Silence on battle site is deafening
Dear Editor, In his remarkable poem ‘The Battle of Sherramuir’ Robert Burns vividly recreated the terrible sounds of battle, echoed now, in this otherwise peaceful corner of the Ochils, by the noise of machines digging up the great battlefield in preparation for the planting of commercial forest.
In spite of the noise, however, a silence remains. Protests against the devastation of one of Scotland’s most important historic sites have come from organisations, historians of the battle and other well-informed individuals from across the world, including Moscow, where there are many who know Scotland well and treasure the connections between Sheriffmuir and Mother Russia.
Those who have remained silent include Stirling Council, well aware of the value of Sheriffmuir as a mecca for visitors, and, most worryingly of all, the Scottish Government, where the ministers responsible for culture and tourism, rural affairs, the environment and land reform, although contacted by a concerned public, have remained completely silent. The Forestry Commission, which has given permission for the planting of the forest, has tried to reassure the public with words like ‘biodiversity’ and ‘public access’, insisting that the staff had consulted ‘widely’ and ‘very closely’, and that in any case the commission was responding on behalf of the silent parliamentarians.
The Scottish Government has always seemed strangely indifferent to the preservation of what little remains of Scotland’s history ‘on the ground’. Encouraging tourists to come to Scotland in large numbers, not least during this Year of History, and welcoming the staging of a major historical exhibition to further entice them, this Government, just before the visitors arrive, sanctions the destruction of the historic landscape they have come to see.
Sheriffmuir is on a par with Culloden in its importance in Scotland’s history but, unfortunately, does not enjoy the National Trust for Scotland’s protection. It saw the participation, in both armies, of some of the most remarkable men of the age and many remain buried on the battlefield.
Once destroyed the site cannot be restored one day like an old building, when more enlightened individuals take responsibility for its future. It will just become part of the country’s fast disappearing historic landscape, and this simply to produce a generous subsidy for the landowner.
The last word must remain with the well-informed tourists who arrived on the battlefield yesterday and were shocked by what they saw, insisting that such destruction of a nationally important site would not be permitted in their respective countries and and asking why no one had informed the Scottish Government!
Virginia Wills Glentye, Sheriffmuir