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diff --git a/77794-0.txt b/77794-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c2a838b --- /dev/null +++ b/77794-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1819 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77794 *** + + + + +[Illustration: + + A + PICTURE OF + STIRLING + + A series of + Eight Views + + _Drawn by_ + + ANDREW S. MASSON. + + Engraved by + JOHN GELLATLY. + + + A. S. Masson Del^t. J. Gellatly Sculp^t. + + STIRLING BRIDGE.] + + + STIRLING. + Published by John Hewit. Bookseller. +John Anderson Jun^r. 55 North Bridge. William Hunter 23 South Hanover Street. + and J. Gellatly West Register Street. + EDINBURGH. + 1830. + + * * * * * + + + PICTURE OF STIRLING: + + A SERIES OF + + EIGHT VIEWS, + + ENGRAVED BY JOHN GELLATLY, + + FROM + + DRAWINGS BY ANDREW S. MASSON; + + WITH + + Historical and Descriptive Notices, + + BY ROBERT CHAMBERS, + + _AUTHOR OF “THE PICTURE OF SCOTLAND.”_ + + STIRLING: + + PUBLISHED BY JOHN HEWIT, BOOKSELLER; + JOHN ANDERSON, JUN., 55. NORTH BRIDGE STREET; + WILLIAM HUNTER, 23. SOUTH HANOVER STREET; AND + JOHN GELLATLY, WEST REGISTER STREET, + EDINBURGH. + + M.D.CCC.XXX. + + * * * * * + + JOHNSTONE, PRINTER, + 104. HIGH STREET, EDINBURGH. + + * * * * * + + +[Illustration: + +_PLATE. I._ + +A. S. Masson Del^t. J. Gellatly Sculp^t. + +VIEW OF STIRLING +FROM the FORTH.] + + + + +GENERAL ACCOUNT + +OF + +STIRLING. + + +_PLATE I._ + +STIRLING, the capital of the county of the same name, the seat of a +presbytery, and one of the oldest royal burghs in Scotland, is a town +of about nine thousand inhabitants, situated upon an eminence near +the river Forth, thirty-five miles north-west of Edinburgh, and about +twenty-seven north-east of Glasgow. It is in 56 degrees 12 minutes +north latitude, and 3 degrees 50 minutes west longitude from London. +It is a place little noted for manufacture or commerce, although not +altogether destitute of these advantages, the weaving of carpets, +of tartans, and of cotton goods, having long flourished in it to a +considerable extent, and the Forth being navigable up to the town for +vessels of small burden. It is chiefly for its antiquities and the +interesting historical associations connected with them, together with +the singularly delightful circumstances of its situation, that Stirling +is remarkable, in the eyes of either the native of Scotland or the +foreign tourist. + +_First_, as to Situation. It occupies a central place in the southern +moiety of Scotland, where the rivers Forth and Clyde contract the +country into a narrow isthmus, the greater part of which is rendered +impassable by a barrier of mountains, and which the Romans at one +time completely fortified by a ditch and wall. Situated, with its +castle, on a hill overlooking the only place where the mountains and +river permitted this isthmus to be traversed, Stirling was, at an +early time, a place of such importance as to be dignified with the +epithet of ‘the Key of the Highlands,’ implying that it could open or +obstruct the passage to that region at its pleasure. For this reason, +the neighbourhood of the town abounds in fields of strife; at least +a dozen, some of them the most remarkable in Scottish history, being +pointed out from the walls of the castle. It used to be remarked +of Stirling, that it was the only place in Scotland which could be +approached, in any thing like a direct line, from any other part +of the country, _without crossing an arm of the sea_; a fact which +will be made plain to the reader by a glance at a map of Scotland, +where he will not fail to observe, that all the principal roads of +a longitudinal direction, have a confluence at Stirling, parting +off at no great distance in all other directions. But, perhaps, the +importance which the town formerly derived from this circumstance, +could not be better illustrated than by a reference to the events of +the insurrection of 1715, the whole of which turned upon the successful +defence of the bridge by the Duke of Argyll; who thus, with only about +fifteen hundred men, prevented an army, supposed, at one time, to have +numbered ten thousand, from descending upon the low country. + +Stirling enjoys the distinction, in local antiquities (which Edinburgh +does not) of having been a Roman station. It is situated about ten +miles to the north of the wall which Lollius Urbicus, the lieutenant +of Antoninus, built between the firths of Forth and Clyde, to restrain +the remoter barbarians; and the vestiges of a road of incursion, or +military causeway, which the Romans afterwards led north by Ardoch, +have been discovered in such a direction on both sides of the town, +as to prove that the castle was upon its line. On the south side of +the town, in particular, near the village of Newhouse, traces of this +road were distinctly seen not many years ago, in improving a piece of +marshy ground in the field called Clifford Park, immediately behind the +house of the proprietor. At the conclusion of the seventeenth century, +a stone near the castle bore this inscription: ‘_IN EXCU. AGIT. LEG. +II._,’ which being extended into ‘_In excubias agitantes legionis +secundæ_,’ means, that the soldiers of the second legion there held +nightly and daily watch. (1)[A] + +[A] The figures refer to Notes at the end. + +During the middle ages, when this country, like the Saxon heptarchy, +was divided among various small parcels of people, Stirling was upon +the confines of the Scottish empire on the south, and of the British +on the north; that is to say, the predecessors of the present royal +family of Britain were at the head of a tribe of Scots occupying the +country north from this, while the three nations of provincial or +Romanized Britons or Bretts, occupied various longitudinal stripes of +what is now called the south of Scotland, and the north of England, +having the Forth for their boundary. This fact seems to be alluded to +by the insignia which figure on the obverse of the ancient seal of the +corporation of Stirling—a bridge, with a crucifix in the centre of it, +men armed with bows on the one side of the bridge, and men armed with +spears on the other, and the legend, _Hic armis Bruti et Scoti stant +hac cruce tutt_. While thus placed in command of a pass between the +countries of two or three different savage nations, each of which was +disposed to aggress upon the other, it may be supposed, notwithstanding +the peaceful announcement darkly insinuated by this legend, that the +bridge and fields of Stirling were often drenched with native blood. + +Stirling seems to have been made a royal burgh, some time after the +Scottish sovereign, Malcolm the Second, pushed his empire across the +Forth, in the early part of the eleventh century. In 1119, less than +a hundred years after this extension of the kingdom, Alexander the +First granted the town its earliest known charter as a burgh which, +however, is only a confirmation of some one which had been granted +before. Stirling thus ranks with Edinburgh, Berwick, and Roxburgh, in a +list which Chalmers presents of the four earliest institutions of this +kind in Scotland; an association, by the way, which for some centuries +enjoyed a sort of superiority or jurisdiction over the other royal +burghs of Scotland, in the shape of a commercial Parliament, styled the +_Curia Quatuor Burgorum_, (the earlier form of the present Convention +of Scottish Burghs.) It is a circumstance strongly characteristic of +the time when Stirling procured its first known charter, that the four +royal burghs of Scotland were the appendages of the four principal +fortresses. This is proved by the fact that King William the Lion was, +in 1175, ransomed by his subjects from the English, who had taken him +prisoner, by delivering up ‘the four principal fortresses, Stirling, +Edinburgh, Roxburgh, and Berwick.’ From what different sources do the +wealth and dignity of towns now arise! + +As it was the importance of its castle which caused Stirling to +become a royal burgh, so does the town seem to have been extended in +proportion to the value or use of that fortress. We have few data for +ascertaining the progress which the town has made from age to age in +size, prosperity, or population. It must have been benefited by the +establishment of the neighbouring Abbey of Cambuskenneth in 1147, and +by that of the Convent of Dominican Friars in 1233. In the reign of +Bruce, when the castle was so considerable a place that that sovereign +fought the battle of Bannockburn, mainly that he might get it into +his possession; the town could not fail to have become larger than it +was at the time of its receiving burgal honours. After the accession +of the house of Stuart, when the castle became a royal residence, its +prosperity must have received a great impulse. There is a tradition +that at one time Stirling had a keen struggle with Edinburgh, for the +honour of being pronounced the capital of the kingdom, and only lost +the object of contention by a sort of _neck heat_, the provost having +unluckily ceded the head seat, at a grand public banquet, to the +provost of Edinburgh, which was held decisive of the matter at issue. +Of course, the tradition is a vague one, and cannot be set forward as +authority; yet such an impression could only have been made upon the +popular mind, in consequence of a strong conviction, long entertained, +of the eminence of Stirling in the list of Scottish burghs. Throughout +the successive reigns of the Jameses, as they are called, the town must +have increased very considerably in wealth and trade. We can see from +the books of the royal treasurers, which are preserved in the Register +House at Edinburgh, that Stirling then possessed tradesmen and artists +of a high order, who purveyed articles of luxury to the court, such +as could not now be produced in Stirling. Without some considerable +resources, the town could never have produced citizens able to found +such hospitals as those of _Spittal_ in the reign of James V. and +_Cowan_ in the reign of Charles I. Yet, it is probable that what trade +it enjoyed in these reigns, was chiefly the result of its being the +residence of the courtiers, and of the noblemen and gentlemen of the +country around. Spottiswood the historian, characterises it, in 1585, +as a town, ‘little remarkable for merchandise.’ It had then a number +of booths or shops, formed of the vaults on which all houses were +built in those days; and what is a remarkable enough feature, all +the shop-windows were defended by stauncheons, as in some places of +Ireland at the present day. The border thieves, who accompanied the +expedition of the banished protestant lords in the year just quoted, +made but little, Spottiswood says, of the ‘_booths_;’ it was in the +stables of the nobility that they got their best prey. It was easy to +conceive, however, that at the time when the houses of the courtiers in +Broad Street were comparatively new; when the houses of the Earls of +Mar and Stirling were occupied by their respective proprietors in the +splendid style of those days; and when the buildings of the castle and +the adjacent royal gardens were in their first and best state, Stirling +must have been a very handsome town, without the assistance of shops; +but, in all probability, the town never possessed, throughout those +times of its greatest splendour, above three thousand inhabitants. +It was found, in 1755, to contain only 3951; and assuredly, when the +circumstances of the country at large are considered, the number must +have rather encreased than decreased, during the preceding hundred and +fifty years. This is rendered the more probable by the fact that, in +1792, the population had encreased to 4698, and that it is at present +supposed to be nearly double that number. + +In external appearance, Stirling bears a striking resemblance, though +a miniature one, to Edinburgh; each town being built on the ridge and +sides of a hill which rises gradually from the east, and presents +an abrupt crag towards the west; and each having a principal street +on the surface of the ridge, the upper end of which opens upon the +castle. The truth is, the hills on which Edinburgh and Stirling are +situated, are evidently the peculiar result of some strange convulsion +of nature, which has suddenly projected them above a level surface. Of +the same order of hills are Arthur’s Seat, Salisbury Crags, and the +Calton Hill, near Edinburgh, and the hill of Craigforth, and the Abbey +Crag near Stirling; the whole of which present a precipice to the west, +and decline gently towards a low plain on the east. The interior and +more ancient streets of Stirling, present rather a mean appearance, +being generally long, narrow, and containing many old fashioned and +decayed houses. The High Street, however, or Broad Street, as it is +now less happily called, has long furnished an exception to this +remark, its appearance being spacious and imposing, and its houses +lofty, though, in various instances, antique. Since the commencement +of the present century, several of the other streets, such as Baker +Street, King Street, and Port Street, have been much improved, and +filled with shops, which formerly were scarcely to be seen out of the +limits of Broad Street; a very striking proof, if any were wanting, +of the prosperity of the neighbouring agricultural district, on which +Stirling, in these times, mainly depends. Every road, too, which leads +out of the town, is now lined with neat modern villas, which speak +towards the wealth and comfort of the inhabitants; many of these are +occupied by persons of fortune, or annuitants, who have retired, after +an adventurous life, to spend the conclusion of their days in their +native town. The stranger is apt to exclaim against the pavement of +the streets of Stirling, which is very uneasy and irregular; but +at the more open parts of the town, there is a flag pavement for +foot passengers. The town has been lighted of late years with a very +brilliant gas. One circumstance in its environs is much to be admired, +the prevalence of gardens and orchards, which serves to give an +inexpressibly pleasing air of comfort to the _tout ensemble_, as seen +from any point. The stranger, moreover, will scarcely fail to envy the +citizen of Stirling, for the delightful walks which are laid out for +his convenience, along the south-west side of the town, and around what +are called the Gowlan Hills. These I can safely pronounce, so far as +_prospect_ is concerned, to be _matchless in Scotland_. + +Stirling has its affairs administered by a town-council, consisting of +fourteen merchants or guild brethren, and seven trades councillors or +deacons, who are all annually chosen. The office-bearers in the council +are, a provost, four bailies, a dean-of-guild, treasurer, and convener. +The present _set_, or burgal constitution, was granted by his late +Majesty, with advice of his privy council, on the 23d of May 1781. It +is characterised as one of the most _liberal_ in Scotland; but, in the +opinion of the intelligent and respectable men of all parties in the +burgh, few if any beneficial consequences have resulted from it, and it +still calls loudly for amendment. + +The provost and bailies have a very extensive civil and criminal +jurisdiction, in virtue of a charter granted to the town by King +James IV., which erected the burgh into a separate sheriffship: +they had previously gratified the hereditary sheriff of the county, +for the cession of this part of his right. The jurisdiction of the +dean-of-guild has latterly been much circumscribed. His being called, +along with the bailie of the quarter, and the convener of the trades, +to inspect and report, in disputes between conterminous proprietors, +relative to their properties, is almost the only remnant of his +former authority. Anciently, the provost wore a black gown and bands; +now, his only mark of distinction is a gold chain, which is only of +modern date (2). The dean-of-guild, when installed into office in the +guild-hall, has a ribbon thrown round his neck, at which is suspended a +very ancient gold ring, set in precious stones, with the inscription, +‘Yis for ye Deine of ye Geild of Stirling.’ Of late years, the guildry +have presented him with a splendid gold chain, to which is attached a +medal, bearing the more modern arms of the town. The costume of the +town-officers or sergeants, who are four in number, is evidently very +ancient. It consists of a cocked hat, turned up with broad silver lace; +a long scarlet coat, richly decorated, and having a white button, on +which are engraved the town’s arms; scarlet breeches, buckled at the +knee; white stockings; a basket-hilted sword, and the ancient Scottish +halbard (3). + +Besides its burgh court, Stirling is the seat of a sheriff, a +commissary, and a justice of peace court. The circuit court of +justiciary meets in it twice a-year; and the jury court occasionally. +It contains two churches of the establishment, one episcopalian chapel, +and five other places of worship for different orders of Christians. +Stirling is remarked by the inhabitants of neighbouring towns, to be a +place of extraordinary sanctitude. The principal sect which has parted +from the church of Scotland, since its establishment at the revolution, +began here about eighty years ago, under the auspices of the Reverend +Ebenezer Erskine, who was originally minister of what was called the +third charge of the parish of Stirling. The place of worship occupied +by this divine, after his secession from the church, continued in use +till lately, when a new one was erected behind it. It is now proposed +to erect a monument to Erskine on its site, exactly at the spot where +he was buried. The parish of Stirling comprehends the burgh, properly +so called, and all its extensive burgal domains, with the exception of +Spittal and Causewayhead (4). + + + + +STIRLING CASTLE. + +_PLATE II._ + + +THE CASTLE, to which, as already mentioned, Stirling owed its first +existence and its early prosperity, and which is still decidedly the +most important feature of the town, naturally assumes the second +place in this series of sketches. The view here presented is from +the low ground by the south-west shoulder of the town, formerly the +royal gardens; and it represents that part of the fortress, where +the rock is most precipitous and picturesque, and the buildings most +interesting. The history of this stronghold can be traced back to the +early times when the Romans here surveyed, perhaps from the bare rock, +the boundless forests which then stretched away to the north. We also +find Stirling Castle to have been a frequent object of contention among +the various minor nations which, under separate sovereignties, occupied +the central part of the British Isle, during the first ages succeeding +the retirement of the Romans from Britain. It is unnecessary, however, +to present a detail of transactions which are at once obscure and not +generally interesting. The only circumstance which seems worthy of +notice in regard to this part of the history of Stirling Castle, is, +that it seems to have then been a mere tower, like an ordinary baronial +fortalice, such being the appearance it bears on the more ancient seal +of the burgh. + +[Illustration: + +_PLATE. II._ + +A. S. Masson del^t. J. Gellatly Sculp^t. + +STIRLING CASTLE. + +FROM THE KINGS PARK.] + +In the twelfth century, as already stated, Stirling Castle had reached +the distinction of being one of the four principal fortresses in the +kingdom. Such it continued to be during the celebrated wars which +Edward I. of England carried on for the subjugation of Scotland, +when it was frequently taken and retaken, after protracted sieges, +and under circumstances which go to prove its great strength at that +period. It was the last part of the kingdom which Bruce reduced to +his obedience; a feat which he only performed by gaining the victory +of Bannockburn. It first became a favourite royal residence about the +reign of James I., whose son, James II., was born in it, and also kept +for some time during his minority. James III. was extremely partial +to Stirling Castle; he increased the buildings by a palace, part of +which is supposed to be still extant, and by founding a Chapel-royal +within the walls. James IV. gave Stirling and Edinburgh Castles to his +queen, Margaret of England, (daughter of Henry VII.) as her jointure +houses; on which occasion, she was infeoffed in her property by the +ceremony of the Scotch and English soldiers marching in and out of the +two castles alternately—perhaps as a token of that mutual wish of peace +on the part of the two countries, from which the marriage had sprung. +James IV. frequently resided here during lent, in attendance upon the +neighbouring church of the Franciscans, where he was in the habit of +fasting and doing penance on his bare knees, for his concern in the +death of his father. The poet Dunbar writes a poem in allusion to +this circumstance, which is entitled, ‘his Dirige to the King bydand +oure lang in Stirling,’ and is to be found in Sibbald’s Chronicle +of Scottish Poetry. James V., who was born and crowned in Stirling +Castle, further adorned it by the erection of the present _Palace_. It +was also occupied by the widow of this prince, Mary of Guise, queen +regent, who erected the battery towards the east, called the French +Battery from having been built by her French auxiliaries (5). Mary, +daughter of this princess, here celebrated the baptism of her son, +afterwards James VI.; on which occasion there was a prodigious display +of courtly hospitality. James, whose baptism took place in December +1566, was removed in February 1566–7 to Edinburgh, but was soon after +sent back to Stirling, where he spent the years of his childhood till +he was thirteen years of age. The apartments which he occupied, with +his preceptor, George Buchanan, and where that learned man, in 1577–8, +wrote his History of Scotland, are still shewn in the Palace, though +now degraded into the character of a joiner’s work-shop. James did not +make Stirling the jointure-house of his queen; that honour was reserved +for Dunfermline. Here, however, he baptised his eldest son, Prince +Henry, for which purpose he built a new chapel on the site of the +old one. The fortress continued afterwards in considerable strength. +In 1651, when employed by the Scottish Estates, in the honourable +service of keeping the national registers, it was besieged and taken +by General Monk. In 1681, James, Duke of York, afterwards James II., +visited Stirling, with his family, including the Princess, afterwards +Queen Anne. A scheme was formed, in 1689, by Lord Dundee, and other +friends of this monarch, for rescuing the Castle for his service from +the revolutionists, but in vain. In the reign of Queen Anne, its +fortifications were considerably extended, and it was declared to be +one of the four fortresses in Scotland, which were to be ever after +kept in repair, in terms of the Treaty of Union with England. Since +then, it has experienced little change in external aspect, except its +being gradually rendered more and more a barrack for the accommodation +of modern soldiers. It formed a capital _point d’appui_, as already +mentioned, for the Duke of Argyll in 1715, when he encamped his little +army in the park, and resolutely defended the passage of the Forth +against the insurgent forces under the Earl of Mar. In 1745, Prince +Charles led his Highland army across the Forth by the fords of Frew, +about six miles above Stirling; but he made no attempt upon the castle +till the succeeding year, when, in returning from England, he laid +siege to it in proper form, but was obliged to retire to the Highlands, +without being able to make any impression upon it. + +Such being the chief general _memorabilia_ connected with Stirling +Castle, I shall proceed to point out the various particular objects +which successively occur to a stranger in visiting it, together with +the various historical facts connected with them individually. + +The visiter first passes under two archways, which give access +through two several walls of defence, the external fortifications +of the castle. These were erected at the expence of Queen Anne, who +at the same time caused a deep fosse to be dug in front of each. +The outer fosse is passed by a draw bridge. We learn from Slezer’s +view of the castle, taken in the reign of King William, that the +external fortifications of the castle formerly consisted of two +large block-houses, or double towers, like the north-west angle of +Holyroodhouse, or the western part of Falkland Palace. These are taken +away, except the lower part of one, through which a double-doored +gate-way yet gives access to the interior court-yard. That the strength +of the castle was improved by the demolition of these block-houses, and +the erection of the two exterior walls, cannot reasonably be doubted; +but the writer of the additions to Slezer’s descriptions in the second +edition of the _Theatrum Scotiæ_, 1718, informs us that the Jacobites +believed Queen Anne to have secretly entertained a design of weakening +the castle by these operations, in order that it might the more easily +become a prey to her brother when he should make his expedition into +Britain for the recovery of his crown. + +Immediately after passing the last gate-way, which was formerly +defended by a port-cullis, a battery, called the _Over_, or _Upper +Port Battery_, is found to extend to the right hand, overlooking the +beautiful plain through which the river takes its winding course, as +also the distant Highlands, and a multiplicity of other objects. The +ground on this side of the castle is not precipitous, but gradually +descends, in a series of rocky eminences called the Gowlan or Gowan +hills, towards the bridge. On the ridge of the nearest hillock, the +remains of a low rampart are still to be seen, extending in a line +exactly parallel with the battery. These are the vestigia of the works +which Prince Charles caused to be erected against the castle, in 1746. +The situation, as may be easily conceived by the spectator, was very +unfortunate. The castle, as we are informed in a print of the time, +overlooked the besiegers so completely, that the garrison could see +them down to the very buckles of their shoes. Accordingly, they were +able to kill a great number of their Celtic assailants. The Prince made +no impression whatever on the fortress. + +Between the castle walls and the Highland battery, a road may be seen +leading down the hill towards the village of Raploch. This is called +the Ballangeigh road, from two words, signifying the windy pass. At the +same time, a low browed archway, passing out of the court-yard, near +the Parliament House, and which formerly was connected with a large +gateway through the exterior wall, is called the Ballangeigh Entry. +According to many distinct traditionary stories, (6) it was the custom +of King James Fifth to travel in disguise among his subjects, under the +title of the Gudeman of Ballangeigh, assuming a name from this minute +part of his property, upon the same fashion, I presume, with that +which still makes the Earl of Morton popularly known as the Gudeman of +Aberdour, and the Duke of Gordon as Gudeman of the Bog. At the bottom +of the Ballangeigh road, adjacent to the village of Raploch, there +is a house (lately rebuilt) and a small triangular park (now partly +intersected by the road leading from the village to the bridge), which +James V. gave by letters under his signet, to one John Adamson and +his wife, for the service of ‘keeping the washers’ tubs, and setting +furms, binks, and other plautery for the washers, and drying of their +clothes;’ in other words, for the service, of taking care of the tubs, +and providing all necessary articles for the washers of the King, while +washing and dressing his Majesty’s clothes at the Raploch Burn. Mary of +Guise, the widow of James, confirmed this grant by a charter, granted +by her to the descendents of Adamson and his wife, at her Castle of +Stirling in 1550, for the additional service of ‘the daily prayers to +be said by them for umquhill our deceist spouse, the Kingis grace, and +us.’ James VI. again confirmed it by a charter, granted by him, at his +Castle of Stirling in 1594. Both these charters are still extant. + +The Palace of James V. has its eastern aspect towards this court-yard. +It is a quadrangular building, having three ornamented sides presented +to the view of the spectator, and a small square in the centre. +The accompanying view (_PLATE III._) represents its southern side, +being taken from the gateway under the block-house, through which +the court-yard is entered. On each of the ornamented sides of this +building, there are five or six slight recesses, in each of which a +pillar rises close to the wall, having a statue on the top. These +images are now much defaced, but enough yet remains to shew that they +had been originally, like every other part of the palace, in a very +extraordinary taste. Most of those on the eastern side are mythological +figures—apparently Omphale, Queen of Lydia, Perseus, Diana, Venus, +and so forth. On the northern side of the palace, opposite to the +chapel-royal, they are more of a this-world order. The first from +the eastern angle is unquestionably one of the royal founder, whom +it represents as a short man, dressed in a hat and frock-coat, with +a bushy beard. Above the head of this figure, an allegorical being +extends a crown with a scroll, on which are the letter I. and the +figure 5, for James V., (which are also seen above various windows of +the building,) and the Scottish lion crouches beneath his feet. Next +to the king is the statue of a young beardless man, holding a cup in +his hand, who is supposed to be the king’s cup-bearer. Besides the +principal figures, there are others springing from the wall near them; +one of which is evidently Cleopatra with the asp on her breast. The +visiter may derive a very good hour’s amusement from the inspection +of these curious relics, some of which are valuable as commemorating +costumes. + +[Illustration: + +_PLATE. III._ + +A. S. Masson Del^t. J. Gellatly Sculp^t. + +PALACE + +STIRLING CASTLE.] + +The small square within the Palace is called the Lions’ Den, from its +having been the place, according to tradition, where the king kept his +lions. It presents nothing remarkable in appearance. + +The apartments of the Palace were formerly noble alike in their +dimensions and decorations. Part of the lower flat of the northern side +was occupied by a hall or chamber of presence, the walls and ceiling +of which, previously to 1777, were adorned by a multitude of figures, +carved on oak, in low relief, and supposed, with much probability, +to represent the persons of the king, his family, and his courtiers. +The walls were stripped of these most beautiful and most interesting +ornaments in 1777, in consequence of one having fallen down and struck +a castle soldier, who was passing at the time. Fortunately, at the +very juncture when they were about to be condemned for fire-wood, an +individual of taste observed a little girl going along the castle-hill +with one in her hand, which she was carrying towards the town. Having +secured possession of it for a trifle, the individual mentioned, +immediately busied himself to collect and preserve as many of the rest +as yet remained. Strange to say, this person was no other than the +keeper of the jail of Stirling; and it was to that house of care that +he carried the beautiful carvings which he had rescued. They were kept +there for upwards of forty years, when, having attracted the attention +of the lady of General Graham, deputy-governor of the castle, drawings, +not only of these, but of others, which had found their way into the +possession of Henry Cockburn, Esq., advocate, and other individuals, +were made by her and an artist of the name of Blore, and then given +to the world, in a series of masterly engravings, published by Mr +Blackwood of Edinburgh, in an elegant volume, entitled, _Lacunar +Strevilinense_. Those which were in the jail of Stirling have now been +transferred to the justiciary court-room, adjacent to it; but they +have been much disfigured by the paint with which the civic taste has +covered them. The lofty hall which they formerly adorned is now, alas! +a mere barrack for private soldiers; but it is yet designated by the +title of _The King’s Room_. + +The buildings on the western side of the square, adjoining to the +palace of James V., are of a much plainer and more antique character. +It is supposed that they are of a date antecedent to the reign of +James II.; a room being still shown, where that monarch is said to +have stabbed the Earl of Douglas. James II. was exceedingly annoyed, +through the whole of his reign, by this too powerful family of nobles, +which at one time had so nearly unsettled him from his throne, that, +in a fit of disgust, he formed the resolution of retiring to the +continent. William, Earl of Douglas, having entered into a league with +the Earls of Crawford and Ross against their sovereign, James invited +him to Stirling Castle, and endeavoured to prevail upon him to break +the treasonous contract. Tradition says, that the King led him out of +his audience-chamber (now the drawing-room of the deputy-governor of +the castle,) into a small closet close beside it, (now thrown into the +drawing-room,) and there proceeded to entreat that he would break the +league. Douglas peremptorily refusing, James at last exclaimed in rage, +‘Then, if you will not, I shall,’ and instantly plunged his dagger +into the body of the obstinate noble. According to tradition, his body +was thrown over the window of the closet into a retired court-yard +behind, and there buried; in confirmation of which, the skeleton of +an armed man was found in the ground, at that place, some years ago. +Some of the less credible chronicles of these early events affirm, +that Douglas came to Stirling upon a safe-conduct under the King’s +hand, and that his followers nailed the paper upon a large board, +which they dragged at a horse’s tail, through the streets of Stirling, +threatening at the same time to burn the town. The King’s closet, or +Douglas’ Room—for it is known by both names—is a small apartment, very +elaborately decorated in an old taste. In the centre of the ceiling +is a large star having _radii_ of iron; and around the cornices are +two inscriptions. The upper one is as follows, ‘JHS (7) _Maria salvet +rem pie pia_’—which may be thus extended, constructed, and translated, +_‘Pie Jesus, hominum salvator, pia Maria, salvete regem’—Holy +Jesus, the saviour of men, and holy Mary, save the King_. The lower +inscription is _‘Jacobus Scotor Rex’—James, King of Scots_. + +[Illustration: + +_PLATE. IV._ + +A. S. Masson Del^t. J. Gellatly Sculp^t. + +PARLIAMENT HOUSE. + +STIRLING CASTLE.] + +The eastern side of the square, opposite to this range of ancient +buildings, is the _Parliament House_, (_PLATE IV._) a structure +erected by James III. in the Saxon style of architecture, and which +formerly had a noble appearance, though now rendered plain by the +alterations necessary for converting it into a barrack. The hall +within this building was a hundred and twenty feet long, and had a +magnificent oaken roof. Parliaments were frequently assembled in +it. It is a somewhat remarkable circumstance, that Linlithgow and +Stirling, two of the Scottish King’s private palaces, had each a +parliament-hall connected with it. James III. also erected within the +castle a chapel-royal or college of secular priests, consisting of a +dean or provost, an archdean, a treasurer and subdean, a chanter, +a subchanter, and various other officers. This chapel he endowed +most liberally. The original register of it is still preserved in +the Advocates’ Library, along with the chartulary of the Abbey of +Cambuskenneth. + +The northern side of the square is occupied by the new chapel, which +James VI., as already mentioned, erected, in 1594, for the scene of the +baptism of his son Prince Henry. The ceremonial which distinguished +this affair, was one of extraordinary magnificence and cost, being such +as to be suitable in the eyes of the father, for the heir-presumptive +of three great monarchies. A very full account of it is yet extant; +and a more splendid piece of pageantry was never seen in Scotland, +till the visit of his present Majesty in 1822. There existed, till +lately, in the chapel, the hull of a boat, eighteen feet in length, +and eight across the deck, which had been drawn on four wheels into +the banquet-hall, with confections and other dainties for the company +assembled. The chapel is now converted into an armoury; but less damage +has been done to its exterior than to that of the other buildings in +the castle, by the ruthless hands which have been at work upon them +for a series of years. Previously to its being made an armoury, the +roof was a species of pannelling without much ornament; but, from the +centre, there hung, in one piece of wood, figures of the castles of +Edinburgh, Stirling, Dunbarton, and Blackness, surmounted by a crown, +which is still preserved in the building. + +Such are the objects usually pointed out to strangers as most worthy +of notice in Stirling Castle. It is now necessary to attend to those +objects of interest in the neighbourhood, which are historically or +locally connected with it. + +_The King’s Gardens_ merit the first notice. They lie immediately to +the south-west of the Castle-hill, and to the south of the Castle. +Their present condition is that of a marshy piece of pasture-ground; +and it cannot be said of them, as of the gardens of the deserted +village, + + ‘And yet where many a garden flower grows wild.’ + +This interesting monument of the taste of our national sovereigns is +completely desolated, so far as shrubs and flowers are concerned. The +utmost exertion of the memory of the present generation, can only +recollect an old cherry-tree, which stood at the corner of one of the +parterres, and which was burnt down by the wadding of a shot, which +some thoughtless sportsman fired into its decayed trunk, as he happened +to pass it on his way home from the fields (8). + +It is yet possible, however, to trace on this desolate spot, the +peculiar form into which the ground had been thrown by its royal +proprietors. In the centre, a series of concentric mounds, of a +polygonal, but perfectly regular shape, and rising above one another +towards the middle, is yet most distinctly visible. An octagonal mound +in the centre, is called _the King’s Knote_, and is said, by tradition, +to have been the scene of some forgotten play or recreation, which the +King used to enjoy on that spot with his court. In an earlier age, +this strange object seems to have been called ‘the Round Table;’ and, +in all probability, it was the scene of the out-of-door’s game of that +name, founded upon the history of King Arthur, and of which the courtly +personages of former times are known to have been so fond. Barbour, in +his heroic poem of ‘the Bruce,’ which he wrote at the conclusion of the +fourteenth century, thus alludes to it: + + ‘And besouth the Castill went they thone, + Rycht by the _Round Table_ away; + And syne the Park enweround thai; + And towart Lythkow held in by.’ + +Lyndsay, in his Complaynt of the Papingo, written in 1530, thus also +alludes to it: + + ‘Adieu, fair Snawdoun, with thy towris hie, + Thy Chapill-Royal, Park, and _Tabill Round_; + May, June, and July, would I dwell in thee, + Were I ane man, to hear the birdis sound, + Whilk doth against thy royal rocke resound.’ + +To give further countenance to this supposition, we have the +ascertained fact that James IV., with whom Stirling was a favourite +and frequent residence, was excessively fond of the game of the Round +Table, which probably appealed, in a peculiar manner, to his courtly +and chivalric imagination. + +It is a circumstance not to be omitted, that a piece of ground to the +west, not so distinctly marked as this, but within the limits of the +gardens, is called the Queen’s Knote. It should also be observed, that +‘King Villyamis Note,’ is the name of a song or ballad, quoted in ‘The +Complaynt of Scotland,’ as popular in 1549, and which was probably +descriptive of some game played here. + +A canal is still visible at the east end of the gardens. It flowed on +the north by the wall, marching with the ground now belonging to the +Earl of Mar, and discharged itself into another canal or reservoir, +which is still very perceptible at the west end, adjoining the King’s +Park. + +_The King’s Park_ lies beyond the gardens, towards the south and +south-west. It is about three miles in circumference, is surrounded by +a wall of great antiquity, (9.) but is now almost entirely divested of +wood, being chiefly pasture and cultivated ground. Here the king hunted +the deer when disposed to enjoy the pleasures of the chace. A small +oblong enclosure, which lies between the Castle and this territory, is +called _the Butt Park_, having been the place where the court formerly +enjoyed the sport of shooting at the butts. It is a somewhat remarkable +circumstance, that the king and his attendants were in the habit of +reaching these parks, not by the gradual descent of Ballangeigh, as +might be supposed, but by a steep zig-zag path, which was led down +the south-west face of the Castle-bank, (from a postern now built up, +but still visible,) and immediately within the park wall, which there +ascends the hill to the external fortifications of the Nether-bailiary +of the Castle. This path is hardly to be now discerned. + +_The Gowlan Hills_, which lie between the Castle and the Bridge, form +another of the objects, in the immediate neighbourhood, most deserving +of notice. The most northernly eminence of these hills, is called +the _Mote-hill_, which implies that, like various other eminences of +the same appearance throughout Scotland, as at Scone in Perthshire, +Dalmellington in Ayrshire, Carnwath and Biggar in Clydesdale, +Minniegaff in Galloway, &c. &c. it was used at an early time as a +place for the administration of justice—mote signifying law,—hence the +phrase _moot point_, expressing a case at issue in law. The Mote-hill +of Stirling is still observably marked at top with the benches of earth +on which the jurors sat: in the centre there is a mound somewhat like +the King’s Knote. In later times, this hill was used as a place of +execution. In 1424, James I. here caused to be beheaded, his cousin, +Murdoch Duke of Albany, together with Walter and Alexander, the sons of +that prince, and the Earl of Lennox, his aged father-in-law, all in the +course of two days, in retribution, it is supposed, for the exertions +which they had made to get him kept prisoner in England, while they +enjoyed the management of his kingdom. The author of the Lady of the +Lake thus apostrophises the Mote-hill: + + ‘And thou, O sad and fatal mound, + That oft hast heard the death-axe sound, + As on the noblest of the land, + Fell the stern headsman’s bloody hand!’ + +At a later period still, the early part of the sixteenth century, this +mount was used by James V., in his minority, for a much more agreeable +purpose, to wit, that of amusing himself by sliding down its steep +sides on the bone of a cow’s head. On this account, probably, it was +called the Hurly Hawky, (_hawky_ being a familiar word for _cow_ in +Scotland,) a name which is still sometimes applied to it. Lyndsay, in +his ‘Complaynt,’ written _anno_ 1529, stating what he had himself done +for James in his childhood, to amuse and instruct him, and bewailing +the efforts made by the less grave companions of his boyhood, to +mislead his mind, says: + + ‘Ilk man after thair qualitie, + Thay did solist his Majestie; + Sum gart him ravell at the rakket, + Sum harlit him to the _hurly hacket_, + And sum, to shaw thair courtlie corsis, + Wald ryde to Leith, and ryn thair horses, + And wichtly wallop ouir the sandis,’ _&c._ + +At present, the Mote-hill forms a delightful part of the public walks, +already mentioned with such high praise. + +The only other objects, connected with Stirling Castle, which fall to +be noticed at this place, are _the Valley_, and _the Ladies’ Hill_. +The Valley is an enclosed and somewhat hollow piece of waste ground, +now belonging to the burgh, lying a little below the south side of the +esplanade formed in front of the Castle. It is about a hundred yards +in extent, either way; but is said to have been much larger before the +erection of the Earl of Mar’s house in 1570, when the garden attached +to that edifice was taken off its length. The use of the Valley in +former times was that of a tournament ground; while the Ladies’ Hill, +(which was formerly considerably broader,) rising by one of its sides, +was a sort of theatre for the female spectators, whose bright eyes, in +the words of Milton, here + + ‘Rained influence and judged the prize.’ + +A remarkable conflict took place in the Valley during the reign of +James II., who revived the sanguinary species of the tournament, which +his father had suppressed. Two noble Burgundians, named Lelani, one of +whom, Jacques, was as celebrated a knight as Europe could boast of, +together with one squire Meriadet, challenged three Scottish knights +to fight with lance, battle-axe, sword, and dagger. Having been all +solemnly knighted by the king, they engaged in the Valley. Of the three +Scotsmen, two were Douglasses, and the third belonged to the honourable +family of Halket. Soon throwing away their lances, they had recourse to +the axe, when, one of the Douglasses being killed, the king threw down +his baton, to put a stop to a combat which had then become too unequal +to furnish proper amusement. Before this, the remaining Douglas and +one of the Lelanis, had had such a tough encounter, that of all their +weapons none remained save a dagger in the hand of Douglas, which, +however, he could not use, as the Burgundian held his wrists together, +and whirled him in the struggle round the lists. The other Lelani had +fought well; but, being comparatively unskilled in the use of the +battle-axe, he had his vizor, weapons, and armour, beat almost to +pieces. The Douglas who was killed, fell by the battle-axe of Meriadet +the squire. + +Among the festivities which attended the baptism of Prince Henry in +1594, were tournaments and running at the ring in the Valley. On that +occasion, it was surrounded by guards finely apparelled, to prevent the +crowd from breaking in, and a scaffold was erected on one side for the +queen, her ladies, and the foreign ambassadors; to which illustrious +group the performers uniformly made a low obeisance on entering. This, +however, was but the silver age of chivalry, and no blood was shed in +these amusements. + +[Illustration: + +_PLATE. V._ + +A. S. Masson Del^t. J. Gellatly Sc + +VIEW FROM THE CASTLE WALKS, STIRLING. + +BEN LEDI & BEN LOMOND IN THE DISTANCE.] + +Some attention yet remains to be paid to the delightful walks which +pervade these most interesting localities. The public walks in Stirling +are quite matchless in Scotland. The oldest of them is one which was +begun in 1723, along the top of the rock which skirts the town to the +south-west, and immediately under the wall which formerly fortified +the town in that quarter. It was a Mr Edmonstoun, of Cambus-Wallace, +who had the taste and public spirit to commence this work, which the +magistrates completed about the end of the century. Since then, the +walk has been extended round the back of the castle rock, and along +the skirts of the Gowlan Hills, so as to make them a sort of inverted +amphitheatre for seeing all the objects around Stirling. It is thus +possible to see an amazing multiplicity of interesting objects within +the space of about a mile of walk. Beginning at the old walk under the +town-wall, the spectator sees, first, Bannockburn and Gillies Hill, +the scenery of Bruce’s famous victory, and the field of Sauchie, which +terminated the reign of the unfortunate James III.; near at hand, the +steeple of Ninian’s church, deprived of its attendant place of worship, +in 1746, by Prince Charles’ Highlanders, who blew it up after using it +as a powder magazine; farther to the west, Touch House, still the seat +of a branch of the Seton family, who were the King’s armour-bearers; +then Craigforth, a beautifully wooded hill, rising abruptly from the +plain, and having a bold precipice presented to the west (_PLATE +V._); then the Teith, the Allan, and the Links of the Forth in all +their windings. In the remoter parts of the scene, the spectator sees +Benlomond, and his grand fraternity of lesser brothers, including +Benledi, and Benvoirlich, which give an inconceivably magnificent air +to the picture. Here it is curious to consider, that, from the castle +above you, you can see, on one hand, the towers of academic, polished, +intellectual Edinburgh, a place where civilization may be said to be +carried to a pitch of exquisite perfection, while, on the other, you +gaze on an alpine region where the people yet wear part of the dress, +and mostly speak the language which obtained in Europe, before even +the early ages of Grecian and Roman refinement. It is strange, thus +to link together the extremes of human society,—thus to associate the +nineteenth century before Christ, and the nineteenth century after him, +for no less remote from each other, in reality, are the ideas arising +from a view of Edinburgh and of the Highlands. But, it is not alone the +objects at a distance from Stirling, that constitute the pleasure of +a promenade over its walks. The objects more nearly at hand, come in +for an immense share of this pleasure. ‘Who can look,’ says a citizen +of Stirling, in an eloquent letter upon this very subject, ‘who can +look upon our castle, and its palace, and noble park, upon the Royal +Gardens and their celebrated Table, upon the Ladies’ Hill and the +Valley below it, and upon our fine old Franciscan tower, so remarkable +for its simple majesty, without being carried back in his imagination +to the splendid scenes of other times;—to the reigns of the gallant and +accomplished Jameses, to the days of tilt and tournament, and courtly +pomp, to the feats of a brave and knightly nobility, to the chivalry +and romance, in short, of Scottish history. No man of taste, or lover +of his country, ever traversed our walks without pleasure, or left them +without regret.’ + + + + +EAST AND WEST CHURCHES. + +_PLATE VI._ + + +THE EAST and WEST CHURCHES are here represented as seen from a spot +behind the Ladies’ Hill, the spectator being supposed to look in a +south-east direction. + +These Churches, though anciently one, are now separate places of +worship; but, being attached to each other in the way represented, they +are only distinguished in modern times by the epithets here applied to +them. The division took place in 1656. + +[Illustration: + +_PLATE. VI._ + +A. S. Masson Del^t. J. Gellatly Sc + +EAST & WEST CHURCHES STIRLING. + +FROM THE LADIES HILL] + +The WEST CHURCH was originally the place of worship connected with the +Franciscan or Grey Friars’ Monastery, which was founded in Stirling +by James IV., in 1494. It cannot, therefore, be of an older date. It +appears to have had a projecting square building at each corner. One +of these at the north-west corner was, according to tradition, the +chapel of Margaret, daughter of Henry the Seventh, James the Fourth’s +queen. The interior was of beautiful architecture; and on the arch (now +converted into a window) which formed the entrance to it, may still be +seen, from the outside of the church, the rose of England and thistle +of Scotland. Another of these projections at the north-east corner, +is now an aisle belonging to the family of Moir of Leckie. Another at +the south-east corner, on the left hand of the present entrance to the +church, became the burying-place of the Earls of Stirling; Sir William +Alexander, the first Earl, having been brought from London and buried +in it. The remaining projection, situated at the south-west corner, was +at one time an entrance to the church. All these excrescences, with the +exception of that now belonging to the family of Moir of Leckie, were +lately taken away, when the West Church was repaired. On that occasion +the church was very tastefully fitted up. In the West Church are the +monuments of Lieutenant-Colonel Blackadder, of the Cameronian Regiment; +and Dr David Doig, Rector of the Grammar School of Stirling. Blackadder +was Deputy-Governor of the Castle in 1715, and wrote memoirs of +himself, which possess considerable interest. Doig was one of the first +scholars of his day, and wrote the articles, Philology and Mysteries, +in the Encyclopædia Britannica, and some very learned letters on the +savage state, addressed to Lord Kames. + +The EAST CHURCH, at least the chancel, was built by Cardinal Beatoun; +but, though a later, and in external appearance a more magnificent +structure, it is not, in reality, of such elegant architecture as its +more aged neighbour. Its east window is tall and handsome, the mullions +fortunately being still preserved. Around the exterior of the building +are eleven buttresses, each having a vacant niche, which are supposed +to have been filled, before the Reformation, with statues of the +apostles, Judas of course excepted. In the chancel of the East Church +was a tomb-stone bearing this inscription, in Latin:—‘In memory of +Margaret Steuart, grand-daughter of James V., King of Scots; daughter +to the Earl of Murray, regent, and Anne Keith, a lady of quality; wife +to the Earl of Arrol. She died of a distemper upon Sabbath, the 2d +April, in the year of our Lord 1586, in the 16th year of her age. The +Lord, who alone united us, has parted us by death.’ + +The church of Stirling is remarkable in Scottish history, as the place +where the regent Earl of Arran, in 1543, abjured the Catholic faith, +and avowed the Protestant doctrines; which, however, he afterwards +renounced. Here, also, on the 29th of July 1567, James VI. was crowned, +at the age of thirteen months and ten days, John Knox preaching the +coronation sermon, and Lords Lindsay and Ruthven, who extorted the +resignation of the crown from the unfortunate Mary, being among the +nobles who assisted at the ceremony. In 1651, Monk took possession of +the tower, or steeple, from which he proceeded to batter the castle. +The Highlanders, in 1746, assumed the same station, for the purpose +of celebrating their victory at Falkirk, which they did by ringing of +bells, and discharging fire-arms from the battlements. On both of these +occasions, the steeple suffered from the shot of the castle; and +hollows are still pointed out on its sides, which are said to have been +occasioned by the bullets. The steeple is distinguished by a majestic +simplicity, which, without elaborate ornament of any kind, renders it +an object of no inconsiderable interest to the spectator. + +The building seen to the right of the churches, in the annexed view, is +Cowan’s Hospital, built in 1639. John Cowan, a merchant in Stirling, +between the years 1633 and 1637, left forty thousand merks, to endow +an hospital, or alms-house, for twelve decayed brethren of the +guild or mercantile corporation of Stirling. The money was invested +in the purchase of lands, which now yield a revenue of upwards of +£3400 sterling _per annum_. From this fund about a hundred and forty +persons, at present, receive relief. The front of the house exhibits +a full-length statue of the founder, which will be looked upon with +interest as a memorial of the costume of the better order of Scottish +burghers, in the reign of Charles I. + + +[Illustration: + +_PLATE. VII._ + +A. S. Masson Del^t. J. Gellatly Sculp^t. + +BROAD STREET. + +STIRLING.] + + + + +BROAD STREET. + +_PLATE VII._ + + +THE HIGH STREET, or BROAD STREET, as it is now commonly called, is the +principal street in Stirling. It lies, in the shape of a parallelogram, +on the upper part of the hill whereon the town is built; and, what with +the height of the houses, their substantial, and, in various instances, +antique architecture, the steeple of the town-house, and other +favourable circumstances, it makes a very respectable appearance. The +present draught represents it as seen from the bottom, looking upwards +to the castle, the view at the top being closed by the ruins of the +house of the regent Earl of Mar. + +In the centre of this street, opposite the town-house, once stood a +market-cross, of beautiful workmanship. It was a lofty stone pillar, +to the base of which there was an ascent on all sides, by flights of +steps. On the top of this pillar sat a figure of the Scottish unicorn, +extending the shield of the royal arms of Scotland, surmounted by +the crown. This cross was barbarously pulled down about thirty-five +years ago. The unicorn, however, was preserved, and is, at present, +to be seen in front of the building in Spittal Street, containing the +fire-engine. + +At the time when Stirling was an abode of the court, Broad Street +appears to have been chiefly occupied by noblemen. The situations of +the houses occupied by the Earls of Morton, Glencairn, Lennox, and +other bold figurants in the history of Mary and James, are all here +pointed out; as also, a house at the bottom, now the office of a branch +of the Bank of Scotland, which is said to have been the residence, +successively, of Darnley, and of the young Prince Henry, his grandson, +when at nurse. On the site of the present weigh-house, was the house of +the family of Lennox. + +Broad Street was the scene of an incident very remarkable in Scottish +history, which occurred in 1571. The party which espoused the falling +interest of Queen Mary, was then in possession of Edinburgh, while +the Protestant faction, which supported her infant son against her, +had Stirling for its head-quarters. The whole of the leading men of +the king’s party were assembled at Stirling, early in September 1571, +to attend a parliament, when the queen’s men at Edinburgh projected +a daring enterprise against them. In the dead of night, a band, +several hundred strong, consisting chiefly of borderers, was led off +from the capital towards Stirling, under the command of Lord Claud +Hamilton, and the Lairds of Buccleugh and Fernieherst, being guided +to their destination by a man of the name of Bell, who was a native +of Stirling. They entered the open, defenceless, unwatched town, long +before day-break, and immediately planting a guard at the door of +each slumbering noble, soon had the whole in their power. The Earl of +Lennox, regent for James, surrendered at discretion, and, with many +of his friends, was placed on the back of a horse behind a sturdy +borderer, to be carried off prisoner to Edinburgh. Unfortunately for +them, the Earl of Morton repelled their assault for such a length of +time as gave occasion to a counter-surprise. The noise having disturbed +the Earl of Mar in the Castle, he brought down sixteen harquebusiers +into his lodging at the head of the street, (then in the process of +building,) and, having planted them securely, he commanded a volley to +be fired down the street at the enterprisers, who, without stopping +any time to ascertain the force of this contemptible enemy, at once +took to their heels, crowded through the narrow pass at the bottom, +where many were trodden to death, and instantly left the town. Many of +the queen’s men, on this occasion, yielded themselves prisoners to the +very men who had been seated behind them in that capacity a few minutes +before. The Earl of Lennox, however, did not thus recover his freedom. +He was cut down, by an invidious enemy, at the village of Newhouse, +about half-a-mile from the South Port, on the way to Edinburgh. This +was altogether an affair very characteristic of the time when it +happened,—a time when the bravest exploits were sometimes rendered +naught by the want of a little discipline, and surprise was almost sure +to be attended by success. + +The house of the Earl of Mar is almost the only one of the private +palaces of that age, now surviving in any shape. It faces down Broad +Street, from any part of which it must have had, when entire, a fine +appearance. It was, originally, a quadrangular building, with a small +court in the centre. We are now only left the ruins of the front of the +square. In the centre of this front are the royal arms of Scotland, +and, on the two projecting towers on each side, those of the regent +and his countess, all in a state of fine preservation; but a number of +figures jutting out from the rest of the wall, are in a most mutilated +state, and only remain to give us some idea of the costumes of the age +when the house was built. The date on the building is 1570, the year +before the Earl of Mar became regent. He procured the greater part of +the stones from the ruins of Cambuskenneth Abbey, of which he had got +a grant. John Knox exclaimed against this as sacrilege, and prophesied +the consequent ruin of his family, not remembering, apparently, what +share he himself had had in the demolition of these fine buildings. The +Earl, either to disarm the criticism which might be directed against +the curious taste in which his house was built, or to deprecate the +charge of sacrilege, put the three following inscriptions over various +door-ways giving entrance to the building: + + Esspy. speik. furth. I cair. nocht. + Consider. weil. I. cair nocht. + + * * * * * + + The moir I stand on oppin hicht, + My faultis moir subiect ar to sicht. + + * * * * * + + I pray al luikaris on this luging, + With gentle e to gif thair juging. (10) + + +[Illustration: + +_PLATE. VIII._ + +A. S. Masson Del^t. J. Gellatly Sculp^t. + +CASTLE WYND + +STIRLING.] + + +_PLATE VIII._ + +A narrow street leads off from the upper end of Broad Street towards +the Castle, and is called the Castle Wynd. It has been thought proper +to give a sketch of this alley, both on account of the interesting +character of the historical objects which it contains, and their +strikingly picturesque effect, when fore-shortened by a view from the +upper end. The nearest object, on the left side of the plate, is the +front of Argyll’s Lodging; the house, with the projecting stair-case, +is a very ancient one, which has a coat-of-arms on the front of the +wall, now nearly obliterated. Farther on, is Mar’s Work; and, in the +extremity of the view, is the north side of the chancel of the East +Church. Such a picture of antiquity, we believe, is nowhere now to be +seen in Scotland; but, a few years ago, it was even more striking than +it is at present, another curiously antique house having then stood on +the east side of the street, between Mar’s Work and the Church. + +Argyll’s Lodging is a large quadrangular house, built in the lordly +style which prevailed during the reigns of James, and the first +Charles. It was erected at the expense of Sir William Alexander, a +personage who rose, in consequence of his genius and courtly qualities, +from the condition of being Laird of Menstrie, (a small estate to the +north-east of Stirling,) to immense wealth, and high title. Prince +Henry, who was baptised in the castle, honoured him with his particular +notice, and introduced him at the Court of England, where James the +Sixth knighted him, and made him master of requests. He addressed a +Parœnesis to the Prince, which is said to be his master-piece, and +wrote an elegy on his death, in 1612, in strains nowise inferior to +those of Drummond of Hawthornden, who bewailed that mournful event +in an ‘elegy on the death of Mœliades,’ a name by which the Prince +was known. King James appointed him preceptor to Henry’s brother, +Charles; and Charles, coming to the throne in 1625, gave him a right +of appointing the hundred baronets of Nova Scotia, from each of whom +he received £200 sterling; raised him to various high offices of state +in succession; and, finally, on the occasion of his coronation at +Holyroodhouse, in 1633, created him Earl of Stirling, Viscount Canada, +and Lord Alexander of Tullibody. Nova Scotia, and Canada, he is said to +have discovered and colonised; and he had other extensive possessions +in America. James the Sixth used to call him his philosophical +poet; Ben Johnson, who travelled to Scotland to visit Hawthornden, +corresponded with him; and Addison said of his whole works, which +are not a few in number, that ‘he had read them with the greatest +satisfaction.’ His prosperity not being continued to his offspring, +this splendid house, which must have been the wonder of its day, fell +into the hands of the Argyll family. Here the unfortunate Earl of +Argyll received and entertained the Duke of York and his family, in +1680, when they came to visit Stirling Castle. Only five years after, +he suffered death at the instance of his royal guest, who had then +become James II. By another singular vicissitude of fortune, John, Duke +of Argyll, in 1715, here held his counsel of war, when employed to +break the interest of the son of the same James. Sir William Alexander +built the centre and northern wing in 1633; and over the principal door +of the centre, leading by an oaken staircase to the grand hall, is +his full coat-of-arms, with the motto ‘_per mare per terras_,’ still +perfectly entire. Over the windows of these parts of the building too, +may still be seen the initials of William, Earl Stirling, and Jane, +Countess Stirling, surmounted by a coronet. + +From the Argyll family, the building passed successively into the hands +of other individuals. In 1799, the crown purchased it, and converted +it into a military hospital, and apartments for the barrack-master +and his serjeant. No other damage, however, has been done, than that +of removing a balcony above the outer gate, or entrance from the +Castle Wynd, which added considerably to the effect of the building. +The roof being somewhat in a state of disrepair, it is now proposed, +we understand, to _modernize it_. May such a piece of sacrilege be +averted! May the baronial taste of Sir William Alexander, one of the +most accomplished men of his age, and the favourite of Princes, be +respected! The southern wing appears to have been added by some of +the Argyll family, as one of the doors of entrance to it from the +court-yard, is dated 1674, and the crest of the Campbells (a boar’s +head), is observable, in ludicrous multiplication, over the windows of +all that part of the building. + +The Castle Wynd was, on the 17th of March 1578, the scene of the death +of John, Lord Glammis, a sagacious nobleman, who held the office of +Chancellor of Scotland. He had a ‘deidly feid,’ as it was called, +with David, Earl of Crawford. The two happened to pass each other in +the Castle Wynd, very nearly opposite to the Earl of Mar’s house. +No collision took place between themselves; but, unfortunately, two +fellows who went in their respective retinues quarrelled and began to +fight; on which a pistol was fired, the ball of which went through Lord +Glammis’ head. He immediately expired. + + + + +STIRLING BRIDGE. + +_VIGNETTE._ + + +THE BRIDGE over the Forth at Stirling, is by far the most noted +structure of the kind in Scotland. Being the first convenience of +the sort, which occurs on the Forth for fifty miles upwards from +the mouth of its estuary, and having been, till lately, almost the +_only_ access for wheeled carriages into the northern department of +Scotland; there can be little wonder that it is so. Furthermore, it +is old; furthermore, it is conspicuous in the history of the country. +Altogether, it is one of the most notable public objects in the kingdom. + +At a very early period, there was a wooden bridge across the Forth, +about a mile above the present stone structure; probably it was at +first the work of the Romans. It is this bridge which figures on the +obverse side of the ancient seal of the town. It was, on the 13th of +September 1297, the cause of a decisive victory gained by Sir William +Wallace, over the English, under Cressingham and De Warenne. By +permitting half of the southern army to cross over, the Scottish hero +and his companions destroyed them with great ease. It is said, by +tradition, that he gave a blast on his horn, as a signal for the onset, +from the top of the Abbey Craig, and that, by causing a man to saw +through the bridge below the feet of his enemies, he greatly increased +the slaughter. The remains of this bridge are visible at low water, and +the place is still a ford. Montrose led his army through the water at +this point, when on his march to fight the battle of Kilsyth, in 1645. +It is near the mill of Kildean. + +The age of the stone bridge is unknown; but it must be at least as old +as 1571, when Archbishop Hamilton was hanged upon it, by the King’s +faction, under the Regent Lennox. It is of very antique structure, +being narrow, high in the centre, and composed of arches. Formerly, +it had a gate leading through two small flanking towers, near the +south end, and another gate leading through two similar towers, near +the north end: there were also two low ones in the centre. A painting +over the door of one of the rooms of the Town House, represents the +bridge in this state. General Blakeney, the governor of the castle in +1745, caused the south arch to be destroyed, in order to intercept +the Highlanders, both in their march south, in parties, to reinforce +Prince Charles, and in their retreat northwards on desertion. On this +account, when the royal army came to follow Charles to the north, in +February 1746, the Duke of Cumberland was obliged to supply the place +of the deficient arch, by logs and boards of wood; which was one of the +reasons why he never overtook, or came near his enemy, till the battle +of Culloden. + +For some time, it has been proposed, to substitute a new structure for +this venerable one, at some place in the immediate neighbourhood. How +many ages must elapse, before it shall acquire the same quality of +interesting associations, which our memories connect with the subject +of this plate! + + + + +NOTES. + + +NOTE 1. page 3. + +This stone is near the highest point of the western brow of the Gowlan +Hills, facing the farm-house of Raploch, and of course, to the north +of the old gate which entered the Nether Bailiary of the castle, from +the Ballangeigh Road. The inscription may be said to be now wholly +obliterated; but the fact rests on the authority of Sir Robert Sibbald, +Timothy Pont, and other antiquaries. + + +NOTE 2. p. 9.—ROYAL VISITS TO STIRLING. + +The magistracy of Stirling have, at various periods, exerted themselves +to receive, with befitting honour, the descendants of those royal +personages, who formerly rendered their castle the scene of a permanent +court. + +James VI., of whose boyhood it was the well-remembered scene, visited +the town, in the course of the tour which he performed through his +native kingdom, in 1617, after he had been fourteen years absent in +England. The Council Register yet bears witness to the exertions of the +civic dignitaries on this occasion. On the 12th of May, they ordained +‘the treasurer to buy some leaves of gold to gilt his Majesties armes +on the croce,’ and statuted that ‘the Burrow Yett’ (that is, the gate +of the town, at what is called the South Port) and also the bridge, +should be repaired, preparatory to his Majesty’s arrival. On the 26th +of May, they appointed ‘Mr Robert Murray, (commissary of Stirling,) to +mak and deliver the speech to the Kingis Majistie, at his first entry +in the towne, conform to the direction of the counsell.’ On the 15th of +July, they authorised the Treasurer ‘to borrow £100 for the townes use, +agains the tyme of his Majesties cumyn;’ they soon after borrowed five +hundred merks, besides, to be a _propine_, or present to the king. + +Charles I. was the next royal personage who honoured Stirling with a +visit. On the 13th of May, 1633, ‘the Provest, Baillies, and Counsall, +being convenit, concludis and agreis for a propine aganis his +Majesties cuming to yis town, viz., a silver cup, to be maid in gude +fassioun, sett with a cover overgilt with gold, at the sicht of the +magistratis, on ye townis chairges, to be payit out be thair Thesaurer, +quhilk sall be allowit to him in his comptis.’ On the ensuing 4th and +8th of July, it is observable, from the Register, that the whole of his +Majesty’s household were admitted burgesses gratis. Among the number, +which is not a small one, were William, Lord Bishop of London, (the +famous Laud,) William, Lord Bishop Elect of Hereford, and John, Bishop +of Ross. + +It is perhaps a more interesting fact than any of the above, that +Stirling gave a welcome to Charles II., when he visited it in the +course of his unhappy pilgrimage in Scotland, in 1650–1, for the +recovery of the kingdoms lost by his father. There are many things in +the council records to denote, that the magistracy, at that trying +period, and even during the dominancy of the commonwealth, retained a +strong feeling of loyalty for the descendant of their ancient kings. +Stirling was one of the Scottish burghs which Cromwell disfranchised, +for not consenting to the union he desired to effect betwixt Scotland +and England. A somewhat amusing anecdote is handed down by tradition, +in reference to Charles the Second’s residence at Stirling. It seems +that he thought proper to pay a personal visit to the Reverend Mr +Guthrie, the puritan minister of the town; nothing at that period +being practicable without the good will and influence of the clergy. +When Charles entered the manse, Mrs Guthrie bustled about, with the +officious kindness of a housewife, to get a chair for the king. ‘Never +mind, gudewife,’ said the cynic; ‘the king’s a young man, and can tak a +chair for himsel.’ We can scarcely suppose that Charles would be much +offended at this singular piece of rudeness, which must have been too +characteristic to fail in tickling a mind like his. Yet it might make +him less anxious to save Guthrie from the death to which he was doomed, +for his distinguished disloyalty, after the Restoration. + +Stirling appears to have lent a good deal of money to this sovereign, +during his misfortunes, besides performing other acts of service in +behalf of himself and his friends. It is a pleasure to add, that he +retained a grateful sense of the kindness of the citizens of Stirling, +and, on arriving at his period of power, extended and confirmed their +former privileges. + +The town was honoured in 1681, by the visit of James, Duke of York +and Albany, (afterwards James II.,) who then resided in Scotland, +in a sort of honourable banishment, to escape the hostility of the +Monmouth and Shaftesbury party, who were endeavouring to procure his +exclusion from the throne. The magistrates and council, under date, +October 21, 1680, ‘recommendis to the dean-of-guild and conveiner, +to speik to thair respective incorporations, anent the provyding of +partizans agane his Royal Highnes reception, and to report thair +opinions to the magistrats, Saturday nixt.’ On the 4th of February +1681, the magistrates and council, in full convention, received and +admitted to the honours and privileges of their burgh, ‘James, Duke +of York and Albanie;’ besides a great number of his attendants, among +whom is conspicuous, ‘Collonel John Churchill, attending on his Royall +Highness.’ This person, at the time in question, was page to the Duke; +but, in after times, reached the pinnacle of greatness and fame as +Duke of Marlborough. It would appear that the magistracy presented the +freedom of the town to his Royal Highness, in an expensive gold box, as +the following entry occurs in the register, under date, March 14, 1681: +‘Ordains the thesaurer to pay William Law, goldsmith, thrie hundreth +eightin pundis, fiftein shilling, for the gold-box he furnished to his +Royall Highnes burges ticket.’ [This Law must have been the father of +the celebrated projector of the Mississippi Scheme.] + +As a farther testimony of the loyalty of the town at this period, +the following entry may be quoted: ‘The seavint day of October 1681, +admittis and receaves Captain John Graham of Claverhouse, Sir Andro +Bruce of Earlshall, Mr David Grahame, brother to Claverhouse, James +Montgomerie, ane of the corporalls of Claverhouse troupe, Alexander +Scott, writer in Edinburgh, William Dickison, son to ________ Dickison, +proveist of Forfar, David Buchanan, servant to Claverhouse, John +Cuming and Adam Galloway, Claverhouse trumpetters, burgesses and guild +brethren of the said brugh gratis; and they present made faith, as use +is. And also admittis and receaves David Neve, Robert Kerr, William +Sluthers, and John Purveis, servitors to Claverhouse, John Simpson and +Alexander Watson, servitors to Earleshall, John Wallace and Alexander +Luggat, servitors to William Grahame, cornet of Claverhouse troupe, +and John Watson, servitor to Robert Murray, ane of the said troupe, +neighbours and burgesses of the said brugh, and that gratis; and ilk +ane made faith, as use is.’ + +No other royal personage visited Stirling till Prince Charles Stuart, +grandson to the ill-starred prince who was received with so much +gratulation as above, forced his entrance into the town, with his army +of Highlanders, on the 8th of January 1746. The town was, on that +occasion, held out with considerable spirit, for two days; but was +forced at last to capitulate. The letter which Charles sent to summon +the magistrates to surrender, is yet extant in the town-clerk’s office. + + +NOTE 3. p. 9.—ACCOUNT OF THE STIRLING JUG. + +By an act of the Scottish Parliament, in 1437, various burghs in the +Lowlands were appointed to keep the various standard measures for +liquid and dry goods, from which all others throughout the country +were to be taken. To Edinburgh was appointed the honour of keeping the +standard Ell—to Perth the Reel—to Lanark the Pound—to Linlithgow the +Firlot—and to Stirling the Pint. This was a judicious arrangement, +both as it was calculated to prevent any attempt at an extensive or +general scheme of fraud, and as the commodities, to which the different +standards referred, were supplied in the greatest abundance by the +districts and towns, to whose care they were committed; Edinburgh being +then the principal market for cloth, Perth for yarn, Lanark for wool, +Linlithgow for grain, and Stirling for distilled and fermented liquors. + +The Pint Measure, popularly called the Stirling Jug, is still kept with +great care in the town where it was first deposited four hundred years +ago. It is made of brass, in the shape of a hollow cone truncated; and +it weighs 14 lb. 10 oz. 1 dr. 18 grs. Scottish Troy. The mean diameter +of the mouth is 4.17 inches English—of the bottom 5.25 inches,—and the +mean depth 6 inches. On the front, near the mouth, in relief, there +is a shield bearing a lion _rampant_, the Scottish national arms; and +near the bottom is another shield, bearing an ape _passant gardant_, +with the letter S. below, supposed to be the armorial bearing of the +foreign artist who probably was employed to fabricate the vessel. The +handle is fixed with two brass nails; and the whole has an appearance +of rudeness, quite proper to the early age when it was first instituted +by the Scottish Estates, as the standard of liquid measure for this +ancient bacchanalian kingdom. + +It will be interesting to all votaries of antiquity to know, that this +vessel, which may in some measure be esteemed a national palladium, +was rescued, about eighty years ago, from the fate of being utterly +lost, to which all circumstances for some time seemed to destine +it. The person whom we have to thank for this good service, was the +Reverend Alexander Bryce, minister of Kirknewton, near Edinburgh, a +man of scientific and literary accomplishment much superior to what +was displayed by the generality of the clergy of his day. Mr Bryce +(who had taught the mathematical class in the College of Edinburgh, +during the winter of 1745–6, instead of the eminent Maclaurin, who was +then on his death-bed,) happened to visit Stirling in the year 1750; +when, recollecting that the standard Pint Jug was appointed to remain +in that town, he requested permission from the magistrates to see it. +The magistrates conducted him to their council-house, where a _pewter_ +pint jug was taken down from the roof, whence it was suspended, and +presented to him. After a careful examination, he was convinced that +this could not be the legal standard. He communicated his opinion to +the magistrates; but they were equally ignorant of the loss which the +town had sustained, and indisposed to take any trouble for the purpose +of retrieving it. It excited very different feelings in the acute and +enquiring mind of Dr Bryce; and, resolved, if possible, to recover the +valuable antique, he immediately instituted a search; which, though +conducted with much patient industry for about a twelvemonth, proved, +to his great regret, unavailing. In 1752, it occurred to him, that the +standard jug might have been borrowed by some of the coppersmiths or +braziers, for the purpose of making legal measures for the citizens, +and, by some chance, not returned. Having been informed that a person +of this description, named Urquhart, had joined the insurgent forces +in 1745—that, on his not returning, his furniture and shop utensils +had been brought to sale—and that various articles, which had not been +sold, were thrown into a garret as useless, a gleam of hope darted +into his mind, and he eagerly went to make the proper investigation. +Accordingly, in that obscure garret, groaning underneath a mass of +lumber, he discovered the precious object of his research. + +Thus was discovered the only standard, by special statute, of all +liquid and dry measure in Scotland, after it had been offered for sale +at perhaps the cheap and easy price of one penny, rejected as unworthy +of that little sum, and subsequently thrown by as altogether useless; +and many years after it had been considered, by its constitutional +guardians, as irretrievably lost. + +Mr Bryce, being permitted to take the valuable utensil with him to +Edinburgh, there subjected it to a variety of experiments, from which +he deduced the following facts:— + +The weight of the contents of the Stirling Jug, in ‘clear water,’ is +equal to 26,180 grains, English Troy. + +There are 103⁴⁰⁴⁄₁₀₀₀ cubic inches in the standard Scottish pint. + +It being ascertained, from an act of Parliament, 1618, that the wheat +and pease firlot was statuted to contain 21¼ pints, and the bear +and oat firlot 31 pints of the Stirling jug; and it being likewise +ascertained that there are 103.404 cubic inches in the standard +Scottish pint; Mr Bryce found that there are 2197³³⁵⁄₁₀₀₀ cubic inches +in the wheat and pease firlot, and 3205⁵²⁴⁄₁₀₀₀ cubic inches in the +bear and oat firlot; and so on in the smaller measures. + +The excess of a boll of bear (_barley_) above a boll of wheat was found +to be precisely 5 pecks bear measure, and 1 mutchkin, without the +difference of a single gill; or a boll of bear is more than a boll of +wheat by 7 pecks 1½ lippy, wheat measure, wanting 1 gill. + +For ascertaining these and many similar facts, and for his ‘good +services’ in recovering the Stirling Jug, Mr Bryce was presented with +the freedom of the city of Edinburgh, January 1754. The canons which +he thus instituted for public measures, continued in use till the late +general change of weights and measures throughout the United Kingdom. + + +NOTE 4. p. 10. + +It also comprises the lands of Raploch belonging to Cowan’s Hospital, +and Southfield belonging to Spittal’s Hospital, neither of which +are burgal, and the village of Cambuskenneth, and farms of Hood and +East and West side of Abbey, which belonged to the abbot. It is very +doubtful whether it includes the constabulary of the castle, or crown +lands, viz. the greater part of the site of the Castle, the Gowlan +Hills, Butt Park, King’s Park, and the Royal Gardens; all which are +without burgh. It is likewise very doubtful whether it includes the +Ladies’ Hill, the Crandy Hill, and the Haining, lands which were gifted +by the Crown to the Mar family, and which are likewise undoubtedly +without the burgal territory. + + +NOTE 5. p. 12. + +Mary is stated by tradition to have established a regular garrison +corps for the protection of Stirling Castle; the dress of which, +according to the same uncertain authority, was the Lorrain uniform. +Certes, till the year 1802, the Castle was garrisoned by a corps of +about a hundred men, who were commanded by a lieutenant and ensign, +and wore a dress decidedly different from all other British uniforms. +The men had a small French-looking cocked hat, a long red coat, with +green facings, red breeches, and long black leggens. The officers wore +clothes of superior material, but of the same hue and fashion; the +drummer alone having a short coat of a different colour—namely, of +green. At a former period, the breeches were blue, and the belts black; +latterly, the breeches were as stated, and the belts white. The arms +were latterly a musket and bayonet, with a sword; but, at a remoter +time, they are said to have carried Lochaber axes, like the town-guard +of Edinburgh. The only objection to the popular theory of their having +been instituted by Mary of Lorrain, and dressed to her taste, is, that +in each of the other three fortresses, appointed by the act of Union to +be kept up in Scotland, there was a corps of the same description. The +whole were broken up in 1802, when the government found it necessary to +substitute veteran battalions in the Scottish fortresses. It is to be +regretted that so conspicuous a memorial of the old times of Scotland’s +independence should have been permitted to perish, even for so good a +cause as that of protecting the country against French invasion. + +⁂ Perhaps it is worthy of being remarked, that the dress of the +governor of Stirling Castle, which is now turned up with blue, was +formerly faced, like that of the garrison corps, with green. + + +NOTE 6. p. 15.—THE BALLANGEIGH ADVENTURES. + +‘JAMES V. was a monarch whose good and benevolent intentions often +rendered his romantic freaks venial, if not respectable, since, from +his anxious attentions to the lower and most oppressed class of his +subjects, he was, as we are told, popularly termed the _King of +the Commons_. For the purpose of seeing that justice was regularly +administered, and frequently from the less justifiable motive of +gallantry, he used to traverse the vicinage of his several palaces +in various disguises. The two excellent comic songs, entitled, ‘The +Gaberlunzie Man,’ and ‘We’ll gang nae mair a-roving,’ are said to have +been founded upon the success of his amorous adventures when travelling +in the disguise of a beggar.’—_Scotsman’s Library._ + +‘Once upon a time, when he was feasting in Stirling, the king sent for +some venison from the neighbouring hills. The deer were killed and +put on horses’ backs, to be transported to Stirling. Unluckily they +had to pass the castle-gates of Arnpryor, belonging to a chief of the +Buchanans, who had a considerable number of guests with him. It was +late, and the company rather short of victuals, though they had more +than enough of liquor. The chief, seeing so much fat venison passing +his very door, seized on it; and to the expostulations of the keepers, +who told him it belonged to King James, he answered insolently, that if +James was king in Scotland, he, Buchanan, was king in Kippen, being the +name of the district in which the castle of Arnpryor lay. On hearing +what had happened, the king got on horseback, and rode instantly +from Stirling to Buchanan’s house, where he found a fierce-looking +Highlander, with an axe on his shoulder, standing centinel at the door. +This grim warden refused the king admittance, saying that the Laird of +Arnpryor was at dinner, and would not be disturbed. ‘Yet go up to the +company, my good friend,’ said the king, ‘and tell him that the Gudeman +of Ballangeigh is come to feast with the king of Kippen.’ The porter +went grumbling into the house, and told his master that there was a +fellow with a red beard, who called himself the Gudeman of Ballangeigh, +at the gate, who said he was come to dine with the king of Kippen. As +soon as Buchanan heard these words, he knew that the king was there in +person, and hastened down to kneel at James’ feet, and ask forgiveness +for his insolent behaviour. But the king, who only meant to give him a +fright, forgave him freely, and, going into the castle, feasted on his +own venison, which Buchanan had intercepted. Buchanan of Arnpryor was +ever after called the king of Kippen.’—_Tales of a Grandfather._ + +It is melancholy to add to this story, that the last king of Kippen was +hanged at Carlisle, in 1746, for fighting in behalf of the ill-fated +descendant of the Gudeman of Ballangeigh, Prince Charles Stuart. + +‘Another adventure, which had nearly cost James his life, is said to +have taken place at the village of Cramond, near Edinburgh, where he +had rendered his addresses acceptable to a pretty girl of the lower +rank. Four or five persons, whether relations or lovers of his mistress +is uncertain, beset the monarch, as he returned from his rendezvous. +Naturally gallant, and an admirable master of his weapon, the king +took post on the high and narrow bridge over the Almond river, and +defended himself bravely with his sword. A peasant, who was threshing +in a neighbouring barn, came out upon the noise, and, whether moved +by compassion or by natural gallantry, took the weaker side, and laid +about with his flail so effectually as to disperse the assailants, well +threshed, even according to the letter. He then conducted the king +into his barn, where his guest requested a basin and towel, to remove +the stains of the broil. This being procured with difficulty, James +employed himself in learning what was the summit of his deliverer’s +earthly wishes, and found that they were bounded by the desire of +possessing, in property, the farm of Braehead, upon which he laboured +as a bondsman. The lands chanced to belong to the Crown; and James +directed him to come to the Palace of Holyrood, and enquire for the +Gudeman of Ballangeigh. The poor man came as appointed, and, as the +king had given orders for his admission, he was soon brought into the +royal presence. James, still dressed in his travelling attire, received +him as the Gudeman of Ballangeigh, conducted him from one apartment to +another, by way of shewing him the palace, and then asked if he would +like to see the king. John Howison—for such was his name—said that +nothing would give him so much pleasure, if he were only sure that +he might be brought into the king’s hall without giving offence. The +Gudeman of Ballangeigh, of course, undertook that the king would not be +angry. ‘But,’ said John, ‘how am I to know his grace from the nobles +who will be all about him?’ ‘Easily,’ replied his companion, ‘all the +others will be bareheaded—the king alone will wear his bonnet.’ + +‘So speaking, King James introduced the countryman into a great hall, +which was filled by the nobility and officers of the crown. John was +a little frightened, and drew close to his attendant, but was still +unable to distinguish the King. ‘I told you that you should know him by +his wearing of his hat,’ said his conductor. ‘Then,’ said John, after +he had again looked round the room; ‘it must be either you or me, for +all but us are bareheaded.’ + +‘The king laughed at John’s fancy; and, that the good yeoman might +have occasion for mirth also, he made him a present of the farm of +Braehead, which he had wished so much to possess, on condition that +John Howison, and his successors, should be ready to present an ewer +and basin, for the king to wash his hands, when his Majesty should come +to Holyrood Palace, or should pass the bridge of Cramond. Accordingly, +in the year 1822, when George Fourth came to Scotland, the descendant +of John Howison, who still possesses the estate which was given to his +ancestor, appeared at a solemn festival, and offered his Majesty water +from a silver ewer, that he might perform the service by which he held +his lands.’ _Tales of a Grandfather—Notes to Lady of the Lake._ + +Another of James’ frolics is thus related, by Mr Campbell, from the +statistical account. ‘Being benighted when out a-hunting, and separated +from his attendants, he happened to enter a cottage in the midst of a +moor, at the foot of the Ochil Hills, near Alloa, where, unknown, he +was kindly received. In order to regale their unexpected guest, the +goodman desired the goodwife to fetch the hen that roosted nearest +the cock, which is always the plumpest, for the stranger’s supper. +The king, highly pleased with his night’s lodgings and hospitable +entertainment, told mine host, at parting, that he should be glad to +return his civility, and requested that, the first time he came to +Stirling, he would call at the castle, and enquire for the Gudeman +of Ballangeigh. Donaldson, the landlord, did not fail to call on the +Gudeman of Ballangeigh, when his astonishment, at finding that the king +had been his guest, afforded no small amusement to the merry monarch +and his courtiers. To carry on the pleasantry, he was henceforth +designated by James with the title of the King of the Moors, which name +and designation have descended from father to son ever since, and they +have continued in possession of the identical spot, the property of the +Earl of Mar, till very lately, when this nobleman, with reluctance, +turned out the descendant and representative of the King of the Moors, +on account of his Majesty’s invincible indolence, and great dislike to +reform or innovation of any kind; although, from the spirited example +of his neighbour tenants on the same estate, he was convinced that +similar exertion would promote his advantage.’ + +To give something like historical authority to these stories, which +are in a great measure mere matter of tradition, I may mention, that +a clergyman, writing a letter to James the Sixth, in 1597, within +fifty-five years after the death of their hero, says, ‘Wald your +Majesty hazard to imitat King James the Fifth, of famous memorie, and +travell as a privat and unsuspected man, alone, through the country, ye +wald get more information of your Majesties subjects affection towards +you, and that in half a-year, nor hitherto ye have done in all your +life long.’ _Calderwood’s Church History, M.S., Advocates’ Library, +vol. 5, p. 158._ + + +NOTE 7. p. 19. + +These letters, in the Saxon character, and arranged in a peculiar way, +form a common ornament on the corners of the gothic pillars, and on +other parts, of our principal old churches throughout the country. They +seem to have escaped the pious fury of the Reformers, by virtue of +their unintelligibility. + + +NOTE 8. p. 21. + +In Herbertshire House, the seat of William Morehead, Esquire, is an old +painting, representing the Gardens and King’s Park in their original +state. A lady is seen walking in the gardens; and a deer is poking its +head over the wall which divided them from the park. + + +NOTE 9. p. 23. + +This wall is of greater antiquity than that around the King’s Park at +Edinburgh, which was built by James V. It appears to have existed so +early as 1505; and, in all probability, it was built many years earlier +than even that remote date. It is thus alluded to in a charter granted +by James IV. to the magistrates of Stirling in 1505: + +‘Quia, pro singulari favore quo gerimus erga dilectos nostros burgenses +et communitatem burgi nostri de Striveling, et in recompensatione pro +terris suis communibus de _Gallohillis_, dicto nostro burgo per ipsos +nobis concess., et nunc wallo per nos. castro et peke [_q. d. park_] +de Striveling inclusis; dedimus et concessimus hereditarie dictis +burgensibus et communitati, totas et integras acras nostras terrarum +quae olim fuerunt de le _auld park_ prope Striveling, jacen. INTER +MURUM LAPIDEUM nove peke nostre antedict. ex parte occidentali, et +terras nuncupatas _Bennies Croft_,[B] ac croftam leprosorum, ex parte +orientali, et terras nuncupatas le _Southfield_ pertinen. abbati et +conventui monasterii nostri de Dumfermling ex parte australi, et terras +nuncupatas le _Rudecroft_ ex parte boreali; una cum jure patronatûs et +donatione capillanie altaris Sancti Michaelis,[C] per quondam Magistrum +Thomam Carmichaell vicarium de Striveling, intra ecclesiam parochialem +fundat. ad nostram dispositionem et donationem quotiens vacaverit nunc +spectan.’ + +[B] _Bennies Croft_ is now the well known field of _Allan Park_. + +[C] The parish Church of Stirling, prior to the Reformation in 1559, +was attached to the Monastery of Dominicans or Black Friars, near the +foot of Friar’s Wynd. This Monastery, again, was dependent upon the +Monastery of Benedictines or Black Monks at Dunfermline. Hence the +circumstance of the lands of Southfield having belonged to the Abbot +and Convent of Dunfermline; and hence, too, the circumstance of the +first minister of Stirling’s glebe having been originally situated in +Southfield, and of Southfield being still in the parish of Stirling, +and not in the parish of St. Ninians. + + +NOTE 10. p. 35. + +Immediately behind Mar’s work, is a garden surrounded by an old wall, +in the west part of which there appears to have been an arched gate; +but, besides this garden, the Mar family had other pleasure grounds in +the vicinity, to which the gate alluded to led. Annabella, the widow +of the Regent, obtained from the crown, a charter of the ‘Parkhill of +Stirling,’ on the 16th April 1582, and a charter ‘_de rupe lie Heugh et +Brae de Parkhill de Stirling, &c._’ on the 29th of August 1588. These +grounds appear to be those now known by the name of the Ladies’ Hill, +Crandy Hill, and the Haining, still belonging to the family; and, at +this time, they were undoubtedly connected with the Royal Gardens, +and the King’s Park, which are immediately adjacent to them. In that +part of them, beside the Butt-well, may still be seen the remains of a +garden in a very warm and delightful spot; part of the beautiful public +walk, lately formed there, runs upon the very terrace; and, in various +parts of the hill above, were decayed fruit trees within the memory of +old people still living. At the south corner of the Crandy Hill, now so +tastefully enclosed by Dr Patrick Doig, stood a small house [depicted +in Slezer’s views of the castle,] which was inhabited by the Earl of +Mar’s gardener, previous to 1715. This gardener, probably, had charge +not only of the Earl of Mar’s grounds, but of the Royal Gardens and +King’s Park, beyond them; for the Mar family were generally captains +or constables of the castle of Stirling, and keepers of his Majesty’s +Gardens and Park, down till the union of the two kingdoms; and even +appear to have retained their connexion with Stirling Castle, from 1705 +till 1714; Colonel John Erskine having been, during that period, deputy +governor. + +In Mar’s Work, while in the possession of Annabella, James the +Sixth and his Queen took up their abode in December 1593, while the +castle was preparing for their reception, a fact which we state +on the authority of Moyse’s Memoires of the affairs of Scotland; +and here, according to Sir Robert Sibbald, the Earl who headed the +first Rebellion lived, in 1710, in great splendour. This Earl first +introduced the wilderness mode of planting into Scotland; and his +gardens at Alloa, in that style, were much visited and admired. It +may reasonably be supposed, that he gave some share of his attention +to his grounds in the Parkhill of Stirling; but the splendour of +this residence sunk with the catastrophe of 1715; and from that æra, +so fatal to his name, do we date the utter neglect into which the +Parkhill, the Royal Gardens, and King’s Park, still so beautiful amidst +all their desolation, have fallen. + + * * * * * + +[Transcriber’s note—the following changes have been made to this text. + +Page 32: harguebussiers to harquebusiers. + +1751 to 1571. + +Page 39: govenor to governor—“governor of the castle”. + +Page 43: Missisippi to Mississippi—“Mississippi Scheme”. + +garrrison to garrison—“established a regular garrison”. + +batallions to battalions—“substitute veteran battalions”.] + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77794 *** |