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A 2000-year-old ancient Roman road was unearthed in Old Inn Cottage's garden near Stirling, Scotland. The site is located a few miles away from Stirling’s city center, next to the Old Stirling Bridge.It has been described as the most important road in Scottish history, the cobbled road was built by the Roman armies of General Julius Agricola in the 1st century AD and would have connected to a ford that crossed the River Forth.The road and the crossing would have been used again by the Romans in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD as units launched fresh invasions of Scotland...

Genetic markers for the Clan MacDougall... descends from Dougall, King of the Isle of Man and founder of the ancient Scottish Kingdom of the Isles and Lorn. Dougall (c1140-c1207) was the eldest son of Somerled, the ancient warrior sea-king and progenitor of the MacDonald, MacAllister, and MacDougall clans. Somerled expelled his Scoto-Norse rivals from Argyll, Kintyre and the Isles but was himself a Norseman paternally, having a genetic signature that is more common in Scandinavia than in Scotland. The first genetic signature for Somerled was discovered and published in 2005 by researchers at the University of Oxford, and since then,...

The Robert the Bruce statue was spray-painted with graffiti calling him a 'racist king'. Credit for photographs: Grant Stobbart THE Battle of Bannockburn site was found vandalised yesterday with graffiti branding Robert the Bruce a “racist king” and calling for his statue to be removed. Images on social media appeared to show markings on the wall at the visitor centre and the statue. National Trust for Scotland bosses, who operate the centre, said they were “disappointed” by the act. The general manager for Edinburgh and East, Stuart Maxwell, said: “We are very disappointed by the vandalism of the iconic Bruce...

On this episode, we take a look at a memorable lesson from Scotland's Robert the Bruce... and some buzzing, winged, armored and leggy aspects of the natural world. We put them under the magnifying glass and consider a few lessons we can learn from them.

An archaeological dig has unearthed new evidence of a three-day attack on Edinburgh Castle - on a site earmarked for a luxury hotel by Sir Richard Branson. Experts believe they have found a carved stone which would have been fired from a giant catapult during the pivotal siege in 1296. It led to Edward I seizing control of the medieval fortress, plundering its treasures and shipping them to London, and the castle being held under English rule for 18 years. Archaeologists made the discovery at the site of the proposed new Virgin Hotel, which is earmarked for a large swathe...

Meghan Markle is descended from Scottish hero Robert the Bruce, it has emerged. The royal bride-to-be can trace her family back to the Scottish king who won independence from England at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The link between royal families seven centuries apart is revealed in Andrew Morton's new book Hollywood Princess, according to The Sun. Mr Morton said: 'It is ­possible to trace a direct line through 25 generations to Robert I of Scotland, perhaps the most colourful of all Scottish kings.

It is one of the tragedies of recent cultural history that, thanks to Mel Gibson's preposterous movie "Braveheart," the world knows more about William Wallace's short-lived Scottish rebellion of 1296-97 than about Robert the Bruce. For it was Bruce who, after 18 years of plotting and war making, finally threw off the yoke of the English king and consolidated a sense of Scottish identity. "Never will we on any conditions be subjected to the lordship of the English," said the Declaration of Arbroath, a diplomatic letter commissioned by Bruce in 1320. "It is in truth not for glory, nor riches,...

The Abbey is one of the few places specifically mentioned in the near contemporary accounts of the Battle of Bannockburn. It was here that Robert the Bruce kept his army’s baggage prior to the Battle of Bannockburn, though it is possible that this was also where supplies related to the on-going siege of Stirling Castle by the Scots were stored (it was to relieve the siege that Edward II brought his army to Bannockburn). The Abbey was later the location for a series of important parliaments during the rule of Robert I. The first of these, in November 1314, saw...

'A copy of an unknown Robert the Bruce letter from the build-up to the Battle of Bannockburn has been discovered. The letter, sent in 1310, asks English King Edward II to stop persecuting the Scots. It shows Robert asserting his God-given authority as king of the Scots and addressing Edward as his equal. The script, thought to have been transcribed from the original, was discovered by chance by a professor of Scottish history at Glasgow University. Bruce's Scottish troops defeated the English army at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The new letter was found in a document which dates...

Of all the claims in support of John McCain's bid for the White House, perhaps none is quite as grand as this. As he arrived in London today, the publishers of his new book insisted the Republican senator's family was descended from the Scottish king, Robert the Bruce. For a veteran war hero staking his presidential campaign on military credentials, an ancestral link to a warrior who overcame the English to reclaim Scottish independence in 1314 has obvious appeal. But according to experts, the story may be no more than that. Asked by the Guardian to investigate McCain's past, genealogists...

'Lost' coronation abbey unearthed Experts have found the abbey where Robert the Bruce was crowned Archaeologists have unearthed the site where Robert the Bruce was crowned king of Scotland. The location of the abbey at Moot Hill, the original home of the Stone of Destiny, was forgotten centuries ago. But it has now been identified by experts from Glasgow University who have been surveying the grounds of Scone Palace for the first time. They used scanners to detect buried structures and found part of the abbey church and a bell tower. The coronation of Pictish and Scottish kings took place...

Toe think again... relic of The Bruce YAKUB QURESHIA bone, said to be the toe of Robert The Bruce, is the centrepiece of a new exhibit. Picture: Donald MacLeod HE STOLE into the abbey in the dead of night, intent on stealing a personal memento of Scotland’s greatest king. Not a thief nor a grave robber but a respected town dignitary and "man of science", Joseph Paton found himself irresistibly drawn to the body of this icon of Scotland’s 14th-century fight for independence. Reaching forward, he snapped off a toe from the remains of Robert the Bruce and held aloft...