Who were the Picts

Covering the bulk of the area of modern Scotland  the Picts (Latin Picti ‘ the Painted or tattooed people’) are the most enigmatic of all of the people of Dark Age Scotland. This is largely due to the fact that they have left only a few written records in a language which has yet to be deciphered. Hence the mystery of the Picts. Some historians maintain that the actual Latin translation of ‘Picti ‘ means tattooed which is actually confirmed from other sources.

                                                 The Pictish Language

It is generally agreed by scholars that the Picts spoke a Celtic language related to Welsh.  It was however different enough to require a translator. As can be seen in the famous case of St Columba’s visit to meet the Pictish king in 597AD.  Some other scholars belief that Pictish was or contained parts of a pre-Indo-European language. The evidence for this is based on the few known carved inscriptions. These use a form of the Irish Ogham script which as yet has not been deciphered.

                                             Pictish Matrininealism

It is also believed to be indicated by the fact that Pictish society was one of the very few matrilineal societies of ancient Europe. This set them apart from the Irish and Welsh with kingship conferred through the mother. In 843 AD Kenneth MacAlpin, was able to become first King of the combined Scots and Picts through his descent through his mother, a Pictish princess.

                                       The Meaning of the Pictish Stones

However the Picts also left a large number of carved standing stones whose meaning has yet to be deciphered and which form one of the main parts of the mystery of the Picts. All of these factors have led to a whole industry being built up detailing their supposed origins and disappearance. Often described as ‘Pictomania’ this phenomenon has served to disguise their true importance and history over the centuries. The Picts became predominant over the other peoples following their decisive victory over the Northumbrians in 685.

 

                                                     The End of the Picts

The Picts were the chief victims of the Viking onslaught in the ninth century AD. This culminated in a crushing disaster in the 839 when most of the Pictish aristocracy were wiped out in a pitched battle by a marauding Viking army. This subsequently led through marriage to the Pictish kingship going to  the Scottish king Kenneth Macalpine . He quickly moved the centre of the new Scottish kingdom away from the exposed western seaboard. This was extremely vulnerable to Viking seaborne attack . Successfully moving to the richer and more central areas of the former Pictish kingdom in eastern Scotland. Thereafter the Pictish kingdom was increasingly absorbed in to the new Scottish kingdom under the pressure of the on-going desperate struggle for survival with the Vikings during the course of the tenth century.