Unlike the happy-go-lucky residents in the enchanted Highland village which manifested out of the swirling mist for one day every 100 years, those in Dulnain Bridge are not content with their lot.

They have launched a publicity offensive to put themselves on the map, starting with a half-mile "Brig O' Dulnain" march from Morayshire to Inverness-shire – over the River Dulnain – by over 200 residents on Saturday afternoon.

"The problem for residents is that, like the mythical village of Brigadoon, Dulnain Bridge keeps disappearing from the map," said Eric Hart, who runs the Achendean country house hotel.

"Over the years, time and time again important brochures and literature of the area have excluded the village completely, including one of the first publications by the Cairngorms National Park," he added.

In the latest set-back for business in the village, Dulnain Bridge was omitted from the community round-up of the main programme for the Outsider festival.

The gathering on Rothiemurchus Estate by Aviemore from June 22-24, which is being headlined by Crowded House and KT Tunstall, is expected to bring thousands of festival-goers to the area.

It is the latest in a long line of snubs for the village on the River Dulnain, with visitscotland.com, Aviemore and Cairngorms Destination Management Ltd and the National Lottery among others who have overlooked the community which is home to around 500 people.

The national park's annual report for 2004/05 failed to mention the village in a featured map of the park. One organisation which has remembered Dulnain Bridge, however, is Post Office Ltd, whose bosses are threatening to axe the local branch.

Along with the glaciated rocks in the village called 'Roches Moutonnes', Charlie Whelan is one of the more famous connections with Dulnain Bridge.

Gordon Brown's former spin doctor, who has lived in the village for nearly a decade, has joined the campaign.

He commented: "It was just over 100 years ago that then local residents tried to get the name of Broomhill Railway Station changed to Dulnain Bridge, particularly as Nethy Bridge had its own rail station at that time.

"Unfortunately, the battle for recognition for Dulnain Bridge is still going on more than a century later.

"Even the next British Prime Minister knows where Dulnain Bridge is, so you would think that local tourism and funding bodies would too.

"Virtually the whole village has turned out to show their frustration; so we hope we have got our message across.

"Dulnain Bridge is a great place to live; it's a vibrant village and certainly no Brigadoon."

Betty Lambie, along with husband, David, runs the Speyside Heather Centre – the most popular attraction in the area.

The village's continual exclusion is very damaging to local trade, she said.

She added: "On many occasions I have contacted various people retrospectively regarding the omission of Dulnain Bridge on local maps.

"The response has invariably been apologetic, with a promise of inclusion in any further publications, but it always seemed a pointless and frustrating exercise, especially when a few months later it would happen again.

"Using the 'Brigadoon' comparison and having a fun gathering of the villagers, we hope, will have a far more positive effect and be a stronger reminder to whoever is responsible for any future publications.

"The response, especially with such short notice, was wonderful."

She added: There is no doubt that constant exclusion has to be detrimental to many of the hard-working small businesses."

Mary McCafferty, chairwoman of Dulnain Bridge Community Council, said the latest omission from the Outsider was apt. The rally was a light-hearted gesture to highlight what is a serious point, she said.

"We are fed-up with being ignored by local and national tourist chiefs and cartographers," she said.

"Their omissions are clearly damaging to businesses in the hospitality trade, but they are also snubbing us as a community.

"It's time they all started doing their jobs properly."

"We want everyone, including visitors to Badenoch and Strathspey, to know that Dulnain Bridge not only exists but has three beautiful hotels, a very popular restaurant, a post office and shop, a thriving garage, the heather centre, Broomhill Station and the Strathspey Steam Railway, as well as the best little playpark in the strath."

Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber MSP Fergus Ewing said residents had a strong case.

"Dulnain Bridge, as I know from my constituency work, has not received proper attention from the powers-that-be," he said.

"The rally on Saturday and coverage this has generated in the 'Strathy' is a start to rectifying the situation. I have pledged my support to work with those involved to ensure a fairer deal in the future for Dulnain Bridge."

An apologetic Pete Irvine, organiser of the Outsider festival, said they never intended to offend people in the village.

He said: "We can only apologise for the terrible oversight of omitting Dulnain Bridge from our programme.

"As the author of 'Scotland The Best', I am, of course, well aware of the village, having visited and even stayed at Muckrach Castle as well as sampling the fine cloutie dumpling at the Speyside Heather Centre.

"We sincerely hope that the residents of Dulnain Bridge will forgive us enough to come along and join in what is going to be one of the best weekends this summer."

The national park authority said Dulnain Bridge had originally been left off their map because of its small size to make it clear and legible.

Convener David Green commented: "Following discussions with a Dulnain Bridge business representative, the park authority took the decision to ensure that the name now appears in maps of that size and larger."

He added: "The national park authority enjoys a close relationship with the park's communities, as partnership working is key in ensuring we all deliver the four aims of the park.

"Amongst its work in Dulnain Bridge is providing funding for the new windows at the village hall, and staff are working closely with residents to establish core paths in the area as it is recognised it has not been well served in the past."

Villagers were joined in the streets by members of Badenoch and Strathspey Pipe Band, including young piper Shane Banks from the village.

Local community leaders and many regular visitors from the UK and abroad joined the march which stopped traffic, albeit for a short time, while the bridge was crossed.

Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, based on a much older German story by Friedrich Gerstäcker about the mythical village of Germelshausen that fell under an evil magic curse.

In 1947, memories of World War II were too fresh to stage a German-themed musical on Broadway, so Lerner retold the story in Scotland, complete with kilts, bonnie lassies, bagpipes, Highland flings and "Heather on the Hill".

A film version of Brigadoon was released by MGM in 1954 starring Gene Kelly, Van Johnson and Cyd Charisse.

In the film, the magic spell in Brigadoon is viewed by the villagers as a blessing rather than a curse.

According to their covenant with God, no-one from Brigadoon may ever leave the village, or the enchantment will be broken and the site and all its inhabitants will disappear into the mist forever. Two American tourists, lost in the Highlands, stumble upon the village just as a wedding is about to be celebrated, and their arrival has serious implications for the village's inhabitants.

Lerner's name for his imaginary locale was probably based on a well-known Scottish landmark, the Brig o' Doon, in the heart of Robert Burns country.

According to Burns' poem "Tam o' Shanter," the 13th Century stone bridge is where the legendary Tam o' Shanter fled on his horse, Meg, in order to escape from three witches who were chasing him.

Brigadoon is referenced in The Waterboys' song "The Whole of the Moon" – "I saw the rain-dirty valley...you saw Brigadoon."

And more recently in The Simpsons Road Rage video game, if the player-controlled driver is slow in getting Groundskeeper Willy to his destination, Willy will say "Ach, since we started Brigadoon's come back twice!"

musgrove_g@spp-group.com

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