The Story of Willian Wallance(9)

The GREat deeds of Wallace have been told by many people. One of the earliest was Blind Harry, a poet who lived in Scotland in the fifteenth century. He wrote a long poem, called simply Wallace, which was first recited at the court of King James the Fourth and became very popular. Blind Harry’s poem was read and loved by Robert Burns, the greatest of Scottish poets. In our own time it inspired the film Brave heart, which tells Wallace’s story.

Wallace was never forgotten, but it was not until the nineteenth century that people began to feel that there should be a special Wallace monument, which everyone could see, to help them remember what Wallace had done for Scotland.

In 1814 a GREat statue was set in position near Dryburgh, in a splendid position above the River Tweed. This statue is more than seven metres tall and was made for the Earl of Buchan by a local sculptor, John Smith. You can find the path to the statue from the road between St Boswells and Dryburgh.

In 1821 a statue to Wallace was unveiled in the centre of Lanark, the town where his fight began. Then in 1869, the National Wallace Monument was completed on Abbey Craig, to the north of Stirling. To reach the top of this lofty tower, you have to climb 246 steps. Thousands of people from Scotland and all over the world sent money to help build it. Beside it is the Hall of Heroes, where you can find out more about Wallace and other heroes of Scotland.

There are monuments to Wallace in places outside Scotland as well. Baltimore, in the United States, has a copy of the statue on the National Monument, and there is another Wallace statue in Ballarat, Australia.

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