Riddle of vanishing weapons used to repel Vikings – drink may be involved

FOR 1,000 years ancient weapons believed to have been used by the Scots in a historic victory against the Viking hordes have been treasured in a small Scottish town.

But a mystery has been sparked after axes, swords and spears claimed to have been used at the Battle of Mortlach in 1010 disappeared from their resting place in Dufftown, Moray.

For almost 200 years the weapons have been proudly carried through the town at the head of a traditional New Year's Day parade by a local charity, originally formed to raise money for young apprentices in the community.

But yesterday it was revealed that the weapons have vanished from beneath the stage of the Dufftown Memorial Hall where they were kept.

For the past two years, wooden replicas have been used in the annual parade because of health and safety concerns during the annual march. And the organisers of the parade had assumed that the ad-hoc assortment of weapons – including ancient Scottish battle axes – had simply been gathering dust in the town hall. But this week, when a check on the weapons cache was made by members of the Dufftown Juvenile Society, most of the weapons were gone.

Jim Nicol, the 40-year-old distillery worker who heads the society, was quick to dismiss any suggestion that the weapons had been plundered or stolen.

And he said that the amount of drink taken by those involved in the traditional parade was a more likely explanation for the disappearance of the artefacts from the bloody battle between the army of King Malcolm II and the Viking invaders.

Mr Nicol said: "I remember, as a boy, when I first took part in the parade, that we were always told we had to be careful with the weapons because they had been bloodied at the Battle of Mortlach. There are certainly some battle axes in the collection which look pretty ancient .

"But for the past two years we have used replica wooden weapons during the parade, because of health and safety concerns. And it was only this week that we checked on how many of the original weapons we still had.

"What we have left is a battered old battle axe which just might have had a chop at a Viking, and a Malayan short sword and one Zulu spear."

According to more senior members of the society, there may have been as many as 15 weapons, some donated in more recent times, in the collection.

But Mr Nicol ruled out theft as an explanation for the missing weaponry. He said: "Nobody has stolen them. There is a lot of alcohol involved on New Year's Day. And I think that all that has happened is that, over the years, members of the society have taken the weapons home with them after the parade and forgotten they had them.

"They are probably still in their attics or their garden sheds and it would just be fine to get them back together and on display – especially if they are the genuine articles."

The Dufftown Juvenile Society was first formed in 1852 to raise funds to buy tools for local young apprentices.

George Mitchell, a retired baker and lifelong member of the society, recalled: "We were told the weapons had been used in the Battle of Mortlach, but I couldn't say for sure that any of them were. The battle axes certainly look the part."

He added: "I have no idea what has happened to the missing weapons. But I am certain there's a perfectly innocent explanation for what's happened."