FORRES, royal burgh, Moray, Scotland. Pop. (1931) 4,169. Forres (Gaelic, far uis, "near water") is on the Findhorn, which is crossed by a suspension bridge about a mile to the west, I m. W. of Elgin by the L.M.S.R., and 6 m. by road from Findhorn, its port, due north. It is one of the most ancient towns in the north of Scotland. King Donald (892-900), son of Constantine, died in Forres, and in it King Duff (961-967) was murdered. Macbeth is said to have slain Duncan in the first structure that gave its name to Castlehill, which was probably the building demolished in 1297 by the adherents of Wallace. The next castle was a royal residence from 1189 to 1371. It was burned by the Wolf of Badenoch in 1390. The ruins on the hill, however, are those of a later building and are surmounted by a granite obelisk, 65 ft. high, raised to the memory of Surgeon James Thomson, a native of Cromarty, who at the cost of his life tended the Russian wounded on the field of the Alma. The public buildings include the museum, named after Dr. Hugh Falconer (1808-1865), the palaeontologist and botanist. The cross, in Decorated Gothic, stands beside the town hall. Adjoining the town on the south east is the beautifully-wooded Cluny hill. The not extensive in dustries comprise the manufacture of chemicals and artificial manures, flour mills, distilleries and woollen manufactures. There is considerable trade in cattle.
Sueno's stone, about 23 ft. high, one of the finest sculptured monoliths in Scotland, stands in a field to the east of the town. It is carved with figures of soldiers, priests, slaughtered men and captives on one side, and on the other with a cross and Runic ornamentation. According to an old tradition it was named after Sueno, son of Harold, king of Denmark, who won a victory on the spot in 1008, but there are other conjectures. Another storied stone is called the Witches' stone, where Macbeth is said to have encountered the weird sisters. '