14/02/2025
ON THIS DAY (1 of 2):
SECOND EDIT: map, originally published by History Scotland and shared to illustrate the development of territories in the 800s removed. Not sure I deserve to be called “pathetic” for sharing it and it certainly became a distraction to my writing below.
EDIT: I’m aware the map is not accurate in some (but not all) details, but it’s the only map I’d seen which shows the developing (not developed) territories this post talks about - it came from History Scotland magazine. THE POST ISN’T ABOUT THE MAP, it was just used to give an image to relate what I’ve written below to… Enjoy:
On the 13th February 858 Kenneth MacAlpin, the first combined King of Scots and Picts (but not the king of Alba or Scotland) and the king who combined the Pictish and Irish Scots-Gaelic Kingdoms in the 840s died from a tumour. It’s worth looking at the wider history surrounding his existence to understand just how important he was in uniting large areas of what would become “Scotland”.
The 800s saw the demise of the four kingdoms which had developed territories from the 400s, including the progressive downfall of the Pictish kingdom towards the end of the century. But alongside this, modern Scotland and our modern place names were quickly progressing towards the beginning of their development.
Viking invasions had begun in 793 AD and had initially focussed on north east England, the northern Isles, the western Isles and the west coast of Scotland. Iona was a particular target and this developed violently in the early 800s.
The capture and settlement of the Orkney Isles in c.800 was a hugely important tactical success for the Vikings who were to launch invasions onto the north coast of mainland Scotland during the later part of this century. These raids gained the Vikings the southern lands of their kingdom; known today as Sutherland.
The Vikings had first attacked Iona in 795, then again in 802. In 806, the Vikings killed 68 monks from the monastery on Iona. The bay now known as Martyr’s Bay is named in memory of them and may possibly be where the majority of the killings took place, or where the Viking raiders landed; although this is unknown. The Martyrs of Iona feast day is the 12th January.
The deadly plundering of Iona was followed by further attacks in 807 and 825. After populating the Outer Hebrides in c.825, the Vikings were attacked by the Irish Gaels and defeated the Irish fleet in 869. It is from this period of Norse overlordship that many place names on the Outer and Inner Hebrides originate.
It is thought that Pictish kings may have dominated Dál Riada into the early 800s, with Caustantín mac Fergusa (793–820) perhaps placing his son Domnall on the throne of Dál Riada from 811. It appears that the Scots-Gaels of Dál Riada became allies of the Picts against the Vikings. Amongst those killed during the earliest Viking invasions were the two most powerful men in the former kingdoms; the Pictish leader, Eógan mac Óengusa, and the leader of Dál Riada, Áed mac Boanta, who were both among the dead after the Vikings in 839 delivered a major defeat to the united forces of Picts and Scots-Gaels.
The Vikings did appear to cohabit in some areas. Vikings coexisted with the Irish Scot-Gaels in south-west Scotland, where the combined territory became known as Gall-Gaidel, the Norse-Irish, which has become modern Galloway.
The loss by the Scot-Gaels of Dál Riada of their Hebridean territory to the Vikings may have progressed the gaelicisation of the Pictish kingdoms, which began the process of adopting the Gaelic language and customs in this century. This appears to have led to a merger of the Gaelic and Pictish crowns, but it is unclear whether the Picts were eventually wiped out or assimilated into the Gaelic culture altogether.
This process culminated in the rise of Kenneth MacAlpin in the 840s. Kenneth is known as the first combined King of Scots and Picts before his death in 858 from a tumour. Upon his death, Kenneth is recorded as being King of Picts, with the terms Alba and Scotland still not in use.
The MacAlpin household then became the leaders of a combined Gaelic-Pictish kingdom which progressed towards the end of the century and saw the Viking ascendency in Scotland slow in its progression. There was still division within this kingdom and the MacAlpins were ousted in 878 when Áed mac Cináeda was killed by Giric mac Dúngail. The MacAplin household returned to power on the death of Giric in 889.
After raids in modern Perthshire and Fife in 839 and 866; in 867 the Vikings turned their attention to Northumbria, forming the Kingdom of Jorvik (York). Viking territories in the Scottish coastal and island regions remained strong and in 870 the Norsemen stormed the Briton fortress of Dumbarton (Alt Clut), destroying the remains of that once strong Kingdom. Subsequently the Vikings conquered much of England except for the Kingdom of Wessex.
Scotland was now divided between the Viking kingdom of the Islands and coastal territories and the Pictish-Gaelic kingdom of the MacAlpins.
The image, which I believe comes from History Scotland magazine, shows the extent of these kingdoms as they developed.
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