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The Scottish Monarchy originates from the Irish tribe, the Scotii, who settled in Dalriada (modern-day Argyll) alongside the Britons of Strathclyde and Goddodin/ Berenicia (Lothian) and the Picts of Central and North Scotland. About 840 the House of Alpin began their harsh rule which forced the assimilation or amalgamation of the various kingdoms and tribes in Alba, the first flowering of a recognisable Scotland, establishing borders virtually unchanged for over 1000 years . The exact dates of births, deaths and periods of rule of the earlier kings are often based on folklore, bardic legend and/or wishful thinking, but later historical records are more accurate.

The Picts were probably the descendants of the original inhabitants of the northern part of Britain, the people who erected the megaliths at Brodgar, Calanais (Callanish), Stenness and Maes Howe and the earlier chambered cairns at Clava near Culloden. They were undoubtedly influenced by other societies and peoples. However, some historians still look for the origin of the Picts outside Scotland or Britain. This trend started in the 13th century when spurious histories were written to support English claims to Scottish lands, and which led to other histories being invented in Scotland in rebuttal.

Pictish Kings
Pictish monarchs were not kings in any feudal or post-feudal sense.  The Pictish King Lists which have survived are notable in that no king is ever preceded by his father. Some of the parents of the kings mentioned might in fact have been female. This corresponds with research suggesting that sovereignty was vested in a female line and that the kings came to the throne by marrying the appropriate female. Their system of matrilineal succession was common among early European tribal peoples. This was an ancient tribal system that came from the far distant past and underlines the continuity of occupation within Pictland. The kings married the representative of sovereignty, the queen, and could only be succeeded by their own brother or a sister’s son. Remnants of this type of succession exist as late as the 11th century when the sons of Malcolm Canmore succeeded each other on the throne of Scotland. There is also a strong suggestion that the Pictish Kingship system was matrilocal - that kings would be brought in form other tribal groupings to marry the queen. This might be the explanation for the merging of the Scots and Picts under Kenneth MacAlpin. The picture is becoming clearer but we still have a lot to learn. What can be said is that kingship among the Picts was neither feudal nor followed the rule of primogeniture - inheritance by the first born son.

Due to a lack of historical writing by the Picts themselves, they were for a long time seen as a mysterious and enigmatic people. This impression was enhanced by the fact that the unique art of the Picts (such as the Collessie Stone in Fife, one of the few stones to depict a single warrior) was perceived as having come into existence with no obvious predecessor.

King lists of the Picts and Scots are notoriously unreliable, since most were written with a political or dynastic aim in mind - either to establish a family's right to rule, or to deny it. Here are various Pictish King Lists. Goodness only knows which is right, but this page will change as more information comes to light