Alba Historical

 The first Gaelic King to rule over the Picts He is Scotland's Alfred the Great, our forgotten hero king who repelled the Viking invaders, founded the kingdom of Alba, and fought off England's first attempt at conquest. He is Constantine II, known in Gaelic as Constantin MacAed, one of Scotland's greatest Medieval kings. He reigned from 900 to 943 and his achievements may even outstrip those of Robert the Bruce. Yet he is little known today, probably because he has never attracted the attention of a great storyteller like Walter Scott or Robert Louis Stevenson. But Constantine can be seen, in many ways, as the founder of the Scottish nation. King Constantine II was the grandson of Kenneth MacAlpin, the first Gaelic king to rule over the Picts. Kenneth died at Forteviot in 858 and his brother Domnall took over the kingship. It was Domnall who introduced Gaelic Law to the Pictish kingdom. Domnall died in 862 and was succeeded by his nephew, Kenneth's son, Constantine. Thi...

 King of Scotland Kenneth MacAlpin came out of relative obscurity to found a royal line that ended with Bonnie Prince Charlie almost a thousand years later. Famed for uniting the Picts and the Gaels, many legends have grown up about him. These produced a contradictory series of tales – few of which can be taken at face value. Kenneth – or in Gaelic, Cináed mac Ailpín was born about 800AD, in Dál Riata - which, despite the prestige of lona, had become a backwater. Most of the kings who ruled in this period paid tribute to the Picts, who were the regional superpower. The first Viking raids upon Britain and Ireland were taking place at this time. Lindisfarne was burned in 793 and Iona was attacked half a dozen times before 826. The Pictish heartland escaped serious attack from these early raiders, but the smaller and less well organised kingdom of the Gaels of Dál Riata where Kenneth was growing up – was thrown into disarray. The one spirited king, Aed the White, had died in 778 and n...