Pictish warrior women?

“It is plausible to conclude that, prior to 700, the Picts allowed and/or required women to fight.”  Paul Wagner, Pictish warrior, AD 297-841 (Osprey, 2002), p.63

I find this statement difficult to reconcile with what we know of the Picts. It is based chiefly on Adomnan’s Law of Innocents (AD 697) which established a code of conduct for protecting non-combatants (women, children and monks) from military service and from the ravages of warfare. The code was ratified by nearly every Celtic kingdom in the British Isles and was reinforced by a system of fines. Wagner is not alone in assuming that Adomnan’s plea for women to be exempt from military service means that they were routinely recruited as soldiers prior to 697. Like others before him he supports his view by pointing to Irish legends of female warriors and to historical figures such as Boudicca. He cites no examples from the early medieval period because none exist.

There were, no doubt, many desperate occasions when individual Pictish women took up arms to defend their homes and families against marauders. From here it is a big leap to imagine formal recruitment of weapon-bearing females into the warband of a Pictish king. Neither the Picts nor their neighbours operated egalitarian societies where everyone got involved and did their bit for the wider community. On the contrary, these societies were strictly hierarchical. At the top of the social structure stood a rich aristocracy from whose ranks the king and his family were drawn. These aristocrats also provided an exclusive warrior class and were the only social group permitted to engage in warfare. There was no middle class and – in Celtic society at least – no free, weapon-bearing peasantry akin to the later Anglo-Saxon fyrd. The gulf between nobles and peasants – in terms of wealth and status – was huge and insurmountable.

Early medieval societies were not only unequal but patriarchal as well. They were male-dominated and gave little real authority to women. This is why the Pictish regnal lists show a long line of kings but no queens. It also explains why only one female Pict, a princess called Eithni, is mentioned by name in early medieval sources. In this context it is important to note that Pictish royal matriliny – the selection of a king by his maternal ancestry – is not the same as Pictish matriarchy. Female Picts, even aristocratic ones, were denied access to the upper levels of power and authority. In patriarchal societies women are normally excluded from warfare and are not expected to fight alongside their menfolk except in dire circumstances.

The notion of Pictish female warriors is, in fact, highly implausible. Aristocratic Pictish women were excluded from military service by reasons of gender. Peasant women were excluded by reasons of gender and social class. These exclusions were mirrored across the whole of Europe and were not confined to Northern Britain alone. The same restrictions applied also to Boudicca of the Iceni, though she seemingly bucked the trend and led her people to war. We should nevertheless regard her as an exception to the norm, just as the later Anglo-Saxon warrior queens Aethelburh (who besieged Taunton in 722) and Aethelflaed (the “Lady of the Mercians”) were exceptional in their own times. Whether any of these charismatic and resourceful women ever actually fought in combat is a different matter.

The Aberlemno battle scene

The famous Pictish symbol stone in Aberlemno churchyard depicts a sculptured cross on the front and a battle scene on the reverse. The battle has often been assumed to be the one fought at Dunnichen Hill in 685, when the Pictish king Brude mac Bili defeated the Northumbrian English.

There has always been some uncertainty about the identification, chiefly because the stone was carved at least two generations after the Battle of Dunnichen. This has led to other military campaigns being proposed as more likely candidates. One campaign that seems to fit the stone’s mid-8th century date is the subjugation of Dal Riada by Oengus mac Fergus in the 730s. Another is a victory by Oengus over the Strathclyde Britons in 744. If either of these suggestions is correct then the Aberlemno battle-scene commemorates the military successes of Oengus rather than the earlier triumph of Brude.

Two Pictish symbols are carved above the battle-scene. The larger of these is a notched rectangle & Z-rod; the smaller a triple disc. Together they could represent the names Oengus and Fergus in the way that other Early Christian memorials elsewhere in Britain display the Latin inscription “X, son of Y”. This credible solution to the mystery of the Aberlemno churchyard stone was suggested by W.A. Cummins on page 103 of his book The picts & their symbols (1999). I think he may be right.

A new book on the Picts

Published by Tempus in March 2008 and written by me, with colour photographs of historic sites and landscapes.

This book takes a straightforward narrative approach to its subject, hence the title The Picts: a history. The varied historical data is presented in chronological rather than thematic format. Beginning with the legendary chieftain Calgacus and ending with the famous (or infamous) Cinaed mac Ailpin the narrative tells the story of Scotland’s “lost people” from their first appearance in Roman times to their final farewell in the ninth century.

Further details can be found by clicking the cover illustration or this link.

The Heroic Age – new issue online

Issue 11 of The Heroic Age is now available. This online journal is well worth a look by anyone interested in early medieval studies. Contents of issue 11 include several articles dealing with folklore related to the Arthurian legends.

Here’s a link to the journal’s homepage

Royal inauguration in Dal Riada (journal article)

Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Volume 136 (2006). Pages 237-58.

Meggen Gondek. “Early Historic sculpture and landscape: a case study of Cladh a’Bhile, Ellary, Mid-Argyll”.

Cladh a’Bhile is an old burial ground on the shore of Loch Caolisport, a sea-inlet on the coast of what was once the kingdom of Dal Riada. It has yielded 29 carved stones of the 7th century. These are mostly cross-incised slabs that probably stood upright in their original positions. Such a distinct cluster of monuments suggests the presence of an ecclesiastical centre, perhaps a monastery, in the vicinity (if not on the site itself). Dr Gondek wonders if the Early Christian activity included formal religious ceremonies involving two nearby “duns” or small hillforts. If the duns were occupied in Early Historic times, and if their occupants regarded themselves as rulers of this part of Argyll, the ceremonies may have incorporated royal inauguration rituals. It seems likely that any minor kings of this district would have acknowledged the authority of the over-kings of Dal Riada after c.700, when the various territories of the Scots began to form a single political entity.

One of the sites considered by Dr Gondek is Columba’s Cave which is about 1 mile from Cladh a’Bhile. In the summer of 2000 I visited this cave and saw the incided crosses mentioned in the article. I recall that the place had an ethereal aura but, at the time, I attributed this to the wildly lush vegetation at the cave entrance! Perhaps I should think again, in the light of Dr Gondek’s theory about a possible Otherworld aspect being part of the 7th century religious rituals

This article makes a significant contribution to the study of relationships between kings and clergy among the Scots of Dal Riada. It gives useful insights into the processes of royal inauguration and state-formation in Early Historic Scotland.

What is Senchus?

In the Gaelic language ’senchus’ (pronounced shen-uh-kuhs) means “history”. It seems an appropriate name for a collection of notes, thoughts and jottings about the early medieval period in Scotland.

The Senchus weblog has a focus on North Britain between the passing of Rome and the arrival of the Vikings. In chronological terms this covers the period AD 400 to 800 but these limits are fairly fluid. In geographical terms the scope includes not only Scotland but also parts of northern England, Wales and Ireland.

The entries posted on this site reflect my own medieval interests together with other snippets of information which I think might be useful or relevant.