Tim Clarkson's Blog, page 6
March 24, 2015
Finding the McCains
Medieval sculpture of a warrior from Argyll (illustrated in R.C. Graham’s The Carved Stones of Islay, 1885).
The new science of genetic genealogy is now widely used in ancestry research. Although I know very little about the scientific side, I am aware that people sometimes buy my book The Picts after discovering a genetic link to the ancient Pictish areas of Scotland. They want to learn the history behind their family’s ‘Pictish DNA’.
In the past couple of years, I’ve had a number of interes...
March 16, 2015
Ghosts of Nechtanesmere
Dunnichen Moss, looking north towards Dunnichen Hill (Photograph B Keeling).
On 20 May 685, at Dun Nechtin (‘Nechtan’s Fortress’), an English army from Northumbria was massacred while advancing deep into Pictish territory. As well as being associated with a fortification, the battle was also close to an area of wetland known as Linn Garan (‘Heron Pool’ in the ancient Brittonic language of the Picts) and as Nechtanesmere (Old English: ‘Nechtan’s Mire’).
The location of the battlefield is a ma...
March 10, 2015
King Arthur in Strathclyde
Arthur’s O’on (Oven), a Roman monument near the eastern end of the Antonine Wall, demolished in the 18th century (from Roy’s Military Antiquities of the Romans in North Britain, 1793).
The search for a ‘real’ King Arthur is a topic I usually try to avoid, mainly because I don’t think it contributes anything meaningful to the study of early medieval history. I say this as someone whose interest in the early medieval period began more than 30 years ago with a book called The Age of Arthur. In th...
March 3, 2015
Glenmorangie Research Project
I have long held the view that an interest in Scottish history and a fondness for single malt whisky go well together. Those of you who are nodding in agreement will be pleased to know that the famous Glenmorangie Company is playing an important role in increasing our knowledge of Scotland’s ancient past. Since 2008, the company has been partnering the National Museums of Scotland in a major research project on the archaeology of the early medieval period (c.300-900 AD). The inspiration for t...
February 19, 2015
Druim Alban: the Spine of Alba
The Scottish Highlands (black square shows the area described in this blogpost).
During the late ninth and early tenth centuries, the Picts and Scots united to become a single, Gaelic-speaking people whose principal rulers were the descendants of Cin��ed mac Ailp��n. The union or merger led to the formation of a ‘Picto-Scottish’ kingdom called Alba which took its name from an older Gaelic term formerly applied to the whole island of Britain. Sometime before c.900, this term seems to have narro...
February 11, 2015
The Battle of Mugdock (AD 750)
Pictish warriors on an 8th-century sculptured stone at Aberlemno in Angus.
In the eighth century, under the rule of their king Onuist son of Urgust (��engus mac Fergusa), the Picts became the dominant power in North Britain. Onuist had secured his position as the paramount Pictish king by destroying various rivals during a series of bitter conflicts in the late 720s. Early in the following decade he invaded D��l Riata, the homeland of the Scots, ravaging much of it and bringing the rest under...
January 28, 2015
Picts, Gaels and Scots
Sally Foster’s book Picts, Gaels and Scots will already be familiar to many of you. It’s an essential resource for anyone who has a keen interest in early medieval Scotland. I have a copy of the first edition (1996) but merely borrowed rather than bought the second (2004). I’ve now got the third edition, published last year by Birlinn of Edinburgh.
Sally Foster is a renowned archaeologist who formerly worked as an ancient monuments inspector for Historic Scotland. She now works in academia and...
January 20, 2015
The Legend of Luncarty
Shield of Clan Hay
Although this blog is mainly concerned with history and archaeology, it does occasionally feature myths and legends, especially those in which real historical figures from the early medieval period are mentioned. Needless to say, the boundaries between history and myth are not always clear-cut. Take, for example, the origin-tales of Scottish clans. These traditional stories – often passed down through countless generations – purport to explain when, where and by whom a parti...
January 8, 2015
A Pictish hoard from Aberdeenshire
Later this month, a new exhibition will be unveiled at the University of Aberdeen. Among the displays will be a number of items from one of Scotland’s most significant archaeological discoveries of recent times: a hoard of Roman and Pictish silver objects.
The hoard was found in March 2013 in a field at Ley Farm near Fordyce in Aberdeenshire. It was discovered by metal detectorist Alistair McPherson who was searching the area with a team of archaeologists from the National Museums of Scotland...
December 19, 2014
Kindle edition of ‘Strathclyde’
My latest volume on early medieval Scottish history is now available as an e-book. The paperback was published a couple of months ago but many people now prefer digital editions so I’m posting the relevant Amazon links here.
Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age (Kindle edition) – via Amazon UK or Amazon USA.
More information about the book, with a list of chapters, can be found in a blogpost on the paperback edition.
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