[51] This account of the wars of Sigurd and Thorstein is taken from the Sagas already quoted, the Ulster annals and Chron. 3 in Innes’s Appendix. They must have occurred between the deaths of Olave, about 871, and of his son in 875; and the decisive conflict between the Picts and Dugall in 875, when the former were defeated with great slaughter (_An. Ult._), the battles of Dollar and Coach-Cochlum, two years before the death of Constantine, _i.e._, in the same year; and finally the death of Oistin or Thorstein MacOlave, placed by the Ulster annals under the same date, all mark the year 875 to have been the era of his brief triumph. All accounts agree that Thorstein perished by unfair means. “He was betrayed by the Scots and slain in battle.”--_Landnamaboc._ “The Scots did not keep the treaty long, but betrayed him in confidence”--_Laxdæla Saga._ These authorities are confirmed by the Ulster annals, which record the death of Thorstein Olaveson _per dolum_. [52] _Innes’, App._ 5. _Wynton_, bk. 6, c. 8. _Fordun_, l. 4, c. 16. Macpherson, in his “Geographical Illustrations of Scottish History,” explains the _Werdofatha_ of the Register of St. Andrews and Wynton to mean _Wem-du-fada_, “the long black cave,” in which Constantine is supposed to have suffered the cruel death of “the spread eagle.” The period of this reign is easily ascertained. Under the first year the Chronicle No. 3 places the death of Malsechnal, king of Ireland; and as that king died on Tuesday 20th November (_A.F.M._), his death must have occurred in 863. The same chronicle records the death of Aodh MacNial, king of Ireland, which happened in 879, under the second year of Eocha and Cyric (Grig), thus placing their accession, and consequently the death of Constantine’s brother Aodh, in 878. As the reign of Aodh lasted for only a year, that of his brother must have begun in 863 and ended in 877. [53] Cyric (or Ciric, the same as the French St. Cyr) was the original name, which has been corrupted into Grig, Girg, and Gregory the Great. It seems to be a different name from _Gregor_, which is apparently the Scandinavian _Griotgar_. Eccles Girg or Grig is the modern _Cyrus_kirk. Dundurn or Dunadeer, in the Garioch, appears long to have held the same place amongst the Northern Picts as Dunfothir or Forteviot in the South, _i.e._, it was the capital of the leading province. _Caledonia_, bk. 3, c. 7, p. 383, note I. [54] _Innes_, Ap. 3, 5. _Fordun_, l. 4, c. 16. _An. Ult._ 877. Eocha is described as the _alumnus_ of Cyric, who was evidently the real king of Scotland for the time. [55] _Innes_, Ap. 5. _Wynton_, bk. 6, c. 9. It was probably to the gratitude of the monks, the only chroniclers of the age, that Cyric was partly indebted for some of his posthumous fame as Gregory the Great, an universal conqueror. The line of Aodh appears to have been connected with _Atholl_, which may account for the deposition of Dunkeld from its prominent position.