PUBLISHED BY JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, GLASGOW, Publishers to the University. MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON. MCMXIII. STIRLING CASTLE ITS PLACE IN SCOTTISH HISTORY BY ERIC STAIR-KERR M.A. Edin. and Oxon., F.S.A. Scot. AUTHOR OF “SCOTLAND UNDER JAMES IV” WITH EIGHTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY HUGH ARMSTRONG CAMERON GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY 1913...

Stirling Castle is a many-sided subject that can be treated in more than one way. The story of the castle might be dealt with in a book divided into sections, each one taking up a special part, such as Military History, Stirling as a Royal Palace, Notable Visitors, etc.; but I have thought it better to set forth the whole of the castle’s history in chronological order, and, after discussing the buildings and their associations, to bring together the salient events connected with the three chief

For many centuries travellers have been struck by the remarkable resemblance which Stirling bears to Edinburgh. In each case there is a castle perched on a precipitous rock, and a town built on a narrow ridge that slopes from the crag to the plain. That two places so much alike in situation should be found in Scotland, and but thirty miles apart, may seem a matter for wonder, but a word or two on the geology of the district may help to explain how the similarity arose. During the Great Ice Age,

The county of Stirling has aptly been called the “Battlefield of Scotland,” for no less than six memorable conflicts have taken place in this district within historical times. During the wars with England, in the period of the Stewart sovereigns, the Borders and the neighbourhood of Edinburgh were the principal scenes of operations; but Stirling Castle was the centre of hostilities in the stirring days of Wallace and Bruce. Edinburgh, though an important fortress and town, was not the capital of

On the death of David II. in 1371, the crown passed to Robert the Steward, grandson of the Bruce, in accordance with the succession settlement made at the Parliament of 1318. The first of the Stewarts was past middle life when he mounted the Scottish throne, and although he had been a man of war in his youth, he longed to spend his later years in the enjoyment of repose. To some extent his desire was fulfilled, for the war with England—which continued in spite of a truce—was of a fitful nature a

James V. in an especial sense belongs to Stirling Castle. True, Linlithgow was his birthplace, but he was brought at a tender age to Stirling, and although much of his early life was spent in Edinburgh Castle, he seems to have regarded ancient Snowdon as his favourite place of residence. It was usually from Stirling that James travelled in disguise to make himself acquainted with the habits of his people and to hear the complaints of his peasant subjects. The name “Gudeman o’ Ballengeich,” by wh

Once more a minor became sovereign of Scotland. Not, however, as in former cases, by the early death of the preceding monarch did the throne become vacant again, but by a deed of abdication which the helpless captive Queen was compelled to sign at Lochleven. On July 29th, 1567—a few days after the close of Mary’s reign—the thirteen months old Prince of Scotland was crowned at Stirling as James VI. The Chapel at the castle on this occasion was not the scene of the function, the High or Parish Chu

In the times when the King of Scots’ capital was Edinburgh, a royal visit to Stirling was an occurrence of an ordinary kind. Preparations were made in the interior of the castle for the housing of the Court, but naturally the sovereign’s arrival was not regarded as an event of historic importance. After the Union of the Crowns, however, when the royal family was domiciled in England, and the people in the north had grown unaccustomed to the sight of a monarch’s pomp, a visit of the King to his a

The castle that stands on Stirling rock to-day is not the building that was the home of Alexander I. and William the Lion. Their royal dwelling was thrown into ruins in the days of the devastating War of Independence. Robert the Bruce’s invariable policy was to destroy all fortresses that fell into his hands, lest they should be captured again by the English and made the seats of oppression; so that most of the castellated buildings that had escaped destruction before Bannockburn were cast down

In the preceding pages a description was given of the buildings of the castle as they stand at the present day. In this chapter the purpose is to remind the reader of the celebrated events that took place within or beside these existing edifices, and to enable him to picture to himself some of the scenes that have been enacted on the “well-trod stage” of Stirling rock. Since the gay days of the Jameses, and still more since the troubled years of Robert Bruce, important changes have been wrought

Scotland, never having been conquered since the Scots themselves overcame the Picts, does not possess that type of castle that victorious invaders have been obliged to erect throughout their newly-won regions in order to keep the native races in subjection. Soon after the Norman Conquest, massive, square-built strongholds were raised in different parts of England for use as houses for feudal barons and as bulwarks against Anglo-Saxon insurrections. Rochester, Richmond and other well-known castle

It was Nathaniel Hawthorne who said that it takes a great deal of history to make a little poetry. The record of Stirling Castle bears out this remark, although it might be maintained also that in the case of the grey bulwark overlooking the River Forth a great deal of history has oppressed and has tended to silence the sensitive Muse of Poesy. The ancient fortress has been mentioned in verses composed in different ages, but the romance and magic of the storied spot remained unrevealed by rhymin