Stirling Castle, "the Bulwark of Scotland."

In prehistoric times the waters of the German Ocean were united with the Atlantic by a narrow inland sea, still denoted by the river Forth and the Frith of Forth. Three islands of this old ocean are now three craigs, or hills, about a mile apart, rising out of the plains of Stirling; Craig-Forth to the west, Abbey Craig to the east, and in the center, a little to the south, Stirling Rock. They are historic, for they have stood as sentinels in the land since the battles for Scottish freedom raged over the plains beneath. Abbey Craig (550 feet) is now the High Altar of the nation, for there she erected in 1861-1869, at a cost of more than pound 16,000, a monument in honor of her chivalrous past and to the memory of her greatest patriot, Sir William Wallace. Upon the slope of Abbey Craig was fought and won the battle of Stirling Bridge (1297). Scotland was retaken from the English; William Wallace was the hero. Seventeen years later the Craig looked down upon the battle of Bannockburn (1314), Scotland was free, and Robert Bruce was King. "The bulwark of the North, Grey Stirling," with her towers and towns, her history of kings and nobles, is an imperishable monument to those two great Scottish Chiefs, who won the victory in the most heroic struggle for national independence recorded of any nation. The War of Independence recorded of any nation. The War of Independence was begun by William Wallace at Stirling Bridge, 1297; it was completed by Robert Bruce at Bannockburn, 1314. But long before these days, Stirling Rock was the "bulwark of the nation." It commands the passage of the Forth, which was the main communication between the natural division of Scotland into Highlands and Lowlands. Its history closely follows that of the old Castle Rock of Edinburgh, thirty-six miles distant. It was a fortress in Caledonian times, and more or less the capital of Scotland from the time of the Malcolm Canmore to that of James VI. It shared in all the shocks of national strife, even to the last rebellion in 1745-1746. Stirling Rock reaches an altitude of three hundred and forty feet, and is crowned by the famous Stirling Castle, which commands a magnificent view, and looks down as guardian upon the town of both ancient and modern growth; upon the serpentine windings of the river Forth; while its sky-line is peaked and pinnacled with the summits of the Grampian Hills. But besides the associations of Stirling with the great heroes, Wallace and Bruce, there are others less heroic but hardly less cherished. The Age of Mary Stuart was the climax of the national independence, won by William Wallace and Robert Bruce. For greater safety her infant son, when seven days old, was conveyed from Edinburgh to Stirling, and there grew to manhood under the educational care of the "Scholar of the Reformation," George Buchanan. This prince united finally the great North and the greater South of this Island of Great Britain under one crown, as James VI, of Scotland and James I. of England. Here the unhappy Queen-mother, Mary Stuart, made only occasional visits to her royal child. Of the earlier Stewarts, James II. and James V. were born in Stirling Castle, and here the Earl of Douglas was fatally stabbed by James II.

Many other associations, historic, romantic and pathetic, linger around stern old Stirling Castle.