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The Seaforth News, 1932-07-28, Page 3THURSDAY, JULY, 28, 1932 rr >:9 THE SEAFO$TH'NEWS ere PAGE .THREE Visit to Stirling Castle—'O'chil and lands loom up in everlasting grand. IGtern lar rT,i'11s.,, IThe.,Linlcs of eur, down 'belldw me anld a little to the The.FoPbh.—Aibbey Craig and P'a'-'aleft is the old bridge of Sltirlingi near ' nta'nilor•a---^'The Tyield Of B'amttlock-, which stood the Kildeatr bridge, the .burn, Eta., ,Eta scene of Wallace's, greatest victory, and imagination pictures him looking down in lofty, ideally splendor on a country freed Mainly through Isis ex- er,•tions, Before me on the esplan'd,e Bruce' is still pointing and will point forever tdwards tBannloeldburn, the crowning -victory of his life, which se- cured the 'liberties of his oountt`y, 're- gistered, the deed of her independence in the, recording office' of the nations, anti placed it in the archives of etern- ity. I am s'tanid'iatg, on the spot where in'ang Kings and Princes sto'ad be- fore toe, The ,ground is historic,' Here Queen Mary and 'her'son Ja'me's VII. were crowned' and here ,many of the Royal Stuarts lived and died, hFany a time has the battle, fierce .and bloody, raged around the spot on ,which 'I am now standing, 'frdm the 'time, of the old Rblrnan warriors made a fortress of this rock and held' .as the key to ancient Caledonia, down to the .time when "The Hammerer of Scotland" held it, until it was retaken by the Bruce and 'became ISootl'ands forever. The surroundings are ,inspiriutg the spot pregnant with interest ,thrilling reminiscences fill my brain, the mind for the time iburste its 'fetters and sweeps bacllc millions of years, and in imagination sees old ocean dashing its wave's into 'foam on the rock on which I am now standing, as armies dashed against it in more modern times. The scene ibefdre me is ,magnificent, the ins'pira'tion is complete. Well do S un- derstand' the ardent, patriotic, intense feeling of the Scottish poet, when. he composed the .following lines while gazing poi such a scene as this, with a glorious national history wafted to his brain by every breath of air that fanned his fervid 'brow:— We cr'ossed over a draw bridge, a deep fosse through two walls of de-. feece'tattd tub .galteway,s, and Shen we really entered the stronghold, The whale fortress ..reminded me very, much .of Ediinibuugh castle, to which I hard paid three visits while in the nor- thern capital The only Part of this castle we were alldwed to enter wlas, the Douglas Room' andthe Gardens, In thiis;re'om Wit. Earl, of Doulgl'as, was m'u'rdered by James It and his body thrown ottt of the nwindoiw, be- neath which a skeleton was lately •dnig evidently the'remains of that pow - , l chief. This wing of, the castle was burned in 185'5, including the ' •Douglas `Raoul,• but was rebuilt in • keeping with its .former style. The castle is not 59 high as the Edinburgh eagle,. being 340 -feet above the tide level' and stooping pre,cipiitou'sly like the latter on one sidle, (•Pere it is north west. We walked round the ramparts. and viewed the country o'n.all side's, front the "Princes' Walk" to the ''La- dies' Lo'okJout," "Queen ivilary's Look-ou+t," "Victoria Look -out," the last taking its name front Qtieen Vic- toria's admiration of it in 1'843. T'he, view on all sides was without eseap- • tion the finest I ever set my eyes upon. It was one magnificent panor- ama over foreground's of exquisite beauty, away to Arthur Seat 'Tinto, the Lennox and Ochil Hills and the Grampians. Turning my eyes • down- ward to what is ]dawn as the Carse of Stirling, a part of which must have been at one time covered by the sea when the rock upon which I stood no doubt was the terror of the seaman and the cause of many a wreak, -fum- ing my eyes to the Carse cis .which the bright rays of an April sun were beaming, I beheld the "Links of the �"� Firth," wending their way through that green and lovely vale, like a huge sea serpent making his .way with many a curl to his hone in the dark blue sea, an,d many a curve and many a sweep, his head being lost to view away down •where the Firth of Forth joins the ocean. To my left is Asbbey 'Graig, overtopped with the Wallace monument, while away behind ire is Craig Forth, with its thickly wooded sides, and in. the distant north, the blue rugged m'ountains of the High - Her green tat'+tans waving , by blue lake and fountain, While prdud'ly she Jfrowns o'er the far distant sea: ' Here, 'enidst hes native wild, she has seretrel'y sullied, Whilst arnele.s and einpites against ,her were hurled,•, First as hernative, rock, she' .has withstood the shock ' 011 England, of 'Denmark, of Rome and the world. When. Kings of the nations in 'coun-' t,il assemble, The frown ,of her hrow makes. their proud hearts to quake, The'fflash of her eyes makes the bold- est to ^ tremble. 'T+he sound .of her war note 'makes armies to. shake, France 'lonyg shall, mind the strain 'heard on yon bloody plain, Which made Europe's armies 10 terror to shiver, En's'hrouded 'midst fire and 'bl'ood, the pibroch played long and loud We're dying but unsubdued, Scot- ,. land Ifoeeverl'r We now -passed' out at the gate by which we entered, taking a look at. the Parliament (louse (or Room), lee ,(feet Fong, which was built by Tarries 1111 Ibut is n:otw a barrack, as is also thfe presence ichaniber in James' V's palace. The chapel added by James VI. is now an armory.,, We took a Walk behind 'Castle Hill, which is ,a most delightful ,place„ and reminded me ,of the Lovers' Walk behind the Parliament Buildings at Ottawa, but it is mare beautiful still. The hill side is 'thickly wooded and has fine walks, and a well of bright, sparkling spring water flowing osdt of the ,hill side acrd spouting Aram a stone fountain, ,which has a cup chained to the rock, out of which 'the thirsty traveller may 'drink the best of all 'bevera'ges, "the cup. that .cheers bait not 'inebriates," The wild hawthorn and the cherry were putting forth their leaves and scent- ing the evening breeze, while a bright evening sun was smiling on the tran- quil, 'lovely scene. We stood entranc- ed, gazing 'towards the top of the castle for the last time, when we were accosted by a man and woman in a dialect which told me they were not natives of the soil, the one ask- ing me the time of day, the other for money, as they had travelled far and were hungry. My reverie was broken. I looked towards the spot from which the voices came and saw a than and woman smoking short clay pipes. They appeared to be '.poor enough but happy ,withal. We gave them some- thing to procgre refreshiinenits and started for the field of Bannioclalburn, which is about three utiles distant. We passed through the vil'l'age of 'St. Ninians with its church tower which was .used by Prince Charley as a pow- der magazine in, 1li440, he having halt- ed here on his retreat. It is. said that an,expl'osion took place, which ,blew "Let Italy boast of ,her gay shining waters, Her views and her towers and her bright spangled skies, Her sons drinking love from the eyes of Herdaughters) While ifreedom ;expires 'midst cold- ness and sighs. Scotland's 'blue mountains wild, Where hoary cliffs are piled. Towering in' grandeur far dearer to me; Land olf 'the misty cloud, land of the torrent 'loud, Land of the lbold and proud, laird of the free: Enthroned on tthe peak of her own Highland mountain, The spirit of'Sicotia sits fearless and free, HE requirements for a suc- cessful and , satisfactory trip by ,° canoe; • suitable ,water? Pioturesq ue country and, an #l,,r•� exice@len;4 summer climate, can be found almost, a» y - where,;. to Canada. The innumerable lakes and rivers make the ,choice of 'trips alntast, unlimited. One can travel for hundreds of miles on any of the great'rivlens, j,ourneyin'g.'from lake to lake and Portaging where rapi'd's im- pede or heights intervene. Having de. cided'`upon the kind of trip 16 be made,.wse,ther one nelqusring nine h ef- feet,' and experience, or one quite free, from rapids and portages, the canoe- ist has only to select his route; Easy of Access. yAllthloug h railwaysrailways.and the auto- mobile have provided, a means of rapid transipodt, there are countless, 4 Link dby Link the• chain • is..made.!7: - French Proverb AS the Ancient Romans used to say "Step by step, one goes to Roane. ". Everything can be achieved by degrees if you set your face clearly towards your objective and advance in a straight line. "Dollar by dollar, your security is made more certain." Apply this new proverb to your per- sonal financing. Start a Savings Reserve -- set an objective and see how quickly you will achieve it, if you but add to deposits every week. Vitally important is the beginning start NOW:. Seventeen Branches in Ontario OViNCE OF NAVINGS OFFICE EVERY DEPOS/TGAPANNfED_ 8YO»TARIOGa!ERNMFNT• PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS HEAD OFFICE SEAFORTH BRANCH J. M. MGMILLAN, MANAGER Sr the 'church to pieces, leaving the is'o- bat, but Br'uc'e soon cleft his head in lated tower es We now see it Here are the ruins of a castle which 'be- longed to Sir John Graham, the trus- ty friend of 'Wallace, also Bruce cas- tle, an old ruined building. On am way to Bannockburn we passed the village of ,Newhouse, .where tRan+dolph'shivere.d by the powerful blow which with 500 infantry defeated Surrey laid the Knight dead at his feet. Gil - with 800 cavalry, the evening before lies Hill, on top 0f which . Bruce's the battle. In due time we arrived at camp followers appeared .during the the !famous battle field and were sad- battle, leaving the English to believe ly disappoin'ted to find that the whole that • his reserves were coming up, country was in a perfect state of cul- which added' to their d'iscotnfiture, tivation and there was, nothing like a battle (held such as I had depicted in my. intagina'tion. However, there utas the Bore !Static with a tall cast-iron flagstaff, not in the original stone, but in one brought there for the purpose. The original Bore Starve is incased in iron to prevent relic hunters front carrying it all away in 'nieces to put it in rings and brooches. fit has in- deed been shamefully abused by relic hunters. An intelligent young man pointed oust a white farm house where the right .wing of Bruce's army stood and then the place where the left wing was ,placed was also shown, while Bruce with the centre ocotipied the spot on Which the flagstaff stands. To Bruce's left hand were the steep banks of the Bannock, a small stream which gives the name to the battle field. This prevented Edward's army from operating on Wis left flank. Dir- ectly in front df the centre which Bruce commanded was a soft morass, which prevented any attack, especia- ly by cavalry, in that .direction. Away to his right, where the other wing was placed, the ground was nota so Soft nor wet, but here Bruce tools the precaution to dig pits in which; he placed sharp pikes and covered them nicely over. The horsemen, it seems, tried the left, blit found the riv,er banks'.too steep, they could iiot cross opposite the centre, which w'as a mere morass: they then dashed on the right Wing wing, but many of their horses falling into the pits they were throw's into 'confusion, .which was a signal for the' Scot's army to attack, which they did simultaneously with great fury, figh'tin'g with a determination either to be victorious or to die ,on the field,. They were fighting for their very na- tional existence, and this thought as �r^ell as the heroic conduct of their brave leader, nerved them for the un- equal ,contest.• The language which' the poet ,uses in reference to the 'Greeks, when fighting for their 'independence against the !Turks, might well have been applied to' the Scots upon this oc as ion :--• two with his battle axe. Ills attend - eats remonstrated with him for risk- ing his life in that .manner, when he jocularly .replied that what concern- ed hint most was the loss of his .good battle axe, the handle of which was tures en'ooimltened en route: Iii soime places one may travel hundreds of miles with'out meeting obstacles of any kind. There is a remarkable contrast be- tween the conventionality of modern life and the full naturalnesls of life in the great forest; where one may relax, amid the beauty of natural surround- ings. A strange appeal of ,imagination comes to one while following the routes of the historic explorers and contentment prevails amid the con-, Stant change of beautiful scenery. places in the quiet of the. forest, out' of reach of, either.' It is such Places, approachable canoe, that invite the partake Of the wondersrail- ways aind thegood ro'adis have h'omajor- ity of canoe easily aecessilble, an, travel far from the niadia'n cities beforebarking point of ane Foraic'hab,lle only by e adventurer to of nature. The d'eveiolpment of (waver made the routes in Canada d one need not majority of 'Ca reaching the eisa enjoyable trip. est Beauty. ' In certain parts one may follow the streams far a Tong summer .outing and never see a' village or' dwelling, Fish and Game in Abundance. 'Canadian lakes and rivers ane re- nawite'd for the variety and abundance of their +fist. Brook and lake trout are numerous, the latter often weighing from fifteen to thirty pounds while other species of fish are plentiful. Ea'stern Canada is well provided with waterways, well suited to travel by canoe. Canal systems, rivers large and small, 'rapids, falls, lakes, s'tillwsters and all the requirements for an ,enjoy- able canoe trip, await the devotee of the, paddle. ; Whether it be a cruise through a well settled region, or an adventurous journey through the wilderness, the canoe'is't will find ate almost unlimited number of lakes and streams. The waterway's of western Canada, in days gone by, assi,st,ed materially in unveiling the mystery of :the great country between lake 'Sup'erior aie4 thle Pacific Ocean..Radiiatiing from lake Winnipeg, are routes of ranian'tic interest, Nestling among the m'o'on- tain's of the coast ere many beautiful lakes, also stream's that wind throu•gli the hills, where slpot{t for the angler and hunter may be found," rmation. ve of d' an be ar yet civ bization lies so eldse that re- covers the Maritime Provinces, ^Que turn is easily pos'si'ble, Waterfalls, ma= .bee, Ontario and Western Canada, pills large and small, lakes of ?singu'la'r Farther detailed; information is avail 'beauty hidden deep i'n,th,e forest, and able to those who require, specific an English Knight Of known skill and islands covered with pine land' spruce data an` any particular trip, bravery, They engaged in single corn- trees are among the interesting fes- Tree Info The National Development Bureau of the IDepartnen,t the Interior aft Ottawa, has prepare a series of four' 'booklets entitled "Canoe Trips," cop- ies of :whie'h' may had by our, rea'd'ers, free iaf charge. The. series Services We Can Render In the time of need PROTECTION is your best !friend. Life Insurance -To .protect your LOVED ONES. Auto Insurance— tooPUiBLIrotectC and ou against PROPERTY. Fire Insurance— To protect your HOME and its: CONTENTS. Sickness and Accident Insurance— To protect your INCOME Any of the above lines we can give was poitited out to us. It is a thickly you in strong and reliable companies: wooded hill of soave height, to the If interested, cal'1 or write, right of (Bruce's right wing and Coit- E, C. C,HACIBERLAiN mustha behind. The camp followers I•NS'URANCE AGENCY must have hada fine view of the bat- Phone 33'4 Seaforth, (Int, tle from such an eminence, and as there .was no powder and 'bullets in those days, ,they were perfectly safe. It must have been a glorious sight. 'Tweee worth 'ten years of peaceful life, One glance at that array." It would be as fine a sight as that which the poet Campbe]'l had of Ho- ltenlinslen Trani the top of a convent. His description of that battle was from eye sight. - Tlie panorama actual- ly passed before him. We walked an to a small; village on the banks of the Babcock, that we night have a good view of the ground that Edward and. his army occupied and the difficulties he had to encounter and as we looked up to Brock 13,rae, where Bruce and his centre stood anti observed the low ground in his front, which was a marsh in his day, with his left pro- tected by the steep bank of the river with ground no doubt rough and un- even at that remote time, his, right wing also on rising ground, protect- S. J. HUNGERIk'ORD, who will be ed by pits dug in' the low ground at acting president of the Canadian, their front, as the looked at this, the 'National Railways, following 'Sir more .we admired Bruce's generalship ' Henry Thorittoit's h esignatioti. in choosing such an advantageous po- sition, and when we considered that he was fighting far his rightful crown anti for the liberties Of his native land, awhile Edward was an 'inva'de'r, a tyr- ant and a usurper, when I thought of that and also that fortune generally .favors the Tells, the Wadlaces, the Washingtons, those who fight fey bot- nman liberty, I' no longer wondered that 30,000 or '40,000 .Scots, poiorly. equipped, pert 100,000 of the best sol- diers of that day to flight, We were told' the people from., all parts of the world visit the field of Bannocldbu'rn, and especially a large number frons America. As the suti was now sinking back to the flagstaff., leaving a sight of the rill at the. village' of Newton to the right as me returned, where James, IDI., was murdered after the 'battle of Satiohieiburn, which was fought with Nis awn sen and his rebellious nolbies, We were'fully satisfied' with our ex- amination of the field, and with our informant, who h'ad now left us. We were alone' with the Bore Stain, which has a round hole in the centre where Bruce's flagstaff' was placed and every indication of being the real stone' that did service on that ' ever. me'mlorable day in Scottish h'isitoe'y. By 0. ppression s woes and pains! Turning Ducie more' towards the' By your sofa's' in servile dha,ltyysf, h imagination we beheld Ring We will drain our dearest ,vdtrs south, in g Eicllward and his grand army on the opposite side of the Bannock, while Bpuce with three to one against him, makes up his round to secure the ,in - "Strike till the last armed foe exj ir,es, (Strike for your altars and your fires 'Strike for She green graves and your sires, iGod and your native land. They did it and did it well, too, 'The army of King Robert was estimated at somewhere between 30,000 and 40,- 000, the Engli's'h army at 100,000. His- torliaays informus that 30,000 English fell on the field and 20;000 more were killed' in the. pursuit. 'This, great b'at- tle was fougiht, on the 24th day of June, +10114, mild sealed ' forever the in - 'dependence of 'Slcdtland. • Bruce; while riding on his palfreys it is said, met dependence of hi, country or die in the attempt. Edery numisprepared' to do the sante. To nny mind 'as he rode along the ranks oe his HigihIand pony he iwould addresls some such lan- guage as (Burns puts into his anoutls in his stirr'in'g poem of "'S'cot's whet hae wi' Wallace bled," so mounting the Bore Stanc we recited the poem to the flagstaff, the green field's and the wimplin' burn, Making the cainin ,evening air of Bannockburn ring with the voice of a free Canadian and the ever sacred (voices of human liberty;— "Scats, wha Alae'wi':'Walla,ce bled, Scot's, 'wham 'Bruce has often led; Welcome 10 your gory bed: Or to Victory! Now's the day, and now'sthe hour; See the front o' battle lour; See approach proud Edward's power- Chains and slavery( Wha will be a traitor knave 1' Wiia can 111'1 a •c,oward's gravel' Wha sae base as be a slaver 'Let ,hien turn and flee! Wha, frons, 'Scotland's king and la'w, Freedom's sword will strongly draw; Freeman stand, or freeinati fa', Let Minn follow and But they ,Shall be 'heel Lay the proud usurpers fowl Tyrants fall in' every feel Liberty's in every 'blow 1— Let tis do or idle!"