#Cináed mac Ailpin

[roehenstart]

Legendary kings of Scotland by James de Witt.

69: Kennethus II (Kenneth MacAlpin)

Kenneth MacAlpin (810-858) or Kenneth I was King of Dál Riada (841–850), King of the Picts (843–858), and the first King of Alba (843–858) of likely Gaelic origin. He inherited the throne of Dál Riada from his father Alpín mac Echdach, founder of the Alpínid dynasty. Kenneth I conquered the kingdom of the Picts in 843–850 and began a campaign to seize all of Scotland and assimilate the Picts, for which he was posthumously nicknamed An Ferbasach ("The Conqueror"). Kenneth I is traditionally considered the founder of Scotland, which was then known as Alba, although like his immediate successors, he bore the title of King of the Picts. One chronicle calls Kenneth the first Scottish lawgiver but there is no information about the laws he passed.

[scotianostra]

13th February 862 Kenneth MacAlpin (Cináed mac Ailpin); who united the Picts and Scots in one kingdom, died at Forteviot. His reign is given in the Pictish Chronicle as twenty eight years.

Kenneth, the son of Alpin went by a few names, Cináed mac Ailpín, Kenneth Mac Alpin, and Kenneth the Hardy, many regard him as the first King of Scotland.

Battling against Norse (Viking) raids, he brought some unification between the Gaels and the Picts to found a united kingdom of Alba or Scotia. The Picts had been weakened by incursions from the Vikings and Irish tribes who under Fergus Mor had settled in the area of Argyll. The term Scots came from the Latin Scotti which was Latin for Irish.

Kenneth was Dalriada son of King Alpin II of Dalriada and succeeded his father to the crown of Dalriada in 839 but he also had a claim to be King of the Picts through his mother, he was however not the only claimant to the Pictish throne.

The Picts agreed to a meeting with Mac Alpin at Scone, attended by all claimants to the Pictish Crown, Now this story is a bit far fetched but it is a story none the less of what is said to have happened at that meeting, it has since been referred to as Mac Alpin’s treason.

The leading Pict Claimant, Drust X and his nobles were all killed by the Scots: allegedly (and improbably) by having their booby-trapped benches collapsed so Kenneth’s rivals plunged into pits in the floor and impaled themselves on spikes set there for the purpose.

Suddenly there was only one claimant for the Pictish Crown, and Kenneth was crowned King of the Picts and the Scots in 843. He was the first King of the House of Alpin, the dynasty named after his father. Kenneth made his capital at Forteviot, a small village 5 miles south west of today’s Perth. He also moved the religious focus of his kingdom from Iona, where he was said to have been born, to Dunkeld, and had St Columba’s remains moved there in 849, perhaps for safe keeping from the continuing Vikings raids.

Kenneth MacAlpin was succeeded by Donald MacAlpin/ Domnall mac Ailpín his brother.

[buckmebuchanan]

Can we pls take some historical objectivity when calling out Salazar Slytherin in the Harry Potter world pls.

Hogwarts school was founded roughly in the 10th century. 900s England.

Far from prying Muggles eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution

- Professor Binns, CoS chapter 9

Ik a lot of non Europeans equate witch hunts with Salem, but Europe had hundreds of years of laws, torture and penalty of witchcraft and sorcery. 

 In the mid 9th century Cináed mac Ailpin ruled England, and created statutes that any witches or sorcerers who ‘sort spirits help’ to weld the elements were to be burned to death. King Aethlestan, in 924-940 was incredibly against witchcraft, 'extracting the extreme penalty'.

Not to mention, purebloods were most likely the norm. The idea of pure, would have come from having small, extremely closed knit communities, because to reveal yourself to anyone was literally a cause for death.

Slytherin wasn’t someone who hated Muggles because they were lesser being unable to make a feather fly, it was because they literally trying to exterminate all magic kind. This was the start of Christianity- paganism was being rooted out and cast as evil, and magic was seen as the easiest way to prove someone worshiped the old gods. 

 Hogwarts was meant to be a safe place for young witches and wizards, kept secret not because the magical communities wanted to keep their power to themselves, but because they were outnumbered 10 to 1 by people that thought they deserved death simply for existing.

Purebloods of the modern world are racist as shit tho, twisting the origin of the distrust of Muggles into empty callous and dirty blood, but it's entirely understandable, (Tho still unfair) for Slytherin not to want to open this safe haven up to the children of those who are slaughtering his people.

Do I agree with Slytherin? No, children are innocent and if they had powers that's more reason why they should be given a haven, but pls don't throw modern pureblood empty prejudice in the same boat as the founder who lived a thousand years ago in a completely different setting.

As for the basilisk, it went a centuries without injuring a student, my reckoning was that Salazar knew how dangerous it was and made it so only his heir could release to protect the kids and magic folk in a time when Muggles born had turned against the school and they needed something to protect the students.

Slytherin didn't live in a world where half bloods were the normal, the population was vastly different back in 10th c.

[luxaeternags]

name / alias: smam pronouns: she/they age: 25 timezone: pst triggers: audible thunder, descriptions of infinity/eternity hex code: purple

character name: marlene mckinnon

character age / birthdate: 19, october 21st 2001

character faceclaim: danielle rose russell

hogwarts house / former school: gryffindor

side (order, death eaters, neutral): order of the phoenix

occupation: auror in training

ships / anti-ships: remulene

  personality: stubborn, hot-headed, protective, kind, guarded, loyal

past: life was good for marlene in the beginning. she and her twin sister sarah grew up the youngest of six siblings and she loved every second of it. though separated by over a decade from her oldest siblings amber and mitchell, she always felt close with them. the mckinnons grew up with no knowledge of how bad the wizarding world was getting outside of their little bubble of happiness. when she started school, marlene heard stories about the knights of walpurgis and this terrifying dark lord, but part of her thought they were just scary stories to keep kids in line.

it wasn’t until she was thirteen that she realised how wrong she was. while she and her twin sister were walking down diagon alley with their father, ice cream cones in hand, tragedy struck. two death eaters apparated in out of nowhere and duelled him. sarah ran screaming, trying to get help, but marlene was frozen in fear and she just watched, watched so long that she heard one of the death eaters say avada kedavra. marlene was thirteen when she watched father die before her before help could arrive, not that it would make a difference.

she grew bitter after that, not wanting to let anyone in, terrified they leave her like her father had. she grew angry, too, so angry that she would end up in detention multiple times a month for fighting a bully. she closed herself off from most of her friends and family, pretending that she preferred to be alone. it wasn’t until dorcas forced her way in that she started to open up again.

distant cousins started being killed after that. the mckinnons, and many other clans in scotland, ireland, and wales came from old lineages of druids, the magical community that occupied the british isles long before the romans or normans or vikings arrived. they had their own society and rules, practised magic in a completely different way, and those teachings were carried on over the years, no matter how hard the invaders tried to stamp them out. her mother sat the siblings down one christmas holiday to tell them how important it was that they hid their druidic knowledge from the world and she especially stressed it to marlene, who had inherited the strongest druidic gifts in her family.

voldemort was picking off the druids one by one, killing them when they refused to join his cause. they had a magic that he was intrigued by. the druids, however, are a rather insular community, wanting to keep their magic secret from the world, thinking it would protect them. how wrong they were. so marlene hid who she was from the world, didn’t tell anyone aside from a few friends, terrified that if others knew they’d get hurt or worse.

during her seventh year of school, marlene got in a fight with a death eater hopeful and got hurt badly, causing remus to panic when he visited her in the hospital wing. they ended up admitting they had feelings for each other and have been dating since.

present: much to her family’s disapproval, marlene immediately joined the aurors when she graduated school. the war has already taken so much of her family and they don’t want to lose her too, but she can’t sit back and do nothing.

headcanons:

marlene’s wand is made of ebony wood, has a core of wulver hair, is nine and a half inches long, and is slightly springy. her patronus is a bengal cat. when she was young, she would pull on the memory of getting her first cat duchess, who was a bengal. now, she pulls on the memories of finding out she was pregnant or the day gwenyth was born. her boggart is her daughter being dead. amortentia for marlene smells like the wind on a cool summer’s night, a fire crackling under roasting food, stew on a chilly winter morning, and caradoc’s cologne. she can see thestrals.

marlene’s father marcus planted the whomping willow the year remus began at school. whomping willows are common in druid forests and accomplished druids have no problem going up to them. given that this tree was cultivated by her father, she is, essentially, friends with it. she first discovered this in her fifth year when she got too close on a dare and the tree didn’t attack her. being back at hogwarts means seeing the tree again, something that makes her very happy.

in the summer between her fifth and sixth year, marlene became an animagus. her form takes on that of a bengal cat. she kept it secret pretty well until she was found out by professor mcgonagall, who then helped her become a registered animagus so she could avoid the punishments of being unregistered. her distinctive markings are stripes that look suspiciously like eyebrows. as moira lloyd, she kept her animagus status secret from non-druids.

the mckinnon family comes from the dalriada region of scotland, originating near kyleakin on the isle of sky. they are descended from cináed mac ailpin, and as such are part of the seven clans that make up the siol alpin family of scottish clans. though her family resided in glasgow for years, most of the mckinnon family still lives on the isle of sky. this is where she apparated to after her family was attacked. being from old gaelic blood, their magic is rooted in druidic origins, and as such, they have a strong connection to nature as a whole, gaining much of their power from simply being in nature. marlene is the only one in her family that had such strong druidic powers. when using her natural druidic abilities, a vine and leaf pattern blossoms at the edges of her face. after years of being an accomplished and powerful druid, if you look closely enough, you can see the patterns on her jawline and near her ears, though they are incredibly faint.

marlene knew about remus being a werewolf, having been told by him when she was in her fifth year. that’s why she became an animagus, wanting to be there for him if she could be.

[starstruckcloudgalaxy]

Welcome back to my Celtic history corner, dear friends; this time, I’ll tell you something about a great medieval leader and warrior, Kenneth MacAlpin (Cináed mac Ailpin), the man who united Scotland.

Let’s go back to the 9th century, when Scotland is divided into two kingdoms: Fortriu, land of the Picts (descendants of the old Brythonic-Celtic tribe named Caledonians), in the East, and Dál Riada, land of the Scots (Gaels of Irish origin who had settled in Scotland a few centuries before), in the West.

Torridon (later known as Burghead) was the stronghold of the Picts, while Dunadd was the seat of the kings of Dál Riada; and the two rival groups fought each other for centuries about the rule over all of Alba, or Caledonia as the Romans had called it.

Then, an additional threat came in from the east: Viking raiders started attacking the coast of Fortriu and then of Dál Riada as well! The whole country had started falling into anarchy when, around the year 810, a son Cináed was born to Alpin II, king of Dál Riada, and his wife, a beautiful Pictish princess. Things didn’t go well for Alpin, though – he was beheaded by his own people for fighting with instead of against his wife’s people, the Picts.

So, in 841, Kenneth becomes king of Dál Riada – and soon he starts extending his rule over Fortriu as well, which at the time is being hit very hard by Viking raids. And he goes about it in a rather unsubtle manner: he has the pretender to the throne of Pictland, Drust X, and all the other members of his bloodline killed at a meeting in Scone. Kenneth can now claim the crown of all of Scotland.

Once he starts his reign over Alba, he turns into a wise and just ruler, though: he manages to unify the Gaels and the Picts against external enemies – the Vikings, and the Saxons down in Northumbria, which he invaded numerous times.

Even though he travelled around the country most of the time as kings used to do in those days, Kenneth set up his capital in Scone; he had the old Stone of Destiny brought there, which had been the coronation stone of the kings of Dál Riada for centuries, and all the kings of Alba would be crowned on that stone until it was stolen by Edward I of England in 1296 and taken to London.

Kenneth, whose nicknames included ‘the Hardy’ and ‘the Conqueror’, died in 858 from a tumour; his death was lamented not only all over Alba, but also in Ireland with which Alba had a good relationship. His sons Constantine and Áed succeeded him, and the House of Alpin continued ruling Scotland until 1034, fighting off all attempts at a takeover by foreigners, were they Vikings or Saxons.

Who knows – had it not been for Kenneth MacAlpin, perhaps Scotland would never have developed such a strong and unique national character and such an important part as a preserver of Gaelic culture within the United Kingdom…

  Roberta’s Celtic Corner: Kenneth MacAlpin, King of all Scotland Welcome back to my Celtic history corner, dear friends; this time, I’ll tell you something about a great medieval leader and warrior, Kenneth MacAlpin (Cináed mac Ailpin), the man who united Scotland.

[scotianostra]

On February 4th 1590 a letter of fire and sword was issued against Clan Gregor, for murdering one of the king’s foresters at Glengartney in Perthshire.

To explain a wee bit, letters of fire and sword were issued if a criminal resisted the law and refused to answer his citation, it was accounted treason in the Scottish courts; and “letters of fire and sword” were sent to the sheriff, authorising him to use either or both these instruments to apprehend the contumacious party. It gave permission for one Clan to attack another lawfully.

The MacGregors were blamed for the murder of John Drummond-Ernoch, a deputy forester of the Royal Forest. It was claimed that they killed him after he had caught a party of MacGregor poachers and summarily hung a few of them. It was said that they then went to the home of John Drommund-Erncoh’s sister, Lady Margaret Stewart of Ardvolich (a kinsmen) and paraded his head in front of her after she had fed them a light meal of bread and cheese. (It is highly unlikely that they would have committed such a breach of Highland ettiquette.)

At any rate, they were brought before the Privy Council (of whom Sir Colin Campbell was a member) and, on 4th February 1590, a commission was issued that they were to seek and apprehend certain MacGregors deemed responsible for this heinous act. It was also recommended that all the MacGregors should be captured and punished because, if they weren’t in on this crime, surely there were other crime that they had committed!

The commission also allowed anyone to use any measure they deemed necessary, including lethal force, to bring the justice the condemned MacGregors. It was also stated that the captors would received half of the value of the proper which would be forfeited by the MacGregors upon capture.

Basically the Campbell Duke of Argyle was given a free hand to slaughter MacGregors.

This is not to say that the MacGregors were not a wild and bloody clan because they were. They always lived a rebel life and by their own rules. They feuded with other clans such as the Culquhons whom they slaughtered when the Colquhons were in retreat. In response to such constant rebellion and the Colquhon killings, their lands were seized, the Laird MacGregor and several of his followers were executed and, later on, their name was proscripted. The terms of the proscription were thus:

1. Babies not born yet will not take the MacGregor name under penalty of Death. 2. No more than four shall meet at a time, under penalty of Death. 3. They shall bear no weapons, save an unpointed knife for cutting their meat. 4. To kill a MacGregor is NOT a crime, but is to be encouraged.

The men were hunted down (many by specially trained Campbell hounds) and slaughtered, the women had their faces branded. Women who consorted with MacGregor men were tarred and feathered and driven out of towns.

After the MacGregor clan was prohibited from using the name and lost their homes, they became known as Clann a'Chedd or The Children of the Mist. This ban was in place for about 170 years, it was not until 1775 that the penal statutes against the MacGregors were finally repealed, and not until 1784 did the British government bureaucracy finally enforce this edict.

The MacGregors were a wild lot, but you have to ask did they deserve such harsh treatment? I don’t think so, but these were harsh brutal times.

The MacGregors survive and indeed thrive to this day. The current chief of Clan Gregor is Sir Malcolm Gregor Charles MacGregor of MacGregor, 7th Bt, of Lanrick and Balquhidder, 24th Chief of Clan Gregor. His Gaelic designation is An t-Ailpeanach, a name which bears testimony to the clan’s traditional descent from Siol Alpin, or Seed of Alpin, traditionally claiming descent from Cináed mac Ailpin, Kenneth MacAlpin, who was a King of the Picts and according to legend was the first King of Scotland.

The Clan motto is ’S Rioghal Mo Dhream Royal is my Race.

[scotianostra]

On February 4th 1590 a letter of fire and sword was issued against Clan Gregor, for murdering one of the king's foresters at Glengartney in Perthshire.

Letters of fire and sword. If a criminal resisted the law and refused to answer his citation, it was accounted treason in the Scottish courts; and “letters of fire and sword” were sent to the sheriff, authorising him to use either or both these instruments to apprehend the contumacious party. It gave permission for one Clan to attack another lawfully.

The MacGregors were blamed for the murder of John Drummond-Ernoch, a deputy forester of the Royal Forest. It was claimed that they killed him after he had caught a party of MacGregor poachers and summarily hung a few of them. It was said that they then went to the home of John Drommund-Erncoh's sister, Lady Margaret Stewart of Ardvolich (a kinsmen) and paraded his head in front of her after she had fed them a light meal of bread and cheese. (It is highly unlikely that they would have committed such a breach of Highland ettiquette.)

At any rate, they were brought before the Privy Council (of whom Sir Colin Campbell was a member) and, on 4th February 1590, a commission was issued that they were to seek and apprehend certain MacGregors deemed responsible for this heinous act. It was also recommended that all the MacGregors should be captured and punished because, if they weren't in on this crime, surely there were other crime that they had committed!

The commission also allowed anyone to use any measure they deemed necessary, including lethal force, to bring the justice the condemned MacGregors. It was also stated that the captors would received half of the value of the proper which would be forfeited by the MacGregors upon capture. Basically the Campbell Duke of Argyle was given a free hand to slaughter MacGregors.

This is not to say that the MacGregors were not a wild and bloody clan because they were. They always lived a rebel life and by their own rules. They feuded with other clans such as the Culquhons whom they slaughtered when the Colquhons were in retreat. In response to such constant rebellion and the Colquhon killings, their lands were seized, the Laird MacGregor and several of his followers were executed and, later on, their name was proscripted. The terms of the proscription were thus:

1. Babies not born yet will not take the MacGregor name under penalty of Death. 2. No more than four shall meet at a time, under penalty of Death. 3. They shall bear no weapons, save an unpointed knife for cutting their meat. 4. To kill a MacGregor is NOT a crime, but is to be encouraged.

The men were hunted down (many by specially trained Campbell hounds) and slaughtered, the women had their faces branded. Women who consorted with MacGregor men were tarred and feathered and driven out of towns.

After the MacGregor clan was prohibited from using the name and lost their homes, they became known as Clann a'Chedd or The Children of the Mist. This ban was in place for about 170 years, it was not until 1775 that the penal statutes against the MacGregors were finally repealed, and not until 1784 did the British government bureaucracy finally enforce this edict.

The MacGregors were a wild lot, but you have to ask did they deserve such harsh treatment? I don't think so, but these were harsh brutal times.

The MacGregors survive and indeed thrive to this day. The current chief of Clan Gregor is Sir Malcolm Gregor Charles MacGregor of MacGregor, 7th Bt, of Lanrick and Balquhidder, 24th Chief of Clan Gregor. His Gaelic designation is An t-Ailpeanach, a name which bears testimony to the clan's traditional descent from Siol Alpin, or Seed of Alpin, traditionally claiming descent from Cináed mac Ailpin, Kenneth MacAlpin, who was a King of the Picts and according to legend was the first King of Scotland.

The Clan motto is 'S Rioghal Mo Dhream Royal is my Race.

[scotianostra]

On February 13th 858 Kenneth MacAlpin who united the Picts and Scots in one kingdom, died at Forteviot.

Kenneth, son of Alpin, Cináed mac Ailpin, King of Scotia succeeded his father in 843. He defeated the Picts about 843, uniting them with the Scots in the new kingdom of Alba, which comprised a large part of present day Scotland. When the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba was compiled, probably in the 11th century the annalist wrote:

"So Kinadius son of Alpinus, first of the Scots, ruled this Pictland prosperously for 16 years. Pictland was named after the Picts, whom, as we have said, Kinadius destroyed. ... Two years before he came to Pictland, he had received the kingdom of Dál Riata"

  As a monarch he  is seen as uniting the different areas of Scotland into by and large the country we are today, but this was no easy task, he was a ruthless warrior King, It is said that he held a banquet at Scone after his succession and murdered seven earls of Dalriada who might have disputed his position.

Sources for the period disagree about the exact date of his victory, but Kenneth features as a notable warrior who reputedly invaded Northumbria six times and fought off attacks by the Britons of Strathclyde as well as by the Norsemen. Using dynastic marriage to solve the problem, Kenneth married his daughter to Rhun, the Strathclyde king.

  Because of the increasing pressure from the Vikings on the western shores, Kenneth moved the religious centre of his kingdom from Iona to Dunkeld and Forteviot.

  However, Iona continued to be the burial place of Scottish kings even after St Columba's relics were moved, until the eleventh century.

  During his reign, Kenneth pushed the boundaries of his kingdom south of the river Forth until it stretched as far as the river Tweed. However, the kingdom of Strathclyde, based at Dumbarton, remained untouched.

On his death in 858 in Forteviot, Kenneth was buried on Iona.

  Of Kenneth's five children, two later became kings - Constantine I who took over on the death of King Donald I, ruled from 862 to 878 and was killed in a battle fighting the Danes. Another son, Aedh (who reigned from 878 to 879) was killed by his cousin Giric, a son of Donald I. Kenneth's three daughters married well - to the King Run of Strathclyde (laying the foundation of a further extension of Alba), the Norwegian King of Dublin and the High King of Ireland, Aedh Finnlaith.

Much more on Kenneth at the link below.

 https://www.thenational.scot/news/17234224.scotlands-first-king-unified-country-troubling-times/

[scotianostra]

On February 4th 1590 a letter of fire and sword was issued against Clan Gregor, for murdering one of the king's foresters at Glengartney in Perthshire.

Letters of fire and sword. If a criminal resisted the law and refused to answer his citation, it was accounted treason in the Scottish courts; and “letters of fire and sword” were sent to the sheriff, authorising him to use either or both these instruments to apprehend the contumacious party. It gave permission for one Clan to attack another lawfully. 

The MacGregors were blamed for the murder of John Drummond-Ernoch, a deputy forester of the Royal Forest. It was claimed that they killed him after he had caught a party of MacGregor poachers and summarily hung a few of them. It was said that they then went to the home of John Drommund-Erncoh's sister, Lady Margaret Stewart of Ardvolich (a kinsmen) and paraded his head in front of her after she had fed them a light meal of bread and cheese. (It is highly unlikely that they would have committed such a breach of Highland ettiquette.) 

At any rate, they were brought before the Privy Council (of whom Sir Colin Campbell was a member) and, on 4th February 1590, a commission was issued that they were to seek and apprehend certain MacGregors deemed responsible for this heinous act. It was also recommended that all the MacGregors should be captured and punished because, if they weren't in on this crime, surely there were other crime that they had committed! 

The commission also allowed anyone to use any measure they deemed necessary, including lethal force, to bring the justice the condemned MacGregors. It was also stated that the captors would received half of the value of the proper which would be forfeited by the MacGregors upon capture. Basically the Campbell Duke of Argyle  was  given a free hand to slaughter MacGregors.

This is not to say that the MacGregors were not a wild and bloody clan because they were. They always lived a rebel life and by their own rules. They feuded with other clans such as the Culquhons whom they slaughtered when the Colquhons were in retreat. In response to such constant rebellion and the Colquhon killings, their lands were seized, the Laird MacGregor and several of his followers were executed and, later on, their name was proscripted. The terms of the proscription were thus:

1. Babies not born yet will not take the MacGregor name under penalty of Death. 2. No more than four shall meet at a time, under penalty of Death. 3. They shall bear no weapons, save an unpointed knife for cutting their meat. 4. To kill a MacGregor is NOT a crime, but is to be encouraged.

The men were hunted down (many by specially trained Campbell hounds) and slaughtered, the women had their faces branded. Women who consorted with MacGregor men were tarred and feathered and driven out of towns. After the MacGregor clan was prohibited from using the name and lost their homes, they became known as Clann a'Chedd or The Children of the Mist. This ban was in place for about 170 years, it was not until 1775 that the penal statutes against the MacGregors were finally repealed, and not until 1784 did the British government bureaucracy finally enforce this edict.

The MacGregors were a wild lot, but you have to ask did they deserve such harsh treatment? I don't think so, but these were harsh brutal times. 

The MacGregors survive and indeed thrive to this day. The current chief of Clan Gregor is Sir Malcolm Gregor Charles MacGregor of MacGregor, 7th Bt, of Lanrick and Balquhidder, 24th Chief of Clan Gregor. His Gaelic designation is An t-Ailpeanach, a name which bears testimony to the clan's traditional descent from Siol Alpin, or Seed of Alpin,  traditionally claiming descent from Cináed mac Ailpin, Kenneth MacAlpin, who was a King of the Picts and according to legend was the first King of Scotland. 

The Clan motto  is 'S Rioghal Mo Dhream Royal is my Race.

You can find a full account of the Murder of Drummondernoch , which kicked it all off here https://www.geni.com/.../John.../6000000042243931953

[scotianostra]

On February 13th 858 Kenneth MacAlpin who united the Picts and Scots in one kingdom, died at Forteviot.

Kenneth, son of Alpin, Cináed mac Ailpin, King of Scotia succeeded his father in 843. He defeated the Picts about 843, uniting them with the Scots in the new kingdom of Alba, which comprised a large part of present day Scotland.

When the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba was compiled, probably in the 11th century the annalist wrote:

"So Kinadius son of Alpinus, first of the Scots, ruled this Pictland prosperously for 16 years. Pictland was named after the Picts, whom, as we have said, Kinadius destroyed. ... Two years before he came to Pictland, he had received the kingdom of Dál Riata"

Sources for the period disagree about the exact date of his victory, but Kenneth features as a notable warrior who reputedly invaded Northumbria six times and fought off attacks by the Britons of Strathclyde as well as by the Norsemen.

Using dynastic marriage to solve the problem, Kenneth married his daughter to Rhun, the Strathclyde king.

Because of the Norse threat to Iona, the burial place of St Columba, he removed the saint's relics to a new church which he founded in Pictland at Dunkeld, Perthshire. However, Iona continued to be the burial place of Scottish kings even after St Columba's relics were moved, until the eleventh century.

Kenneth died in 858 at Forteviot, near Perth, probably of a tumour.

The pic is part of the magnificent frieze by William Hole at The National Portrait Gallery.