How Scottish Was William Wallace?

William Wallace, Braveheart, victor of the Battle of Stirling Bridge... surely the greatest hero of Scottish medieval history... but how Scottish was he? Scottish history tour guide, Bruce Fummey, goes to Stirling Bridge to discuss the background of Scotland's national hero.

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Scotland History Tours is here for people who want to learn about Scottish history and get ideas for Scottish history tours. I try to make videos which tell you tales from Scotland's past and give you information about key dates in Scottish history and historical places to visit in Scotland. Not all videos are tales from Scotland's history, some of them are about men from Scotland's past or women from Scotland's past. Basically the people who made Scotland. From April 2020 onward I've tried to give ideas for historic days out in Scotland. Essentially these are days out in Scotland for adults who are interested in historical places to visit in Scotland.

As a Scottish history tour guide people ask: Help me plan a Scottish holiday, or help me plan a Scottish vacation if your from the US. So I've tried to give a bit of history, but some places of interest in Scotland as well.

[michaelfoley]

Well im an Irishman and everytime I watch your video's I see an Historian, a great Historian who gives facts, tells about legends and stories, all in a very informative and entertaining way. You may touch on Irish History at times but for me I love History, no matter where and who the history is about. So from Ireland 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪, I thank you for all your hard work going into the video's you post. It is much appreciated 👏👏👏👏👏👏

[TotallyFictional]

I love how complex family and ancestry can be. I was born in New Zealand, lived most of my adult life in Australia, and now live in Norway. My ancestry is English, Irish, German, and Australian Aboriginal. And through marriage my family now incudes Māori, Cubans, Icelanders, and Norwegians. It’s a wonderful and complicated world 😊

[chrissaltmarsh]

Well, I am English - that is where I was born, my mother was well Scot - and after years in France and the US, my home is Edinburgh and I won't move again.
I love Scotland and the people. A long and complicated history, and now a caring society.
Keep 'em coming, Bruce.

[alicewatt]

How dare people try to insult you like that. I am Scottish my son's were born here in Australia and their father is Australian but to me and them they're Scottish Australians. Thanks to you Bruce I have been able to educate them with things about Scotland that I didn't know. THANK YOU 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇳🇿

[andymcphee]

Yet another excellent video Bruce and such a fascinating topic. You must be able to think yourself around a corkscrew to make any sense out of medieval genealogy. How you don't end up tied in knots is beyond me. Well done sir, you're fantastic at what you do and your videos are absolute gold dust to those of us with a thirst for knowledge about our history. Looking forward to your next offering 👍👍

[tommygreer]

Thanks! Another great story Bruce cheers

[michaelgallon]

Yet another great video Bruce, I'm English, born in Ashington Northumberland, so disputed territory lol. I have been living in the Highlands for 48 of my 51 years, my wife is Scottish my bairns are Scottish and I consider mysef British. I feel we are all united on here because we all love history.

[rdotkey]

I only discovered this channel today and I love it. I've binged about 3 hours of these so far. Thank you for making these.

[mrmervinjminky]

Just a quick point for some viewers, that wasn’t the original Stirling Bridge where the battle took place, it was a much smaller wooden bridge a hundred or so yards downstream. Tony Robinson done an episode about Wallace and a historian showed him that you can still actually see the wooden foundations of the old Stirling bridge underwater to this day.

[lynnedunlop]

Great video. I am a Wallace, I love scottish history and your videos are so full of factual information. Keep up the good work

[Clan-Scotland]

Bruce, I salute you for this. I really do. There's no doubt, you are on the right team 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[benjaminlasseter]

Your point about Wallace's French is a good one, and quite clear to anyone who has lived in Louisiana. There are two completely distinct dialects of French spoken there. One group of French speakers speaks the French that comes from the French settlers who moved there in the 1600s, and sounds somewhat similar to Continental French. Pretty French, eh? The other group is the Cajuns, and Cajun French is a warmer sounding language, reminding one of French spoken with a thick Gaelic brogue. The Cajuns came from Brittany, via Acadia in Canada. BOTH groups of French speaking people regard themselves as Louisianans and Americans, though they also feel culturally distinct from one another. So it's quite possible to have people of two different racial groups with a linguistically different background living side by side and regarding themselves as the same and different from each other at the same time. It happens in several places around the United States. Thank you for this video. I learned an immense amount about the origins of William Wallace from it.

[davidrichardson]

My mother was born in Llanelli in 1923 and didn’t speak English until she was forced to speak it in school. She told me how the Breton onion sellers (not cheese, sir!) would speak Breton to the Welsh and the Welsh could understand them (and vice versa). It sounds a bit like the way Swedes and Norwegians communicate today.

[Renegade_Melungeon]

Your videos are such a great combination of witty comedy, fascinating history and wholesome goodness. I don't watch as much as I used to, but I am never disappointed anytime I see your content. Thank you for doing what you do ✊

[wyntersynergyundignified]

I am a descendent of William’s brother, John, and I’m finding this video quite fascinating! Thanks for the time and research you put in; you’ve got a new subscriber in me!

[rubytook]

Thank you for the subtitles! As someone with ADHD I use subtitles on everything as it increases my understanding of the content. Your voice in particular is a pleasure to listen to. 😊

[euansmith]

This is fascinating. Thanks, Bruce. The scenery is tremendous, too.

[scottishpensioner]

Loving your videos. I am not surprised to hear that you were a teacher, you are a natural. Being descended from Robert the Bruce ( I even look like him), I already knew he was Norman so it’s fascinating to learn more details about our real history. Thank you.

[fatimaabidin]

Excellently done Bruce. Loved the punchline at the end.

[chrisball]

To make things even more confusing, the Bretons originally settled in France after moving there from southern Britain at the same time as the Anglo-Saxons were moving in, which means that the Breton knights who joined in with William the Conqueror's invasion were arguably moving back to their ancestral homeland. Our modern understanding of nationality would probably be as confusing to people hundreds of years ago as theirs is to us.