Reputation
The stanzas of The Prophecy of Berchán covering Constantine III give him a mostly negative assessment: "A king will take, who will not be king; after him, Scotland will be nothing. It will be the weak following the strong; though true is what my lips relate. A king with reproach above his head; alas for Scotland during his short time! Feeble men will be about him, in the region of Scone, of melodious shields. A year and a half (a bright space), that will be his whole reign; from taking Gaels (hostages?) he will go to death; he falls, his people fall. He will fight great battles in Scotland; by the disgrace of his head he will destroy colours. He will be in communion of battle, from Stirling to Abertay. " Anderson suggested that this would be the area from Stirling to Tentsmuir (Abertay Sands), the traditional Scottish boundary with "Danish Northumbria"(Jórvík).
Berchán gave a negative portrayal of Kenneth II as well, calling him "the Fratricide", who "would bring danger on everyone ". Kenneth II "would attack his own people as well as his enemies ". Probably alluding to Kenneth killing members of the Scottish nobility, people who were related to him in various ways. Hudson suspects that further details on the killings of Kenneth II could be found in lost works, part of an early Scottish literal tradition. A tradition which left only fragments in later works. But Kenneth II is depicted as a strong king, while Constantine III is dismissed as a failure. The length of his reign (18 months) confirms that Constantine is the failed "non-king" intended. A king surrounded by weak men. The poem places his death by the River Tay, though this is not necessarily a contradiction to other accounts of his death (which place it by river Almond). The Almond flows into the Tay in a location not far from Scone. A location which is also recorded as the place of death to a previous king, Domnall mac Ailpín (reigned 859-862).
The ominous verse which has Constantine fall with his people, might allude to the end of his family. As his line probably died with him. The name Grim/Gryme for his successor Kenneth III probably derives from "greimm" (Middle Irish: authority). Berchán calls this man donn. As an adjective it means "brown", but as a noun the meaning changes to "chief" (prince, lord). Depicting him as stronger king.
Read more about this topic: Constantine III Of Scotland
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