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KINGS OF SCOTLAND

GABHRAN

This controversial descent is chiefly taken from "British Kings & Queens" (Mike Ashley, 1998.

[ALPI131] King Gabhran m. ?
. [ALPI141] Aedhan m. ?
. . [ALPI151] Eochaidh I Buidhe m. ?
. . . [ALPI161] Domnal Brecc m1. ?
. . . . [ALPI171] Domangart II m. ?
. . . . . [ALPI181] King Eochaidh II m. [ENTF182] ?
. . . . . . [ALPI192] ? m. [FERA191] Feradach
. . . . . . [ALPI191] Eochaidh III m. ?
. . . . . . . [FERG202] King Fergus II MacEochaidh m. [FERA202] ?
. . . . . . . [ALPI201] Aodh Fionn m. ?
. . . . . . . . [ALPI211] King Eochaidh IV Rinnamail m. [FERG212] Unuistice
. . . . . . . . . [ALPI221] King Alpin of Kintyre m. ?
. . . . . . . . . . [ALPI231] King Kenneth I MacAlpin m. ?
. . . . . . . . . . . [ALPI241] King Contantine I of Scotia m. ?
. . . . . . . . . . . . [ALPI251] King Donald II of Scotia m. ?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . [ALPI261] King Malcolm I of Scotia m. ?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ALPI271] King Kenneth II of Scotia m. ?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ALPI281] King Malcolm II MacKenneth m. ?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ALIP293] Donada m. [ORKN331] Jarl Sigurd Hlodvirsson of Orkney
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ALPI292] Lady Bethoc of Atholl m. [CANM361] Crinan of Atholl

49.  [ALPI131] Gabhran died 558. He was either grandson of Donart (Irish version), or son of Donart (Scots version). In both lists, Donart was the son of Fergus Mor Mac Earca/Eire, who (in the 20th year of the reign of his father, Muredach) went into Scotland with a complete army. This event took place either 498 CE (Irish) or 424 CE (Scots).

48.  [ALPI141] Aedhan (born c.532) was the 1st anointed King of Dal Riata (574-608). (Dal Riata was a kingdom in Argyll and Kintyre.) He was defeated at the Battle of Dexastan by Aethelfrid (603). He died at Kilkerran Monastery (April 608).

47.  [ALPI151] Eochaidh I buidhe [the yellow haired] (a younger son of Aedhan) was King of Dal Riata (608-29), and died 629.

46.  [ALPI161] Domnal (Donald) brecc [the speckled] married 1. ---; then 2. a Pictish princess (daughter of Gwid). He was King of Dal Riata (629-42), and was killed at the Battle of Strathcarron, near Falkirk (642).

45.  [ALPI171] Domangart II (son of Domnal, by his 1st wife) was King of Dal Riata (660-73), and died 673.

44.  [ALPI181] Eochaidh II donart [crooked nose] married [ENTF182] --- (a Pictish princess, see PICTS). He was King of Dal Riata (c.695-97), and was murdered by [FERA171] Ferchar Fota's eldest son [FERA181] Ainbdellach who then succeeded him as king.

43.  [ALPI191] Eochaidh III (son of Eochaidh II) was King of Dal Riata (726-33), and died 733.

42.  [ALPI201] Aodh (Hugh) fionn [the fair] (son of Eochaidh III) was King of Dal Riata (748-78), and died 778, and was succeeded by his brother [ALPI202] Fergus I, see earlier.

41.  [ALPI211] Eochaidh (Eochy) IV rinnamail [the poisonous] ([allegedly] son of [ALPI201] Aodh fionn), married his aforementioned first-cousin [FERG212] Unuistice. Eochaidh IV became King of Dal Riata (781), succeeding his uncle [FERG202] Fergus II (who was also his father-in-law).

HOUSE OF ALPIN

40.  [ALPI221] Alpin of Kintyre (son of [ALPI211] Eochaidh IV, and grandson of [ALPI201] Aodh, though it is also suggested his pedigree was a later invention to give Kenneth a pedigree). He married a Pictish princess and also, it is said, a Norse princess. He was King of Kintyre (March 834), but was shortly after killed in Galloway, in battle with the Picts (August 834).

39.  [ALPI231] Cinaed MacAlpin (Kenneth I) was King of Scotia (840-58), and King of Picts (847-58). At a celebration banquet at Scone, he is reputed to have murdered seven earls, kinsmen who could have disputed his rights to the throne. He died at his capital, Forteviot in Perthshire, (February 858), and was buried on Iona. See also Pictish Stones.

38.  [ALPI241] Constantin MacCinaeda (Constantine I) of Scotia was King of Scotia & Picts (863-77), and was killed fighting the Danes at the Battle at Black Cove, Angus, (877), and was buried on Iona.

37.  [ALPI251] Domnall MacConstantin (Donald or Dasachtach II) of Scotia usurped his cousins King Giric I of Scotia and Picts and vassal-King Eochaid of Strathclyde, and was King of Scotia (889-900). He died in battle at Dun-fother, near Forres, (900), and was buried on Iona.

36.  [ALPI261] Mael Coluim MacDomnall (Malcolm I) of Scotia inherited the Scottish throne when Constantine II abdicated after a reign of forty-three years. Malcolm was King of Scotia (943-54), and was killed at the Battle of Fetteresso near Dunnottar (954) by the rebels of Moray, and was buried on Iona.

35.  [ALPI271] Cinaed MacCholuim (Kenneth II) of Scotia, who probably married a Princess of Leinster, was King of Scotia (971-995), and was murdered at Finella's Castle near Fettercairn (995), by his cousin Gilla Comgain, son of Kenneth III. Kenneth II was buried on Iona.

34.  [ALPI281] Mael Coluim MacCinaeda (Malcolm II) (born c.954), who possibly married an Irishwoman from Ossorry, was King of Scotland (1005-24). He led his army at the Battle of Carham-on-Tweed, thought to be near Wark, (1018), where he beat the Northumbrian forces, and thereby successfully annexed Lothian under his rule. He died at Glamis Castle (November 1034), probably in his eightieth year, and was buried on Iona.

HOUSE OF DUNKELD

[CANM351] Duncan of Athole m. ?
. [CANM361] Crinan of Atholl m. [ALPI292] Lady Bethoc of Atholl
. . [DUNB341] Lord Maldred of Allerdale m. [BERN342] Ealdgyth of Northumbria
. . [CANM371] King Duncan I of Scots m. [NTHM322] Sybilla of Northumbria
. . . [CANM381] King Malcolm III Canmore of Scots m2. [WESK372] Margaret the Saxon
. . . . [CANM432] Mary of Scotland m. [BOUL341] Count Eustace III of Boulogne
. . . . [CANM433] Edith of Scotland m. [NORK341] King Henry I of England
. . . . [DUNK431] King David I of Scotland m. [NTHM343] Maud of Northumbria

34.   [CANM351] Duncan was Mormaer [Earl] of Atholl.

33.  [CANM361] Crinan of Atholl married (c.1000) [ALPI292] Bethoc, Lady of Atholl (see HOUSE OF ALPIN above). Crinan was Mormaer of Atholl, lay Abbot of Dunkeld, Abthane of Dule, and Steward of the Western Isles. He was killed near Dunkeld in battle, by Mormaer MacBeth (1045), while attempting to avenge the murder of his son, King Duncan I.

32.  [CANM371] Dunchad (Duncan I) of Scots the gracious (born c.1001, son of Crinan) married (1030) [NTHM322] Sybilla (probably sister of Siward, Norse Earl of Northumbria, and daughter of Bjorn Bearsson, see NORTHUMBRIA (SIWARD) EARLDOM). He was King of Strathclyde, then King of Scots (1034-40). He was murdered by his first-cousin Mormaer MacBeth, at Bothgowan [Smith's Bothy] (now known as Pitgavenny) near Elgin (15th August 1040), and was buried on Iona. (MacBeth had ruled the neighbouring province of Murray since 1029, and had served Duncan as a general.)

31.  [CANM381] Mael Coluim Cenn Mor (Malcolm III canmore [big head]) (born c.1031) married 1. (c.1060) [FINN342] Ingibjorg (widow of [ORKN341] Thorfinn II, Jarl [Earl] of the Orkneys, Earl of Caithness, see ORKNEY); then 2. (at Dunfermline, 1070) [WESK372] Margaret (born 1046, daughter of Edward Aetheling, see ANGLO-SAXON KINGS).

Malcolm was in exile during most of the reign of King MacBeth, but with the aid of Earl Siward of Northumbria he defeated MacBeth at Scone (1054). Malcolm killed King Lulach at Essie in Strathbogie (1058), to become King of Scots (1058-93). He led a number of assaults into England (1061, 1070, 1079, 1091 and 1093). These incursions led to the Anglo-Normans building castles at Newcastle (1080) and Carlisle (1092). On his 5th and last incursion into England, with his son Edward, they were ambushed on their return journey by Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, near Alnwick. At the Battle of Alnwick (13th November 1093) Malcolm was killed, and temporarily buried at Tynemouth Abbey. His son Edward died of his battle wounds at Edwardsisle, near Jedburgh, three days later (16th November). On this same day, Malcolm's ailing wife Margaret died at Edinburgh Castle, after being told of the deaths of both Malcolm and Edward.

Margaret was buried at Dunfermline Abbey, and afterwards Malcolm was reburied there too.

site of Margaret's grave at Dunfermline
(27 June 2002)

Margaret was later canonized (1270). Finally, during the Reformation the body of Margaret (and possibly that of Malcolm too) were reburied in a special tomb in the monastery of St. Lawrence at the Escorial, outside Madrid. Margaret's head however was buried in the Jesuit College at Douai, France, (1627), though it disappeared after the French Revolution. In 1673 Saint Margaret was named as one of the patron saints of Scotland.

[CANM381] King Malcolm III Canmore of Scots m2. [WESK372] Margaret the Saxon
. [DUNK431] King David I of Scotland m. [NTHM343] Maud of Northumbria
. . [DUNK441] Earl Henry of Huntingdon m. [SURR435] Ada of Surrey
. . . [DUNW461] King William of Scotland &. a mistress
. . . [DUNK463] Margaret of Huntingdon m. [RICH371] Earl Conan IV of Richmond
. . . [DUNK464] Margaret of Huntingdon m. [HERE451] Humphrey IV of Hereford
. . . [DUNK461] Earl David of Huntingdon m. [BAYE383] Maud of Chester
. . . . [DUNK472] Ada of Huntingdon m. [HAST471] Sir Henry de Hastings

29. [DUNK431] David I the Saint of Scotland (born c.1084, 6th son of [CANM381] King Malcolm III & Margaret, see above). He married (1113) [NTHM349] Maud (see NORTHUMBRIA (SIWARD) EARLDOM), who had previously married 1. (probably 1090) [SLIZ361] Earl Simon (see HUNTINGDON (ST. LIZ) EARLDOM). After his marriage, David became 3rd Earl of Huntingdon (1113-36, see also HUNTINGDON (DUNKELD) EARLDOM), and King of Scots (1124-53). Maud died 1130-31 and was buried at Scone.

After reducing Carlisle, Alnwick and Newcastle, King David met King Stephen near Durham (1136). But instead of a battle, the two sovereigns concluded a peace, by which David resigned the Earldom of Huntingdon, and his son Prince Henry of Scotland received Carlisle, Doncaster and Huntingdon, on doing homage to the English King. Afterwards, David tried unsuccessfully to help his niece EMPRESS MATILDA to secure the English throne. David renewed the war (1138), saying that King Stephen had not given him the Earldom of Northumberland, as he had promised. Two inroads were made in the early part of that year, and both were marked with savage brutality. Churches and monasteries were plundered. The old and the young were indiscriminately slaughtered. However, females of birth and beauty were spared, being stripped of their clothing, bound with thongs, and driven into Scotland where they were employed as slaves.

On his third inroad, the Scots reached Yorkshire, and Thurstan the Archbishop of York had erected a sacred banner incorporating the three Saxon saints. The armies came into conflict near Northallerton, at what became known as the Battle of the Standard (22nd August 1138). After a fierce contest, the Scots gave way, losing in the battle and subsequent flight more than 12,000 men. King David tried a fourth inroad (1139) which came to nothing. In the ensuing peace, King Stephen thought it politic to yield Northumberland, except for the castles at Bamburgh and Newcastle. Thereafter David devoted himself to ruling Scotland.

King David died at Carlisle (24th May 1153), and was buried at Dunfermline Abbey.

WILLIAM THE LION

25-27. [DUNW462] William the lion (born c.1143, son of Earl Henry of Huntingdon), was also King of Scotland (1165-1214). See under KING WILLIAM THE LION for full details.

IONA ABBEY

Many of the Scottish kings were buried at Iona Abbey, at Reilig Odhran, or Burial Place of the Kings, which is today nothing more than a mound of earth close to the abbey. The headstones have long since gone.

Iona Abbey
(3 May 2005)