On News Years Day, we set out in freezing fog for a William Wallace tour in Scotland to Falkirk, Bannockburn, and Stirling. It was a beautiful drive as we passed ghostly ruins and white-laced oak trees and stone fences in the fog.
The lowland sun melted the clouds away by the time we reached Falkirk. We stopped at the Falkirk Wheel, even though it was closed, for a brisk walk along the River Forth.
Next we found our way to the Callendar House built near the first Battle of Falkirk in 1298. We were amazed to see that the abandoned Callendar house and grounds were surrounded by so many council housing towers. We ate a pack lunch on the council grounds and played on the children’s playground for a few minutes.
A few more miles toward Stirling, we found the Bannockburn Heritage Centre where we walked to the Robert the Bruce, King of Scots monument. A large flag pole marked a nearby spot where Robert the Bruce planted his Standard when the Scottish patriots under his command vanquished the Army of Edward II of England after the Battle of Bannockburn on the 24th of June 1314.
The monument also had a quotation that I found inspiring that read “We fight not for glory, nor for wealth, nor honour but only and alone we fight for freedom which no good man surrenders but with his life.”
Finally, we headed into Stiling and found the Stirling Highland Hotel on the castle rock only meters down the hill from Stirling Castle. The hotel was once the Old Grammar School and I felt like I was checking into Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry as we walked through the stone hallways with checkered floors. We passed the Scholars Restaurant and Headmasters Study on the way to our room on the 3rd floor.
The next morning after breakfast, we walked up to the castle stopping to see view the Old Town Jail, Church of the Holy Rude, and Mar’s Wark. Luke was resisting a tour of the castle until Mom and Dad purchased him a lollypop which pepped him up a bit.
Stirling Castle is very similar to Edinburgh with its great French chateau-style palace built upon an impregnable crag fortified with inner and outer defenses. Isaac and I walked up and down the stairs on the outer rear wall of the castle, while Dionne and Luke learned more about the symbolism of the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries.
We also toured Argyll’s Lodging down the street from the castle. The grand residence belong to William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, in the 1630s until it was purchased by Archibald Campbell, the 9yh Earl of Argyll in 1666 and became known as Argyll’s Lodging.
A few historical facts about life in the 1600s that I recall from our guide are:
- Stirling is the center for the cattle trade in Scotland even to this day—the tour guide even remembered cattle being driven down the city streets to market as a boy.
- Meat had to be heavily salted to preserve it and was then boiled to make it edible again
- The boy whose duty it was to be roasted next to the great kitchen fireplace and turn the enormous iron spit all day long was called the ‘spit boy’—a dreadful job indeed!
- The well water was impure and had to be converted into mead for drinking—even women and children drunk a mild beer from breakfast to dinner.
- The original standard for a Scottish pint was three times the size of an English pint and was unearthed in Stirling.
- The large, carved wooden banister was significant sign of status and luxury compared to the tight, narrow stone staircases in the nearby castle.
- Archibald Campbell believed his status was higher than even the king through the royal purple wall and bed hangings in his bedroom—the dye was created by crushing thousands of small snails.
- A new innovation of the time were en-suite toilets in the bedroom, which had a padded seat and silver bowl underneath to be emptied out the window by servants and flowed down hill to the poor people—thus the top of the castle rock stayed smelling nice from the valley breeze.
This little holiday turned out to be one of our nicest family trips thus far and Dionne and I are starting to feel like we are gaining a grasp of Scottish history
We decided to take the scenic back roads home through the North Yorkshire Dales National Park. The winding road took us through small moss-covered villages up to snow-covered hilltops with free-range sheep grazing near streams and then back down again through the villages of Kettlewell and Grassington. 
Isaac and Luke's Spitting Videos at Middleham
Stirling Castle is very similar to Edinburgh with its great French chateau-style palace built upon an impregnable crag fortified with inner and outer defenses. Isaac and I walked up and down the stairs on the outer rear wall of the castle, while Dionne and Luke learned more about the symbolism of the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries.
We carved pumpkins for FHE. Josh carved the spider web, and Dionne carved the cat and the scary one. Isaac and Luke jabbed, poked, and prodded.
Meet Sir Isaac and Super Luke. The Superman cape gave Luke an incredible sense of empowerment. I think he thought he could fly.
We had to surrender our weapons, remove our hats, and be patted down by the king's knights before being presented to the King Richard.
Isaac and Luke were terrified of Friar Tuck. They wouldn't get close to him.
Nottingham Castle - built in the 12th century.
