| The Picts |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Since Cat's Curse and the two other books in my Dark Goddess trilogy
involve the Picts, I thought I would share some information on them.
The Picts of the Scottish Highlands are the most mysterious of all the
people of Scotland. Some believe the Picts are descended from the
ancient people who came to Britain and Scotland and built the stone faery
folk. Here is one account of the arrival of the Picts in the Book of
Invasions:
200 years after arrival of the Danaans in Ireland, people sailing from
Thrace through the Mediterranean and out into the Atlantic, landed in
Wexford Bay where they came into conflict with Danaans, but were
persuaded to pass out into Northern Britain, then called Albany. They
were known as Picts, or Painted Ones.
They are described as tattooed men with odd social habits like exogamy,
totemism, public coition, cannibalism, tattooing and having women
warriors.
There is another account told by the Venerable Bede in Ecclesiastical
History that the Picts came from Scythia to North Ireland where a king
advised them to go east to Britain and then north, which advice they took.
Since they had no women with them, the Irish king agreed to give them
wives provided they henceforth chose their rulers by the female rather
than the male ancestry of their kings. ‘And all know,’ wrote Bede, ‘that this
custom is still maintained among the Picts.’
Another account tells about a king called Cruithne whose seven sons
each ruled a portion of Alba (Scotland).
The Picts (from the Latin Picti, the painted ones) were first mentioned in a
Roman source in AD 297.
The main reason so little is known about these people is that their culture
was pretty much wiped out. Their surviving metalwork shows them to be
artistically sophisticated and their amazing stone sculptures reveal they
were an accomplished people.
Pictish kings were known to have druids as advisors.
The Picts spoke two languages—a dialect of British Celtic (similar to
Welsh and Cornish languages, which may indicate they were related) and
a second, non-Indo-European language of unknown origin. By the sixth
century they had formed a powerful kingdom, but they eventually
succumbed to the Scots. The Viking invasions of the late 8th century may
have been what weakened them and left them vulnerable to the Scots.
The Picts probably called themselves Priteni.
In a lot of ways they were similar to the Celts, and the two nations joined
as one to fight against the Roman legions.
involve the Picts, I thought I would share some information on them.
The Picts of the Scottish Highlands are the most mysterious of all the
people of Scotland. Some believe the Picts are descended from the
ancient people who came to Britain and Scotland and built the stone faery
folk. Here is one account of the arrival of the Picts in the Book of
Invasions:
200 years after arrival of the Danaans in Ireland, people sailing from
Thrace through the Mediterranean and out into the Atlantic, landed in
Wexford Bay where they came into conflict with Danaans, but were
persuaded to pass out into Northern Britain, then called Albany. They
were known as Picts, or Painted Ones.
They are described as tattooed men with odd social habits like exogamy,
totemism, public coition, cannibalism, tattooing and having women
warriors.
There is another account told by the Venerable Bede in Ecclesiastical
History that the Picts came from Scythia to North Ireland where a king
advised them to go east to Britain and then north, which advice they took.
Since they had no women with them, the Irish king agreed to give them
wives provided they henceforth chose their rulers by the female rather
than the male ancestry of their kings. ‘And all know,’ wrote Bede, ‘that this
custom is still maintained among the Picts.’
Another account tells about a king called Cruithne whose seven sons
each ruled a portion of Alba (Scotland).
The Picts (from the Latin Picti, the painted ones) were first mentioned in a
Roman source in AD 297.
The main reason so little is known about these people is that their culture
was pretty much wiped out. Their surviving metalwork shows them to be
artistically sophisticated and their amazing stone sculptures reveal they
were an accomplished people.
Pictish kings were known to have druids as advisors.
The Picts spoke two languages—a dialect of British Celtic (similar to
Welsh and Cornish languages, which may indicate they were related) and
a second, non-Indo-European language of unknown origin. By the sixth
century they had formed a powerful kingdom, but they eventually
succumbed to the Scots. The Viking invasions of the late 8th century may
have been what weakened them and left them vulnerable to the Scots.
The Picts probably called themselves Priteni.
In a lot of ways they were similar to the Celts, and the two nations joined
as one to fight against the Roman legions.
| Here are some links on the Picts that I found helpful |
No part of this web site is to be copied without the permission of the author.
Do you like stories with the Picts? If so, click on banner below: