03.10.2011 – 03.10.2011  14 °C

Got myself going nice and early this morning as I wanted to have a crack at seeing both the Wallace Monument and the battlefield where the Battle of Bannockburn took place before heading into Edinburgh.

I got to the National Wallace Monument before it even opened so spent a good half an hour doing some of the walks that are on offer around the base of the monument before I headed up to the monument itself. The monument is this huge spire that has been built on top of a hill which overlooks Sterling. It is supposedly where William Wallace stood before the Battle of Sterling Bridge to review the battlefield and was built in the mid 1800s (almost five hundred years after the Battle of Sterling Bridge!). Unlike the movie Braveheart, the Battle of Sterling Bridge actually occurred on a bridge not on a hill with a mad dash down the hill to kill the English! (You know the last part in the movie where he pulls up his kilt and they all then rush down the hill to ‘do battle’—unfortunately that is all Hollywood fiction!). What actually happened was that for Edward II to continue his advance into Scotland he had to get over the Sterling River. At the time there was a wooden bridge installed in the town of Sterling so for Edward II to continue his advance he had to attack over a narrow bridge (only wide enough for two men abreast). His cavalry was therefore useless and this is the likely reason why Edward II was defeated at the Battle of Sterling Bridge.

After the Battle of Sterling Bridge Wallace was made ‘protector of Scotland’ and had the job of continuing to harass the English out of Scotland. He eventually lost to Edward II and resigned his post of ‘protector’. He tried to continue his campaign of ‘keep the English out of Scotland’ by then going to France to drum up support for a Scottish/ English war. He was unsuccessful and finally returned to Scotland to continue a guerrilla campaign from the Highlands. By this time he was a marked man and had a bounty on his head for his capture. A Scotsman actually turned him into the English and Wallace was taken to London for trial. The verdict was guilty of treason and he was sentenced to be ‘Hung, Drawn and Quartered’, not a pleasant way to die!

It wasn’t until at least twenty years later that Robert the Bruce finally managed to beat the English (at the Battle of Bannockburn) and was crowned King of Scotland (he actually declared himself King of Scotland!). One piece of information I didn’t know until today was how the English managed to make a claim to the Scottish throne. One of the King’s of Scotland (can’t remember his name) died childless and so with no living heir and no real candidate for the throne the Scottish nobility turned to the English king (Edward II) and asked him to mediate and chose a new king of Scotland. To the chagrin of the Scottish nobility he decided to not choose any members of the Scottish nobility and instead chose himself and crowned himself the King of Scotland! This is why William Wallace started his campaign against the English because he believed that Edward II was a usurper!

I really enjoyed the Wallace monument (although there really isn’t much to see.. you climb up the monument (on the way learning about Wallace’s life) and check out the view from the top!) but the weather had turned quite fickle and so I decided to skip the battle field made famous by Robert the Bruce and drove through to Edinburgh. (Based on the guide book all I can see is a paddock so I’m sure it is no great loss!)

I arrived late in the afternoon and with the weather being poorly I decided to head into the hostel and spend my evening catching up on some reading and blogging. Off to discover the mystery of the old city of Edinburgh tomorrow!