Other than his inspiration from a spider and his victory at Bannockburn, many will not know that South Ayrshire was the county of his birth, where he restarted the campaign to take back his kingdom after suffering defeat and where he returned time and again after the famous victory at Bannockburn.
Robert the Bruce became one of Scotland's greatest kings and he was born in the heart of South Ayrshire at Turnberry Castle on 11th July 1274.
He was not born to be king but after the death of king Alexander III, a long power struggle between the competitors to the throne led to intervention by king Edward I of England, who subsequently forced the abdication of king John Balliol.
When Edward declared himself as Overlord of Scotland, so began the Wars of Independence, the uprisings of Wallace and Murray, culminating in the victory for Scotland at Bannockburn.
Much of the drama was played out here in South Ayrshire. The location of this geocache and others in this series/trail will explain more.
In February 1307, king Robert returned to take back his kingdom and it was here that he landed. With him, several hundred Islesmen and Irish supporters. It nearly ended in disaster when Bruce mistook a fire else where for the beacon to signal his crossing from Arran. Arran being where he is supposed to have watched the spider in the cave which gave him the inspiration to 'try and try again'.
By the end of the night Bruce had destroyed the English barracks, although his castle at Turnberry was still in the hands of the English. Bruce and his men retreated into he Carrick Hills to set up camp and so began the long road to Bannockburn to end the Wars of Independence.
If you want to complete the Bruce Trail around South Ayrshire there are 17 Geocaches situated around the villages and towns that have a connection with Robert the Bruce.
You can follow the following link to a Bookmark created by Highcliffhanger here: Robert the Bruce Trail for more information
THIS CACHE IS PART OF A MEGA 3 SHIRE CHALLENGE - PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THE STAMP FROM INSIDE THE CACHE - THANKS - FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO DOWNLOAD YOUR PASSPORT FOR THE 3 SHIRE CHALLENGE CLICK HERE