79) Cináed son of Alpin (Kenneth Mac Alpin)
King Cináed, known to us today as Kenneth, ruled from 843 to 858 A.D. Everything about this man is an enigma. In the annals he comes across as ruthless, strong willed, daring, cultured and religious all rolled into one person. He is often claimed to be the first king of both Picts and Scots, but as we know, this is false as the Dalriadan Scots had accepted King Constantin (No.69) as their ‘Ard-Righ’, or High King, thirty four years previously. Also, King Kenneth was not crowned as King of Scots, but as ‘Rex Pictorum’, King of the Picts.
He is often claimed to be a Scot, but upon examination of his first name, Cináed (emphasis on the second syllable), we find that it is most probably Pictish and not Scottish, although frustratingly we cannot be sure what Cináed means. There is some similarity with the Gaelic name Coinneach and the Old Irish name Cainneach (‘an amiable man’), but it is judged too slight to be more than coincidental. There was a Dalriadan Scots name, ‘Aed’, however, so as regards his Christian name at any rate it is unclear whether Kenneth’s roots were Scots or Pictish. His father’s name, Alpin, is unquestionably Pictish as it contains the letter ‘P’ and therefore cannot be of Q-Celtic origin, i.e. Scots or Irish Gaelic. It is quite similar to the Welsh name Elffin and Welsh is of course of P-Celtic origin.
So was Kenneth a Pict or a Dairiadan Scot? The answer is probably a combination of both. It has been tentatively suggested that his paternal great-grandfather was Aed Find, King of Dairiada, who died around 778 A.D. (see Ciniod son of Wredech, No.63), and that his maternal grandfather was Constantin son of Wrguist (No.69) who died in 820 A.D. Unfortunately there is no conclusive proof and we simply cannot be sure of his ancestry, but there is a reasonable argument for his suggested dynastic lineage in that he gave one of his sons, Aed, a Dairiadan Scots name, and a Pictish one, Constantin, to the other. Here was a man who was proud of his joint heritage.
Being a descendant of the two royal houses of Pictland and Dalriada would make Kenneth Mac Alpin acceptable to both Picts and Scots, while having royal connections on both sides of the Scots/Pictish border would bring obvious advantages to each country. There would be cultural exchanges and a form of co-operation, never properly experienced before between the two peoples, would take place.
The oft recounted military overthrow of the Pictish kingdom, with its almost gleeful description of the subsequent wholesale genocide of the Pictish people, now appears to be just so much propaganda. Later Irish chroniclers appear on this occasion to have been more interested in establishing a fatuous Irish/Scots provenance for King Kenneth, with absolutely no compelling evidence at all, than they were with merely reporting the facts. Mac Alpin was able to unite the Scots and the Picts because he himself was a mixture of both royal houses, with a legitimate claim to either throne. He simply could not have accomplished this fusion without the co-operation of the Picts.

The situation in both Dairiada and Pictland had become critical as the two countries were suffering badly from unceasing attacks by Viking pirates. A strong leader was called for who had the ability and authority to form a permanent coalition and who would command the respect of both nations. Mac Alpin was the obvious choice.

Starting with the Scots, Kenneth took a force of battle hardened warriors westward to claim the crown of the Dairiadans. They had been without a proper High King since 729 A.D. and over the next two years he established his own government and rule of law among them. He then turned East and proceeded to Perth, reportedly bringing the Lia Fail, the Scots’ ‘Stone of Destiny’, with him from Dunstaffnage castle in Argyll to Scone, ancient capital of the Picts. He also brought the Holy relics of Saint Columba from lona to the church of Dunkeld in Perthshire that had been founded by Constantin son of Uurguist (No.69). Kenneth was crowned in 843 A.D., probably at Scone

He did not have it all his own way of course, as there was some fierce resistance from several contumacious Pictish sub-kings who regarded him as an arrogant usurper. They would have to be dealt with before he could give his full attention to ousting the English from southern Scotland, which they had been overrunning for some years.

Yet deal with the obdurate sub-kings he did, and, with his base secure, he turned his combined army of Picts and Scots southwards to tackle the English. He burned Dunbar, captured Meirose and expelled the English from most of southern Scotland, extending his control as far south as the river Tweed. Consolidating his rule over the whole kingdom is reckoned to have taken around eight years to complete, but at the end of it all Mac Alpin had achieved more than any king of Scots or Picts before him.

Kenneth Mac Alpin was an extremely capable captain of men who not only won battle after battle but, like a latter day Caesar, appears to have been an accomplished politician besides, and it was in this field, more than any other, that his true genius showed. He took the copper that was the Picts and the tin that was the Scots, and forged them together into the hard burnished Bronze that was to eventually become the new Nation of Scotland: a nation and culture that has lasted through storm and tempest and every form of vicissitude for 1,200 years. Surely a remarkable achievement by any standard.

A 10th century fragment from the Irish Annals of Gillananaemh MacEgan, collected and transcribed in 1650 by Duald MacFirbis (the same admirable Irish seanachaidh who collected and preserved the poem on Brude son of Bile), carries the date of Kenneth Mac Alpin’s death in Latin and a short eulogy in Irish.

“858 Kal (ends). Cionaodh macAilpin rex Pictorum moritur; conadh do ro raidheadh an rann.”

“Nad mair Cionaodh go lion sgor, Fo dhera 901 in gach taigh
Aon ri a loghafo nimh, Go bruinne Rornha ni bhfail.”

“Year 858. Kenneth Mac Alpin King of the Picts died; on whom this verse was composed.”

“That Kenneth of the several steeds no longer lives Is the cause of weeping in every house
One king of his renown under Heaven, To the borders of Rome there is not."

 
With the death of King Kenneth Mac Alpin it could probably be argued that we have come to the end of the History of the Pictish Kings. History, at least as far as the Picts are concerned, had turned a new page, for after a period of adjustment that lasted a couple of generations, the ancient kingdom of Alba was to begin a process of fundamental change, both politically and culturally, that would eventually transform itself from being a fiercely independent Dark Age society with its own ancient customs and laws, into the modern Nation of Scotland that we know today.

What would have happened if the metaphorical dice that roll so randomly and seem to land unfairly on so many occasions had fallen another way? What language, or languages, might we speak in Scotland today? Imagine having a passport that described your country of origin as Pictland and was magnificently emblazoned with a Wild Boar and a Saltire on its front cover.

Frankly, I think I would like it.