| Notes |
- King of Dál Riada and Scotia Minor and Alba
Fergus Mor, son of Erc, another name for Mac Nisse Mor, had one son i. Domangart
Magoo.com: Scots Kings
Birth of Scottish Dál Riada
See 498 CE - Birth of Scottish Dal Riada. "Very little is known about the early Kingdom of Scottish Dal Riada or its first King Fergus. It is believed that Fergus' father Erc MacEochaid and possibly his older brother held the throne before him in Ireland. Erc died in 474, leaving a space of as much as 24 years unaccounted for in the lists of Kings. Some genealogical charts show that Erc, son of Eachach Muinremair and descendant of Cairbre Riada, and father of Fergus, ruled Dalriada in 503 A.D. For example, see the chart in Jim's Two Irish Surnames—Maguire. The Annals of the Four Masters report, however, that Eirc, son of Eochaidh Muinreamhar, died in 474. O'Donovan's notes identify him as "the ancestor of the Dalriadic kings of Scotland."
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Fergus Mór mac Erc was a legendary king of Dál Riata. While his historicity may be debatable, his posthumous importance as the founder of Scotland in the national myth of Medieval and Renaissance Scotland is not in doubt. Rulers of Scotland from Cináed mac Ailpín until the present time claim descent from Fergus Mór.
The historical record, such as it is, consists of an entry in the "Annals of Tigernach," for the year 501, which states: "Feargus Mor mac Earca cum gente Dal Riada partem Britaniae tenuit, et ibi mortuus est" (Fergus Mór mac Eirc, with the people of Dál Riata, held part of Britain, and he died there.).
However, the forms of Fergus, Erc and Dál Riata are later ones, written down long after the 6th century. The record in the "Annals" has given rise to theories of invasions of Argyll from Ireland, but these are not considered authentic.
The genealogy of Fergus is found in the king lists of Dál Riata, and later of Scotland, of which the "Senchus Fer n-Alban" and the "Duan Albanach" can be taken as examples. The "Senchus" states that Fergus Mór also was known as "Mac Nisse Mór." These sources probably date from the 10th and 11th centuries, respectively, between 20 and 30 generations after Fergus may have lived.
The "Senchus" and the "Duan" name Fergus's father as Erc, son of Eochaid Muinremuir. A Middle Irish genealogy of the kings of Alba gives an extensive genealogy for Fergus: [Fergus] m. h-Eircc, m. Echdach Muinremuir, m. Óengusa Fir, m. Feideilmid, m. Óengusa, m. Feideilmid, m. Cormaicc, and a further 46 generations, here omitted. While some believe Fergus claimed lineage to King Arthur, the historian John Morris has suggested, instead, that Fergus was allowed to settle in Scotland as a federate of Arthur, as a bulwark against the Picts.
These sources, while they offer evidence for the importance of Fergus Mór in Medieval times, are not evidence for his historical career. Indeed, only one king in the 6th century in Scotland is known from contemporary evidence, Ceretic of Alt Clut, and even this identification rests upon a later gloss to Saint Patrick's "Letter to Coroticus." The existence of the first kings of Dál Riata that are reasonably confirmed are Fergus's grandsons Gabrán mac Domangairt and Comgall, or perhaps his great-grandson Áedán mac Gabráin.
In the contexts of Patrician tradition, legendary accounts and symbolic description, the figure twelve is mentioned with reference to the sons of Ere.
Andrew of Wyntoun's early 15th century "Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland" says that Fergus was the first Scot to rule in Scotland, and that Cináed mac Ailpín was his descendant. In addition, he writes that Fergus brought the Stone of Scone with him from Ireland, that he was succeeded by a son named Dúngal. A list of kings follows which is corrupt but bears some relation to those found in earlier sources.
If Wyntoun's account adds little to earlier ones, at the end of the 16th century George Buchanan in his "Rerum Scoticarum Historia" added much, generally following John of Fordun. In this version, the Scots had been expelled from Scotland when the Romans under one Maximus conquered all of Britain. His father Eugenius had been killed by the Romans, and Fergus, Fergusius II according to Buchanan's count, was raised in exile in Scandinavia. He later fought with the Franks, before eventually returning to Scotland and reconquering the Scottish lands. He was killed in battle against Durstus, king of the Picts, and was succeeded by his son Eugenius. A linked tradition traces the origin of Clan Cameron to the son of the royal family of Denmark who assisted Fergus II in the above restoration to Scotland.
Buchanan's king, James VI, shared the scholar's view of the origins of his line, describing himself in one of many verses written to his wife Anne of Denmark, as the "happie Monarch sprung of Ferguse race." Nor was James VI the last ruler to share this belief. The Great Gallery of the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh was decorated with 89 of Jacob de Wet's portraits of Scottish monarchs, from Fergus to Charles II, produced to the order of James's grandson.
James II's Irish partisans welcomed the king at Kilkenny during the Williamite War, declaring, "We conducted a Fergus to Scotland; we welcome in James the Second the undoubted heir of Fergus by the lineal descent of one hundred and ten crowned heads."
-- from Wikiwand: Fergus Mór
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Irish King List - on the origin of Fergus Mor mac Erc.
"In the 20th year of the reign of the monarch Lughaidh, son of Laeghaire, with a complete army, Fergus Mor mac Earca (along with five of his brothers, Fergus Og, Loarn Mor, Loarn Og, Aongus Mor, and Aongus Og) went into Scotland to assist his grandfather, King Loarn (note: his grandmother's name was Earca Loarn), who was much oppressed by his enemies, the Picts; who were vanquished by Fergus and his party, who prosecuted the war so vigorously, followed the enemy to their own homes, and reduced them to such extremity, that they were glad to accept peace upon the conqueror's own conditions; whereupon, on the King's death, which happened about the same time, the said Fergus Mor was unanimously elected and chosen King as being of the blood royal by his mother. And the said Fergus, for a good and lucky omen, sent to his brother, who was then Monarch of Ireland, for the Marble Seat, called "Saxum Fatale" (in Irish, "Liath Fail," and "Cloch-na-Cinneamhna," implying in English, "The Stone of Destiny" to be crowned thereupon; which happened accordingly, for, as he was the first absolute King of all Scotland of the Miesian Race, so the succession continued in his blood and lineage ever since to this day."
-- unknown source
Seeking to obtain land in East and Strathclyde to the South; King of the Scots of Dalriada, Fergus Mor fights both the Picts to the east and the Britons of Strathclyde to the south for land.
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430 - 499 (68 years)
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