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March-May 2002 - Tullibody – The First Village Christened in a Unified ScotlandTULLIBODY – THE FIRST VILLAGE CHRISTENED IN A UNIFIED SCOTLANDTullibody is a large ancient village in the County of Clackmannanshire in Central Scotland. The village has about 7,000 inhabitants. Tullibody could not be described as a tourist attraction but it lies in a lovely setting about two miles from the foot of the Ochil hills, about 7 miles from the Royal Burgh of Stirling, and 2 miles from the Burgh of Alloa. In the year 843 AD, the village was christened "Tirlbothy", (varied into Tullibothy, Tullebotheuin, Tullibodeuin, and now Tullibody) meaning "The oath of the Crofts." According to local tradition, the following historical incident recounts that Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scots, acted as clergyman in the christening ceremony.King Kenneth MacAlpin ascended the throne upon the murder of his father by the Picts. Driven by ambition and the desire to avenge his father’s murder, King Kenneth gathered his army together and began his march against the Picts. On becoming aware of this, the Pictish monarch, Druskein, took all precaution and summoned every Pict that could bear arms and, being further aided by English auxiliaries, he marched in a westerly direction towards Stirling and King Kenneth, crossing the Forth and camping on its north bank. In the meantime, King Kenneth had marched by a circuitous route in the direction of Stirling. On hearing of the position and strength of the enemy, he assembled his nobles and troops on the Crofts east of the River Devon and pitched his camp for the night on the western slopes of what is now known as the Baingle Brae. Here, with greatest solemnity, he and his followers took an oath that they would not lay down their arms until they or their adversaries fell. At daybreak the next morning, King Kenneth and his troops marched westward. On meeting the enemy at the exact site where Cambuskenneth Abbey was later built in 1147, alongside the River Forth near Stirling, they set upon them with such skill and fierce determination that, in a few hours, the Picts were totally routed, having suffered immense slaughter. Thus, King Kenneth overthrew the Pictish Kingdom and created a United Kingdom that was to become known as “Scotland.” In the evening following the battle, the victors returned to their camping ground. As a mark of gratitude and as a memorial to the distinguished bravery and loyalty of his people, King Kenneth commanded that a stone be erected on the spot where his Royal Standard then stood. He later attended a ceremony anointing this stone pillar commemorating the victory. A little to the east of this, King Kenneth is said to have founded the present village that he called "Tirl-bothy" (i.e., "The oath of the Crofts.") The aforementioned stone, well known as "The Stanin' Stane o' Kenneth MacAlpine", served well to keep the tradition alive until it was destroyed between 1805-1830 when the whole complexion of the village was altered. But, the site was still called the "Stan'in Stane" for a long time after. It had stood about 100 yards east from the point where the low and high roads branch off at the Ditch Loan. The original clachan, or hamlet, of Tirl-bothy was near the crofts close to the "Priest's Well." The "Stanin' Stane" is not to be confused with the "Haer Stane" (familiarly known as "Samson's Button") which is a boulder that once served, presumably, as part of a Druid shrine and which still stands in the field below Baingle Brae.  On the present day Baingle Brae (opposite the Scout Hut), the remains of an old well (known locally as the “Wishing Well”) can be seen. This was the well for Baingle Brae House, which stood somewhere nearby. Is this perhaps the well that King Kenneth MacAlpin camped beside?  A large stone in a field just off the campus of Stirling University marks what is said to be the actual site of King Kenneth MacAlpin's battle with the Picts in the year 843. The stone is over eight feet in height. The hills in the background are the Ochils.  The original clachan, which King Kenneth is said to have founded, lay near the “Priest's Well” in the present graveyard. This picture shows the marker for that well in May 2001.  In 1920, at the War Memorial at Tullibody, a replica of the Stanin' Stane o' Kenneth McAlpine was mounted on top of a large boulder known as “Samson's Button” or the Haer Stane. All Rights Reserved |
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