Scots go to the polls today to decide whether to set up a Scottish parliament, but September 11th, 1297, was just as decisive a day. On this day 700 years ago, William Wallace - the hero Braveheart portrayed by Mel Gibson in the hit movie - with the help of Andrew de Moray and their 8,000 men on foot defeated a bigger English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
The English commander, the Earl of Surrey, found half his army had crossed the bridge - and then turned back because he had overslept. They set out again, returned again, and were then wiped out at the third crossing attempt.
To mark the 700th anniversary of the battle, a 13 ft high statue of Wallace, weighing 12 tons, and with the word "Freedom" carved in nine-inch letters on its base, is to be unveiled this morning at the Wallace Monument in Stirling.
Built in 1869, the monument is one of Scotland's most photographed landmarks and in the last year has attracted nearly 173,000 visitors. The new statue is located in a £400,000 visitor complex built to cater for the surge in interest since Braveheart was filmed in 1995.
Tom Church, who sculpted the statue, said: "I believe the monument is the spiritual home for the statue. It is a fitting tribute to William Wallace that it should be located within a spear's throw of the site of his brilliant victory."