777 M?? Presented to the UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY by the ONTARIO LEGISLATIVE LIBRARY 1980 THE HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT SCOTS Su- i - -. cy -. c THE HISTOE THE ANCIENT SOOTS, THEIK ORIGIN AND HISTORY, TO THE BEGINNING OF THE NINTH CENTURY. II. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE NINTH CENTURY TO THE END OF THE THIRTEENTH. III. THE HEBRIDES UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF NORWAY. SOMERLED. CHIEFS DESCENDED FROM SOMERLED. BY THE REV. DUNCAN M'CALLUM, Author of the "HUtory of the Culdees," &e. &c. Member of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society. JOHN MENZIES, EDINBURGH ; HOULSTON AND STONEMAN, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 1858, . -7 vA CONTENTS. PART I. The Origin of the Ancient Scots; the Celtae, their Language, Institutions, and Laws, page 9 Separation of the Celtse Germany Gaul British Isles, 18 The Tuetones, or Sarmatse, - 25 The Gothic Race in the Western Isles, 28 - The Scots and Picts, 31 The Romans and Caledonians, 32 The Britons and Saxons, 45 The Erinich and Albinich, - 48 The Siol-Chuinn Dalriads Attacotti Maaetse, 49 The Apostle of the Irish, 52 The Apostle of the Picts, - - - 55 PART II. ALPIN, - 63 KENNETH MACALPIN, - 65 DONAL I. - 71 CONSTANTINE I. 74 HUGH, surnamed Alipes, - 77 GRIG, - 78 DONAL II. - - 83 CONSTANTINE II. - 85 MALCOLM I. - 88 INDULF, - - 89 VI CONTENTS. DUFF, page 91 CULEN, - 95 KENNETH II. - 98 CONSTANTINE III. - -r 106 KENNETH, surnamed Grim, - - 109 MALCOLM II. - 112 DUNCAN I. 118 MACBETH, - 123 MALCOLM CANMORE, 128 DONALBAN, - 142 DUNCAN II. 143 EDGAR, 144 ALEXANDER I. 144 DAVID, 147 THE LOCHLINS in the West Highlands, 155 MALCOLM IV. 165 WILLIAM THE LION, - 168 ALEXANDER If, 173 ALEXANDER III. - - 177 PART III. THE HEBRIDES under the Government of Norway, 191 SOMERLED, Life of, 200 Memoirs of Chiefs descended from Somefled, viz. THE LORD OF THE ISLES, 205 ALLAN, Son of Roderick, 205 RANALD GALDA, 209 ALLAN CLANRANALD, - 212 SIR ALEXANDER MACDONALD, - 214 NOTES, - - - 235 PREFACE. THERE are three views in which the history of the Ancient Scots has been considered. The first is the fabulous the them and the ; second, confounding Picts and the what be called the ; third, may "dark age" of the Scots. Those who have looked no farther than the last, fancied the nation to have been then from barbarism and just emerging ; they might have been heard comparing their ancestors with the native races of America. As this History comes not down to that unfavourable era, no notice shall be taken of the dim light in which the Scots appeared from the s^teenth century to the Union, a period of about two hundred years. It is not necessary to speak of the fabulous history, the writers of which have been fully exposed by Innes. Had they looked to the great nation of whom they vill PREFACE. were descended, they needed not to have sought elsewhere for higher antiquity. The confused state in which the Scots and the Picts have been represented, may riot be so easily described in tracing the origin of the Scots, since writers that should have known better, differ, and the least favourable account has been adopted by some eminent authors. All that is stated in Part Second will admit of no dispute, as the history of the nation is simply narrated, with the lives of the kings who governed the of five centuries and what during space ; relates to this period, but could not be con- veniently inserted in the History, is given in Part Third. ARISATG, March 3, 1858. HISTOKY OF THE ANCIENT SCOTS. PART. I. THEIR ORIGIN THE CELT^E THEIR INSTITUTIONS AND LAWS. THE Scots, a colony of the Gauls. Of all the colonies that first inhabited the British Isles, they alone had retained the name of the people from whom they descended, namely, Gauil, Gauls, contracted Gael. The Gauls were a powerful branch of the Celtse, the first great nation who came from the East, and first peopled the Western World. They appeared in the west of Europe at the dawn of history, beyond which no record of them need be looked for. But their language con- veyed their history to posterity. It is the oldest in 1 Europe, and, in all probability, as old as any in the world. The Celtic is yet spoken in different kingdoms in the Old World, and in parts of the New. To say that Gaelic or Hebrew was the language of Adam, indicates little knowledge of the Bible. The first language of the world was of Divine origin, and, like other good gifts, was perfect, as we find Adam giving names to all cattle, to the fowls of the air, and to every beast of the field.2 1 2 See Dr Blair's Lecture III. on Languages. Gen. ii. 20. O 10 This was the language of the world till the building of Babel, during a long period of time, namely, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-one years from the " creation, while the whole earth was of one language and of one speech." During that long space of time, the human race spread not abroad over the earth, as was the intention of the Creator, when he gave man dominion over the irrational creation, to subdue them. It was not his will that this beautiful globe of fruit-trees, and trees bearing seed, should be a wilderness for ravenous ani- mals. He blessed our first parents, saying : "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth on the earth."s The increase of the human race must have been rapid and great, as we may infer from the long life they enjoyed. They could not be ignorant of the Divine intention, as they lost not the knowledge of the living God who made them. Methuselah lived till within a few years of the flood. But as man wicked to do increased, they became ; they sought their own will, and disobeyed their Maker. After the Deluge, God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto " them : Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."* Yet, in little more than a century after the destruction of all living except Noah and his family, notwithstanding the great increase of the human species, there appeared no intention of leaving the East. Nimrod began to exalt himself, and built a city, which of the and after was the foundation Assyrian monarchy ; 3 4 Gen. i. 28. Gen. ix. 1. 11 Nineveh, the people began to build Babel. This was not according to the will of God, as he declares, that, instead of one people who would build a citj and a tower, and would dwell in the plain of Shinar, he would have many tribes to spread over wide rational regions and desert countries ; that the should have dominion over the irrational creation, should sub- due the fierce animals, and domesticate wild beasts of the forest. The Almighty put a stop to the great " so the Lord scattered the abroad undertaking ; people 5 from thence upon the face of the earth." so lost trace The one language long spoken, was ; no of it is to be found in the many languages since spoken : the confusion of languages put a stop to the vain, great building the builders could not understand one another. We know not how many languages there were after this grand era, but we may condescend on three, which the pos- terity of the three sons of Noah spoke as they were scat- tered and claim to the one of abroad, might lay original ; these, that is still a living tongue, has conveyed their history, so far as it is known, to posterity. It is of the of the Celtse have to but language we speak ; we may have occasion to observe the languages of the Shemetic and Hametic tribes in passing. The tribes took different routes as they were scattered from the tower of Babel. The Hebrews were of the tribe of the had its if its Shem ; but Hebrew language name, not origin, from Heber,6 who was in the fourth generation from Shem. Whether it was original, i.e. had its origin at the confusion of tongues, is not known. The descendants of Heber met with other tribes on their 5 6 Gen. xi. 8. St Luke iii. 35. 12 route : Terah, the father of Abraham, lived in Ur of the Caldees, and hence Caldaic or Syriac is found in the language of the Hebrews. From Ur he came to Haran, this tribe being already, or becoming idolaters. When the Lord called Abram from the house of his father and his kindred, to be the father of a chosen people, obeying God's call, he journeyed southward, with his wife Sarai, and his brother's son Lot, to the land of Canaan, which was promised to his seed. Mizraim, the grandson of Ham, led colonies to Egypt, and laid the foundation of a kingdom which lasted sixteen hundred and sixty-three years ; whence Egypt is called the land of Ham, and the Egyptian Pharaohs boasted themselves to be the sons of ancient kings. The Celt8B,7 descended ftom Japhet, travelled in an opposite direction westward. All that can be said of their route is, that they seemed not to have met any other tribe on their way, and must have been under Divine guidance, as they separated not till their arrival in Europe. They were a great nation, divisible into many small tribes or septs, as appeared when they parted in Europe.