To assess the most important reasons for the emergence of a single, dominant kingdom within Scotland between the reigns of Kenneth I and MacBeth, there has to be investigation into lives and conquests of the Dark Age warlord kings who ruled different regions of that ancient land. The political events that led to the demise of certain kingdoms while extending the territory of others need also to be understood.
Diverse Kingdoms
The land that is now Scotland was once populated by different peoples, each with their own culture and leadership. What is now known as the Lowlands was inhabited by Britons whose kingdom was Strathclyde. South of this was the kingdom of Rheged, whose lands may have extended beyond the Borders.
These lands were seized by the Anglians of Northumbria so that the P-Celtic Britons of Southern Scotland were now under the rule of the Anglians, with the exception of Strathclyde. The Picts ruled all the land north of the River Forth. The Anglians also tried to conquer Southern Pictland, which was situated in what is now Perthshire, but were thwarted by the Pictish King Bridei in 685 AD. Perhaps the Picts were the only people inhabiting Scotland at the beginning of the first millennium.
Around 500 AD, Gaels from the North of Ireland migrated to Argyll. These were actually the first known Scots - from the Scotti tribes of Dalriata - who had their small kingdom in what is now Antrim. They named their corner of Scotland after their own home across the sea.
Diverse Peoples
Both Pictish and Gaelic peoples had their own king whose premise appears to have been the extension of their territories. The Scots (Gaels) were involved in skirmishes with their Pictish neighbours and it has been suggested that Dalriata may have come under Pictish domination around 741 AD. These thrusts for more land and power over neighbouring peoples were halted by the Viking raids, which had begun in the 8th century.
Dalriata (or Dalriada) especially suffered, as their coastal kingdom was open to these sea-faring raiders who landed in the many inlets and bays of the west coast of Scotland, on every plunder undertaken by them. By this time in Scottish history, Christianity had come to the Pictish/Scottish peoples and with it came the riches of the monasteries and churches, which were perfect targets for the Vikings. Eventually, the inhabitants of the exposed west of Scotland settled in the kingdom of the Picts where they were safe from the repeated onslaught of the Norse raiders.
Kenneth mac Alpin
Eventually, the Scots and the Picts came to be unified under Alpin - a Scot - and his successors, the first of whom was his son Kenneth mac Alpin, who made himself king of everything north of the River Forth. This was a direct result of a Viking raid on the Picts, which resulted in the death of their king, probably destroying the royal line. Therefore, Alpin seized the Pictish crown for himself.
This was the beginning of the unification of peoples in a land now known as Alba/Scotia. Henceforth, Kenneth mac Alpin became known as Kenneth I.
Norse Lands
Meanwhile, by about 820 AD, Viking settlers were beginning to appear in Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. By the end of the 9th century, they had conquered the above lands and these were followed by Caithness and Sutherland. The lands settled by the Norsemen were ruled by a Norse hierarchy. Orkney became an earldom, under the control of the Norwegian king. Norse settlers dominated much of the north and west of Scotia.
The Viking raids of previous times had quietened and Norsemen were settling down in their acquired lands. Eventual amalgamation with the rest of Scotland came through the marriages of prominent Norse leaders/kings with Scottish princesses.
One such union was between Earl Sigurd and the daughter of Malcolm II of Scotland, who was the son of Kenneth II. Although the embryonic Scottish nation did not realise it, its unification was slowly being realised.
Columba's Influence
The emergence of a single Scottish kingdom from Dark Age warlord rivalry is partly owed to Columba's missionaries' journeys into Pictland, to spread the word of Christ. As more and more people accepted the Christian doctrines, the Alban Kings conceded that there was a higher authority than themselves. As individual kingdoms merged under one king, monastic blessing was treasured by those kings, who saw it as a powerful symbol of their authority.
The Unification of Scotland
At the time of Kenneth I, only a chunk of Scotland was referred to as "Scotia." In Moray, in the north-east, members of the Dalriada ruling family were in control. It took Scotia's rulers centuries to subdue the kingdom of Moray.
Moray was ruled by Mormaers, or earls as they later came to be known. It was semi-independent of the rest of the young realm of Scotland. This realm was still developing. Scotia gained control, first of Strathclyde then of Lothian. Britons and Angles presented real threats.
Strathclyde eventually merged into the kingdom of Scotia through the marriage of one of one of Kenneth I's daughters to a Strathclyde king. Thereafter, Strathclyde was known as a "dower kingdom," given to a member of Scotia's royal kin-group to rule until the time came for him to rule the kingdom of Scotia.
The Birth of a Single, Dominant Nation
The emergence of a new, single dominent nation was imminent. At this stage, Scotland comprised of Pictland, Dalriada and Strathclyde. Lothian was still under Northumbrian rule, the capital being York. York was attacked by Ragnall, the grandson of Ivar of Dublin, who was of Norse origin. Constantine II, the grandson of Kenneth I, fought for Lothian, and Ragnall realised that the Scots were a powerful force and no longer an easy target for the Norse.
Thereafter, Ragnall sought the friendship of the new Scottish kingdom. Constantine strengthened his hand regarding the future kingdom of Lothian coming under Scottish rule by agreeing to a marriage between his daughter and Olaf of Dublin.
Enter the Real Macbeth
By the reign of Duncan I, the Mormaer of Moray was Macbeth. Duncan attempted to bring Moray under Scottish control and was killed in battle by Macbeth. Moray was now merged with the rest of Scotland and Macbeth ruled over the entire, single nation. He ruled for seventeen prosperous years until he was killed in battle by Duncan's eldest son, Malcolm.
Scotland, not Pictland
The emergence of a single, dominant kingdom in Scotland was a long, laboured process of many centuries. From the Dark Age warlords to the God-ordained medieval kings of Macbeth's time, the paradigms slowly changed to encompass primogeniture as the means to lawful rights of kingship instead of the bloodlusty raids of former ages. Pictland was no more. The Roman name 'Pict' appears no longer relevant in its relation to the emergant state, Scotia. The small Gaelic land from which Alpin sprang subsumed the Pictish nation into its own.
Sources
Fitzroy Maclean. 2002. Scotland: A Concise History. 2nd rev. ed.
Gordon Menzies. 2002. Who are the Scots? and The Scottish Nation
Fiona Watson. 2001. Scotland. A History
Doreen Taylor - Conscientious and committed to good writing, I will endeavour to do my best for all my writers. I adore reading and learning new things ...
