The Picts as a historical people survived until the early
10th century. However, there are no records of them dying out through natural or unnatural causes or moving elsewhere.
It is highly likely that they formed the predominant population
within the developing multi-ethnic nation (Scoti, Picts, Britons, Angles) which is now called Scotland.
The name change from Pictland to Alba (the gaelic for
Pictland) to Scotland represents more of changes in social, linguistic and cultural power rather than mass movements or changes
in population.
Foundation Myth
"Cruithne son of Cinge, the father of the Picts reigned for 100 years.
He had seven sons, whose names were Fib, Fidach, Fotlaig, Fortrenn, Cait, Ce and Circinn."
Cat ruled
for twelve years over the area now known as Caithness, Sutherland, West Highlands and Northern and Western Isles. The name
means 'Cat People'.
Fidach ruled for forty years over the area now known as Moray, Nairn and Ross. The name means
'Woodsman'.
Ce ruled for fifteen years over the areas now known as
Banff, Buchan and parts of Aberdeenshire. The name Ce may survive in the town of Keith.
Fotla (or Foltlaig) ruled for thirty years over the area
now known as Athol and Gowrie. Fotla was a Goddess of Ireland.
Circinn (or Cirech) ruled for sixty years over the area
now known as Angus and the Mearns. The name means 'crest headed. Skene highlights a Crus (son of Cirech) who was a warrior
of the Picts. A battle was fought on the plain of Circinn against the Scots.
Fortriu (or Fortran) ruled for seventy years over the
area now known as Strathearn and Menteith. The name may mean 'people of the slow winding river'.
Fib ruled for twenty four years over the area now known
as Fife and Kinross. In the book of Deer the people of fife are called the 'cu-sidhe'; fairy hounds.
The greek explorer Pytheas sailed around Britain in the
325 BC and referred to the British Isles as Pretanic Islands from the word 'Priteni'. Initially the word 'Pretanic' applied
to the whole island, but in the south it possibly became romanized into Britanni, the people calling themselves Brittones.
The old Irish name for Britain was originally 'Cruthen' and later only referred to those north of the Antonine wall who
had not been conquered by Rome. Similar to Priteni, 'Criuthni' means 'People of the Designs' which possibly refers to tattooing
the skin rather than painting. Cruthentuath and Pictland are therefore fairly interchangeable.
The Roman, Emmenius, gives us the oldest reference for
Picti, who he describes as along with the Irish as the enemies of the Britons. As 'pictus' is the Latin for painted it is
asked as to whether he was referring to painted or tattooed people or as to whether it was a latin form of an indegenous name.
In 600 AD Isadore of Seville makes reference that the
Picts took their name from the fact that their bodies had designs pricked into their skin by needles.
It may be possible that the term Picti was the latinized
version of their own collective name. Prof Watson states that in old Norse the name is 'Pettr', in old English 'Peohta' and
in old Scots 'Pecht'. Today in Fife or Aberdeenshire they are still referred to as 'Pechs' or 'Pechties', suggesting Pect
instead of Pict.
The Picts were Shamans, and they also practiced a very
interesting form of sympathetic magic. Fierce warriors, they went into battle naked. Once they had killed an enemy,
his corpse was dragged to one side. Once the battle was over, the victorious Picts would take a corpse, sodomize it
and then it would be eaten. This was done firstly to humiliate the enemy, so that they would not attack again, and the
cannibalism was just incase there was any remaining power in the corpse, so that it would be transferred to the victorious
Pict.
