Keeping at bay the Danish invaders and securing his hold on Alba, Constantine II even managed to break through passed the Clyde border and into southern Scotland bring him, not only face to face with the English Anglo-Saxons for the first time, but also into conflict. This then started the English / Scottish rivalry. Not only was he successfully defending against their raiding, but also he managed to pull off a lot of his own. This waring was to last for centuries.

When his brother Donald was passed the throne of Strathclyde, after the death of the last British King their in 908, the House of Alpin had at last secured it's entire grip on Scotland.

In 904 he defeated the Norse in the northern regions and they finally withdrew their threat. In 912 he turned his attention to the Scandinavians in the south, but in 915 he himself withdrew and retreated north. In 927 the fighting was ceased as the English had managed to unite the others who were also defending against the Dane's, and that combined army drove them out. Constantine II had now recognized a border between Scotland and England.

Peace reigned between the two kingdoms until King Athelstan of England invaded Scotland and took Constantine's son hostage. Three years passed and Constantine struck back with a vengeance, but it was not enough, and in 937 the Scots were defeated and slaughtered in Brunanburgh. Constantine himself managed to survive.

Defeated and bruised he stopped his fighting and spent more time defending against the, once again, angry Dane's who were driving further north. In 943 having watched his armies defeated and his kingdom getting smaller, he abdicated is throne and spent his remaining years in a monastery. Some say it was not through choice.

Cleverly allied with the English now, Malcolm and his new found friends marched on to stamp out the Scandinavian threat from Ireland. But in 950, with a little pushing from Monk Constantine, Malcolm moved into England and started taking the northern territories there.

However, on his return from his crusade in 954, Malcolm had now found that his own northerly regions had revolted and in a brief conflict with them they killed him at Fordoun in the Mearns.

The usual pattern of English - Dane - Scott rivalry continued, and Indulf's main claim to fame is the capture of the fortress at Edinburgh - Dun Eden, defeating Edwin the Anglian. That is about all that is known of Indulf, bar the fact that by 962 he wasn't the King anymore. Whether he was killed in battle, or whether he became a monk just like dad, know one knows.

All we know is that Indulf's son Culen twice fought for the right to be the king, the first time without success in the town of Atholl, and the second time with success in the town of Forres. So in 967 at Forres in Moray Dubh was killed and Culen took over.

He killed king Rhiderch's brother and stole away the dead mans daughter, thereby claiming the land as his. But in Lothian the revenging king had his own back and cut down Culen once and for all. This now paved the way for Dubh's brother Kenneth to give it a whirl on the throne and see what his chances of survival were.

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