Cano (d. 688), son of Gartnait and a contender for the kingship of Dál Riata in Scotland, was among the leading figures of the royal line of Cenél nGartnait. He is probably to be identified as a son of Gartnait son of Accidán, whose followers opposed the Dál Riata ruling lineage of Cenél nGabráin in 649. After a later revolt (668), Cano fled to Ireland. His family most likely belonged to, or was closely associated with, a Pictish dynasty: Drost, who was expelled from a Pictish kingship (672), and Talorgg son of Accidán (d. 686) – both of whom bear Pictish names – were apparently his uncles. A possible alternative identification for Cano would link him with Cenél nGabráin as a son of Gartnait, son of the powerful Dál Riata king, Áedán (qv) son of Gabrán. However, Gartnait son of Áedán died in 602, and his son Cano in turn had a son, Nechtán, who died in 621, probably at a young age. Nonetheless, Cano grandson of Áedán clearly belonged to an earlier generation than the dynast who was driven from the Western Isles of Scotland.
The expulsion of Cano inspired the Middle Irish romance ‘Scéla Cano meic Gartnáin’. The central character of the tale is a literary creation, but seems to incorporate the identities of the two above-named historical persons. ‘Scéla Cano’, the chronology of which is rather confused, concerns the son of Gartnait, king of the Picts, whose father in turn was Áedán son of Gabrán. According to the story, Áedán kills his own son Gartnait, but Cano escapes by boat to Ireland. He spends some time at Tara and at the court of Guaire Aidni (qv), overking of Connacht, becoming the lover of the latter's daughter Créide, in which capacity he features in the ‘Banshenchas’ (lore of women). Ultimately, he returns to Scotland and becomes king for a time. Another tradition has Cano married to Buach, daughter of Illann son of Scandlán, king of Corco Loígde. The mother of his son Conamail and daughter Coblaith is, however, not known.
The historical reality behind ‘Scéla Cano’ was presumably the above-mentioned rivalry between Cenél nGartnait and Cenél nGabráin, which led to hostilities in 649. It is not clear whether or not Cano, as a young man, was party to this particular conflict. However, in 668, after further upheavals, he fled to Ireland leading a party of the ‘people of Skye’. Historically, he cannot on this occasion have met (as the story claims) the Uí Néill kings Blathmac (qv) and Diarmait Ruanaid (qv), sons of Áed Sláine (qv), as they had died three years earlier. In 670 Cano and his followers managed to return to Dál Riata, but it seems that dynastic frictions had not been resolved. In 673 his son Conamail was captured, apparently by Cenél nGabráin. Cano himself, according to the Annals of Ulster, was slain in 688. His daughter Coblaith died the following year. Conamail survived till 705, but the family had failed in its challenge for the Dál Riata kingship. The later descendants of Cano, Clann Canan, settled as local aristocracy around Pitfour.