After our night at the B&B near Falkirk, our next destination was about an hour's drive to the south in the region known as "The Borders" as it borders England. However, before we headed south we did a quick drive back north to visit the Wallace Monument and the site of the battle of Bannockburn. The Wallace Monument is situated near Stirling and is a very tall tower with amazing views of the site of the Battle of Stirling Bridge where the Scots, under William Wallace, won a resounding victory over the English in 1297. This event was brought to a wider audience in the 1995 movie "Braveheart" which although a good watch is incredibly inaccurate from a historical perspective; in the film, the Battle of Stirling Bridge has no bridge and the bridge was a key component of the Scottish victory as they let only a portion of the English army cross it before the Scots attacked and pushed the English back to the banks of the Stirling river.
The monument also houses the "Wallace Sword", a five foot long blade that was reputedly used by William Wallace himself, although parts of the sword are some 160 years post his time period. We had to laugh as in the gift shop one can buy statues labelled "William Wallace" that are in fact anachronistic (blue faced Picts having been 1000 years before the battle and tartans coming several hundred years later) depictions of the Scottish hero straight from Braveheart!
Then it was off to the site of the Battle of Bannockburn where in 1314 the Scots, under Robert the Bruce, dealt another blow to the English when they defeated an army twice as large as theirs (and with better gear and training) by adroit leadership and the use of the schiltron spear square to overcome the English army's massive advantage in heavy cavalry.
We visited the monument, girded ourselves in replica armour and weapons and then played an interactive battle game with another dozen visitors that allows each visitor to command a contingent in either the English or Scottish army. Christos was on the side of the Scots and Lisa on the side of the English. While the maneuvering in our game was different than how the original battle played out, the Scots still emerged victorious! The game took about half an hour and was quite fun although it took a bit of time for some players to get into it.
Then it was time for the drive down south to our next B&B, the amazing Cormiston Farm near Biggar. We arrived around 5ish and relaxed for a few hours, walking about the farm and meeting the local beasties before having an amazing dinner of lamb. Then it was time for a after dinner Scotch before heading back to our room for some Game Of Thrones watching while we drifted off to sleep around midnight.
We visited the monument, girded ourselves in replica armour and weapons and then played an interactive battle game with another dozen visitors that allows each visitor to command a contingent in either the English or Scottish army. Christos was on the side of the Scots and Lisa on the side of the English. While the maneuvering in our game was different than how the original battle played out, the Scots still emerged victorious! The game took about half an hour and was quite fun although it took a bit of time for some players to get into it.
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