Whatever probability there may be in the above suggestion, when we refer
to the Legend of S. Andrew, we find what appears to be corroborative
evidence that Forteviot was the residence of Pictish kings from a very
early period. According to this legend, it was to Forteviot, in the hope
of seeing the King there, that S. Regulus and certain of his followers
made their way with the relics of the most holy Apostle Andrew, after
their landing at Muckros or Kylrimont (now Saint Andrews). It so
happened that the King (Hungus, or Ungus, or Angus, who died A.D. 761)
was not at home, having gone on an expedition into Argyle (Argathelia).
But they found his three sons[1] residing at Forteviot, and these princes
gave the tenth part of the town[2] to God and S. Andrew, the holy men
blessing the place and the royal family who abode there. They then went
in further search of the King himself, and having met him at Kindrochet,
in Braemar, and subsequently at Monichi (Monikie), they returned in
company with him to Forteviot, where he built a church ("basilica"[3]) to
God and S. Andrew.
But these are not the only references that we have. According to one of
the Pictish chronicles, it was at Fothuir-tabaicht that Drust (Filius
Ferat), the last King of the Picts, was killed.[4] It was here--"in
palacio suo de Fothuir-tabaicht"--where Kenneth MacAlpin, the first of
the Scotic dynasty (formed by the union of the lines of the Picts and the
Dalriadic Scots), died in 860. It was here, in Fothuir-tabaicht, where
Donald I., Kenneth's brother and successor, established with his council
the mode of succession to the throne, confirming "the rights and laws of
the kingdom of Aodh, son of Eocha."
According to Skene, Forteviot continued to be a royal residence until the
reign of Donald II., the son of Constantine, when the capital was
transferred to Scone. But it would appear that the ancient "palace" at
Forteviot was subsequently restored by Malcolm Canmore, and that his
successors at least occasionally came to live in it. Malcolm the Maiden
(1153-1165) is found to have granted at Fetherteviot a charter conveying
certain lands--the names of Ada, the King's mother, and of William, his
brother, appearing as witnesses. And even so late as 1306, during the
English invasion, there is mention of a letter, dated from Forteviot by
Edward, Prince of Wales.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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