A hundred years on and it’s maybe slightly less grandiose but none the less, the sentiment and statement that you folk are making here today is exactly the same as it was on that day in 1912.
A hundred years............it doesn’t seem that long............. but when you think of some of the events that have taken place in those hundred years............you get a feel of just how long this monument has stood proudly on this spot!!

1912 was the same year that the Titanic sank with the loss of over 1500 lives.

1914 witnessed the outbreak of the First World War, we had the Second World War, the holocaust, the Vietnam War, the Kennedy assassinations, Martin Luther  Kings assassination, man walking on the moon.................................we even witnessed St Mirren winning the Scottish Cup.

Who’s to say what will happen in the next hundred years, World peace, man on Mars, Scotland governing her own affairs.................................Rangers back in the Premier league?

Hopefully this monument will still be a focal point for all of those that feel the same way as we do about William Wallace.

Time seems to wash over monuments like these, unfortunately time doesn’t wash over us, it withers us.

But the next generation will hopefully step up and commemorate Wallace just as we are doing today and as we have done for the last one hundred years.

Wallace has long been one of Scotland’s favourite sons.............for centuries now his very name has been a symbol for freedom the world over.............a man who............unlike modern leaders faced his enemies personally.

Not for Wallace the luxury of sending young men and women, with incredible weapons of mass destruction, thousands of miles away to fight a remote enemy.

No, Wallace was a warrior who stood his ground, fought hand to hand, giving no quarter and asking for none in return.

Wallace risked his own life.............not just the lives of his army.

I sometimes wonder if today’s world leaders had to do the same; we’d probably have a lot less conflict in the world.

William Wallace though had no personal ambition and sought altruistically to free his country from the domination of an English King.

Simply put he was a man of the people who came to represent personal freedom as well as Scottish Independence.

People from all over the world come to Scotland in search of Wallace as a national hero.............but they generally find that the Wallace they find is a much more complex and ambiguous character than the well known legendary freedom fighter with his deeds of daring do. Of course Wallace was a man of his time, a brutal man some say, in a brutal time but his absolute insistence that no man or group should be able to dominate any other against their wishes makes him for me not just a Scottish hero but a universal one.

The freedom that William and others fought so hard to protect and which ultimately cost them their lives was given away by a Parcel of Rogues in 1707 by members of the Parliament of Scotland who signed the Act of Union with England. A parcel of rogues indeed!

I’m very fortunate that all my interests and time are mostly taken up with Scottish related events.
If I’m not doing something with the Society I’ll be out taking photographs and exploring Scotland’s historic landmarks and writing down my wee adventures for our website.

It’s my passion...........my hobby......... it’s my labour of love.............I’m also very fortunate to have an understanding wife who shares the same interests as me, and for that I’m eternally thankful..................it makes life a lot easier.

One of my favourite things to do if at all possible is to actually visit our Scottish hero’s final resting places if indeed they have one.

The first one I ever visited was Robert the Bruce’s tomb at Dunfermline Abbey........... I was taking part in a wee film about the Bruce for local schools and during a break I nipped over to see the Bruce.

I had all the gear on, targe, sword the lot.

The lassie on duty that day just looked at me and said, I take it you’re here to see Robert, aye says I...........and she took me over to his magnificent tomb where she moved everything out of the way so that i could get some nice photos which I greatly appreciated.

She then left me alone with my thoughts as I paid my respects.

While I was there I noticed a kind of high pitched buzzing sound.................a wee bit like the feeling you get after you’ve been to a very loud concert....................I asked the guide if she could hear it, she said she couldn’t hear a thing...........I dismissed it and carried on with my day.

The next graveside I visited was Sir James Douglas’s mausoleum and nine times out of ten you’ll have the place to yourself.

I laid a thistle on his effigy and I spoke to him, my mind wandering............thinking of how close I was to a legend of Scotland.

Strange thing was though I heard that buzzing sound again, there were no lights so I checked my camera, nope, I asked my wife if she could hear it, again the answer was no.

The next time I heard that sound was while visiting Cambuskenneth Abbey where part of Wallace’s body is said to be buried.

I paid my respects at the site and laid a white rose..............again I let my mind wander and hoped that William knew that he is very much in our hearts and minds when that noise started again.

Now that was more than a coincidence.........three graves, the same noise, I tried to figure it out rationally what could it be.

Friends suggested something psychic, maybe I was picking up on something?

After much thought I came up with my own theory...................the noise that I was hearing was the noise that a body actually makes when it’s turning in it’s grave at great speed.  

In 2014 Scotland gets the chance to decide on our future, we didn’t get that chance in 1707.
We’ll be able to walk out of our homes that day safe in the knowledge that we’ll return to the bosom of our loved ones while we decide what’s best for Scotland.

Wallace, DeMoray, the Bruce, the Douglas, John de Graeme, these men didn’t have that luxury.
When they went out to fight for Scotland’s freedom, they hoped and prayed to God above to help them return home.

What these warriors of Scotland did with a sword, we get to do with the stroke of a pen.
Is the pen mightier than the sword? On this occasion it may very well be.

When you walk into the polling station in 2014, don’t look on it as making a political choice.

Look on it as making amends, putting things in order..................look on it as doing the right thing and let’s lay these proud heroes of Scotland........finally to rest and stop them spinning for all eternity.

Ladies and Gentlemen I’ve been George Boyle, you guys have been fantastic, thanks for listening,

Saor Alba!!