KINGS OF PICTLAND - THE WRGUIST (aka FERGUS) DYNASTY

Read on if you're interested in Pictish Kings, Saint Columba's relics, the ecclesiastical sites of Dunkeld and Saint Andrews and ancient powerful families.

The Pictish Wrguist family are a very interesting bunch when it comes to the ancient Kings of Northern Britain.  Holding the Pictish throne for over 50 years and grandsons of a badass warlord, I'm certain they've got some interesting stories to tell. I've spent a bit more time reading into the Wrguists.  Up to the death of King Wen, they continuously held the throne in the 50 years before the huge battle of 839 AD (the one that seems to have so influenced Cinaed mac Ailpin's fortunes).  Look back another 60 years to 729 AD and we're at the beginning of the reign of King Wen's great-grandad Onuist, the warlord who subjugated the lands of Dal Riada during his 8th century reign.  This is a family who must have had a huge influence throughout Pictavia for over 100 years.

Above is their family tree constructed using info from Woolf and Clarkson and below are a few alternative name spellings (I hope I've got this right):

• Causantin son of Wrguist /  Constantine son of Fergus (reigned 789-820)
• Onuist son of Wrguist / Oengus son of Fergus (reigned 820-34)
• Drust son of Causantin / Drest son of Constantine co reigned with and Talorcan son Wthoil (reigned 834-7)
• Wen son of Onuist / Eoganan (aka Eogan) son of Oengus (reigned 837-839)

So back to my man handsome Wen.

Still not King Wen. Just a handsome bearded bloke I can
pretend is Wen

King Wen appears to have been the last King of the Wrguist dynasty when he died at the battle of 839AD along with his brother Bran and the King of Dal Riada. After his death, 5 kings (mostly relations of the Wrad family) tussled over the Pictish throne for the next 9 years until Cinaed mac Ailpin secured his claim on it around 847/848 AD.

In the 50 years before the Battle of 839 AD the Wrguist reign came from the bloodline of two brothers - Onuist and Causantin.  Wen was a son of Onuist.  Since 820, his father had ruled over Pictland whilst his cousin, Domnall (son of uncle Causantin) was King of Dal Riada.  Both Kings died at around the same time, his father Onuist in 834 and his cousin Domnall in 835.  No idea if this is linked. After the death of his father, another cousin called Drust co-ruled Pictavia with a chap called Talorcan for 3 years (834-837).  If Pictland was still a two part division then Talorcan may have ruled north of the mounth and Drust south.  Single overkingship was then restored by Wen 2 years before the Battle of 839 AD.

When I see a family tree, or rather a kingly tree, like the one above my imagination immediately starts filling in the gaps.  Who were the sisters?  Who were the wives?  What about the brothers and sons not kingly enough to mention?  If uncle Causantin's son ruled over Dal Riada, might some of King Wen's female cousins or even aunts and sisters have married into the cenela Kings of Dal Riada such as the Cenel nGabrain and Cenel Loairn?  (The cenela were sub Kings or tribe leaders within Dal Riada.)  If we assume Cinaed mac Ailpin was ethnically a gael from Dal Riada, could he have married into this powerful Pictish royal family which then helped in his claim for the throne? (again, pink highlights for my guesswork). Or, if we assume Cinaed had Pictish blood, might this be the family through which he claimed his right to rule?

And what happened to this mighty family after 839 AD?  I can't believe that after all those years in power, spent drawing noble families close to them, gathering money and land, that they just disappeared (even with the legends of the Mac Ailpin Treason and the slaughter of Pictish nobles).  They must have continued to have an influence, one way or the other.  Or if Cinaed was a part of this family, either through blood or marriage, they didn't really disappear at all. 

Who knows.  But we do know some of the things that the brothers Onuist and Causantin got up to during their reigns.  These brothers liked their holy relics and shiny new churches.

King Causantin, Dunkeld Church and the relics that never turned up 

The 9th century ecclesiastical centre at Dunkeld is often linked to Cinaed mac Ailpin's reign and the moving of Columba's relics around 847 AD.  But Dunkeld and its relationship with Columba's relics seemed to start with Wen's uncle, King Causantin, between 789 and 820 AD.

Scandinavian raiders attacked the coast of Causantin's Kingdom throughout his reign.  Saint Columba's relics, housed in the monastery Columba had set up on the western island of Iona around 250 years previous, were at risk.  In 806 AD following a Viking raid on the island which left 68 of the community dead, the Columban monks took refuge in a new monastery at Kells, County Meath in Ireland (source). If we believe the Book of Kells was started at Iona, then it's possible it was moved with the monks during this time.  Cellach, Iona's abbot during Causantin's reign, decided to remove Saint Columba's bones from Iona to the enlarged Kells monastery.  The abbot agreed with King Causantin that Columba's precious bones would be divided between Kells in Ireland and Dunkeld, the Pictish King's new church.  Given Columba was the apostle of Fortriu, the Pictish King probably wasn't too keen to see all the relics taken to Ireland.

But the bones weren't moved to Dunkeld until 849 during Cinaed's reign. What happened during those years?

Having just finished reading the excellent 'The Bone Thief' by V.M.Whitworth I'm of course thinking the relics were hidden from raiders and the location temporarily forgotten.  Or were the relics moved to a half way house, but didn't arrive at Dunkeld until Cinaed got his hands on them?  Or maybe Cinaed took the credit for something that had already been done by Causantin?!

Speaking of Columba's bones, the Monymusk Reliquary, made in 750 AD is thought to have been used to carry some of the bones into battle.  But whether that actually happened is debated.

The Monymush Reliquary.  May, or may not, have carried Columba's bones into battle

Causantin's church and Cinaed's later structure lie beneath the even later medieval cathedral which still stands beside the River Tay.  This site was already important to the Picts before Causantin's church was built. To the west a prominent hill called King's Seat dominates north-south communication along this part of the valley.  In prehistoric times this hill was the fort of the Caledonians, a stronghold of ancient power whose looming presence bestowed great prestige on the Christian settlement nestling below (Clarkson, pg 173).  If I've correctly found a photo from somewhere near the King's Seat below (thanks Google Maps) then the view is certainly spectacular.

Dunkeld Cathedral, where Cinaed's and Causantin's Church once stood. Photo by Marius Galbuogis

The view from Dunkeld Cathedral looking out onto the River Tay and the King's Seat.  Photo by Marius Galbuogis

I *think* this is the view from King's Seat back down towards the River Tay. Photo by Daniel Muller

View up the River Tay from Dunkeld Bridge - Google Street View

King Onuist and the Church of Saint Andrew

King Onuist (aka Oengus aka Wen's Dad) ruled after his brother Causantin's death from 820-834AD.  During his reign Onuist also developed a key ecclesiastical site.  His was the church of Saint Andrew in Kilrymont on the coast of Fife, likely to be somewhere between the cathedral and the area today known as Kirkhill.  Much like Causantin's choice of site in Dunkeld the site that Onuist chose already had royal associations, linked with the great warrior king Onuist I (Oengus), who was his namesake and granddad (King Wen's great grandfather).  It was also likely that a monastery was already present.

Much like Columba's relics at Dunkeld there is another interesting story about the relics of Saint Andrew arriving in Kilrymont.  Clarkson (pg 174) describes a story that seems to have developed in the mid 9th century to enhance the status of the site, suggesting that Onuist's reign was also suitably enhanced through association with Saint Andrew.  In the story a priest called Regulus or Rule travelled to Britain, so say from Constantinople, with Saint Andrew's sacred bones. On reaching Pictland, Regulus met Onuist who granted land at Kilrymont for the foundation of a church which in later centuries developed into the great cathedral of Scotland's patron saint.  All likely to be false.  Ahh Kings and their tales.

Another story about bones.  It's possible that Onuist was the person who commissioned the below 'sarcophagus' in commemoration of his great-grandad and namesake Onuist.  In 1833 several pieces of sculptured stone were unearthed from a grave in the cemetary of St Andrews Cathedral.   These pieces formed the broken remains of an ancient coffin or sarcophagus that would have been displayed in a prominent position within the church.  An old legend identified the founder of the monastery as a king called 'Hungus' whose name in Pictish language would be Onuist or Unuist.  More info here over on Tim Clarkson's blog.

Photo by B Keeling

Photo by B Keeling

Photo by B Keeling

Map of the two ecclesiastical sites (Dunkeld and Saint Andrews) and the royal palace of Forteviot.

Locations from right to left: Dunkeld (top left), Forteviot (bottom left), Saint Andrews (bottom right)

So what does this tell me about Cinaed mac Ailpin?  It highlights a few things (in pink is my guesswork):

• That the Wrguist's were a very important family in Pictland only 10 years prior to Cinaed's reign
• Causantin (aka Constantine) set up an ecclesiastical site in Dunkeld and aimed to move Columba's relics.  Cinaed finished the move of the relics, may have built further on Dunkeld and called his son Constantine.  Could be fan-boyism or maybe tribute to a family member?
• Given the long reign of the Wrguist, might Cinaed have married into the Wrguists or be from their bloodline on the maternal side
• The power of the Wrguists may have been felt beyond 839AD, would their blood really have died off in that battle, epic though it was?

WAS THE 1ST KING OF SCOTLAND A PICT OR A GAEL?

I've been trying to work out if the infamous Kenneth MacAlpin, the 1st King of Scotland who united the Pictish people and the Gaels, was himself a Pict...or a Gael.

I care about this because my protagonist is alive in Scotland in 858AD.  Cinaed mac Ailpin, aka Kenneth MacAlpin the 'First King of Scotland', is coming towards the end of his reign.  Cinaed is hailed as uniting the Gaelic speaking Scots of Dal Riata in the west of Scotland and the Picts in the East.  But 'first King of Scotland' seems to have been a title given to him by latter history rather than representative of what was happening then.  Contemporary sources do however call him King of the Picts.

Cinaed Mac Ailpin of the mighty moustache and fancy braids (that's him with the big sword and hip axe)

So, was King Cinaed a Gael who conquered the Picts, a Pict who succeeded to the throne, or a bit of both?  It's important to me that I try to unpick this so I can attempt to represent the tensions happening across the different peoples and hopefully get a sense of who is allied with who.  Those tensions are pretty central to my story!

It's very tricky though. Trying to unpick the order of Kings in 9th century Scotland is like one of those logic puzzles where you piece one bit of information to a hoard of clues, cross out something that can no longer fit and then a clue turns up that throws it all up in the air.  I'm still not sure I've figured it out yet...but here's my first effort.

I'm not a historian, just someone who likes historical research, so I apologise in advance for the inevitable errors and look forward to any help in making corrections!  If you can help clarify anything below, even if it's to give a thumbs up that it matches your understanding, I'd be hugely grateful.

Right, let's start with what I can glean from Alex Woolf's book 'From Pictland to Alba, 789-1070'.

839AD is a good place to start.  Because in the year 839 there is an epic battle in which the power of Scottish rule began to shift and Cinaed mac Ailpin (aka Kenneth MacAlpin) rose up in the vaccuum.

First, a map, just so we know roughly where we are talking about.  See Dal Riata on the left and Pictavia on the right.

The Epic Battle of 839AD 

I haven't yet come across a name for this battle so let's call 'The Epic Battle of 839' for sake of reference. Woolf describes it as:

...one of the most decisive and important battles in British history (pg 66)

The Vikings (heathens) battled the men of Fortriu (the Picts) killing the Pictish King and his brother. The Dal Riatan King was also killed, and many more were slaughtered in the battle. The Annals of Ulster record the battle as follows:

839.9 The heathens won a battle over the men of Fortriu and Wen son of Onuist and Bran son of Onuist and Aed son of Boanta and others almost innumerable fell there.

The words ‘others almost innumerable fell there’ makes me feel sad. I can’t help but think this battle must have haunted the memories of the Pictish and Dal Riatan people, lamented in songs which never made it through the passage of time.  That a vast number of people died in the battle suggests that this was not a Viking raid but a culmination of a campaign in which Wen gathered together his forces (pg 66).

So who were these dead Kings?

Let’s first look at Wen, who died with his brother Bran in battle.

King Wen, son of Onuist, King of the Picts

Here’s King Wen.

Not actually King Wen of the Picts but let's pretend he is.

Clearly, this isn’t what Wen actually looked like, just some random bearded bloke I’ve found on the internet. But with so many names, it helps me get my head around it if I imagine them with faces! It also amuses me to imagine these ancient kings as handsome hipsters (hey, it worked for Peter Jackson…). I hope I’m not offending and you can still take me seriously…and these dudes have already died come the time of my setting.  This is my backstory.

What do we know about Wen, King of Fortriu, King of the Picts, who died in the Epic Battle of 839?

• He reigned for 2–3 years, around 836/837–839 (pg 66)
• Aka Eoganan son of Oengus* (gaelicised version of his name)(pg 61)
• Wen is descendent of the Dynasty of Wrguist, a powerful family that had dominated Pictavia for at least 50 years (789–839). Wrguist was his grandfather. His uncle, King Constantin ruled for 30 (!) years and may have founded Dunkeld — the chief church of Columba (Columba is the apostle of Fortriu).
• Wen’s father, Onuist, went on to rule for another 14 years after Constantin[pg65–66]. On Onuist’s death in 834 his nephew Drest son of Constantin (Wen’s cousin) co-ruled Pictavia with a chap called Talorcan son of Wthoil. Then Wen took the throne around 836 or 837 and reigned for 2 years before dying in the Epic Battle.
• *(or maybe Wen reigned for 13 years….I’m struggling to unpick this one. Woolf on pg 66 describes Wen as being Eognanan of the Scottish lists…which puts Eognanan’s reign from 826–839. Where have I got confused?)

However long King Wen’s reign, it’s clear that he was a member of a very powerful family, a family who ruled the Picts and the Dal Riatans. A king who could call the Dal Riatan King Aed to his side to support him in battle (which suggests that Pictish King Wen was over-king of the Dal Riatan’s). So what happened when he and his brother Bran died? Who took the throne next? Before we unpick that, let’s look a bit more at Aed, King of Dal Riata at the time of the epic battle.

King Aed, son of Boanta, King of Dal Riata

Let's pretend this Aed mac Boanta, King of Dal Riata

What do we know about Aed son of Boanta, King of Dal Riata?

• He reigned from 835–839 (pg 63)
• He was probably a vassal to King Wen, the Pictish King (hence joining the Epic Battle of 839)
• Before King Aed, Dal Riata was ruled by Constantin’s son Domnall — a Pictish prince (Domnall’s father was Constantin of the Wrguist dynasty above). The occupation of Dal Riata seemed to begin in 811 [pg 98], with Domnall reigning as King of Dal Riata for 24 years (811–835) under the control of his father and then uncle, Onuist. Which makes Prince Domnall the cousin of Pictish King Wen…(I’m using Woolf’s Dal Riatan King List on pg 64 for this).

So, was King Aed of the Dal Riatan’s Pictish or a Gael? I’m not sure, there could be 2 scenarios here. 

1.  Given that King Wen of the Pictish Wrguist dynasty was the over-King, and the previous King of Dal Riata was a Pictish prince in occupied Dal Riata, King Aed could be Pictish royalty of the Wrguist dynasty.  But, if Aed was a Pict...would that mean Wen is the first King of united Scotland rather than the MacAlpin family?  ok, scenario 2...
2. King Aed is a Scot and rules over Dal Riata as vassal to King Wen.  

I'm going to go with scenario 2 until I come across something else that makes me think differently.

What happened when the Pictish and Dal Riatan Kings died in 839?

Right, so the situation is that the Picts have just suffered a *horrific* loss to the Vikings. The Pictish and Dal Riatan Kings are dead. So to is the Pictish King’s brother and a lot of important Lords. That seems like a pretty big power vacuum? The Wrguist empire might be beginning to crumble…so what happened next?

King Wen is dead. Who is the next King of the Picts?

This is Wrad.  With his 3 sons he will attempt to rule Pictavia for
the next 9ish years.  They all die trying.

On King Wen’s death, a chap called Wrad rises up and takes the Pictish throne. He’ll rule Pictavia for the next 3 years, and his 3 sons — Bred, Kyneth and Drest/Drust, will attempt to rule for the 6 years after his death.

The Pictish king list below is taken from a combination of the Poppleton manuscript and Lebor Bretnach manuscript. It suggests Cinaed (that’s the King I’m trying to work out whether he’s a Gael or a Pict) became King of Pictavia soon after Wrad, with a very short rule between Wrad and Cinaed from a chap called Bred (pg93).

1. King Wen of the Wrguist dynasty dies in 839
2. Wrad son of Bargoit (aka Ferat son of Barot) reigns for 3 years (839–841ish)
3. Bred (not sure whose son) reigns for 1 year (842?)
4. Cinaed son Ailpin reigns for 16 years (842–858)

Another set of lists (pg 97) suggests that Cinaed’s rule in Pictavia was disputed and didn’t actually start in 842, listing other Kings after Bred. It also gives Bred a patronym - ‘son of Ferat’ - aka son of Wrad. If taken at face value the list looks a bit more like the below, with Wrad and his son's wrestling to keep the throne between 839-ish and 847-ish (pg97–98).

1. King Wen of the Wrguist dynasty dies in 839
2. Wrad son of Bargoit (aka Ferat son of Barot) reigns for 3 years (839–841ish) 
3. Bred son of Wrad 
4. Kyneth son of Wrad 
5. Brude son of Fochal
6. Drust/Drest son of Wrad 
7. Cinaed son Ailpin reigns from 847ish - 858

King Wrad may have had a royal hall at Miegle (Perthshire) which was almost certainly an important church settlement. Cinaed’s eventual victory over the Wrad Family may have been one in which Dal Riata and Fortriu were allied against the people of the Tay Basin (pg 101).

Who is King of Dal Riata after King Aed dies in battle?

King Cinaed

The Chronicles of the Kings of Alba (CKA) records that Cinaed mac Ailpin…

‘two years before he came to Pictavia, assumed the kingship of Dal Riata’ (pg95)

If Cinaed ruled Pictavia from 842, and Dal Riata from about 2 years previous, this could take us back to 839. So my King, King Cinaed, may have succeeded directly following the death of King Aed. As with the the Dal Riatan Kings before him, Cinaed may have ruled Dal Riata under Pictish control. (pg96).

Neither Cinaed, nor his father’s name Alpin are diagnostically Gaelic or Pictish (pg97). So at this point I’m still not clear whether King Cinaed was a Gael, risen up to reclaim the Dal Riatan throne from the Picts, or ruling Dal Riata under Pictish control, which I presume would be vassal to King Wrad above.

Can looking at later Kings of Pictavia help unpick whether Cinaed was originally a Pict or a Gael?

Maybe it would help to look at what happened after Cinaed died and his brother, Domnall mac Ailpin, took the throne? The entry in the CKA says:

Duuenaldus (Domnall)…held the kingdom iiii years. In his time the rights and laws of the kingdom, of Aed son of Eochaid, were made by the Gaels with their King at Forteviot.

The bit that Alex Woolf (author of the book I’m gleaning all this from) finds interesting is that if Cinaed had led a Scottish conquest of the Picts one would assume that King of the Gaels would be Domnall himself…but the text seems to imply that King of the Gaels is someone other than Domnall? Woolf doesn’t think this is remarkable, even if Cinaed had been King of Dal Riata as well as king of the Picts that doesn’t mean Domnall succeeded to both kingships. It could have gone to another brother of Cinaed, or cousin, or descendent of a previous Dal Riatan King (I’m wondering whether one of King Aed’s kin, that Dal Riatan king who died in the Epic Battle of 839?). Maybe Domnall just didn’t have the social networks to pull of reigning both Pictavia and Dal Riata. Dal Riata is also likely to have been under Scandinavian occupation at this point. The above event mentioned in the CKA may have been an oath to maintain good relations between Dal Riata and Pictavia during Domnall’s reign (pg 105–106).

So, it doesn’t tell us whether Cinaed (and his brother Domnall) were Picts or Gaels, just that Domnall wasn’t King of Dal Riata. I recall Domall being a ‘son of a wanton foreigner’ (I can’t remember where) so maybe the brothers had different mothers and this made a difference? Something to explore further.

There is some pondering around whether the next King after Domnall — Constantin (Cinaed’s son) - was named after the Constantin of the Wrguist dynasty (that would be Pictish King Wen’s uncle) and was therefore claiming descent through the female line (pg 106). I take that to mean Cinaed marrying into the House of Wrguist, maybe a sister of King Wen. Doesn’t seem….unreasonable? (I'm going to highlight my guessing and hypotheses, just to be clear that this is just GUESSWORK) A good power play to associate with a powerful Pictish family who had ruled for the previous 50 years? Maybe Cinaed married the widow of King Aed who died in the Battle of 839, Aed who had been King of Dal Riata immediately prior to Cinaed taking the throne…? Or….maybe Cinaed just liked the name Constantin.

Was King Cinaed a Gael or a Pict?

So back to my original question, was King Cinaed who reigned over Pictavia from 842ish to 858 AD a Gael who conquered the Picts, a Pict who succeeded to the throne, or a bit of both?

At the moment….I’m still not sure. But here’s what I’ve concluded:

• Cinaed ruled Dal Riata from 839 when he took the throne after King Aed mac Boanta died in the Battle of 839.
• Dal Riata was under the Pictish rule of the powerful House of Wrguist from at least 811. I’m looking forward to thinking about how the House of Wrguist and descendents/kin of Wen plays a role in my story!
• Four members of the family of Wrad attempted to rule Pictavia between 839 and 847ish.
• Domnall mac Ailpin, brother of Cinaed, probably didn’t rule Dal Riata, just Pictavia, when Cinaed died.

Here's some pretty much out of thin air guesses I'm making (remember, pink highlight means I've got nothing to back it up!) which I'll correct or confirm where possible as I continue reading:

• Cinaed might have identified as a Scot/Gael prior to becoming King of the Picts
• Cinaed's father was a Scot.  A woman - either his mother or Grandmother, was Pictish
• Might Cinaed have got some of his fighting power by  marrying a Pictish woman, maybe even from the powerful House of Wrguist? What about Aed mac Boanta's widow (the King of Dal Riata who died in the 839 battle)

And, here’s some hypotheses/questions I’m going to explore further:

• If Cinaed was a Pict, was he associated with either the House of Wrguist or the Family Wrad or someone else (Wrad is that chap who took the Pictish throne after King Wen died in battle)?

• Is Family Wrad linked to House of Wrguist or are they another family who saw an opportunity to rule Pictavia?

• If Cinaed was a Gael, what family or Cenel was he associated with? And how did he increase his power to conquer the Picts?

• Did Cinaed and Domnall have different mothers (i.e. son of a wanton foreigner) and did this have some influence on Domnall not being King of Dal Riata?

• Who was Aed mac Boanta (the King of Dal Riata who died in 839)? Could he have been linked to the house of Wrguist — maybe a cousin to Wen?

If you have anything to help me shortcut these questions, please let me know. I’m on Twitter @GUGAW or you can comment below.