In Braveheart's Footsteps

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I took the bus to Stirling today - it’s only an hour from Edinburgh and £7/return, so the perfect day trip. I took one of those “Hop on, Hop Off” tours so I got a pretty good overview of the town. Saw Bannockburn, which is famous for the Battle of Bannockburn, where the Scots under King Robert the Bruce defeated the English in 1314. This battle was the climax to their Wars of Independence, which united the Scots under Bruce and led to independence from England. A few miles away, and a few years earlier, the Scots under William Wallace (Braveheart) fought against the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. I went to Stirling Castle, which is supposed to be ‘arguably the best in Scotland.’ I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it, since to me, all of the castles I’d seen were beginning to blur. But I decided that I might as well. Most of the castle that is still standing was built in the 15th and 16th century. For the most part, the castle was unremarkable, but my favourite part was the fact that the castle was currently going through archaeological excavation, and there were signs throughout the castle telling how they were excavating and finding out how the royalty used to live, and what types of changes were made throughout the centuries. In the beginning the castle was used by royalty, but after the Scottish and British monarchies were joined, they rarely came to Stirling, and the castle was used by the army after the 18th century. There were doors closed up, fireplaces added, rooms knocked down. From an anthropological viewpoint, it was great to see how the archaeologists unearthed these things, and how they relied on their logic and sometimes just guessing to figure out the past.
After the castle, I took the bus to the National Wallace Monument. It’s a five story tower built in the 1860’s as a tribute to William Wallace “Braveheart.” The crag it was built on was the scene of Wallace’s greatest triumphs, when he defeated the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. I got to see William’s real sword, which was pretty remarkable. The last bus home was at 6pm, but I wished it was a bit later, because I would have liked to enjoy the town more. Oh well, maybe another time.

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