Local hero deserves statue, Black Isle rally hears
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A CAMPAIGN for the erection of a statue to a patriotic hero of Scotland’s Wars of Independence has been stepped up following a rally on the Black Isle.
Nationalist MSP Rob Gibson, whose constituency includes a huge swathe of Ross-shire, wants to see a lasting tribute to a “local hero” of the Scottish struggle of 1297.
Mr Gibson is championing the cause of Andrew de Moray, who led a rising in northern Scotland.
His role is marked annually at a rally and march in the Black Isle fishing village of Avoch, which is where de Moray raised the Scottish standard in May 1297, heralding a rebellion.
The MSP, who is convener of the Andrew de Moray project, called in the wake of this year’s gathering for a major push to build a statue in the Highlands.
As he welcomed members and friends to the 715th anniversary march and rally at the Ormond Hill cairn, he recalled that the Ormond Hill rallieswere begun in modern times by Inverness historian Evan Macleod Barron, whose seminal book The Scottish War of Independence was first published in 1914.
He said: "The Barron connection to Inverness and to the Inverness Courier and its printers should prompt a suitable commemoration of the history that gave the Highlands their place in these epic struggles that also revealed how Andrew de Moray played such a critical role with his North Rising in 1297 giving real backbone to the Scottish resistance further south by William Wallace and others.
"We Council administration which is led by an three-party alliance of which SNP councillors comprise the largest part. The new council leader is his party colleague, Drew Hendry.
Do you back plans for a statue of De Moray? Share your views on the proposal at editor@rsjournal.co.uk
