ThePictish Chronicle is a name used to refer to a pseudo-historical account of the kings of thePicts beginning many thousand years before history was recorded inPictavia and ending after Pictavia had been enveloped byScotland.
There are several versions of the Pictish Chronicle. The so-called "A" text is probably the oldest, the fullest, and seems to have fewer errors than other versions. The original (albeit lost) manuscript seems to date from the early years of the reign ofKenneth II of Scotland (who ruled Scotland from 971 until 995) since he is the last king mentioned and the chronicler does not know the length of his reign. This chronicle survives only in the 14th centuryPoppleton Manuscript.
It is in three parts:
It is evident that the latter two sections were originally written inGaelic since a few Gaelic words have not been translated intoLatin.
By the 12th century,Giric had acquired legendary status as liberator of the Scottish church from Pictish oppression and, fantastically, as conqueror ofIreland and most ofEngland. As a result, Giric was known asGregory the Great. (Giric's conquests appear asBernicia, rather than Ireland (Hibernia), in some versions.)
This tale appears in the variant of theChronicle of the Kings of Alba which is interpolated inAndrew of Wyntoun'sOrygynale Cronykil of Scotland.
This says thatÁed reigned one year and was killed by his successorGiric inStrathallan. (Other king lists have the same report.)
Here Giric, or Grig, is named "Makdougall", son of Dúngal.
List "D", which may be taken as typical, contains this account of Giric:
Giric, Dungal's son, reigned for twelve years; and he died in Dundurn, and was buried inIona. He subdued to himself all Ireland, and nearly [all] England; and he was the first to give liberty to the Scottish church, which was in servitude up to that time, after the custom and fashion of the Picts.[1]
This account is not found in thePoppleton Manuscript. The lists known as "D", "F", "I", "K", and "N",[2] contain this version and is copied by theChronicle of Melrose.[3]
The Latin material interpolated in Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Cronykl states that King Dub was murdered atForres, and links this to an eclipse of the sun which can be dated to 20 July 966.