"Braveheart Country"

Well today's Blip comes from Braveheart Country. Elderslie the Birthplace of Sir William Wallace (and of course me). Wallace's birth is off course refuted by a couple of Ayrshire hacks who claim he was born in Ayrshire. Fact of the matter is that Wallace was born in 1270 and the Craigie Castle they claim was his, was a Wallace property, but not before 1371, when a Wallace, John by name, married the Lindsay heiress who had inherited Craigie, and so acquired the property and title.
William Wallace, who fought for Scottish independence from English rule at the end of the 13th century is said to have been born in Elderslie around 1270 and educated by monks in Paisley Abbey.
The stone monument topped with a crown was erected in 1912.
The Wallace monument was unveiled on 28th September 1912 by Sir Thomas Glen Coats. It is 37 feet high and the base is 20 feet above street level. Every August the Wallace Day parade takes place, with a march from Johnstone town centre to the Monument at Elderslie, where a service takes place. Kilts hairy monsters with swords, bagpipes the lot.