Into the West
Trip Start
May 19, 2008
1
8
24
Trip End
Jun 02, 2008
Killin,
Scotland,
United Kingdom
Thursday, May 22, 2008
It was Stirling over which the Battle of Bannockburn was fought. In recent years, Edward I, Edward Longshanks, or, Hammer of the Scots as he was known, had swept across Scotland taking one after another of their castles. He died in 1307, leaving a militarily incompetent son, Edward II. Within a few years, the Scots had swept back, re-taking all of their castles. Stirling remained in English hands. Edward Bruce, brother of Robert the Bruce (yes, I know there were a lot of Edwards running around, confusing things) laid seige. The commander, Philip Mowbray (or de Mowbray as he's sometimes called) made a gentleman's agreement with Edward Bruce that if he were not relived by Midsummer's Day, he would hand over the castle. Equally gentlemanly, Edward Bruce allowed Mowbray to send a message to Edward of England requesting relief. This is what prompted Edward of England to gather what was rumored to be the largest army the world had ever seen
A mountain in Killin, Scotland
. It stretched for twenty miles and shook the earth as it passed. And its goal was to hold onto Stirling Castle for England.The castle has quite a bit more today than it did then. Then it was maybe a building or two and some smaller thatched houses within the walls. Today, you can see a couple of palaces, one of which now holds the Argyll Highlanders Museum and supposedly a ghost as well. You can go in the chapel built by one of the many Jameses and see some magnificent tapestries. You can walk down a cobble walk under a great arch to the tapestry studio where historic tapestries are being re-created, or walk the walls and look out over Stirling and the River Forth twisting around and around. One long hall has small chambers off of it, each of which tells a little about the life of a particular type of person who might have lived in the castle. I remember the room devoted to the musicians of the time, of course. I also stumbled across the Lions Den in my explorations. It is said that James (don't ask which one, I've forgotten) was given a gift of a lion, which was allowed to roam free in this particular courtyard.
Hop-on-hop-off tour. We got off at St. Ninian's and got lost trying to walk back to our car left at the Heritage Center. We saw Bannockburn High School in our wanders
Entering Stirling Castle
. It is one of the sites that may have been where the second day's battle of Bannockburn took place. It does indeed have a steep slope that could be the famous 'escarpment' along which the English army tried to find a way around the Scottish troops. We got in the car thinking we'd head to Fort William, but at the last minute decided to follow our itinerary in reverse, as long as we were going right past the area of the Rob Roy Way hike we planned to make. So here we are in Killin, on the northeast edge of the Trossachs region. We looked at lochs and bens, and the Falls of Dochart. Tomorrow, we plan on making a hike, maybe getting a key from the tourist information center so we can go onto an island in the middle of the river to see the burial place of the McNabs.
We are now at the Killin Youth Hostel, where the hotel next door offers our first chance at internet.
