Áed Find, king of Dál Riata

FERGUS MÓR MAC ERC is found in the king lists of Dál Riata, and later of Scotland. A Middle Irish genealogy of the kings of Alba gives an extensive genealogy for Fergus. While it was suggested some believe Fergus claimed lineage to king Arthur*, the historian John Morris has suggested, instead, that Fergus was allowed to settle in Scotland as a federate of Arthur, as a bulwark against the Picts. A historical record consists of an entry in the Annals of Tigernach, for the year 501, which states: "Feargus Mor mac Earca cum gente Dal Riada partem Britaniae tenuit, et ibi mortuus est." (Fergus Mór mac Eirc, with the people of Dál Riata, held part of Britain, and he died there.)

These sources, while they offer evidence for the importance of Fergus Mór in Medieval times, are not evidence for his historical career. Indeed, only one king in the 6th century in Scotland is known from contemporary evidence, Ceretic of Alt Clut, and even this identification rests upon a later gloss to Saint Patrick's Letter to Coroticus. The first kings of Dál Riata whose existences are reasonably sure are Fergus's grandsons Gabrán mac Domangairt and Comgall, or perhaps his great-grandson Áedán mac Gabráin.

Andrew of Wyntoun's early 15th century Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland says that Fergus was the first Scot to rule in Scotland, and that Cináed mac Ailpín was his descendant. In addition, he writes that Fergus brought the Stone of Scone with him from Ireland, that he was succeeded by a son named Dúngal. A list of kings follows which is corrupt but bears some relation to those found in earlier sources.

If Wyntoun's account adds little to earlier ones, at the end of the 16th century George Buchanan in his Rerum Scoticarum Historia added much, generally following John of Fordun. In this version, the Scots had been expelled from Scotland when the Romans under one Maximus conquered all of Britain. His father Eugenius had been killed by the Romans, and Fergus, Fergusius II according to Buchanan's count, was raised in exile in Scandinavia. He later fought with the Franks, before eventually returning to Scotland and reconquering the Scottish lands. He was killed in battle against Durstus, king of the Picts, and was succeeded by his son Eugenius.

Buchanan's king, James VI, shared the scholar's view of the origins of his line, describing himself in one of many verses written to his wife Anne of Denmark, as the "happie Monarch sprung of Ferguse race". Nor was James VI the last ruler to share this belief. The Great Gallery of the Palace of Holyroodhouse***  in Edinburgh was decorated with eighty-nine of Jacob de Wet's portraits of Scottish monarchs, from Fergus to Charles II, produced to the order of James's grandson.

(Dunadd - The coronation place for the first Kings of Scotland)

NOTE: Dunadd is in Argyllshire, near Kilmichael Glassary on the West side of Scotland. High atop a hill, overlooking the lush fields and water is the place, according to tradition, where the first Kings of Scotland were coronated. About AD500, Fergus Mor, son of Erc, place his foot in the stone and faced north toward Cruachan. He became the first king of the land called Alba, and this area became known as the Albain Dalriada. This spot would remain the coronation stone until AD845 when Kenneth MacAlpin move the High King's Seat to Scone. There another stone was used for the coronation, and until a few years ago had been kept in Britain. The rock depression and a Pictish picture of a boar are all that remain, along with some of the fort ruins. Until recently the site was open to the public and the elements, I understand there is now a glass box to protect the foot and other sensitive artifacts from the elements. ('The Lord of the Isles. House of Lochar.' by Ronald Williams, 1997)

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* See 'Arturius - A Quest for Camelot' by David Frank Carroll, 1996 (http://www.kingarthurlegend.com)