Edinburgh and beyond

Scotland, and Edinburgh in particular, is an amazing place. There is so much history in such a small area that it is unfathomable. The "young" artifacts and locations are a couple of hundred years older than our own Declaration of Independence. While visiting Edinburgh we took a day tour into the Highlands including Sterling Castle and Loch Lomond. Our tour guide had an awesome grasp on his country's history and talked for nearly the entire 4 hours we spent in the van recounting Scotland's past. It was fantastic.

I won't pretend to be able to recount (even in brief) much of what we learned but I will relay some of truth behind the Wallace fairy tale. Wallace was a huge man as judged by his sword and stood nearly a foot and a half taller than the average man. The story goes that after the death of his father and brother he was raised by 2 of his uncles. After fishing one day he was confronted by 5 English soldiers who demanded his entire catch. He offered half to them and they denied the offer and threatened his life. He killed all 5 soldiers which enraged the local sheriff. He was labeled an outlaw and it was discovered that the family of his wife/fiance' (Marion) was hiding him. Marion was taken and hung as an example not to harbour fugitives. Obviously enraged, Wallace attacked and dismembered the sheriff. Wallace went on to win a number of small battles but his most famous was the battle at Sterling bridge where he and his military strategist Andrew Moray defeated an English army more than 3 times their size. Moray was killed and Wallace was defeated at Falkirk where most of his army was slaughtered.

In 1305 Wallace was captured after one of the Scottish nobles John de Menteith betrayed him. He was drawn, hung, castrated, eviscerated, beheaded and quartered. Obviously King Edward I was making a statement.

That was a very brief report. It is amazing to be somewhere that stands on so much history. Edinburgh castle is built somewhere that has ruins dating back to around 850B.C. That's old baby! There is a movie coming out about Mary Queen of Scots which should be very interesting as she was a complicated figure. Anyway, enjoy the slide show!