Support us on Patreon / Stephen and Yhana YouTube Channel
Become a Patron!
The 3rd August 2020 – 3rd August 2021 was Stephen and Yhana‘s first year on YouTube – To celebrate they are sharing one video a day across all of their favourite social media platforms – Facebook Page, Twitter and Website, as well as a daily shout out on their youtube community page. – So please check often incase you missed any of their videos during that first year.
They have also published their very first youtube almanac – Which was released 3rd august 2021.
The book will be available to buy via Amazon shortly – Although you can get a free signed copy by signing up and supporting their journey on Patreon
All Patreon‘s will get a regular mention on YouTube and on their channel publications – As your support is very much appreciated and will help to purchase filming equipment and trips to historical sites, so they can keep their films coming.
The Story of Marion Braidfute – Maiden of Lanark and William Wallace
Marion Braidfute – Maiden of Lanark | 13 Terrifying True Stories For Halloween | Story 13
Marion Braidfoot, daughter of Hugo, Laird of Lamington was born sometime around the year 1274, Although there is little evidence regarding her life or even existence for that matter. her story though has certainly captivated generations of people and her tale often woven into the very fabric of William Wallace’s life.
However romanticised the stories maybe, it is her murder that is believed to have fueled Wallace’s contempt for the English.
After all, What is a story, without love, and tragedy.
Marion Braidfoot, daughter of Hugo, Laird of Lamington was born sometime around the year 1274, Although there is little evidence regarding her life or even existence for that matter. her story has certainly captivated generations of people and her tale often woven into the very fabric of William Wallaces life.
However romanticised the stories maybe, it is her murder that is believed to have fuelled Wallaces contempt for the English.
After all, What is a story, without love, and tragedy.
Marion it is believed was murdered by the Sheriff of Lanark a cold and cruel man called
Haselrigg, if the folk stories are true, Marion secretly wed Wallace and they both had a daughter called Marion who would later marry into the Ballie family of Lamington. Perhaps she was a Ward of this family after the death of both her parents.
It is said that this younger Marion identified herself as a daughter of Wallace many decades after his death, although contemporary sources would argue otherwise.
On hearing that Wallace had killed many Englishman during a skirmish, Haselrigg decided to set an example to any Scotsman considering such a contempt again. He chose Marion for the purpose of angering William and ordered his soldiers to drag Marion from the muddied street, In front of everyone he took at a sharp dagger and with his own two hands murdered her.
William Wallace, has inspired writers throughout the ages to write and tell the stories of his daring deeds. There is no doubt he struck fear into the hearts of the English.
From what the poet Blind Harry and others tell us, William Wallace came to the Clyde Forest after successfully ambushing the English at Loudon Hill. This event is supposed to have taken place in July 1296. After the skirmish, Wallace took refuge in a cave near Coalburn to rest his men. It is thought that Wallace met Marion Braidfute here, for the first time and learned about the arrogant and cruel Sheriff of Lanark called Haselrigg. Marion was 18 years of age and the daughter of the laird of Lamington. She informed Wallace about the Sheriff, whom Blind Harry describes as ‘cruel, outrageous and spiteful in his actions.’ He had put to death Marion’s brother who had come along with Marion to stay in his father’s town house in Lanark, supposedly to avoid trouble; his father was to be disappointed in this respect.
Marion Braidfute is often said to have suffered all and bore herself right lowly, so amiable she was, so benign and wise, courteous and sweet, full of noblesse, of well-ordered speech.’
Wallace fell in love with Marion, but according to some sources, decided that it would not be wise to marry her until Scotland had been freed from the English. It may be the fact that Marion was pregnant that made him change his mind.
So enraged was Wallace in hearing of Marion’s plight and the murder of her brother that he decided
to visit Lanark for ‘sport’. The ‘sport’ in question was the murder of any English soldier on sight to avenge the wrongs heaped upon the Braidfute household. Wallace did not want to rush into things and he wanted to build up his forces, but his hand was forced by the taunts from the English soldiers when he was leaving St Kentigerns one Sunday morning.
At first they tried a bit of name calling to bait him and when this failed, they mocked his sword calling it a knife. Even this did not provoke him. However, when they said that his daughter was a bastard and that the priest of the chapel of St Nicholas had been sleeping with Marion, his temper snapped. A fracas ensued and Wallace’s men joined in. The English took a severe beating, there were fifty Englishmen either dead or badly wounded, but there were still enough left to force Wallace to retreat to Marion’s house. There Wallace’s men continued their resistance, but a decision was made to retreat to Cartland Crags and hide there. Since it was easy to escape into the countryside, Wallace’s men managed to make their escape.
Marion was not so lucky.
Beside himself with impotent fury, Haselrigg determined to wreak vengeance on Wallace.
Marion who did not escaped, was now his prisoner, and he decided to execute her not only to warn other Scots about the dangers of treachery and treason, but to deny Wallace the company of the only woman he truly loved.
The way she was murdered is said to have been cruel and barbarous, cold and unthinkable.
She was dragged from the muddied streets, and infront of the townsfolk of Lanark, Haselrigg used his own dagger to do the deed.
When the news reached Wallace, he was beside himself with grief. However he bided his time before planning his attack on Lanark Castle.
The English meanwhile sank into complacency thinking that the rebels had been terrified into submission.
Gathering his small force at Cartland, Wallace stole into Lanark in the dead of night. Foolishly the English had neglected to guard the wall of the town. Silently through the dark, Wallace and his followers crept up to the castle and again luck was on their side. Overpowering the guards, Wallace’s band got access to Haselrigg’s apartments.
Startled from the depths of sleep, Haselrigg was unable to defend himself.
Wallace it is said, split his skull to the collar bone with his massive two handed claymore sword.
Haselrigg’s son hearing the commotion rushed up the stairs to his father’s bedroom only to be cut down himself. Meanwhile the young Auchinleck, one of Wallace’s followers, plunged his dagger into the almost lifeless body of Haselrigg ‘to mak siccar’ to check if the sheriff was really dead.
That day was the turning point in what would eventually lead Wallace on a rampage to free Scotland of English control, it also led to his own execution at Smithfield.
But his martyrdom and his bravery lived on in the hearts of all Scottish, Men, Woman and children. Even today more than 700 years later William Wallace stands as a symbol of honour throughout Scotland.
Marion’s existence may only be a story, to romanticise the life of William Wallace, but her legend will always ignite something deep in us all.
Love.
Which leads me to one last thing.
Times maybe difficult, and our future uncertain but with a lot of love we can all make this world of ours a better place. For each and everyone of us.
- Published: 31 October 2020
- Location: Lanark, Scotland
- Duration: 12:14
- Photography – Stephen Robert Kuta / Yhana Kuta
- Written by – Stephen Robert Kuta
Music –
Theme of Darkness by Fredrik Ekstrōm
Music Licensed by Epidemic Sound
Stephen and Yhana – History and Adventure Hunters Almanac
Support us on Patreon / Stephen and Yhana YouTube Channel
Become a Patron!
On the 30th of January, 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). In the following weeks, the virus quickly spread worldwide, forcing the governments of affected countries to implement lockdown measures to decrease transmission rates and prevent the overload of hospital emergency rooms.
The United Kingdom implemented lockdown on the 16th of March, 2020 and from this date and up until the 3rd August, 2021 the UK had suffered three national lockdowns which all included Restrictive measures on border controls, closing of schools, markets, restaurants, nonessential shops, bars, entertainment and leisure facilities, as well as a ban on all public and private events and gatherings. In between these lockdowns we saw tier systems and heavy restrictions on how we all lived our lives.
We all decided on different approaches on how we spent that free time as many people were on Furlough as their businesses were shut, only key-workers carried out their working duties. Although I continued working as a key-worker, I still had a lot more free time as Yhana was not at school.
Both Yhana and I spent those first few months experimenting with tiktok and photography, we explored our home village of Great Leighs and took some incredible photographs as spring and eventually summer took hold.
Tiktok was a short-lived adventure for us, although we enjoyed it all the same — tiktok like so many Social Media platforms had exploded during the pandemic but none more so then YouTube.
In 2020 alone YouTube had more than 9 billion views globally
66% of people used YouTube to develop a new hobby in 2020, and a whopping 94% of people in India used YouTube to learn to do things themselves, Whilst Globally, 82% used YouTube to the same. What were they learning to do, exactly?
• Views of beauty tutorials increased nearly 50% in 2020.
• There was a 90% increase in bike maintenance and repair videos.
• Daily views of videos with “raising chickens” in the title increased 160%.
• Videos related to learning guitar saw 160 million views from mid-March to mid-April.
• Videos about container gardening saw 6 million views in the same period.
• There was a 215% increase in daily uploads of videos related to self-care.
• There was a 458% increase in daily views of videos about making sourdough bread and a 200% increase in daily views of recipe videos for bubble tea.
• Videos of how-to videos for home haircuts also spiked in April.
Even though these giant increases in YouTube views began as early as March 2020, it took Yhana and I up until August of that year to begin our own channel, and Yhana’s encouragement certainly helped on that matter.
So it began, 3 August 2020 – We went out and filmed our very first video. To be honest I wasn’t sure what our plan would be for our channel, I had a rough idea of what kind of content I would like Yhana and I to make and as a historian I looked at the channel as a way to record at least one year of our life, not just any year either, but our life during the Covid-19 Pandemic. So for me, it was a great way to record a piece of social history.
This book in front of you developed from that period of our lives also, and is a showcase / diary / almanac of all the videos we created, many of the photographs we took, the treasure hunts we went on and some of the incredible finds we discovered just a short walk from where we lived. In truth, those finds would never have been discovered if it wasn’t for lockdown.
So for prosperity, social history, a window into our lives during the Covid-19 pandemic and a transparent visual look at what its like to create a YouTube channel in that first year including channelytics, descriptions of videos, thumbnail artwork, viewer comments and more.
We have written this full guide, our first joint book –
Stephen and Yhana – History and Adventure Hunters Almanac.
The book is available to buy through Amazon and via all good bookshops.
LINK BELOW –
RECEIVE A FREE SIGNED COPY BY SIGNING UP AND SUPPORTING OUR JOURNEY ON PATREON.
Support us on Patreon / Stephen and Yhana YouTube Channel
