Beneath swift clouds, glad glints of sun,
Belonging to none but itself.
We are mere transients, who sing
Its westlin’ winds and fernie braes,
Northern lights and siller tides,
Small folk playing our part.
‘Come all ye’, the country says,
'You win me, who take me most to heart.'"
~Kathleen Jamie, Here Lies our Land
Net distance: 83 miles
Centuries of Scottish History: 13th - 16th
Relevant historic figures: William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, Mary Queen of Scots
After our breakfast with the Cornish ladies sharing our B & B, we headed for Stirling. We had reservations for the 10:30 Battle of Bannockburn Experience.
We donned our 3-D glasses necessary to watch the videos that explain the historic characters and circumstances leading up to the battle as well as the demonstration of the various weapons of the time and the battle itself.
If the weapons, clothing, and armor in the visitor's center were only meant for the children to try dress up, why was everything adult-sized? (Thanks to the sword-fighting class I took at the Thru the Stones convention last December, I knew proper sword handling technique for photographs.)
Before there was a Battle of Bannockburn, William Wallace commanded Scottish troops to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, but suffered defeat in the Battle of Falkirk. You may remember William Wallace, played by Mel Gibson, in Braveheart. Braveheart may have been an epic movie, but they confuse William Wallace's history with that of Robert the Bruce's actions in the Battle of Bannockburn. Naturally, we visited the National Wallace Monument to get the real scoop.
They offer shuttle service from the visitor center to the monument (of course it's at the top of a hill), but from there it's up to you to manage the 246 steps to the top of the tower.
At various stopping points along the way, you can rest to catch your breath and learn more about William Wallace and other notable figures of Scottish history. Hey, is that Adam Smith again? By now, you should know that he was an economist. For a quick overview of his economic philosophy related to the free market, here's a cute YouTube video The Invisible Hand
The view from the top made that climb totally worth it!
Although possession of Stirling Castle was the prize of both the Battle of Stirling Bridge and the Battle of Bannockburn, that version of Stirling Castle no longer exists. The building of the current castle (our next stop) began in 1500 under the orders of King James IV of Scotland. It was the location of the coronation of the infant Mary Queen of Scots in 1543 and the childhood home of her son, King James the VI of Scotland, who became King James I of England.
Robert the Bruce has a statue here as well.
After we left Stirling Castle, the weather started to perk up.
I had a hard time believing that this entrance to Drummond Castle was really open to the public. (It was.)
Nice that the sun had peeked out from behind the clouds, otherwise this drive could have been really creepy.
Drummond castle, still owned by members of the Drummond family, is not open as a tourist attraction. There is a small apartment used by the caretakers of the property.
It's the gardens that are the attraction.
The rain stopped long enough for us to walk around and enjoy the gardens. Incidentally, the gardens stood in for the 18th century palace at Versailles in Outlander season 2.
By now, we were officially in the Scottish Highlands.
and we started driving along the lochs for which the Highlands are so famous.
Having reached our travel limit, we had actually taken the Falls of Dochart off the itinerary for the day...until we realized they were right along the road we were traveling!
I booked most of our lodging using Expedia, based primarily on location and price. Most of them were very pleasant surprises, like this one. What a lovely setting for a hotel! Right along the road, in the Ben Lawers mountain range, each of the rooms are named for one of the "Munros" (peaks) in the range. We stayed in the An Stùc room.
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