Pagan Symbols of the Picts by Stuart McHardy sampler

Introduction
Methodology
due to the lack of early written Scottish sources it has been
necessary for commentators on our past to look elsewhere for
historical sources. In the main, this has in effect been the Roman
Empire, England and Ireland, simply because there are surviving
early sources from all three. It is ironic that so many have used
English sources considering the role played by Edward i and later
Cromwellian troops in destroying what did exist of early documen -
tation in Scotland. Although the material eman ating from the early
Irish annals is of considerable importance, it is my contention that
far too much attention has been paid to the supposed influence of
Ireland on Scotland. In his article ‘Were The Scots Irish?’ (2000)
Ewan Campbell of Glasgow University has, I believe, totally
debunked the notion that Dalriada, the Scottish society based
around the Kilmartin valley in the 1st Millennium, was founded by
invaders from Ulster c.500ce. He points out that there is no
contemporary historical, archaeological or linguistic evidence that
supports the contention that the Scots arrived from Ireland, and
goes so far as to suggest that there was in fact considerable cultural
and political influence in the opposite direction. Further, I would
suggest that the many references in histories of the period to the
Kingdoms of Dalriada and Pictland is, for reasons that will become
clear, unhelpful in under stan d ing how those societies functioned,
and for much of the 1st Millennium is simply inaccurate.
The Romans describe tribal societies. As late as the 18th century
tribal society still flourished in much of the Scottish mainland. Are
we to believe it disappeared and then returned? This is unheard of
in the human story. Therefore we must surely accept that in some
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