Cruithne is described in the legends as having seven sons whose names were Cait, Ce, Cirig, Fib, Fidach, Fotla and Fortrenn. It may also mean ‘the people of the wheat’. This could possibly refer to the Picts’ supposed habit of tattooing themselves (Picti-painted), or from their unique stone carvings that are likely to have been painted and highly coloured. The name Cruithne itself may have come from the early Irish word ‘Cruth’, meaning ‘shape’ or ‘design’. These middle-eastern origins given to Cinge, and by their logical extension to the Picts, may not be mere fancy as we shall see later on. Cinge’s own pedigree is given as ‘son of Luchtai, son of Partolan, son of Agnoin, son of Buain, son of Mais, son of Fathecht, son of Japheth, the son of Noah’. It may also be a form of the word ‘cinneadh’ meaning clan, tribe, kindred or offspring. His mysterious ‘father’, Cinge, may simply be a form of the obsolete Gaelic (or Pictish?) word ‘cing’, meaning strong or brave. They may also be the ancient clan names of the tribes who inhabited those areas.Ĭruithne, son of Cinge, according to an old legend recorded in the Irish ‘Book of Lecain’, was the first king of the Picts, and is supposed to have ruled for 100 years. They are probably the names of the seven provinces into which Alba, the land of the Picts, was divided at a very early stage in the nation’s history. Transcribed from oral traditions in the 10th century, the earliest of the Pictish Chronicles (there are seven) begins with Cruithne and his seven sons, all of whom, along with Cruithne himself, are most likely mythical.
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