In Mid Lothian - 1 September 2008
Our B&B was fairly ordinary – it had everything we could want but the service was a bit ho hum! However, we got some good advice about what we could do and where we could go and we set off early to the Bridge of Allan. Robert Louis Stevenson had apparently come here to ‘take the waters’ for his poor health and the river was certainly very beautiful. We didn’t try the waters though!
Bridge of Allan is a lovely town and the library there provides free internet access – a big advantage as so many of the B&B’s didn’t have WiFi.
From here it was just a short step to enjoy the William Wallace Monument and this visit took us literally hours. This was another ‘must see’.
Our knowledge of Scottish history was woeful and we were enchanted with the information provided at the centre. Standing tall and proud outside the city of Stirling and overlooking the scene of Scotland’s victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, this is a place where history is something you can touch and feel as you trace the story of Sir William Wallace, patriot, martyr and Guardian of Scotland.
Sir William Wallace lived from between 1272-1276 until 1305. He was a Scottish knight, landowner and patriot who is known for leading a resistance during the Scottish wars of independence. Along with Andrew Moray, he took his campaign for freedom into battle and defeated the English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 and became Guardian of Scotland, serving until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk. After several years in hiding, he was eventually found in Scotland and handed over to Edward I of England who had him executed for treason.
In the hall you can follow the story of his life and discover how he became a national hero.
Inside the Centre, the audio system had thirty different tracks and there was an excellent visual presentation on the first floor with an enactment between William Wallace, Moray and King Edward. In fact, it was so good that we stayed there to watch it a second time!
The second floor (and it was a huge climb between floors!) contained busts of many famous Scotsmen, among them Gladstone, Robbie Burns, Livingstone, Sir Walter Scott and many others. There was information on each one on the audio system. Here’s the one of King Robert the Bruce.
From the third floor we could see a panoramic view on all sides and at the same time hear about the bloody battles that had taken place below.
Finally back on the ground again it was another short journey to the memorial to Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland from 1306-1329 to commemorate the Battle of Bannockburn.
This famous and decisive battle was fought on 23 and 24 June 1314. Probably the greatest which ever took place on Scottish soil, it is known to all Scots as the Battle of Bannockburn.
Edward I of England had long coveted the Scottish kingdom. After destroying the Scots army at Falkirk in 1298 and thus avenging his defeat the previous year at Stirling Bridge, the country seemed to lie at his mercy. And when the great patriot leader, Sir William Wallace, was captured and put to death at the king’s orders in London in 1305, hope ran out and final surrender seemed apparent. Scotland was occupied from end to end and a foreign garrison lay in every town from Annan to Dingwall.
In 1306, Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scots at Scone. But he had yet to recover his kingdom and regain freedom for his subjects In the years which followed the tide slowly turned, almost imperceptibly at first and then with gathering impetus. One by one, the towns and fortresses were retaken until by the spring of 1314, of the few castles which were still in English hands, Stirling remained the most important.
The history of the lead up to the battle is long and fascinating. Suffice it to say that the English contingent was large and included archers from Wales, Ireland and the midland and northern English counties. They were well armed and were joined by a Scottish contingent who, for various reasons, were at that time opposed to Robert the Bruce.
Robert the Bruce, with two months’ warning, had concentrated his army for training by May. He is believed to have had about 5,500 trained men to meet the English army of nearly 20,000. The Scottish patriots were determined, under Bruce’s great leadership, to defend the independence of Scotland with their lives.
This spirit was reaffirmed a few years later in 1320 in the Declaration of Arbroath, an assertion of the right to independence by the Scottish nobles which was sent to Pope John XXII. It famously proclaims:
‘As long as a hundred of us remain alive we will never be subject to English dominion because it is not for glory or riches or honours that we fight, but for freedom alone, which no worthy man loses except with his life’.
Details of the battle can be found in the National Trust booklet entitled Bannockburn. Suffice it to say that when Edward tried to retreat to Stirling Castle, his entry was refused by Sir Philip Moubray and he escaped to Dunbar where he secured a small rowing boat which took him to Berwick, an ignominious end to his campaign to conquer Scotland. His boastful resolution to wipe out ‘Robert de Brus who calls himself King of Scotland’ was unfulfilled.
King Robert the Bruce proved himself at Bannockburn, not only as a superb leader, but also a skilled general, whose handling of his resources was decisive and masterly. His personal courage and ambition was decisive in the struggle for Scottish independence, coinciding as it did with the upsurge of national aspirations among the majority of the Scottish nobility.
Bannockburn was the greatest victory ever won by the Scots, although it took some years before the Declaration of Arbroath and then the Treaty of Northampton led to formal recognition by the English of Scottish independence.
Bannockburn certainly made Scots feel more than ever before and possibly since, that they were one people and one nation and it irrevocably consolidated Bruce’s supremacy over his opponents in Scotland itself.
From here it wasn’t too far to Falkirk, the place where the Falkirk Wheel is situated.
This feat of engineering was completed in 2002 and connects the Union Canal from Edinburgh with the Forth and Clyde Canal which goes from Grangemouth to Glasgow and on to Bowling, by means of a gigantic wheel, rather than by the use of locks.
This impressive boat lift is the first ever to revolve
and is the centerpiece of Scotland’s ambitious canal regeneration scheme. Once important for commercial transport the Union and the Forth and Clyde canals were blocked by several roads in the 1960’s. Now the Falkirk Wheel gently swings boats between the two waterways, creating an uninterrupted link between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Three boats passed through the wheel while we were there.
Our last planned stop of the day was at the Linlithgow Palace
and St Michael’s Church adjacent to it.
Before we went round the Palace, we were treated to some marvellous information from a delightful Scottish woman inside St Michael’s Church right alongside the Palace. The explained that the church stands on church property and is nothing to do with the Palace itself, although many of the Palace’s occupants have worshipped there in the past.
The first thing she proudly showed to us was the new stained glass window which is one of the most beautiful we’d ever seen and she described each panel to us in detail. This window was created by Crear McCartney to mark the 750th anniversary of the Church. It’s designed around the theme of Pentecost. Twelve tongues of fire burst out to touch the traditional symbols of the apostles. Beneath the butterfly wings and peacock feathers, representing the risen Christ, there is a depiction of the images associated with the New Jerusalem.
St Michael’s Church is one of the outstanding mediaeval churches in the country and one of the most beautiful parish churches in Scotland. It stands in a commanding position overlooking the loch beside Linlithgow Palace and is seen from miles around. The loch is a site of special scientific interest due to the extensive wildfowl population.
A church has stood on this site for many centuries, the first documented reference is in a charter of King David in 1138.
Over the centuries, the church has experienced varied fortunes associated with the turbulent history of the kingdom of England and Scotland. During the Wars of Independence, Edward I of England used the church as a military storehouse until King Robert the Bruce sacked the garrison here.
The Royal association with the Church is seen in the four figures carved in wood around the Pulpit – Queen Margaret, Queen Mary, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II.
Beside the church, the magnificent ruins of Linlithgow Palace stands, set in a park beside a Loch. Most of the Stewart kings lived here and numerous renovations to the palace’s grand façades and chambers were carried out as each sought to create the ideal modern palace. The magnificent courtyard fountain has been carefully restored and is now on view to visitors.
Finally we ran out of time – again – and set off to find a B&B in Edinburgh where we hoped to spend two nights. We settled on one just out of town which would enable us to take in most of the attractions we wanted to see. We found one but, again, although it had most of the things we needed, we wouldn’t recommend it!