Lords of Alba

by Ian W. Walker

  There are also some positive indications about the Church in Alba with an important reform movement prominent in the monasteries. The Celi De – ‘culdee’ or ‘servants of God’ – movement had commenced in Ireland at the end of the eighth century. It was an attempt to return to the roots of Irish monasticism and emphasised a more ascetic monastic life with a focus on poverty, fasting and prayer. It looked back to the early saints and especially to those who retreated to islands for contemplation and prayer. Exactly when this movement crossed the sea to Alba is unknown, but the fact that it did so suggests that things were not ideal but that a willingness to change existed there too. The main culdee centre in Alba was at Loch Leven in Fife but others are known to have existed at St Andrews, Brechin and Abernethy. This reform movement appears to have been welcomed by the kings and senior bishops, who supported it with grants of lands, churches and rights. The notitiae in the Register of St Andrews Priory are a record of the grants made to the culdees of Loch Leven during the eleventh century. It is also possible that new construction at some important church sites was related to this movement, including the addition of round towers at Brechin and Abernethy. It has been suggested that the early fervour of this movement had been lost by the eleventh century and that by then the culdees of St Andrews and Brechin were little more than secular clerks. This was the inevitable fate of all ascetic reforms in time and does not mean that it had not been full-blooded in its early years. The culdees at Loch Leven were still considered worthy enough to receive grants from no less a zealot than Queen Margaret.

  This entire social hierarchy, both secular and religious, was supported by the farmers. They produced the food surplus that provided the cain and coinmed for the toiseachs, mormaers and kings and for the priests, abbots and bishops of the Church too. It was their hard work on the farms spread across the lowlands and uplands of Alba that supported the rest of society. The agricultural economy was based on a mix of arable and pastoral farming. The arable farms were mainly concentrated in the eastern lowlands along the east coast and produced the corn and malt for bread and ale. The pastoral farms were situated in the uplands to the west and produced the horses, cattle, sheep and pigs that provided transport, meat, clothes, milk and cheese. The family that fostered St Cadroe were pastoral farmers who bred sheep and horses. The importance of this agricultural basis for the economy is confirmed by the eagerness to capture domestic animals and slaves during raids on enemy territory. In 1077 King Malcolm III captured the cattle of Maelsnechtai, Mormaer of Moray and hence deprived him of a great part of his resources, severely weakening him for a number of years. In 950 Malcolm I ‘seized a multitude of people and many herds of cattle’ from England and in 1070 Malcolm III returned from Northumbria with large numbers of stolen cattle and human captives. The livestock would add to the resources of the pastoral farmers while the slaves would provide agricultural labourers to work in the arable fields and to herd the livestock. In addition to their agricultural importance, the families of these farmers also produced the ordinary men and their equipment for the ‘common army’ of the kingdom and the majority of the worshippers that ‘filled the church’ as described by The Life of St Cadroe of Metz.

  The kingdom of Alba was in many ways similar to many other early medieval kingdoms in western Europe in respect of its basic agricultural economy, its basic social structure, its Christian religion and its organisation for war. It was less advanced than its southern neighbour England, which was not only larger but also had many towns and a monetary economy at this time. It was more on a par with Ireland and Wales, where towns and a monetary economy were largely absent. It also had certain differences, however, from all its neighbours which would prove an advantage during the period covered in this book.

  The kingdom of Alba was a single kingdom with one ruler on the model of England, but unlike Ireland or Wales. This political unity meant that its kings were more able to concentrate their energies on outward expansion rather than dissipating them in internal conflicts. As a result, the kings of Alba, like their English counterparts, were able to extend their territorial control by absorbing Strathclyde and part of English Northumbria. In contrast, contemporary Irish kings and Welsh princes still had to establish predominance over other independent kingdoms and so were involved in almost continuous power struggles. They often defeated a number of rival kingdoms only to find themselves opposed by others. It was rarely possible for them to subdue these other kingdoms for long enough to embark on more than short defensive or offensive campaigns against others, for example the Vikings or the English.

  The kingdom of Alba also had uniquely mixed cultural origins compared to England, Ireland and Wales. It was now Gaelic in language, although this may conceal an initial bilingual phase, and it was superficially Gaelic in culture also, although, as noted above, it contained important elements from Pictish culture. It had been formed, not by the elimination of the Picts, but by their gradual assimilation. It was also in the process of assimilating the Britons of Strathclyde who were now subordinate to the kings of Alba and would fall increasingly under their influence. In contrast, the English, Irish and Welsh were, broadly speaking, more monocultural in the sense that they largely shared a single language and a related culture. It is true that England now included an element of Viking culture, but this was a closely related Germanic culture which was absorbed and assimilated fairly quickly.

  The hybrid origin of the kingdom of Alba would be an important factor in its subsequent success. It would soon demonstrate its ability to assimilate other cultural elements from Strathclyde, Northumbria and, subsequently, Normandy with what appeared to be relative ease. The kings do not appear to have enforced a cultural norm on their subjects at this time but rather to have adopted their own model for others to follow. The important factor in recruitment to the kingdom appears to have been loyalty to the kingship rather than to any particular culture. It seems that this practice allowed the kings to adopt an independent cultural stance that drew in new subjects without excluding those who were not initially members of this culture. In contrast, the relatively unified cultures of neighbouring England, Ireland and Wales demanded a certain amount of conformity from others. This seems to have resulted in tension with outsiders, whose different culture was viewed as a threat especially if they assumed positions of power. In the period following the Norman Conquest, England, Wales and Ireland would all resist the Normans and their military aggression with varying success. Initially the kingdom of Alba appeared to follow this same path but it was able to switch to a policy of introduction and absorption under the leadership of its own kings. This controlled process and its previous history as a multicultural state allowed the kingdom of Alba to weather the Norman storm with relative ease.

  3

  A Scottish Constantine

  Fortunately for the future of the new kingdom of Alba, a truly remarkable individual succeeded to the kingship in 900 on the death of Donald II. This was Constantine II, son of Aed or Castantin mac Aeda, Donald’s cousin, who was at the time a relatively mature man of at least 22 and probably nearer 30. He would have been able to observe the activities of his predecessor and to learn something about what was required to rule. He certainly proved extremely able and a real survivor, going on to reign for forty-three years before retiring peacefully to a monastery to live out his final years before his death at a great age in 952. He would not meet an unnatural death in battle or at the hands of a rival and even in retirement was still able to offer advice to his successor. It was an extraordinary achievement at this time, when the lives of kings were often nasty, brutish and short, for an individual to dominate the political scene for more than half a century in this way.

  In the year 900, however, all this lay in the future, and the young King Constantine II was immediately faced with a particularly dangerous Viking threat. The later Scottish sources claim that Vikings had killed his predecessor at Dunnottar, although the contemporary Annals of Ulster fail to mention this. The
y may have been seasonal raiders from the northern earldom of Orkney. The problem facing Constantine II would be of much greater significance. In 902 the Irish kings Mael Finnia of Brega and Cerball of Leinster defeated and expelled the Vikings of Dublin from Ireland. They were forced to abandon many of their ships and seek refuge elsewhere, most probably in the nearby Isle of Man. It was from this temporary but relatively secure refuge that they sought other opportunities for plunder around the Irish Sea. In 903, they launched attacks against Wales and north-west Mercia. It was probably also at this time that the colonisation of Galloway and north-west England by these Irish Vikings commenced. The later twelfth-century account contained in Historia de Sancto Cuthberto, or ‘The History of St Cuthbert’, reports the flight of an Englishman called Alfred, son of Brihtwulf, into the area around Durham from ‘west of the mountains’ during the episcopate of Bishop Cuthheard, which ran from 900 to 915. In the 870s Olaf had successfully exploited the Clyde Estuary to capture the fortress of Dumbarton and ravage Strathclyde and Fortriu. It seems likely that this profitable expedition of thirty years before influenced his descendants.

  In 903, Ivar, grandson of the Ivar who died in 853, followed the same path up the Clyde past Dumbarton and turned north to invade Alba. He led a force, according to the near-contemporary Scottish Chronicle, made up of three large groups which plundered the sacred shrine of St Columba at Dunkeld. In the following year, 904, Ivar either returned or, perhaps having overwintered in Alba, resumed his raiding activities in hopes of repeating the successes of his predecessors here. One Irish source reports the death in 904 of an Aed, King of the Picts, who is otherwise unknown but who may perhaps have been a Viking puppet set up to rule in Fortriu. The Vikings were, however, opposed on this occasion by Constantine II and the men of Alba, who had been given time to organise. In preparation for the fighting the Fragmentary Annals report that Constantine fortified the morale of his troops by mustering them at St Columba’s shrine at Dunkeld beforehand. There they took communion, fasted, prayed for the saint’s intercession and distributed alms for the poor, no doubt including those who had suffered at the hands of the Vikings a year earlier. This astute action allowed Constantine not only to provide religious sanction for his army in its fight against the heathen Vikings but also to highlight the damage inflicted on the shrine. The men of Alba advanced to meet their opponents, fuelled with a desire for revenge. St Columba’s crozier, a sacred relic that had apparently escaped the Viking raiders, was borne in the van of their army by clerics as a talisman. They encountered the Viking army in Strathearn and resoundingly defeated them, killing Ivar himself and inflicting a great slaughter on his men. They had inflicted a Christian retribution on the heathens in St Columba’s name. Thereafter St Columba’s crozier would be named Cathbuiad or ‘battle-winner’. It would go on to bless the efforts of the men of Alba in future years. This great victory by Constantine would prove decisive in that the Irish Vikings never again attempted any serious intervention in Alba.

  The successful elimination of this early threat to his rule effectively secured Constantine’s throne and silenced any internal opposition. It also provided the Vikings and any other potential enemies abroad with a warning not to meddle with the new King of Alba. In the peaceful lull that followed this great victory Constantine sought to reinforce his links with the Church. In 906 he met with Cellach, Bishop of St Andrews, who was presumably now chief bishop of Alba in place of the bishop of Dunkeld. They met on the Hill of Faith near the royal monastery of Scone, which appears to be the site now known as the Moot Hill where later kings were enthroned. At this important royal centre King Constantine pledged to support the Christian faith in Alba and to protect the laws and rights of the Christian Church. This important agreement, which is recorded in some detail in the Scottish Chronicle, reaffirmed the already strong links between the king of Alba and the Church. It was an important part of the response by the men of Alba to the depredations of their heathen Viking enemies. This close relationship between Church and State would provide a key binding element in the development of the future enlarged kingdom.

  In the period after Constantine’s victory in 904, while the immediate Viking threat had been removed from Alba itself, the wider Viking threat remained. It was a common danger faced by the various Christian powers in Britain. In the period around 903, a Viking force led by Ingimund raided Anglesey and briefly seized control of Llanfaes. In response Cadel son of Rhodri collected an army and drove him out after some tough fighting. Ingimund then looked for a weaker target and occupied the Wirrall Peninsula in Cheshire. Aethelred, Lord of the Mercians, had initially permitted this occupation of a largely deserted area in the extreme north-west of Mercia on the basis that these Vikings would protect this region against others. It appeared clear subsequently that Ingimund intended to introduce more Vikings and occupy the deserted Roman site at Chester. In response, in 907, the Mercians led by Lady Aethelflaed, according to the Fragmentary Annals, but more probably by her husband, Lord Aethelred, collected a large army and garrisoned Chester. This effectively pre-empted Ingimund’s plan and forced him to attack the fortress. The annalist provides a colourful account of subsequent events, describing how a fierce Viking assault on the fortress met a mixture of well-organised Mercian resistance and treachery within the Viking forces.

  Following their expulsion from Dublin, the series of Viking failures, in Wales in 903, in Alba in 904 and in Mercia in 907, must have left them frustrated. They had proved unable to exploit a range of opportunities and must by now have been extremely short of resources. This was not to be the end of their marauding, however, since fate would soon present them with a new opening. In 910 Aethelred of Mercia defeated the Danes of York at Tettenhall, killing two kings and large numbers of their followers. This disaster for the Danes opened up a new field of opportunity for the Irish Vikings and they were quick to exploit it. If the dating of his coinage can be trusted, Ragnall, another grandson of Ivar, sailed with a large fleet for Northumbria in about 911. He probably travelled via the Ribble or possibly the Mersey rather than across the Forth–Clyde Isthmus. The usefulness of the latter route for the Vikings had probably been reduced following the defeat suffered by Ivar in 904. Ragnall captured York, killed or drove out the remaining Danish leaders and assumed control of York and their other conquests in northern England.

  The seizure of York and its environs by Ragnall provided an important extension of power for the exiled Irish Vikings. It secured them control of the wealth accumulated over years of raiding and trading by their former Danish rivals. It provided access to the North Sea trading network with close links to their Scandinavian homelands, southern England and the wider Continent. The occupation of York provided the Irish Vikings under Ragnall with a secure base and ample resources for future operations, including a return to power in Ireland. There is some unique evidence of the wealth of York at precisely this time. In 1840 a lead-lined wooden chest, containing a huge hoard of silver was discovered buried near Cuerdale in Lancashire. It consisted of around 7,000 silver coins, large numbers of silver ingots and a great deal of hack-silver or fragments of silver jewellery. At around 40kg in weight, it was by a large margin the largest single hoard of Viking silver ever found outside Russia. The composition of the silver coins helps to date the hoard to around 905 and to associate it with the Vikings and more specifically with those from Dublin or, more probably, from York. The location of the find at Cuerdale on the Ribble valley route that runs between Dublin and York confirms this. The sheer number of coins minted in nearby Viking York that feature in the Cuerdale Hoard, at around 5,000 out of 7,000 or about 70 per cent of the total, would seem to favour a York origin.

  A large number of possible scenarios could be devised to explain the deposition of this hoard, but none can be conclusively proved. The most that can be suggested is that the hoard was almost certainly not lost but rather deliberately concealed in circumstances of political uncertainty. A hoard of silver on this scale must have
belonged either to an extremely rich individual or, more probably, to a wealthy group of people. In normal circumstances, it would have been kept at a fortified location like York or Dublin and, when in transit, it would have been accompanied by a large escort to protect it. It was almost certainly buried at Cuerdale while in transit since there is no obvious secure place nearby. If it had been accompanied on its journey by a large escort, it seems likely that someone would then have survived whatever emergency caused its burial to recover it. Instead, it was apparently accompanied by a smaller group, perhaps in the hope that its passage would go unnoticed. It was then buried when this small group encountered unforeseen problems and never recovered since none of the group survived whatever danger they faced. The hoard was therefore permanently lost to its owner or owners.