Bruce and de Bohun

With the approach of the 704th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn this weekend, it is worth re-visiting one of the Smith’s more famous paintings. ‘Bruce and de Bohun’ was painted by artist John Duncan (1866 – 1945) as an entry in the national competition run by Kelvingrove Art Gallery

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Beaton’s Mill, Whins of Milton

With the rise of the internet, the sale of traditional holiday postcards is in decline. This lovely card was published by the Borestone Committee in 1907 and would have been sold at the Borestone Hut on the field of Bannockburn. Visitors often explored both Bannockburn and nearby Beaton’s Mill, the

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Bannockburn, Andrew Hillhouse

During the summer, this very detailed painting of the Battle of Bannockburn by Andrew Hillhouse is on display in the Stirling Smith Art Gallery’s Bannockburn exhibition. In it, the artist has attempted to include all of the action of the second day of the battle, 24 June 1314. The information

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Bannockburn 700 – Stirling Story no 25 for 18 June

There will be many commemorations for Bannockburn 700 throughout the world, wherever Scots meet. Bannockburn near Geelong in Victoria, Australia also has its own battle re-enactment scheduled for 22 June. Here in Stirling the Masonic societies in the Provincial Grand Lodge of Stirlingshire have had a commemorative dinner for over

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James Wedlake Bannockburn 700

James gives us an insight into the Smith’s own Bannockburn exhibition on the Art in Scotland TV webchannel.

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The Bruce by John Barbour

The Declaration of Arbroath, sent by the barons and nobles of Scotland to the Pope on 6 April 1320, was a document which underlined the freedom won at Bannockburn and shaped political thought in Scotland and elsewhere thereafter. This version was stitched as part of the Smith’s 2014 banner by

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Bannockburns, Robert Crawford

There are many interpretations of Bannockburn. Sir Walter Scott’s epic poem, The Lord of the Isles, published in 1815, is one of many literary works on the subject, and its hero, King Robert the Bruce. An episode is illustrated here in a window by Glasgow stained glass artist John Cairney

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Bannockburn 700 lecture

At 12 noon on Thursday 1 May, poet Robert Crawford will speak in the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum on Bannockburns: Scottish Independence and Literary Imagination, 1314 – 2014, which is the subject of his latest book. This is a rare opportunity to meet one of Scotland’s leading poets

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Remembering Bannockburn.

Remembering Bannockburn the Bannockburn Brooch

The brand new visitor centre, interpreting the Battle of Bannockburn, will satisfy every question, about the momentous events of 23-24 June 1314, when it opens later this year.  It is 50 years since the old visitor centre opened, to join the great flagpole, put up in 1870 to enable people

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The Stirling Observer Christmas Numbers are now the history journals of their times. There are many copies in the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum collections

Stirling Observer Christmas

The Stirling Observer  Christmas Numbers are now the history journals of their times.  This issue for 25 December 1949 is a recent gift to the Stirling Smith by Finlay Lumsden of Deanston, and is a window into the world of Stirling, 65 years ago. The cover is by Sandford Morley

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