Battle of Bannockburn 2004-5

No you haven't read that wrong - I am not talking of the original battle, but the re-enactments I have attended over the last couple of years.

So... to the battle... and for those that watched Braveheart, this is the battle that is about to happen as that film ends with Mel Gibson saying:

In the Year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland - starving and outnumbered - charged the fields of Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets; they fought like Scotsmen, and won their freedom.

So that's the scene set... Scots face the English just outside of Stirling and kick their... well, the Scots win!

So, from that date (which was in June and not September, but we'll get to that!) whenever the Scots faced the English again they (the Scots fans) carried banners saying "Remember Bannockburn 1314"! Unfortunately the English did and never again did they get beaten so convincingly by us again...

No matter, we still remember that day and in recent years the National Trust for Scotland, who own and look after the Bannockburn Heritage Centre as well as other sites of historical interest (in/around Glenfinnan, Culloden, etc) hold a battle re-enactment of which I have now attended two (this year and last). These are held in September and I am sorry to say I have no real reason for that except to say that with Scottish weather it is probably LESS likely to rain in September than it is in June! Having said that, last year I was there on the Saturday and it rained A LOT (though when the sun was out it was nice and dried everyone off in time for... the next downpour) and same happened this year on the Saturday (except with less sun). Clever of me to get tickets for the Sunday...

Enough of the weather though – a little rain never hurt anyone (especially not Noah!) ... on to THE EVENT!

Come, one and all, to a GUARANTEED SCOTTISH VICTORY! (So straight away you know its not football – or soccer as they call it in the States!)

The scene is Bannockburn, in the grounds owned by the NTS at the Heritage Centre, with the statue of Robert the Bruce on his horse making a nice centre piece - and a view of Stirling Castle to the north. However, one thing there is no sign of is the Bannock Burn (a burn being Scots for a small stream!) but that’s a small matter, after all didn't Braveheart show the Battle of Stirling Bridge with no bridge?

ok enough of the flippancy... you are here to read of the events leading up to the battle and of course the main event itself - SCOTLAND WON ENGLAND NIL (good pun eh?)

Anyway, what we have are (in no order of importance):

A pipe band (2004) or lone piper (2005) - in that respect the 2004 event wins over this year!

A beer tent (or real ale to be more precise - and if you have no idea what that is then... join the club as I don't think anyone does!) which was there last year - sadly missing this year!

Displays on medieval fighting with the swords and the axes and the spears and all that - and yes, these people do give it their all as the broken shields proved more than once!

Displays on the wearing of the plaid (which my youngest son volunteered to demonstrate and did so quite well... but then they put a sword in his hand and that’s a different matter!)

A reference to the height of Mel Gibson (this year anyway!) when one of the above demonstrators ended up on his knees... is Mel really only four foot six and a half?

Many Ye Olde Shoppe's selling old style clothes and cups as well as a variety of weapons - swords, shields, axes, bows and arrows, crossbows and... machine guns? Yes, any weapon from the 14th up to the 20th century you could think of!

Then of course there was all the Ye Not So Olde Fast Food Establishments (burger bars to you and me!)

So, to the main event. Now if this was 2004 I would stop here as... by the time of the main event we were all so wet and miserable home and baths were all we could think of! However, compared to this year the build up was far superior... the Scots and the English gathered in the main arena to drum up support (and no surprises that there was little for the latter!) but this year that seemed to go the way of the pipe band!

However, this year with us being dry and well fed and happy we stayed and watched as the battle took place... and Scotland won (which is how it was all those years ago!)

You want more? Well to be honest there isn't a lot more to say. In 1314 the battle took place over two days... the re-enactment took little over 40 minutes! Someone narrated as a bunch of people with horses, swords, axes, bows and arrows, etc knocked each other about. What more is there to say? Oh yea, Scotland won!

In conclusion, and you may have gathered this already, I wasn't overly impressed! If we had got the weather last year that we got this then I would have left with the feeling that I got my money's worth. As it was we got the good weather a year too late. Last year scored over this with the overall build up to the main event and also the pipe band being there! There were also more stalls and as a result more variety (in goods and price)... and of course there was a beer tent! This year had the better weather!

Having said that, the kids came away happy - with their wooden swords/axe and shields... but they can make them last until we go back - in 2014! The 700th (and a few months!) anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn is one I will probably attend!

With all that in mind, I do recommend that you all attend a battle re-enactment if possible - they are fun... even that of Stirling Bridge that I also saw last year (if you can call 5-a-side battle a re-enactment... but, and this is important Mr. Gibson, they did have a... umm... construction they referred to as a bridge!)

[Note: the views expressed above are of one member of the Scotland from the Roadside Team and are in no way meant to represent the thoughts and feelings of any of the rest of the team or anyone else!]