They acted out their chapters in Scotland's stormy story: freedom fighters and monarchs, Highland chiefs and swordsmen, saints and religious leaders. All left their mark and are remembered today.

St. Patrick (c.384)
The parish of Kilpatrick is said to be the birthplace of St. Patrick, born in the late 4th century. The old pre-reformation church had a shrine and bell dedicated to him and were in the parish until 1798, but now both are in Dublin, Ireland. Adjoining the church is St. Patrick's Well, believed to have sacred and healing waters. Strathblane parish also has a well in his name. The chapel of Dumbarton Castle was dedicated to him. There are many myths surrounding St. Patrick’s connection to the Lennox area which are well attested in the 1791 and 1845 statistical accounts of the area. One legend accounting for the formation of Dumbarton Rock is that it was supposedly flung at Saint Patrick by angry witches!

St Columba (521- 597)
A high-born prince of the Irish kingdom of Dalriada (ie the original home of the Scots), Columba arrived in Iona, part of the offshoot 'Scottish Dalriada', in 563 AD. His mission was to spread Christianity, particularly among the northern Picts. The religious settlement he founded was the base from which he travelled widely. A Benedictine Abbey was founded later and the complex today is in the care of the Iona Community. Aside from the religious buildings, the small island, with its peaceful air, has attractive small white-sand beaches, superb seascapes and views to Mull.

St Fillan (8th century)
This 8th century saint came originally from Ireland, eventually settling in Strathfillan, where a church was built. He is particularly associated with a Holy Pool on the River which had curative powers for the mentally ill. The site is close to the route of today’s West Highland Way. The so-called Healing Stones associated with him are on display at the Breadalbane Folklore Centre at Killin and have a wealth of tradition along with them. More than five centuries after his death his relics, carried at the Battle of Bannockburn, are said to have helped the Scots’ victory.

Lords of the Isles
From the 12th to the 15th centuries the Lords of the Isles ruled a western sea-kingdom which flourished in cultural and political harmony. It was founded by the Donald, the progenitor of the Clan Donald, and the grandson of Somerled, a great warrior, half-Gael, half-Norse. He came from Islay and the story is told today at the Finlaggan Centre, Islay, on the site of their former island power-base. Clan Donald power grew till they challenged the Stuart monarchs themselves. Though their ambitions were then checked in battle, today, there are thought to be 15 million Clan Donald descendants!

Sir William Wallace (1272-1305)
Though without the funds and political connections to command huge resources of men and arms, Sir William Wallace still managed a brilliant victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge against the occupying forces of King Edward I of England in 1297. This was the highpoint in a guerrilla-style campaign which has resulted in Wallace being described as the first of Scotland’s freedom-fighters. He was eventually betrayed and executed in London, England. The success of the (historically inaccurate) movie ‘Braveheart’ re-focussed attention on his life, and is told in the National Wallace Monument, Stirling, originally completed in 1869 to commemorate Scotland’s hero.

King Robert I (1274-1329)
Though Robert the Bruce (as English historians sometimes call him) had connections within England’s royal court, he saw an opportunity to re-establish sovereignty in Scotland in the campaign of the Scots Wars of Independence. Despite setbacks, these culminated in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the most famous date in Scotland’s story, fought to secure control of the nearby Stirling Castle, as the last castle by then still in English hands. The story of the day’s victory, which won Scotland almost four centuries of independence, is told at the Bannockburn Heritage Centre, Stirling.

Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587)
Perhaps the most famous and intriguing of Scotland’s monarchs, Mary has many associations with the area. As a child, Mary was sent for safety to Inchmahome Priory, on an island in the Lake of Menteith, before her departure for France. She left from Dumbarton Castle. Later, after the death of the Dauphin, her first husband, she returned from France. Places in Stirling associated with her include the Church of the Holy Rude, where Mary worshipped and her son was crowned; also Darnley's House (no 16-18 Bow Street) where Mary's second husband was popularly supposed to have lived while Mary used Stirling Castle. To the west, Doune Castle has 'Queen Mary's apartments' - noted for their early form of central heating!

King James 1 & VI (1566-1625)
The only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, James was crowned at the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling in 1567, though he was only thirteen months old. Stirling was an important royal court but all this changed when James inherited the throne of England in 1603, as a result of generations of intermarriage between the royal families of two kingdoms. James (as King James I) enjoyed the pomp and splendour of the English royal household and returned to Scotland only once, in 1617.

Rob Roy Macgregor (1671-1734)
Rob Roy lived through a time of great change in the Highlands and when the political machinations of the Jacobites (the supporters of the exiled Catholic Stewart monarchy) resulted in conflict. Brought up in the cattle trade, Rob was a fine swordsman but also indulged in blackmail and protection rackets as the shady side of the business. He was also dragged into the murky politics of the time, yet also earned a reputation as a kind of Robin Hood. In fact, he became a folk hero and ‘a legend in his own lifetime’. Many places are associated with him, from his birthplace in Glen Gyle to his grave at Balquhidder. Lots more information at the Rob Roy and Trossachs Visitor Centre, Callander.

Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) (1720-1788)
When Prince Charles arrived in Scotland he was told to go home but replied that he had come home. So started the 1745 Jacobite uprising that impacted on the lives of so many in the Highlands. The Prince and his supporters came via Perth to Stirling on their way south, though it was on their way back north after reaching Derby in England in January 1746 that they tried and failed to capture the stronghold because the castle artillery destroyed their cannon. (Marks from this siege are said to still be visible on the castle walls.) The Jacobites’ last victory was at Falkirk, where they defeated the government army under General Hawley. It is said that he had a fine dinner at Callander House interrupted when the Jacobites attacked! Callander House is now a historical visitor centre.

Lachlan MacQuarrie (1762-1822)
Born in 1762 on Ulva, off the island of Mull, MacQuarrie had a successful military career before becoming Governor-General of New South Wales. He transformed it from a penal colony into a thriving area, with Sydney changing from a shanty town into a fine Georgian city, earning for MacQuarrie the reputation as the ‘Father of Australia’. He left Australia in 1822, dying two years later. Four miles southwest of Salen, Mull, is the MacQuarrie Mausoleum, maintained by the National Trust for Scotland, on behalf of the National Trust of Australia.

Queen Victoria (1819-1901)
Though the Queen’s main Scottish home was at Balmoral Castle, she progressed around her northern kingdom on frequent occasions. This included in September 1842 a trip along Loch Tay to Killin and over Glen Ogle to Lochearnhead. This was the occasion when the Queen remarked in her diary of Glen Ogle’s resemblance to the Khyber Pass! There was also an extensive visit to Callander and the Trossachs in 1869. (They stayed at Invertrossachs House, which had had its name changed from Drunkie House as this was thought to be inappropriate! Loch Drunkie is still nearby.) Amongst their many excursions was one to Loch Lomond and also the Lake of Menteith.

Sir Fitzroy MacLean (1911-1996)
Duart Castle, Mull, clan seat of the MacLeans, fell into ruins but was restored from 1911 by the 26th Chief, Sir Fitzroy Donald MacLean. His son was Sir Fitzroy Hew MacLean, who had a distinguished war record in connection with the Jugoslav partisans, and was an MP and author. MacLean’s wartime exploits are said to be the inspirations of Ian Fleming’s James Bond. The castle today is the seat of the 28th Clan Chief.

Sir David Stirling (1915-1990)
There is a memorial statue to this great soldier on the B824 Doune to Bridge of Allan road, near his former family home of Keir House. It records the war-time achievements of Stirling who was the founder of the SAS. Stirling commanded the unit in the African theatre of World War II, where its activities behind enemy lines considerably hindered the activities of the forces of the German General Rommel.