been a druid.
Fergus’s inauguration included one novelty: the introduction of the Stone of Destiny . According to legend, thousands of years ago the Scots brought the Stone of Destiny from Egypt, across North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula, and then to Ireland. The surviving descriptions of the Stone suggest it was made of black marble or meteoricrock cut to the shape of a low seat, about eighteen inches high with volutes to make it easier to carry, and carved all over with symbols. If it had been in the hands of the Egyptians and the Celts, great stone-carvers both, for more than a thousand years, it could hardly have been otherwise.
When Fergus sat on the Stone of Destiny and placed his foot in the footprint cut into the summit of Dunadd, he was recognized as king of the Scots, at least by those who were present that day. Not everyone in Argyll recognized Fergus. He still had to fight to fully establish his authority.
Domangart, Fergus’s successor and Arthur Mac Aedan’s great-grandfather; Comgall, Arthur Mac Aedan’s great-uncle; Conall, Arthur Mac Aedan’s uncle; and Aedan, Arthur’s father were all inaugurated kings of the Scots on Dunadd’s summit, sitting on the Stone of Destiny, as were innumerable kings of the Scots in years to come.
The Senchus Fer nAlban is a genealogical record of the Scots of Dalriada, although the versions available today are a composite of several seventh-century sources that were only reduced to writing in the early tenth century. The end result is that the Senchus is not only inherently contradictory but also contradicts other separate sources.
One reading of the Senchus suggests that Fergus’s new kingdom of Dalriada-Scotland was divided between Fergus’s kin, with his brother Lorne taking the north of Argyll (still, to this day, the district of Lorne) and with his brother Angus, or at least the house of Angus, taking Islay and Knapdale. Other lands fell to other kin, but the Senchus is vague and confused, and it is impossible to know exactly who got what.
We do know that Cowal in southeast Argyll, near to the heartlands of Strathclyde, was named after someone called Comgall. Fergus’s grandson, Arthur’s great-uncle, was a Comgall, and so it may have been him. If Fergus initially directed his efforts against the islands and the west coast, this would explain why these were named after Fergus’s closest relatives, his brothers, Lorne and Angus. It would then make sense to suppose that it was left to the next generation to advance inland to the east, which would explain why Fergus’s grandson Comgall gave his name to Cowal.
According to the Senchus , the Cenél Gabhran , Kin of Gabhran (Gabhran was Arthur Mac Aedan’s grandfather) consisted of 560 households and could put 800 men in the field. The Cenél Lorne and the Cenél Angus , with 420 and 430 households respectively, could each field 600 men. Based on these figures, Dalriada-Scotland in its heyday was probably able to muster an army of between 1,000 and 2,000 warriors. The figures in the Senchus do not seem to be obvious exaggerations but seem reasonable enough to be relied on. They were probably based on records kept for fiscal purposes, or perhaps they were muster rolls.
Following his inauguration, Fergus marched north from Dunardry-Dunadd, against the Picts, taking the Stone of Destiny with him and fighting all the way. Within a year of landing he had taken the islands of Lismore and Iona and was in control as far north as Loch Linnhe. In the Chronicles of the Picts and Scots and Other Early Memorials , W. F. Skene says that Fergus built a town near Dunstaffnage Castle and installed the Stone of Destiny there. According to Hector Boece, the fifteenth-century Scottish historian, “Fergus … brought the chair [the Stone of Destiny] from Ireland to Argyll, and was crowned upon it. He built a town in Argyll called Beregonium, in which he placed it.”
Beregonium, modern Benderloch, is only three miles from
Fergus’s inauguration included one novelty: the introduction of the Stone of Destiny . According to legend, thousands of years ago the Scots brought the Stone of Destiny from Egypt, across North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula, and then to Ireland. The surviving descriptions of the Stone suggest it was made of black marble or meteoricrock cut to the shape of a low seat, about eighteen inches high with volutes to make it easier to carry, and carved all over with symbols. If it had been in the hands of the Egyptians and the Celts, great stone-carvers both, for more than a thousand years, it could hardly have been otherwise.
When Fergus sat on the Stone of Destiny and placed his foot in the footprint cut into the summit of Dunadd, he was recognized as king of the Scots, at least by those who were present that day. Not everyone in Argyll recognized Fergus. He still had to fight to fully establish his authority.
Domangart, Fergus’s successor and Arthur Mac Aedan’s great-grandfather; Comgall, Arthur Mac Aedan’s great-uncle; Conall, Arthur Mac Aedan’s uncle; and Aedan, Arthur’s father were all inaugurated kings of the Scots on Dunadd’s summit, sitting on the Stone of Destiny, as were innumerable kings of the Scots in years to come.
The Senchus Fer nAlban is a genealogical record of the Scots of Dalriada, although the versions available today are a composite of several seventh-century sources that were only reduced to writing in the early tenth century. The end result is that the Senchus is not only inherently contradictory but also contradicts other separate sources.
One reading of the Senchus suggests that Fergus’s new kingdom of Dalriada-Scotland was divided between Fergus’s kin, with his brother Lorne taking the north of Argyll (still, to this day, the district of Lorne) and with his brother Angus, or at least the house of Angus, taking Islay and Knapdale. Other lands fell to other kin, but the Senchus is vague and confused, and it is impossible to know exactly who got what.
We do know that Cowal in southeast Argyll, near to the heartlands of Strathclyde, was named after someone called Comgall. Fergus’s grandson, Arthur’s great-uncle, was a Comgall, and so it may have been him. If Fergus initially directed his efforts against the islands and the west coast, this would explain why these were named after Fergus’s closest relatives, his brothers, Lorne and Angus. It would then make sense to suppose that it was left to the next generation to advance inland to the east, which would explain why Fergus’s grandson Comgall gave his name to Cowal.
According to the Senchus , the Cenél Gabhran , Kin of Gabhran (Gabhran was Arthur Mac Aedan’s grandfather) consisted of 560 households and could put 800 men in the field. The Cenél Lorne and the Cenél Angus , with 420 and 430 households respectively, could each field 600 men. Based on these figures, Dalriada-Scotland in its heyday was probably able to muster an army of between 1,000 and 2,000 warriors. The figures in the Senchus do not seem to be obvious exaggerations but seem reasonable enough to be relied on. They were probably based on records kept for fiscal purposes, or perhaps they were muster rolls.
Following his inauguration, Fergus marched north from Dunardry-Dunadd, against the Picts, taking the Stone of Destiny with him and fighting all the way. Within a year of landing he had taken the islands of Lismore and Iona and was in control as far north as Loch Linnhe. In the Chronicles of the Picts and Scots and Other Early Memorials , W. F. Skene says that Fergus built a town near Dunstaffnage Castle and installed the Stone of Destiny there. According to Hector Boece, the fifteenth-century Scottish historian, “Fergus … brought the chair [the Stone of Destiny] from Ireland to Argyll, and was crowned upon it. He built a town in Argyll called Beregonium, in which he placed it.”
Beregonium, modern Benderloch, is only three miles from
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