Ancient history as we know it, has come to us in the present day by the pain-staking efforts of historians, such as the Roman Tacitus (circa 80 AD) and the Saxon Venerable Bede (circa 800 AD) and through their writings, most of what we now know of ancient history has been noted. Although both statisticians, who were meticulous in their recording of major and domestic life in ancient times, they owe a great deal to an even earlier type of historic recording, that of the "oral tradition" stories that were passed down from generation to generation. Within the ancient tribes of these lands, great credence was placed in the words of the "Sennachaidh" (sennaky),or story teller, whose responsibility it was to remember and relate stories and tales of not only the history of the particular tribe, but to the habitat surroundings where they lived. This oral tradition has been invaluable to later writers. Legends were told to relate the history of the tribe, past exploits of heroic tribe members and genealogy put into story form, whereas, myths were told to explain the natural surroundings and environment, i.e. why the sun rises and sets, or why the trees are bare for half the year, etc. Oral tradition, therefore, must still be recognised as having at least a foundation in some kind of actual fact…………………………? Ancient Pictish legend relates the narrative of the legend of Cruithne (croo-ny), and tells us of Cruithne, the progenitor of the Pictish nation. Cruithne was descended from the race of Partolan, (even earlier legends relate the story of how Partolan populated not only Ireland, but the western seaboard of Scotland). Partolan is said to have come to these parts from the great western sea.. Early celtic folk tales tell of him coming from the "other world" region of Tir-nan-Og (land of eternal youth), the celtic "otherworld", said to be an "island in the western sea" (mid-atlantic). This story has been related to legends of Atlantis. This also shows the celtic belief in another world. Pictland was populated by seven major tribes in that era.(and numerous smaller tribes). Cruithne seems to have been a noted leader amongst them, perhaps on the strength of his genealogy (descending from Partolan). However the reason, he ended up uniting the whole land of "Pictland" (as earlier historians described the lands of northern Scotland). To further strengthen the uniting bond between the seven major tribes, the legend of Cruithne (who all knew in common) was born from the necessity to explain the new-found unity of the individual tribes ,Cruithne as chief his seven sons representative of the seven major pictish tribes. Their uniting bond was common ancestry through Cruithne, so all were related. Tribal intermarriage further strengthened bonds. One leader ,to govern, was elected from representatives of each tribe, the leader would marry daughters of tribal cheifs The ancient Picts chose their leaders from the mothers side of the his family. Therefore there was a far wider choice of individuals and the best would be chosen. Mothers would have sisters, who would have several daughters all bearing offspring, thus the choice increased. This avoided ruling dynasties. Cruithne was not only a uniting bond,he allowed a peacefull and stable environment for the advancement of the confederated tribes. Artur ard righ (Arthur High King) While the north lands were stabilising the southern lands were less stable. Competition for resources and lack of tribal coherence resulted in a fragmented society, and would ultimately make them more succeptable to the later Roman invasion. The Romans came in several waves ,spanning a few hundred years. They took posession of the lower parts of Britain and swept north. Wherever the Romans went the tribes were swept asside,or absorbed into Romanisation. They halted at Southwest Scotland, where they could make no headway and built a wall, "Hadrians wall". This was to be the boundary of the Roman empire. There were two walls built one from the Forth to the Clyde, ( the Antonine wall ) one from the Solway to the east ( Hadrians wall ) ,. The land in between from north to south has been long referred to as the debatable lands. The walls were for two functions, as a boundery for the empire ,and to keep the northern tribes out. The walls effectively split Brittania into two major parts north and south, separated by a void between the two walls. When the Romans took over the south everyone there became subjects of Rome , and as such had to abide by Roman law. Carrying of arms was forbidden, except in the military. This meant the military had the responsibility of metering out protection. The Northern tribes ( which the Romans referred to as picts ) were a constant source of bother with repeated raids south. The Romans fell back behind the southern wall , Hadrians wall. The Roman strategy was to leave some garrisons in between the two walls, who would train local tribes , creating a strong fighting force which would act as a buffer zone to any northern tribes bent on raiding the south. Although the carrying of arms was forbidden, the tribes in between the walls were not only given weapons but also given the best of training. These tribes descended from the cattle rearing tribes of Lowland Scotland, by this time they had diversified into horse rearing, and had become very proficient horsemen. With their expert military training they became a formidable and extremely mobile army. In effect these tribes had borders built for them by the Romans. After a few hundred years the Romans began withdrawing back to Rome as they withdrew they took the army with them. This left the southern lands in chaos. Through 400 years the southern peoples had become Romanised dependant on the Romans for most things , especially protection. With Roman protection gone the south became an easy target for raiders from the north……………….To be continued. ******************