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{{short description|Village in Angus, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = Scotland
|official_name= Dunnichen
|gaelic_name= Dùn Eachain
|population =
|population_ref =
|os_grid_reference= NO507488
|map_type= Scotland
|coordinates = {{coord|56.628437|-2.805156|display=inline,title}}
|unitary_scotland= [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]]
|lieutenancy_scotland= [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]]
|constituency_westminster= [[Angus (UK Parliament constituency)|Angus]]
|constituency_scottish_parliament= [[Angus South (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Angus South]]
|post_town= FORFAR
|postcode_district = DD8
|postcode_area= DD
|dial_code= 01307
|static_image=Dunnichen.jpg
|static_image_width=240px
|static_image_caption=Dunnichen
}}
'''Dunnichen''' ({{IPA|sco|dəˈnɪxən}}; {{langx|gd|Dùn Eachain}}<ref>[https://www.ainmean-aite.scot/placename/dunnichen/ Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba]</ref>) is a small village in [[Angus, Scotland]], situated between [[Letham, Angus|Letham]] and [[Forfar]].<ref>{{citation
| title = Dundee and Montrose, Forfar and Arbroath
| work = [[Ordnance Survey]] Landranger Map
| edition = B2
| year = 2007
| isbn = 978-0-319-22980-4}}</ref> It is close to [[Dunnichen Hill]], at which the [[Battle of Dun Nechtain]] is popularly believed to have been fought. The church is part of the parish of Letham, Dunnichen and Kirkden.

==History==
The name Dunnichen derives from {{lang|gd|Dùn Neachdain}}, meaning "fort of [[Nechtan (disambiguation)|Nechtan]]", though the modern Gaelic form is {{lang|gd|Dùn Eachain}}.

During the 18th and early 19th centuries it was the home of [[George Dempster (lawyer)|George Dempster]], the agricultural reformer, author and founder of the neighbouring village of Letham. Many archaeological remains are associated with the village and its environs, including the [[hillfort]]s on Dunnichen hill and Dunbarrow hill.

In the early 19th century, the [[Dunnichen Stone]], a class I [[Pictish stones|Pictish standing stone]] was unearthed at East Mains of Dunnichen.<ref name ="headrick">{{citation
| title = Parish of Dunnichen
| work = New Statistical Account of Scotland
| last = Headrick
| first = James
| year = 1845
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PqACAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA142
| access-date = July 27, 2010}}</ref><ref name="jervise">{{citation
|title=Notices descriptive of the localities of certain sculptured stone monuments in Forfarshire, &c (Part i.)
|last=Jervise
|first=Andrew
|author-link=Andrew Jervise
|year=1857
|journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
|volume=2
|pages=187–201
|url=http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_002/2_187_201.pdf
|access-date=July 27, 2010
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611101851/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_002/2_187_201.pdf
|archive-date=June 11, 2007
}}</ref> This is now located at the Meffan Institute at [[Forfar]].<ref name="meffan">{{citation
|title = Pictish Carved Stone Collection
|work = Meffan Museum and Art Gallery
|url = http://www.angus.gov.uk/history/museums/meffan/pictish.htm
|access-date = July 29, 2009
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081012103335/http://www.angus.gov.uk/history/museums/meffan/pictish.htm
|archive-date = October 12, 2008
}}</ref>

An early local tradition, related by Headrick in the Second Statistical Account, claimed that the site was the location of the [[Battle of Camlann]], where [[King Arthur]] fought [[Mordred]].<ref name ="headrick"/>

<blockquote>A confused tradition prevails of a great battle having been fought on the East Mains of Dunnichen, between Lothus, King of the Picts, or his son Modred, and Arthur King of the Britons, in which that hero of romance was slain. Buchanan, no doubt, places the scene of that battle upon the banks of the Humber, in England. But it is probable that some battle had been fought here[...]<ref name ="headrick"/></blockquote>

In 1810, antiquarian [[George Chalmers (antiquarian)|George Chalmers]] identified that site as the probable location of the [[Battle of Dun Nechtain]] on 20 May 685, where the [[Picts]], led by [[Bridei III of the Picts|King Bridei Mac Bili]] conclusively defeated a [[Northumbria]]n army, led by [[Ecgfrith of Northumbria|King Ecgfrith]], resulting in Ecgfrith's death.<ref>{{Citation
| last = Chalmers
| first = George
| year = 1887
| volume = 1
| edition = new
| title = Caledonia: or a historical and topographical account of North Britain, from the most ancient to the present times with a dictionary of places chorographical and philological
| publisher = Alex. Gardner
| location = Paisley
| url = https://archive.org/stream/caledoniaorhisto01chal/caledoniaorhisto01chal_djvu.txt}}</ref> For many years, Chalmer's theory has been accepted by historians,<ref>see for example:<br>{{Citation
| last = Fraser
| first = James E.
| year = 2006
| title = The Pictish Conquest: The Battle Of Dunnichen 685 and the Birth of Scotland
| publisher = Tempus
| location = Stroud, Gloucester
}}</ref> but this has recently been called into some doubt.<ref>{{Citation
| last = Woolf
| first = Alex
| title = Dun Nechtain, Fortriu and the Geography of the Picts
| journal = The Scottish Historical Review
| year = 2006
| volume = 85
| issue = 2
| pages = 182–201
| doi = 10.1353/shr.2007.0029
| postscript = .}}</ref>

==Festival==
In 1985, a festival based at nearby [[Letham, Angus|Letham]] Village Hall was organised by [[Robbie the Pict]] to commemorate the 1300th anniversary of the Battle of Dun Nechtain.<ref>The 1320th Dunnichen Gathering; A Festival Brief</ref> The festival was initially received with some enthusiasm by locals and the festival became an annual event, highlights including the appearance of [[The Waterboys]] in 1987.

In its early years, festival-goers used an unofficial campsite located at the top of Dunnichen Hill, which was tolerated by local residents. This grew year by year into a [[Free party|free festival]], much larger than the official events in Letham Village Hall, attracting at its peak around 2,500 people. The gathering on the hill became the main attraction for the vast majority of attendees, with a number of large [[Sound system (DJ)|Sound Systems]] playing throughout the night. While the bulk of the festival-goers stayed for the weekend, a core group of several hundred [[New Age Travellers]] occupied the hill for several weeks at a time.<ref name="HansardDebate">Hansard Debate 1996</ref>

The growing unpopularity of the unofficial festival with residents in Dunnichen and Letham led to the discontinuation of the official event after 1991.<ref>The 1320th Dunnichen Gathering; The Dunnichen Festival 1985–1991</ref> By this time, however, the unofficial event had taken on a life of its own. The festival was mentioned during the [[House of Lords]] debate of the [[Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994]],<ref>Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, House of Lords debate</ref> and two years later in a [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] Hansard debate. In that year, 1996, violence had erupted when police had attempted to confiscate the largest sound system following numerous complaints by residents. Numerous other instances of anti-social behavior by festival-goers were listed, including the killing of livestock by travellers' dogs, including a number of sheep and 2,000 pheasant chicks.<ref name="HansardDebate" />

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
*{{citation
| author = House of Lords debate
| year = 1994
| title = Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
| url = https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1994/may/24/criminal-justice-and-public-order-bill
| work = [[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]
| access-date = 2009-09-22}}
*{{citation
| author = House of Commons Hansard Debates
| year = 1996
| title = New Age Travellers (Tayside)
| url = https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199596/cmhansrd/vo960620/debtext/60620-32.htm
| publisher = www.publications.parliament.uk
| access-date = 2009-09-22}}
*{{citation
|author = The 1320th Dunnichen Gathering
|title = A festival brief
|year = 2005
|access-date = 2009-09-22
|url = http://www.pixelit.demon.co.uk/d/dunnichengathering/
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080513113205/http://www.pixelit.demon.co.uk/d/dunnichengathering/
|archive-date = 2008-05-13
}}
*{{citation
|author = The 1320th Dunnichen Gathering
|title = The Dunnichen Festival 1985–1991
|year = 2005
|access-date = 2009-09-22
|url = http://www.pixelit.demon.co.uk/d/dunnichengathering/histroy_dunnichen02.htm/
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080827155644/http://www.pixelit.demon.co.uk/d/dunnichengathering/histroy_dunnichen02.htm
|archive-date = 2008-08-27
}}

{{commons category}}

{{Angus Towns & Villages}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Angus, Scotland]]

Dunnichen - Revision history

imported>Keith D: Add BOT tag