Stuart McHardy - A New History of the Picts

STUART MCHARDY is a writer, musician, folklorist, storyteller and poet, and has lectured on many aspects of Scottish history and culture both in Scotland and abroad. Combining the roles of scholar and performer gives McHardy an unusually clear insight into tradition. As happy singing old ballads as analysing ancient legends, he has held such posts as Director of the Scots Language Resource Centre and President of the Pictish Arts Society. McHardy is a prolific author, and has had several books published, including Tales of the Picts , Tales of Edinburgh Castle , The Quest for the Nine Maidens , On the Trail of Scotlands Myths and Legends and Edinburgh and Leith Pub Guide . McHardy lives in Edinburgh with his wife Sandra.

Dull Stone
Digitally enhanced image from photograph by Noble.

First published 2010

This edition 2011

eISBN: 978-1-912387-80-9

The publisher acknowledges subsidy from

towards the publication of this book.

The paper used in this book is recyclable.

It is made from low-chlorine pulps produced in a low-energy, low-emissions manner from renewable forests.

Printed and bound by

CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham

Map by Jim Lewis

Cover images: Man and horse from a rubbing of the Martin Stone

by Marianna Lines; stag image from the Grantown Stone.

Typeset in 10.5pt Sabon by

3btype.com

The authors right to be identified as author of this book under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Acts 1988 has been asserted.

Stuart McHardy 2010

Acknowledgements

While all the ideas in this book are mine I would like to thank a variety of people for their assistance in bringing this book to print. My friends in the Pictish Arts Society have, over many years, through the course of often vigorous debate, helped to clarify my own thinking and in particular I would like to thank Sheila Hainey, Marianna Lines and Molly Rorke. Likewise many of my students over the years have helped me see things clearer, most notably Tim Walkingshaw. Dr Dauvit Broun of Glasgow University was kind enough to let me see a pre-publication version of his 2008 paper in the Bibliography, and Dr Brian Moffat of the Soutra Trust was extremely helpful in matters concerning the miracle food, the Kale Pea. My editor Alice Jacobs was a delight to work with and my son Roderick was of great assistance in amending the text. Thanks are as ever due to my wife Sandra for her continual support and encouragement. Finally thanks go to Gavin MacDougall of Luath Press for his continued support for Scottish culture at all levels and to all the staff of Luath; Leila, Senga, Anne, John-Paul, Christine and Jo, who worked hard to make it all happen.

Contents

Map locations

Preface

Since the Union (of 1707) the writing of the history of Britain has been a more or less political process, the viewpoint of the historian depending on the individuals position on the meaning and consequences of the Union and on the process of securing the creation of North Britain and South Britain A small country sharing a small island with a world power will never have a quiet life (as Pierre Trudeau described Canadas relationship with the USA as being in bed with an elephant).

[Barclay 2002]

THE RESULT OF THE process described by Barclay has been that much of Scottish history is effectively Anglocentric. The needs of the British state to have a cohesive past have over-ridden much of the reality of Scottish history. This process has been well described in the remarkable The Very Bastards of Creation by James D Young, in which he looks at Scottish Radicalism in the period from 1707 to the close of the 20th century. As the recent work by Doron Zimmerman [2003] has shown, there is still a great deal to be understood about even as recent a Scottish historical phenomenon as Jacobitism. The dominant thrust of Scottish history writing has been to stress the similarities between Scotland and England by downgrading the differences.