Crossroads and Characters

35. ALMS BY THE RIVER MAY.

The old village of Forteviot as pictured opposite was part of the Dupplin estate and its inhabitants were estate workers. The great Battle of Dupplin had been fought near here in 1332 when the forces of Edward Baliol trying to capture the Scottish throne crossed the river Earn and caught unawares the Scottish army commanded by the Regent of Scotland. The Scots were badly defeated, and the Regent killed. In 1926, the then owner of Dupplin, John Alexander, First Baron of Forteviot, rebuilt Forteviot village to a design by an architect either English or Anglophile, for the result shown here strongly resembles a village of old English almshouses. Today Dupplin estate, which still incorporates Forteviot, is a vast one owned by the current Lord Forteviot of the whisky producing Dewar family.