A church in Dufftown in Banffshire, Scotland with origins dating back to 525 AD, bears the Mortlach name.
Dufftown |
In the 10th and early 11th century the Norsemen made increasing inroads in Scotland, and in 1005 there is record of a Patrick de Dunbar, under Malcolm II, engaged against the Norse invaders in the north, at Murthlake, a town of Marr, where, alongside Kenneth, Thane of the Isles, and Grim, Thane of Strathearn, he was slain.
A signal box (which retains the name Keith Junction) remains at the eastern end to control a passing loop on the single track main line beyond the station, the now little-used goods yard (formerly used by trains accessing the nearby Chivas Regal whisky plant) and the stub of the Dufftown branch.
The see is the successor of that founded in 1012 at Mortlach by Beyn, which was moved to Aberdeen, by Bishop Nechtan of Aberdeen in April 1132, during the reign of King David I of Scotland.