Freedom is Best, Joan Sommerville
This watercolour by Joan Somerville represents the followers of William Wallace awaiting the English army before the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. The Latin inscription beneath is the lesson taught to Wallace by his uncle, the Priest of Dunipace: Freedom is best, I tell thee true Of all things
Chains and Slavery – The Craigengelt Slave Window
This window in the church of the Holy Rude is dedicated to the memory of Provost John Dick of Craigengelt (died 12 April 1865) and is most unusual in having a black man in chains before Christ. The subject is ‘Come unto me all ye that labour.’ (Matthew 11, 28)
The Hay Harvest by M. Fleming Struthers
Struthers was a prolific artist, who exhibited regularly in the Smith and in other local exhibitions. Very little is known about him, and this is currently the only work of his in a public collection. The painting celebrates the glory of a Stirling hay harvest and the construction of hay
Flodden and the Ring and Sword of King James IV
500 years ago on 9 September 1513, the Scottish army was defeated at Flodden. King James IV, and an estimated 10,000 men – including two bishops, two abbots, twelve earls, thirteen lords, five eldest sons of lords, and about 300 of Scotland’s most influential men – were killed. For generations,
Beer Porters by Frank Brangwyn (1867 – 1956)
This scene may be familiar to older readers of the Observer in more ways than one. Stirling was at one time a brewing centre, and workplace scenes such as this must have been common in breweries like St. Ninian’s Well, Burdens and Duncan’s. The image was sketched as part of