Andrew David Sturdy How to study local history

Student ID: 5080099 KL1040

December 2009
1


John Ainslies map of Scotland 1789 shows Mormond Hill as the battle site of Mons Grampius.
What historical evidence is there to substantiate his claim?

John Ainslie
1
was a prominent Scottish surveyor and cartographer of the 18
th
century. Mons Grampius,
which he plots near Mormounth Hill (called Mormond Hill today), is a reference to a battle fought around
84AD between the Romans under the governor of Britain, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, and a coalition of
British tribes collectively known as the Caledonians, under the command of Galgacus (Fig.1).


Fig.1 Scotland, drawn and engraved from a series of angles and astronomical observations.
John Ainslie Land Surveyor.1789

Ainslie is making a bold statement by marking Mons Grampius on his map because its true location has
been hotly speculated by academics for many years. The debate arises from there only being one known
surviving account of the battle written by Publius Cornelius Tacitus, a fist century roman scholar and son
in law to Agricola, in his work Life of Agricola
2
. Unfortunately Tacitus was writing to glorify his kins
achievements onto a Roman readership and he did not dwell on exact details such as battle site
locations.

Nevertheless the approach of locating the battle site based predominately on Tacitus words is often
used. The Scottish Government project, Roman Scotland did just this by subjecting all possible
locations to a question set derived from Tacitus text.
3
It argues that the site with the most correct
answers must logically be Mons Grampius. But because of Tacitus bias opinion and the possibility of
misinterpretation of his original Latin text, this approach may be seen at best helpful but is inherently
flawed.

Therefore to authenticate Ainslies Mons Grampius it would be best to examine it in theoretical isolation,
away from the distractions of other possible sites and based on its own merits with greater emphasis on
evidence other than Tacitus.

To begin with, who else in 1789 believed Mormond Hill was the site of Mons Grampius? The answer is
that quite a few distinguished historians did. This may be because earlier in 1751 Charles Bertram
published his work De Situ Britanniae
4
included a previously unknown map of Roman Britain (Fig.2). He
claimed this map was the work of a 14
th
century monk Richard of Cirencester, which seemed plausible at
the time for another of Richards work, Speculum Historical de Grestes Regum
5
was already well known
Andrew David Sturdy How to study local history
Student ID: 5080099 KL1040
December 2009
2
and revered; so when Bertram proclaimed the map he published was the work of Richard its authenticity
was simply accepted.

However, a hundred years later in 1845
the map was revealed as an elaborate
hoax.
6
It contained far too many
inconsistencies, such as place names that
could not have existed when the map was
supposed to have been drawn, and it
became even more suspicious when
Bertram was unable to produce Richards
original map in way of explanation.

If John Ainslie had simply copied
Bertrams Grampus Mons onto his own
map as Mons Grampius, its credibility is in
serious doubt.

Therefore if we cannot rely on Tacitus or
Bertram work as being gospel, another
approach to the Mons Grampius dilemma
is needed. Eranest T.W. Dann (1908)
provides us with such an approach in his
explanation of Historical Geography
7
: The study of the exploration of the interaction of man with his
terrestrial environment. He states that, When dealing with History, it is not sufficient to know where
events took place, we must try to find out why there? To help us he gives this advice, Learn the
geography of your district, learn its History at the same time, and see how far the latter is dependent
upon the former.

Dann states that Historical Geography must always begin with the physical, so lets start with the earliest
representation of the physical, a map of Britain (Albion Britannica) by Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy)
around 150AD (Fig.3). Although Scotland is recognisable on it, it is by no means precise. In fact Robert
Gordon (1654) discovered that Ptolemy had actually drafted Scotland clockwise through 90 after he had
identified place names on Ptolemys map against their modern equivalents; the river Celnius becomes
the river Deveron; the river Diva becomes the Dee and Taezolorum Premontorium becomes Ainslies
Taiwalorum Premontorium and our Kinnaird Head, and so on.
8



Fig.2 De Situ Britanniae 1757(Britannicarum Gentium Histori
Antiqu Scriptores tres: Ricardus Corinensis, Gildas Badonicus,
Nennius Banchorensi).
Fig.3
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Student ID: 5080099 KL1040
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The importance of why this view of northern Britain should matter becomes apparent when considering
the meaning of the word Mormond (Mormounth) and its relationship to the Grampians. Mormond prefix
Mor is Old Saxon for moor or mountain, and the suffix mond in Gaelic becomes monald and in old British
mynydd, both relate to the word Ainslie uses Mounth. Mounth also happens to be a name associated to
the Grampians; so Mormond Hill could translate to mean Moor/Mountain of the Grampian.

It should be noted at this point that the location of Grampian is in fact as elusive as that of the battle site.
Hector Boece (1520) misinterpreted Mons Granpius into Mons Grampius and assumed it was a
reference to a range of hills we now call the Grampians. Unfortunately the exact boundaries of this
mountain range, or even which mountain range it refers to has never been identified with any clarity.
9

This has lead to many believing that the ''Grampian" Hills are just an antiquary's invention of the
sixteenth century. However one suggested Grampian location puts Mormond Hill at the most easterly
point of it. But on the Roman orientated map, Mormond Hill is no longer east of the Grampians it is in the
south and at its mouth. Thus making Mormond Hill of great strategic military importance and a reason
why such a relatively small hill has been credited with such a prestigious title.

However the name of Mormond Hill seems to be only half the story; William Roy (1755) hints at this
when he wrote:

Richard of Cirencester, in his Map of Britain (Bertrams forgery), denominates Mormond (which
signifies the great mountain), near Buchan-ness, in Aberdeenshire, Mons Grampius; though in his
Chorography he tells us, that the inhabitants distinguish this hill by another name;
10


Timothy Point marks Mormond as Moir Mont (Moir meaning Moor) on his map as early as 1583 so we
know its location and name is not derived from Bertrams imagination. But if Mormond was a name given
to it by outsiders, like naval navigators and cartographers, what did its inhabitants call it?

Mormond Hill is in fact the collective name for a number of hills forming a ridgeline, the furthest north
(Roman east) is known as Waughton Hill.
11
Waughton may be a reference to the Hepburns of
Waughton, a powerful Middle Ages clan family in East Lothian.
12
But until evidence is forthcoming
placing them in Buchan they may be discarded. However we find another meaning for Waughton in the
language of NE Scotland, Doric.

Doric is a Germanic based language believed to have been imported into Britain around the 4
th
century
with the Saxons. In Old Saxon, Waughton becomes Waugh-ton; by discarding the ton, meaning a farm,
village or enclosure, Waugh becomes Walh (singular) and Walha (plural). In pre 7
th
century old English
Walha was the word used for foreigner, which we still use today as the word Welsh. But in its ancient
Germanic guise Walha was the ethnic name used for a tribe of Celts called the Volcae; once the Volcae
were Romanised, Walha (Waugh) became the ethnic name used by the Germanic Saxons for the
Romans.

We cannot say if Ainslie knew of the Waughton connection, but that aside, it is quite a leap of faith to
contemplate a clan of Romanised settlers were living on Waughton Hill during the spread of the Saxons
and their language. After all this is just one place name, could other place names in the shadow of
Mormond Hill have a similar ancestry?

One such name just north of Mormond Hill with an apparent Latin association is the hamlet of Memsie.

Memsie first appears in print in 1408 and by 1482 it was being associated with the Frasers of Memsie.
13

Its probable Latin origin comes from its prefix mem as in memini - to remember, recollect; or memoria -
remembrance, record of the past, tradition and history. This is apt for it is descriptive of the many Cairns
that occupy this location:

There are many little cairns in this muir, which seem to be the burial places of common soldiers
slain there, as the great cairns appear to be the monuments raisit upon the chiefs that have fallen.
One of the Cairns was dug into at its centre before 1780 (C Cordiner 1780). Only human bones were
found though many of the stones at the centre were burnt almost to vitrification.
14

Andrew David Sturdy How to study local history
Student ID: 5080099 KL1040
December 2009
4

Fig.5

Top: Example of 17inch Celt sword, British Museum 1-2 BC
Bottom: Replica of Celt Falcata sword
Fig.4

Mr Cock (1845), reports on another Memsie find that may also associates this site with military activity:

A sword, no longer in existence,
was found lying beside the urn. It was
one-edge; the hilt of brass, the blade
iron, seventeen inches and a quarter long,
one inch and a quarter broad at the guard,
from whence it taper to the point; when
found it was encased in a wooden
scabbard.
15



The sword was presented to the Society of Antiquaries in Edinburgh (NMAS 1849), but by 1892 it had
vanished from their catalogue. The swords description however is like that of a Falcata sword used by
the Celt-Iberians (Fig.4).

Could these finds mark Memsie as a Roman or Caledonian military cemetery, with the vitrification
evidence of a funeral pyre? (Although Memsie seems to be the only Latin place name that appears on
modern maps, there are other Latin place names no longer in use such as the village of Strichen being
referred to as Crux Medici in a charter by Fergus (1215) the last Celtic Earl of Buchan).
16


Moving east from Memsie towards the coast we come to Rathen and Trefor Hill. Written in 1845, The
New Statistical Accounts of Scotland have this to say about them:

There are also two mounds, or hillocks of earth, near the church, and not a mile asunder, that
seem to have been formed by the hands of men. They are nearly circular, and slope towards the top,
forming there a horizontal plain, somewhat circular also, of about 30 yards diameter. Both are pretty
steep all around; except that access to the top is tolerably easy on one quarter of each, by means of the
rising ground adjoining. The one is called Trefor Hill, and the other St Oynes. Some think they may be
encampments.
17


Francis H Groome (1885) adds:

Trefor Hill, SE of the church, had, until some years ago, trenches and walls of earth and stone on
it, so that it seems to have been a place of strength, possibly the rath from which the parish takes its
name.
18





Trefor in old British (welsh)
means Large Settlement.
Reading the description above,
Trefor Hill and Rathen seem to
share characteristics with those
displayed in William Roys
sketch of an Agricolas entrench-
post at Inchstuthill (Fig.5)








Andrew David Sturdy How to study local history
Student ID: 5080099 KL1040
December 2009
5

Fig.6 Tassies-Holm Wood Castle
Fig.6


Although Tacitus report lacks detail, one fact worth mentioning that moves us onto our next site, is the
use throughout Agricolas campaigning in Britain of the Roman fleet:

In the summer of the sixth year .. he explored the harbours with a fleet, which, at first
employed by him as an integral part of his force, continued to accompany him. The spectacle of war thus
pushed on at once by sea and land was imposing; while often infantry, cavalry, and marines, mingled in
the same encampment
19


Agricola, like King Edward 1
st
of the English and later Oliver Cromwell, was only successful in the north
whilst receiving logistical support from a fleet. Dann (1908) echos this view when he wrote:

A large army is absolutely paralysed for aggressive work if not supported from without by a
powerful fleet.

This may also be the reason why all known Agricola encampments in the north are found on rivers, the
natural roads of the time from the sea to the interior. The tactic to navigate, penetrate and plunder
Britain by its waterways has been well executed by hostile forces throughout history. The Saxons, Danes
and Vikings alike all used it. Dann (1908) again adds weight to this theory:

Early invaders had no maps of any kind, and therefore had no means of gaining foreknowledge
of the ground they had to traverse. Hence they were compelled to follow the trend of the physical
features of the country, to sail up rivers, and to skirt the forests.

If Mormond Hill were Mons Grampius, Agricola would have needed a safe harbour close by. Ainslie,
unlike the casual observer of the area today, would have known that Loch Strathbeg once provided such
a harbour.

Loch Strathbeg was a working harbour until 1720 when a storm cut it off from the sea with a sand bar.
Alexander Smith provides evidence of its rapid decline when he wrote in 1846 that although the loch was
then 6 feet deep with 1000 acres of land seperating it from the sea; only fifty years earlier it was over10
feet deep with less than 470 acres of land separation. It may be fair to deduced then that the lochs depth
and acsess in 84AD would have been adequate to allow large sea going vessals.
20


Evidence of the lochs strategic importance also comes in the form of the two castles that once stood at
either end of it, Lonmay Castle and Rattray Castle. The Rev. John B Pratt MA writes:

At the east end of the loch of Strathbeg, in a very pleasant situation, there is a small hill, of a
circular form, whose top is exactly half a Scotch acre in extent, called the Castle Hill. It raises thirty-
eight feet above a small plain as the NE but is only twelve or fourteen feet above the higher ground on
the opposite side. The castle, which was once occupied this spot, was one seat of the Comyns, Earle of
Buchan. Ancient coins are occasionally turned up by the plough or spade, near the site of the old Burgh
of Rattray.
21




Lonmay Castle is now completely covered in sand and its
dimensions are unrecorded, but Rattray Castle description
is comparable with that of a sketch of one of Agricolas
camps near Lockerby, Tassies-Holm Wood Castle
22

(Fig.6). Could Rattray Castle have been built up from a
much older fortification? Only archaeology will provide this
answer.





Andrew David Sturdy How to study local history
Student ID: 5080099 KL1040
December 2009
6
Plotting the Historical Geography discussed so far onto a Roman orientated William Roys Map
23
, we
gain a good perspective of the area surrounding Ainslies Mons Grampius (Fig.7). (Other place names
shown could have relevance but further research is required). We have a landscape consisting of: a
distinguish landmark, Mormond Hill; a safe harbour, Strathbeg; possible encampments or forts, Rattray,
Lonmay, Rathen and Trefor Hill; and maybe even a war cemetery, Memsie. Relating the documentation
of Tacitus account to this physical landscape, a plausible picture of the events of 84AD emerges (Fig.8).
















One last piece of tenuous evidence is found broadcasting towards the Grampian and its Caledonians, is
that of Mormond Hills White Horse (Fig.9). It is the only hill-figure of any antiquity in Scotland and
although all modern references give credit for its creation to Captain Fraser of Strichen 1821, in memory
of a comrade at the battle of Gilzen 1794; pre-twentieth century antiquarians and historians were much
more sceptical about its origins and would never commit fully to this story.
24



Fig.8
Fig.7
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Fig.9 White Horse Mormond Hill
(Note: Summit of Waughton Hill left edge of photograph in what appears to be a rectangle crop mark.)

Why it took the Captain 27 years to dedicate such a monument is unclear, but consider this; in much the
same way as there were many Scots clansmen fighting for the Government forces at the battle of
Culloden in1746, we know through Tacitus that there were many British tribesmen fighting for Agricola at
Mons Grampius in 84AD.

..he (Agricola) advanced with a lightly equipped force, including in its ranks some Britons of
remarkable bravery, whose fidelity had been tried through years of peace,
25


Could this white horse have a more ancient pedigree? After all the British were known to worship the
horse goddess Epona, and she was later also adopted by the Roman Cavalry. Also Agricola, speaking
again through Tacitus, only ever mentions one person, a cavalry officer and his horse, at the battle:

on our side there fell 360 men, and among them Aulus Atticus, the commander of the cohort,
whose youthful impetuosity and mettlesome steed had borne him into the midst of the enemy.
26


To even consider suggesting Mormond Hills White Horse is 2000 years old would have been thought
ludicrous not long ago. But just as the Westbury White Horse in Wiltshire was thought to be an 18
th

century creation, modern archaeological thought is now putting its date back to within the Iron Age.

To conclude; it would be wrong to substantiate Ainslies Mons Grampius site on Mormond Hill with the
circumstantial evidence presented here. Michael G. Jarrett
27
warns us that the hope of linking/blending
documentary and archaeological evidence into a single coherent story is illusionary. However, it is
understandable how Ainslie armed with such evidence would have drawn his conclusion in 1789. It is
only our own modern scepticism that condemns such a hypothesis to the realms of fantasy today.
Therefore until hard archaeological fact is unearthed, Ainslies map must only ever be viewed as nothing
more than an entertaining anomaly. Mons Grampius remains, as always, elusive.










Reference/notes:
Andrew David Sturdy How to study local history
Student ID: 5080099 KL1040
December 2009
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1
Goring Rosemary (ed) (1992) Chambers Scottish Biographical Dictionary, Ainslie John 1745 1828.
2
Tacitus 98AD, Life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Translated by Alfred John Church and William Jackson
Brodribb
3
Roman Scotland, Scottish Government Project, web site: http://www.romanscotland.org.uk/
4
Bertram Charles1751, De Situ Britanniae, (Forgery)
5
Richard of Cirencesters 1335-1401, Speculum Historical de Grestes Regum
6
Wex Karl (1845 German Historian), B.R. Woodward and J.E.B. Mayer (1866) published a thorough
debunking of Bertrams Richard of Cirencester Map. Saying it was based upon, a mosaic of information
collected from Caesar, Tacitus, Solinus and Camden. Mark Jones (ed.) (1990) Fake? The Art of
Deception
7
Dann T.W. Ernest 1908, Historical Geography on a Regional Basisi, Dents series of Mathematical &
Scientific Text Books for Schools.
8
Gordon Robert 1654, Blaeu Atlas of Scotland , De Antiqvitate Scotiae,Brevissima Regni Scotiae
Descriptio, Pagination 10-11
9
Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland 1882 and 1885, The Grampian Mountains
10
Roy William 1755, Military Antiquities of Romans in North Britain.
11
Ordnance Survey grid reference NJ 600 198
12
Taylor James 1887, The great Historical Families of Scotland, The Hepburns.
13
Alexander M William1952, The Place names of Aberdeenshire.
14
Third Spalding Club 1723, Buchan.
15
Canmore Archaeological Notes, Canmore ID 20804, Site Number NJ96SE 1
16
Jennings Derek (1999) Notes on Historic Buchan, Crux Medici, Medical Cross, appears in 1215
charter by Fergus, Last Celtic Earl of Buchan.
17
New Statistical Accounts of Scotland 1845, Parish of Rathen
18
Groome H Francis 1882-85, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, A Survey of Scottish Topography,
Statistical, Biographical and Historical
19
Tacitus 98 AD, Life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Chapter 25
20
Smith Alexander ED 1846, New History of Aberdeenshire
21
Rev John B Pratt MA 1858, Buchan
22
Roys William Survey of Scotland 1747-55, National Library of Scotland, Tassies-Holm Wood Castle,
23
Roys William Survey of Scotland 1747-55, National Library of Scotland
24
Mormond Hill White Horse, Banff and Buchan Art in the Environment database Ordnance Survey Ref:
NJ 9613 56
25
Tacitus 98AD, Life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Chapter 29
26
Tacitus 98AD, 'Life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Chapter 37
27
Michael G Jarrett 1985; History, Archaeology and Roman Scotland, Proceedings of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland 1985