Fergus McFerchard, Legendary Ruler of Scotland.

Fergus I, or Fergus MacFerchard is the legendary founding ruler of Scotland, the “first king of Scotland”. He is said to have come to Scotland from Ireland about 330 B.C. to help the Scots repel attacks from the Picts and Britons, and is credited with bringing the Stone of Destiny to Scotland.

Anational foundation myth can exert a surprisingly powerful and enduring influence. That of Scotland is no exception. Early histories such as that of John of Fordun (1320-1387), and Walter Bower (1385-1449), whose text owes much to Fordun’s work, refer to the legend of an Egyptian princess, Scota, and her Greek (or sometimes Scythian) husband Gaythelos arriving in Spain.

They built a settlement there known as Brigantia, and had several sons, two of whom were Hiber and Hymec. Hiber occupied the island to the north of Europe (some versions state it was unoccupied previously, and others that he killed off all the inhabitants). Scotland took its name from Scotia, and Hibernia (Ireland) from Hiber. The previously Greek-Egyptian occupiers of the island of Britain then took the name of Gael from Gaythelos. The story made a neat, if unsubstantiated, explanation for the origins of Scotland and its people. Bower named his work Scotichronicon, to show it was the chronicle of Scotland and its inhabitants.

It was a good title and a good tale, and after all, why not? The English claimed their descent from Brutus of Troy, and had their London Stone. The Scots wanted to claim an equally prestigious descent, and had the Stone of Destiny to prove it. Chroniclers of both pre-modern and early modern Scotland and England attempted to interpret long periods of history for which there was little literary or other evidence at that time. The story turned up in other guises too, for instance that of Gaedal Glas, conqueror of the Scythians, in some Irish narratives. Apparent similarities between the words “Scot” and “Scythia” were stressed for commonality between the cultures.

Into competing or complementary narratives of Pict and Scot, Briton, Saxon, and Anglian, were inserted legendary or semi-legendary figures, of which Arthur is probably the best-known.

Fergus McFerchard, or Fergus I of Scotland, is much less well-known yet he had an equally important part to play in creating a national myth. By the time of the creation of the Declaration of Arbroath (1320), the Scots had a highly structured narrative to present to the Pope to persuade him of their separateness from the English. This included a distinct lineage for their rulers, one of whom was Fergus, son of Ferchard (also known as Feardach, Feradach, Ferard, or Fearthair), who was an Irish prince of the Scots, with an assumed descent from Scota and Gaythelos. Scotland’s legendary sequence of rulers began with either Fergus or his father Ferchard, depending on the account.