The Battle of Falkirk
On 22 July, the army of the English King Edward I defeated the troops of the Scottish Guardian. At the time, the Scots were kingless but led by William Wallace. He’s the man best known to non-Scots as Braveheart and was portrayed by Mel Gibson in the film of the same name. However, Edward didn't achieve much with this victory, as the war raged on for over 75 years. Scotland remained as independent afterward as before, but their aversion to the English had grown considerably.
These so-called Scottish Wars of Independence were a result of the death in 1286 of the Scottish King Alexander III. His three-year-old granddaughter, Margaret, was his heir but lived in Norway and died on the way to Scotland.
There were numerous pretenders to the Scotish throne, including Edward I, whose son had been chosen to marry Margaret. The Dutch Count Floris V was another pretender. However, both of these men were unacceptable to the Scots. Ultimately, Robert the Bruce was chosen and he inflicted a crushing defeat on the English at the Battle of Bannockburn.
It's easy to guess which battle the English remember fondly and which the Scots prefer. In the delightful History of 1066 and All That, Edward I is described as "a powerful king," while Edward II (Bannockburn) is portrayed as "a worthless king."
"Ruthless" is a more fitting name for Edward I. The Welsh are well aware of that. Before Edward I turned his attention to Scotland, he made short work of the Welsh. To rub salt in the wound of the proud Welsh Celts, Edward had numerous enormous castles built on the Welsh coast.
Despite his victory at Falkirk, Edward never succeeded in conquering Scotland. But he did manage to irritate them. This was especially true when he stole the Stone of Scone – the Stone of Destiny – a massive boulder that the Scots used as a platform for the coronation of their kings.
Edward installed the stone in Westminster Abbey. It remained there for over seven centuries and was used in the coronations of English kings. It took until 1996 for the stone to be returned to the Scots, and they put it on display in Edinburgh Castle for many years.
In 2023, the Stone of Scone briefly returned to Westminster Abbey for the coronation of Charles III, who is, of course, also King of the Scots. This caused some commotion in Scotland, but the stone was duly returned to them in May 2023.
Incidentally, it's not the entire Stone. On Christmas Day in 1950, the stone was stolen from Westminster Abbey by four Scottish students. While transporting the 150-kilogram-plus behemoth, a large piece broke off. They took that piece to Scotland, and left the rest behind on a beach in Kent, where it was found a year later.
According to archaeologists, a total of 30 pieces of stone are missing from the Stone of Scone. One was found at the headquarters of the Scottish independence-minded SNP. Former party leader Alec Salmond, who died last year, was presented with it in 2008 by a descendant of one of the four students. However, most of the fragments are still missing.