King of Strathclyde
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The list of the kings of Strathclyde concerns the kings of Alt Clut, later
Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...
, a
Brythonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...
kingdom in what is now western
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. The kingdom was ruled from Dumbarton Rock, ''Alt Clut'', the Brythonic name of the rock, until around 870 when the rock was captured and sacked by Norse-Gaels from the kingdom of Dublin after a four-month siege. Thereafter the centre of the kingdom moved to
Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south b ...
, previously a religious centre. The kingdom is also known as Cumbria after 870, and indeed may have ruled parts of the modern English region of
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...
in the 10th and 11th centuries. In the 11th century the
kingdom of Alba The Kingdom of Alba ( la, Scotia; sga, Alba) was the Kingdom of Scotland between the deaths of Donald II in 900 and of Alexander III in 1286. The latter's death led indirectly to an invasion of Scotland by Edward I of England in 1296 and the ...
conquered Strathclyde. It remained a distinctive area, with different laws, using the
Cumbric language Cumbric was a variety of the Common Brittonic language spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" in what is now the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and northern Lancashire in Northern England and the souther ...
alongside
Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, an ...
, until the 12th century.


Kings of Alt Clut

Various authorities have suggested a king-list as follows: * Ceretic Guletic (410–450) *
Dyfnwal Hen Dyfnwal Hen or Dumnagual Hen ("Dyfnwal the Old") was a ruler of the Brittonic kingdom of Alt Clut, later known as Strathclyde, probably sometime in the early 6th century. His biography is vague, but he was regarded as an important ancestor figur ...
/Dumnagual Hen (450–475) * Erbin (475–480) * Cinuit (480–485) *
Gereint Geraint () is a character from Welsh mythology, Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical Geraint of Dumnonia, Geraint, an early 8th-century king of Dumnonia. It is also the name of a 6th-century ...
(485–490) * Tutagual (490–495) * Caw (495–501) deposed * Domgal (501–508) * Clinoch (508–540) * Cinbelin (540–558) * Tutagual / Tudwal (559–573) * Riderch Hael ( ''fl.'' (573–612) * Neithon / Nechtan / Nwython (612–621) * Beli I (621–633) * Eugein map Beli (633–645) * Guret/Gwriad (645–658) * Mermin (?–682) *
Elfin Elfin may refer to: * ELFIN, a CubeSat developed by University of California, Los Angeles *Elfin (steamboat), a steamboat that ran on Lake Washington from 1891 to 1900 *Elfin of Alt Clut, ruler of Alt Clut, seventh century Scotland *Elfin, a chara ...
(?–693) * Bridei son of Beli I King of the Picts (672–693) * Dumnagual II (693–694) * Beli II (694–722) * Teudebur (722–750) * Rotri (750–754) * Dumnagual III (754–760) * Eugein II (760–780) * Riderch II (780–798) * Cynan (798–816) * Dumnagual IV (816–?) * Constantine (? 859) * Neithon (859–?) * Arthgal (died 872) The sources for this king-list are problematic. The earliest source is
Adomnán Adomnán or Adamnán of Iona (, la, Adamnanus, Adomnanus; 624 – 704), also known as Eunan ( ; from ), was an abbot of Iona Abbey ( 679–704), hagiographer, statesman, canon jurist, and saint. He was the author of the ''Life of ...
's ''Life of
Saint Columba Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is tod ...
'', which refers to Roderc son of Tothail as reigning in the Rock of Clyde—almost certainly Dumbarton Rock. It is known that Roderc (or Riderc) was a contemporary of Columba, but the date of his death, dependent on the 12th-century ''Life of Kentigern'' and an entry in the ''
Annales Cambriae The ( Latin for ''Annals of Wales'') is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales. The earliest is a 12th-century presumed copy of a mid-10th-century original; later ...
'' an.CLX+9 ''Conthigirni obitus''...., is unreliable. The next earliest source is the so-called ''Iona Chronicle'', compiled c. 650–750, deduced from Scottish entries in the ''
Chronicle of Ireland The Chronicle of Ireland ( ga, Croinic na hÉireann) is the modern name for a hypothesized collection of ecclesiastical annals recording events in Ireland from 432 to 911 AD. Several surviving annals share events in the same sequence and wording ...
'' which were later copied into the ''
Annals of Tigernach The ''Annals of Tigernach'' (abbr. AT, ga, Annála Tiarnaigh) are chronicles probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish. Many of the pre-historic entries come from the 12th-centur ...
'' (AT) and the ''
Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...
'' (AU). This preserves information for kings of Alclut from the mid-7th to the mid-8th century, beginning with Gure(i)t regis Alo Cluathe (AU), Domnall mac Auin (AT, AU) Bili mac Elphine (AT, AU) and Taudar mac Bile (AT), were all noted as 'kings of Alclut'. In addition to this, we have a poem preserved in the 10th-century ''Life of Adomnán'' which refers to Brude, king of the Picts, as being the son of Bile, king of Alclut. From this later period too (9th and 10th centuries) are several Welsh sources, particularly the genealogies in Harley 3859, which have been too readily accepted at face value. Whatever else they tell us, they do not confirm that someone who was the father of a king was also a king: thus, none of the individuals listed in them can be said to be 'king of Alclut' without corroboration. Furthermore, it is not clear what the sources for these genealogies were, and to what extent they are independent and factual, or how much they relied on much the same evidence we have today; and, if they lacked information, whether they supplied it. The ''Annales Cambriae'' note s.a. CCX+6 (c. 760) Dunnagual filius Teudubr, who may be the son of Taudar mac Bile of the ''Annals of Tigernach''. The ''Annales Cambriae'' does not specify his status, but he may plausibly have been king at Alclut. The following three individuals in the Harleian genealogy, Eugein, Riderch and Dumnagual, are unattested elsewhere. These are repetitions of three of the most famous names in the canon, and it must be suspected that they were supplied to fill a gap in the genealogical record. The insertion of Rotri between Dumnagual and Teudubr is a modern error based on a misinterpretation of ''Annales Cambriae'': s.a. CCX (754) Rotri, rex Brittonum, moritur. This Rhodri is almost certainly Rhodri Molwynog ("bald and grey") m. Idwal Iwrch, a prince of Gwynedd. It was perhaps believed by the 8th century that
Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints b ...
's Coroticus was king at Alclut (the headings added later at Armagh to the chapters of Muirchu's Life of the late 7th century give Coroticus the title ''Rex Aloo''), but there is no witness for this in Patrick's own writings. Cinuit and Dumnagual hen are ancestor figures, the former bearing a truncated form of the sept name Kynwydyon (pre-form *''Cunetiones''), and are totemistic figures in the genealogy. The name Clinoch is improbable and may be a scribal error for Cliuoc, or Gliuoc. The most famous figure in the list after Roderc is Eugein map Beli, who is no doubt intended to be Ohan (AT) or Hoan (AU) a king of the Britons who slew
Domnall Brecc Domnall Brecc (Welsh: ''Dyfnwal Frych''; English: ''Donald the Freckled'') (died 642 in Strathcarron) was king of Dál Riata, in modern Scotland, from about 629 until 642. He was the son of Eochaid Buide. He was counted as Donald II of Scotland ...
in an ambush in Strathcarron in 642. This battle is the subject of an awdl in the ''
Y Gododdin ''Y Gododdin'' () is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia a ...
'' collection, but in the poem the victor is not named, only said to be a grandson of Neithon (according to an emended reading of the surviving versions of the text). The poem describes this surprise attack as being launched from a fort above Strathcarron, and it seems likely that Dumyat is intended, a hillfort associated with the Maeatae, who had been attacked a generation earlier by Domnall Brecc's formidable grandfather,
Áedán mac Gabráin Áedán mac Gabráin (pronounced in Old Irish; ga, Aodhán mac Gabhráin, lang), also written as Aedan, was a king of Dál Riata from 574 until c. 609 AD. The kingdom of Dál Riata was situated in modern Argyll and Bute, Scotland, and pa ...
. It seems likely, therefore, that Ohan/Hoan was a king of the
Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling. It borders Perth ...
Britons, and that his action avenged the earlier attack by Áedán. There is no reason to associate Ohan with Alclut, but the genealogist probably felt there was no harm in inserting such a prestigious character, and his grandfather, into the genealogy, particularly if there was a substantial gap to fill between Roderc and Guret, and he may possibly have been the father of Domnall (although the name Ohan/Hoan/Auin/Eugein is very common). It may well be that Ohan's action led to a decline in the power of the
Cenél nGabráin The Cenél nGabráin was a kingroup, presumed to descend from Gabrán mac Domangairt, which dominated the kingship of Dál Riata until the late 7th century and continued to provide kings thereafter. Kings of Alba and of Scotland traced their desc ...
and subsequent reoccupation of
Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Pe ...
by the British under Gureit. (see now Fraser 2008) The final puzzle is the identity of Eugein's father Beli. It is to be suspected that this individual is a ghost provoked by the poem in the ''Life of Adomnán''. It is likely that, if there is any truth in the poem, Brude's father was Bili mac Elphine who died in 722, and that his son predeceased him in 693. There is in fact no need to posit another Beli, except to fill another gap in the generations. To take a thoroughly sceptical view of the available evidence, this suggests possibly five distinct dynasties. The first is of the later 6th century, represented by Roderc; the second of the mid-7th century, represented by Guret; the third of the late 7th century, represented by Domnall mac Auin; the fourth of the mid-8th century, represented by the descendants of Elfin; the fifth of the late 9th century, represented by Arthgal and his son, whose kingdom was probably not centred on Alclut.


King of Strathclyde / Cumbria

* ? Arthgal ap Dyfnwal (died 872), either the first King of Strathclyde or else the last King of Alt Clut * Rhun ab Arthgal * ?
Eochaid, son of Rhun Eochaid (fl. 878–889) was a ninth-century Briton who may have ruled as King of Strathclyde and/or King of the Picts. He was a son of Rhun ab Arthgal, King of Strathclyde, and descended from a long line of British kings. Eochaid's mother is ...
, possible King of Strathclyde or King of the Picts *
Dyfnwal, King of Strathclyde Dyfnwal (died 908 ×915) was King of Strathclyde. Although his parentage is unknown, he was probably a member of the Cumbrian dynasty that is recorded to have ruled the Kingdom of Strathclyde immediately before him. Dyfnwal is attested by only o ...
(died 908×915) * Owain ap Dyfnwal (fl. 934) *
Dyfnwal ab Owain Dyfnwal ab Owain (died 975) was a tenth-century King of Strathclyde. He was a son of Owain ap Dyfnwal, King of Strathclyde, and seems to have been a member of the royal dynasty of Strathclyde. At some point in the ninth- or tenth century, the K ...
(died 975) * ? Rhydderch ap Dyfnwal (fl. 971), possible King of Strathclyde * Máel Coluim, son of Dyfnwal (died 997) * ? Owain ap Dyfnwal (died 1015), possible King of Strathclyde *
Owain Foel Owain () is a name of Welsh origin, variously written in Old Welsh as Ougein, Eugein, Euguen, Iguein, Ou(u)ein, Eug(u)ein, Yuein, and in Middle Welsh as Ewein, Owein, and Ywein. Other variants of the name Owain include Ewein, Iguein, Owein, Ouein, Y ...
(fl. 1018), last recorded King of Strathclyde * Máel Coluim, son of the king of the Cumbrians (fl. 1054), possible King of Strathclyde or King of Alba *
David, Prince of the Cumbrians Before David I became the King of Scotland in 1124, he was the prince of the Cumbrians and earl of a great territory in the middle of England acquired by marriage. This period marks the beginning of his life as a great territorial lord. Circa 1113 ...
, became David I, King of Scotland, in 1124


References


Further reading

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Kings Of Strathclyde Strathclyde Kings
Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...