Stirling, Scotland is a popular destination for ancestral tourists – people looking to reconnect with their Scottish roots. Stirling is at the centre of this tourism because it is a site of strategic importance, with many important battles fought in the area. 

The Stirling library, next to Castle Walk Bed & Breakfast, holds important documents that help individuals trace the journeys of their forbears on ships that set sail from Scotland to Canada, Australia and elsewhere. Many individuals like to explore links to clans who originated in the nearby Highlands and enjoy Highland Games and visit clan seats of power. 

Some of our guests have been fortunate enough to trace their families back to Scottish heroes, like Robert the Bruce. This was the case for Gale Brown, aged 94, who is arguably the closest you can get to Scottish royalty in the 21st century. Brown, from the USA, visited the Battle of Bannockburn site, Stirling, and partial burial ground of Robert the Bruce, at nearby Dunfermline Abbey, while he was staying in Scotland.

Robert the Bruce’s grandson, 19 generations down, stayed at Castle Walk Bed & Breakfast, a guest house built into Stirling’s medieval city walls during Mary Queen of Scots’ rein, on his heritage tour of Scotland where he shared his family history with delighted locals.

See the picture of him taking a rest at the B&B in Stirling. We can see the likeness between our lovely American guest and a recreation by history and archeology experts of Robert the Bruce – Can you?