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A combination of influences meant that Gaelic gradually became the dominant language of the ruling elite of the Picts. Through Christianity, even Latin penetrated to the heart of Pictland – an outcome the Romans themselves had failed to achieve. The sustained violence of the Viking invasion left the rulers of Pictland and Dál Riata depleted and demoralised. In the 9th century, Cináed son of Alpin of Kintyre, took advantage of the power vacuum to assume leadership of both the Scots and the Picts. Cináed has long been credited with beginning the unification of Scotland. However this process did not truly begin until 889, when Cináed’s grandson Domnall son of Constantín revived the Alpin dynasty following a period of turbulence. An inscription in Roman letters on the Drosten Stone, St Vigeans. |