Failte gu Alba - Welcome to Scotland

Hi Mairiuna   You’ve now triggered my curiosity. Can’t wait to see the photograph of William Wallace’s sword.  He must have been a very tall and strong man to be able to manoeuvre such a big sword !

When I last searched my photos for that famous sword, I came across a picture taken by Harfang of the welcome panel that greets everyone at the border. What an emotional moment…setting foot on the land of our beloved Scotland !

Failte gu Alba, the gaelic translation of “Welcome to Scotland“ never resounded so dear to our heart, mind and soul then on that very special day of our arrival  in Scotland.

Remember how enthusiatic we both were ? I even took off one of my shoe and sock to ground myself even more to the scottish soil.

The Songs Of Scotland, Boosey & Co, London.

I can’t help myself to think about all those Scots army men gathered on the land of Bannockburn, under King Robert the Bruce‘s  leadership, back in 1314.

Imagine how, as the English were walking in, the speech of such a great chief must have boosted their courage to defend their land !

Robert Burns inspired himself of a similar speech to write a song titled “Scots, wha hae wi’ Wallace bled ! Click on the name of the song and it will bring you to a page where you can find the lyrics and score found in the beautiful old book I bought when we visited The Book Shop in Wigtown. I also included a very interesting letter written by Robert Burns  in 1793 about this song.

Scots wha hae wi’ Wallace bled! served as an unofficial national anthem for the country until supplanted by Scotland the Brave and Flower of Scotland . The official one, remaining of course, God Save The Queen.

Would’nt that be cool if I found a video to add to this post ?