The Pictish Chronicle is a name used to refer to a pseudo-historical account of the kings of the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...

beginning many thousand years before history was recorded in

Pictavia The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ear ...

and ending after Pictavia had been enveloped by

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 ...

Version A

There are actually several versions of the Pictish Chronicle. The so-called "A" text is probably the oldest, the fullest, and seems to have fewer errors than other versions. The original (albeit lost) manuscript seems to date from the early years of the reign of Kenneth II of Scotland (who ruled Scotland from 971 until 995) since he is the last king mentioned and the chronicler does not know the length of his reign. This chronicle survives only in the 14th century

Poppleton Manuscript {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Poppleton manuscript is the name given to the fourteenth-century codex probably compiled by Robert of Poppleton, a Carmelite friar who was the Prior of Hulne, near Alnwick. The manuscript contains numerous work ...

. It is in three parts: # ''Cronica de origine antiquorum Pictorum'', an account of the origins of the Picts, mostly from the Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. # A list of Pictish kings. # '' Chronicle of the Kings of Alba''. It is evident that the latter two sections were originally written in

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 ...

since a few Gaelic words have not been translated into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

Version D

By the 12th century, Giric had acquired legendary status as liberator of the Scottish church from Pictish oppression and, fantastically, as conqueror of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

and most of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. As a result, Giric was known as Gregory the Great (Giric's conquests appear as

Bernicia Bernicia ( ang, Bernice, Bryneich, Beornice; la, Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England. The Anglian territory of Bernicia was ap ...

, rather than Ireland (Hibernia), in some versions). This tale appears in the variant of the '' Chronicle of the Kings of Alba'' which is interpolated in Andrew of Wyntoun's ''Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland''. This says that Áed reigned one year and was killed by his successor Giric in Strathallan (Other king lists have the same report). Here Giric, or Grig, is named "Makdougall", son of Dúngal. List "D", which may be taken as typical, contains this account of Giric:

Giric, Dungal's son, reigned for twelve years; and he died in Dundurn, and was buried in
Iona Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: �iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though ther ...
. He subdued to himself all Ireland, and nearly llEngland; and he was the first to give liberty to the Scottish church, which was in servitude up to that time, after the custom and fashion of the Picts.

This account is not found in the

. The lists known as "D", "F", "I", "K", and "N", contain this version and is copied by the '' Chronicle of Melrose''.The ''Chronicle of Melrose'' account, from Skene, op. cit, pp. 22 & 224, is quoted in A.O. Anderson, ''Early Sources'', p. 368. The Latin material interpolated in Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Cronykl states that King Dub was murdered at

Forres Forres (; gd, Farrais) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There a ...

, and links this to an eclipse of the sun which can be dated to 20 July 966.

Bibliography

* A.O. Anderson: ''Early Sources of Scottish History'' (Vol. I) (1922) * M.O. Anderson: ''Kings & Kingship in Early Scotland'' () (1973) * H.M. Chadwick: ''Early Scotland'' (1949) * B.T. Hudson: ''Kings of Celtic Scotland'' () (1994)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Annals of Tigernach

archived fro

Pictish culture Scottish chronicles Medieval Scottish literature 10th-century Latin books 10th-century Latin writers

Version A

Version D

See also

Bibliography

References

External links