Lanark

Cabinet 5

It was in Lanark, in 1297, that William Wallace first drew his sword ‘to free his native land’.

In 2005, a festival was started to honour Wallace’s exploits. This annual event continues today, with much ‘celebration’ occurring at ‘Wallace’s Cave’, a local pub.

In South Lanark are the remains of Bothwell Castle, a structure that played a vital role in Wallace’s struggle for Scotland’s independence. On the banks of the Clyde, it formed a strategic crossing point. As a consequence it changed hands several times.

‘Bothwell Castle’, South Lanarkshire. From John Parker Lawson’s Scotland Delineated. London: Day and Son, 1858.