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Cináed mac Ailpín was king of the Picts and, according to national myth, first king of Scots. Cináed's undisputed legacy was to produce a dynasty of rulers who claimed descent from him. If he cannot be regarded as the father of Scotland, he was the founder of the dynasty which ruled that country f...

Domnall mac Ailpín (died 862) was king of the Picts from 858 to 862. He followed his brother Cináed to the throne. The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says that Domnall reigned for four years, matching the notices in the Annals of Ulster of his brother's death in February 858 and his own in April ...

Causantín mac Cináeda (died 877) was a son of Cináed mac Ailpín. Although tradition makes Causantín a king of Scots, it is clear from the entries in the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba and the Annals of Ulster, that he was king of the Picts. He became king in 862 on the death of his uncle Domnall m...

Áed mac Cináeda (died 878) was a son of Cináed mac Ailpín. He became king of the Picts in 877 when he succeeded his brother Causantín. The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says of Áed: "Edus held the same [i.e. the kingdom] for one year. The shortness of his reign has bequeathed nothing memorable t...

Eochaid may have been king of the Picts from 878 to 885 or 889. He was a son of Run, King of Strathclyde, and his mother may have been a daughter of Cináed mac Ailpín. His kingship is usually portrayed as some form of joint rule with Giric. However there is no consensus as to whether Eochaid was ...

Domnall mac Causantín was King of the Picts or King of Alba in the late 9th century. He was the son of Causantín mac Cináeda. Domnall became king on the death or deposition of Giric mac Dúngail, the date of which is not certainly known but usually placed in 889. It is thought that he was killed ...

Causantín mac Áeda was king of Alba from 900 to 943. He was the son of Áed mac Cináeda and first cousin of the previous ruler, Domnall mac Causantín. Causantín mac Áeda's reign is the second longest before the Union of the Crowns in 1603, exceeded only by William the Lion.

Máel Coluim mac Domnaill was king of Scots, becoming king when his cousin Causantín mac Áeda abdicated to become a monk. He was the son of Domnall mac Causantín. In 945 Edmund of Wessex, having expelled Amlaíb Cuaran (Olaf Sihtricsson) from Northumbria, devastated Cumbria and blinded two sons of ...

Idulb mac Causantín was king of Scots from 954. He was the son of Causantín mac Áeda. Idulb is an Old Irish name derived from either the Old Norse name Hildulfr or the Old English name Eadwulf. Idulb was later rendered Indulf under Old French influence. John of Fordun and others supposed that Id...

Dub mac Maíl Coluim was king of Alba. In older histories his name may be found anglicised as Duff; the modern Gaelic version is Dubh, which has the sense of dark or black. It may be that Dub was an epithet, as the Duan Albanach refers to him as Dubhoda dén, Dubod the vehement or impetuous. He was ...

Cuilén mac Iduilb was king of Alba from 967 to 971. He was one of three known sons of Idulb mac Causantín, the others being Amlaíb and Eochaid. It is supposed that Cuilén was implicated in the death of his predecessor Dub mac Maíl Coluim, who had defeated Cuilén in battle in 965. The Chronicle o...

Cináed mac Maíl Coluim was King of Alba. The son of Máel Coluim mac Domnaill, he succeeded Cuilén mac Iduilb on the latter's death at the hands of Amdarch of Strathclyde in 971. In 973, the Chronicle of Melrose reports that Cináed, with Máel Coluim mac Domnaill, the King of Strathclyde, "Maccus, ...

Causantín mac Cuilén was king of Scots from 995 to 997. He was the son of Cuilén mac Iduilb. Causantín became king upon the death of Cináed mac Maíl Coluim, supposedly killed by Finnguala, daughter of Cuncar, Mormaer of Angus, a killing with which Causantín is associated in several accounts. John...

Cináed mac Duib (Kenneth III) was King of Scots from 997 to 1005. He was the son of Dub mac Maíl Coluim. The only event reported in Cináed's reign is the killing of Dúngal mac Cináeda by Gille Coemgáin mac Cináeda, by the Annals of the Four Masters s.a. 999. It is not certain that this refers to ...

Máel Coluim mac Cináeda (Malcolm II) was King of Scots from 1005 until his death. He was a son of Cináed mac Maíl Coluim; the Prophecy of Berchán says that his mother was a woman of Leinster and refers to him as forranach (the Destroyer or Avenger). To the Irish annals which recorded his death, Má...

‘Many a white-headed champion fell into rank around your banner, and many a handsome youth was mangled under horses' hooves...' 'Song to Sir Hector', Eachan Bacach The execution of King Charles I changed the whole course of the Civil war. The Scots recognized his successor. Cromwell pushed North ...

Like much Scottish history the tale of Rob Roy is shrouded in mystery and intrigue. The people of the time were mostly illiterate and stories of the famous battles and legendary characters were mainly passed down the generations by word of mouth, embellished as they went, to provide the great tales ...

The Armstrong Clan has been without a chief for over 450 years, the story behind this is one laced with intrigue, murder, piracy and even hidden treasure. The stuff movies are made from. The story is set around Johnnie Armstrong of Gilnockie and the Border Reivers in the 16th Century. Johnnie Arm...

Even since the first wild dog came sniffing around a stone age camp fire looking for scraps our relationship with these animals has been a close one. Many stories exist of this bond between man and dog and Scotland has its fair share. However the most famous by far was Bobby - the Skye Terrier. ...

Throughout history there are incidents that at the time may seem small or even insignificant, the action of a few individuals who would normally be considered mere spectators in the pageant of history. Some obvious incidents come to mind; The Boston Tea Party or the assassination of Archduke Ferdina...