The Danish involvement in the 'battle' centres entirely on an apparently common misinterpretation of Pictish archaeology.
The mountain looks impressive from the north west throwing down steep wall like slopes and along with the three adjoining Munros of Beinn Dorain, Beinn an Dothaidh, and Beinn a' Chreachain it forms the historical Great Wall of Rannoch, which was the boundary between the old Pictish Kingdom of Alba to the east and the Dál Riata kingdom of the Scots in the west.
The skirret is of Chinese origin, but may have arrived in Europe in early times: it is presumed to be the siser mentioned by Pliny the Elder as a favourite of the Emperor Tiberius (Natural History, 19.27.90), and was also grown by the Picts.
The Northmen intend to sell Jack and Lucy at the slave market to "Picts", but the two thralls are spared because Lucy is adorable and Jack is a bard.
Picts |
On the eve of a battle between an army of the Picts and invading Angles from Northumbria in 832AD, Saint Andrew, who was crucified on a diagonal cross, came to the Pictish King Óengus II in a vision promising victory.
Talorc was a king of the Picts in the Early Middle Ages from 778 until 782 He was slain at a location beyond the Mounth in a chronicle that appears to be the first literature reference to the Mounth of the Grampian Mountains.
Recent research has suggested Dunachton as a potential location for the Battle of Dun Nechtain in 685 in which the Picts permanently secured independence from the Northumbrians.
In 733 the Annals of Ulster report that Dúngal profaned Tory Island by forcibly removing Bruide, who is presumed to be the son of Óengus mac Fergusa, king of the Picts.
A war between the Picts and the Northumbrians is reported, during which Æthelbald, King of Mercia, took advantage of the absence of Eadberht to ravage his lands The reason for the war is unclear, but Woolf suggests that it was related to the killing of Earnwine.
The village of St Vigeans, near Arbroath in Angus, has a major collection of early medieval sculpture surviving from a monastery dedicated to the saint, perhaps founded in unrecorded circumstances among the Picts in the 8th century.
Bernera is also known for its Iron Age (or possibly Pictish) settlement at Bostadh, discovered in 1992 and now covered by sand to preserve it.
One of the earliest historical events in the vicinity of the town was the Battle of Raith in 596 AD, where the Angles fought an alliance of Scots, Picts and Britons led by King Áedán mac Gabráin of Dál Riata.
Sally Foster, Picts, Gaels and Scots: Early Historic Scotland. London: Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-8874-3
Máel Muire ingen Cináeda (died 913), daughter of Kenneth MacAlpin, king of the Picts, wife of two Irish kings
Around 563 Saint Columba founded a base on the Scottish island of Iona, from which to convert Pictish pagans in Scotland; this monastic settlement became long remained a key centre of Christian culture in northern Britain.
Óengus II (before 780–834), king of Picts, a/k/a Onuist, Hungus or Angus, from 820 until 834, traditionally associated with cult of Saint Andrew and flag of Scotland; included in Duan Albanach's praise poem from reign of Máel Coluim
Bede states that Columba, a Gael, used an interpreter during his mission to the Picts.
Northumbria had established a bishopric among the Southern Picts at Abercorn in 681, under Bishop Trumwine.
The Annals of Ulster report the death of Dub Tholargg (Black Talorcen) king of the Picts on this side of the Mounth in 782.
The Picts and the Martyrs is the eleventh book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books.