Bridei IV of the Picts
Bruide mac Der-Ilei (died 706) was
king of the
Picts. He became king when
Taran was deposed in 697.
[Annals of Tigernach and Annals of Ulster, s.a. 697.]He was the brother of his successor
Nechtan. It has been suggested that Bruide's father was
Dargart mac Finnguine (d. 686) of the
Cenél Comgaill, a kingroup in
Dál Riata who controlled
Cowal and the
Isle of Bute.
[Clancy, "Nechtan"; Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 686; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 710, which report that two sons of "Nechtan mac Dargartó" were killed.] The parentage of his mother Der-Ilei is not certainly known.
As well as Nechtan, a number of other brothers, half-brothers or foster-brothers of Bruide can be tentatively identified in the
Irish annals: Talorgan son of Drest, Congus son of Dargart and Cináed son of Der-Ilei.
[Annals of Ulster, s.a. 712 and 713.]Bruide was one of many important men of
Ireland and
Scotland who guaranteed the
Cáin Adomnáin (
Lex Innocentium; Law of Innocents) at
Birr in 697.
A battle between the Picts and Saxons in 698, where Beorhtred son of Beornhaeth was killed, is reported by the Irish chroniclers. A defeat of the Dál Riata is reported in 704, either at
Loch Lomond or by the
Leven, but this is more likely to have been at the hands of the Britons of
Alt Clut than the Picts. Conflict in
Skye in 701, where Conaing son of
Dúnchad was killed, is most probably an internal conflict among the tribes of Dál Riata. It is reported in the
Chronicon Scotorum that the winter of 700 was so cold that "the sea froze between Ireland and Scotland".
Bruide died in 706, when his death is recorded by the
Annals of Ulster and the
Annals of Tigernach. He was succeeded by his brother Nechtan.
*
Anderson, Alan Orr,
Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286, volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Stamford: Paul Watkins, 1990. ISBN 1-871615-03-8
*
Clancy, Thomas Owen, "Nechtan son of Derile" in M. Lynch (ed.)
The Oxford Companion to Scottish History. Oxford & New York: Oxford UP, 2002. ISBN 0192116967
* Clancy, Thomas Owen, "Philosopher-King : Nechtan mac Der-Ilei."
Scottish Historical Review vol. 83, no. 2, pp. 125-149. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2004. ISSN 0036-9241
*
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at
University College Cork includes the
Annals of Ulster,
Tigernach,
the Four Masters and
Innisfallen, the
Chronicon Scotorum, the
Lebor Bretnach (which includes the
Duan Albanach), Genealogies, and various Saints' Lives. Most are translated into English, or translations are in progress.
*
Pictish Chronicle*
Cáin Adomnáin (translated by
Kuno Meyer) at the Internet Medieval Sourcebook.
