This morning we drove back over to get more of Stirling Castle. This castle was known as the bridge between the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands and as a brooch that held the two parts of the country together. I took a panoramic picture from one of the battlements that does show the Lowlands to the south and the Highlands to the North. From the interior of the castle it was easy to imagine the grandeur, political intrigue and military authority that emanated from these structures. Mary Queen of Scots baptized her son James in Stirling Castle as a Catholic. Later James was re-baptized as a protestant and raised by English Regents. James never saw his mother again and eventually unified Scotland and England as James VI of Scotland and James I of England. But, by this time James was thoroughly English, and it was clear that it was England absorbing Scotland and not vice versa. Such were the shenanigans going on at Stirling Castle!
At noon we drove a few miles to the town of Bridge on Allan to attend their Highland Games. We had purchased tickets in their Hospitality Tent. This included great views of the games, comfortable seats, a meal that included haggis stuffed chicken and good conversation with locals and travelers like ourselves. The games included competitions in drum and piper corps, traditional folk dance, foot racing, bicycle races, wrestling (the Scottish way), triple jump (a hop-skip-and-a-jump), hammer throw (not with ball and chain - rather something that looks like a sledge hammer), the stone put (like a shot put, but, you know, with a stone), weight for height (a 56 pound weight is thrown over a crossbar) and finally the caber toss (it's like throwing a telephone pole). This is very much like the county fairs we have in the United State, except in the U.S. instead of the locals participating in athletic events, we have pie-eating contests.
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