The Scots came from a kingdom in Ireland which was known as Dalriada.
This kingdom corresponded roughly with the modern County Antrim in
North Ireland. Around the time the Romans were in Britain (55 B.C.
to 409 A.D.), there were two races occupying what is today Scotland:
the Picts and the Britons. The Britons came from three very powerful
Germanic tribes, the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. The people of Kent
and the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight are of Jutish origin and
also those opposite the Isle of Wight, that part of the kingdom of
Wessex which is still today called the nation of the Jutes. These
Celtic peoples had successfully resisted the Roman legions, and what
the Romans called Caledonia was never incorporated into the Empire.
The Book of Ballymote gives 38 names in its genealogy, all presented
as the direct line of kings. It begins with the name Angus Turbech
of Tara. Tara, incidentally, is the ancient hall of the High Kings
of Ireland. It is on a hill in County Meath, Éire, and its
mention in a list of Kings of Dalriada implies that the Dalriada,
or "race of Riada," are descended from the High Kings. Angus was High
King from 384 to 325 B.C., according to the Annals of the Four Masters.
The genealogy ends with the name of Fergus, the son of Erc. With Erc
we are on firmer ground: he was a king of Dalriada who died around
501 A.D.. The Pedigree of the Scottish Kings contains 25 names, and
differs somewhat from the Book of Ballymote. The last eight names,
though, from Sen-chormac to Fergus, are the same.
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The Dalriada crossed the North Channel from Ireland to Kintyre in
Scotland, eventually establishing a kingdom around Argyll. The first
record of this migration is in 258 A.D., when the Romans noted that
Scots from the north attacked south as far as London. In time, the
Dalriadan kingdom in Scotland overshadowed that in Ireland, and the
kings made their home in Argyll, in its ancient capital of Dunadd.
Around the yeare 500 A.D., the two sons of Erc, Fergus and Loarn,
were kings of Dalriada in Scotland. The
Irish Kings of Dalriada
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The historical record, such as it is, consists of an entry in the Annals
of Tigernach, probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland for the yeare 501,
which states: Feargus Mor mac Earca cum gente Dal Riada partem Britaniae tenuit,
et ibi mortuus est. (Fergus Mór mac Eirc, with the people of Dál Riata, held
part of Britain, and he died there.) However, the forms of Fergus, Erc and
Dál Riata are later ones, written down long after the 6th century. The record
in the Annals has given rise to theories of invasions of Argyll from Ireland,
but these are not considered authentic...The first kings of Dál Riata whose
existences are reasonably sure are Fergus's grandsons Gabrán mac Domangairt
and Comgall, or perhaps his great-grandson Áedán mac Gabráin.
The domain of the Cenél nGabraín, eponymous for Gabrán mac Domangairt, appears
to have been centred in Kintyre and Knapdale and may have included Arran,
Jura and Gigha. The title king of Kintyre is used of a number of presumed
kings of the Cenél nGabrain. Two probable royal sites are known, Dunadd, which
lies at the northern edge of their presumed lands, and Aberte (or Dún Aberte),
which is very likely the later Dunaverty on the headland beside Southend,
Kintyre.
A genealogy of David I of Scotland in the Book of Ballymote notes the following
divisions:
- After Áedán mac Gabráin, between the main line, called "the sons of Eochaid
Buide" and "the children of Cináed mac Ailpín", and the "sons of Conaing"
- After Eochaid Buide, between the main line and the "children of Fergus
Goll" and the "children of Connad Cerr ... or the men of Fife"
- After Eochaid mac Domangairt, between the main line and the Cenél Comgaill
Genealogies from Rawlinson B 502
Comparative Moravian and Scottish Genealogies
This table is a comparison of the genealogies apparently used by the Kings
of Muireb and of (southern) Alba. Both trace their descent
to Ercc. All three, incidentally, are called King of Alba in the
manuscript. |
| Genealogy of Máel Snechtai |
Genealogy of Macbethad |
Genealogy of Máel Colum II |
- Máel Snechtai
- Lulach
- Gilla Comgáin
- Máel Brigte
- RuadrĂÂ
- Domnall
- Morggán
- Cathamal
- RuadrĂÂ
- Ailgelach
- Ferchar
- Feradach
- Fergus
- Nechtan
- Colmán
- Báetán
- Echdach
- Muiredach
- Loarn (hence Cenél
Loairn)
- Ercc
- Echdach Muinremuir
|
- -
- -
- Macbethad
- FindlĂÂĄech
- RuadrĂÂ
- Domnall
- MorggĂÂĄn
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
|
- -
- -
- -
- Máel Coluim
- Cináed
- Máel Coluim
- Domnall
- CausantĂÂn
- Cináed
- AlpĂÂn
- Eochaid
- ĂÂed Find
- Domangard
- Domnall Brecc
- Eochaid Buide
- ĂÂedan
- Gabrán (hence Cenél nGabráin)
- Domangard
- Fergus (MĂÂłr)
- Ercc
- Echach Muinremuir
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Amongst the kings of Dalriada, the succession alternated between the descendants
of Erc, with those of Fergus dominating. In fact, after Loarn, the kingship
did not pass to this branch of the family until Ferchar Fota, who died in
697. Two sons, and then two grandsons of Ferchar Fota came to the throne,
but after this it remained firmly in the hands of the descendants of Fergus.
At the time of Ferchar Fota's reign, Dalriada was a weakened kingdom; the
throne was fleetingly held by the various claimants, and the Scots were dominated
by the Picts. Only Selbach of the Tribe of Loarn had a long reign of twenty-three
years.
The descent of the MacKays through the Tribe of Loarn is as follows: Loarn,
a king of Dalriada around 500, had a son Muredaig, who had a son Ethach, who
had a son Buadan, who had a son Colman, who had a son Sneachtain, who had
a son Fergus, who had a son Feradach, who had a son Ferchar Fota, the king
of Dalriada from 696 until his death in 697, who had a son Aircellach, the
king of Dalriada from 697 until his death in 698, who had a son Ruadri.3 Ruadri
was the brother of Muiredach, the last king of Dalriada to come from the Tribe
of Loarn (died around 736). From this Ruadri is descended the Royal House
of Moray, and from them came the MacKays. The pedigree of the Tribe of Loarn
is given in Table 2. Also in this table is the descent of all the kings of
Dalriada from Fergus to Kenneth MacAlpin.
from the genealogies in the Books of Leinster, Ballymote and Leccan
, as quoted in William F. Skene, Celtic Scotland: A History of Ancient
Alban , v. III, (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1890). p. 476.
The Scottish Kings of Dalriada
Erc
|
--------------=================================
| |
Fergus Loarn
(501) |
| |
Domangart |
(?506) Muredaig
| |
------------------------------------------------ |
| | |
Comgall Gabran Ethach
(?538) (558 or 560) |
| | |
| ----------------------------------| |
Conall | | Buadan
(574) EoganĂĄn AedĂĄn |
| | (?608) |
| | | |
Connad Cerr | Eochaid Buide Colman
(629) DĂșncath (629) |
| | | |
| | ----------------| |
| | | | |
Ferchar ? Domnall Brecc | Sneachtain
(?650) | (642) Conall Crandomna |
| | (660) |
DĂșnchad | | Fergus
"son of DubĂĄn" | | |
(660) | ------------- |
| Domangart | | |
? (673) Maelduin Domnall Donn Feradach
| | (689) (696) |
| | |
Fiannamail Eochaid Ferchar Fota
nepos DĂșnchado (AU) (697) (697)
(700) | |
| =============----
-------------| | |
| | Aircellach Selbach
| | (698) (723)
Eochaid | | |
(?733) Alpin --------======= DĂșngal
| (?736) | | (?726)
| Muiredach Ruadri
----------------------- (?736)
| |
Aed Find Fergus
(778) (781) (###) yeare reign ended
| |-------------- (AU) Annals of Ulster
| | | | ancestry of the
Eochaid Constantine Oengus MacKays
| (820) (834)
| | |
Ailpin Domnall EoganĂĄn
(?842) (?805) (839)
|
Kenneth MacAlpin
(858)
In Dalriada, the first nation of Scots established in present-day Scotland,
the two ruling houses were the House of Gabhran and the House of Loarn. Kenneth
mac Alpin (843 AD) was of the House of Gabhran, and when he united Pictland
and Dalriada into the single kingdom of Alba, he shut out the House of Loarn
from succession, alternating the kingship instead with his brother Aed's house.
This went on until for nearly 200 years, until Malcolm II decided to keep
the kingship for his own heir, Duncan. Apparently, by killing all the eligible
claimants from the alternate house--including an unnamed son or grandson of
Boite, who was either brother or nephew to Macbeth's wife, Gruoch.
The House of Loarn after mac Alpin moved into northern Scotland, specifically
the Mortuath of Moray where, ensconced in their highland fastness, they ruled
as kings in their own right. The Book of Kells, source of much history from
this time period, refers to the ruler of Moray and the high king of Alba with
the same term: King of Scots. Moray was a constant thorn in the side of the
Alban high kings, and many battles are recorded between the high king's forces
and the men of Moray. In 1040, the righ and foremost warlord of the House
of Loarn was Macbeth.