THE BATTLE OF DUN NECHTAIN
MAY 20 685 AD
The Picts are an ancient people of which we know very little of. And what we do know usually comes from the accounts of outsiders and enemies, as the Picts have no surviving written accounts. Remains of hillforts, and stone carvings appears to the only surviving evidence from the Picts themselves.
“ININ FERAS BRUIDE CATH”
Today Bridei gives battle
Over the land of his grandfather,
Unless it is the wish of the Son of God
That restitution be made.
Today the son of Oswiu is slain
In battle against Iron swords.
Even though he did penance,
It was penance too late.
Today the son of Oswiu is slain,
He who took the black droughts,
Christ has heard our prayer
That Bridei will avenge Brega”
Riagual of Braga.
The Battle of Dun Nechtain, on May 20, 685AD, while virtually unknown today, has implications thats survived for centuries, from stabilizing the border between England and Scotland, to the survival of Celtic Christianity, centered in Iona.
It’s known, mentioned in the Irish Annals of Ulster and Tigernach, by the well known Venerable Bede in his chronicles, Historia Ecclesiastical Gentiles Anglorum, and the welsh Nennius’ Historia Britonum, 830, as well as Stephan of Ripons’ Life of Wilfrith, in which he describes the events leading up to the battle.
The Anonymous Life of Cuthbert, tells of St. Cuthbert, a close ally of Ecgfrith, foretelling the death of the king, to his sister, Aelfleda, a year earlier. At the time, of the actual battle, Cuthbert is said to have had a vision of the battle while visiting Roman ruins in Carlisle, hundreds of miles away. All accounts, written decades later, usually, agrees on the date, that it took place, and the description of what took place, sometimes adding additional information. But none gives the location, leaving that mystery for later historians to solve.
The two combatants in the battle were King Bridei Mac Bili of the Pictish kingdom of Fortriu, and King Ecgfrith of the powerful Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. The Northumbrians, for decades had been trying to subjugate the kingdoms around them, including Mercia, Dalriada, Strathclyde, and Gododdin.
In 638, Ecgfriths grandfather, Oswald, according to the Annals of Tigernach, laid seige to whats now Edinburgh, then known as Din Eidyn, resulting in much of Gododdins lands directly south and bordering the pictish kingdom, Fortriu, being annexed. Subsequent gains by Oswald, his successor, and son, Oswiu, completed the quest, as the kingdoms around them, as well as a lands as far away as the east coast of Scotland all the way to the Orkney Islands, were all forced to pay tribute to the Northumbrian Kingdom.
By 670, however, as Oswiu was succeeded by his son, Ecgfrith, many of the kingdoms began rebelling against the subjugation. In 671, Ecgfrith suppressed a pictish rebellion at the Battle of Two Rivers, in which the Picts were soundly defeate its said that the Northumbrians could cross both rivers, using the bodies of the dead Picts, without getting their feet wet.
The consequence, however, as will be discussed later, was not quite what Northumbria hoped for. According to one Irish Annals, in an attempt to quell a Mercian uprising, in 679, Ecgfriths brother, Aelfwine of Deira was killed, in what amounted to a stalemate.
The consequence of the Pictish defeat at Two Rivers, the location unknown, was the deposition of Fortius’ king, Drest Mac Donuel, replaced by Ecgfriths’ cousin, Bridei Mac Bili. As a cousin of Ecgfrith, Bridei was expected to continue his Oath of fealty to the Northumbrians. However between the years 680 and 692, the seiges of Northumbrian strongholds at Dunottar and Dundurn, believed to be led by Bridei, as well as a sack of the Orkney Islands, evicted Ecgfriths allies from the region.
Similar actions took place to the west, allowing Bridei to focus only on threats from the south. As a result, Ecgfrith mobilized his own forces to consolidate his power. He dispatched a force to Ireland to, according to historian Alfred Smyth, crush a band of displaced Britons, possibly from Gododdin, in which the Northumbrians ravaged the land, massacred the people, hence the link to the Irish Annals. Following that, in response to a small pictish force harassing Northumbrian lands in the south, Ecgfrith raised a force of 300 cavalry, to chase the small band. The band lured Ecgfrith north, despite cautions from his aids, including Cuthbert, to avoid the confrontation.
“The enemy feigned flight and lured the king into some narrow passes in the midst of inaccessible mountains; there he was killed”
Bede, Historia. Ecclesiastical Gentiles Anglorum.
Bedes account of the battle is the most complete, though no hint of the location is given. Ecgfriths force was lured into a glen, surrounded by high mountains and marshy wetlands. The Picts are said to have numbered in the thousands, some mounted, some on foot, and positioned on higher ground. A force of Picts closed off the route behind Ecgfrith, preventing any thought of retreat. Curiously, Ecgfrith chose to attack the Picts on higher ground, charging the center, probably hoping the Picts panicked. Bridei ordered his center to give way, continuing his strategy of luring the Northumbrians into a hopeless situation. As the Northumbrians attacked, the Picts closed in and decimated Ecgfriths force. Ecgfrith himself was one of the many killed. The few that survived were enslaved. The battle itself, though obscure, ended Northumbrias dreams of expansion. While conflicts continued through the centuries, nothing substantial resulted from them. The death of Ecgfrith reverberated throughout the region, and the kingdoms of Dalriada, Strathclyde, and Mercia were also freed from Northumbrias hegemony.
While the many sources confirm a battle took place, even down to the time (3pm, according to a source I didn’t see), the location remains a mystery. Two sites appear to be primary suspects, Dunnichen, and Dunachton.
The case for Dunnichen surrounds a pictish stone, the Aberlemno 2, one of several, found within a few miles from what is believed to be the site of the battle. Carved into the stone are figures, in battle, that seem to include soldiers wearing both helmets and armor similar to Northumbrian equipment of the time. On the bottom right of the stone, a figure, slightly larger than the rest, appears to be dead, in the process of being eaten by a vulture. The Picts often depicted leaders as larger than usual in their stone carvings, so it presumed that the figure is Ecgfrith.
Dunnichen Moss
Also, Dunnichen is derived from Dun Nechtain. While several pictish kings share the same name, the area also includes the ruins of two hillforts, on Dunnichen Hill and Dunbarrow Hill. Antiquarian, George Chalmers in his 19th century book, Caledonia, also notes that in the charters of nearby Abroath Abbey, references to Dunnichen as “Dun Nechtain” are found. A nearby location, known as Dunnichen Moss, adds to the circumstantial evidence, having been drained, somewhat, also noted by Chalmers. Another suggested site, near Dunnichen, centers around Lochs Rescobie and Restenneth, North of Dunnichen hill, both of which were substantially drained in the 18th century. It’s believed the battle took place near a loch or wetlands, especially from the old Welsh name of the battle, Gueith Linn Garan, or Battle of Crane Lake, mentioned by Nennius. Until recently, Dunnichen was regarded as the likely location of this battle.
Dunnichen
Historian, Alex Woolf, of the University of Edinburgh, currently, provides the case against Dunnichen, as the site, in favor of Dunachton, further north. Primarily, Woolf looks at the description of the terrain. While Dunnichen does have the the bodies of waters, the surrounding hills are hardly “inaccessible mountains”. Checking local placenames, with descriptions of the terrain, Woolf discovered Dunachton, much further north, squarely in what would have been within the center or Fortriu. The site also sits where 5 separate mountain passes converge; Glen Freshie, Glen Tromie, Glen Trium, and the waterways of Loch Laggan and Loch Erich. A third Loch, Insh, also in the area, is believed to have the remains of a Dun, or fort, on its shores. Another argument for Dunachton, is that the aforementioned Aberlemno stone has since been dated to much later than previously thought, and the figures, carved onto the stone, may not represent the specific date afterall. However, the weakness in his argument is that its doubtful Ecgfrith would venture so far north with such a small force, though that did not stop him from ignoring the advice of his counselors in the first place.
A consequence of the defeat of Ecgfrith was the survival of Gaelic Christianity, based out of Iona. The Northumbrians, practice Roman Christianity, and was in the process of expanding it north. Following the defeat, Trumwine, leader of the Archdiocese of the Picts, fled, along with his monks, south to Whitby, in Northumbrian territory. Tensions between the Roman Church and Ionian church continued for several hundred year later, before reforms allowed Iona to join the catholic communion. Ironically Ecgfrith, as overlord of the southern Picts at the time (a result of Din Eidyn) is believed to have been buried on Iona, in compliance with Gaelic tradition.
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