Monument to the Battle of Langside in Glasgow

Historic Scotland has recently opened a consultation with the public as it moves to increase the number of recognised historic battlefield sites around Scotland. Under plans drawn up areas such as the site of the battle of Loudon Hill, One of Robert the Bruce’s early victories, Mary Queen of Scots defeat at Langside and the ‘Battle of the Shirts’ a famous skirmish between Clan Donald and Clan Fraser will all be protected as sites of historical significance.

Historic Scotland already looks after well knows sites such as Culloden and Bannockburn. Culloden already has a magnificent and award winning visitor centre and plans are underway for a new centre at Bannockburn. During this ‘Year of Creative Scotland’ in 2012 the sites chosen will be properly investigated for any physical remains or significant archeology and also deeper consideration will be given to any potential planning applications which may impact on these areas.

To be added to Historic Scotland’s current list of 28 battle sites the new ones will have to demonstrate that they are of  extreme historical and cultural significance. The consultation will go online for public comment on Friday May 18th until June 30th, at www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/battlefieldconsultation .

The successful candidates for the Inventory will be announced later this year.

The battlefields under consideration in the consultation are:

• East Ayrshire

Loudoun Hill (1307)

• East Lothian

Dunbar I (1296)

• Glasgow City / East Renfrewshire

Langside (1568)
The battle of Langside includes a small area of East Renfrewshire, although the majority is in
Glasgow City.

• Highland

Blar na Léine (1544)
Glenlivet (1594)
Inverlochy I (1431)

• Midlothian

Roslin (1303)

• Perth and Kinross

Dunkeld (1689)
Tippermuir (1644)

• Scottish Borders

Melrose (1526)

• Stirling

Sauchieburn (1488)

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Robert the Bruce

One famous battle immediately springs to mind when you think about Robert the Bruce; The Battle of Bannockburn. A great victory for the Scots led by Bruce over the English foe. But before this Bruce’s path had been a hard one and he suffered many humiliations on the route to victory.

It all started with a bitter rivalry. While Edward I of England strutted around north of the border, demanding that nobles swear allegiance to him two men came before him who hated each other far more than Edward. Robert the Bruce and John Comyn, The ‘Red Comyn’.

Comyn and Bruce were supposed to be working together as guardians of Scotland under the watchful eye of Edward but this was an impossible situation and it came to a head in 1306 when Bruce stabbed Comyn to death at the altar of Greyfriars church in Dumfries. This event and Bruce’s subsequent crowning at Scone palace was a signal of intent to Edward, ‘come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough’!

Edward responded with fury, he authorised the raising of the ‘Dragon Banner’ a sign that no quarter would be given to Bruce or his followers. Back in Scotland Bruce was still trying to convince his fellow Scots that he was the man for the job. Many still supported Comyn and he would have a hard time uniting Scotland. With Edward’s knights marching north this was not a good time for the newly crowned king.

By the summer of 1306 Edwards army had made camp in Perthshire and had linked up with Comyn’s supporters north of the border, it was a formidable force and not one to be taken on lightly. Nevertheless Bruce set off to engage them and suffered a great defeat at the Battle of Methven. The English army was led by Aymer de Valence, Comyn’s brother-in-law. According to accounts of the battle Bruce arrived at the appointed place but then retired with his army to camp for the night. Under the feudal rules of engagement Valence would not attack however under cover of darkness he did just that and routed Bruce and his forces.

This was a sign for Bruce that his enemies were not intending to ‘play fair’ remembering the campaign of his predecessor Wallace he resorted to more guerilla tactics.

As we already know Bruce had made a few enemies when he stabbed Comyn. By far the biggest of these north of the Border were the MacDougalls a powerful clan who held the lands around Argyll. This clan was descended from Somerled a great Hebridean king and it’s testament to their power that they had inflicted heavy defeats on both the MacDonald and Campbell clans. They had been great Scottish patriots, unfortunately for Bruce though Comyn was related to the MacDougalls and so they had come out in support of Balliol and the English. With Bruce and his surviving army fleeing westward they ran out of the frying pan and smack into the fire where a large force of MacDougalls were sharpening their swords in anticipation.

When Bruce reached Strathfillan, just to the south of Tyndrum around a thousand MacDougalls were there to meet him, led by the son of Alexander the chief John of Lorne (also known as ‘John the Lame). Bruce was trapped! With Valence pursuing him and the MacDougalls blocking his path he was forced to fight. Bruce and his men were not prepared for battle and the result was a foregone conclusion. What few horses Bruce still had were cut down by the MacDougall axemen and many of his most valued allies such as Sir James Douglas and Gilbert Hey were wounded during the engagement. This rather fanciful poem gives account of the battle:

They thereupon withdrew. In this
There was no mark of cowardice.
They kept together; and the king
Was ever busy rescuing
The rearmost of his company.
With skill and valour there wrought he,
And safely all his men withdrew.
He daunted those that would pursue
So none durst leave their cloe array,
For he was never far away.

The fighting was desperate for Bruce, at one point cut off from his allies he was fighting alone against a small lochan. A MacDougall man attempted to pull Bruce from his horse by grabbing his cloak. Bruce killed him but lost his cloak in so doing. The dead MacDougall was found later still grasping the cloak with Bruce’s brooch still attached. This brooch is still in the possession of the clan to his day.

Bruce and a handful of men escaped with their lives. His army was now non-existent and he fled to the caves and into the history books!

He hadn’t finished with the MacDougalls though and in 1308 at the Pass of Brander Bruce took bloody revenge against the MacDougalls. Once again with the Black Douglas by his side he completely destroyed the MacDougall’s and finally put an end to Scottish resistance to his claim to the throne.

The Lochan of the Lost Sword

The place where Bruce’s darkest moment had come was named ‘Dail Righ’ or ‘The Kings Field’. Bruce had escaped by a hairs breadth (of maybe a brooch pin’s width). As Bruce had escaped he and many of his men threw any unwieldy heavy arms they had into a small lochan. Local legend has it that the king’s sword still lies beneath the surface. Whether its guarded by a ‘lady of the lake’ would be mere speculation.

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The new-look Bannockburn Centre

This is an artists impression of what the site will look like when the centre is opened for the 700th anniversary of the battle of Bannockburn in 2014. The Heritage Centre is currently a rather dreary building sat directly on the main road. Later this year it will close for the last time, and then be demolished. It’s an exciting and adventurous venture bringing the interpretation of one of Scotland’s most important battles into the 21st Century. The new centre will offer a truly interactive experience, where cutting-edge technology will bring the battle to life before your eyes. The National Trust website says they are working to create the most remarkable interactive presentation seen in this country.

Property Manager Scott McMaster said:
“The centre has been at the heart of Bannockburn for a long time and has served it well. Our last year here will be a big success. There are series of living history events from ‘strictly swashbuckling’ to academic talks. I urge everyone to see Bannockburn as it is now for the last time. We’re looking forward to welcoming visitors from near and far and sharing our knowledge of this important place with them.

“We’ll also be looking ahead to the amazing new facilities we’ll have onsite from 2014 – it’s going to be a whole new era for Bannockburn and visitors will be blown away.”

The Heritage Centre now

The project – a partnership between heritage agency Historic Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland – was announced in October 2010 by the then Minister for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop.

In addition to the £5m initially awarded to the project by the Scottish Government, another £3.94m Heritage Lottery grant has been received for additional interpretation and landscaping works.

Speaking during a visit to Stirling Castle on Friday 3 February, the First Minister Alex Salmond announced the project would commence building and landscaping work in early summer, with work to conserve the historic monuments on site also scheduled to start later this year, subject to local planning consents.
He said:
“The eyes of the world will be on Scotland during 2014, with international events such as the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup being held on our shores.

“2014 also marks the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, and I am delighted to announce today a significant milestone in the commemoration of this fascinating period of Scottish history in what will be the most ambitious partnership between the National Trust for Scotland and Historic Scotland.

“It is exciting to confirm that landscaping and building work on the state-of-the-art visitor centre will commence in the summer, with work to conserve the historic monuments also due to begin in the coming months.

“The backing in place from Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund will ensure that the ambitious Bannockburn Project comes to fruition, paving the way for an unrivalled experience for those who are lucky enough to travel to this historic site in the future. We intend to use the cutting edge of Scottish technology to bring the battle to life and showcase our history in a dramatic way.”

Designed by Reiach and Hall the new centre will be part of an overall project to establish the site’s position as one of the most historically and culturally important places in Scotland, during the commemoration of the Battle’s 700 year anniversary in 2014.

Historic Scotland Chief Executive Ruth Parsons said: “In looking at all we want to achieve with world-class, cutting edge technology to immerse the visitor in the experience of battle, we quickly realised that the existing centre would not be able to accommodate everything we wanted.

“I am very excited to be able to unveil the new designs created exclusively for this project by Reiach and Hall. They bring with them a great empathy for what we want to achieve and I think they have created a design that will be the perfect canvas to the exceptional interpretation we are planning to introduce.”

National Trust for Scotland Chief Executive Kate Mavor said: “This is a once in a generation opportunity to look at how we present and interpret one of the most defining moments in our history and this new centre is the first step in achieving that.

“Another key element in the design is the landscaping which will open up the views of the memorial and give them back to the people of Bannockburn as the current building prevents you from looking straight through to the iconic statue of Robert the Bruce that is recognised around the world.”

Reiach and Hall design was unveiled just a week after their leading architect Neil Gillespie was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to architecture. Gillespie was also made an Academician of the Royal Scottish Academy.

Neil Gillespie OBE said: ”Along with Landscape Architects, Ian White Associates, and Interpretation Designers, Brightwhite, we are extremely privileged to be working with The National Trust for Scotland and Historic Scotland at The Battle of Bannockburn, a defining moment in Scottish History and a wonderful site.

“Although modest in scale our project attempts to give some gravitas back to the site, concentrating attention on the story of the battle, the rotunda, the statue of Bruce and the great prospect to the north of Stirling Castle and the Ochils.”

The new design - very modern and simple

Here you can see the landscaping around the Heritage Centre

Plans for Bannockburn Heritage Centre

So what do you think of the new design? Have you visited the Bannockburn Heritage Centre before – if so what are your memories of it?

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