STIRLING STIRLINGSHIRE. 



a protection to tlieir new conquests. In the next 

 century we find it again in the hands of the Scots. 

 It was afterwards repeatedly attacked and taken 

 both by the English, and by the several factions 

 whose contentions continued to distract Scotland 

 with little intermission, during nearly all the time 

 it remained an independent kingdom. 



Stirling castle first became a favourite 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 ; parliaments were called to sit in 

 it ; and he increased the buildings by a palace, part 

 of which is supposed to be still extant, and by 

 founding a chapel-royal within its walls. James 

 IV. gave Stirling and Edinburgh castles to his 

 queen, Margaret of England, (daughter of Henry 

 VII.) as her jointure houses. James IV. fre- 

 quently resided here during Lent, in attendance 

 upon the neighbouring church of the Franciscans. 

 James V., who was born and crowned in Stirling 

 ca-stle, further adorned it by the erection of the 

 present palace. It was also occupied by the widow 

 of the 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. While James V. resided in 

 the castle of Stirling, he frequently went forth in 

 disguise, and his adventures on these occasions have 

 furnished a scheme for many amusing anecdotes. 

 Mary, daughter of this prince, 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 shown in 

 the palace, though now degraded into the condition 

 of a joiner's workshop. James did not make Stirling 

 the jointure-house of his queen; that honour was 

 reserved for Dunfermline. Here, however, he bap- 

 tized 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. or VII., visited Stirling, with 

 his family, including the princess, afterwards queen 

 Anne. A scheme was formed in 1689, by viscount 

 Dundee, (Claverhouse) 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 that period, 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 

 an excellent point d' appui for the duke of Argyle 

 and the government forces in 1715, when that 

 nobleman 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 on 

 the castle till the succeeding year, when, in re- 

 turning from England, he laid siege to it in regular 

 form, but was obliged to retire to the highlands, 

 without having made any impression upon it. Popu- 

 lation of the burgh of Stirling in 1831, 8556. 



STIRLINGSHIRE; a central county of Scot- 

 land, is bounded on the north by Perthshire and 

 Clackmannanshire ; on the east by Linlithgowshire, 

 on the south by Lanarkshire ; and on the south- 

 west and west by Dumbartonshire. It extends 

 about thirty-six miles in length, and from twelve 

 to seventeen in breadth. Stirlingshire is partly 

 highland, and partly lowland. The highland dis- 

 trict is on the western quarter, adjacent to Loch 

 Lomond. East from this, the land becomes flattish, 

 or gently inclining towards the Forth and the En- 

 drick. Next, on the east, or in the centre of the 

 county, within the parishes of Killearn, Fintry, 

 Gargunnock, Campsie, Kilsyth, and the western 

 part of St Ninians, the ground again rises into a series 

 of hills. The Lennox hills, Campsie fells, and Gar- 

 gunnock hills, are the local appellations of these emi- 

 nences, which are from thirteen to fifteen hundred 

 feet in height. From Ben Carron, the highest of the 

 hills in Kilsyth parish, there is obtained one of the 

 finest views in Scotland, and which has been com- 

 puted to embrace an extent of 12,000 square miles. 

 Many of these hills in the central and especially in 

 the southern division, partake more of the lowland 

 than the highland appearance, as their summits, and 

 many parts of their sides, are covered by green 

 sward, which affords excellent pasturage for sheep. 

 The eastern division of the county consists of 

 beautiful carse land, and in many places quite flat, 

 and inclined plains gradually rising towards the 

 south, from the rich vale of the Forth. In this 

 quarter, the country has undergone great improve- 

 ments, and now exhibits every where the pleasing 

 spectacle of fertile, drained meadows, fields in the 

 highest state of tillage, with plantations, pleasure 

 grounds, gardens, and orchards, all in exuberant 

 vegetation. Almost every variety of soil to be 

 met with in Scotland, occurs in Stirlingshire ; but the 

 most common and the most fertile in the county, is 

 the alluvial or carse land, which occupies an extent 

 of about 40,000 acres on the banks of the Forth. 

 In this soil there are beds of shells, clay, marie, 

 and moss. Small patches of rich loam occur in 

 many parts of the county. The soil on the banks 

 of the rivers, in the western and central districts, 

 is chiefly of a light and gravelly description. The 

 agriculture of the county is subject to considerable 

 variation, owing to the great variety of soil and 

 situation. The carse-lands, which are arable, are 

 portioned out into small farms of from fifteen to 

 100 acres, which sometimes afford a rent of 4 an 

 acre. But the hill farms frequently extend to 

 nearly 4000 acres. Large crops of wheat, barley, 

 beans, peas, turnips, potatoes, &c., are raised; the 

 use of artificial grasses has also been very generally 

 adopted in this country. The extensive ranges of 

 moorland, in the upland districts, are devoted to 

 the feeding of sheep. 



The Forth is the principal river of Stirlingshire. 

 It has its origin in a spring near the summit of Ben- 

 lomond, and after running eight or ten miles under 

 the name of the water of Duchray, and flowing 

 through part of Perthshire, where it is called 

 Avondhu, or the Black River, it again enters 

 i Stirlingshire, under the name of the Forth, whure 



