William Wallace: Life imitates Art in Scotland
Mike Davidson
In article <7q50t8$d81$1...@bgtnsc03.worldnet.att.net>, "D.
Spencer Hines" <D._Spence...@aya.yale.edu> wrote:
>Now we have Robert the Bruce's skull, or a model of it.
>Skillful scientists should be able to tell us what he
>looked like. Perhaps they have.
They indeed have - the reconstruction they did was reported
in the press here a year or so ago. What with disease, not
to mention axe wounds, his face was pretty damn ugly.
Cheers,
Mike Davidson
Dept. of History
University of Edinburgh
940...@coll.sms.ed.ac.uk
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
CG Luxford
On 27 Aug 1999, Timothy A. McDaniel wrote:
> Yes, I know I'm treading on dangerous ground here -- we could get
> That Hideous Battle, Templars, MacWasherwomen, Atlantians, and Ghu
> knows what all in this thread.
>
> The following just appeared in rec.humor.funny:
>
> The city of Stirling, Scotland, has put up a statue of
> William Wallace. He was the Scottish patriot and the
> hero of the film "Braveheart", who fought a battle near
> Stirling.
>
> Unfortunately, nobody knows what William Wallace looked
> like, so guess who the statue looks like?
>
> Mel Gibson.
>
> (From the "Courier-Mail" newspaper, Brisbane, Australia,
> Saturday 21 August 1999).
>
Took a long time to get to Australia, this news was in the British media
during last years silly season.
> So, my three questions amount to "is that true?":
> - is it true that nobody knows anything about what William Wallace
> looked like?
Yes. This is also true of most famous people of the time. Portraiture
existed of course, and some have survived, but there are still a lot of
significant figures about whom we know surprisingly little.
> - is it true that Stirling has put up a WW statue?
Yes.
> - is it true that the said statue looks like Mel Gibson?
Yes. IIRC it replaced an earlier one, which obviously didn't look like
Mel Gibson.
I believe that something similar was done with a painting at the Alamo
in Texas back in the '50s where the faces of the heroes involved were
painted out and replacd with the faces of the people who played them in
a movie that was out at the time.
Chris,
D. Spencer Hines
Is the image of Robert The Bruce online?
Leprosy, or an allied disease, disfigured the face? At least that's
one story, is it not?
D. Spencer Hines
Lux et Veritas
--
D. Spencer Hines --- Sol Remedium Optimum Est. Peccatoris
Justificatio Absque Paenitentia, Legem Destruit Moralem.
Mike Davidson <9407990...@coll.sms.ed.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:02daf294...@usw-ex0106-048.remarq.com...
D. Spencer Hines
Is the image of Robert The Bruce's reconstructed face online or in a
magazine?
Paul J Gans
>Yes, I know I'm treading on dangerous ground here -- we could get
>That Hideous Battle, Templars, MacWasherwomen, Atlantians, and Ghu
>knows what all in this thread.
>The following just appeared in rec.humor.funny:
> Newsgroups: rec.humor.funny
> From: dar...@csee.uq.edu.au (Paul Darwen)
> Subject: Life imitates Art in Scotland
> Keywords: smirk, true
> Message-ID: <Se4e...@netfunny.com>
> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 19:30:00 PDT
> The city of Stirling, Scotland, has put up a statue of
> William Wallace. He was the Scottish patriot and the
> hero of the film "Braveheart", who fought a battle near
> Stirling.
> Unfortunately, nobody knows what William Wallace looked
> like, so guess who the statue looks like?
> Mel Gibson.
> (From the "Courier-Mail" newspaper, Brisbane, Australia,
> Saturday 21 August 1999).
ROTFL!
----- Paul J. Gans [ga...@panix.com]
Mike Davidson
In article <7q695v$7ni$1...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>, "D.
Spencer Hines" <D._Spence...@aya.yale.edu> wrote:
>Is the image of Robert The Bruce online?
Not that I know of - although there are so many web pages on
the net which mention him it is a possibility.
>Leprosy, or an allied disease, disfigured the face? At
>least that's one story, is it not?
There is a long-standing story that Bruce died of leprosy,
but I am unaware of its source. I am afraid that I do not
recall any conclusions reached about this from forensic
study of the skull. There were, however, definite signs of
disfigurement which were the result of head wounds.
Cheers,
Mike Davidson
Dept. of History
University of Edinburgh
John Hester
Timothy A. McDaniel <tm...@jump.net> wrote in message
news:7q503j$1p4$1...@news.jump.net...
Snip> Unfortunately, nobody knows what William Wallace looked
> like, so guess who the statue looks like?
>
> Mel Gibson.
>
Yes this is true. There is however a portrait reproduced in the biography of
Wallace by Peter Reese that was reutedly sold by Cromwell from Charles I
English Royal Collection.
Olwyn Mawr
Timothy A. McDaniel wrote in message <7q503j$1p4$1...@news.jump.net>...
> The city of Stirling, Scotland, has put up a statue of
> William Wallace. He was the Scottish patriot and the
> hero of the film "Braveheart", who fought a battle near
> Stirling.
>
> like, so guess who the statue looks like?
>
> Mel Gibson.
And if you still don't believe it from all the posts in this thread, try:
http://www.freedom-scotland.demon.co.uk/ (which does actually put a
slightly different perspective on the story).
D. Spencer Hines
me.
Am I missing something? <g>
D. Spencer Hines
Lux et Veritas
--
D. Spencer Hines --- "Scots! wha hae wi' Wallace bled, Scots! wham
Bruce has aften led, Welcome to your gory bed, Or to victory!... Lay
the proud usurpers low! Tyrants fall in every foe! Liberty's in every
blow! - Let us do or die! So may God ever defend the cause of truth
and liberty, as He did that day! Amen." "Scots Wha Hae" ["Bruce's
Address at Bannockburn"] (24 June 1314) [1794] Robert Burns
[1759-1796]
Olwyn Mawr <ol...@trochos.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7q9dqn$gg4$1...@news5.svr.pol.co.uk...
Olwyn Mawr
D. Spencer Hines wrote in message
<7q9ein$l8p$1...@bgtnsc01.worldnet.att.net>...
>The face of the statue does not look all that much like Mel Gibson to
>me.
>
>Am I missing something? <g>
I think the sculptor may have been a little over-enthusiastic.