also in the North of Scotland to obtain supremacy there. They were met by King Malcolm II., who suffered defeat at their hands in 1009. In the following year he again faced the invaders, and, in the first instance, was driven back with the loss of three of his chief nobles. But, lion-like, turning to bay at a pass near the ancient church of Mortlach, in the north-east of Strathspey, he hurled back the aggressors, slaying their general with his own hand, completely routed them and drove them from the land. In token of his victory he enlarged the church of Mortlach, where a grim memorial of the event may still be seen in the shape of three well-preserved Danish skulls built into its northern wall. A large stone which, tradition says, marked the grave of the vanquished Danish General, is still preserved; and on the Conval Hill in the same parish are the remains of a Danish camp.”[1]
After nearly seven centuries we find another military event of something like national importance in Strathspey. In the year after Killiecrankie and the death of Dundee, the heroic Highlanders, under General Buchan, were sur-
- ↑ Also within the parish at the confluence of the Fiddich and Dullen, on a strong position, are the ruins of Balvery Castle. Over the lofty gateway is inscribed the Athol family motto, “Furth fortune and fill the Fettris.”
