A daytrip back in time...

...to Stirling.

About an hour's train ride northwest of Edinburgh, near the beginning of the River Forth, lies Stirling. It's ideally situated between Scotland's highlands and lowlands and so has important historical significance. Records of humanity go back to the 800's, though historians believe people were here long before written history.

It was in Stirling that William Wallace (Braveheart, as depicted by the now very troubled Mel Gibson) scored a rout against the invading English in 1297. The English invaders - 10,000 strong - arrived and were crossing the Stirling Bridge in their effort to take the city. When Wallace attacked, the heat of battle resulted in the collapse of the bridge and the loss of a number of the English invaders. The English army was split in two, and Wallace's men forced those who'd made it across the bridge into the river below. A complete victory for the Scots. Wallace was knighted and appointed "Guardian of Scotland." The English tracked him down, however, and in 1305 he was captured, castrated, dismembered and had his remains paraded around the country as a warning to malcontents.

Around this time (early 1300's), the castle - which had existed in some form for many years already - was rebuilt to serve as the royal residence for the Stuart (also known as Stewart) line of Kings and Queens, and would serve in this capacity for about 300 years. Most famous of these royals of course is Mary, Queen of Scots. She spent her childhood at the Stirling Castle in the 1540's and was crowned Queen within the castle at the age of 9 months in 1543.

The castle served as residence for the royals until Mary's son James VI of Scotland left for London to become King James I of England. Mary was not only Scottish Queen, but also next in line to the English throne after the children of Henry VIII. Through lots of twists and turns in her personal life journey, she ended up being forced to abdicate the throne (she was a devout Roman Catholic, and fell out of favor with the other, in power, royals). She escaped to England, but her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth, had her imprisoned for the remaining 19 years of her life. Though the issue of religion was the supposed reason for her incarceration by Elizabeth, historians believe that Mary may actually have had a more legitimate claim to the throne than Elizabeth, and so Elizabeth had her conveniently put away to remove her as a threat. Through the 19 years of imprisonment, Mary attempted escapes and plotted to have Elizabeth assassinated. Once the assassination plot was uncovered, Elizabeth had Mary beheaded in 1587 at the age of 45.

Pictures today are of our tour of Stirling castle. Note the last pic, which gives a long view from the castle across the valley to the William Wallace memorial tower.

Tomorrow, we leave Edinburgh :-(
We have a 3.5 hour scenic train ride through the Scottish highlands, and will be in Inverness mid-afternoon. We hope to see the Loch Ness monster (or some new birds!)