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Caption: Scotland the Brave Land: Part One STIRLING
Caption: Ever since seeing Braveheart as a child, I've been fascinated by the idea of visiting Scotland and running through the highlands with the movie's theme blasting through my headphones. This September, I finally visited.
The following is the first in a multi-part series of stories about my time in Scotland the Brave Land.
Caption: "If you held the castle, you held the crossing. If you held the river, you could hold the realm."
Caption: I found these words written on the wall inside the museum at Stirling Castle, but they may as well be from George RR Martin's Game of Thrones series.
The two-sentence quote is so poetic and elicits such a powerful vision that it just has to come from a story.
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Caption: Of course, Stirling WAS the center point of a story, one of Hollywood's most famous (or infamous). A story about the war for a kingdom, for freedom from tyranny and oppression. About a seemingly outmatched group of kilt-wearing, face-painting warriors saving the realm from English conquerors after a rousing speech from William Wallace that your friend Mark can quote verbatim to this day.
Caption: Braveheart is of course rife with historical inaccuracies. The Scots didn't wear kilts until much later, and it was their Pict ancestors who wore face paint.
But as shown, albeit incorrectly, in the film, William Wallace defeated the English at Stirling.
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Caption: The William Wallace Monument
Stirling
Caption: The castle, however, would change hands more than once between the two rival lands over the coming years. Finally, at the Battle of Bannockburn, Robert the Bruce won back the keep for the Scots for the foreseeable future.
Braveheart romanticizes this too, at the end of the film:
Stirling
Caption: Robert the Bruce implores the brave souls gathered at the battlefield, "You've bled with Wallace, now bleed with me!"
Poetic as the words inscribed in the castle museum, this line showcases what the movie means to me.
Picture of Stirling
Stirling
Caption: Breaveheart is legend. It's my childhood. And it's the reason why I was here taking these photos. The lifelong interest in Scotland that the movie invoked led me here to this castle, this moment.
Capturing the country's beauty is my attempt to "bleed with" Robert, to show my support for Scotland the brave land.
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Caption: Stirling Castle
Stirling
Caption: FIN
This story is part of "Mapping Wanderlust. Learn more:
www.mappingwanderlust.com
Interested in supporting the project? Visit:
www.patreon.com/MarkIandolo
Stirling
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