King Robert the Bruce

stands proud on the Castle Esplanade, Stirling.

With Scotland having been without a monarch from 1226 to 1236 and being under remote rule by King Edward I of England, Scots national resistance developed into a war of independence in which William Wallace and Robert Bruce played a leading role. Having won a victory over the English at Stirling Bridge in 1297 Wallace proclaimed himself Guardian of Scotland before being defeated the following year by the English at Falkirk.

In 1298 Robert Bruce took over the title of Guardian of Scotland and claimed the throne as the great-great grandson of David I. In 1306 he was crowned king at Scone as Robert I. Independence was made easier by the death of Edward I and Bruce set about removing the English from Scotland. By early 1314 Stirling was the only castle in English hands and the English army was defeated by Bruce's smaller force at Bannockburn in June of that year.

Six year later in 1320 Bruce and the Scottish nobles issued the Declaration of Arbroath asserting Scottish Independence:

'For as longs as one hundred of us shall remain alive we shall never in any wise consent to submit to the rule of the English, for it is not for glory that we fight ... but for freedom alone.'

To be continued................