William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and a Stirling Adventure

                                                       William Wallace Monument                                                                                                       Robert the Bruce

Equidistant between Glasgow and Edinburgh, Stirling looms large in Scottish history. The saying “to take Stirling is to hold Scotland” pays homage to the battles for independence from the English that were fought here in the 1200–1300’s by two iconic figures, William Wallace (aka Braveheart) and Robert the Bruce. Stepping off the train after a 40-minute journey, we’re plunged back through the centuries as we make our way past winding cobbled streets and impressively preserved grey granite buildings lining the uphill climb to the formidable Stirling Castle. The castle was home to a line of Stewart kings and the place where Mary, Queen of Scots, was crowned at the tender age of 9 months. It’s a sprawling complex, once housing 800 soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars. You can imagine the celebrations hosted in the Great Hall, whose timbered ceiling is crafted from 350 trees, and the intrigues that must have played out behind the intricately carved stone façade of the royal apartments. (Not all was politics and fighting, though: at the quirky Stirling Smith Museum we saw a perfectly preserved leather and pig’s bladder football that dates from the 1540s, discovered in the castle’s ceiling). Perhaps the best part of traveling here is the broad sweep of countryside visible from this high perch, where you can see the distant monument to William Wallace and all the way to the Firth of Forth.

                                           Stirling Castle                                                                                  Pretenders to the Throne                  Stirling Village