Surviving Pictish sources for the period are few, limited to king lists, the ori

ginal of which was prepared in the early 720s,[2] and a number of accounts relat
ing to the foundation of St Andrews, then called Cennrgmonaid. Beyond Pictland, t
he principal sources are the Irish annals, of which the Annals of Ulster and the
Annals of Tigernach are the most reliable. These include materials from an anna
l kept at the monastery of Iona in Scotland. engus and the Picts appear occasiona
lly in Welsh sources, such as the Annales Cambriae, and more frequently in North
umbrian sources, of which the Continuation of Bede's chronicle and the Historia
Regum Anglorum attributed to Symeon of Durham are the most important.[b]
Selected political groups in Northern Britain around 740 AD.
The Picts were one of four political groups in north Britain in the early 8th ce
ntury. Pictland ran from the River Forth northwards, including Orkney, Shetland
and the Western Isles. Prior to the Viking Age, the main power in Pictland appea
rs to have been the kingdom of Fortriu. Known high-status sites in Fortriu inclu
de Burghead and Craig Phdraig by Inverness. Pictland appears to have had only one
bishop with his seat at Rosemarkie.[c]
From the Forth south to the River Humber lay the kingdom of Northumbria. Once th
e dominant force in Britain, it remained a powerful kingdom, but the end of the
old dynasty of kings with the death of Osric in 729 led to conflict between riva
l families for the throne. The growing power of the Mercian kingdom to the south
added to the problems faced by Northumbrian kings. For most of engus's reign Nor
thumbria was ruled by the capable King Eadberht Eating.[d]
To the south-west of Pictland were the Gaels of Dl Riata where the kingship was d
isputed between the Cenl Loairn of northern Argyll and the Cenl nGabrin of Kintyre.
In 723 Selbach mac Ferchair abdicated as head of the Cenl Loairn and king of Dl R
iata in favour of his son Dngal, who was driven out as king of Dl Riata by Eochaid
mac Echdach of the Cenl nGabrin in 726. Dngal and Eochaid were still in conflict a
s late as 731, when Dngal burnt Tarbert.[e]
The history of the fourth group, the Britons of Alt Clut, later the kingdom of S
trathclyde, leaves little trace in the record. King Teudebur map Beli had ruled
from Dumbarton Rock since 722, and continued to do so until his death in 752 whe
n his son Dumnagual succeeded him.[5][f]
Rise to power[edit]
Irish genealogies make engus a member of the Eganachta of Munster, as a descendant
of Coirpre Cruthnechn or "Cairbre the little Pict", a mythological emanation or
double of Coirpre Luachra mac Cuirc,[6] legendary son of Conall Corc,[g] and anc
estor of the Eganacht Locha Lin, rulers of the kingdom of Iarmuman. The branch of
the kindred from which he came, known in the annals as the Eoghanachta Magh Geir
ginn, were said to be located in an area known as Circinn, usually associated wi
th modern Angus and the Mearns.[7][h] His early life is unknown; engus was middle
-aged by the time he entered into history.[8] His close kin included at least tw
o sons, Bridei (died 736) and Talorgan (died 782), and two brothers, Talorgan (d
ied 750) and Bridei (died 763).[i]
King Nechtan son of Der-Ile abdicated to enter a monastery in 724 and was impris
oned by his successor Drest in 726. In 728 and 729, four kings competed for powe
r in Pictland: Drest; Nechtan; Alpn, of whom little is known; and lastly engus, wh
o was a partisan of Nechtan, and perhaps his acknowledged heir.[j]
Four battles large enough to be recorded in Ireland were fought in 728 and 729.
Alpn was defeated twice by engus, after which Nechtan was restored to power. In 72
9 a battle between supporters of engus and Nechtan's enemies was fought at Monith
discuss] (traditionally Cairn o' Mount, near Fettercairn) where t
Carno[dubious
he supporters of engus were victorious. Nechtan was restored to the kingship, pro

bably until his death in 732.[10] On 12 August 729 engus defeated and killed Dres
t in battle at Druimm Derg Blathuug, a place which has not been identified.
Piercing of Dal Riata[edit]
Satellite image of northern Britain and Ireland showing the approximate area of
Dl Riata (shaded).
In the 730s, engus fought against Dl Riata whose traditional overlords and protect
ors in Ireland, the Cenl Conaill, were much weakened at this time. A fleet from Dl
Riata fought for Flaithbertach mac Loingsig, chief of the Cenl Conaill, in his w
ar with ed Alln of the Cenl nEgan, and suffered heavy losses in 733.[8][11] Dl Riata
was ruled by Eochaid mac Echdach of the Cenl nGabrin who died in 733, and the king
lists are unclear as to who, if anyone, succeeded him as overking. The Cenl Loai
rn of north Argyll were ruled by Dngal mac Selbaig whom Eochaid had deposed as ov
erking of Dl Riata in the 720s.
Fighting between the Picts, led by engus's son Bridei, and the Dl Riata, led by Ta
lorgan mac Congussa, is recorded in 731. In 733, Dngal mac Selbaig "profaned [the
sanctuary] of Tory Island when he dragged Bridei out of it." Dngal, previously d
eposed as overking of Dl Riata, was overthrown as king of the Cenl Loairn and repl
aced by his first cousin Muiredach mac Ainbcellaig.[12]
In 734 Talorgan mac Congussa was handed over to the Picts by his brother and dro
wned by them.[13] Talorgan son of Drostan was captured near Dn Ollaigh. He appear
s to have been the King of Atholl, and was drowned on engus's order in 739.[k] Dng
al too was a target in this year. He was wounded, the unidentified fortress of Dn
Leithfinn was destroyed, and he "fled into Ireland, to be out of the power of en
gus."[15]
The annals report a second campaign by engus against the Dl Riata in 736. Dngal, wh
o had returned from Ireland, and his brother Feradach, were captured and bound i
n chains. The fortresses of Creic and Dunadd were taken. Muiredach of the Cenl Lo
airn was no more successful, defeated with heavy loss by engus's brother Talorgan
mac Fergusa, perhaps by Loch Awe. A final campaign in 741 saw the Dl Riata again
defeated. This was recorded in the Annals of Ulster as Percutio Dl Riatai la h-en
gus m. Forggusso, the "smiting of Dl Riata by engus son of Fergus".[16] With this
Dl Riata disappears from the record for a generation.[17][18][19][l]
It may be that engus was involved in wars in Ireland, perhaps fighting with ed Alln
, or against him as an ally of Cathal mac Finguine.[20] The evidence for such in
volvement is limited. There is the presence of engus's son Bridei at Tory Island,
on the north-west coast of Donegal in 733, close to the lands of ed Alln's enemy
Flaithbertach mac Loingsig. Less certainly, the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland re
port the presence of a Pictish fleet from Fortriu fighting for Flaithbertach in
733 rather than against him.[8][21][m]
Alt Clut, Northumbria, and Mercia[edit]
In 740, a war between the Picts and the Northumbrians is reported, during which t
helbald, King of Mercia, took advantage of the absence of Eadberht of Northumbri
a to ravage his lands, and perhaps burn York.[22] The reason for the war is uncl
ear, but it has been suggested that it was related to the killing of Earnwine so
n of Eadwulf on Eadberht's orders. Earnwine's father had been an exile in the no
rth after his defeat in the civil war of 705 706, and it may be that engus, or thelb
ald, or both, had tried to place him on the Northumbrian throne.[23]
Escomb Church, County Durham. The stone churches built for Nechtan, and perhaps e
ngus's church at St Andrews, are presumed to have been similar.[24]
Battles between the Picts and the Britons of Alt Clut, or Strathclyde, are recor
ded in 744 and again in 750, when Kyle was taken from Alt Clut by Eadberht of No

rthumbria. The 750 battle between the Britons and the Picts is reported at a pla
ce named Mocetauc (perhaps Mugdock near Milngavie) in which Talorgan mac Fergusa
, engus's brother, was killed.[25][26] Following the defeat in 750, the Annals of
Ulster record "the ebbing of the sovereignty of engus".[27] This is thought to r
efer to the coming to power of ed Find, son of Eochaid mac Echdach, in all or par
t of Dl Riata, and his rejection of engus's overlordship.[28][29][n]
Unlike the straightforward narrative of the attacks on Dl Riata, a number of inte
rpretations have been offered of the relations between engus, Eadberht and thelbal
d in the period from 740 to 750. One suggestion is that engus and thelbald were al
lied against Eadberht, or even that they exercised a joint rulership of Britain,
or bretwaldaship, engus collecting tribute north of the River Humber and thelbald
south of the Humber. This rests largely on a confused passage in Symeon of Durh
am's Historia Regum Anglorum, and it has more recently been suggested that the i
nterpretation offered by Frank Stenton that it is based on a textual error and tha
t engus and thelbald were not associated in any sort of joint overlordship is the co
rrect one.[26][28]
In 756, engus is found campaigning alongside Eadberht of Northumbria. The campaig
n is reported as follows:
In the year of the Lord's incarnation 756, king Eadberht in the eighteenth year
of his reign, and Unust, king of Picts led armies to the town of Dumbarton. And
hence the Britons accepted terms there, on the first day of the month of August.
But on the tenth day of the same month perished almost the whole army which he
led from Ouania to Niwanbirig.[30]
That Ouania is Govan is now reasonably certain,[31][32] but the location of Newa
nbirig is less so. Although there are very many Newburghs, it is Newburgh-on-Tyn
e near Hexham that has been the preferred location.[33] An alternative interpret
ation of the events of 756 has been advanced: it identifies Newanbirig with Newb
orough by Lichfield in the kingdom of Mercia. A defeat here for Eadberht and engu
s by thelbald's Mercians would correspond with the claim in the Saint Andrews fou
ndation legends that a king named engus son of Fergus founded the church there as
a thanksgiving to Saint Andrew for saving him after a defeat in Mercia.[34][o]
Cult of Saint Andrew[edit]
The St Andrews Sarcophagus
The story of the foundation of St Andrews, originally Cennrgmonaid, is not contem
porary and may contain many inventions. The Irish annals report the death of "Tu
athaln, abbot of Cinrigh Mna", in 747, making it certain that St Andrews had been
founded before that date, probably by engus or by Nechtan son of Der-Ilei.[20][35
][36][37][p] It is generally presumed that the St Andrews Sarcophagus was execut
ed at the command of engus.[20][38][39][q] Later generations may have conflated t
his king engus with the 9th century king of the same name.[40][41] The choice of
David as a model is, as Alex Woolf notes, an appropriate one: David too was an u
surper.[42]
The cult of Saint Andrew may have come to Pictland from Northumbria, as had the
cult of Saint Peter which had been favoured by Nechtan, and in particular from t
he monastery at Hexham which was dedicated to Saint Andrew. This apparent connec
tion with the Northumbrian church may have left a written record. engus, like his
successors and possible kinsmen Caustantn and Egan, is recorded prominently in th
e Liber Vitae Ecclesiae Dunelmensis, a list of some 3000 benefactors for whom pr
ayers were said in religious institutions connected with Durham.[43][44][r]
Death and legacy[edit]
engus died in 761, "aged probably more than seventy, ... the dominating figure in
the politics of Northern Britain".[45] His death is reported in the usual brief

style by the annalists, except for the continuator of Bede in Northumbria, poss
ibly relying upon a Dl Riata source, who wrote:
engus, king of the Picts, died. From the beginning of his reign right to the end
he perpetrated bloody crimes, like a tyrannical slaughterer.[46][47][48][49]
The Pictish Chronicle king lists have it that he was succeeded by his brother Br
idei. His son Talorgan was later king, and is the first son of a Pictish king kn
own to have become king.[50][s]
The following 9th-century Irish praise poem from the Book of Leinster is associa
ted with engus:[7]
Good the day when engus took Alba,
hilly Alba with its strong chiefs;
he brought battle to palisaded towns,
with feet, with hands, with broad shields.[7]