In the footsteps of Braveheart - 700 years later

Published on Wednesday 24 August 2005 01:06

SCOTTISH patriots retraced William Wallace's final journey through London yesterday to mark the 700th anniversary of his death.

It was on 23 August, 1305, that Wallace was taken from Westminster Hall, where he had been found guilty of treason, tied to a horse and dragged though crowds of baying Londoners to be executed at Smithfield.

Yesterday, the author and historian David Ross took the same journey, accompanied by about 100 Saltire-waving Scots, before holding a memorial service in the 12th-century St Bartholomew's church, complete with a coffin containing the "spirit" of Wallace.

"It's been a great day and long overdue," Mr Ross, from East Kilbride, said as he marched past bemused onlookers. "In 700 years, no-one has ever done anything to recognise the man."

For Mr Ross, it was the end of an even longer journey. Over the past three weeks, he has walked the 450 miles from Scotland to London, trying to stick to the route Wallace was taken after his arrest at Robroyston, on the outskirts of Glasgow, on 3 August, 1305.

After his execution, Wallace's head was impaled on a spike near London Bridge as a warning to other rebels.