Battle rages over Pictish victory site

IT WAS one of the most pivotal battles in Scotland's chequered history. The Battle of Dunnichen, fought in the Pictish heartland of present-day Angus on 20 May, 685, resulted in a decisive victory for the Picts over an invading army from Northumbria.

Some historians argue that the Pictish triumph over the invading forces, believed to have been fought at Dunnichen Hill near the village of Letham, laid the foundations for a distinctive Scottish state which endured until the Act of Union in 1707.

But now the site of the historic battle is at the centre of fresh conflict between Pictish experts, local Angus residents and Historic Scotland over the agency's decision to exclude it from the 17 strong list of Scotland's major battlefields.

The "Inventory of Historic Battlefields" list, which includes Bannockburn, Culloden, Killiecrankie and Bothwell Bridge, is aimed at boosting the protection and promotion of sites considered of "national importance" for the contribution they make to Scotland's archaeology and history.

Dunnichen supporters, however, are outraged at Historic Scotland's failure to include the Angus site on the prestigious list. The life of Scotland's ancient tribe is currently being given global exposure in The Eagle, a $25 million budget film by acclaimed director Kevin MacDonald about an earlier Roman invasion.

Jim McGugan, 73, a retired agricultural merchant and former SNP parliamentary candidate who lives in Letham, midway between Forfar and Arbroath, declared: "The Battle of Dunnichen is as important a battle in the history of Scotland as Bannockburn or Culloden and it is incomprehensible that it has not been included in the list.

"All the evidence would strongly indicate that the battle took place just outside the village. And this battle was fought by the Picts against the Northumbrians. There was no such place as Scotland in those days and no such place as England. But if the Picts had not held the line on that day and routed the Northumbrians, then where we live might have been England.

"It was a battle which changed the course of British history. The peace that ensued gave the Scots the chance to colonise the country."

Graeme Cruickshank, a Pictish historian and author of The Battle of Dunnichen, has also called on Historic Scotland to think again.

Cruickshank, whose book concludes that without the Pictish victory there may well never have been a Scottish nation, said: "There must be concerted action to ensure its inclusion, which is essential to assist in the preservation of the battle site from the continued threat of commercial development and to gain the much higher public profile it so richly merits."

A spokesman for Dunnichen Heritage Society also condemned the snub, saying: "The Battle of Dunnichen was seminal, leading to the emergence of the Scottish nation. It could be said that it is the most important battle in our history and has the right to be included in the inventory."

However, Lesley Macinnes, who is the lead officer for developing the inventory initiative, defended Historic Scotland's decision. There was, she claimed, no argument about the importance of the battle but serious doubts about its location. "The problem is not that we don't recognise its importance but there are a group of early sites which present difficulties in terms of location.

"One of the key criteria for selection is that we need to be able to identify the area on the ground today because obviously it's difficult to protect sites if you can't define them. And battlefields don't have nice rounded edges for the most part." Macinnes added that more sites could be added to the list later. "We are happy to consider the inclusion of the Battle of Dunnichen at a later stage. It is one of the key sites that people have asked us to look at."

Macinnes explained the new inventory was aimed at greater protection for Scottish battlefields against encroaching development. "Battlefields are not really protected by any of the mechanisms that we have in place for heritage sites.

"There has been a register of battlefields in England for some time and we have recognised that it is time to do something about our sites and give them some measure of protection," she said.

The public consultation on the initial list has now ended and a detailed set of recommendations will go to Scottish ministers within the next few weeks.

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