Four Peoples - One Nation?
There is a curious misconception among some, that Scotland is
entirely a Celtic nation. In fact, until the writings of W. F Skene in
his work “Celtic Scotland”, published in the 19th century, the
opposite was the case. Until “Celtic Scotland” (the History of the
Highlanders) was published, Celtic-Highland history was
completely ignored or diminished to a minor footnote of history.
Since then, oddly, the history of Scotland has become, to some, the history of the
Highlanders. Neither view is correct as it lacks historic balance. Whether this
misconception is due to the cultural similarities of the Highlanders to the Irish, or
romantic ties to the ancient Celts is unclear. But, Scotland today is a more cohesive
nation than it was earlier in its history. Over 90% of modern Scots speak English as
their primary language and the native Gaelic speaking Highlander is becoming
increasingly a rare and unique individual. Going back some three hundred years we
can clearly see two Scotland’s: one of the Gaels and Highlander, the other of the
Anglo-Celtic Lowlander. This cultural separation was more dramatic in historic terms
than today. But the role these two different cultures play in Scottish history was
considerable, and vital to our understanding of the nation’s history. Even before the
Highland-Lowland division, four separate kingdoms comprised what is now modern
day Scotland. Those four peoples and how they came to form one nation sets the
backdrop for this chapter.
Even before the Roman withdrawal in 410 AD, the differing factions who would
compete for the land and soul of Scotland were manifesting in four very different
cultures. The most numerous were the Picts who’d been in Scotland before the
Romans. The others, with the possible exception of the Strathclyde British, were
relative newcomers. The Angles from Holstein, Germany and the Scots from Ireland
would come to dominate the native Picts and Britons. But how did this happen? Who
were these different people?
Celtic Horse Warrior - K McReynolds
Since the Picts are the oldest race to occupy Scotland, it seems logical to begin with
them. The Picts, the Celtic people of the Highlands and southern Scotland, are the
most enigmatic. We first encounter the name ‘picti’ (probably
meaning ‘painted ones’) from Eumenuis, a Roman historian in
297 A.D. Although they’d been generically called Caledonians
before that, the Picts emerged as the strongest tribe as the
Romans departed Scotland. Twenty-five years ago,
archaeologists excavated an ancient Pictish hill-fort called
‘Craig Phadrig’. What was revealed were two concentric
ramparts crowning the summit, which had become “vitrified” stone, earth and timber structures that had likely intentionally been set on fire -leaving the stone and earth fused together in an almost glassy, petrified state. Craig
Phadrig was an important Pictish stronghold around the 5th century onwards. It was
the seat of King Brude (one of many Pictish kings bearing this name) or Bridei mac
Maelchu. The Venerable Bede, in his work, “The History of the English Church and
People”, written in the early 8th century, describes Bridei as an ‘Over king’ of many
local kingdoms. His lands comprised most of Pictland (Pentland) and extended from
the Firth of Fourth through the center and towards the north-east of Scotland as far
as Orkney.
Pictish Stone
The Picti or ‘painted ones’ was probably a Roman nickname for the emerging
Caledonian tribe of northern Scotland, although their lands would eventually include
much of Scotland. The Picts were, like most “pure” races, were a mixture of peoples.
As briefly discussed in chapter one, they are most likely a fusion of native BronzeIron Age inhabitants (Beaker People?) with proto-Celtic peoples that conquered or
assimilated them circa 700-1,000 BCE. Dr. Anna Ritchie (“Picts” - Historic Scotland),
says this:
“The Picts were Celts. Their ultimate ancestors were the people who built
the great stone circles like Calanais on the Isle of Lewis in the third
millennium BC in Neolithic times, and the brochs in the early Iron Age
from about 600 BC to 200 AD.“
Since some experts feel it was a people before the Picts, that constructed the stone
henges, Ritchie’s conclusion stating the “ultimate ancestors [of the Picts]” is sound. It
is very likely (and this has to be speculative) that some proto-Celtic tribes moved into
Scotland, whether by conquest, marriage or both, affecting assimilation, thus linking
the Iron Age builders of those monuments with the Celts that we now call Picts. We
know that one King ‘Brude’, of Craig Phadrig, the center of Pictish power moved
southward to Angus, Perthshire and Fife. This didn’t change the culture of the Picts,
but seems indicate a shift in power. There were two distinct Pictish kingdoms: one of
the north, they other in the south. The Picts left no decipherable written language, no
records for historians to study them. What we do know of these enigmatic people we
know from the writings of others - usually their enemies. Therefore, we are bound to
get a biased or distorted view of them. Even the name itself - Picts - has a mysterious
origin. Author, Charles Thomas, “Celtic Britain”, says that the Iron Age people called
themselves Pretani or Pritani (from the Greek Prettania) that predates the word
Britannia, to which it has obvious similarities. The Welsh name for Britain is Pyrdein,
and a related word ‘Priteni, is probably a generic term for all the tribes beyond the
Antonine Wall. Nevertheless, the word Pict might simply be a Roman word (picti)
used to describe the ancient Pictish practice of painting or tattooing themselves with
intricate designs. In the first century, Caesar remarks, “All Britons dye their bodies
with woad which produces a blue color and this gives them a terrifying appearance in
battle.” The name stuck, and the people in the north have been known as the Picts
ever since. It is possible that the use of woad with the Picts continued long after the
southern Britons had been romanized and ceased the practice.
Thomas believes that the British Celts came around 500 BC and imposed their own
rudimentary tribal structure on the Bronze-Iron Age Inhabitants rather than
conquering them much later. In the 11th century, we get another, if fanciful, name for
the Picts - the Cruithne or ‘first Pict”. This comes in the form of a legend first recorded
in the 11th century, of the seven sons (each naming his own district) as sons of this
legendary Cruithne. Truth? Not likely, but legendary stories from this period are
common.
One of the most important cultural oddities about the Picts is their system of
matrilineal line of succession, which some attribute to Bronze Age cultures. This
descent through the female line, instead of the male (as the Scots and Angles),
would eventually lead to their virtual disappearance in history as a separate people.
Cassius Dio mentions another prominent tribe in Scotland known as the “Maeatae”.
As far as can be established, the Maeatae were located in the area immediately
behind the Antonine Wall, with the Caledonians a bit further north. It has been
suggested that place-names Dumyat and Myot Hill in Stirlingshire can be attributed to
the Maeatae.
The Picts seem to emerge the strongest of the four peoples, as we head into the 45th centuries, which suggests their dominance of the other tribes. Tacitus identifies
the Picts racial type when he tells us that the Caledonians -- supposedly one of the
name-groups of the Pictish race -- were "fair or reddish haired and long limbed". This
closely matches the description that Ammianus Marcellinus gave of the Gauls:
"Almost all the Gauls are tall and fair skinned with reddish hair"
Their society also seems to have strong similarities and parallels to the Irish or Scots,
implying a Celtic heritage. There are also differences, especially in language, from
the Scots. Place-names beginning with ‘Pit’ are found throughout Pictish areas and
this is thought to be a survival of a Pictish term meaning a parcel of land, such as
Pitlochry and Pitsligo. Their territory stretched all the way down the east coast to the
Forth and up to the farthest northern reaches of Scotland.
Pictish Ornamentation
We do not know what they called
themselves, but later others called
them ‘Cruithne’: a word that certainly
has a Celtic heritage. They seem to
have been many tribes somehow
divided into two kingdoms: the north
and the south. What bound them
together may have been the invaders
themselves. From Pictish art, we know they were a horse-warrior society and that
they had knowledge of the sea, just like the Scots. Occasionally, for reasons that are
not clear, a leader (initially a northern Pict) would rule both North and South Pictland.
There exists a list of Pictish rulers before they were conquered by the Scots, but such
lists are tenuous at best as sources of history. The Scots once compiled a list going
back to Adam - but that was intended for the eyes of a pope, and was probably a
good maneuver.
Militarily, the Picts appear well organized and equipped. They outnumbered the
Scots by more than nine to one, and with such organization, it is baffling how they
could have been defeated in four centuries. They fought under commanders
called ‘toiseachs’ and powerful local lords (later earls) known as ‘mormaers’.
The Pictish centers (it might be too modern to pronounce them capitals) in
the south were around Dunkeld and Scone. In the north, Forfar was the
Circinn center. The great fortress of Burghead on the Moray Firth may have
been an important Northern Pictish stronghold. In the far north, the people
were few and spread out in wide areas. These areas seem to have had no
centralized authority or fortification, but probably fell under the realm of the Northern
Picts. As for a ‘clan system’, there is no evidence at all to suggest the Picts had
anything like what the Scottish Highlanders would later develop.
Pictish Stones
Class II Pictish Stone
Possibly the strangest, or rather, most baffling mystery left to us from the ancient
Picts are their ornately carved symbol stones. It has been postulated these were:
tribal insignia to mark territory; signs of rank, or primitive heraldry; religious offerings
or gifts to gods, or even a crude means of communication. Whatever their meaning,
the detail carved into solid stone shows a mastery of stonework and tribal artistry that
is truly unique to the Picts. These carved stones are divided into three classes. Class
I stones are usually rough boulders incised only with the unique Pictish symbols.
Class II stones are rectangular slabs that, in addition to Pictish symbols; contain relief
sculpture of the Christian cross and narrative scenes. Class III stones are similar to
Class II, but without the symbols. Many stones are still visible in the countryside;
there are some very good examples at Aberlemno in Angus.
One of the Aberlemno Stones
courtesy of Tam Anderson
Rather than being a backward tribal society, the Picts were a
cultured people with art and a sophisticated form of warfare.
Many of the stones have been left in upright and original
conditions. More amazing is what is carved onto these
stones. Though the Aberlemno stones are still being
deciphered, they offer tantalizing clues. The Glamis Stone,
in the front garden of the Manse of St. Fergus’s Kirk at
Glamis in Angus, dates back to the early 8th century and
has earlier carvings representing a serpent, salmon and what is determined to be a
mirror. A large Celtic cross is entangled with serpentine creatures and the opposite
side has a legendary centaur, axe in hand, the head of a stag, two warriors, and
disturbingly, a cauldron with two legs sticking out. Evidence of ritual cannibalism after
combat? No one is certain.
Sueno’s Stone, uncovered in the 18th century, has an
elaborate ring-head cross on the front and a battle
scene on the back. The battle scene, including
severed heads, depicts both infantry and cavalry and
has been suggested as being a defeat of the Picts by
the Scots, but could well be a memorial to the Angle
defeat at Dunnichen. (See Battle of Nechtansmere).
Going back to the late Roman occupation, in the 4th
century, the Picts took the war to the Romans, and
after a series of battles,
counterattacks, and
campaigns, the Romans were
under siege.
Pictish Cross Stone
Courtesy Tam Anderson
In the mid-4th century, the Scots (based in Argyll) allied with the Picts and harried the
Roman frontier once again. In 365, the Romans historian, Ammianus Marcellinus,
clearly identifies Rome’s enemies in Britain at the time: the Dicalydones, Verturiones,
Scots, Attacotti and Saxons. Aside from the Scots and Saxons, the other three tribes
were probably branches of the Picts. Roman positions were under siege from three
directions. To what extent there was collusion betwixt these is uncertain. The Saxon
raid on the south of Britain, so long held at bay by Roman fortifications on the ‘Saxon
Shore’, were not likely connected to the temporary Scoto-Pictish alliance. In 367-369
and again in 382 AD, the Scoto-Picts attacked in force in what Roman historians
have called the “Barbarian Conspiracy”, and it took Rome considerable time and
force to repel the attackers. The Picts, this time acting alone, attacked again in 396
but were eventually repelled by Roman general Stilicho. Clearly, the constant raids
were having an effect, and with Rome needing its warriors at home, they left about
AD 410, creating a power vacuum that would pit the Picts, Scots, Angles and Britons
against each other.
Though we shall be talking more about the demise of the Picts under the topic ‘the
Scots’, it is important to underscore the fact that the Picts did not simply ‘disappear’
or vanish from Scotland. What vanished was the name of the Picts. Through a
combination of warfare and marriage, the Pictish Kingdoms, both north and south,
would be completely absorbed by the Scots. Though the people themselves
remained, what seems not to have survived was their language and culture. This is
one sad fact of conquest throughout the ages. By the late Ninth century, the Picts as
a separate and identifiable people would disappear from the history of Scotland.
Assimilating into a dominant and quickly emerging Scottish culture, along with being
forced out of the North and west by the Norse (chapter 4), the people who history
refers to as ‘Picts’ -- became Scots.
Although Gildas, an early British historian with a tendency for theatrical writing,
ranting, and raving, thought ill of the Picts, certain Pictish kings appear to have been
strong and dynamic. Gildas venomously writes of the Picts:
“…[the] foul hordes of the Scots and Picts, like dark throngs of worms
who wriggle out of narrow fissures in the rock when the sun is high and
the weather grows warm…”
One of the strong kings who may have incurred Gildas’s verbal tirades was Bridei
(Brude). Bridei defeated the Scots and established a peace between the two for over
15 years. Adomnan (Columba’s biographer) said that Bridei had hostages from
Orkney, (possibly to enforce peace), the king of whom was in Bridei’s court at the
time. This infers a system of sub-kings under Bridei’s control, and that he ruled both
the Northern and Southern Pictish kingdoms.
But, troubles were in store for Bridei: he is recorded as having died at the battle of
Asreth, in Circinn, (southern Pictland) about 580 AD. The power then seems to shift
from the Northern to the Southern Picts. In 603, the Anglian King Aethelfrith defeated
Aedan (Aidan) of the Scots at the Battle of Degastan. Evidence suggests the Britons
(later, the Strathclyde Britons) were in league with the Angles. Aethelfrith extended
Northumbrian territory as far as the Firth of Forth, forcing the Scots out. The Scots
would then turn their aggression and ambition for land on the Picts. And the Picts
suddenly had new hostile neighbors in the Scots to the west, the Angles to the south.
The Britons seemed to have made a temporary truce with the Angles, playing for
time.
The Britons
The second important kingdom in Scotland’s infant history is that of the Britons:
specifically the Britons of Strathclyde. This kingdom included not only Strathclyde,
but also Cumbria in northwest England. It is from these Britons, and their related
cousins in England and Wales, where Britain gets its name. They spoke an ancient
from of Celtic language that has been classified as Brythonic or Brittonic. It is
identified by linguists as a member of the P-Celtic form of languages spoken by other
Britons, Welsh and Cornish. Their center was at Dumbarton, or ‘Alcluyd’ as it was
then called, and meant “fortress of the Britons”.
As the Scots were being taught Christianity by Columba at Iona, the Britons were
being educated in the gospels by a missionary named Mungo (dearest beloved). His
real name was Kentigern and Glasgow became his center. Today you will still hear
people refer to Glasgow as the city of St. Mungo and the cathedral is the Cathedral of
St. Mungo. The Britons were quicker to accept Christian teachings than either the
Picts or the Angles. They occupied the Southwestern part of Scotland and the
Northwest of England, known as Cumbria. Like modern Northumberland, it is
important to understand that ancient Cumbria’s borders are not the same as Cumbria
today. Cumbria is the latinized word for Cymry or Cymru, as in modern Welsh. This
may very well have been the home of the legendary Arthur, whose fame included a
series of 12 battles against the pagan Anglo-Saxons, though, for the present, this
remains legend. This was the time of the Dark Ages in Britain.
The rule of the Britons of Strathclyde was at its height in the 7th century. When the
kingdom of Alba was created under Kenneth MacAlpin (or see chapter 4),
Strathclyde survived as a client kingdom, until the battle of Carham in 1018. There,
the last king of Strathclyde, Owain the Bald, was killed. Rheged was another
kingdom of the Britons but little is known of this kingdom, which was located near
Carlisle and Galloway.
The Irish Scots
The Scots, or “Scoti, even Scottias” were Irish tribes from the north east of Ireland,
roughly modern-day Ulster. They had been constantly invading the western shores of
Britain since the 4th century. During the Roman occupation of Britain, their raids had
been kept to a minimum, and their impact and influence on the native inhabitants was
negligible. The name ‘Scottias’ is actually a Briton word probably meaning ‘raider’.
These Irish-Scots had been getting more and more daring during late Roman rule,
but after the Roman withdrawal, their attacks became severe. This is especially true
in the 5th century under the fearsome King Niall. Ireland had been just beyond
Rome’s frontiers for centuries, escaping the Roman domination that consumed much
of the rest of Britain. Without this predominance, Ireland remained free to grow at its
own pace. However, this freedom also had drawbacks. Ireland remained a primitive
place without towns, cities or any real system of public works, like aqueducts, canals
or governmental centers. Most of the population lived in or around farms surrounded
by wooden or dry-stone defenses. While this maintained the Irish-Scots freedom (to
an extent), they also suffered a lack of technical sophistication brought to mainland
Britain by the Romans. Therefore, civilization, as used in the Greek use of the word -‘cities’ -- was late in coming to Ireland. To offer some protection, many used
crannogs -- man-made islands -- to separate themselves from danger. This practice
was also common in Scotland.
Lower Terraces at Dunadd
Warfare was endemic, as
tribal conflicts over
leadership, land
and resources were
commonplace. It
was more a matter of ritual,
than of slaughter,
most of the time. This
ritualistic warfare
has been noted by modern
anthropologists
in other, primitive cultures,
where war is
practiced as much for
territorial dominance than actual conquest. But Ireland would see its share of
invading cultures in future centuries. Small kingdoms existed but were constantly
evolving and changing. It was not a stable situation in 5th century Ireland, so it
should come as no surprise that some tribes decided to cross the Irish Sea for newer
land. Each petty kingdom was similar to a large tribe led by a ‘king’, who might
himself be occasionally subject to an ‘Ard Ri’ or, High King, such as King Niall. This
ritual warfare over land and leadership would manifest itself strongly in the Highland
clans of Scotland in later centuries. Whereas the south of Scotland, more influenced
by the English, would adopt laws and law enforcers to quell disputes between
neighbors, the Highlanders would settle theirs with blood feuds, murders and reiving.
This turbulent lifestyle was also a peculiar side-effect of the constant warfare in the
Borders, where reiving, stealing and blackmail would become a way of life by the
15th century. But for now, the clan system was just beginning - and so too were clan
rivalries.
Map of Scotland showing DalRiada,
Pictland & Areas of Britons and Angles
The Irish-Scots tried to invade southern Wales, but the Welsh ruthlessly and
efficiently crushed the attempts. The Welsh have a natural defensive barrier on much
of their western borders. Later, this would also hinder the Vikings from truly
colonizing Wales. To some degree, (it is difficult to assess how much) the Scotti’s
raids on Britain were successful. However, the local British eventually repelled most
of their attempts at land grabbing. The Irish-Scots (now they become known simply
as Scots) had much better success in the north and the Western Isles. In some of
these Isles and in lands around
Argyle (the old spelling), the Scots
made their new kingdom of Dal
Riata, or Dalriada. The historic
significance of this area is apparent
in the many-recorded accounts by
Irish chroniclers. It seems the
invading Scots made Dunadd their
center, or capital, many years
before it was shifted to Scone.
It seems part of the Scot’s success may have been with the help of the Northern
Britons, who were suffering ruthless attacks by the Picts and Angles, since the
Roman withdrawal. The first recorded Scoti settlement in this area (they were already
in the Islands) was under a chief named Cairbre Riada, dated from the 3rd century. If
it is true that the Britons were initially helping the Scots - as a barrier against the Picts
- then they were merely following a long-established Roman practice of playing one
Celtic tribe against another.
The Scots
Around 500 AD the Scots came en masse to the Argyll coast and the Isles. This
migration differed from the early raids in previous centuries. Unlike the Scoti
involvement in the “Barbarian Conspiracy” against the Romans, and other raiding
activity, this time they came to settle. The 7th century Irish “Senchus fer nAlban” or
Tradition of the Men of Scotland, records the story of the semi-legendary Fergus Mor
mac Eirc (Fergus mac Erc), King of the Scoti, who moved in strength from Antrim, in
Northeast Ireland, to the southwest area of Highland Scotland (Argyll and Kintyre)
and surrounding Isles. They were known as Dal Riata and spoke Gaelic, established
a new kingdom in the territory of modern Argyll, which became known as Scottish
Dalriada.
Picts eyeing the Scots at Dunadd
This is the beginning of the ancient kingdom of Dalraida, whose inhabitants would
later give their name to the entire kingdom
of Scotland. From this point forward,
historians make a separate distinction of
Irish from Scots, although the two peoples
continued to associate, marry, trade and even feud for much longer. Dal Riata’s
strength was her naval power as her inhabitants were linked only by the sea. By the
8th century, its navy was able to engage in fleet actions in open sea. Their ships, as
were those of the Picts, were often as simple as large hide-covered ‘curachs’, with
wooden frames. It relied mostly on human power - oars -- for propulsion, but often did
have a single sail. Larger ships were rare, but did exist. Naval might was but one
method, albeit an important one, by which the Scots gradually overcame the
southern Picts. This would not happen until the mid 9th century under one Kenneth
Mac Alpin, and the new kingdom would be called Alba, not yet Scotland.
Dunadd
Fergus’s palace, if one should call it that, is thought to have been close to the
fortification of Dunadd that was perched on a rocky crag, four miles north of
Lochgilphead.
Whether the term Scot is derived from ‘Scoti’ (meaning raider), a name probably
given them by the Britons, or from Scotia, the ancient name for Ireland is complex.
There is a persistent myth that Scotia was the name of an Egyptian Pharoh’s
daughter, and that she somehow came to Scotland. This is not likely. Texts that refer
to the name are often dated inaccurately when analyzing down to the very year.
Since one source may have been written based upon another it is impossible to say
which is the first origin of the word ‘Scot’. Nevertheless, from their center at Dunadd
the Dal Riata Scots would eventually come to dominate all the land, giving the
country, it’s name.
The hill-fort of Dunadd, in mid-Argyll, (pictured left, the fort was at the top), is but one
of many power bases for the old kingdom of Dalraida, and perhaps the most
important. The site consists of a series of defended terraces, surmounted by a
summit fort. It has been excavated three times in the 20th century. Finds, dated from
the sixth to the ninth
century, include fine
metalworking, with many
brooches and tools. Recent archaeological excavations
have shown that Dunadd was irregularly occupied from 500 to as late as 1,000 AD.
Evidence of skilled craftsmanship, including jewelry, bronze, silver and gold work was
found. Dunadd was also a major trade center with Ireland and the west coast of
Britain and even to the Mediterranean. They exported hides, leather and metalwork
to Europe and received various goods in return.
Below the summit fort, on one of the lower terraces, are a rock carving of a boar
(pictured at right), an enigmatic description in ogam writing, a rock basin, and the
outline of a footprint, all giving rise to speculation that this was the site where rulers
of Dalriada were inaugurated. These ceremonies probably would have had elements
of both Christian and pagan ideologies. In the initial years the pagan aspects would
been predominant but as time passed, and the Scots were more Christianized, the
pagan elements would become more and more negligible as the powerful influence
of Christianity increased.
Stone Footprint in Rock
Some experts have gone as far as to suggest that the importance of the footprint
(which is now covered by a replica) is to signify the king’s relationship to the land.
According to this belief, the would-be king placed one foot in the designated footprint,
the other on the land, symbolizing his unity with the land and the deity. Dunadd would
remain a spiritual stronghold and center until the capital was moved to Scone in the
ninth century.
The Gododdin
While the Picts were the power in the north, another kingdom had been developing
(from the ancient Votadini) south of the Firth of Fourth circa 600 AD. In Lothian and
specifically Din Eidyn, the Votadini emerged as the ‘Gododdin’, from old Welsh. The
Latinized from of the name (Votadini) phased out by the language of the old Britons,
reclaiming their name. The events are recorded in the epic poem Y Gododdin by
Aneirin. It tells of a party of about 350 warriors living in splendor,
deciding to attack the Angles. A battle took place at ‘Catraeth’,
(Catterick in Yorkshire). It is written in the Gododdin as an epic,
heroic poem. Even so, several years later, in 638 AD, Din Eidyn or
Dun Edin was attacked and captured by the Angles in revenge, and
the city renamed to an Anglicized form, Edinburgh. The Anglo
influence in the city has remained strong ever since.
The Angles
The warlike and expansive peoples known as the Angles came to Scotland, initially,
as auxiliaries for the Roman Empire. They take their name from the shape of the land
in Holstein, Northern Germany from whence they came. When the Romans withdrew
in the early 5th century, the Angles, whose main base was in East Anglia, decided to
expand north of the Humber River. They took Northumbria (north of the Humber) by
force and tried to include much of Scotland in their rapidly growing kingdoms.
(Northumbria, Mercia and Anglia).
In AD 547, the Angles were ruled by King Ida, ruler of Bernicia that stretched from
the Tees as far as the Firth of Forth. Later, they merged with their natural allies, the
Germanic Saxons, and soon the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the British Isles forced the
native Celtic peoples to the fringes: Cornwall, Wales and Scotland. Bernicia or the
Angles of Lothian, were the only pagans left in Northern Britain, and are the Angles
that affected Scotland. It wasn’t until one of Columba’s (more on him later) disciples,
St. Aidan, was sent to Northumbria that they, too, adopted the Christian faith.
Christianity Comes to Scotland
Page from the Book of Kells
Although Columba gets the lion’s share of credit for bringing Christianity to Scots,
there were missionaries before him. The first known bringer of the Christian Faith to
Scotland was St. Ninian. Like Patrick, he was originally a Briton, who dedicated a
church at Whithorn in 397, which is increasingly regarded as the cradle of Scottish
Christianity. At Whithorn in Wigtownshire he built his ‘Candida Casa’, or White
House, which served as a church and was probably situated in the grounds of the
present kirk. He went on to establish a group of monastic cells on the Isle of Whithorn
and from there did his missionary work among the Britons of Strathclyde and the
Picts of Fife and Angus. He or some of his disciples may have traveled
north as far as Orkney and Shetland. A more obscure missionary, St.
Serf, is said to have worked among the people of Fife from a base at
Loch Leven and at Culcross may have educated a future monk: St.
Kentigern. Of Welsh or Cumbrian stock, Kentigern was brought up by
monks; changed his name to Mungo and found a monastery round which the town of
Glasgow was to grow. St. Aidan’s successor, St. Cuthbert, is the most revered saint
of Angle ancestry and is treasured in Edinburgh.
Generally known as the Celtic Church, the early church in Scotland grew to produce
the monastic settlements of the Culdees, probably from the time of the Irish
missionary St. Columba, (pictured at right), who was based on Iona, from 563. The
Celtic Church or Culdee differed from the Mainland Catholic church in Rome in
matters of rites and on the method of calculating the date of Easter. The biggest
difference was the Pope himself. The Celtic church lacked the organization and
structure that was already present in the Roman Catholic Church. The Celtic Church
was monastic and did not have a set hierarchy or priests. St. Columba and St. Aidan
were both of the Irish-Celtic Church. This would all change a few centuries later when
the center of government was moved south into the Lowlands of Scotland and a
Saxon queen, who was Roman Catholic, married the Scottish king. But, the Culdee
Church would suffer setbacks even earlier, due to the conflicting dates of celebrating
Easter. The Celtic Church used an older method to calculate the dates and it put
them at odds with the powerful Roman Catholic Church. The wife of Northumbrian
King Oswald was an Anglo-Saxon Christian and disdained celebrating two Easters a
year. Exerting influence upon Oswald, the king of Northumbria called for a Synod at
Whitby in Yorkshire in 663. At Whitby, Wilfrid of Ripon voiced a feeling of superiority
that those in southern Britain felt they possessed even then. Admitting their fathers
might even have been saints, Oswald scolded the Scottish monks asking if they
should be preferred over “the Universal Church of Christ” - meaning Rome. The
measure was passed and from that time on the Celtic Church was in slow decline.
Columba's Shrine or Reliquary
The most known and celebrated Scottish missionary was St. Columba. His life is
surrounded by so much myth and legend it is nearly impossible to discern the facts.
Some of the legendary things Columba was involved in are: he quelled the Loch
Ness monster; he made a sign of the cross on the gates of the Pictish king’s palace,
forcing the doors open, and compelling him to convert. Columba seems to have
come to Scotland under circumstances quite different than expected. According to
legend he had copied another man’s religious book, a Psalter, leading to a public
scandal and a small war in Ireland. Columba was excommunicated and advised to
leave the country. In 563, at the age of 42, he arrived at the Island if Iona with twelve
followers. His influence quickly spread and part of the reason, in reality, was that he
was a warrior-monk. Columba was not opposed to conversion at sword point and
because he was a warrior, he was more readily accepted by the warrior societies of
both the Scots, and later, the Picts. Columba also seems to have come from some
royalty in Ireland and Dalriada, and this would serve him well in spreading the gospel.
Through clever use of politics, force and religion, Columba managed to persuade the
Scots to choose his third cousin, the Scots sub-king of Argyll Dalriada, as their ruler.
Aidan the False was inaugurated circa 575. According to the story, Columba laid his
hands upon the new king and spoke these words:
“Believe firmly, O Aidan, that none of your enemies will be able to resist
you unless you first deal falsely against me and my successors.”
Columba helped convert some of the Picts to Christianity, and by the middle of the
8th century there was an abbot established in the heart of Pictland - St. Andrews, or
Kilrymond as it was then called. Pictish art flowered under the hand of Christianity
and Nechtan, the King of the Southern Picts was converted. But conversion was slow
and it took many decades before all the trappings of paganism were gone from
Scotland. Even so, Christianity took even longer to foster and grow in the Northern
Pictish kingdoms.
The boundaries of modern Northumberland do not quite equate with the ancient
kingdom as borders with the Picts, the Britons of Strathclyde, and Mercia were
constantly shifting. After the collapse of the Gododdin, the aggressive Northumbrian
Angles continued to extend their influence beyond Edinburgh into Pictland. The
center of Pictland, by then, had moved again from Inverness south to Abernathy and
Scone, beside today’s city of Perth. This new center was called the Kingdom of
Fortriu. In the period 653-685, much of this area was under control of the Angles.
Their presence in southern Scotland, especially around Edinburgh and Lothian, is
strong. Around 685, the Picts would meet the Angles at Dunnichen to decide the fate
of Scotland.
Bede tells of the new king of the North Umbrian Angles, Oswald, in about 668 AD.
Oswald was successful in gaining territory in Southern Pictland and in Dalriada
(kingdom of the Scots), but did not occupy it. This led to confrontations between the
Picts and the Angles: part of southern Pictland being under control of the Angles for
30 years. After several brutal defeats at the hands of the warlike and expansive
Angles, the Picts faced them in battle for control of all Pictland, under Bridei mac Bili.
Bridei was more successful than his predecessors were against the Angles and his
fleet nearly destroyed the growing power of Orkney in 682. But it was in AD 685 that
Scottish history took a dramatic turn when the Picts squared off against the powerful
Northumbrian army. Most historians tend to give more weight to the influence of
Scottish history to such decisive battles as Bannockburn or Culloden. However,
many Scottish scholars are coming to a general consensus that a much earlier battle
might have been even more pivotal - and we have the Picts to thank for this part of
history.
The Northumbrian threat had been a continual problem for both the Picts and the
Scots. Angle power, now in Benicia (Lothian) was pushing northwards threatening
the very doorstep of the Picts. Exactly what led to this climactic battle isn’t clear, but
the Picts seem to have been expecting an Angle advance.
The Battle of Nechtansmere
On 20 May 685, southeast of Forfar, at a place known as Dunnichen Moss, the
Pictish confederation lay in wait. Around mid-afternoon, the Northumbrians (Angles)
came into view, and the Picts struck. The lightly armored ‘fyrd’, the common Angle
soldier not of the warrior aristocracy, were the first to fall. Showers of missiles,
spears, and sling-stones fell upon the surprised Angle army, dropping the fyrd by the
score. Pictish King, Bridei mac Bili, had chosen his ground well.
Image by Wayne Reynolds www.ospreypublishing.com
On the other hand, Angle
King Ecgfrith, taken by
surprise, could not deploy
his men into a shield
formation under the rain of
missiles. Probably the only
the armored warriors would
have been the Angle warrior
elite, the rest being
unarmored or wearing simple leather jerkins and a crude metal skull cap. The Angles
had advanced far enough to put Dunnichen Hill behind them, and a lochan, called in
Anglian “Nechtansmere”, to the south and rear. By the time Ecgfrith and his elite
warriors formed up for a defense, much of their fyrd (common levies) were already
dead, wounded or in full retreat. The lochan itself (between Dunnichen and Leithan)
no longer exists, nor is there any trace of settlement. Details of the battle are sketchy
or non-existent. There were no chroniclers or Roman historians present to record the
battle, and ascertaining the numbers involved is purely speculative. It is believed that
the Picts, expecting the Angles, probably had superiority in numbers. Certainly, the
mere mention that the Picts are described as a ‘confederation’ implies warriors from
many Pictish kingdoms, not just one warband. Historian Philip Warner suggests that
the Angles had at most 5,000-6,000 men. In a pitched conflict that could only have
lasted a few hours, at most, the victory was total. Ecgfrith and his invading Angle
army were destroyed and those that fled were probably hunted down by Pictish horse
warriors. Up until the Battle of Nechtansmere, the Angles had often had their way
against the Scots and Picts. The Battle of Nechtansmere put paid to Northumbrian
ambitions to advance their territory north. It is a tremendous victory for the Picts, and
indeed the future Scotland, although they may not have realized this at the time. It
really isn’t an overstatement to say that had the battle gone the other way - there
might never have been a ‘Scotland’ at all. As it was, the Angles age of ‘heroic’ kings
faded, and the Picts reclaimed Lothian. Although the Picts and Scots were still at
odds, (they would battle for over 150 more years), the rough borders of Scotland had
been defined. The fate of the Britons was uncertain and areas such as Cumbria, the
Kingdom of Reghed, would later be obtained by as yet unborn Scottish kings. But for
now, the Picts and Scots controlled the fate of Scotland. Angle influence in Lothian
and Edinburgh (home of the Goddodin) and most of southern Scotland would remain
strong even today.