Rhydderch ap Dyfnwal

This source states that Cuilén was killed at "Loinas",[10] a placename which seems to refer to either Lothian or the Lennox,[11] both plausible locations for an outbreak of hostilities between Scots and Britons.

According to this source, Cuilén met his end whilst "seeking a foreign land", which could indicate that he was attempting to lift taxes from the Cumbrians.

His dramatic death suggests that the Scots severely overstepped the bounds of hospitality,[24] and could indicate that Rhydderch was compelled to fire his own hall.

[26] Another possible scenario concerns the record of Cuilén's father's seizure of Edinburgh preserved by the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, a conquest which would have included at least part of Lothian.

[27] The records that appear to locate Cuilén's fall to Lothian, therefore, could indicate that he was in the midst of exercising overlordship of this debatable land when Rhydderch seized the chance to exact revenge upon the abductor of his daughter.

[37] Whatever the case, Cináed's invasion ended in defeat,[38] a fact which coupled with Cuilén's killing reveals that the Cumbrian realm was indeed a power to be reckoned with.

[39] According to the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, Cináed constructed some sort of fortification on the River Forth, perhaps at the strategically located Fords of Frew near Stirling.

[43] In fact, Dyfnwal's son Máel Coluim seems to have taken up the Cumbrian kingship by 973, as evidenced by the latter's act of apparent submission to Edgar, King of the English that year.

Refer to caption
Rhydderch's name as it appears on folio 8v of British Library Cotton Faustina B IX (the Chronicle of Melrose ): " Radhardus ". [ 1 ]
Map of northern Britain
Locations relating to the life and times of Rhydderch.
Refer to caption
Cuilén's name as it appears on folio 29v of Paris Bibliothèque Nationale Latin 4126 (the Poppleton manuscript ): " Culen filius Indulf ". [ 20 ]
Refer to caption
The title of Dyfnwal ab Owain as it appears on folio 33v of Oxford Bodleian Library Rawlinson B 489 (the Annals of Ulster ). [ 29 ] Irish sources accord him the title rí Bretan ('King of the Britons'). [ 30 ] It is unknown if Rhydderch was himself a king. [ 31 ] Certainly, the Annals of Ulster accords Dyfnwal's son and successor, Máel Coluim , the title rí Bretan Tuaiscirt ('King of the Northern Britons'). [ 32 ]