William Wallace Monument (Baltimore, MD)
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Location
Swann Drive & Mansion House Drive (Street View – approximate)
GPS: 39° 19′ 2.48″ N 76° 38′ 28.54″ W
History
William Wallace is one of several monumental figures dedicated within the bounds of Baltimore City to the cause of freedom, independence and the sovereignty of a people. Born around 1270, Wallace was the second son of a Scottish nobleman, Sir Malcolm Wallace, and was a pivotal military leader during the Wars of Scottish Independence waged against the encroaching English monarchs to the south. Wallace’s role in this struggle was dramatized in Mel Gibson’s film, Braveheart, which itself was adapted from a quasi-historical 15th century romantic biographical poem entitled, “The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace,” by a poet or minstrel (see: Scottish makar) who is known only as Blind Harry. Composed some 170 years after the fact, Blind Harry’s account is at variance with other historical documents, but follows the flow of the traditional folk narratives about Wallace’s life. Various sources have Wallace operating as a petty criminal, brawling with English soldiers and killing a governor’s son around 1291 or 1292. Wallace enters documented history in 1297 with his killing of the English Sheriff of Lanark. Later that year, Wallace’s rebel forces routed the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. After the battle, Wallace was knighted and named “Guardian of Scotland and Leader of its armies”. Six months later, he lead a raid into northern England to harry the English forces. Wallace was captured in 1305 and transported to London where, Wikipedia explains, “…he was tried for treason, and the execution of civilians and prisoners, and was crowned with a garland of oak to suggest he was the king of outlaws.” Before being convicted of treason, Wallace is said to have exclaimed, “I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject.” Wallace was hanged, drawn, quartered, emasculated, eviscerated, had his bowels burnt, was beheaded and his head placed on a pike on London Bridge. By artist David Watson Stevenson, a member of the Royal Academy of Scotland, this magnificent monument was presented to the City of Baltimore by William Wallace Spence in 1893 and was rededicated one hundred years later by the St. Andrews Society of Baltimore. The base is made of Woodstock granite and the statue is modeled after one atop the Abbey Craig near Stirling in Scotland, where Wallace is said to have watched the battle brewing below.
Notes
This monument is inaccessible by car, though you can park along Swann Drive, or you can approach on foot or by bicycle from Druid Hill Lake. Wallace rests on the west end of the lake, sword raised in the air as if charging off to the Turkish Tower at the east end of the man-made reservoir.
Nearby
- Wagner Bust
- John Cook Sundial
- Eli Siegel Stone
- George Washington (Druid Hill)
- Christopher Columbus (Druid Hill)
- Repeal Statue
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