On the north side of the Esplanade at Stirling Castle stands a statue to Robert the Bruce. The statue represents the King in the dignity of victory, looking towards the site of the Battle of Bannockburn, a cautious hand resting on his sheathed sword. He wears an expression described by the Stirling Journal as ‘emphatically peaceful’ yet also somewhat beleaguered, ‘betraying the anxiety undergone in the long and arduous struggle for liberty’. The unveiling of the statue, erected in 1877, was a decidedly civic affair. A lengthy procession marched through Stirling, replete with members of the town guilds, council, voluntary societies and other burgh worthies, as well as the two committees charged with raising the statue. Accompanying them, a representative of the Earl of Elgin carried what was purported to be Bruce's sword. Upon arrival at the Esplanade, a prayer was offered, the statue was unveiled, and numerous speeches were made. Then, with the ceremony concluded, no fewer than three separate banquets were enjoyed across the burgh.

It had taken seven years, and committees in both London and Stirling, to gather sufficient funds for the Stirling Bruce statue. The original intention had been to cast the statue in bronze, but insufficient cash meant that the statue had to be sculpted in stone. Not that this deterred the gathered VIPs from extolling the virtues of Robert Bruce, Bannockburn, and the King's legacy regarding Scotland and Britain. In formally handing the statue over to the care of the Corporation of Stirling, General Sir James Alexander of the Stirling committee said that the figure it represented signified ‘an example of manly perseverance and courage in a noble cause’. Having accepted the statue, William Christie, Provost of Stirling, listed the manifold realms of achievement in which the Scots had excelled, before going on to say: