Tour Scotland Video Robert The Bruce Scone Palace

Tour Scotland video of Robert The Bruce at Scone Palace, Scotland. The story of one of Scotland's greatest national heroes brought to life in the historic surroundings of the Moot Hill at Scone Palace, Perthshire, Scotland. Costumed actors telling the story of Bannockburn and Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. Robert was born on 11 July 1274 into an aristocratic Scottish family. Through his father he was distantly related to the Scottish royal family. His mother had Gaelic antecedents. Bruce's grandfather was one of the claimants to the Scottish throne during a succession dispute in 1290 - 1292. The English king, Edward I, was asked to arbitrate and chose John Balliol to be king. Both Bruce and his father refused to back Balliol and supported Edward I's invasion of Scotland in 1296 to force Balliol to abdicate. Edward then ruled Scotland as a province of England.

Bruce then supported William Wallace's uprising against the English. After Wallace was defeated, Bruce's lands were not confiscated and in 1298, Bruce became a guardian of Scotland, with John Comyn, Balliol's nephew and Bruce's greatest rival for the Scottish throne In 1306, Bruce quarrelled with Comyn and stabbed him in a church in Dumfries. He was outlawed by Edward and excommunicated by the pope. Bruce now proclaimed his right to the throne and on 27 March was crowned king at Scone. The following year, Bruce was deposed by Edward's army and forced to flee. His wife and daughters were imprisoned and three of his brothers executed. Robert spent the winter on the island off the coast of Antrim (Northern Ireland).

Returning to Scotland, Robert waged a highly successful guerrilla war against the English. At the Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314, he defeated a much larger English army under Edward II, confirming the re-establishment of an independent Scottish monarchy. Two years later, his brother Edward Bruce was inaugurated as high king of Ireland but was killed in battle in 1318. Even after Bannockburn and the Scottish capture of Berwick in 1318, Edward II refused to give up his claim to the overlordship of Scotland. In 1320, the Scottish earls, barons and the 'community of the realm' sent a letter to Pope John XXII declaring that Robert was their rightful monarch. This was the 'Declaration of Arbroath' and it asserted the antiquity of the Scottish people and their monarchy.

Four years later, Robert received papal recognition as king of an independent Scotland. The Franco-Scottish alliance was renewed in the Treaty of Corbeil, by which the Scots were obliged to make war on England should hostilities break out between England and France. In 1327, the English deposed Edward II in favour of his son and peace was made with Scotland. This included a total renunciation of all English claims to superiority over Scotland. Robert died on 7 June 1329. He was buried at Dunfermline. He requested that his heart be taken to the Holy Land, but it only got as far as Spain. It was returned to Scotland and buried in Melrose Abbey.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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Tour Scotland Video November Tay Bridge

Tour Scotland video of the River Tay and Tay Railway Bridge, Dundee, Scotland. The mist clearing on the River Tay this morning. It was a frosty and foggy start to the day in Scotland.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay. Reinvestigating the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879. The Tay Bridge disaster of December 28th 1879 shocked and horrified Victorian society. It came at the end of a terrible year for the British Empire. They had lost a whole army brigade in the Zulu War in January, and the Consul in Afghanistan had been butchered in September. The country was suffering a severe economic depression, partly because the rail network had opened up the country to products from abroad, such as cheap grain from the American prairies. And then the longest bridge in the world (approved by the Government) collapsed in a storm. This book describes the reinvestigation of the disaster from the original witness evidence and the set of photographs of the remains now held in Dundee City Library. It confirms everything concluded at the time: the bridge was badly designed, built and maintained. However, it is likely that metal fatigue helped bring the structure down that fateful night. Enlargements of the court pictures shows all the terrible design!
defects in the high girders section of the bridge, which brought it down. Warnings of the deteriorating state of the structure were ignored or concealed, and a whole train with at least 75 passengers and crew were lost that night. Never before (or since) has such an event occurred. The forensic re-investigation also shows why engineers had to convince the travelling public that they could build safely, the new bridge being the first result. However, it was the Firth of Forth bridge which came to symbolise that effort, a bridge which has become an icon to structural integrity. The book reveals that other engineers could build safe brisges from iron, especially Gustave Eiffel, whose iron pipe bridges still survive and carry trains in the Massif Centrale in France. His bridges predate the old Tay bridge by 10 years. And it his methods which have resulted in the brand new Millau road bridge in the same region. Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay: Reinvestigating the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879 (Revealing History).

Tour Scotland Video November Drive Carse of Gowrie Perthshire

Tour Scotland video of a November drive through Carse of Gowrie, Perthshire, Scotland. The Carse of Gowrie consists of a stretch of low lying country in the southern part of Gowrie, Perthshire. It stretches for about 20 miles along the north shore of the Firth of Tay between Perth and Dundee. The area offers high quality agricultural land and is well known as a major area for strawberry, raspberry and general fruit growing. Fruit is easy to cultivate in the area because of a southerly aspect and low rainfall.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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Tour Scotland Photograph Frosty Morning Perthshire Scotland

Tour Scotland photograph of a frosty morning Perthshire, Scotland. A very frosty start to the day in Perthshire, Scotland.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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Perthshire is at the very heart of Scotland and one of the most popular regions for visitors, offering a variety of Highland and Lowland landscapes with some of the most scenic and accessible countryside for shorter walks as well as evidence of its rich history at every turn. Perthshire 40 Town and Country Walks features traditional tourist hubs, such as Pitlochry, Dunkeld and Killin, with its historical connections to the county, as well as countryside around Blairgowrie, Crieff and Aberfeldy, finishing up at the Fair City of Perth and nearby Kinross. Perthshire: 40 Town and Country Walks (Pocket Mountains).

Tour Scotland Video 51st Highland Division War Memorial Perth

Tour Scotland video of the 51st Highland Division War Memorial in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland. One of my favourite Scottish War Memorials. A soldier with bagpipes and a child with a flower. The 51st Highland Division was the most famous British infantry division of the Second World War, formed from battalions of the Scottish Highland regiments, which fought in France, in North Africa, Sicily, the Normandy landings and the subsequent campaign through France, into the Low Countries and finally, into Germany.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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