Ceremony remembers 18th century Falkirk laid compared to Indiana Jones

He was an 18th century laird who has been compared to Indiana Jones - and at a time when statues are being torn down, a campaign is starting to restore his monument.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

James Bruce of Kinnaird - a descendant of the most famous King of Scots - was an explorer and adventurer.

He became a courtier to an Ethiopian emperor, lover of a princess and was thought to be the first European to discover the source of the Blue Nile.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

His monument in Larbert - made by the famous Carron Iron Works - should be a treasure in its own right.

Hamish Allan, former tour guide at the ceremony to remember James Bruce of Kinnaird - the cast iron obelisk monument sits in a  car park (Pic: Michael Gillen)Hamish Allan, former tour guide at the ceremony to remember James Bruce of Kinnaird - the cast iron obelisk monument sits in a  car park (Pic: Michael Gillen)
Hamish Allan, former tour guide at the ceremony to remember James Bruce of Kinnaird - the cast iron obelisk monument sits in a car park (Pic: Michael Gillen)

And yet the towering, cast iron obelisk that should cover his tomb now sits looking rather out of place in a corner of a car park.

That's something the Provost of Falkirk, Billy Buchanan, wants to put right.

He has pledged to find a way to restore the monument to its proper setting - a large stone plinth that sits behind the churchyard wall of Larbert Old Parish Church.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Provost is not the only person to be captivated by the story of the Larbert laird whose adventures were so astonishing that fashionable society in 18th century London refused to believe them.

. Ceremony to remember James Bruce of Kinnaird  (Pic: Michael Gillen). Ceremony to remember James Bruce of Kinnaird  (Pic: Michael Gillen)
. Ceremony to remember James Bruce of Kinnaird (Pic: Michael Gillen)

Bruce's story has been told in several articles and books - including his own - but the ridicule he faced in his own lifetime means that perhaps it is only in recent years his legacy is being properly understood.

Immensely tall, Bruce spoke 13 languages and charmed his way behind closed borders into Ethiopia (then Abyssinia).

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Becoming a favourite at the royal court in the Ethiopian capital Gondar he is best remembered for the difficult and dangerous journey he made through Sudan to the source of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia.

Pic: Michael GillenPic: Michael Gillen
Pic: Michael Gillen

While there is some dispute over whether he actually was the first European to find the source of the Nile - Bruce's achievement is still a remarkable one.

And it is not the only thing he'll be remembered for.

Falkirk's archeaologist Geoff Bailey also thinks he should be celebrated for bringing to the UK three copies of the Book of Enoch - a priceless text related to the bible and held in the Bodleian Library - which but for Bruce would have been lost to the world forever.

Bruce's tomb marks his achievements with the words: ‘His life was spent in performing useful and splendid actions/ He explored many distant regions/ He discovered the fountains of the Nile/ He traversed the deserts of Nubia’

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But preserving the monument is not just about honouring the memory of his adventurous spirit.

The obelisk that celebrates a "life spent in performing useful and splendid actions" should itself be celebrated, say historians - as a reminder of the craftsmanship and ingenuity found in the mighty Carron Iron Works, where it was made.

It was commissioned by Bruce himself on the death of his wife Mary in 1785 and was such a triumph that the poet Robert Burns asked to see it when he visited the area.

Once brightly painted, with intricate decorative plaques bearing Greek inscriptions have been lost or have faded over the centuries.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Independent researcher Antonia Dalivalle has become fascinated by the adventures of James Bruce and says she would love to see his monument restored.

For her, it's particularly striking that in an age when statues are being torn down - as people increasingly recognise how much wealth and power was accumulated on the back of the slave trade - James Bruce is rumoured to have been a secret anti-slavery campaigner.

In a book published last year - Plotting To Stop the British Slave Trade: James Bruce and His Secret Mission to Africa - the writer Jane Aptekar Reeve puts forward a theory that Bruce belonged to a secret network of abolitionists.

It's something that Antonia thinks is well worth pursuing and ties in with her own theory about Bruce.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It’s possible James Bruce was on a secretive, personal mission to Ethiopia to locate a sacred religious relic, the Ark of the Covenant," she says.

"It's a fantastic story and when we're thinking about Britain's historic relationship with Africa and we're talking about re-evaluating our colonial past, Bruce's tale tells a slightly different story."

In a blog for Historic Environment Scotland earlier this month, she also calls for the monument to be restored and is delighted to find that the Provost shares her wish.

In many ways, their campaign is history repeating itself.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In 1902 The Falkirk Herald reported on the appalling condition of the monument and called for its restoration.

And a second restoration attempt in 1993 led to the obelisk being dumped in the car park, rather than returned to its carefully chosen plot.

Provost Buchanan marked the start of his campaign to restore the monument to its rightful place when he laid flowers to pay tribute to the remarkable man.

And he hopes that one day soon the thrilling life of one of Scotland's greatest adventurers will not have to be remembered in a car park.

Related topics: