The Picts

The name Picts was not the name of any single tribe, it was the name given to a confederacy of tribes who lived in Caledonia ( the Roman name for Scotland ). The Romans used the name Picts much as modern people use the name European i.e. as designating a group of people who shared a broad area of land and had a similar cultural identity. Each of the Pict tribes had a different name some of them even speaking different but related languages. The largest tribe in any country were normally the ones who opposed the Romans, and therefore it was their tribal name that the Romans used for the name of the country. The largest of the Pict tribes was the Calidon ( Latin - Calidonii ) who gave their name to the whole country - Caledonia. All the people of the country were Picts but not all were Calidon. For instance there were the people on the east coast, the Taexali and the Boresti around modern Aberdeen, the Venicones around modern Angus and Dundee, the Votadini around the Forth and modern Edinburgh, and on the central west coast the Damnonii around the Clyde and modern Glasgow.

View a map showing where many of the Pict tribes were located
| Caledonian Map |

A clue to the origin of the Picts on the east coast is that although they wrote in Ogam ( a writing system invented in Ireland ) their inscriptions only make sense if read in Old Norse, so it would follow that they came from ( or at least came via ) Scandinavia. | Aberdeen Professor cracks the mystery of Pict writing. | In the ancient Triad the Picts are said to have crossed the Sea of Llychlyn, or German Ocean ( now called the North Sea ), to Caledonia and to dwell along the shore of the German Ocean ( North Sea ). We know little about their language; they may only have used Old Norse on their monuments in the same way that many monuments in the Middle Ages were written in Latin, even although it was not the language of the people, but it is more likely that they actually spoke a form of a Brythonic language ( a Celtic language of the 'P' family ), but one that retained some non-Celtic elements such as Old Norse. Bede claimed that the northern Picts spoke a different language from the south western Picts the Britons of Strathclyde ( the Damnonii ). We also know that the Irish Gael, St Columba, in bringing Christianity to the Picts, needed an interpreter. The Pict language was spoken by Angle scholars and Bede mentions that the Angle court had translated a letter into the northern Pict language and sent it to the Pict King. By the time of that letter the Picts must have had a structured grammar and writing.

The Irish who called the Picts Cruithne and called Caledonia Cruithneach, have an ancient poem that says that when the Picts arrived they 'with glorious illustrious might', conquered Alba ( Caledonia ), 'the noble nurse of fruitfulness, without destroying the people from the region of Cat ( Clyde ) to Forchu ( Forth )'. From this reference we can say that they settled north of the Clyde-Forth estuaries, but it appears that they traded and inter-married with the peoples of central and southern Scotland, eventually creating a common culture within their differing tribes. Apart from the initial invasion and small scale inter tribal squabbles; they seem to have lived peaceably until the invasion of the Roman army. If ever a people were designed by the nature and temper of their race to be perfectly suited to oppose and combat the Roman invasion - it was the Picts. The Irish poem says that they were a people who 'loved merry forays' i.e. they loved raiding.

The real name of the Picts

As we have noted all of the tribes of Caledonia were called Picts by the Romans. This was a kind of nickname that the Romans gave them, in the same way that the Americans called the Japanese Nips during the WW2, or called the VC Charlie, during the Vietnam War. The name Picts comes from the Roman word Picti meaning painted, because they painted themselves with blue woad when they went into battle, ( as in the film Braveheart ). Hmmm, I wonder what nickname the Picts gave the Romans. I don't think it would have been very flattering. Interestingly the Irish also had a nickname for the Picts; they called them the 'Blue swords'. Julius Caesar commented that 'All the [ northern ] Britanni paint them selves with woad which produces a bluish colouring and this gives them a terrifying appearance in battle'. Another reason for the Romans calling them Picts could have been because they reminded the Romans of the tribe in Gaul ( France ) they called the Pictes.

Does the nickname Picts have any relationship to the true name of these tribes ? The American nickname Nips comes from Nippon the Japanese word for Japan. Is there a similar link between the nickname Picts and the tribes' actual name ? We know that the Welsh called the Picts Prydyn and we have already noted that the Irish called them Cruithne. In the north east of Scotland their tribal name is pronounced as Pechs which could be a fairly accurate pronunciation, but perhaps only of their nickname. Probably Pechs is as close as we can come to the Pict pronunciation of their tribal nickname.

Scholars have deduced from ancient documents that the Picts pronounced the letter W as the letter F. This exchange of W for F is evident in the dialect of the North-East of Scotland, not only around the area where Mons Graupius is believed to have been fought, but even further south. In these eastern areas to this day, the word what is pronounced fit, and the word where is pronounced faur. However, all this may prove is the Pict pronunciation of their nickname, a nickname they were very much aware of. What about their true name ?

Meet the Pretin

What could the actual name of the Picts have been ? Let's examine that question from another angle. Remember that different letters may have the same sounds in different languages. We will use a simple illustration to find the actual name of the Picts. The Welsh ( P Brythonic language ) name for the Picts was Prydyn.

Can we use this same method on the strange sounding Irish ( Q Brythonic language ) name for the Picts the, Cruithne ? We can, and the reason we can is that we have no need to believe that this is a mysterious name unrelated to the actual name of the Picts. Cruithne is simply the correct name of the Picts translated into Irish. Let's see what happens !

Why do I suggest that their actual group name was Pretins ( Bretons ) ? I do so because of an indicator from history. Julius Caesar speaking of Britain said that, 'the coast regions are peopled by those who came from Gaul for the purpose of making war.' The Romans recorded that there was a tribe in the area just below modern Breton in Gaul ( France ) that they called the Pictones or Pictaves. Do those names ring a bell ? The Pictones gave their name to Poictou ( Pagus Pictauensis 'Country of Pictes' became Poitou ) and Lemonum, ( City of Pictes ) became Poitiers. When we add that fact to the Welsh and Irish names for the Pretins ( Picts ), it could be an extra indicator of how to pronounce their true name.

Here is a quote from an ancient document; 'The tribe Picte is one of the most powerful tribes of Gaule and its territory is very vast. It extends from the Loire in the north, to the solid mass-exchange in the east, Charente in the south, then goes back by the Gulf of Pictons, to the Atlantic Ocean. The Picte port is Ratatium ( Rezé ) and the principal market town ( capital ) is Lemonum ( Poitiers ).

What follows is conjecture rooted in pre-history not proven historical facts, but it does try to interpret the little that we do know or can surmise. Remember that in the case of the Picts of Caledonia and of the Pictes in Gaul, these names were what the Romans called those tribes not necessarily what the tribes called themselves.

More than a thousand years before the Roman invasion many of these Pretins could have moved in two large groups. The groups were from neighbouring and related tribes who spoke the same or a similar language. One group, who came from Domnonia just north of the recognised Pictes area, could have taken the direct sea route north, some founding a colony in modern Cornwall, Devon and much of Somerset, called Dumnonia. The rest carried on to Caledonia ( probably via Ireland ), arriving in the central western area of Caledonia and making it their new home, gradually spreading throughout the central belt.

The native language of modern north west France is descended from the Brythonic branch of Insular Celtic languages. It is most closely related to Cornish ( Dumnonia - see the map above right ), followed by Welsh. This is where we find the language link between the Caledonian Picts and the Pretin tribes of northern Gaul. The Britons of Strathclyde in Caledonia ( the Damnonii ) also spoke a language very similar to Welsh. As an example of this let's look at the name of the dominant, largest river in the territory of the Damnonii, the Clyde ( Roman name - Clota, Irish name - Cat ). The Welsh word for river is clud ( the word Clyde comes from a very similar root ), so The Clyde in Preton simply meant The River ( in the sense of THE River ).

A further connection can be traced to the Kingdom of Dumnonia ( in modern Cornwall, England ) mentioned above. Look at the name of the tribe who founded it, the Dumnon, and compare the name of the Caledonian tribe around the Clyde the - Damnon. Although it is an over simplification the modern people of Cornwall are often considered the only English people who are Celtic. We can deduce from their common ethnicity, language and name that the Damnon and the Dumnon were two branches of the same tribe who originally came from North West Gaul ( France ). There was a powerful kingdom of Domnonia positioned to the north east of modern Brittany in France, just above the Pictes region.

Perhaps history has made a mistake in calling the Damnonii, the Britons of Strathclyde; perhaps it should be the Bretons of Strathclyde ( Pretins of Strathclyde ). Could the capital of the Damnonii the fortress of Dunbarton ( Fort Barton ), mean Fort Breton and not Fort Briton as has been believed ? It is possible that the name Pretin ( Breton ) was the origin of the name Briton. It is commonly believed that the name Pretania ( Britannia ) came from a large tribe in modern England called the Pretanii, but in my research I could find no reference to such a tribe. The name may come from a reference to the people of Dumnonia in modern Cornwall who were Pretins ( Bretons ). If so, it was a branch of the Picts who gave their name to Britain.

What we have said so far applies in the main to the lowland Picts.
| View a Welsh map of Prydyn |

What about the northern Picts ? At, or about the time that the Domnonia group moved to Caledonia a larger group moved from the Poictou ( Pictes ) area in a North East direction into Scandanavia, settled for a few generations and mixed their language with Old Norse, before deciding to join the smaller group by moving en mass to Caledonia. In my research I found an ancient document by a certain Nennius, it was a copy in French. This is a very rough translation, but the document states that, 'the Picts came and occupied the Islands which are called the Orkneys; and afterwards, from the neighbouring isles, wasted many and not small areas, and occupied them in the left ( the ancients faced east when giving directions, so left means 'north' ) part of Britain ( i.e. Caledonia ), where they still remain, keeping possession of a third part of Britain to this day.' This document agrees with the Irish document quoted earlier that the northern Picts crossed the North Sea to invade Caledonia. Perhaps the explanation for the statement in the Irish poem that says that when the northern Picts invaded Caledonia they did so, 'without destroying the people from the region of Cat ( Clyde ) to Forchu ( Forth )', was because these tribes were related to them, they were branches of the larger Pretin tribe - tribes similar to them. Perhaps the 'Auld ( Old ) Aliance' ( between Scotland and France ) is much older than recorded history has believed.

Another point to keep in mind is that it has become accepted that the reason for the Romans calling the tribes Picts was because they painted themselves before battle. Many who are satisfied with that answer will not consider that any other factors were involved. Could another reason have been simply that the northern tribes reminded the Romans of the Pictes in Gaul ?

Since each group of tribes shared a common Pretin ( Pict ) culture, they were able to unite against the Romans while still keeping their cultural distinctives as well as their own leaders. Interestingly the close relationship of the Pict tribes at the time of the battle of Dunnichen, is shown by the fact that the king of the Picts on the northern east coast who fought the Angles, named Bruide, was the son of the king of the Damnonii who ruled from Dumbarton - on the central west coast of Caledonia.

The Picts were mainly farmers living in tribal communities who kept cattle, sheep and pigs. They grew cereal crops of wheat, oats, barley and rye, and vegetable crops of cabbage, kale, onions, leeks, peas, beans and turnips. To supplement their diet they fished the inshore waters, trapped game and their carvings even show them hunting with trained dogs and falcons. They built kilns and watermills, brochs and hill forts as well as large underground granaries. They were artisans in gold, silver, iron, and bronze. They were skilled carvers in stone and were highly competent seafarers with their larger boats able to carry about 35 men, handy for sailing past Roman walls which they often did. They bred horses that were highly prized in Ireland. The Pict women were accomplished at spinning using wool and flax and at fashioning clothes and shoes from leather. They had no slavery in their society and women had the right to make their own decisions about who they would marry. The Picts were clearly not the barbarians that Roman propaganda described.

Roman Descriptions

In the first part of the third century, Dion Cassius wrote about the native people over the wall in Caledonia, 'Of the [ northern ] Britons the two most ample nations are the Caledonians and the Maeatae', ( Editors Note : Maeatae - the lowland Picts living between the walls ); 'for the names of the rest refer for the most part to these. The Maeatae inhabit very near the wall which divides the island into two parts; the Caledonians are after these...they war in chariots: horses they have, small and fleet; their infantry, also, are as well most swift at running, as most brave in pitched battle. Their arms are a shield and a short spear, in the upper part whereof is an apple of brass, that, while it is shaken, it may terrify the enemies with the sound: they have likewise daggers. They are able to bear hunger, cold and all afflictions.'

Later roman writers said that the Picts fought naked, but this rumour didn't start until 400 years after the Roman invasion, so it can be completely discounted as fictitious propaganda. Similar propaganda said that the Picts lived naked all the time and were blue in battle because they tattooed themselves. These things were written by people from Spain or France who had probably never been in Britain - or experienced a Caledonian winter. The claims that the Picts were tatood were made amidst other silly claims such as that many of then were born with white hair because of the continual snow, and that the pupil of their eyes were so strongly coloured that they could see better in the dark than in daylight. Neither Julius Caesar, Tacitus, or any other contemporary historian mentions nakedness in battle or tattoos. More importantly all of the stone monuments left by the Picts show their warriors fully clothed - although the monuments also show that the Picts didn't wear helmets in battle, perhaps because of some religious belief. No monument shows a tattooed Pict warrior. Caledonians may have taken their tunic off before summer battles and smeared on a bit of extra body paint and that was probably the beginning of what became a much exaggerated story. The Roman eyewitnesses speak of the tribes painting, or smearing paint on themselves before battle, even calling one tribe the Smertae, the Smeared-ones. We still do that today, though now it's before football matches - with blue still being the national colour. Since the popularity of the movie Braveheart, many other nations now paint on their colours.

It has been said that the greatest legacy the Romans left Caledonia, was that they were the first to cause the people of Caledonia to unite and prove what could be accomplished when they did unite. Their union stopped the expansion of Rome and caused major problems to the empire for 300 years. When eventually the Roman Empire was collapsing, tribes from all over Europe went to attack Rome and plunder its wealth. It says something about the nature of the Picts, that content with winning their freedom - they took no part in the sacking of Rome.

Enemy Territory

There is no doubt that the Romans had a widespread affect on the development of Scotland, even today the Scottish legal system is based on Roman law. We also inherited our traditional road system from Roman engineers and some towns developed next to Roman Forts, such as Kirkintilloch whose name means 'fort at the head of the hill', referring to the fort at that location on the Antonine Wall. It is also possible that some towns were already on strategic locations and the Antonine wall simply ran between them. Around the wall no Roman coins have been found beyond the date of 86 AD, ( the Romans first invaded in 80 AD ).

The Romans obviously wanted to develop a Romanised state in the Central belt of Caledonia, as a buffer protection for the Empire, but they were generally considered as unwelcome, unwanted invaders. Judging from the evidence of their numerous armed camps, the Romans in the Central part of Caledonia felt themselves to be in enemy territory, they were at least secretly hated and probably actively resisted by the enclosed tribes during their occupation. Dio Cassius records that in several attacks on Hadrian's Wall the Caledonians were led by these central tribes. Evidence shows that the Romans had a fairly short stay in Caledonia, although they invaded and retreated three times, but they were never here long enough, or had enough control to overcome the basic resentment and hostility of the native peoples. The people between the walls had territory which stretched from Stirling in the north, right down into Lancashire in modern England in the south, but suddenly the Romans had blocked access to their northern lands by building the 'Antonine Wall' and cut off their southern territories, by building Hadrian's Wall. This not only meant the loss of pelts, game animals and natural resources; but also of land and the freedom to roam over it. It is little wonder that the Romans found most of these tribes highly troublesome and had to pay them not to attack the Legions.

View Pict swords unearthed by archaeologists that disprove Tacitus | McManus Galleries Pict Swords |

In 360 AD the Picts raided as far south as Londinium ( London ) and in 383 AD they breached Hadrian's Wall so badly that it wasn't fully repaired till 407 AD. The last full scale united Pict assault on the Romans was in 396 AD and even although it was eventually repelled by the Romans, it may have been the straw that broke the camel's back - the deciding influence on Rome to abandon Britain for ever in 410 AD.

There is an ancient legend in Scotland that when the Picts attacked the Antonine Wall, the first Pict warrior to breach it was named Gurum, this man is said to be the forefather of the Graham clan. The Picts called the Antonine Wall Gurum's Wall in recognition of his bravery. Old maps of Scotland show the Antonine Wall but name it Grim's or Graham's Dyke - in honour of the hero Gurum.

| The five main reasons for Roman defeat. |

The continued opposition of the Picts was probably one of the main factors in stopping Roman plans to invade Ireland ( called Tara before the Romans named it Hibernia ). Tacitus had mentioned that the Romans had gained knowledge of the best ports and estuaries of that island and that Agricola was sheltering a king who had been run out of Ireland. The Romans planned to make use of him and his followers when they invaded. They had however to shelve their plans for the invasion of Ireland, in all probability because the legions were fully occupied in the war with the Picts. Much later according to the Irish 'Book of Lecain', Gede, King of the Cruithne (Picts), ruled in Ireland as well as in Caledonia.

When the Romans eventually pulled out of Britain the Picts must have had a big party and have made up poems, songs, riddles and jokes, saying things like, ‘Why do all roads lead to Rome?’ ‘Because you never know from which direction the army will retreat next'. And, ‘They came, they saw - they had to go back because their house was on fire’.

What happened to the Picts ?

People generally ask that question meaning: 'Were the Picts annihilated ?' The simple answer is 'No'. All the peoples of Caledonia were known as Picts by the Romans. Though many Picts did live near the coast, Tacitus quotes Calgacus as saying that the majority of Picts lived 'in the very heart of the country'. This claim is strengthened by a short lived line of Roman forts on the east side of Caledonia facing the interior of the country and protecting the rich farmlands on or near the East coast ( where most archaeological evidence for the Picts is found ).

The descendants of the Picts are still with us today as much as they ever were. Through time, their big disadvantage was their system of a matrilineal line of succession, i.e. they traced their line through their mother and not as the Scots and Angles did, through their father. This though did have one big advantage - no single family could gain control of the monarchy. Another weakness was that literacy was basic in their society and so it could not act as a protective buffer for their culture.

With the arrival and ascendance of the Scots, the Pict line gradually disappeared as a separate people in historical records - though the people did not disappear. This also happened to the Angles and to the ancient Brits of Strathclyde, but that is how nations are born. The Picts continued just like the other peoples of Scotland; it was simply that like others, their distinctiveness as a people was lost. As late as the 12 twelfth century the English chronicler Richard of Hexham recorded that Picts were present at the Battle of the Standard (fought in Yorkshire in 1138). The Picts inter married with the other tribes, ( the first King of a united Scotland is believed to have had a Scots father and a Pict mother ). Even those who didn't inter marry adopted the Scots culture, exchanged their language, ( as other groups did ), and were seamlessly integrated into the Scottish nation. The factor that accelerated this fusion of the peoples of Scotland more than any other was a new threat from a new source, the raids and incursions of the Vikings. It was in every tribe's interest to unite against this common coast to coast threat. Descendents of the Picts are alive and well throughout Scotland, but particularly in their traditional heartland, the north-east of the country - from Fife right up the east coast area. There is a Pict in every modern Scot and Scot in every modern Pict; it would be preposterous for anyone alive today to claim to be purely one or the other. They are now all one nation - called 'Scottish'.

Go back to the Caledonian 1 page | The Roman Invasion |

You can buy carved stones based on Pict and Celtic designs by sculptor Ronald Henderson | here |

Ron also has an excellent article on the Picts reproduced at | The Sons of Scotland |

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