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William Wallace statue, Edinburgh Castle

Scotland's greatest patriot, William Wallace, before Mel Gibson gave him a Pictish-style Highland clansman make-over. Wallace had no connection with the castle in his lifetime. Had he gone near it, he would have been captured and executed by its English garrison as a rebellious outlaw and traitor. The statue dates from 1929 when the romantic Victorian view of Wallace as a Scottish folk hero enjoyed great currency. For the unveiling, hundreds of schoolchildren were lined up on the Esplanade to sing Burns' 'Scots Wha Hae' which served at the time as an unofficial Scottish national anthem. Although, as Guardian of the Community of the Realm, Wallace became a national leader for a brief period, he could never have become King - not that he wanted to - for the nobility would have never accepted him. His attempt to regain Scottish sovereignty was technically a failure, but his inspiration was instrumental in bringing about its ultimate achievement. Unlike Bruce, whose appeal lay with a section of the nobility, Wallace has always been the preferred hero of Scottish working-class patriots.

"The story of Wallace poured a Scottish prejudice in my veins which will boil along there till the flood gates of life shut in eternal rest." -- Robert Burns

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