Of Stirling and Castles
Trip Start
May 19, 2008
1
7
24
Trip End
Jun 02, 2008
Stirling,
Scotland,
United Kingdom
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Time prevented us from really seeing everything on the tour. For instance, we didn't get to visit the Wallace Monument, which has views over seven battlefields. But we did lcross the famous Stirling Bridge, where William Wallace defeated a large English force. He allowed about half the army to cross, and get their huge warhorses bogged down in the mud on his side, before attacking. The warhorses were not exactly at their best in that situation, and a large portion of the English army was trapped either on the bridge or on the other side of the river. Worse yet, the English tried to escape back across the bridge, throwing the oncoming troops into disarray and causing more chaos, while those who tried to escape back across the river itself most often drowned
Another Escarpment?
. We also learned a lot about the history of the whole Stirling area, about the Bridge of Allen, a famous resort town of the 1800's whose water was said to have health properties at the time, but is now believed to have contained arsenic; about Robert Louis Stevenson's stays in the area and the two men on whom Jekyll and Hyde are believed to have been based; about the local castle that served for years as a maternity hospital, and about the deeds of King Kenneth MacAlpin in the area.
We also spent several hours at Stirling Castle. Although my book does not include any scenes there, it is the castle over which Bannockburn was fought. After Edward I's death, the Scots had re-taken all their castles save Stirling. The commander, Philip Mowbray, promised to turn it over to Edward Bruce, laying siege, if he was not relieved by Midsummer's Day. With this blatant challenge, Edward II raised what was said to be the largest army the world had ever seen. It stretched for over twenty miles and shook the earth as it passed.
Much of what is at Stirling today was not actually there in 1314. At the time, it would have been mostly palisades of stone and wood, with some buildings inside. Its importance was military and strategic, guarding 'the waist of Scotland.' Whoever controlled Stirling controlled Scotland.
Today, it includes the chapel, great hall, and palaces of the many Jameses who came after Bruce's time, in addition to several gardens, passages, courtyards, displays, and the Argyll Highlanders Museum (said to be haunted by the 8th Earl of Douglas, most thoroughly and effectively murdered by James II with several stabbings and a toss out a high window just to be sure)
Children playing in their Medieval Costumes
. There is also a tapestry studio, where a team of weavers is re-creating the famous series of tapestries depicting the Hunt of the Unicorn.http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stirling/stirlingcastle/ This link contains detailed history and some great photographs of Stirling Castle.
Several monarchs were born and crowned at Stirling. It was home for some time to Mary Queen of Scots, and the last place she was allowed to celebrate Mass. Her son, James I, was baptized here. Her husband, Lord Darnley, spent his baptism in the bawdiest tavern of its time in Stirling. Not too many weeks afterward, he turned up dead. Hmm. It might have been better to turn up for his son's baptism.
Several of the chambers off a long arched passageway have displays of the castle staff of the time: the musicians, the tailors, and several others. One courtyard is still known as the Lion's Den. It was used both as an outdoor theater and as the exercise area for the lions gifted to James V in the 1500's. When I looked in, it was occupied by a group of school children.
The Douglas Gardens were peaceful, though not in bloom. The most color I saw there was a group of school children on tour who were absolutely delighted with the medieval dress in which they were playing. It was great fun watching from the ramparts as they all came streaming out from the changing rooms, giggling and showing off their long skirts and doublets and such.
The tapestries were the most striking, to me. Three of them remain, of the original five, hanging in the chapel. In the tapestry studio, where the new ones are being made, are pictures of all five, but no photography is allowed there, so I only have pictures of the three.
