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Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scots and Picts

© Matthew White

Circa 810 AD a man named Ciniod Mac Alpin was born in Dalriada. His father was Alpin Mac Eochaid, the rightful King of Scots, and his mother was either a daughter of Achalas, King of Argyllshire or a princess of the royal lines of the Picts. Through his parents, he was a strong contender for the thrones of both the Scots and Picts. At that time, the Scots' kingdom of Dalriada was under the rule of the Pictish king, Oengus II. Alpin Mac Eochaid, in 834 AD, rebelled against the Pictish King of Scots and Picts. Both the Scottish Alpin and the Pictish Oengus died in battle in 834 AD.

However there was another factor at that time. The Vikings had been raiding the coasts of Scotland, destroying, pillaging and plundering the peoples regardless of race. They were the enemy of both Scots and Picts. By 839AD the Norsemen had conquered and settled Shetland, the Outer Hebrides and as far south as the mouth of the Clyde. Dalriada was being harassed by the long boats of the Vikings.

In 839 Ad, the Vikings killed the Pictish king, Eogan (or Uen), his successor and much of the ruling class of the Picts, leaving them seriously weakened. Ciniod was then able to reclaim Dalriada from the Picts. About 841 AD he was crowned King of Scots, taking the first name of Kenneth.

Kenneth now pressed his claim to the throne of the Picts but a Pict named Drust became King of Caledonia. He was to be the last Pictish king. Kenneth was desperate and resorted to what is known to this day as MacAlpin's Treason. He invited the noble families of the Picts to a banquet. King Drust and the remaining Earls of Caledonia attended the feast, where they were murdered. In 'De Instructione Principus', Giraldus Cambresis recounts how the Pictish King and his nobles were plied with drinks and became inebriated. The Scots then pulled bolts from the benches, trapping the Picts in concealed pits which they had previously constructed under the benches. The trenches were set with spears so that the Picts were impaled. Any survivors were soon finished off

Kenneth now became King of both Scots and Picts, although much of the territory of Caledonia was occupied by Vikings. Kenneth called the new kingdom Alba, and ruled until 859 Ad. He transferred his capital from Dunndald to Scone, in the heart of Pictish land. The Stone of Destiny, which had been brought from Ireland, was also moved to Scone. This stone was used in the coronation ceremony of the Kings of Dalriada and for hundreds of years the Kings of Scots would sit on it to be crowned. While not the first monarch to rule both Picts and Scots, Kenneth founded a kingdom that remained united. There was undoubtedly much Pictish resistance to his usurping of the throne, but, weakened and harassed by the Vikings and with their nobility dead, the Picts were unable to reclaim their kingdom.

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