The Battle of Bannockburn 23-24 June 1314

Monday, 23 June 2014 found us just south of Sterling at Bannockburn, 700 years to the day from the Battle of Bannockburn, arguably the greatest military victory in Scottish history. In this two day battle, Robert the Bruce of Scotland routed the much large force of King Edward II of England. Descending from Robert the Bruce were 300 years of Kings of an independent Scotland.

William Wallace
Monument near Stirling

The Wars of Scottish Independence between England and Scotland began, in 1296 and in spite of the famous victory of William Wallace (think Braveheart) in 1297 at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, by 1304 Scotland had been conquered.  However, in 1306 Robert the Bruce seized the Scottish throne and the war of independence was reopened. Initially King Robert was soundly defeated, several brothers killed, and his wife and daughters imprisoned by the English.  He fled to the islands, regrouped and eventually returned.

Stirling Castle was one of the most important castles that was held by the English as it commanded the route north into the Scottish Highlands. It was besieged in 1314 by King Robert’s forces, and an agreement was made that if the castle was not relieved by mid-summer then it would be surrendered to the Scots. King Edward II marched north with a formidable force of roughly 20,000 men, and met King Robert with only about 7,000 men just south of Stirling at the Bannock burn (stream).  The Scottish forces (composed mainly of “schiltrons” which were strong defensive groups of men bristling with long spears or pikes) repelled two limited attacks on the first day, and then caught the English off-guard by attacking the next morning. The English, hemmed in by streams on three sides had no room to maneuver, eventually fled in confusion with less than half of their men surviving.

               

On Monday we, along with Sister Bylund’s brother and some of his family, visited the wonderful new Visitor’s Center. On Saturday we (along with Sister Bylund’s sister and some of her family in addition to her brother and family) attended Bannockburn Live. In addition to a the re-enactment of the battle, this included medieval encampments and music, and other activities.

It was a very interesting and historic event to attend, we had partly sunny and party rainy weather (actually, mostly rainy), but then, welcome to Scotland.

The basic Scottish fighting unit: The Schiltron

In this short video (7 sec), Robert the Bruce defeats an opponent with his battle ax.

A schiltron attacks

 The final battle

The English defeated

A few of the variety of displays and booths

FUN with the Young Single Adults

The Young Single Adults were asked to decorate the LARGE hall at the Stake Center for the Gold and Green  Ball to be held after Seminary/Institute graduation on June 14. A large transport parachute was obtained, and then came the fun of getting it UP, UP, UP, stringing lights and other gauze curtains and ceiling coverage to transform the hall into a white wonderland. Unfortunately, it took a lot longer than was originally estimated. Fortunately, it turned out very delightful, with tables with green runners and vases of lilies as the finishing touch.

Finally, the big evening came. Fortunately, the graduation was nice. We had 33 course completion certificates presented, although unfortunately, only half of the people were there. Our council president was finally able to graduate from Institute; one of the courses must be Book of Mormon, and he missed that one on the course rotation, because he was on his mission. Several students spoke, then the Stake President and the government official from the Kingdom of Fife. The Stake President talked about knitting, then asked who knitted. One of the seminary graduates (a guy) raised his hand, and he was asked to come up front with his mom, and the president showed everyone a pattern for a cardigan sweater, and said the directions were just gobblygook to him. His point was that we need to have a pattern for our lives to achieve the best we can be, and fortunately, the gospel gives us that.  

Our stake president with city official and graduates

 The Gold and Green Ball followed with a live band.

Dance action --  celidh, anyone?

Our assignment was to sell the drinks, for a money-maker for the youth programs. We set up a little table at the back of the hall, and set up shop. Fortunately, it was a fun way to watch the dance and interact with people. Unfortunately, the amount of drinks we were advised to buy (at least 400 drinks, including bottled fancy juices, soft drinks and bottled water) was WAY too much. And it turned out out we only sold 1/3 of our water bottles, and about 2/3 of our other drinks. Also, unfortunately, we assumed that cups would be provided along with the plates, napkins, etc. So Elder Bylund made a furious trip around town to the few stores that were still open, and not being successful, went to the other building and got cups from our YSA closet. We didn't have a picture of us at the table, as we were lucky just to have survived the evening!  Fortunately, we have lots of drinks left for summer YSA activities!

YSA activities continued at a high pitch with registration for summer Institute.. We contacted the new seminary graduates, who are now YSAs.  Yay. They are very cute and make the rest of us feel a bit older. As a kickoff to our summer course, which will be Family History (yayay...generating enthusiasm), we held a summer barbecue. Fortunately, we were blessed with beautiful weather, the warmest day we have had so far this year. After some scurrying and confusion,  the coals were ready for the burgers, sausages, venison and other misc meat that people brought. Since we were right by the street, many people got to see the YSA in action.

Can you feel the excitement?

Some of the "newbies"

If you were counting up the fortunatelys and unfortunatelys, you will see that we are still feeling quite fortunate on our mission.  

The Great Canal

Ever since discovering that his ancestors (William Anderson 1798-1859) and Elizabeth Gourley (1801-1888) lived next to the Great Canal (See item 2 in Glasgow post), Elder Bylund has become obsessed (well at least infatuated or interested) with canals. This interest is augmented as some of my descendants also live near the Erie Canal (Kevin and Emily in Rochester).

The Great Canal (now called the Forth and Clyde Canal) is 35 miles (56 km) long and opened in 1790. It crosses central Scotland and provided a route for the seagoing vessels of the day between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. It was very successful in its day, but suffered as the seagoing vessels were built larger and could no longer pass through. The railway age further impaired the success of the canal, and the canal became dormant in the 1930s and was closed in 1963. 

Also built starting at Maryhill (the home of my ancestors) was the Glasgow Branch of the canal which connected to downtown Glasgow. 

Glasgow Branch of the Great Canal 

The Union Canal, from Falkirk to Edinburgh, was opened in 1822 and was similarly initially successful, but met the same fate as the Great Canal. It is a contour canal, which closely follows the contour line of the land and avoids delays caused by going through locks. It connects with the Great Canal at Falkirk. Originally there were a series of 11 locks to connect the two canals.

The Falkirk Wheel in action.

The Falkirk Wheel now connects the Union Canal with the Forth and Clyde Canal. It is a clever rotating boat lift, which opened in 2002, reconnecting the two canals for the first time since the 1930s as part of the Millennium Link Project. By insuring the water levels on each side are the same, the weight on each arm is also equal, regardless of where there are 0, 1 or 2 boats on either side. According to Archimedes' principle, floating objects displace their own weight in water, so when the boat enters, the amount of water leaving the caisson weighs exactly the same as the boat.

We took the boat ride up the wheel, up to the Union Canal and back down again. It rained some, but overall the weather was OK. It took about an hour and was quite the experience. 

The two locks connecting up to the Union Canal after coming up the Falkirk Wheel  from the Great Canal.

The approach to the Falkirk Wheel from the top.

The lock gates are still operated by man power. 

Pratt's Hill

Pratt's Hill or Arthur's Seat

     Each transfer, President and Sister Brown climb up Pratt’s Hill (or Arthur’s Seat) twice, first with the departing missionaries on Tuesday and then with the arriving missionaries on Wednesday. When they get to the top, each missionary goes off by him/herself, prays and contemplates about their mission, makes and reviews goals, etc. They then come back together and sing High on the Mountain Top, and have a prayer together. Each missionary gets a bookmark that has the hymn on one side and the following on the other side:

Orson Pratt came to Edinburgh as a missionary in the spring of 1840. He was 28 years old and one of the original apostles of the restoration, having been converted in Canada. His first companion was Samuel Mulliner, a native Scot, also converted in Canada. Soon after arriving in Edinburgh Orson climbed Arthur's Seat (known to LDS church members as “Pratt's Hill”). There he petitioned the Lord for 200 souls. The two men worked tirelessly preaching in the streets every day and seven times on Sundays. Progress was very slow at first. By the end of the summer they had only 23 baptisms, 7 of which were relatives of Samuel. However by the end of March the following year his prayer had been answered and in the Millennial Star he reported "1 left upwards of 200 disciples under the watch-care of George D Watt, a faithful and humble brother from Preston in England."

On New Year's Day in 1976, with snow lightly falling, Mission President Derek Cuthbert, his wife Muriel, some of their children and a few missionaries, followed Orson's example and climbed Arthur's Seat. There was only one stake In Scotland formed 13 years previously. A special prayer was offered for 300 men to be raised up to provide future leadership for further stakes of Zion in Scotland. In 1980 Mission President Lamar Poulton received the following telegram "Will be in Scotland on 12^th October to form Stakes in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Paisley. Most historic day in Scotland since Battle of Bannockburn-- David B. Haight.”

On 1^st Jan 2013 President & Sister Brown with a few missionaries prayed for priesthood strength so that Limerick District can be made a Stake.    

President and Sister Brown nearing the top.

The Young Missionaries coming up the hill
(white specks in the upper right).

             


















    We did not do this when we arrived in Scotland, and likely will not do it when we leave, as the senior missionaries are not on the same “transfer schedule” as the young missionaries. So we decided to do it last week. We had been told that they would leave the mission home for Pratt's Hill between 11 am and noon, so we planned to get there about 10:45. On our way to Edinburgh, they called and said that they were leaving at 10:30 and so it was decided that we would meet them there. We actually got there first. It was a good hike up to the top, and we were able to watch the young missionaries climb up the hill.
    Unfortunately, the weather was not the best and it was quite windy, foggy and cold on top. I had thought it would be warm, so I only wore a short-sleeve shirt; I was cold. But it was wonderful to be up there with other missionaries as we pondered about how best to "Hasten the Work."  

Our group of missionaries on the top of Pratt's Hill

The marker at the top. 250.5 meters is 822 feet.

The city of Edinburgh from the top. We did not take this picture, as it was too foggy the day we were there. 

Panmure Passage

In a previous post (A walk, but not in the Park), I mentioned a sculpture that I walk by most every morning.  I recently was able to learn something about it.

Panmure Passage 

The artwork, called Panmure Passage, marks the site where the RRS Discovery, which was built in Dundee, was launched from the Panmure slip on 21 March 1901. Is made up of 11 upright slabs of granite, and represents the ship's hull.

The sculpture was designed by artist Marion Smith and was made from a 27-tonne block of Norden Granite imported from Portugal. Each cut out taken from the 11 upright slabs relates to a cross-section of the hull of the vessel. The artist wants members of the public to interact with the sculpture by looking through the cut outs, touching the surfaces and walking between the upright blocks.

Completed 2009; Length 615 cm; Width 180 cm; Height 240cm

The granite was imported as one block, and when sliced the slabs were labelled so that in the final sculpture the sequence that they had been cut was followed. This means that the original rough external shape of the block is still evident. The sculpture relates to the vessel being locked in ice between 1902 and 1904 during Scott’s first expedition to the Antarctic.  

Looking form left to right

Looking from right to left

Mormon Missionary Choir "Wow" Scotland with their Easter Concerts

We were honored to be asked  by the Mission President and Sister Brown to organize a missionary concert tour for Easter. We had 2 months to get it "sorted." Advertising started even before the choir members were finalized, because we had to wait until after "transfers" to see who was still remaining in Scotland (as opposed to going to Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland.)

First practice in Edinburgh chapel on March 31

The concerts took place April 10-12th. The evening performances were held at the Stake Centers in Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh, with afternoon performances at St. Paul's Cathedral in Dundee, and St. Giles in Edinburgh. There were 16 Elders and 16 Sister missionaries in the choir, with one of the Elders conducting (did a fabulous job). They had a 90 minute program, which consisted of a lot of music to learn. But they practiced devotedly in any spare time while still doing their regular missionary work, and performed magnificently! They were only able to come together once for a two-day practice, before meeting for their final practice and performance.

Warm up before performance at St. Paul's Cathedral in Dundee

Elder Urbieta playing the bagpipes on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral to welcome the public in

At first we were a little worried, because we had several family members who were coming to visit at the same time as the concerts, so were motivated to really get it organized in plenty of time.  We enlisted a missionary couple in Glasgow (The Brownings) and a missionary couple in Edinburgh (The Bodens) to help with assistance and chaperoning, and they were a huge help. A big plus was that we were able to be with the family most of the time, and they were able to attend the concert.

The choir performs in St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh

The pieces performed were:

He is Risen                             

Jesus, The Very Thought of Thee         

His Hands                  

Long Ago, Within a Garden        

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing                   

Christ, the Lord, is Ris’n Today  

Amazing Grace                                                 

All In The April Evening          

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross   

I Have Not Seen Yet I Believe   

The Lord is My Shepherd   

I Know That My Redeemer Lives      

This is the Christ         

Hallelujah Chorus  from Handel's Messiah 

There were several  instrumental  accompaniments (flutes, violin, cello, harp, trumpets, bagpipes) and two short Easter video clips from the Church's website, and powerpoint slides of Easter pictures during the performance.  Also there was a good variety of choir, small groups and soloists.

The Hallelujah Chorus was amazing, particularly in the fabulous acoustics of the St. Giles Cathedral. During the program, tourists were milling around the cathedral, then drawn to the music; and by the end of the program, there was probably an audience of 200.  It was all just a marvelous experience!

Carma's collage of St. Giles pictures.  Maddie loved the bagpipes!

Act Well Thy Part – Second Reprise

A couple of weeks ago, we were at the Mission Home in Edinburgh for a conference for all of the senior missionaries in the Mission. As part of the conference, President Brown dedicated a new placement of the stone inscribed with “Act well thy part.” Since April Conference when Elaine Dalton talked about her experience seeing this stone (details in our previous post), numerous people have come to the Mission Home to see the (replica of the) stone, and President Brown thought that it needed a more suitable “monument”.

President and Sister Brown relaxing after the dedication.

The Stone

The plaque.

Those attending the Dedication. See if you can find us. 

As part of the dedication, Elder Browning told about his part in the story. He was the missionary in Sterling who 50 years ago noted that the building was coming down and called the Mission President. And as they say, the rest is history. Elder and Sister Browning are currently serving as the YSA Couple in Glasgow. Below is a video of him recounting his "part in history."

Burns Supper

Saturday night  (Jan 25), we were blessed to be able to attend the Burns Night Activity at Bingham Ward, and it was great. A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, the most famous Scottish poet, who was born on 25 January 1759. His birthday is widely celebrated in Scotland. We enjoyed a very traditional evening starting with the "Piping" of the haggis when everyone stands as the haggis was paraded around to bagpipe music.

This was followed by a recitation of the Address to a Haggis, a Burn’s poem, which starts:

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie {jolly} face,

Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!

Aboon {above} them a' ye tak your place,

Painch {stomach}, tripe, or thairm {intestine}:

Weel are ye wordy {worthy} o' a grace

As lang's my arm.

Just before we ate, someone said the "The Selkirk Grace" (attributed to Robert Burns):

Some hae meat and canna eat,

And some wad eat that want it;

But we hae meat, and we can eat,

And sae let the Lord be thankit.

The dinner was haggis, neeps (mashed turnips) and tatties (mashed potatoes) with cheese, crackers and shortbread for dessert. The one traditional drink that was missing was Scotch whisky.

A recent convert and her YSA daughter with their haggis, neeps and taddies. 

After dinner we had the Toast to the Lassies, a poem from a man about women, amusing but not offensive. This was followed by a Toast to the Laddies , a poem from a woman about men, also humorous but not offensive.

 This was followed by Ceilidh dancing. Several of the Elders participated as partners with each other.   

Three Elders along with the Bishop and his granddaughter during the Ceilidh.

 In a very nice gesture, the six young missionaries were brought up and asked to read Scottish sayings  such as “It’s a bra bricht moonlicht nicht the nicht” (It is a nice, bright moonlit night tonight).

They were then  given certificates signed by the Bishop declaring them to be honorary Scots. It was a wonderful evening.

Several of the Ward members came dressed in their kitls.

As our Stake President would say, "Good stuff!"

50th Anniversary of the Kirkcaldy Ward Chapel

The Ceilidh Band

 The Kirkcaldy Ward is one of the Wards in our Stake, and the first meeting their Chapel was 50 years ago on Sunday 12 January 1964. To celebrate, the ward held a series of events during the three days ending with Sunday 12 January 2014. We drove down Friday evening for the Ceilidh with a live three piece band courtesy of one of the members of another Ward.  A Ceilidh (a Gaelic word) is Scottish folk dancing; our American square dancing has its roots in the Ceilidh. It was also the YSA activity for that Friday night, so we also got to hang out with them.

The Pipers

The Ceilidh opened with two pipers marching in and piping for about 10 minutes, which was wonderful. They repeated it after the break for the band, but this time with three pipers. We danced a couple of times, and had fun. Towards the end, we danced the Virginia reel (which it is generally considered to be an English country dance, even though it has Scottish origins).

The main refreshment for the night was "stovies", and was part of a competition with our Stake President as the judge. There were plenty of stovies with oatcakes for everyone during the break. From what we saw, stovies can be most anything, basically what we would call a stew: potatoes, onions and meat of some kind in gravy with whatever else you want thrown in. We quite liked them.

Stovies - each was labeled with a unique name

We went back down Saturday afternoon for an open house. They had fantastic displays of ward history including a timeline along one wall of the cultural hall, a video of the youth interviewing some of the longtime members about their conversion and testimony and two service projects that you could join in and help out. It was really well done and concluded with the burial of a time capsule made by the Primary

children.

Timeline - this pictures shows 20 of 50 years.

Part of the displays for the open house and one of the two service projects

Burying the Time Capsule

 On Sunday we attended the Special Sacrament meeting. The Bishop and Stake President Watson were the speakers. Our Mission President and his wife were also there, as he is a former Bishop of the Ward. Interestingly, the final three hymns, “Gently Raise the Sacred Strain”, “Redeemer of Israel” and “Praise to the Man” were all written by William W. Phelps, an early member of the Church with Scottish heritage (1792-1872). The tune for “Praise to the Man” is the traditional Scottish folk tune "Scotland the Brave".  Following Sacrament meeting, there was the always popular "munch and mingle", with lots of tasty food. It was a wonderful and meaningful weekend.