Declaration of Arbroath

An overcast day but getting warmer.

We headed to Arbroath for the obligatory chip supper by the Harbour and then went to visit Arbroath Abbey which was founded in 1178 by King William the Lion. Much of it has fallen into ruin but an excellent Visitor Centre has been established, which contains much of interest.

In particular, there is the Declaration of Arbroath which was a declaration of Scottish independence, made in 1320. It is in the form of a letter in Latin submitted to Pope John XXII, dated 6 April 1320, intended to confirm Scotland’s status as an independent, sovereign state and defending Scotland’s right to use military action when unjustly attacked.
It contains the famous line, “It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”

Another thing of interest is a copy of the Stone of Destiny, which was the stone used to consecrate Scottish Kings for hundreds of years until it was forcibly removed by the English King, Edward 1 (Hammer of the Scots). However it was stolen from Westminster Abbey in 1950 by four students, only to be returned the following year. On Saint Andrews Day, 30 November 1996, 10,000 people lined the Royal Mile in Edinburgh to witness the Stone of Destiny return to Scotland for the first time in 700 years.

You can see a photo of the Stone in Arbroath Abbey as well as the Abbey itself in my Flikr Album


The extra photo is of Arbirlot Falls just outside Arbroath.