Stirling, Scotland
“Scots, wha hae wi’ Wallace bled;
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led:
Welcome to your gory bed,
Or to glorious victory!”
Robert Burns imagined these words as said by Robert the Bruce in his famous poem, The Speech of King Robert the Bruce to his Troops, at the Battle of Bannockburn. These lyrics are probably best known as the patriotic song Scots Wha Hae, and show how Robert the Bruce encouraged his troops to gain true Scottish Independence.
The plaques at the battlefield tell the Battle of Bannockburn pretty succinctly, with King Edward II in 1313 announcing that he would invade Scotland the following summer. Robert the Bruce took the time to study the area that became the battlefield and had a keen awareness of which parts of the field were best to defend and where it was easiest to attack. Robert the Bruce also convinced the garrison at Stirling Castle to surrender if there was no relief from England. Edward II marched his English troops from Berwick-upon-Tweed towards Stirling, walking into a battle with a well-prepared Scottish army ready for an ambush.
The Battle of Bannockburn lasted two days, June 23-24, 1314. During the first day of the battle, Robert the Bruce killed an English Scout, Henry De Bohun, in a one-on-one situation. The Scots kept the English from reaching Stirling Castle, and the English made the fatal error of crossing Bannock Burn, leaving their backs to the river (a burn is a stream or small river). The English obviously made a similar mistake as at the Battle of Stirling Bridge and walked into a Scottish trap. On the morning of the 24th, the Scots broke cover, pushed back the cavalry, routed the archers, and decimated the infantry in hand-to-hand combat. Edward II fled the field, and the English army broke ranks after suffering very heavy casualties. The English army lost an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 men, while the Scots lost only a few hundred. The path to Scottish Independence was set, although it was not immediate. It took the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320 and the Treaty of Edinburgh in 1328 for the Scots to have their true Independence.
The battlefield today lies south of the town, beside the A872. The National Trust for Scotland maintains the Battle of Bannockburn Site. The Battlefield Memorial is free and always open. You can book a Battle of Bannockburn Experience, a high-tech look at the battle, but it is only available when the visitor center is open. A café is also available on site. We visited early in the evening, so parking was plentiful but the visitor centre was closed for the day.
Some highlights of the battlefield include a statue of Robert the Bruce and a monument marking the battlefield’s significance. The monuments are a short walk away and accessible for disabled visitors. It was inspiring to be on the field of the greatest military victory in Scottish history, one that was alluded to at the end of the movie Braveheart.
Bannockburn is often seen as the moment the Scots gained their independence. The tenacity and planning of Robert the Bruce, their future king, meant a strong Scottish identity could flourish and develop independently of their English neighbors to the south. While most Scots speak English as their first language and are citizens of the United Kingdom, they proudly demonstrate their Scottish identity. I was glad to visit this historic site, which is definitely worth a stop for anyone visiting the Stirling area.
