Aside from the services he provided guiding the only centre of literacy in the region, his reputation as a holy man led to his role as a diplomat among the tribes ; there are also many stories of miracles which he performed during his work to convert the Picts.

In his fictional historical essay " The Hyborian Age ", Howard describes how the people of Atlantis — the land where his character King Kull originated — had to move east after a great cataclysm changed the face of the world and sank their island, settling where Ireland and Scotland would eventually be located, Thus they are ( in Howard's work ) the ancestors of the Irish and Scottish ( the Celtic Gaels ) and not the Picts, the other ancestor of modern Scots who also appear in Howard's work.

This change of title, from king of the Picts to king of Alba, is part of a broader transformation of Pictland and the origins of the Kingdom of Alba are traced to Constantine's lifetime.

Hunter ( 2000 ) states that in relation to King Bridei I of the Picts in the sixth century: " As for Shetland, Orkney, Skye and the Western Isles, their inhabitants, most of whom appear to have been Pictish in culture and speech at this time, are likely to have regarded Bridei as a fairly distant presence .”

Picts | Pictish regions are marked in yellow.

Kenneth's origins are uncertain, as are his ties, if any, to previous kings of the Picts or Dál Riata.

Picts are recorded from before the Roman conquest of Britain until the 10th century, when they are thought to have merged with the Gaels.

The early Picts are associated with piracy and raiding along the coasts of Roman Britain.

Brochs are popularly associated with the Picts.

The Picts are often said to have tattooed themselves, but evidence for this is limited.

" peth ", a thing ) are claimed to indicate regions inhabited by Picts in the past ( for example: Aberdeen, Lhanbryde, Pitmedden, etc .).

In Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, particularly those featuring the Lancre witches, the Picts are an obvious influence on the Nac Mac Feegle, a race of tiny wood-fairies whose speech is influenced by Scottish Gaelic and who are tattooed with blue war-paint.

In the book, two of the children are unexpectedly forced to live secretly in a ruined house in the woods, and they become " Picts ".

Hunter ( 2000 ) states that in relation to King Bridei I of the Picts in the sixth century AD: " As for Shetland, Orkney, Skye and the Western Isles, their inhabitants, most of whom appear to have been Pictish in culture and speech at this time, are likely to have regarded Bridei as a fairly distant presence .” In 2011 the collective site, " The Crucible of Iron Age Shetland " including Broch of Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof joined the UKs " Tentative List " of World Heritage Sites.

For this reason he is known as the Apostle to the Southern Picts, and there are numerous dedications to him in those parts of Scotland with a Pictish heritage, throughout the Scottish Lowlands, and in parts of Northern England with a Northumbrian heritage.

The Southern Picts, for whom Ninian is held to be the apostle, are the Picts south of the mountains known as the Mounth, which cross Scotland north of the Firths of Clyde and Forth.

The dedications are found throughout the lands of the ancient Picts of Scotland, throughout Scotland south of the Firths of Clyde and Forth, in Orkney and Shetland, and in parts of northern England.

He hires Saxons who are probably settled in Kent as mercenaries to fight against the Picts and the Scots beyond Hadrian's Wall.

Picts | Pictish regions are marked in yellow.

* Emperor Valentinian I is engaged in operations against the Alamanni, Quadi and Sarmatians, while his subordinates are dealing with Firmus, Roman usurper, in Africa and the Picts in Britain.

The Picts are often said to have derived their name from Latin pingere " to paint "; pictus, " painted ".

The Eóganacht Locha Léin were themselves often viewed by the " inner circle " with surprisingly vicious hostility, and this somehow involved a connection to the Picts of Scotland.

From the 5th to the mid-9th centuries, the art of the Picts is primarily known through stone sculpture, and a smaller number of pieces of metalwork, often of very high quality ; there are no known illuminated manuscripts.

Later national myth made Kenneth MacAlpin the creator of the kingdom of Scotland, the founding of which was dated from 843, the year in which he was said to have destroyed the Picts and inaugurated a new era.

He may have been the " superbus tyrannus " said to have invited Hengist and Horsa to aid him in fighting the Picts and the Scots.

Fiannamail is said to have had at least two sons, Indrechtach and Conall, who were killed in 741 at the battle of Forboros, perhaps fighting against the Picts led by Óengus mac Fergusa.

Earlier, c. 580, Áedán is said to have raided Orkney, which had been subject to Bridei son of Maelchon, King of the Picts, at an earlier date.

The Ancient Picts were said to paint themselves " Iron Red " according to the Gothic historian Jordanes.

Dunkeld ( Duncalden and variants in early documents ) is said to have been ' founded ' or ' built ' by Caustantín son of Fergus, king of the Picts ( d. 820 ), this foundation likely referring to one of an ecclesiastical nature on a site already of secular importance.

Howard's Picts are said to have originated in the westernmost reaches of North America, and gradually migrated into the Mediterranean area.

Set centuries after Bran's death he appears as an idol worshipped by the surviving Picts in which his soul is said to be resident.

Subsequently, a British leader named Vortigern is supposed to have invited continental mercenaries to help fight the Picts who were attacking from the north.

Around 105, however, there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts of Alba: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium ( at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland ) indicating hostilities at least at that site.

However, Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat.

Crannóg, which may originate in Neolithic Scotland, may have been rebuilt, and some were still in use in the time of the Picts.

The Picts may have been unusually in operating a matrilineality based society, with land, property and position passing through the maternal line.

Pictish metalwork is found throughout Pictland and also further south ; the Picts appear to have a considerable amount of silver available, probably from raiding further south, or the payment of subsidies to keep them from doing so.

Patrick could not have been referring to the Northern Picts who were converted by Saint Columba in the 6th century because they were not yet Christian, and thus could not be called ' apostate '.

They would have been kept by the Scots and Picts, and used to help in providing part of their diet, namely hoofed game ( archaeological evidence likely supports this in the form of Roman pottery from around 1st Century AD found in Argyll which depicts the deerhunt using large rough hounds ( these can be viewed at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh ).

The site of this battle lies in the area known in later Welsh sources as Bannawg, the name Bannockburn is presumed to be related, which is thought to have meant the very extensive marshes and bogs between Loch Lomond and the river Forth, and the hills and lochs to the north, which separated the lands of the Britons from those of Dál Riata and the Picts, and this land was not worth fighting over.

In 744 the Picts acted alone, and in 750 Óengus may have cooperated with Eadberht of Northumbria in a campaign in which Talorgan, brother of Óengus, was killed in a heavy Pictish defeat at the hands of Teudebur of Alt Clut, perhaps at Mugdock, near Milngavie.

Æthelbald, who might have been allied with Óengus, the king of the Picts, took advantage of Eadberht's absence from Northumbria to ravage his lands, and perhaps burn York.

Oswiu's nephew, Eanfrith's son Talorcan, may have also been established as a leading king among the Picts at this time.

It has been asserted that Pilate may have been born in Fortingall, Perthshire, in Scotland, the illegitimate son of a Roman ambassador sent to pacify the Picts and a Pictish girl, but the Romans did not invade Britain until some years after Pilate's birth and appear to have had relatively little contact with that part of Scotland even then.

Wilfrid may also have sought to exercise some ecclesiastical functions in the Pictish kingdom, as he is accorded the title " bishop of the Northumbrians and the Picts " in 669.