Sterling - Gateway to the Highlands

Stirling Castle

It has been some time since I have written a post that focuses on a particular site and so I shall now remedy that with a little bit on Sterling, Scotland. 

When I first moved to Scotland for graduate work several years ago, one of my first foray without the walls of St. Andrews was to Stirling, just a few miles to the west of Edinburgh. It was some time in early November, the hills having gone from green and heather-clad to gold and brown with a smattering of deep green. For those who like history, this is a place well worth the visit. 

Stirling has been a settlement since the Stone Age but really took on its strategic importance from the time of the first Roman incursions into the area in the late first century A.D. It was a part of the Antonine Wall, which predated Hadrian's Wall, and was Rome's first major frontier in Britannia. Indeed, Sterling was the closest crossing point of the River Forth near the mouth of the river. For the Romans, it also anchored the south western end of the Gask Ridge which consisted of a string of Roman forts that ran roughly Northeast of Sterling all the way to modern Perth which lay south of the legionary fortress of Inchtuthill. 

Wallace Monument with the Highlands beyond

For this post however, I wanted to look beyond the classical period to a couple sites that are tied more to the Medieval era. In popular culture the mention of Stirling conjures images of the movie Braveheart in which Mel Gibson's William Wallace smashes Edward I's armies until the Scot is eventually captured. Despite some historical inaccuracies in the film, it was still a fantastic retelling of the story. Always good to see an historical epic win the Oscar!

But Stirling was indeed a place of battle, as portrayed in the movie, due to its strategic importance as the gateway to the Highlands; whoever controlled Stirling's castle rock controlled the flow of traffic. If you visit, Stirling Castle should be your first destination. It is extremely well-preserved, the great hall having undergone a restoration shortly before I visited there myself. When standing upon the walls of Stirling Castle one really has a magnificent view of the entire region in all directions. One of the most stunning views is of the 19th century Wallace Monument with the backdrop of the Highlands behind. This Victorian era folly rises dramatically to pierce the sky and if you have the legs for its spiraling staircase, you will have the benefit of yet another magnificent view. If you are a Mel Gibson fan, you will have a chuckle at the statue of William Wallace bearing the actor's visage. Why not?

Robert the Bruce - Bannockburn

After you visit the castle and Wallace Monument you should definitely head to the museum and field of Bannockburn. Here you will be treated to a wonderful interpretive display where you can even try on a bit of armour before you head out onto a supposed part of the battlefield where Robert the Bruce led the Scots to victory against the English in the year 1314. There is a wonderfully dramatic equestrian statue of Robert the Bruce on the battle field which you can check out, battle axe and all. Actually, Bannockburn has been in the headlines lately due to new archaeological excavations that have been underway to determine the precise location of the fighting which may have ranged over a wide area. You can read more here.

Stirling Bridge is there as well, the place where Wallace fought one of his major battles in the first war of Scottish independence, on September 11, 1297. Though the current bridge is made of stone, the fourteenth century crossing would have been made of wood. The bridge was only wide enough to allow two horseman to cross abreast at a time and the English, on the day, made slow progress. When part of the English army had crossed, the Scots swept down from their high ground near the area of Wallace Monument and utterly crushed the English. It was a battle to send shock waves throughout both realms. 

Stirling Bridge

Modern Stirling has a current population of no more than ninety thousand people. However, this was a place where history was made, where kingdoms rose and where they fell. In one day, you can walk from the Stone Age to the Roman Empire, relive major battles of the medieval world, visit Renaissance palaces and gardens and top it off with a visit to a Victorian jail. If ever you do have the opportunity, a visit to Sterling is definitely worth the journey.    

The Allure of Folly

Balcarres Craig Folly, Kilconquhar
Fife, Scotland

When I read or hear the word ‘folly’ spoken, I immediately think of something silly or ridiculous, a mistake. However, on a recent trip about the United States, I was reminded of the sort of whimsical folly that pays tribute to the past.

‘Follies’, from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries were buildings that were constructed for decoration only, sort of like massive garden ornaments that went several steps beyond the average wheelbarrow-pushing gnomes that bedeck many a garden today. The follies built by the rich and powerful in sixteenth century England and France were more along the lines of classical temples or artificial castle ruins. They were put up as decoration for lands and served no real purpose except to create a bit of atmosphere.

When I lived in St. Andrews, Fife, I remember, when driving through a certain village on a regular basis, I would often see some menacing gothic ruins on the hill above the village. For a long while my imagination ran wild with theories as to what it might have been, what might have happened there. Finally, I could no longer stand not knowing and asked one of the locals what it was. I figured that it had to be from at least the thirteenth century.

“No,” I was told. “That there was built in the late nineteenth century by the earl who owned the lands at the time. It's a fake ruin.”

I was completely gob smacked by this revelation. It looked so real from down the hill, so authentic, so damned cool!

Castle Howard, England
Tholos folly and mausoleum

After that, I started to see follies everywhere I went, or to question the origins of genuine ruins. I eventually got over that and began to sieve folly from the real deal. From the late nineteenth century more and more follies began to serve an actual purpose. Many were still wildly decorative but they also had practical functions such as housing or business space.

Follies come in many shapes and sizes, as fantasy or novelty buildings. But more importantly, to my mind, they are things that pay special tribute to the past in some way, to a certain period of history. And why not? We do so in literature and fine art. Why not architecture? Sculpture on a massive scale.

At the outset, I mentioned that I was reminded of follies on a recent trip about the States. Two places the road led us were Memphis and Nashville. When I think of these two cities I first think of the Civil Rights movement and of rock, blues and country music. I never imagined I would find two of the greatest follies to honour the ancient world!

The Memphis Pyramid, Tennessee

Memphis, where it sits cool along the east bank of the Mississippi, is a city well worth a visit. Along the river, Memphis’ own Nile, towering over everything else, is a monumental, stainless steel replica of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is, I believe, two thirds the size of the original but this does not take away from its magnitude. The thing is enormous and a fantastic way to honour the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis’ namesake.

However, it was in Nashville, three hours to the east that we really came face to face with the ancient world. In Nashville’s Centennial Park sits an exact replica of the Parthenon as it would have appeared in ancient Athens. Nashville was certainly making a claim on its being the ‘Athens of the South’! Those of you who have seen Percy Jackson – The Lightning Thief will remember the structure’s brief appearance in that movie.

Nashville's Parthenon, Centennial Park

I have been several times up the Acropolis in Athens to see the ruins of the Parthenon, imagining what it might have been like whole, before being used as a powder keg by the Ottomans. It will always be a special place, a place for the mind to revel in recreation. However, being able to walk inside Nashville’s Parthenon replica, to gaze upon the recreated monumental statue of the goddess Athena, was a very special thing. It gave me a sense of scale, of awe that I, as a writer, will able to make use of. It may not have been the real thing, but it certainly complemented my experience in Athens.

Nashville Parthenon, south pediment

When I exited the Nashville Parthenon, the sun was dipping in the west, casting orange light which angled between the rows of massive columns. The full-scale statues of the pediments seemed to shift with the shadows they cast. It was very peaceful, rendered even more so by a duo playing the cello and mandolin on the temple steps below the metopes and the images of Athena’s birth from the head of Zeus. It was all a bit dreamy, absolutely wonderful.

Statue of Athena, Nashville Parthenon

Many folks tend to dismiss follies but I say we should cherish them, for not only do they pay tribute to our past, to the great achievements of our ancestors, but they also enrich the world we live in, whether it is a pair of seemingly out-of-place columns flanking the doors of a public library or a massive pyramid overlooking the Mississippi. They are far and away more beautiful than an impersonal concrete edifice and make our day-to-day lives that much more interesting.

What is your favourite historical folly?

If you have one somewhere in the world, let us know what and where it is.