Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022

Part One – William Wallace

What is a story? From early in our lives we are told that a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. It has a purpose, a moral, a central message. They often contain heroes…and villains. There may be a central conflict, but on the other hand it may simply be a journey.

2022 is the Year of Scotland’s Stories, the people, the places, the events that shaped Scotland. Scotland’s story is on-going, stretching far into the distant shadows of the past, surrounding the people currently passing through and reaching further into a future yet to emerge, glowing distantly over the horizon.

The beginning of our story

What better place to start than at the very beginning for The National Wallace Monument?

However, the very beginning isn’t easily defined. William Wallace was born, he existed. This is a fact. But William Wallace lacks a birthday. Historians, writers, any others interested in his story can only guess an approximate year of birth.

William Wallace’s story as recorded actually begins in the middle. His first known act is one of retaliation, perhaps even vengeance.

The scene is set in Lanark. It is May 1297 and William Heselrig, the Sheriff of Lanark is holding court. Heselrig was an officer of King Edward I of England’s regime and therefore, to some, he represented an occupier. Edward had long coveted expanding his influence to include the Kingdom of Scotland. By 1297 he had near secured his wish.

For reasons unknown, Wallace and a band of followers attacked. It may have been sparked by an earlier disagreement, some say that Heselrig struck first. There are even some tales the tell Heselrig had personally murdered Wallace’s wife, though her name exists only as a tale itself.

Heselrig would not live to see another day, the fatal blow struck by Wallace’s hand.

Wallace’s rebellious activity

This marked the beginning of an eventful year for William Wallace. His act of rebellion at Lanark earned him some more notoriety and perhaps more followers. It sent Wallace on the path to meeting Andrew de Moray, the son of a nobleman and instigator of rebellion in the north east.

In killing William Heselrig, Wallace had placed another link in the chain that lead to one of Scotland’s greatest stories.

On 11th September 1297 the combined forces of William Wallace and Andrew de Moray defeated the English army of Edward I at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Along with Bannockburn in 1314, this would remain among the greatest stories of triumph in Scotland’s story.

Wallace’s legacy lives on

William Wallace would be remembered for centuries for his heroism and also his untimely gruesome death. The rest of his story…well, that is mostly up to you.

Prior to 1297 and after 1298 the path of this tale grows dim. Few written records survive, the rest becomes speculation and guesswork. Wallace’s legacy relies on word of mouth or pen set to paper, often hundreds of years after he was gone.

He would eventually be remembered by the creation of memorials in his name, including the National Wallace Monument. The end of Wallace’s own story becomes the beginning of ours.

Or perhaps it isn’t a beginning nor an end. Perhaps this is a continuation, 725 years and counting…

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