Tag Archives: Stirling Scotland

Scotland Travel Journal ~Stirling Finale

The Victoria Arms was our lodging choice for Stirling. We dropped our luggage off here in the morning and when we returned after 5pm our luggage was in our rooms for the night.

After we freshened up we entered our Restaurant destination into one of our phones and started our walk to dinner.

Rob Roy McGregor (1631-1734). On our way to dinner we came across this statue of notorious Scottish outlaw Rob Roy, who joined the Jacobite rising of 1689 with his father when he was just 18 years old. His father was jailed for treason for two years. When he was finally released, his wife, and Rob Roy’s mother, had passed away. Rob Roy hid out in the Highlands under the patronage of John Campbell, the 2nd Duke of Argyll, and he built a house in Glen Shira. His fortunes began to rise again as he became a cattleman, but he lost all of his money and cattle due to a duplicitous chief herder and was declared an outlaw, his family thrown out of their house which was then burnt down on the orders of his principal creditor, James Graham, 1st Duke of Montrose. This began a blood feud between the two which lasted until 1722, when Rob Roy was forced to surrender and was imprisoned until 1727. He was released in part because of the success of Daniel Defoe’s biography of Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue, and he died in 1734.

We made it to Brea.

We all enjoyed our choices for dinner and dessert!

Laura found some interesting signs in the facilities…

and…

We enjoyed conversation with the mom and adult daughter seated next to us who happened to be from the United States, too. The mom enhanced our conversation by complementing a subtle feature on Josh’s hat.

We had a lovely walk back to our lodgings in the moonlight. We retired to our rooms for a much needed rest. Sunday September 15th was complete.

On Monday the 16th of September we enjoyed our breakfast at Victoria Arms before we packed up and ordered a taxi to take us to Enterprise Car Rental Agency in Stirling.

Looks like another beautiful day, Thank You LORD!

Scotland Travel Journal ~ Wallace Monument

On Sunday the 15th of September our sight seeing would end at the Wallace Monument. We could see it in the distance and were hoping for a tourist bus to take us there. We walked down into the center of town and stopped for a coffee and a snack before we found out that the Tourist bus had ceased operation at the end of August.

At the central bus stop in town Josh found out from a bus driver that we could take the #10 bus and it would get us up to the monument. After many stops along the route we were dropped off right at the parking lot for the Monument. We opted to wait for the mini shuttle van to take us from the parking lot up to the Monument.

We ventured inside and bought our tickets for the climb.

Greg and I made it to the Hall of Arms. Josh and Laura made it all the way to the top, 246 steps, in a narrow winding staircase!

The Arms of Great Britain

We all made it to the Hall of Arms and watched the video available.

The Arms of Sir William Wallace.

In the hall of heroes Laura and Josh spotted one of our heroes on this trip, John Knox.

At the Royal Chamber you could design your own coat of arms for your battle shield.

Find out about William Wallace here.

Laura found this little figurine along the way.

It was very windy at the top.

You can read the historical account of this battle and the history of this time here.

We were blessed with spectacular views on this beautiful day.

We took the tram down to the cafe and gift shop and I talked Greg into letting me photo him at the taking of Stirling bridge photo op. Josh and Laura made it down the 246 steps and took one of the last shuttles back down to the parking lot. We had ordered a taxi that arrived soon after. The taxi took us back to our lodging for the night and we finally checked into our rooms. We were surprised that the taxi ride cost us less than the bus. We had a dinner reservation at 6:00 so we freshened up and got ready to walk to the restaurant.

I’ll save our photos into town, dinner, and our Inn for another post.

Scotland Travel Journal ~ Stirling ~Margaret Wilson

We arrived at our lodging before we could check into our rooms and left our luggage before we walked uphill to Church of Holy Rude and their Kirk on the way to Stirling Castle. We had been given outdated information that there was a tourism bus available in Stirling but that service had ended in August. It was good we didn’t wait at one of the stops that were advertised.

We were so very thankful for a beautiful sun filled day to start our Stirling adventures!

“Stirling, where every walk seems to be uphill.”

We made it to the Church of the Holy Rude while a service was going on so we planned our look inside for after our time at the castle. My main interest was the Kirk Churchyard and the memorials to Margaret Wilson and other Martyrs.

Wigtown Martyrs Monument

 A large and ornate memorial to Margaret Wilson, one of the Wigtown Martyrs, is located on the shoulder of Ladies’ Rock in the Mar Place Cemetery. The statue shows the martyr in the act of reading the Scriptures, with her younger sister Agnes by her side. A lamb rests at their feet, and over both is a guardian angel. The statue is covered with an ornate cupola and glazing. The statue was erected in 1859 and was the work of Handyside Ritchie. Originally, the statue was open to the elements, but in 1867 an ornate cast iron frame and glass cupola was raised over it, making it one of the most distinctive monuments in Stirling, if not the whole of Scotland. The cupola was designed by John Thomas Rochead (1814-1878), who is better known for his design for the Wallace Monument on Abbey Craig. The frame was cast at the Sun Foundry in Glasgow, and when it was added, a marble lamb that lay at the feet of Margaret, had to be removed. The cost of the monument was financed by William Drummond, of the Drummond Tract Enterprise. Margaret Wilson was one of the Wigtown martyrs, two women who were drowned in the rising Solway Tide on 11 May 1685. They were both Covenanters, and the other martyr, Margaret MacLachlan, was a woman in her sixties. Drummond had a great love of the Presbyterian martyrs, and erected other memorials to them and other ministers in Stirling, including statues of Rev James Renwick, Rev Ebenezer Erskine, Rev John Knox and the Star Pyramid.

The words around the top of the monument are ‘Christ~In Us~Lord ~Jesus ~King~ Judge~ Saviour. I think there was one other that I couldn’t see well.

ny ¤ Ω

MARGARET

VIRGIN MARTYR OF THE OCEAN WAVE,

WITH HER LIKE–MINDED SISTER

AGNES

“LOVE MANY WATERS CANNOT QUENCH” – GOD SAVES

HIS CHASTE IMPEARLED ONE! IN COVENANT TRUE.

O SCOTIA’S DAUGHTERS! EARNEST SCAN THE PAGE”

AND PRIZE THIS FLOWER OF GRACE BLOOD – BOUGHT FOR YOU.

PSALMS IX. XIX.

REV XXII.   13 – 21

I wore my ‘Margaret’ t-shirt that I ordered from The Essential Church Movie. The story of the Margaret’s and Jenny Geddes really inspired me. More about Jenny in a future post from Edinburgh. This monument to Margaret Wilson is many miles from Wigtown, where the actual drownings happened.

A detailed history of the Solway Martyrs can be read here. Another account can be read here.

When the now limp form of the first Margaret was being tossed about by the swirling tide, the waters began to engulf Margaret Wilson. Her lips were not silent. First she sang the stirring words of Psalm 25.

My sins and faults of youth
Do thou, O Lord, forget:
After thy mercy think on me,
And for thy goodness great.
God good and upright is:
The way he’ll sinners show;
The meek in judgment he will guide
And make his path to know.

And, upon finishing this Psalm, she quoted the words of Romans 8:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to com, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

These stories make me wonder how I should stand for the Truth. I trust if ever I have to, God will provide all I need to Stand.

Other monuments to John Knox, Alex Henderson and Andrew Melville, early Reformers in Scotland.

We moved onward and upward to Stirling Castle and that will be another post.

Sunday in Stirling Scotland

After 13,000 + steps today I only have the energy to add one postcard from a full and wonderful day. Breakfast at the Ivy again in Glasgow and then we checked out and got an Uber to Stirling. We walked to Holy Rude Church, the cemetery, and up to the Castle. Then we walked to a bus stop to catch the bus to the Wallace Monument. Taxi back to our B&B and then we walked to dinner at Brea. Now feet up and ready to crash.

Looking to the Wallace Monument from Stirling Castle. We had a lovely mix of clouds, rain, wild winds, and sunshine today!

On this day we are heading into the Lower Highlands.