Editing Kenneth II of Scotland (section)

== Death ==
According to [[John of Fordun]] (14th century), Kenneth II of Scotland (reigned 971–995) attempted to change the succession rules, allowing "''the nearest survivor in blood to the deceased king to succeed''", thus securing the throne for his own descendants. He reportedly did so to specifically exclude Constantine (III) and Kenneth (III), called Gryme in this source. The two men then jointly conspired against him, convincing [[Lady Finella]], daughter of [[Cuncar of Angus|Cuncar]], [[Mormaer of Angus]], to kill the king. She reportedly did so to achieve personal revenge, as Kenneth II had killed her own son. Entries in ''the Chronicles of the Picts and Scots'', collected by [[William Forbes Skene]], provide the account of Finnela killing Kenneth II in revenge, but not her affiliation to Constantine or his cousins. These entries date to the 12th and 13th centuries.<ref>The name of Cuncar's daughter is given as Fenella, Finele or Sibill in later sources. John of Fordun credits Constantine III (Causantín mac Cuilén) and Kenneth III (Cináed mac Duib) with the planning, claiming that Kenneth II planned to change the laws of succession. See ''ESSH'', pp. 512–515.</ref> The [[Annals of Ulster]] simply record "Cinaed son of Mael Coluim [Kenneth, son of Malcolm], king of Scotland, was deceitfully killed", with no indication of who killed him.<ref name="Annals of Ulster">[http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100001A/ Annals of Ulster, online translation. Entry U995.1]</ref>

In the account of John of Fordun, [[Constantine III of Scotland|Constantine III]] and Gryme were "plotting unceasingly the death of the king and his son". One day, Kenneth II and his companions went hunting into the woods, "at no great distance from his own abode". The hunt took him to [[Fettercairn]], where Finella resided. She approached him to proclaim her loyalty and invited him to visit her residence, whispering into his ear that she had information about a conspiracy. She managed to lure him to "an out-of-the-way little cottage", where a [[booby trap]] was hidden. Inside the cottage was a statue, connected by strings to a number of [[crossbow]]s. If anyone touched or moved the statue, he would trigger the crossbows and fall victim to their arrows. Kenneth II gently touched the statue and "was shot through by arrows sped from all sides, and fell without uttering another word." Finella escaped through the woods and managed to join her [[abettor]]s, Constantine III and Gryme. The hunting companions soon discovered the bloody king. They were unable to locate Finella but burned Fettercairn to the ground.<ref name="Skene">[https://archive.org/details/johnoffordunschr00fordrich Skene, John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish nation, Book IV, Chapters XXXII-XXXIV (32-34), pages 165–169]</ref> Smyth dismisses the elaborate plotting and the mechanical contraption as mere fables, but accepts the basic details of the story, that the succession plans of Kenneth II caused his assassination.<ref name="Smyth2">[https://books.google.com/books?id=mxxwmg48bFgC&pg=PA226 Smyth, Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000, p. 224–225]</ref> [[Alan Orr Anderson]] raised his own doubts concerning the story of  Finella, which he considered "semi-mythical". He noted that the feminine name Finnguala or Findguala means "white shoulders", but suggested it derived from "find-ela" (white swan). The name figures in toponyms such as Finella Hill (near [[Fordoun]]) and Finella Den (near [[St Cyrus]]), while local tradition in The Mearns ([[Kincardineshire]]) has Finella walking atop the treetops from one location to the other. Anderson thus theorized that Finella could be a mythical figure, suggesting she was a local [[Water deity|stream-goddess]].<ref name="Anderson">[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028144313 Anderson, Early sources of Scottish history, A.D. 500–1286, p. 515]</ref> A later passage of John of Fordun mentions Finele as mother of [[Macbeth, King of Scotland]] (reigned 1040–1057), but this is probably an error based on the similarity of names. Macbeth was son of [[Findláech of Moray]], not of a woman called Finella.<ref name="Anderson"/><ref name="Skene4">[https://archive.org/details/johnoffordunschr00fordrich Skene, John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish nation, Book IV, Chapters XLIV (44), page 180]</ref>