This was Homecoming Scotland 2014 signature event which immersed us in
Scotland’s history and
culture, commemorating the 700th anniversary of the Battle
of Bannockburn which
was on 24 June 1314 and celebrating the best of Scottish folk music, food and
drink.
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| The Programme for the day |
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| First Folk group |
As well as the Battle of Bannockburn re-enactments, the
biggest to take place on the Bannockburn battlefield and choreographed by
Clanranald, famous for their work on Hollywood blockbusters such as Gladiator,
Robin Hood and Thor II; there were more than 300 living historians working and
preparing for battle throughout the day within the interactive medieval
encampments allowing us to experience the sights, sounds and atmosphere of 14th
century Scotland. The living historians came from Sweden,
the Netherlands, Ireland, England
and Scotland.
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| Listening to the music |
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| King Robert |
Each day there were three opportunities to watch the
re-enactment, but your entry ticket only allowed you to watch it once. If all
10000 tickets were sold each day, people could only attend 1 of the 3
enactments as each re-enactment could only hold 3500 people for safety reasons.
On the Saturday this was a problem with many people unable to attend a
re-enactment which also meant that they were unable to interact in the medieval
encampment as you had go through a ticket barrier to get to both. There was
some unhappiness expressed in the Scotland on Sunday newspaper on the
Sunday and in the Scotsman on the Monday about poor organisation for purchasing and collecting tickets, for viewing the
re-enactment and the long queues for food. These were also expressed forcibly on
Twitter. There is to be an investigation into what went wrong.
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| Getting ready |
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| The English were booed |
My friend Mary Scott and I went on the Sunday and thoroughly
enjoyed our day out. We listened to Folk Music by bands unknown to us, but
seemed very varied. We went to the Geneology tent and learnt about new ways of
researching our ancestors including various DNA studies that are currently
being undertaken. Like many of these events, we queued for 30 minutes to
collect our prepaid tickets and a further 20 minutes to get a coffee. We had
brought our own sandwiches, which was a good move as the queue for food was at
least an hour long!!! There was a good selection of craft shops and Scottish
food to browse. However we spent most of our time in the medieval encampment
after enjoying the re-enactment of that famous battle which changed the history
of Scotland
as a nation forever. Edward II, keen to
retain the stronghold of Stirling Castle, had led a huge army through Scotland to lift the Scots’ siege
of his garrison at the Castle. Achieving this was vital to Edward’s hopes of
re-establishing his weakening grip on the country, but he was stopped short in
a pitched battle by the much smaller army of Robert Bruce at Bannockburn on 24 June 1314. Scotland remained an independent country until
James VI of Scotland
inherited the Crown of England in 1603 and united the Crowns of the 2
countries. In 1707 both parliaments were joined under the Treaty of Union and
we have been ruled since then by the UK
parliament which sits at Westminster in London. After a
referendum in 1997, Scotland
was once again given its own Parliament which has operated since 12 May 1999 at
Holyrood in Edinburgh.
On 18 September 2014, the people of Scotland
are being asked to vote either to remain in the Union with England, Northern
Ireland and Wales or to become Independent.
There is currently much heated discussion on this. As well as talking to people in the medieval camp, we listened to some talented ladies singing under the statue of Robert the Bruce and then met and listened to a young Pipe Band who were visiting from Dunedin, Florida. Bob & Maria perhaps you have heard this band at Festivals in Florida?
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