.

Two notes on terminology:
It is from Kenneth mac Alpin that historians begin to number the kings
of Scots, and employ Anglicized versions of their names. I will,
however, give their names in their Irish forms in parentheses after
their name and number.
The proper title for the mac Alpin kings is the 'King of Scots'; they
were king of the people, not of the land. This title was not, however,
employed until the beginning of the tenth century. From 848 to 900, the
mac Alpin kings retained the title 'King of Foirtriu' or 'King of
Picts'. For this period, they are probably most accurately described as
'Kings of Picts and Scots'.

The text of this section is primarily drawn from Smyth's _Warlord's and
Holy Men_, and Hudson's _Kings of Celtic Scotland_.

Kenneth I (Cinaed mac Alpin)
Within a year after the death of his cousins in 839, it appears that
Kenneth seized the kingship of Dal Riata. There is little historical
record from the next eight years, but it appears that Kenneth followed
in the footsteps of his cousins, and made a bid for the kingship of the
Picts. He was resisted, ineffectualy, by a short-lived dynasty bearing
Pictish names. Later legends suggest that Kenneth achieved his success
through treachery; slaying his Pictish guests at a feast. Whatever his
means, Kenneth defeated his last Pictish rival by 848, and in the
following year, he celebrated his victory by building a church dedicated
to St. Columba in his new Pictish lands. The _Scottish Chronicle_, the
main source for Scottish History of this period, records that Kenneth
raided England no fewer than six times. He died on 858, and was
succeeded by his brother Donald I. He had at least four children.
Children:
1. *Constantine.
2. Aed, succeeded to the kingship upon his brother's death in 876, was
killed 'by his own associates' in 878, and succeeded jointly by his
nephew Eochaid, and Giric son of Dungal of the Cenel Loairn.
3. Maelmuire, married Aed Findliath, king of the Ui Neill in Ireland.
4. A daughter, married Rhun, king of Strathclyde. Her son, Eochaid,
succeeded to the throne jointly with Giric of the Cenel Loairn in 878.
5?. A daughter, married Olaf the White, king of Dublin.

Constantine I (Causantin mac Cinaed)
Constantine succeeded to the kingship upon his uncle Donald I's death in
862. His reign was marked by Viking raid and expansion into Strathclyde.
In 872 the _Annals of Ulster_ record that 'Artgal, king of the Britons
of Strathclyde, (and the father in law of Constantine's sister to boot)
was killed at the instigation of Constantine son of Cinaed'. Constantine
suffered from the raids of his possible brother-in-law Olaf of Dublin in
866, and again in 870-71. In 875, he was defeated by a portion of the
'Great Army' that had invaded England in previous years. He died in 876,
and was succeeded by his brother Aed. He had at least one son.
Children:
1. *Donald.

Donald II (Domnall mac Causantin)
Donald succeeded to the kingship in 889, when the joint-kings Eochaid
and Giric were deposed. Little is known of his reign excepting a battle,
probably in 893 when he defeated Viking raiders. He was, in turn, killed
by another Viking raid in 900. He was the first king to be called 'ri
Alban', or 'King of Scots' upon his death. He was succeeded by his
cousin Constantine II, who reigned for 43 years, an incredible period
for a early medieval king.
Children:
1. *Malcolm.

Malcolm I (Mael Coluim mac Domnall)
Malcolm became King of Scots in 943, when his predecessor Constantine II
abdicated and retired to a monastery. Malcolm seems to have enjoyed
friendly relations with his English neighbours. The _Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle_ records that King Edmund of England granted Strathclyde to
Malcolm in 945 after ravaging it, and whatever agreement they entered
into was renewed by Edmund's brother and successor Eadred in 946. The
upshot of this agreement seems to have been cooperation with the English
in wresting Northumbria from Viking rule. Malcolm invaded Northumbria
twice; in 950, when the _Scottish Chronicle_ triumphantly recorded a
victory, and 952, when allied forces of Scots, English, and Britons were
defeated. Malcolm was killed by his own subjects in 954, and succeeded
by his second cousin Indulf.
Children:
1. Dub, King of Scots from 962, when he succeeded following Indulf's
death, and 20 July 966, when he was killed by the forces of Indulf's son
Cuilen.
2. *Kenneth II.

Kenneth II (Cinaed mac Mael Coluim)
Kenneth became King of Scots in 971, when his predecessor Cuilen was
killed by the Strathclyde Britons. There are some indications that
Kenneth had a joint kingship with Cuilen's brother Olaf until 977, when
Olaf was killed. Kenneth led successful raids against Strathclyde in
both 971 and 972. In 973, Kenneth attended a conference of kings at
Chester, in England, which was probably organized by Edgar, King of
England. There is currently fierce academic debate about what actually
went on there, which will hopefully be solved by an article I will
publish on the incident in the near future. Kenneth appears to have a
quiet, but successful reign, was killed 'by treachery' in 995, and
succeeded by Constantine son of Cuilen, a distant cousin. It is possible
that Kenneth married an Irish woman from Leinster, as a twelfth-century
Scottish poem calls his son Malcolm 'son of a woman of the Leinstermen'.
Children:
1. Dungal, killed 999.
2. *Malcolm.

Malcolm II (Mael Coluim mac Cinaed)
Malcolm became king of Scots in 1005, after killing his cousin and
predecessor Kenneth son of Dub in a battle. He led an attack on Durham,
England in 1006, but was decisively defeated after the siege was broken.
The most important event of his reign was probably the battle of Carham,
which occurred in either 1016 or 1018. Malcolm led an invasion of
Northumbria, and his victory pushed the Scottish realm well into
traditional English territories. An important consequence of the battle
was the death of Owen, the last native king of Strathclyde, which, from
this point on, was part of the kingdom of the Scots. A notable external
event was Malcolm's meeting with king Canute of England in 1031. Malcolm
had no sons, but he apparently wanted his descendants to rule the Scots,
so he tried to revolutionize succession practices by arranging to have
one of his grandsons succeed him. To this end, he had competing dynasts
of the house of Alpin murdered in the early 1030's. Upon his death on 25
November, 1034, he was succeeded by his grandson Duncan.
Children:
1. *Bethoc.
2. Doada? married Sigurd, Earl of Orkney.

Bethoc, and Crinan, Abbot of Dunkeld
In what was probably a shrewd political move, Malcolm II married his
daughter Bethoc to a representative of the other major center of
political power in Scotland, the church. Considering the close ties
between ruling dynasties and the offices of major abbacies throughout
Ireland and Scotland, it is also possible that Crinan was descended from
a king of the Scots, which would completely legitimize his son's rule.
The only notice of Crinan or Bethoc in the sources is Crinan's death in
1045, which was probably the result of an unsuccessful attempt to oust
Macbeth.
Children:
1. *Duncan.
2. Maldred, married AEldgitha, daughter of Earl Ucthred of Northumbria.

Duncan I (Donnchad mac Crinan)
If we are to understand the historical king Duncan, we must forget
everything we have 'learned' from Shakespeare's play _Macbeth_. This is
about the sum total of fact in Shakespeare's play:

Duncan was king of Scots.
Macbeth was his successor.
Duncan's son Malcolm invaded Scotland with the help of an English army.

Duncan was probably quite young when he became king of Scots, and
probably not of great competence. Little is known about his reign. In
1038 or 1039, Ealdred, Earl of Northumbria, invaded Strathclyde, perhaps
in an attempt to wrest it from the Scots. Duncan responded in 1040 with
an attack on Durham. Like his grandfather's attack in 1006, it ended in
disaster, with Scottish forces fleeing, and Scottish heads decorating
the Durham marketplace. This defeat seems to have weakened his authority
so severely that Macbeth of the Cenel Loairn was able to defeat and kill
him in battle near Elgin on 16 August 1040. Duncan married Sibylla, a
relative of Earl Siward of Northumbria, a match which provided Duncan's
son Malcolm a valuable ally in his efforts to wrest the Scottish
kingship from Macbeth.
Children:
1. *Malcolm
2. Donald Ban, King of Scots from his brother's death in 1093 to 1094,
when he was ousted by Malcolm's son Duncan. Joint king with Duncan's
brother Edmund from 1094, when Duncan was killed, to 1097, when Donald
was blinded, and succeeded by Malcolm's son Edgar.

Malcolm Canmore (literally Malcolm 'big head', perhaps Malcolm 'great
leader' captures the essence) (Mael Coluim Ceann Moir mac Donnchad)
Before talking about Malcolm, I must again write a word about Macbeth.
Macbeth, in actuality, had a legitimate claim to the kingship, and
appears to have been a competent and well liked king as well.
Contemporary sources noted that Scotland was prosperous during his
reign, and a contemporary chronicler noted that Macbeth 'scattered money
like seed among the poor' during his pilgrimage to Rome in 1050. To turn
to Malcolm, his first attempt to gain the kingship came in 1054, when he
invaded Scotland with an English army and fought a battle on 27 July. It
was not a decisive battle for either side; higher Scottish losses were
reported, but Earl Siward's son was killed, and Macbeth remained king.
Macbeth does, however, appear to have been seriously weakened by the
battle. In 1057, Malcolm made his second attempt on the throne. He was
defeated by Macbeth on 15 August 1057, but Macbeth was mortally wounded,
and died the next day. Macbeth was succeeded by another member of the
Cenel Loairn, Lulach son of Gillacomgain. Lulach proved to be less stern
opposition, and Malcolm defeated and killed him on 17 March 1058, and
took the kingship.
Malcolm soon turned on his English allies, and invaded Northumbria in
1061. Another invasion in 1070 was not well received by William the
Conqueror, who invaded Scotland in 1072, and forced Malcolm to give up
his son Duncan as a hostage. Malcolm successfully dealt with internal
opposition in 1077, when he defeated an attempt by Lulach's son
Maelsnetchai to seize the kingship. A raid on England in 1079 was
defeated, but a successful raid in 1091 set off the chain of events
which lead to Malcolm's death. William Rufus refused to respond to
overtures from Malcolm in 1093, and Malcolm invaded England for the last
time. During the siege of Alnwick Castle in Northumbria, Malcolm was
ambushed and killed along with his son Edward on 13 November 1093. He
was succeeded by his brother Donald Ban.
Children:
(By Ingibiorg, daughter or wife of Thorfinn, Early of Orkney)
1. Malcolm
2. Duncan II, king of Scots briefly in 1094, when he defeated Donald
Ban, but was soon, in turn defeated and killed by Donald Ban.
3. Donald, d. 1085.
4. A daughter
(By St. Margaret, daughter of Edward the Exile of the house of Wessex,
and Agatha of Hungary)
5. Edith (Matilda) married Henry I, king of England, and is the ancestor
of later kings of England.
6. Mary, d. 1116.
7. Edward, killed 1093.
8. Edgar, king of Scots 1097-1107.
9. Edmund, joint king of Scots with Donald Ban from 1094-97.
10. Ethelred.
11. Alexander, king of Scots 1107-24.
12. David, king of Scots 1124-53, and the ancestor of all later kings of
Scots.

Glossary

Angles - One of the groups of Germanic peoples classified as 'English'.

Cenel nGabrain - One of the divisions of the Dal Riata, and the one from
which most of the Kings of Scots are descended.

Cenel Loairn - A division of the Dal Riata, and rival of the Cenel
nGabrain. Macbeth, King of Scots was a member of the Cenel Loairn.

Dal Riata - Kingdom on the west coast of Scotland from the sixth through
the ninth centuries. Roughly corresponds with modern Argyll. Can also be
used to refer to the inhabitants of Dal Riata.

mac - element of Irish names which translates as 'son of'.

Northumbria - An early medieval English which stretched from the Firth
of Forth to the Humber on the east coast of Britain.

Picts - The main group of inhabitants of modern Scotland from the second
century through the ninth century. Their king was one of the most
powerful rulers in early medieval Britain. They disappeared as a
recognizable group soon after the reign of Kenneth I.

Scots - To an inhabitant of medieval Western Europe, 'Scots' meant
'Irish'. Since the inhabitants of Dal Riata were originally from
Ireland, they were called Scots, and the name stuck.

Senchus Fer nAlban - The 'History of the Men of Scotland.' The most
important historical and genealogical source for early Dal Riata.

Ui Neill - The most powerful dynasty in early medieval Ireland.

Y Goddodin - An Old Welsh poem which records a disastrous raid by the
Britons against the Angles of Northumbria.

Bibliograpy

Primary

Anderson, A. O. _Early Sources of Scottish History_ rev. ed. 2 vols.
Stamford: 1990.

_____ _Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers_ rev. ed. Stamford:
1991.

Anderson, Marjorie. _Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland_. Edinburgh:
1980. (Editions
of the king lists and the Scottish Chronicle.)

Arnold, Thomas, ed. _Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia_. London: 1885.

Bannerman, John. _Studies in the History of Dalriada_. Edinburgh: 1974.
(Edition of _Senchus Fer nAlban_)

Boyle, A. "The Edinburgh Synchronisms of Irish kings", _Celtica_ 9
(1971) 169-79.

_Duan Albanach_, ed. K. H. Jackson, _Scottish Historical Review_ 36
(1957) 125-37.

Hennessy, William, ed. _Chronicon Scotorum_. London: 1866.

Mac Airt, Sean, ed. _The Annals of Inisfallen_. Dublin: 1988.

Mac Airt, Sean and Georoid Mac Niocaill, eds. _The Annals of Ulster_.
Dublin: 1983.

O'Brien, M. A. _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_. Dublin: 1976.

Stokes, Whitley. "The Annals of Tigernach: The Fourth Fragment, A.D.
973-A.D. 1088", _Revue Celtique_ 17 (1896) 337-420.

Whitelock, Dorothy, ed. _The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Revised
Translation_. London: 1961.

Secondary

Anderson, Marjorie. "Dalriada and the Creation of the Kingdom of the
Scots". in Dumville, D. N., Rosamond McKitterick and Dorothy Whitelock,
eds. _Ireland in Early Medieval Europe_ Cambridge, 1979.

_____ _Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland_. Edinburgh: 1980.

Bannerman, John. _Studies in the History of Dalriada_. Edinburgh: 1974.

Byrne, F. J. _Irish Kings and High-Kings_. London: 1973.

Duncan, A. A. M. _Scotland: The Making of a Kingdom_. Edinburgh: 1992.

Grabowski, Kathryn, and David Dumville. _Chronicles and Annals of
Mediaeval Ireland and Wales_. Woodbridge: 1984.

Hudson, Benjamin T. _Kings of Celtic Scotland_. London: 1994.

Hughes, Kathleen. _Early Christian Ireland: an Introduction to the
Sources_. Ithaca: 1972.

Kelleher, J. V. "Early Irish History and Pseudo-History". _Studia
Hibernica_ 3 (1963) 113- 27.

_____ "The pre-Norman Irish genealogies". _Irish Historical Studies_ 16
(1968) 138-53.

Smyth, Alfred P. _Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80-1000_ Edinburgh:
1989.

For a decent, non-academic read with some inaccuracies, see Stewart
Ross, _Monarchs of Scotland_, Oxford: 1990.

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