The historical city of Stirling located in the narrow waist of Scotland is flanked by the River Forth to the east and marshland to the west. Any army invading Caledonia from the south must pass through Stirling in order to advance north to the Highlands.

In 1314, seventeen years after William Wallace (Braveheart) held Stirling Bridge, Robert the Bruce fought the advancing English at Bannockburn south of Stirling Castle. In the afternoon, as the battle drew on, The Bruce called upon his gillies, or camp followers, to descend out of the forests of Gillies Hill to turn the tide of the battle thus defeating the English and granting the Scots 400 years of independence until their defeat in 1746 at Culloden.

Today Gillies Hill is once again under seige by a threat of mining expansion by Heidelberg Cement. A grassroots campaign dubbed "The Second Battle of Bannockburn" is being waged by the citizens of Cambusbarron through the Save Gillies Hill organization.

Botanist, CNPS member, and graphic artist Peggy Edwards, with an international team of botanists, will be spending the summer surveying the flora and fauna of Gillies hill accumulating data to support the premise that Gillies Hill is indeed a hill worth saving. Not only is the site an "Ancient Woodland" containing native and archaeotypical flora, it also hosts two Neolithic hill forts, a ruined castle, and nesting Peregrine Falcons. Gillies Hill is indeed one of Scotland's historical and biological treasures.

Peggy's talk will focus on the diverse flora of Gillies Hill with a wee background of Scots history as well as Save Gillies Hill's plans for the future.

Scots Pine CNPS