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ALPIN, king of the
Dalriadic Scots,
reigned contemporary with his cousin, Drust IX., king of the Picts. He is
usually said to have been the son of Achaius, or Eoganan, that is, in the
Celtic, Eochy-annuine (the poisonous), but Pinkerton thinks that the name
of his father is lost beyond all recovery, and, indeed, the history of the
country at a period so remote is so enveloped in darkness as to be
considered in many respects fabulous. He succeeded his brother, Dungal the
Brown, in 834. His kingdom comprehended the mountainous country of
Argyleshire, as far as the mouth of the Clyde, but, anxious to extend his
territories, he sailed from Kintyre, and landed in the bay of Ayr, with a
powerful force. After laying waste the district between the rivers Ayr and
Doon, following the course of these rivers, he penetrated to the ridge
which separates Kyle from Galloway, destruction for a time marking his
progress. He soon, however, received a check. The chiefs, recovered from
their first alarm, and thirsting for revenge, collected their followers,
and coming up with the invading army, in the parish of Dalmellington, in
Ayrshire, a furious conflict ensued, when Alpin was numbered among the
slain. This event happened about 837. The battle was fought near the site
of Laicht castle, which derived its name from the stone of Alpin, a
gravestone known and recognised nearly four centuries after this last of
the Dalriad kings had been slain on the spot. The word laicht
signifies a grave or stone, and there are still the remains of an old
castle in the parish of Dalmellington, at a place called Laicht, which was
demolished by the proprietor in 1771, to enclose some ground. Two farms in
the parish are still called Over and Nether Laicht, and several cairns are
found which indicate the scene of the battle. It is also remarkable that
the foundation charter of the town of Ayr, granted by William the Lion in
1197, when describing the limits of its exclusive trade, names Laicht
Alpin, the stone or grave of Alpin, as one of its distinguishing
boundaries. Alpin left two sons, Kenneth MacAlpin, under whom the Scots
and Southern Picts were united, and Donald II., who succeeded Kenneth.
Alpin’s attempt to extend his territories appears, says Skene, from the
register of St. Andrews, to have been confined to Galloway, the province
of which in those days comprehended Ayrshire, and belonged to the Southern
Picts, and it is said by that chronicle, that it was his conquest of that
territory which transferred the kingdom of the Picts to the Scots. The
latter event is called the Scottish Conquest. Kenneth his son apparently
fought but one battle, and that, according to the same chronicle, at
Forteviot, in the very heart of the territory of the Southern Picts. (Skene’s
History of the Highlanders, vol. i. p. 65.) This Alpin is not to be
confounded with another Alpin or Elpin, who was king of the Picts, and who
reigned from 775 to 779 — Chalmers’ Caledonia.—Ritson’s Annals,
vol. ii. |
