The Society of William Wallace

WELCOME TO THE SOCIETY OF WILLIAM WALLACE

Tuesday the 15th of May is our next meeting at Elderslie Village Hall, all welcome

"I have brought you to the ring, now dance the best you can!"

Words shouted by Wallace to the Scottish army at the Battle of Falkirk on the 22nd of July 1298 as the English cavalry began to charge.

"This statue of William Wallace that flanks the entrance to Edinburgh Castle was the statue that inadvertently gave the inspiration to the movie Braveheart".
The scriptwriter Randall Wallace visited the castle while on vacation in Scotland, and noticed this statue, and was intrigued as the subject had the same second name as his own. He asked one of the staff who this famous Wallace was, and was quite simply told "that sir, is our greatest hero!"
This sent Randall on a quest to discover all he could about this man called William Wallace, and resulted in "Braveheart" being released in 1995.

EVENTS CALENDAR 2011 - 2012

	We're going to leave this at the top of our home page in the future so that everyone can see what we're up to or involved in. If you have a Scottish related event going on please let us know about it and we'll be happy to add it to our calendar. To contact the webmaster CLICK HERE

LOUDOUN HILL COMMEMORATION 2012

On the 5th of May the Society joined forces with The Strathleven Artizans for the second annual commemoration at Loudoun Hill in Ayrshire where both William Wallace & Robert the Bruce fought against English forces who were hell bent on making our country part of their empire, they soon saw the error of their ways as both encounters resulted in stunning victories for the Scots.!!

There are probably few backdrops that can match Loudoun Hill in all her magnificence, if you haven't yet seen it you should make a point of doing so, it really is a beautiful part of the country.

SOCIETY INTERVIEW WITH SNP INDEPENDENCE MAGAZINE

The Society were invited by the SNP Independence magazine recently for an interview to discuss all things William Wallace, how could we turn that down!!

We didn't!!

Duncan, Gary and George took part and explained what Wallace means to present day Scots and just why the Society is considered the first place to go concerning William Wallace.

Special thanks to Neil and all concerned at the magazine for the informal chat!!

BANNOCKBURN FUNDRAISER 10th MARCH 2012

On Saturday 10th March The Society held a fundraiser in the King Robert Hotel in Bannockburn. A party of our American friends, here on a tour with Celtic Force, also attended.

Our Convenor, Duncan, opened proceedings by welcoming everyone, including our friends from overseas, to our beautiful country. He outlined the reasons for this event, to raise money to continue the work of the Society, including funding two proposed statues & preparations for the Bannockburn 700th anniversary in 2014, begun by our late Convenor & friend, David R. Ross.

THE CLANRANALD TRUST

The Clanranald Trust guys who were at our fundraiser at Bannockburn might have got you thinking, who are these guys? Well let me introduce you to what they do, I'll let Charlie, the guy in the photo with Russell Crowe, explain!!

It started life as a drawing scribbled on a napkin. An image of a museum without glass display cabinets, without boundaries. A museum with fully interactive exhibits that would teach about Scotland’s past.

Fifteen years later that drawing is becoming a reality!! Click the image for more info.

WALLACE LETTER COMES HOME

Duncan Fenton, of the Society of William Wallace, said: "We have been campaigning for years for this letter to be returned to Scotland and this is a fantastic result - not just for us, but for the Scottish people who will be able to see this document with their own eyes and feel a connection to William Wallace.

"We do not have a lot of tangible links with Wallace as most of the documentation has been destroyed, so to have something that Wallace actually touched is a massive boost for Scotland."
And so say all of us, well done Duncan!!

DAVID R ROSS COMMEMORATION 2012

Scottish patriots gathered on the 2nd of January 2012 to commemorate the passing of our pal David R Ross, can't believe he's been away for two years!! Miss ya Big Guy!!

Society Convenor Duncan Fenton hosted proceedings and gave a heartfelt speech about how much David meant to him, sentiments that were very much echoed by other contributors on the day, John Orr, Gary Stewart, Charlie McAulay Robertson and George Boyle.

Big thank you to everyone who attended and to every one else who was there in spirit!!

SCOTS AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

David R Ross brought back some interesting photos from his last tour of the States regarding the "Scottish" involvement in the Civil War of America. It lead to a very interesting discussion and we thought it might make an interesting article for the site.

Our main discussion was centred around the Battle of the Crater which was part of the Siege of Petersburg. It took place on July 30, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade (under Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant)

DAVID R ROSS MEMORIAL FLAG AND HOW TO DONATE

This is a design that one of our members has put together with a view to commissioning a tribute flag for David R Ross which we could carry proudly at future marches, parades and Society gatherings throughout our social calendar each year.

I hope you will all consider my proposal with a favourable outcome.

I have thought very long and very hard about how David’s untimely death has had an impact on everyone who met and knew him, both here at home and also abroad in the USA. Thank You, William Ballantyne

Click On Photo To Donate.

WHAT WE GOT UP TO IN 2011

SADR ARMADALE	DAVID R ROSS STIRLING	STIRLING BRIG'

WALLACE DAY ELDERSLIE	ROBROYSTON	FALKIRK

BANNOCKBURN	THE WALLACE YEW	AVOCH

WALLACEWELL FUN DAY	LOUDOUN HILL	SMITHFIELD

	DAVID R ROSS COMMEMORATION

THE SOCIETY OF WILLIAM WALLACE ARCHIVES

In here you'll find some things that we got up to stretching back to David's walk for Wallace in 2005.

Some of the waist lines and hair lines have changed a lot and there's some faces that are sadly no longer with us but please have a look and take a wee trip down memory lane.

If you have any old photos of any events we've attended or anything you'd like to share with us then please send them in we'd love to see them.

Please get in touch by clicking HERE

DAVID R ROSS TRIBUTE PAGE

For those of you who may not have known Author, Historian and former Society Convenor David R Ross we thought it might be a nice idea to have this section on our home page to give you an idea of just how important he was to not only his friends but to Scotland as a whole!!

David spread the word on Scotland's wonderfully rich and interesting culture and history far and wide and was especially popular on the west coast of America and Canada.

David continues to be our inspiration!!

To contact the webmaster CLICK HERE