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court in it, probably that he might be near the abbacy of 
Cambuskenneth, which he founded. It is probable that the 
town grew to its present size very soon after it became the 
residence of royalty; and it appears to have undergone very 
little change either in size or in the number of its inhabitants, 
the last 600 years, till very lately. It holds a fifth rank 
among the Scottish royal burghs, and was one of the 
curie p quatuor burgorum. The municipal government con¬ 
sists of a provost, four bailies, a dean of guild, treasurer, and 
14 other councillors, making the whole 21; 14 of whom 
are merchants, and 7 representatives of the incorporated 
trades. It unites with Dunfermline, Inverkeithing, Queens- 
ferry, and Culross, in sending a member to parliament. The 
revenue arising from the salmon fishery, shore dues, meal 
and flesh market dues, customs, &c., amounts to about 
2250/. per annum. Besides the ordinary jurisdiction in civil 
causes, the magistrates have also an extensive criminal 
jurisdiction, equal to the power of sheriffs, within their 
territories. The borough of Stirling, owing to some corrupt 
transactions in the council, was in 1775 disfranchised by 
sentence of the court of session; and its charter was not 
restored till 1781, when the borough received a new con¬ 
stitution from the crown. The castle is situated at the 
western extremity of the rock on which the town is built, 
and is of great antiquity; but previous to the 9th century, 
there are no accounts of it. When Kenneth II overthrew 
the Pictish government, he ordered this castle to be razed. 
It was soon, however, rebuilt; for in the succeeding reign of 
Donald V. the kingdom was invaded by Osbright and Ella, 
two Northumbrian prirfees, who, having possession of the 
territory south of the Forth, rebuilt the castle of Stirling, 
and placed in it a strong garrison, to preserve their new con¬ 
quests, on the frontiers of which it was situated. In the 10th 
century it again came into the possession of the Scots; and, 
during the Danish invasion in 1009, it was the place of 
rendezvous for the Scottish army. In the 12th century, it 
was one of the most important fortresses in the kingdom, 
and was one of the four which were delivered up to the 
English, as part of the ransom of William the Lion, who, in 
1174, had been taken captive near Alnwick, in Northum¬ 
berland. During the tyrannical usurpation of Edward I. 
it was several times taken and retaken by the English and 
Scots; in the former of whose hands it was kept for ten 
years, until retaken by Robert Bruce after the battle of 
Bannockburn. It was for a short time in the possession of 
the English in 1333, and lastly taken by Monk in 1651. 
The rebels besieged it for a short time in 1746. Though it 
had been some time a regal residence before the accession of 
the Stuart family, it does not appear to have been fitted up 
with great magnificence, until it became the favourite resi¬ 
dence of James I. It was the birth-place of James II.; and 
in it he perpetrated the murder of his kinsman, William earl 
of Douglas, whom he stabbed with his own hand. The 
room where the deed was committed still goes by the name 
of Douglas’s room. About 20 years ago, the skeleton of a 
man was found in the cleft of the rock immediately under 
the window of this room ; it was that of a tall man, and was 
supposed to be that of the earl. James-III. was very fond 
of this palace, and built within it a magnificent hall for the 
meetings of parliament, which is now converted into 
barracks. Adjoining to the parliament-house is the chapel 
royal, erected by James VI. in 1594, for the baptism of his 
son prince Henry. In this chapel is shewn a coarse antique 
pulpit, which is said, but with little probability, to have been 
the pulpit of Knox, the celebrated Scotch reformer. The 
chapel has undergone a similar reverse of fortune with the 
parliament-house, and is now converted into a store-room 
and armoury. The royal chapel, however, in which James 
himself was baptized with so much pomp by the unfortu¬ 
nate Mary, was a building of much greater dignity than that 
which has been converted into a store-room. It is a stately 
building, in the form of a square, with a small court in the 
centre. Externally it is very richly and curiously ornament¬ 
ed with grotesque figures, standing upon pillars or pedestals. 
The palace is now converted into barrack wards for the 
soldiers of the garrison, and affords a house to the governor, 
and rooms for the inferior officers. Here is also shewn the 
apartments occupied by Buchanan, while preceptor to James 
VI. A strong battery was erected about the year 1559, 
during the regency of Mary of Lorraine, called the French 
battery. In the reign of queen Anne, the castle was 
enlarged and repaired ; and a flanking battery, named Queen 
Anne’s battery, with barracks bomb proof, was erected on 
the south side. Since that period, no alteration or repairs of 
any consequence have been made. This castle has once been 
a place of great strength, before the use of artillery; but 
now it could scarcely hold out a few hours. About 36 guns 
are mounted on the ramparts. Stirling castle is commanded 
by a governor, deputy-governor, fort-major, and three subal¬ 
terns. It is one of the Scottish forts which, by the articles 
of union, are always to be kept in repair. Parliaments 
were frequently held here. Upon the rock, and on the south 
side of the castle, is a flat piece of ground, inclosed, which 
was the place of the tournaments; and on one side is a place 
where the ladies used to sit, still named the Ladies’ rock. As 
this fortress was frequently the scene of bloody contention, 
it is customary to point out to every stranger 12 fields of 
battle within view of its walls. The prospect from the 
Castle hill is most delightful, as well as extensive, being 
greatly beautified, especially towards the east, by the 
windings of the Forth, the ruins of the abbey of Cam¬ 
buskenneth, the Abbey craig, a rock very similar to 
that on which Stirling is built, and the city of Edin¬ 
burgh. The rock upon which the castle is built is basaltic, 
being composed of jointed pillars of a pentagonal or 
hexagonal form. Around the castle is a pleasant walk, 
carried from the town, in many places cut out of the solid 
rock. From this walk there are several beautiful views, and 
it gives an excellent opportunity of examining the basaltic 
pillars of which the rock is composed. The parish of Stirl¬ 
ing is confined to the burgh, and a small territory round it, 
on the opposite side of the Forth, and in the county of 
Clackmannan; 35 miles north-west of Edinburgh, and 
29 north-east of Glasgow. Lat. 56. 6. N. long. 3. 
59. W. 
STIRONE, a small river of Italy, in the duchy of 
Parma, which passes by Borgo San Domino, and falls into 
the Taro. 
STIRP, s. [stirps, Lat.] Race; family; generation. 
Not used. —Sundry nations got footing in that land, of the 
which there yet remain divers great families and stirps. 
Spenser. —Democracies are less subject to sedition than 
when there are stirps of nobles. Bacon. —All nations of 
might and fame resorted hither; of whom we have some 
stirps and little tribes with us at this day. Bacon. 
STI'RRAGE, s. Motion; act of stirring.—They can¬ 
not sleep soundly, but the crowing of the cock, the noise 
of little birds, — every small stirrage waketh them. 
Granger. 
STl'RRER, s. One who is in motion; one who puts 
in motion. 
But ever to no ends: 
What, did this stirrer but die late ? 
How well at twenty had he fall’n or stood. 
For three of his fourscore he did no good. B. Jonson. 
A riser in the morning.—Come on ; give me your hand, 
sir; an early stirrer. Shakspeare. —An inciter; an insti¬ 
gator. 
Stirrer up. An inciter ; an instigator.—A perpetual 
spring, not found elsewhere but in the Indies only, by 
reason of the sun’s neighbourhood, the life and stirrer up 
of nature in a perpetual activity. Ralegh. 
STI'RRING, s. [pfcming, Sax.] The act of moving. 
—The great judge of all knows every different degree of 
human improvement, from these weak stirrings and ten¬ 
dencies of the will, which have not yet formed themselves 
into regular purposes, to the last entire consummation of a 
good habit. Addison. 
STI'RRUP, s. [jrigepap, pfcijiap, from ftigan, Sax., 
to 
