Medieval friar reburied in shadow of castle
● Dominican may have been witness to Battle of Bannockburn
A medieval friar who may have been a witness to the Battle of Bannockburn 700 years ago has been reburied in the shadow of Stirling Castle.
The bones of the Dominican friar were found by archaeologists in the foundations of the long-lost Blackfriars Priory near Stirling railway station during a dig in 2014.
He was 20-35 years old when he died some time between 1271 and 1320, suggesting he may have been around to see Sir William Wallace’s victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 and King Robert the Bruce defeat the English at Bannockburn in 1314.
The priory’s brothers would have been strongly entwined with Stirling life, preaching and tending to the needs of its citizens.
The bones, a foot beneath the surface, were identified as belonging to a friar by a distinctive bronze buckle resting on his pelvis that was all that remained of the habit he was buried in.
His life was celebrated in a civic programme of events on Saturday, including a funeral and wake. A requiem mass was delivered by the friar’s present-day Domincan brothers at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in the city, attended by about 150 people.
The bones, in a small pine coffin, were then reburied in the city’s historic Snowdon Cemetery, beneath the castle, when a memorial was unveiled, made of stone quarried in the 19th century for the National Wallace Monument.
An inscription on it read: “Here lies a man of Christian faith, buried in Stirling’s Dominican Priory around the time of Scotland’s Wars of Independence, reinterred here in 2020 at the request of
Stirling’s Provost and Baillies.” Dominican celebrant Father Dermot Morrin said: “Of the manner of his dying we know very little, however we can surmise quite a bit about his way of living. He was buried with some formality, facing towards the rising sun, but with him they found a buckle which tells us so much more. He was buried wearing his belt which means he wasn’t wrapped in a shroud but was clothed in the habit of the Dominican friars. This man, our brother, would have gotten up each morning and faced the rising sun, put on the belt around his waist and lived his life in a similar way to what we do today.”
Medieval Stirling was the scene of pivotal moments in the nation’s history, including the Battles of Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn.
The archaeological excavation was carried out in advance of redevelopment of the land at Goosecroft Road.
Other artefacts including bits of cooking vessels, jugs and window glass were also found.