[MR] Wikipedia: Death of Lulach, King of Scots

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this day in 1058, Lulach, King of Scots, was killed by men loyal to
Malcolm III at or near Essie, in Strathbogie. Sources vary on whether he
died in an ambush, or was overwhelmed in his stronghold.

Lulach's reign was one of the shortest in Scotland, lasting about seven
months. He is not known to have done anything of significance as king
except for getting killed. So why is he important? The answer is that he
was the adopted son of MacBeth.

Lulach was the son of Gille Coemgáin, who became Mormaer of Moray by
assassinating MacBeth's father Findláech in 1020. Macbeth got his revenge
by killing Gille Coemgáin in 1032 and reclaiming Moray. Rather than
erasing Gille
Coemgáin's family, standard operating procedure among Scottish nobility of
the time, Macbeth instead married his enemy's widow, Gruoch. He raised
young Lulach as his own son.

MacBeth was killed in 1057 at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of his
rival Malcolm III. Lulach was then acclaimed king by surviving nobles who
had been loyal to MacBeth, and no doubt with some push from his mum. He was
crowned at Scone on 8 September 1057.

Lulach is known by two nicknames, "Tairbith", which means "unfortunate",
and "Fatuus" which means "simple-minded" or "fool". The latter was probably
Malcolmian propaganda to besmirch his reputation.

Like his father MacBeth, Lulach is said to have been buried in the royal
cemetery adjacent to Columba's monastery on Iona. All of the royal graves
have since been lost, and nobody has been allowed to go digging for them.
At least he wasn't under a tennis court or a rose garden (Edmund of East
Anglia), a post office (Edward Balliol of Scotland), or a parking lot
(Richard III).

Lulach had a son named Máel Snechtai, who probably became Mormaer of Moray.
He was also offed by Malcolm III in 1085. Rough game, Scottish politics.

There isn't much more to say about Lulach, but you can read about him at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lulach .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.