(Newswire.net — September 15, 2014) Thomson, Illinois — Millions of Scottish voters go to the polls Thursday to vote in an historic independence referendum, but it’s far from the first freedom movement in the country’s history.
Surveys show the vote – which would separate Scotland from the United Kingdom – too close to call.
This particular independence movement has come without one single battle being fought, yet some 700 years ago, landowner and Scottish hero William Wallace of Braveheart fame led a bloody rebellion that defied the odds and gave Scotland its independence from England.
In famous battles such as Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn, the Scottish defeated much larger English armies and changed the course of both European and world history.
A new video shows the famous sites of Wallace’s Scotland, as historian Matt Constable takes viewers on a tour of the historical Scottish countryside and explains the key events of the Wars of Scottish Independence at the end of the 13th century and the early 14th century. It is being released in advance of a new children’s audio theater CD project, In Freedom’s Cause, which tells the story of William Wallace and the eventual Scottish King, Robert the Bruce.
“There’s something almost magical about seeing what [Wallace] saw,” said John Fornof, writer and producer of the project
In Freedom’s Cause is the second audio theater project for executive producer Bill Heid, who produced another CD, Under Drake’s Flag, last year. Both are based on G.A. Henty historical dramas, and each comes with curriculum.
Heid, Fornof and others associated with In Freedom’s Cause followed Constable on the tour, which even included a stop at the abbey where Bruce is buried.
In Freedom’s Cause was recorded in London and features an all-star cast, including Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates of Downton Abbey), Billy Boyd (Pippin of Lord Of The Rings), Skandar Keynes (Edmund of The Chronicles of Narnia series) and Jimmy Cosmo (Campbell, Father Christmas of Braveheart and Chronicles of Narnia, respectively).
Heid says the story of Scottish independence had a direct impact on American independence, because so many of the patriots of the middle and late 1700s had Scottish ancestry.
“There is an amazing intersection between Scottish history and American history,” Heid said. “It’s really striking. An understanding of it is necessary to understand where our freedom really comes from.”
To watch the video, visit InFreedomsCause.com
http://infreedomscause.com/scotland/