Declaration of Arbroath

In this momentous year for Scotland, as we vote in the Independence Referendum in September, I thought it would be good to Blip this photo of the statue which commemorates a previous momentous time in Scottish history.

The Declaration of Arbroath is a declaration of Scottish independence, made in 1320. It is in the form of a letter submitted to Pope John XXII, dated 6 April 1320, intended to confirm Scotland's status as an independent, sovereign state and defending Scotland's right to use itself.’military action when unjustly attacked.'

Generally believed to have been written in the Arbroath Abbey by Bernard of Kilwinning, then Chancellor of Scotland and Abbot of Arbroath, and sealed by fifty-one magnates and nobles, the letter is the sole survivor of three created at the time. The others were a letter from the King of Scots, Robert I, and a letter from four Scottish bishops which all presumably made similar points.

An extract from the letter:
‘..for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life.'

We shall see what this generation think when the votes are cast.

For views of the Abbey and the Harbour see my Flikr set.

It was a beautiful, bright day but very windy.