64) and 65) Elpin son of Wroid and Drust son of Talorgen
Both of these kings reigned within a very short period of time; approximately four years in total. The only things we know about them are their names.
66) Talorgan son of Drustan
This is probably the same king who was called ‘Dubthalorg’, i.e. Black Talorgan in the Irish Annals of Ulster. He reigned for four or five years, and is recorded as ‘A king of the Picts on this side of the Mounth’. He died in 782 A.D.
The adjective ‘dubh’ normally means black. However, when it precedes a noun or name instead of following it, as is more usually the case in Gaelic, it can also mean sad, mournful, gloomy or wicked. Hence the ‘black’ in regard to Talorgan is more likely to have been an indication of a dark personality rather than the colour of his hair. To put it another way, his nick-name was Talorgan the Surly’.
67) Talorgan son of Engus
Depending on which scribe you believe, this king reigned for either, two and a half five, or twelve and a half years. His father, Engus, may have been the same Oengus son of Uurguist (No.58) who took command during the civil war. If this is indeed a case of a son following his father onto the throne, it suggests that the matrilinear system of choosing a king was beginning to break down.
68) Canaul son of Tarl’a
Civil war had again broken out among the Picts, and King Canaul, son of Tarl’a, according to the Irish annalists, was defeated in a battle with Constantin son of Wrguist (No.69) in 789 A.D. Probably trying to strengthen his position, Canaul invaded Dalriada in 807 A.D., only to be killed by Conall Mac Aedan, leader of the Dalriadans.
Canaul son of Tarl’a, although described as a Pictish king in the oldest lists, i.e. those written in the 10th century, was probably not a king as such, but a sub-king who was chancing his luck with the big boys like Constantin. He shouldn’t have bothered. He just ended up dead!
69) Constantin son of Wrguist
Constantin, unlike his hapless predecessor, was a true Pictish king, and had come to the throne sometime around 780 A.D. Information on him is quite scanty, but we know that he defeated Conall Mac Aedan in 809 A.D. and ruled over the whole of Scotland, including Dalriada. He was the first king who not only united the Picts and Scots, but was recognised by the Scots as their ‘Ard Righ’ — their High King.
Constantin is also remembered for having founded a church at Dunkeld in Perthshire. He died in 820 A.D.
The Dupplin Cross, a 9th century monument long believed to have been raised to his memory, can be seen in St. Serfs church in Dunning in Perthshire. Using laser technology, seven lines of script were discovered on what was previously thought to have been a blank panel on the cross. Their message, almost indecipherable, confirmed that the cross was indeed dedicated to the memory of Constantin. It reads; CU(. . .)NTIN / FILIUS FIRCUS / S. (Constantine son of Fergus).
It is unfortunate, in a way, that the text is written in Latin. Shall we ever find anything written in Pictish that we can actually read? The Pictish Ogam inscribed around the edge of the rectangular base of the cross is impossible to decipher due to the effects of Scotland’s weather, the trampling of feet and the hooves of cattle, when it stood upon a rainswept hillside for centuries upon centuries. It is so infuriatingly frustrating! Yet it is somewhat gratifying to know that many other inscriptions, perhaps similar to this one, may still be lying out there somewhere, waiting to be discovered, on Scotland’s carved stones.

70) Unnuist son of Wrguist
Brother of Constantin (No.69), and known to us today as Angus son of Fergus, this devoutly Christian king left an indelible mark on the pages of Scotland’s story. A deeply religious man, he is believed, according to legend, to have brought the relics of Saint Andrew to Kilrymont, the ancient name for St. Andrews in Fife. However, a certain Greek monk by the name of St. Regulus is usually credited with this. He is supposed to have brought the relics with him from Constantinople in the 8th century. Whatever the truth of the matter, King Angus established St. Andrews, which had previously been of relatively minor religious importance, as a principal seat of religious learning among the Picts.
Regarding the defence of the realm, Angus, in 832 A.D., like almost every king in Scotland’s history, was faced with the task of repelling an English invasion. This particular onslaught was being planned by a ruler called Athelstane, an English warlord who was gathering an army on ‘The Plain of Merc’, probably Mercia, near the River Tyne. (We can almost hear Angus sighing, “Here we go again! Will they never leave us alone?”)
The legend goes that, after praying fervently for some days before the battle, St. Andrew appeared to Angus in a dream and promised him victory if he dedicated a tenth part of his inheritance to God. On the day of the engagement, believed to have taken place at Athelstaneford in East Lothian, Angus and his army arose to be greeted by the spectacular sight of coruscating white clouds forming a huge St. Andrews cross which gleamed blindingly against the azure blue of the morning sky. How their hearts must have lifted at that sight. From Angus’ combined force of Picts and Scots the cry went up, “For God and Saint Andrew!” (in their own languages of course) and with a great cheer, they drew their swords and charged the Saxons, slaughtering them to a man. The English king’s head was impaled on a stake and planted on an island, probably Inchcolm in the Firth of Forth, and no doubt facing South.
We note that this English king wasn’t given the same sort of respect as that accorded to King Ecgfrith 147 years earlier when he was interred by the Picts after the battle of Dunnichen Hill. We have no idea as to why that should be. It somehow doesn’t tie in with what we have learned about Angus’ character. Was it because this Athelstane may not have been a ‘bona fide’ English king?
It is unclear who the English war leader was that died in this battle. Some say Athelstane (possibly meaning the Noble Stone), but he did not reign until the early 10th century. An alternative version of the story of the Saltire gives the credit to another ‘Angus,’ Oengus son of Uurguist (No.58), who is supposed to have defeated an English army under the command of Athelstane, a general of King Eadbert of Northumbria around 750 A.D.
The confusion may have derived from the place name Athelstaneford, which appears to be a tautology of the Gaelic words Ath Ail’, meaning the stone ford, and their equivalent in English. The battle may therefore have been named after its location, as Bannockburn was, rather than an English king.
Legends are notoriously slack on details, but it is a fact that around this time St. Andrew became the Patron Saint of Scotland, (replacing St. Columba) and the blue and white saltire became our National Flag.
In consequence of this early date, Scotland’s is the oldest National Flag in the world. Just think about that! (If you are Scottish you may be allowed a wee smug smile.)
71) and 72) Drust son of Constantin and Talorgen son of Wthoil
These kings are reported to have ruled Pictland together for four years. The patrilinear method seems to be taking over now, and it may be that Drust son of Constantin was deemed too young to rule alone. Talorgen son of Wthoil may, then, have been more of a National Guardian, or Regent, than an actual King.
73) Uuen son of Unuist
We do not have much information on King Uuen. His reign lasted only around three years, but he appears to have been a good enough patriot and managed to co-ordinate and organise a joint force of Picts and Scots in an attempt to repulse an army of invading Norsemen.
Unfortunately, Uuen, together with his brother Bran and a sub-king from Dalriada called Aed were slain along with their combined army "in numbers beyond counting" This disaster took place in 839 A.D., somewhere in Strathearn.
74) Ferach son of Bacoc
Ferach took over the kingdom when Uuen was killed in 839 A.D. He ruled for three years.

75) Brude son of Ferach
Alter his father Ferach was either killed or deposed, Brude reigned for either one month or one year. It is unclear which.
76) Kineth son of Ferach
Kineth also reigned for only one year. It is likely that he ruled jointly with his brother, Brude.
77) Brude son of Fokel
Ruled for two years.
These four kings, (Nos. 74 to 77), are unlikely to have ruled consecutively. Pictland was in a state of considerable turmoil during this period, and they may have been ruling and defending different parts of the kingdom at the same time, fighting the invading Norsemen as well as the Scots, ever looking to expand from Dalriada.
78) Drust son of Ferach. Died circa 842 A.D.
Following the death of King Uuen son of Unuist, (No. 73), the Pictish kingdom began to suffer the most terrible onslaughts imaginable from both land and sea. Norse incursions were becoming increasingly frequent and savage, and the pressing task of uniting the country and organising its government fell to Drust son of Ferach. A man can only take so much, and we can only guess at what was going on in Drust’s head. His country was under siege and he had lost his father Ferach and his two brothers Brude and Kineth in the space of only a few years. Needing friends desperately, he turned to the Scots of Dalriada, just as King Uuen son of Unuist had done previously in 839 A.D.
A joint council was urgently called. In an Irish document called the ‘Braflang Scoine’ (The Pitfall of Scone), we read that Drust and his nobles were invited to a feast at Scone where they were treacherously murdered. The story goes that, while the Picts sat at table drinking, the Scots removed wooden pegs from under their benches, causing them to fall into traps set beneath them. Unable to defend themselves, the Pictish lords were systematically butchered to a man. The Prophecy of St. Berchan (11th.cent.) alludes to this singular act of treachery in the following verse;

‘Is lais brectair thair na buirb
Tochlait talmhan, tren an chard
.Brodtainn bodhbha, bas, n-airgne
For lar Scoine sciath-airde’.

“By him are deceived in the east the fierce ones
He shall dig in the earth, powerful the art
Dangerous goad blades, death, pillage
On the middle of Scone of high shields.”

As a tale of broken trust and betrayal, it must rank among the worst in our nation’s history, yet it may just be a fable, as the story had been used time after time in previous accounts to demonstrate a complete reversal of fortune. For example, in a similar story, Herodotus, (the ‘Father of History’, born circa 484 B.C.), tells us (Book 1. Ch. 106) how the Medes overcame their Scythian overlords by inviting them to a banquet, there getting them drunk with wine before slaughtering them all.
Whether an ancient fable or not, it was at just about this time that Kenneth Mac Alpin made his grab for power. Two centuries of constant invasions and warfare had taken a dreadful toll. The Picts were leaderless and their people exhausted. Drust, son of Ferach, the last true Pictish king, was out of the way, probably murdered, and the Realm of the Picts was ripe for the plucking. A new King was coming.