edenburned: Hairy Coo (Round II)

For one of Vicki's last days in Scotland, we decided to head up into the Highlands – while she did a couple of paid tours on her own, we booked into the free Hairy Coo tour together. You may remember that I previously did this tour in October with Kate. So while there weren't really any surprises on the trip, it was still quite fun, and seeing the highland cows is always a treat!

Since the tour leaves quite early, we of course *had* to stop at Starbucks first. Also, I love that nail polish so much.

The first stop on the tour is just outside Stirling, at the William Wallace Monument. Built in 1869, the monument houses Wallace's massive broadsword.

The monument overlooks the site of the Battle of Stirling Bridge:

On 11 September 1297, an army jointly led by Wallace and Andrew Moray won the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Although vastly outnumbered, the Scottish army routed the English army. John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey's professional army of 3,000 cavalry and 8,000 to 10,000 infantry met disaster as they crossed over to the north side of the river. The narrowness of the bridge prevented many soldiers from crossing together (possibly as few as three men abreast), so, while the English soldiers crossed, the Scots held back until half of them had passed and then killed the English as quickly as they could cross. The infantry were sent on first, followed by heavy cavalry. The Scots' schiltron formations forced the infantry back into the advancing cavalry. A pivotal charge, led by one of Wallace's captains, caused some of the English soldiers to retreat as others pushed forward, and under the overwhelming weight, the bridge collapsed and many English soldiers drowned. Thus, the Scots won a significant victory, boosting the confidence of their army. (x)

It wasn't that nice of a day out unfortunately – though it didn't actually rain, it was overcast most of the day.

After leaving the monument, we briefly stopping in Stirling at the base of Stirling Castle.

We then headed over to Lake Menteith, one of Scotland's few actual lakes (as compared to lochs)

It was pretty chilly at this point, so we all kind of huddled around on the beach for a couple minuets before quickly heading back into the bus.

Next stop was for lunch, at some small town (I can't remember where). We grabbed a pub lunch before taking a walk along the river before hopping back on the bus.