King Angus
- Name : Angus, or Oengus
- Born : ?
- Died : d.761
- Category : Kings and Queens
- Finest Moment : Gaining the throne
'He fought the Scots, and may have founded St Andrews'
As is so often the way with someone who lived so far back, there are difficulties in verification. But Oengus was undoubtedly a Pictish King who gained fame firstly by bashing five rival claimants for the throne. In those days, strength of arm often came first, followed by the smooth talk and innate charisma.
Secondly, Oengus then bashed the Scots, who had come over from Antrim in 500 AD. But he was generous with his arm strength, bashing also the Angles and the Britons. He was, in other words, quite persistent in wanting to be left alone.
One of the many legends tells of the successful intervention of St Andrew, allowing Oengus to become victorious. Oengus in his gratefulness then dedicated a church to the saint, around which later grew the town of St Andrews. That saint, of course, later became the patron saint of Scotland. Just to be remembered from those far-off days took some doing - to have stories handed down meant a man of true stature.
The story of the Picts is a frustrating one - we do not even know what they called themselves, but what is fairly certain is that they would have been the original inhabitants of Scotland, having migrated from Europe. They disappeared round about the middle of the 9th century, their territory having encompassed the entire northern half of Scotland, including the northern isles and the outer and northern Inner Hebrides, also extending down the eastern side of the country as far as the Firth of Forth at least. They left many standing stones bearing Pictish symbols.