Stirling

I was told that if I were in Glasgow I should make the trip to Stirling Castle. It is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. It was also where Mary, Queen of Scots was raised. Our timing for this visit was probably not optimal, as the temperatures remained very low and there had been snow the night before.

View from the train:

We got to Stirling station then made the trek to the castle. Why do they always seem to be up a steep hill? I know, I know, that's the whole point of a castle, to be on the top of the hill to see your enemy approaching. Just outside the castle walls is a statue of Scottish king Robert the Bruce.

Most of the principal buildings of Stirling castle date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Before the union with England, it was also one of the most used of the many Scottish royal residences, very much a palace as well as a fortress. Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots.

When touring the castle you can hire an audio guide or take a tour of the castle with a tour guide. We opted for the latter but had a 20 minute wait during which time we toured the Palace Vaults which are designed to appeal to children. Each vault was dedicated to a different aspect of palace life.

Our guide - I think her name was Annie - was wonderful She included lots of history in the tour, much of which I will skip for fear of not doing justice to the castle and the Scots.

Out first stop was up on the high castle wall with its commanding view of the countryside. Across the river Forth you can see the Wallace Monument which is situated near where William Wallace led his troops to victory at the battle of Stirling Bridge.

We walked to the main courtyard where Annie pointed out the symbols of the Tudor rose and the Scottish thistle on two cupolas.

These are symbols of The Treaty of Perpetual Peace, an agreement made in 1502 to end the intermittent warfare between England and Scotland, when King James IV agreed to marry Margaret Tudor. Although the treaty failed initially, it led to the Union of the Crowns 101 years later.  Within the courtyard is the Great Hall, a grand banqueting hall, lime-washed in King’s Gold. Annie said that looking up at the castle from the town below the population would have been in awe as it looked as though the hall was clad in gold.

The Great Hall served as a vast reception hall where royal couples held court and banquets.

It was one of James IV’s masterpieces, and it is the largest of its kind ever built in Scotland. It was the setting of many ceremonial occasions, including the baptism of Mary’s son, King James VI.  

Stirling Castle is also home to one of the first protestant churches in Scotland – The Chapel Royal. This elegant building, was built in only six months by order of King James VI for the baptism of his son Prince Henry.

Though it was built around 1594, the following century the chapel was heavily decorated by the artist Valentine Jenkins in preparation for the visit of Charles I in 1633. The originals were destroyed, but have been recreated.

From the early 1800s at the time of the Napoleonic wars until 1964, Stirling Castle was used as a barracks for Royal troops. Since we were beginning to lose the feeling in our fingers, we visited the Museum of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, which is housed in the Palace. We learned a bit of military history, though I hope this illustration was just a mistake in proportion, not that the Highlanders all had teen tiny heads,

We saw an array of sporrans

incuding the center one made from a badger's head. (Poor badger.)

We learned about the Scottish dirk, which is a symbolic traditional and ceremonial weapon of the Highland warrior worn by officers, pipers and drummers of Scottish Highland regiments. When worn, the dirk normally hangs by a leather strap known as a "frog" from a wide leather belt. Many Scottish dirks carry a smaller knife and fork which fit into compartments on the front of the sheath.

Because the Highlanders are a royal regiment, there is memorabilia everywhere celebrating the connection to both Scottish and British royalty.

There were some particularly odd little bits

but one came away with a healthy respect for the bravery and loyalty of the Highlanders.

The next stop was the gallery of Stirling Heads. These are oak carvings produced in the 1500s for the Palace ceilings. There were a couple of originals along with many reproductions. The heads in the gallery were generally in the wooden, not painted state.

These wooden heads can be found in one of the rooms of the Palace which was restored to the tune of 12 million pounds. Its current state represents what it is believed to have been in the years following the death of James V, when Mary de Guise ruled Scotland as Regent for the infant Mary Queen of Scots. This is the only part of the Castle where costumed actors play the roles of courtiers, and do it extremely well, by the way.

The Queen's Outer Hall would have served as a banqueting and meeting room.

The coat of arms over the fireplace represents the two royal lines, that of Scottish king James and his French wife, Mary of Guise. Interestingly, in the King's side of the Palace, only his line would have been represented. She was, after all, only a woman and a foreigner at that.

Off of the Outer Hall is the Queen's Inner Hall featuring the Sterling Tapestries which tell the story of a unicorn hunt. In the archives of James V there is a notation about a series of tapestries depicting the history of the unicorn but these have since been lost (likely from the Scottish King’s ascension to the English throne after the death of Elizabeth I). Rather than invent a design, it was decided to replicate the unicorn tapestries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art cloisters. This 2 million pound, 14 year effort yielded remarkable results.

It was in this Inner Hall that one of the costumed actors told of palace intrigue and how courtiers would have striven to have an audience with the queen.

If they were very successful, they would have been shown into the Queen's bedchamber.

The walls were lined with curtains to prevent the conversations being heard in the Inner Hall. No visitor would have been left alone with the Queen, of course. Ladies-in-waiting and Palace guards would also have been in attendance. This wasn't, however, the Queen's actual bedchamber. That would have been hidden elsewhere in the Palace for additional security.

The King's bedchamber was the next room over from the Queen's. Again, this wasn't the King's actual bedchamber, but one on display to courtiers. Note the unicorn, minus Mary's Eagle over the fireplace. (Do you think they put the scaffolding up just to make us feel at home?)

The King's Presence Chamber is where the aforementioned Stirling Heads would have been displayed on the ceiling in their painted form.

So that visitors don't have to strain their necks looking at them, Stirling Castle has provided a mirror aimed up to make viewing easier. Very clever.

The last room is the King's Outer Hall.

I don't know if there are plans to furnish the rooms on the King's side of the Palace more completely, but even in their current state they're quite impressive. I imagine they were unbelievably extravagant in their day.

We stopped at the Unicorn Cafe for a bite and tried to obey the signs on the way out.

Our last stop was at the re-creation of the Palace Kitchens.

Because the temperature was hovering around 30° I found myself wishing that the faux fires were real.

The view from the castle was magnificent

as was the castle itself. I would like to tour it again sometime when I could do so while retaining feeling in my fingers and toes.

Bruce set off to find the oldest pub in Stirling & I walked into town which was decorated for Christmas.

I found another glassed-in shopping arcade

but headed to the train station to get out of the wind. Bruce arrived and we made the train journey back to Glasgow. George Square was aglow with Christmas lights.

It was a wonderful day, but I could hardly wait to catch the bus back to the flat and warm up!