HISTORY OF THE WILLIAM WALLACE MONUMENT
One of the tallest monuments in Scotland stands atop Abbey Craig, overlooking the River Forth, the town of Stirling and its castle on the other bank. Construction on the National Wallace Monument ended in 1869, and featured the statue of a knight on the southeastern corner of the tower, pointing his gaze and his large sword heavenward. From1997 to 2008, another statue from a local sculptor stood near the parking lot at the monument’s base, depicting the character made famous by the 1995 Mel Gibson film Braveheart ,
Inside, halls and galleries commemorate the national heroes of Scotland, from Saint Columba to Sir Walter Scott; among the collections, a sword of disputed age is displayed prominently. All this was erected in honor of one man, called in Gaelic UilliamUallas, in French Guillame de Walois
, and in English William Wallace.
From the top of the monument, one may look down towards the River Forth and seethe stone bridge that connects the two banks, emphasizing Stirling‟s strategic importance in gaining access into the Scottish heartland. Some distance upstream, the running waters hide the foundations of the original wooden bridge, which reached across the Forth at an angle and had been demolished in 1297. That same year, an English army, under orders from Edward I, broke camp beneath Stirling Castle and attempted to cross the original bridge. The army, commanded by John de Warenne and Hugh de Cressingham, represented Edward‟s expansionist policies in Scotland; which had commenced with the death of King Alexander III, ( Carruthers ancestor )the lack of living heirs, and the request of the quarreling Scottish nobility for the Crown of England to mediate the question of succession. Edward sought political union throughout the British Isles, and with English domination over Ireland and the Welsh kingdoms, the English king‟s use of the Scottish candidate John Balliol would force the nobility to recognize his royal over-lordship and the authority of the English Parliament. Scottish resistance led to English military victories at Berwick, Dunbar and Perth, the latter of which resulted in the capture of the Stone of Destiny, the Scottish cultural symbol upon which all preceding Scottish kings had received the right to rule from the nobility and from God.
Edward had politically, militarily, and symbolically smashed through the borders between England and Scotland, and crossing the Forth at Stirling meant that this border would remain undone. Thus the bridge that the English army of roughly ten thousand meant to cross represented the political, cultural and ideological boundary between Scottish independence and English dominance; while the 2,300 Scots waiting on the other side meant to reestablish that border. As the English cavalry was forced to cross the bridge two at a time, the Scots charged down from their position on the high ground to take the unprepared enemy in the bottle neck formed by the narrow bridge and the marshy bank. By the end of the day on the 11th of September, the professional English army had lost over five thousand men, including Hugh de Cressingham, to the smaller force of Scottish infantry.
Credit for the successful defense of Scottish independence went to William Wallace. Upon the death and scattering of his liegelord‟s armed force, the Earl de Warenne ordered the destruction of the bridge, while the Scots celebrated their victory and Wallace supposedly skinned Cressingham“
to make there with a new baldric for his sword.
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CLAN CARRUTHERS INT SOCIETY CCIS HISTORIAN AND GENEALOGIST
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