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<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8" /><title>King Donald II, Domnal mac Caustantin</title><meta name="description" content="According to established tradition, Donald II was crowned King on the The Stone of Destiny at Scone Abbey. The place 'of the high shields' or 'the melodious shields' as it was known" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><meta name="theme-color" content="#284f7a" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="assets/bootstrap-grid.min.css" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="assets/global.css" /></head><body><nav class="fixed-nav-s-bar" aria-label="fixed navigation bar"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-12"><i class="nav-s nav-s-smr"><a href="http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=&title=" aria-label="reddit" title="Submit to Reddit" onclick="window.open('http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&title=' + encodeURIComponent(document.title)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="nav-s nav-s-smt"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?" aria-label="twitter" title="Tweet" onclick="window.open('https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%20Check%20out%20this%20awesome%20website%20' + encodeURIComponent(document.title) + ':%20 ' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="nav-s nav-s-smf"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=&t=" aria-label="facebook" onclick="window.open('https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&t=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><div id="menu" class="menu"><a class="burger show" href="#menu" aria-label="Show Link Menu"><i class="menu"> </i></a><a class="burger hide" href="#hidemenu" aria-label="Hide Menu"><i class="menu"> </i></a><ul class="menu-items"><li class="current"><a href="scottish_kings.htm" aria-label="dynasties">DYNASTIES</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="macalpin_16.html">Macalpin</a></li><li><a href="moray_3.html">Moray</a></li><li><a href="dunkeld_14.html">Dunkeld</a></li><li><a href="balliol_3.html">Balliol</a></li><li><a href="bruce_4.html">Bruce</a></li><li><a href="stewart_11.htm">Stewart</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="celtic_tribes.html" aria-label="Celtic Tribes">CELTIC TRIBES</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="picts.html">The Picts</a></li><li><a href="scots.html">The Scots</a></li><li><a href="britons.html">The Britons</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="historic_buildings.htm" aria-label="Historic Buildings">HISTORIC BUILDINGS</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="iona_abbey.html">Iona Abbey</a></li><li><a href="dunfermline_abbey.html">Dunfermline Abbey</a></li><li><a href="arbroath_abbey.html">Arbroath Abbey</a></li><li><a href="stirling_castle.html">Stirling Castle</a></li><li><a href="holyrood_house.html">Holyrood House</a></li><li><a href="edinburgh_castle.html">Edinburgh Castle</a></li><li><a href="wallace_monument.html">Wallace Monument</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="scottish_crown_jewels2.html" aria-label="Scottish Crown Jewels">CROWN JEWELS</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="scottish_crown_jewels.html">The Regalia</a></li><li><a href="stone_scone.html">Stone of Destiny</a></li><li><a href="monymusk_reliquary.html">Monymusk Reliquary</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="order_thistle.html" aria-label="Royal Orders">ROYAL ORDERS</a></li><li><a href="index.htm" aria-label="English Monarchs">ENGLISH MONARCHS</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div></nav><section class="title-bar"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-12"><div class="page-title-container"><form action="/ssep/index.php" id="demo-2" method="post"><input type="search" aria-label="search" name="sr" placeholder="Search" /></form><h1>Donald II</h1></div></div></div></div></section><section class="content-bg"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-12 col-lg-12 col-xl-9"><div class="well"><div class="em-content-page"><h2>899-900</h2><p> King Donald II, or Domnal mac Caustantin as he was referred to, was the eldest son of <a href="macalpin_3.htm">Constantine I</a>, on his succession the male line of<a href="macalpin.htm"> Kenneth MacAlpin </a>was re-established on Scotland's throne after his ousting of Eochaid and Giric. Giric had murdered Donald's uncle, King Aodh. Donald may have passed Giric's reign in exile in Ireland where his aunt Má el Muire was the wife of two successive High Kings of Ireland, Áed Findliath and Flann Sinna. </p><b>The Dark Age fortress of Dunnottar where Donald fell in battle</b><img src="images/macalpin/dunotter_castle.jpg" alt="The Dark Age fortress of Dunnottar" width="357" height="227" /><p> According to established tradition, Donald II was crowned King on the <a href="stone_scone.html">The Stone of Destiny</a> at Scone Abbey. The place 'of the high shields' or 'the melodious shields' as it was known, is a reference to the traditional Celtic clash of shields at the inauguration of a new King. </p><div class="cls-ad"><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display: block; width: 99%" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7894831814388455" data-ad-slot="6478924421" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="false"></ins><script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script></div><p> Until the reign of Donald, Kenneth MacAlpin and his immediate successors had been termed as Kings of the Picts and the country over which they ruled was known as Pictland or Pictavia. Under Donald, the country is referred to for the first time by a chronicler as Alban. He was known as 'Ri Albain' or King of Alban. </p><b>The Stone of Scone</b><img src="images/macalpin/stone_scone.jpg" alt="The Stone of Scone" width="414" height="251" /><p> The old Kingdom of Dalraida gradually began to decline until it eventually became the area known as Airer Gaethel, or Argyle, meaning the land of the Gaels. The Picts also began to lose their identity as a separate power, as their lands were progressively colonised by the Scots of Dalraida. </p><p> The Gaelic language slowly began to gain ground amongst the non-Celtic tribes of Scotland, though the process of amalgamation between the various races of Scotland was a slow one. </p><p> During his short reign, Donald II fought off the continued savage attacks of the Viking raiders, bent on rapine and pillage, they terrorised Scotland. </p><p> Harold Fairhair, King of Norway took over the Shetlands, the Orkneys, the Hebridean Islands and Caithness. Donald also became involved in efforts to suppress the unruly Celtic Highland clans. He fell in battle against the Vikings at Dunnottar after a reign of only a year. </p><p> He was buried at <a href="iona_abbey.html">Iona Abbey</a>, the traditional burial place of the early Kings of Scotland and was succeeded by his cousin <a href="macalpin_7.htm">Constantine II</a> Donald's son Malcolm (Máel Coluim mac Domnall) was later king as Malcolm I. </p><div class="cls-ad"><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display: block; width: 99%" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7894831814388455" data-ad-slot="6478924421" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="false"></ins><script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script></div></div></div></div><section class="right-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-xl-3"><div class="row"><div class="side-menu2"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><h2>Popular MacAlpin</h2></div></div></div></div><div class="row"><div class="side-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><a href="macalpin.htm" aria-label="Kenneth MacAlpin"><b>Kenneth MacAlpin</b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/mcalpin/mcalpn.jpg" /><source media="(max-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="Kenneth MacAlpin" /></picture></div></div></div></div><div class="row"><div class="side-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><a href="macalpin_3.htm" aria-label="Constantine I"><b>Constantine I</b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/mcalpin/constan.jpg" /><source media="(min-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="Constantine I" /></picture></div></div></div></div><div class="row"><div class="side-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><a href="macalpin_15.htm" aria-label="Malcolm II"><b>Malcolm II</b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/mcalpin/mlcm2.jpg" /><source media="(min-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="Malcolm II" /></picture></div></div></div></div><div class="row"><div class="side-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><a href="picts.html" aria-label="The Picts"><b>The Picts</b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/mcalpin/pict2.jpg" /><source media="(min-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="The Picts" /></picture></div></div></div></div></div></section></div></div><div class="social"><ul id="sprite"><li id="sprite_s"><i class="sprite sprite-1"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=&t=" aria-label="facebook" onclick="window.open('https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&t=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="sprite sprite-2"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?" aria-label="twitter" title="Tweet" onclick="window.open('https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%20Check%20out%20this%20awesome%20website%20' + encodeURIComponent(document.title) + ':%20 ' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="sprite sprite-3"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=&title=&summary=&source=" aria-label="linkedin" title="Share on LinkedIn" onclick="window.open('http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&title=' + encodeURIComponent(document.title)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="sprite sprite-4"><a href="http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=&title=" aria-label="reddit" title="Submit to Reddit" onclick="window.open('http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&title=' + encodeURIComponent(document.title)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i></li></ul></div><div class="container"><div class="next"><div class="col-lg-12 col-xl-9"><p><span><a href="macalpin_10.htm" aria-label="Previous page">Dubh</a> Previous</span><span></span></p></div></div></div></section><footer class="footer"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-12 col-xl-9"><p><span>Copyright © 2004 - 2022 www.englishmonarchs.co.uk All rights reserved All rights reserved ®</span><a href="privacy.html" aria-label="privacy">Privacy Policy</a></p></div></div></div></footer><script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-89969642-1"></script><script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag() { dataLayer.push(arguments); } gtag("js", new Date()); gtag("config", "UA-89969642-1"); </script></body></html>