Kings-Queens-Scotland. Cuilén

Cuilén (also Culén, Cuilean, anglicised Colin; died 971) was an early King of Alba (Scotland). He was a son of Illulb mac Custantín, King of Alba, after whom he is known by the patronymic mac Illuilb (also mac Iduilb, mac Ilduilb etc.) of Clann Áeda meic Cináeda, a branch of the Alpínid dynasty.

During the 10th century, the Alpínids rotated the kingship of Alba between two main dynastic branches. Dub mac Maíl Choluim, a member of a rival branch of the kindred, seems to have succeeded after Indulf’s death in 962. Cuilén soon after challenged him but was defeated in 965. Dub was eventually expelled and slain in 966/967. Whether Cuilén was responsible for his death is uncertain.

Following Dub’s fall, Cuilén appears to have ruled as undisputed king from 966–971. Little is known of Cuilén’s short reign other than his own death in 971. According to various sources, he and his brother, Eochaid, were slain by Britons. Some sources identify Cuilén’s killer as Rhydderch ap Dyfnwal, a man whose daughter had been abducted and raped by the king. Rhydderch was evidently a man of eminent standing and seems to have been a son of Dyfnwal ab Owain, King of Strathclyde, and could have possibly ruled the Cumbrian Kingdom of Strathclyde at the time of Cuilén’s death.

After Cuilén’s assassination, the kingship of Alba may have been assumed by another member of Clann Áeda meic Cináeda, Cináed mac Maíl Choluim, a man who appears to have launched a retaliatory raid against the Cumbrians. There is evidence indicating that Cináed faced considerable opposition from Cuilén’s brother, Amlaíb, a man who was accorded the title King of Alba in Irish sources recording his death at Cináed’s hands in 977. Cuilén’s son, Custantín, eventually succeeded Cináed as king. There is evidence to suggest that Cuilén had another son, Máel Coluim.

Name

Cuilén was one of three sons of Illulb mac Custantín, King of Alba (died 962). The two other sons were Eochaid (died 971) and Amlaíb (died 977). Illulb was, in turn, a son of Custantín mac Áeda, King of Alba (died 952), a man who possessed strong connections with the Scandinavian dynasty of Dublin. There is evidence to suggest that some of Custantín’s descendants bore Scandinavian names. For instance, Illulb’s name could be either a Gaelicised form of the Old English personal name Eadwulf, or a Gaelicised form of the Old Norse personal name Hildulfr. If the latter possibility is indeed correct, Illulb’s name could indicate that his mother was a member of a Scandinavian kindred. Likewise, Amlaíb’s name could represent a form of the Gaelic personal name Amalgaid, or else a Gaelicised form of an Old Norse personal name Óláfr. Therefore, Amlaíb’s name could indicate that his mother was a member of a Scandinavian kindred as well, and perhaps a descendant of Amlaíb Cúarán (died 980–981) or Amlaíb mac Gofraid (died 941).

Further evidence of Scandinavian influence on the contemporary Scottish court may be a possible epithet accorded to Cuilén by the ninth to twelfth century Chronicle of the Kings of Alba. In one instance, this source records Cuilén’s name as “Culenri[n]g“.^[26][27] Most likely this is just Cuilén Ríg – Ríg (modern Gaelic: rìgh) being the Gaelic word for “king”. Whilst it has also been suggested that this word represents the Old Norse hringr, meaning “ring” or “ring-giver“, the name instead may be corrupted from a scribal error, and the word itself might refer to something else.