Sunday, March 25, 2007

It is 701 years today since one of the greatest Scottish warriors was crowned King of Scotland. I grew up in Dumfriesshire, famous for amongst other things, the cave where after suffering defeat, Robert the Bruce went into hiding in 1313. He spent three months living a solitary existence at a time when The Wars of Independence were at their bleakest for the Scots, While evading capture by Edward Longshanks the first of England. Whilst in the cave and at the depths of despair, King Robert happened to watch a spider attempting to build a web - the spider would spin then fall, get up and spin again and again relentlessly until it eventually made the web. This gave Robert heart and is reputed to be the birth of the saying - If at first you don't succeed try, try and try again. King Robert then went forth from the cave on Cove estate, raised an army and won the Historic Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 - even though he was outnumbered ten to one. He established his claim to the throne and thus the beginning of freedom for Scotland. This photo is of the beautiful Loch Linnhe. There's something amazing about the sunsets in Scotland, and they're even better while drinking a cocktail such as the Scottish Sunset! Mix 4oz OJ, 1/2 Orange liqueur, 1 oz coconut rum, 1 oz grenadine, 1 oz scotch, add slices of lime and orange, and enjoy.

2 comments:

Ed Z said...

Sounds the The Bruce got a bad rep from Braveheart.

Damn you Mel Gibson!

bramble said...

Gibson ruins everything damnit!