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In an attempt to regain the Strathclyde region, and to avenge the defeat of Culen, Kenneth II suffered defeat and returned to his own lands.
Kenneth II ruled his kingdom with apparent diplomacy and calm for 20 years. But around 873, it is said, he murdered Culen's brother Olaf to thwart any claim to his throne.
In 994 Kenneth was tempted to strike at the south again. This proved a failure when he was forced back to his kingdom to quell an uprising.
Kenneth II's death was somewhat different and more gruesome than his predeccors. When trying to keep the peace in one of his regions, he slew the son of Finella, the wife of that regions controller. Finella, embittered and saddened by her loss, set a trap for Kenneth.
She built a room within a tower and lined it with beautiful tapestries, behind the tapestries were hidden loaded crossbows, all pointed to a statue placed in the center of the room. In the hand of the statue was a golden apple, set up so that when the apple was picked, the bows would unleash their darts. One night whilst entertaining her King at a feast, she led him to this room and offered the apple as a symbol of their lasting friendship. The unsuspecting King took the apple and met his death in a hail of arrows.
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Constantine III , Son of Culen reigned for a short and unsuccessful time.
His death at Rathinveramon is attributed by some to Dubh's son Kenneth,and by others to an illegitimate son of Malcolm I.
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Kenneth III
Defeated by the English, and with that defeat the lands south of the Clyde were lost to English rule. Kenneth III and his son Giric were assassinated. Now only the Highlanders were obeying (occasionally) the royal command. .
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The title of 'last of the Alpin rulers' fell to Malcolm II, and thankfully for Scotland Malcolm II had more on his mind than blood and war. By 1034 a true - and well defined Scottish Kingdom had emerged.
Malcolm II differed from his predecessors, but not in the earlier part of his reign. He reportedly gained the throne by murdering Kenneth III and his son in the town of Perth.
He marched south to claim back the southern regions, but was swiftly defeated and forced home. He then turned his attention north to the Scandinavians, based in Moray, yet again he was unsuccessful.
For a while, rather than wage war, he construed plans to marry-off his daughters to the Scandinavians, in an attempt to gain some kind of foot-hold in the north. This strategy failed, and he once again turned his attentions to the south and Lothian. This time with success.
He regained the lands and struck a bargain with the English that Lothian, and the area south of the Clyde, would remain under his rule as long as he didn't change the traditions and language therein. This pact re-formed the border between Scotland and England, which remains in place today. Malcolm had no sons. He pronounced Duncan, son of his eldest daughter Bethoc to be his Heir, then proceeded to slaughter the remaining male descendants of Kenneth III.
When Malcolm II died in 1035, aged 80 (which was unusual for a king), Duncan was proclaimed King of Alba, and inherited the lands from the Tweed in the south, to Moray in the north.
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