MACALPIN, Princess Bethóc

Other Events and Attributes:

• Relation to Me: 31 GGM
• Royalty & Nobility: Princess of Scotland
• Web Address: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/MacAlpin-33

Notes:

Bethóc was the eldest daughter of the Malcolm II of Scotland, who had no known surviving sons. She married Crínán, Abbot of Dunkeld. Their older son, Donnchad I, ascended to the throne of Scotland around 1034. Malcolm's youngest daughter married Sigurd Hlodvirsson, Earl of Orkney.[1] Early writers have asserted that Máel Coluim also designated Donnchad as his successor under the rules of tanistry because there were other possible claimants to the throne.

In this period, the Scottish throne still passed in Picto-Gaelic matrilineal fashion, from brother to brother, uncle to nephew, and cousin to cousin.

Bethóc married DUNKELD, Crínán of about 1005. Crínán was born about 975 in Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland; died in 1045 in Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. DUNCAN, I was born in 1001; died on 14 Aug 1040.
2. DUNKELD, Lord Maldred was born about 1003 in Carlisle, Cumberland, England; died after 1051 in Winlaton, Durham, England.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Relation to Me: 32 GGF
• Web Address: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_II_of_Scotland
• Web Address: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/MacAlpin-34
• Name: Máel Coluim mac Cináeda
• Royalty & Nobility: Between 1005 and 1034; King of the Scots

Notes:

To the Irish annals which recorded his death, Malcolm was ard rí Alban, High King of Scotland. In the same way that Brian Bóruma, High King of Ireland, was not the only king in Ireland, Malcolm was one of several kings within the geographical boundaries of modern Scotland: his fellow kings included the king of Strathclyde, who ruled much of the south-west, various Norse-Gael kings on the western coast and the Hebrides and, nearest and most dangerous rivals, the kings or Mormaers of Moray. To the south, in the Kingdom of England, the Earls of Bernicia and Northumbria, whose predecessors as kings of Northumbria had once ruled most of southern Scotland, still controlled large parts of the southeast. Malcolm demonstrated a rare ability to survive among early Scottish kings by reigning for twenty-nine years. He was a clever and ambitious man.

Died:
Possibly murdered in a hunting lodge at Glamis Castle

Malcolm + Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Relation to Me: 33 GGF
• Web Address: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_II_of_Scotland
• Name: Cináed mac Maíl Coluim (Modern Gaelic: Coinneach mac Mhaoil Chaluim[1] anglicised as Kenneth II, and nicknamed An Fionnghalach, "The Fratricide"
• Royalty & Nobility: Between 971 and 995; King of the Scots (Alba)

Notes:

He began his reign by ravaging the Britons, probably as an act of vengeance, but his name is also included among a group of northern and western kings said to have made submission to the Anglo-Saxon king Edgar in 973, perhaps at Chester; and the chronicler Roger of Wendover (Flores Historiarum, under the year 975) states that shortly afterward Kenneth received from Edgar all the land called Lothian (i.e., between the Tweed and the Forth rivers). This is the first mention of the River Tweed as the recognized border between England and Scotland. Kenneth was slain, apparently by his own subjects, at Fettercairn in the Mearns.

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John of Fordun, a 14th-century historian, narrates that Kenneth II, King of Scotland from 971 to 995, sought to alter the royal succession laws. His aim was to ensure his descendants' ascension to the throne, thereby excluding Constantine III and Kenneth III, also known as Gryme. These two, feeling threatened by Kenneth II's plans, conspired against him and roped in Lady Finella, daughter of Cuncar, Mormaer of Angus. Finella had her own vendetta against Kenneth II, who was responsible for her son's death.

The Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, compiled by William Forbes Skene, and dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries, corroborate the story of Finella's revenge on Kenneth II. However, these chronicles do not mention her connection to Constantine or Gryme. The Annals of Ulster, on the other hand, simply state that Kenneth II was deceitfully murdered, without specifying the perpetrator.

According to Fordun's account, Constantine III and Gryme were relentlessly plotting the king's and his son's demise. Kenneth II, while on a hunting trip near his residence, ventured into the woods and ended up in Fettercairn, where Finella lived. Finella, feigning loyalty, invited the king to her home, claiming she had critical information about a plot against him. She lured Kenneth II into a secluded cottage rigged with a deadly trap: a statue connected to crossbows. When Kenneth II touched the statue, he triggered the crossbows, which fatally shot him from all sides. Finella managed to flee and join her co-conspirators, Constantine III and Gryme. The king's hunting party later found his body but could not capture Finella. In retaliation, they burned down Fettercairn.

Historian Smyth regards the intricate plot and the mechanical trap as fictional embellishments but acknowledges the core truth of the narrative: Kenneth II's succession plans ultimately led to his assassination.

Died:
Probably murdered

Kenneth + Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Relation to Me: 34 GGF
• Royalty & Nobility: Between 943 and 954; King of the Scots

Notes:

Malcolm succeeded to the crown when his cousin Constantine II entered a monastery (943). He annexed Moray to the kingdom for the first time. After driving the Danes from York, the English king Edmund turned Cumbria over to Malcolm, apparently as a fief or seal of alliance. Later, when Norsemen again invaded the land, the Scots sent raids against the English, and in 954 the West Saxon king Eadred reunited the northern counties to his dominions. Malcolm was slain the same year during a rebellion in Moray.