See Also: Pict(dictionary)
Pict(encyclopedia)

Pict (sh)




Any member of an ancient people of what is now eastern and northeastern Scotland.

The name (from Latin picti, "painted") referred to their body painting or tattooing. They were probably descended from pre-Celtic peoples. They attacked Hadrian's Wall in 297 and warred constantly with the Romans. They united their two kingdoms by the 7th century and converted to Christianity, and in 843 Kenneth I, king of the Scots, included them in the kingdom of Alba, later Scotland.