IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Stirling Bridge, Scotland.

I recently watched Braveheart again, a film which I've always liked a lot despite my knowledge that the history in the film is incredibly bad. And when I say "bad", I mean that the film gets these facts right:

1. There was a guy named William Wallace.
2. This guy named William Wallace pissed off King Edward of England but good.
3. The Scots loved William Wallace because he pissed off King Edward of England but good.
4. King Edward of England got the last laugh on William Wallace, in the way that medieval Kings usually got the last laugh on their enemies.

Most of the other stuff in the film is complete fabrication. The Battle of Stirling, as depicted in the film, takes place on a plain old field and the charging English cavalry are butchered when Wallace and company hold up long spears for the cavalry to impale themselves against. However, the real battle was actually the Battle of Stirling Bridge, and this is where that battle took place.

This isn't the actual bridge; the original is long gone, but this one is thought to be very near the spot where the original bridge stood.

Here's a site that tells the actual history of the Battle of Stirling Bridge. History seems a bit unclear as to whether or not Wallace and his men all lifted their kilts and displayed their manhood to the English troops before slaughtering them, but I rather doubt it. Nor did he demand, before battle, that the English commander present himself before the Scottish force, bend over, put his legs between his knees, and kiss his own arse. The filmmakers made that up, too.