Kenneth MacAlpin (c. 843): Picts, Scots and the Birth of Alba

Kenneth MacAlpin, known in Gaelic as Cináed mac Ailpín, became king of the Picts around 842–843 and ruled until his death in 858. Medieval writers later credited him with uniting the Picts and the Gaelic-speaking Scots of Dál Riata and founding the kingdom of Scotland. Modern historians see a slower and more complicated process, but his descendants did rule the kingdom of Alba, the core of medieval Scotland, for more than two centuries.

Background: Picts, Scots and Vikings

In the early 9th century what is now Scotland held several peoples. The Picts ruled most of the land north of the Firth of Forth, a powerful kingdom with its own language and a tradition of carved symbol stones. In the west, the Gaelic-speaking kingdom of Dál Riata covered Argyll and nearby islands, with close ties to northern Ireland and to the monastery founded by St Columba on Iona. Britons ruled Strathclyde in the south-west, and Northumbrian English held the south-east.

By around 800 the Pictish kings of the family of Óengus son of Fergus had gained strong influence over Dál Riata, and the two societies were closely linked. The Dupplin Cross, a carved stone from near the royal centre of Forteviot, bears an inscription naming Constantine son of Fergus, king of the Picts (died 820), whose power seems to have reached into Dál Riata as well.

The arrival of the Vikings changed everything. After the Viking raid on Lindisfarne in 793, Norse fleets attacked Iona repeatedly and settled in the Northern and Western Isles. In 839, according to the Annals of Ulster, Vikings won a great victory over the men of Fortriu, killing the Pictish king Eóganán son of Óengus, his brother Bran, Áed son of Boanta, king of Dál Riata, and many others. This disaster left a gap at the top of Pictish society.

Kenneth’s rise to power

Very little contemporary evidence survives about how Kenneth came to power. He is named as son of Alpín, and later tradition said Alpín was a king of Dál Riata. A short Latin text known as the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, compiled in the 10th century, says Kenneth ruled Pictavia for 16 years, which suggests he became king in about 842–843, and that he had been king of Dál Riata two years earlier.

He seems to have fought rival claimants for several years before securing the kingship. The chronicle says Pictland had been weakened by the Danes and that Kenneth came to power after that destruction. Whether he won by conquest, by inheritance through a Pictish mother, or by a mix of force and alliances is unknown.

Reign, 843–858

The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba records that Kenneth invaded “Saxonia”, the English kingdom of Northumbria, six times, burning Dunbar and seizing Melrose. His kingdom was also raided by Britons, who burned Dunblane, and by Danes, who reached as far as Clunie and Dunkeld.

Kenneth is also remembered for moving relics of St Columba from Iona to a new church at Dunkeld around 849, as Viking raids made Iona unsafe. Dunkeld became an important religious centre of the new kingdom. He died in February 858, probably on 13 February, at Forteviot. The Annals of Ulster, the most reliable contemporary source, describe him as king of the Picts.

The problem of the sources

Almost everything known about Kenneth comes from a handful of brief texts. The Annals of Ulster, compiled in Ireland from contemporary records, mention him only at his death. The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, written in the 10th century, gives short notes on each reign. King lists, some compiled long after his death, give lengths of reign that do not always agree.

From the 12th century onwards, chroniclers filled the gaps with stories that suited the political needs of their own day. Writers such as John of Fordun in the 14th century built a long narrative of Scottish kings stretching far back before Kenneth, with Kenneth as the conqueror of the Picts. Much of this is not supported by early evidence.

Archaeology adds some detail. Excavations at Forteviot in Strathearn, where Kenneth died, have revealed a large early medieval ceremonial landscape, and the Dupplin Cross shows the wealth and Christian culture of Pictish kingship shortly before his time. But no object can be linked directly to Kenneth himself.

Myths and facts

• Myth: Kenneth killed the Pictish nobility at a treacherous feast. Fact: The story of “MacAlpin’s treachery” appears only in the 12th century, notably in Gerald of Wales, and is regarded as legend.
• Myth: The Picts were wiped out by the Scots. Fact: There is no evidence of extermination. Pictish society gradually adopted the Gaelic language and identity over the 9th and 10th centuries.
• Myth: Kenneth was crowned on the Stone of Scone as first king of Scotland. Fact: Scone became a royal inauguration site, but there is no contemporary evidence for Kenneth’s inauguration there, and the idea of him as “first king of Scots” developed later.

Kenneth’s dynasty and the kingdom of Alba

Kenneth was succeeded by his brother Donald I (Domnall mac Ailpín), who died in 862, and then by his sons Constantine I and Áed. Kings of Kenneth’s line, the House of Alpin, held the kingship for most of the following two centuries, alternating between rival branches.

The word “Pictland” disappears from Irish chronicles around 900. In the record of the death of Donald II, son of Constantine I, in 900, he is called king of Alba (in Gaelic, Alba simply means Britain or Scotland). This change of name is seen by many historians, including Dauvit Broun and Alex Woolf, as the real moment when a new Gaelic kingdom emerged from Pictland, rather than in Kenneth’s own time.

Under Constantine II (reigned 900–943), Alba developed its own church organisation and laws. Later kings, including Macbeth, King of Scots, and Malcolm III expanded and consolidated the kingdom that became medieval Scotland.

Legacy

By the 12th and 13th centuries Scottish kings traced their descent back to Kenneth, and he was presented as the first king of a united Scotland. Royal genealogies and chronicles set the list of kings of Scots from “Kenneth son of Alpin”, while Pictish kings were placed in a separate, earlier series.

This view lasted into modern times and still appears in popular histories. In the 19th and 20th centuries Kenneth was often portrayed in school books and on lists of monarchs as the founder of the nation, and the date 843 became a familiar landmark in Scottish history. Historians today see Kenneth as an important but shadowy figure whose reign was one stage in the long transformation of Pictland into Alba.

Timeline

• c. 820: Death of Constantine son of Fergus, king of the Picts.
• 839: Vikings defeat the men of Fortriu; King Eóganán is killed.
• c. 842–843: Kenneth MacAlpin becomes king of the Picts.
• c. 849: Relics of St Columba are moved from Iona to Dunkeld.
• 858, February: Kenneth dies at Forteviot.
• 862: Death of Donald I, Kenneth’s brother and successor.
• 900: Donald II dies, recorded as king of Alba.
• 900–943: Reign of Constantine II.

Why it matters

Kenneth MacAlpin stands at the start of the royal line that ruled the kingdom of Scotland for centuries. Whether or not he truly united the Picts and the Scots, his reign marks the beginning of the transformation that turned Pictland into Alba and, in time, Scotland.