Happy Birthday, Bruce!

You are hereby commanded by royal decree to enjoy cake and ice cream in honor of the birth of Robert, future King of Scots!  Today I give you a very short photo and video view of his birthplace.

Last April's trip to Scotland focused on the lands of Dumfries and Galloway, which include both the birthplace of Robert the Bruce--Turnberry Castle--and the site of his last pilgrimage--Whithorn and St. Ninian's Cave.

Here is what's left of Turnberry Castle

Standing by the Last Remains of Turnberry Castle, birthplace of Robert the Bruce

Below is a slightly different view that shows more of the expansiveness of the sea.  It was a thrill to stand here, to think of how the young Robert and his brothers must have played, run, perhaps fought (Brothers fight?  Never!) on these very rocks.  Maybe they swamp out in these waters, or learned to sail here.

Photography by Emmanuel's Light

Below is a view from on the shore on the other side of the castle from the previous picture.  Here, you can hear the water lapping--a sound Bruce himself would have heard every day of his childhood.

In 1307, after Bruce's Very Bad Year of 1306, after a winter spent in retreat, or hiding, as you like, presumably on the Isle of Arran, it is Turnberry to which Bruce returned in the early months of 1307, taking the English garrison here by surprise.  While I do not know the exact location of the landing, it may have been in a spot exactly like this, and very close to his castle.