832 
SCOT 
Anglo-Romans of the province of Valentia. The latter, 
some authors contend, united themselves under one ruler to 
resist the inroads of the Piets, and thus formed the kingdom 
of Cumbria, or Strathcluyd. Of the existence of such 
a monarchy, however, within the limits of proper Scotland, 
there is much room to doubt. At all events, it is very 
improbable that this new nation was able to confine the 
Piets within their ancient boundaries. On the contrary, it 
is most likely that the Piets, in conjunction with the Scots 
from Ireland, conquered and occupied the greater part of 
Valentia. 
Several ancient Scottish writers, upon the authority of 
monkish legends, contend that their ancestors first settled in 
Argyle 330 years before the Christian era ; and they give a 
list of kings, and a narrative of their actions, from that remote 
period. Later investigations, however, have shewn that these 
details are most probably fictitious, and that the Scots did 
not colonize any part of present Scotland till the year A. D. 
503, when a body of them passed over from the north of Ire¬ 
land, their proper country, and fixed themselves in the district 
of the British Epidii, which they denominated Caentir. 
These colonists were led by Loam, Fergus, and Angus, the 
three sons of Ere, a chieftain or petty king of Dalriada, viz., the 
portion of Rhiada in Ulster, whence the Scots were some¬ 
times called Dalriads. The derivation of the name Scot is 
uncertain, but the most plausible opinion is, that it was a 
corruption of the word sceite, which signifies, in Irish, di¬ 
spersed or scattered, and was therefore applied generally to 
denote the roving tribes who had habituated themselves to 
maritime excursions against the western shores of Romanized 
Britain. 
Chalmers justly observes, that there scarcely occurs a period 
of history so perplexed and obscured as the annals of the 
Scoto-Irish, from the date of their settlement in Argyle, till 
their ascendancy over the Piets in 843. This confusion and 
obscurity originated in the want of contemporaneous writings, 
and were afterwards greatly increased, by the contests of the 
Irish and Scottish antiquaries for pre-eminence in antiquity as 
well as in fame. In the sister island, however, there have hap¬ 
pily been preserved various documents, particularly the 
annals of Tigernich and Ulster, which throw many flashes 
of light on the transactions of that dark era. Several brief 
chronicles and historical documents, calculated to elucidate 
the same subject, have likewise been brought into notice by 
Innes; and Pinkerton first published a Gaelic poem, which 
professes to give a genealogical account of the Scoto-Irish 
kings. From an attentive consideration of ail these, and 
from an accurate examination of other documents, Chalmers 
compiled his genealogical and chronological table of the 
Scottish monarchs, to Kenneth inclusive, from which it 
appears that they were twenty-nine in number, and occupied 
by their united reigns a period of 340 years. The first was 
Fergus, who became sole chieftain, or king of the new co¬ 
lonists, soon after their arrival. Their barbarous names which 
constitute all that history possesses of his successors, our read¬ 
ers will pardon the omission of. The only person of this 
dynasty worth notice is, Aidan, the son of Gawran. He 
was inaugurated by St. Columba in 574, on the holy 
island of Jona; and proved himself, throughout a reign of 
thirty-five years, to be a prince of great enterprise. He ex¬ 
tended his dominions along the western coast of Valentia, 
which had been seized upon and colonized by various tribes 
of “Sceites” from Ireland, by consolidating the whole of 
them under his superior sway. In 577, having advanced 
into Cumberland, he engaged Rydderch, king of Cumbria, 
but the battle seems to have been indecisive. He afterwards 
entered into a league offensive and defensive with the Cum¬ 
brian monarch against the Saxons, who were defeated with 
great slaughter at Stanmore, in Westmoreland. Buchanan 
asjprts this was a league as well against the Piets as the 
Saxons, and further intimates, that Aidan was monarch of 
the district, now included in the counties of Renfrew, Ayr, 
Wigton Kirkcudbright and Dumfries; and this view of the 
subject certainly bears the .stamp of greater probability than 
LAND. 
the opinion which confines his territories to the is thmuso 
Cantire and the neighbouring islands. Aidan, according to 
all the writers who treat of his reign, fought several battles 
against the Saxons, in most of which he was victorious; but 
in the year 603, he was completely defeated by Ethelfrid, 
king of Northumbria, at the battle of Dawstane, in Rox- 
burgshire. This disaster, joined to the death of St. Columba, 
his kinsman and friend, so much affected him, that he died in 
the second year thereafter, at the advanced age of eighty, and 
was buried in the chapel of Ciaran at Campbeltown. 
From the year 642 until 736, the events of Scottish 
history are so involved and unimportant, that we shall 
pass them over in silence, remarking only, that nine kings 
reigned in the interval, whose names are thus recorded by 
Chalmers: Conal II., Donal-duin his son, Mal-duin, Ferchar- 
fada, Eocha-rineval, Ainbhceallach, Selwach, Eocha III., 
and Muredach. The last monarch had been unwillingly 
drawn into hostilities with the Piets, and transmitted their 
enmity to his successor, Eoghan, or Ewan, a feeble prince, 
who died in 739, when Aodhfin seized the sceptre, and soon 
evinced himself equal to the arduous task of government, even 
in the most troublesome times. In 740 he boldly encountered 
the mighty Ungus, king of the Piets, and forced him to quit 
his territories. Aodhfin died soon after, having reigned with 
greater glory than any of his predecessors, for the long period 
of thirty years. He left his kingdom, but not his talents, 
to his son Fergus, who reigned about three years. The 
reign of his successor, Selvach II., lasted twenty-four years. 
The government of Eocha IV., or as he is called by Bu¬ 
chanan, Achaius, the next king, was marked by several im¬ 
portant transactions. Some authors assert that he formed 
an alliance with Charlemagne, and instituted the most ancient 
order of the Thistle, but both these statements are erroneous. 
It is true, however, that he entered into a treaty of great 
importance to himself, his children, and his country, for he 
made peace with the Piets, and received the hand of Ur- 
gusia, daughter of Urguis, and sister of Constantine and 
Ungus, all of whom in succession swayed the Pictish sceptre. 
Eocha died in 826, after a reign of thirty years. Bu¬ 
chanan says, that the successor of Eocha was Congallus. 
He died in 833, when Alpin, the son of Eocha and Urguis, 
was acknowledged king. Buchanan, on the other hand, 
asserts that Alpin fell in a battle fought near Dundee against 
the Piets. Kenneth, the son of Alpin, next succeeded to 
the throne, and waging war against the Piets, after several 
obstinate battles overthrew their government, and united the 
two rival monarchies into one kingdom, under the name of 
Soctland. 
Kenneth, having thus accomplished the union of the two 
kingdoms, endeavoured by every means in his power to 
render that union permanent. He enacted many excellent 
laws for the better administration of the government, and 
removed the stone chair in which the kings of Scotland were 
wont to be crowned from Argyle to Scone. After a reign 
of twenty-three years, sixteen of which he ruled over his 
new monarchy, he died in 854, when Donald, his brother, 
was proclaimed king. This prince relaxed the public dis¬ 
cipline established by his predecessor, and gave himself up 
to the most shameful excesses. The Piets rose in open 
rebellion against his authority, and formed alliances with 
Osbretd and iEHa, monarchs of two of the Anglo-Saxon 
kingdoms adjoining Scotland. These" princes entered 
Merch with a powerful army'; and from thence dispatched 
heralds to Donald, requiring him to re-establish the Pictish 
monarchy. Donald, roused by a sense of his danger, 
marched against them, and totally defeated their united 
forces on the Jed, a river of Teviotdale. This victory 
enabled him to recover Berwick and all the territory to the 
north of the Tweed ; but his success was of very short dura¬ 
tion, for having indulged too far the natural licentiousness 
of his troops, the English took advantage of their careless¬ 
ness, set upon them in the night, routed them with great 
slaughter, and made Donald prisoner. The enemy after¬ 
wards advanced to the Forth, which they attempted to cross 
