Dull, Perth and Kinross

Dull

The church at Dull
Dull
Dull shown within Perth and Kinross
OS grid reference NN806491
Council area
Lieutenancy area
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town ABERFELDY
Postcode district PH15
Dialling code 01887
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament

Dull is a village in the county of Perth and Kinross in Scotland.[1] Dull is twinned with Boring, Oregon, USA and Bland, New South Wales in Australia.

Orientation

In the Scottish Highlands, Dull consists of a single street of houses on the north side of the valley of the River Tay.

Toponymy and history

The place-name may mean 'meadow' in Gaelic.[2] However, Duncan Campbell relates a traditional tale in "The Lairds of Glenlyon" (1886) which connects the Gaelic word 'dul' (snare) with the withies on the hearse of St Adomnán snapping, thus deciding his burial-place and the founding of Dull. The parish church, unused since the 1970s , is on the site of an early Christian monastery founded by St Adomnán (Scottish Gaelic: N. Eònan), Abbot of Iona (died 704). Several early Christian cross-slabs dating to the 7th or 8th century have been discovered in and around the parish graveyard. A slab carved with stylised warriors and horsemen in the Pictish style, uncovered during grave-digging in the 19th century, is displayed in the Museum of Scotland, and may have formed part of a wall-relief, or one side of a box-shrine. A massive font of rough workmanship, preserved by the church door, is also a probable relic from the early monastic site.

The surrounding district was known as the Appin of Dull, the name 'Appin' deriving from Old Irish apdaine, 'abbacy', referring to the former monastic estate. Compare Appin in Argyll, the 'abbey lands' in that case being those of the major early Christian monastery of Lismore. Four undecorated crosses, of which three survive, one at Dull itself, and two in the nearby old church at Weem, once stood around the monastic precinct, defining an area of sanctuary.

During the later Middle Ages, and up to modern times, the church at Dull was merely a parish church in the Diocese of Dunkeld. It is not known when the early Christian monastery ceased to function.

In decline for much of the 20th century, with its church and school both going out of use, the small village has seen the construction of several new houses, and the restoration of older buildings, in recent years.

Population

In 1951, Dull had a population of 2,055.[3] As of 2012, the population of Dull was approximately 84.[4]

Twin towns

Twinning sign at Dull

Dull is twinned with:

Elizabeth Leighton of Aberfeldy, Scotland, proposed the pairing while passing through Boring, Oregon (an unincorporated town on a highway from Portland, Oregon, to Mount Hood) on a cycling holiday.[5][6] In June 2012, the US town of Boring, Oregon, accepted the proposal of Dull to "pair" their municipalities, in an effort to promote tourism in both places as a play on their names.[7][8][9] The Boring Community Planning Organization (CPO) issued commemorative "Boring & Dull: a pair for the ages" T-shirts and mugs, raffling off a trip to Dull, Scotland.[10] The Boring CPO will not attempt to get the pairing recognised by the US-based Sister Cities International.[11]

Dull and Boring celebrations are held annually on August 9 in Oregon[12] with a piper and a barbershop quartet;[13] the Dull celebrations are in October.[14][15]

Bland Shire, West Wyalong—a farm community and former gold prospecting site in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia[16]—joined the initiative in 2013,[17] creating not a "twinned town" relationship but a "League of Extraordinary Communities" to group Dull, Boring, and Bland[18][19] as a means of encouraging travel,[18] promoting all three communities.[20][21]

References

  1. ↑ "Pitlochry and Crieff", Ordnance Survey Landranger Map (B2 ed.), 2008, ISBN 0-319-22985-8
  2. ↑ Iain Mac an Tàilleir. "Placenames" (PDF). Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  3. ↑ "1951 Census of Scotland, County Report". VisionOfBritain.com. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  4. ↑ "Dull Residents In Scotland Hope For Boring Link To Town In The US". Huffington Post. 2012-05-06. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  5. ↑ Alexandra Topping and agencies (2012-06-06). "Dull and Boring? Not any more for Scottish village and US town". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  6. ↑ "Welcome to Dull and Boring". Kuriositas.com. 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  7. ↑ LeVeille, David. "A Tale of Dull and Boring Sister Cities". The World.org. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  8. ↑ BBC News - Boring in Oregon votes to pair with Dull in Perthshire
  9. ↑ Gambino, Lauren. "Dull and Boring? Sounds exciting". KVAL. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Happy Boring & Dull Day!". Time. 2013-08-09. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  11. ↑ Emily Fuggetta. "Boring group makes Dull decision: Partnership official with Scottish village". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  12. ↑ "Dull & Boring". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  13. ↑ "Excitement hope for Boring, Oregon, and Dull, Perthshire". BBC News. 2013-08-09. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  14. ↑ Campbell, Glenn. "Dull, Scotland, makes Boring, Oregon, more interesting". BBC News. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  15. ↑ "BBC TV crew tapes interviews in Boring". Portland Tribune. 2014-04-22. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  16. ↑ "Dull and Boring story also to become Bland?". Highland Perthshire News. 2014-07-12. Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  17. ↑ "Bland hopes to join Dull and Boring - Perth & Kinross". The Courier (UK). 2013-06-01. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  18. 1 2 Feb. 25, 2014, 7:30 a.m. (2014-02-25). "Bland joins Dull and Boring". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  19. ↑ "Scots town Dull joins forces with Bland and Boring". The Scotsman. 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  20. ↑ "Bland, Dull and Boring: Three towns team up to excite tourists". MSN. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  21. ↑ Baskas, Harriet (2014-04-25). "Dull, Boring and Bland Team Up to Lure Tourists". NBC News. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
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