| Notes |
- Crinan the Thane de Mormaer (Earl) of Dunkeld, born 978 at Atholl, Perth, Scotland, killed in battle in 1045 at Dunkeld, Tayside, Scotland. Crinan held numerous titles, among which were Of the kin of St. Columba, Lord of the Isles, Governor of Scots Island, Earl of Strathclyde, and Hereditary Lay Abbot of Dunkeld.
Crinan was married to Princess Bethoc, eldest daughter of King Malcolm II of Scotland. As Malcolm II had no son, the strongest hereditary claim to the Scottish throne descended through Bethoc, and Crinan's eldest son Duncan I (1001 to 1040), became King of Scots in 1034. Some sources indicate that Malcolm II designated Duncan as his successor under the rules of tanistry because there were other possible claimants to the throne.
Crinan's second son, Maldred of Allerdale (b. 1005), held the title of Earl- Lord Carlisle. It is said that from him, the Earls of Dunbar, for example the 2nd Earl of March and Dunbar, descend in unbroken male line.
Crinan as Lay Abbot of Dunkeld
The Culdee Monastery of Saint Columba was founded on the north bank of the River Tay in the sixth or early seventh century following the expedition of Columba into the land of Alba. Originally constructed as a simple group of wattle huts, the monastery was rebuilt in the ninth century by Kenneth MacAlpine in reddish sandstone masonry. Kenneth gave Dunkeld the Primacy of Columban faith in Alba.
While the title of Hereditary Lay Abbot was a feudal position that was often exercised in name only, Crinan does seem to have acted as Abbot in charge of the monastery in his time. He was thus a man of high position in both clerical and secular society.
The magnificent semi-ruined Dunkeld Cathedral, built in stages between 1260 and 1501, stands today on the grounds once occupied by the monastery. The cathedral contains the only surviving remains of the previous monastic society: A course of red stone that is visible in one wall, and a few relics in the cathedral's small but delightful museum.
|
978 - 1045 (67 years)