Battle for Grampian in dispute over Roman site

THE battle lines were drawn yesterday in a dispute over the North-east’s identity.

A tourism chief is leading the challenge to an academic’s claim that Grampian, the area synonymous with the North-east of Scotland, does not include the site of the famous AD84 Battle of Mons Graupius.

As The Scotsman revealed last month, the North-east’s claim to the battle that gave rise to the region’s identity is being questioned by Dr James Fraser, a historian at Edinburgh University, who claims in a book that the battle took place not at the Hill of Bennachie, but 100 miles south on the Gask Ridge, near Perth.

Charles Currie, the marketing manager of Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board, is leading the fightback.

He said yesterday: "To throw away your unique selling point and heritage at one fell swoop without a fight is something that I don’t think we should be doing. I think we should be standing up and supporting Grampian.

"Grampian is called Grampian because of Mons Graupius."