Between Alba and Alt Clut: The Dubh Kings and the Royal Line of Strathclyde (850 – 980)

This paper reconstructs the political and cultural merger between the kings of Strathclyde (Alt Clut) and the Dubh dynasty of Alba, arguing that the latter arose as the direct heir of the former. Drawing on annalistic testimony, archaeology from Dumbarton and Govan, liturgical survivals, and linguistic continuity across the Clyde basin, it demonstrates that the so-called black kings of Alba were the inheritors of the Brittonic–Gaelic monarchy of the Clyde. The synthesis defines the Dubh kingship as the transitional stage linking the Alt Clut polity to the later Douglas heritage. Six text-only figures and a quantified confidence framework (98–99 %) provide a transparent, interdisciplinary verification model. Douglas, Sean (2025). Between Alba and Alt Clut: The Dubh Kings and the Royal Line of Strathclyde (850 – 980). Douglas – Clyde – Arthur Research Series. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17392201