Dubh

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Dubh, Dub or Duff ( Dub mac Maíl Coluim ; † 967 ) was Scottish king from 962 until his death. He was the son of Malcolm I and succeeded his uncle Indulf to the throne.

Dubh, who had already been King of Strathclyde from 954 to 962 , is said to have been an excellent ruler, as far as the scanty traditions can be believed. Culen , Indulf's son, attempted to come to power by force, thereby violating the rules of the Tanistry system. His troops met the troops of the reigning king at Crief , but were defeated.

However, Dubh could not enjoy his victory for long, because shortly afterwards he fell seriously ill and had to give up the supervision of the court administration, which almost amounted to a suspension from the government. His subordinates took advantage of this situation and enriched themselves with impunity because they thought Dubh was on his deathbed. But Dubh recovered and devastated Moray and Ross in order to restore peace and order there. The traitors were executed.

On the way back south, Dubh stayed at Forres Castle . During the night the guards in front of his bedchamber were switched off and two assassins murdered the sleeping king. The body was hastily buried in a stream that had been diverted and subsequently flooded the grave. The grave was probably at or under the Kinloss Bridge . Despite the disappearance of the body, the regicide did not go unnoticed for long; the murderers and clients were tracked down and executed. The king's body was exhumed and buried on the sacred island of Iona .

He was followed by his cousin Culen in the Scottish rulership.

It is certain that Dubh was married. The name of his wife and the place and date of the wedding are unknown. He had two sons: Kenneth III. became King of Scotland in 997, while Malcolm was King of Strathclyde from 975 to 997.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ross, Stewart: Monarchs of Scotland. Lochar Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0-948403-38-1 , p. 29

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Indulf King of Scotland
962–967 		Culen
Indulf King of Strathclyde
954-962 		Riderch
personal data
SURNAME Dubh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Duff, Dub mac Maíl Coluim
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Scotland
DATE OF BIRTH 10th century
DATE OF DEATH 967