Cuncar of Angus was
Mormaer of Angus
The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish province of Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is held by the Duke of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldest son of the Duke's eldest son.
History ...
somewhere in the mid- or late-10th century, which makes it quite possible that he was the successor of
Dubacan. One divergent source calls him ''thanus'' (i.e.
taoiseach
The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
), but otherwise he is ''comes'' (i.e.
Mormaer
In early medieval Scotland, a mormaer was the Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the King of Scots, and the senior of a '' Toísech'' (chieftain). Mormaers were equivalent to English earls or Continenta ...
). The tradition called by Anderson ''the Chronicle of the Kings of Scotland'' records in several manuscripts that Cuncar's daughter
Lady Finella was responsible for the death of king
Cináed II, because the aforementioned
King of Scots
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British cons ...
had put her son to death. Otherwise, Cuncar is obscure. Even the name "Cuncar" is obscure, and may not be authentic, representing either the
Gaelic name ''Conchobar'' or the
Brythonic name ''Cincar''.
John of Fordun
John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th ...
calls him ''Cruchne'', which is clearly equivalent to ''Cruithne'', as in Fordun's period, owing to French influence, ''c''s often replace ''t''s. ''Cruithne'' was the Gaelic word for a
Pict
PICT is a graphics file format introduced on the original Apple Macintosh computer as its standard metafile format. It allows the interchange of graphics (both bitmapped and vector), and some limited text support, between Mac applications, an ...
, but why Fordun gives Cuncar this name is even more obscure than Cuncar himself.
Bibliography
* Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286'', 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922), v.i, pp. 512–14
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angus, Cuncar Of
10th-century Scottish people
Mormaers of Angus