The People of Scotland

Scots of Dalriada

From about the 3rd century AD the area now known as Argyll was colonised by Gaels, known as the Dal Riata, from Ireland. The Romans referred to them as Scotti, raiders, and this is believed to be where the word Scots is derived.

Between 498 and 503, three sons of King Erc of Dalriada in northern Ireland, Fergus, Angus and Lorn, founded the new kingdom of Dalriada, referred to as Scottish Dalriada, in this area. It is Fergus that is credited with bringing the Stone of Scone to Scotland.

The capital of Scottish Dalriada was at Dunadd. At the top of the hill, where the fort was, there are carvings in the rock of a bowl, a footprint and a boar. These are believed to have been part of the inauguration ceremony for the kings that took place here.

They referred to the ground that separated them from the land of the Picts as Druim-Alban, the backbone of Alban, and the region beyond that as Braghaid-Alban, the upland of Alban.

See our Bookshop in association with Amazon.co.uk!