Today it is exactly 700 years since the Battle of Bannockburn and next weekend the anniversary will be marked by Bannockburn Live, a cultural event that forms part of Scotland's second Year of Homecoming.

The anniversary of the battle has fallen in an important year for Scotland's history and, while there is little that can be directly learned from a confrontation played out many centuries ago, some of the myth around the battle could do with being swept away.

Bannockburn was not, for example, a simple case of the Scots versus the English: there were many Scots who were hand in glove with the English. Neither did the battle suddenly transform Scotland into a better place (and in the aftermath, Bruce could have been toppled by his rivals at any minute).

But Bannockburn was certainly the beginnings of modern Scotland, and that is something that can be celebrated. The independence debate has shown that Scots have different views on where the country goes from here, but everyone can agree on where we have come from - and the central role the Battle of Bannockburn played.