The Clan MacAlpine Society knows just where to put a monument to mark the founding of Scotland, but landowner doesn't want tourists on his estate.
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Historic Scotland and leading historians say Forteviot near Perth would be perfect. After all it was the capital established by King Kenneth MacAlpine when he took the title of King of Picts and Scots in 843
However, Kenneth McAlpine, 46, a Californian accountant who is the president of the Clan MacAlpine Society, says unfortunately, Forteviot is privately owned, and Lord Forteviot is none too pleased over the prospect of tourists tramping over his lands. The Scotsman reports he's gun shy about getting involved after the negative publicity he received in a row over protecting a historic cross erected by one of Kenneth's sons.
"At Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle, you see Kenneth MacAlpine's name is fairly prominent, but, outside that, many Scots don't know who he was," MacAlpine said.
Historians are unclear over exactly who he was as well. Although he has described as a Scot, new research by St. Andrews University historian Alex Woolf says King Kenneth was actually a Pict and never led the Scottish army into a great battle where they defeated the Picts. Rather, Woolf says, the king gradually adopted Gaelic customs.