Alpín son of Uuroid (

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

: Alpín mac Feredaig) was

king of the Picts The list of kings of the Picts is based on the Pictish Chronicle king lists. These are late documents and do not record the dates when the kings reigned. The various surviving lists disagree in places as to the names of kings, and the lengths ...

from 775 until 778. On

anthroponymic Anthroponymy (also anthroponymics or anthroponomastics, from Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος ''anthrōpos'', 'human', and ὄνομα ''onoma'', 'name') is the study of ''anthroponyms'', the proper names of human beings, both individual and colle ...

grounds Alpin may have been the brother of his predecessor Ciniod son of Uuredach as both have similar

patronym A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, ...

s, the Pictish equivalent of the Old Irish Feredach, but no certain evidence exists for this identification, nor for an assumption that he was a member of the

Cenél Loairn The Cenél Loairn, the descendants of Loarn mac Eirc, controlled parts of northern Argyll around the Firth of Lorne, most probably centred in Lorne but perhaps including the islands of Mull and Colonsay, Morvern and Ardnamurchan. The bounda ...

which might follow from it. He appears to have reigned from the death of Ciniod until his own death in 780. This is misreported in the

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' () are annals of History of Ireland, 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 Luin� ...

as that of ''Alpin, king of the

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

'', but no Saxon king named Ælfwine is known from this time. The

Annals of Clonmacnoise The ''Annals of Clonmacnoise'' () are an early 17th-century Early Modern English translation of a lost Irish chronicle, which covered events in Ireland from prehistory to 1408. The work is sometimes known as ''Mageoghagan's Book'', after its tr ...

name him Alpin, king of the Picts, and this reading is taken as the correct one.

References

Sources

* Anderson, Alan Orr; ''Early Sources of Scottish History A.D. 500–1286'', volume 1. Reprinted with corrections, Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. * Bannerman, John; "The Scottish Takeover of Pictland" in

Dauvit Broun Dauvit Broun (; born 1961) is a Scottish historian and academic. He is the chair of Scottish history at the University of Glasgow. A specialist in medieval Scottish and Celtic studies, he concentrates primarily on early medieval Scotland, and has ...

and

Thomas Owen Clancy Thomas Owen Clancy is an American academic and historian who specializes in medieval Celtic literature, especially that of Scotland. He did his undergraduate work at New York University, and his Ph.D at the University of Edinburgh. He is currentl ...

(eds.) ''Spes Scotorum: Hope of Scots. Saint Columba, Iona and Scotland''. T & T Clark, Edinburgh, 1999.

External links

Annals of Ulster, part 1, at CELT

Annals of Clonmacnoise at the Cornell Library:
see page 123.

778 deaths Pictish monarchs 8th-century Scottish monarchs Year of birth unknown {{Scotland-royal-stub