Last Man Standing
While walking through Selkirk this morning in the bright sunshine, I passed an imposing statue and stopped to take a photo with my phone. While framing the shot (and trying to avoid an old man wrapped up like an eskimo who appeared to have no other purpose than to stand in the middle of the footpath), another older gentleman approached, walking his dog.
“You're taking that from the wrong side, sonny”, he said in a rich Scottish brogue. I looked around and saw the warm smiling face of a man in perhaps his 70s, flat cap perched atop his head, and heavy waxed jacket draped over his shoulders.
I smiled.
“This here is Fletcher – the only survivor of Flodden Field! He picked up an English banner in the middle of the battle and ran in the opposite direction to everybody else! – your photo should be of the back of him, because that's what they saw!”
I continued to smile, and we went our separate ways.
At lunchtime curiosity got the better of me, and I started searching the internet. The Battle of Flodden Field, also knownas the Battle of Branxton, or Brainston Moor, took place in 1513. It was the largest battle between the Scots and the English, and the last battle where a reigning monarch died on the battlefield (King James IV of Scotland). If historic accounts are true, Selkirk sent a great number of men of fighting age to join the army, and only “Fletcher” returned.
While I hope the story is true, there is a part of me that knows these stories (as with a certain famous religious text) get re-told, and re-written over the years – embellished, and expanded until they bear little resemblance to what actually happened.
The statue in Selkirk was erected in 1913 – the 400th anniversary of the battle. It's an amazing piece of artwork. Looking at sculptures such as this, I can't help wondering that these skills are slowly being lost – when did you last see agood life size sculpture of a public figure ?