_Eochaid II K of Dalriada_
_Eochaid III K of Dalriada_|_UNKNOWN of the Picts_____
_Aed Find K of Dalriada_|
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_Eochaid _|
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_Alpin _|
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|--Kenneth I K of Scots
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the following is taken from an Internet posting of Michael R. Davidson of
Edinburgh. Scotland, on 23 Oct 1995:
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.