Who Was Dunmail ?

According to legend, Dunmail was the last king of Cumberland, whose army met a terrible defeat by the combined forces of Edmund King of the Saxons and King Malcolm of Scotland. The battle took place in the year AD945 on the mountains between Grasmere and Keswick. It is said that it was Edmund himself who killed Dunmail and that after the battle he ordered the remaining Cumbrians to pile boulders on top of their slaughtered King to form a grave. This pile of boulders are what is known as Dunmail Raise. Legend also states that Dunmail's two sons were captured and had their eyes put out by the marauding Saxons. More importantly however, the crown of the Kings of Cumberland was said to be thrown into nearby Grizedale Tarn, never to be found again.

The Legend / The Theory

The legend of King Dunmail appears to be based on true story. There is good evidence that King Dunmail did exist in the mid 10th century. Most texts refer to the King as Dunmail (as still used today in the Lake District) but in Palgraves History of the Anglo-Saxon's he is named as Donald or perhaps Dumhnail and he is stated as being of Scottish decent. In the Regnal Chronologies Dunmail is listed as a king of Strathclyde although he is named as Dunmal which may well be a typographical error. He is certainly not the last king of the Strathclyde Royal House

Although the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles refer to all of Cumberland being overran in 945 AD, they make no mention of king Dunmail being defeated. This might not be surprising as the Chronicles were written with a heavy Saxon bias and as such were unlikely to concentrate on a prominent Briton even if he was defeated. Dunmail was defeated by the combined forces of King Edmund and Malcolm of Scotland. When Dunmail is referred to as "the last king of Cumberland" this means that he was infact the the last king of the Cumber or British. The lands he ruled over probably covered Cumberland to Strathclyde, which represented the final stronghold of the British. There is some question if Dunmail was the last king of Cumberland or if Cumberland still existed as Strathclyde at the time of the Norman Conquest.

The story of the blinding of his two sons seems well supported in most texts but his death at the battle does not. This of course raises the question of what was the real significance of the pile of boulders known as 'Dunmail Raise'. It seems likely that this cairn was erected for no other purpose than to record the battle site.

'Anglo Saxon England' by Sir Frank Stenton states that Dunmail was not killed when his lands were given to king Malcolm of Scotland. There is even a reference to Dunmail going on a pilgrimage to Rome in 975 . The same text identifies Malcolm as being Dunmail's son. I think there is some confusion over names in the book as there was a king Domnall of Strathclyde in 975. There were also two Malcolms in the Strathclyde Royal house Malcolm I and II between 971 and 973 prior to Domnall and Malcolm III an IV after him. The "Formation of England" by HPR Finberg seems to support the theory of Dunmail surviving as it though states that Dunmail regained his throne some two years after his defeat.

What Nationality was Dunmail ?

There seems to be many conflicting sources regarding the nationality of Dunmail. An easy assumption would be that he was of British decent, as in many texts he is referred to as the last king of the British. The Cumbrian History website (the EDGE) states that he was a Norse King. His name certainly seems to be Celtic but power alliances could often change these things. The Regnal Chronologies state that Dunmail was a king of Strathclyde but this still does not rule him out as of being of Norse lineage as the capital of Strathclyde was sacked by the Vikings in 870. There is also evidence of Viking occupation of Cumbria during this time.

Thanks to Mark for these details