Stirling Castle, its place in Scottish history

by Eric Stair-Kerr

Rivers winding in rich valleys were favourite scenes with James. When an exile in France he used to enjoy the view of the Seine from the terrace of St. Germain, partly because of its intrinsic beauty and partly because it reminded him of the prospect of the Thames from Richmond Hill. Doubtless his thoughts often travelled to Scotland too, and the Seine must sometimes have brought to his mind the tortuous river that he once admired from the ramparts of Stirling Castle.

As the Restoration sent Patrick Gillespie into captivity at Stirling, so the Revolution brought the fourth Earl of Perth a prisoner into the castle. Earl James had been one of Scotland’s leading men under the last Stewart king; but the days of his prosperity were brought to a close with the flight of his sovereign in 1688, and as he had espoused the Roman Catholic faith and had profited by the King’s dispensing power, he had only punishment to expect at the hands of his political opponents. After an attempt to flee the country he was thrown into Stirling Castle, where he lay a prisoner till 1693. At first the Earl was somewhat harshly treated, but on his Countess’s petitioning against his want of privacy the Estates agreed to relieve him of the constant attendance of his guards.[87]

Although Queen Anne never saw Stirling Castle, her name is associated with the fortifications that were constructed outside the gateway which James IV. had built. This addition consists of massive embrasured walls with outlook turrets, and an archway bearing the initials A. R. surmounted by a crown. The probability, however, is that the battery existed before the time of Anne, but that during her reign it was repaired and strengthened, an extra protection being the fosse. Thus the castle was fortified for the Jacobite rebellion that was yearly expected and dreaded, but that did not break out until 1715, a year after the death of the Queen.

On the accession of George I., John, Earl of Mar, being suspected of having Jacobite sympathies, was deprived of the governorship of Stirling Castle. Since that time the office of hereditary keeper has never been revived. The new King’s prompt action not unnaturally strengthened the Jacobite predilections of the Earl, who awaited a favourable opportunity of raising the standard of James VIII.

TURRET ON QUEEN ANNE’S BATTERY.

In Mar’s insurrection of 1715, as in former days, Stirling, with its bridge and castle, was a valuable military post. King George’s Government lost little time in concentrating forces upon it, in order to prevent the Highland Jacobites from joining their friends in the south. In the end of August the royal army under General Wightman encamped in the Park and secured the castle and the bridge. The Duke of Argyll, to whom the supreme command of the forces was given, arrived at Stirling on the 17th September, and before long found himself at the head of nearly four thousand men.

The insurgents proposed to cross the Forth by detaching a portion of their army for the apparent purpose of effecting a passage at Stirling, and by sending their main body by the upper fords while the Royalists were engaged at the bridge. Argyll, however, having heard of his enemies’ intentions, determined to take the initiative. Marching out of Stirling on November 12th, he blocked the Highlanders’ way at Sheriffmuir, where on the following day an indecisive battle was fought. The right wing of each army was successful, and both sides claimed the victory, but as Mar was prevented from crossing the Forth the advantage really lay with Argyll. During the absence of the army at Sheriffmuir the town and castle of Stirling were garrisoned by five hundred volunteers from Glasgow, who had camped for nearly two months in the Park with Wightman’s regular troops.

The next appearance of Stirling Castle in history is during the Rebellion of the Forty-five, although not until after the retreat from Derby did the enemy come before its gates. True, in September, 1745, the Highlanders passed so close to the castle that guns were fired from the battlements, but Charles was pushing on rapidly to Edinburgh and had no mind for a siege by the way. It was on the 6th of January, 1746, that the Highland army appeared again in the neighbourhood of Stirling. Charles Edward took up residence in Bannockburn House, while his soldiers camped in the vicinity, and on the same day the town of Stirling was summoned to surrender. Seeing no prospect of holding out against the dreaded mountaineers, the citizens capitulated on the 8th of the month, but the castle garrison under General Blakeney prepared to resist to the last extremity. To Charles’s demand for the delivery of the fortress the General proudly replied that His Royal Highness must have a bad opinion of him to think him capable of surrendering the castle in such a cowardly manner.[88]

An engineer of the name of Grant had arranged to erect batteries in the old churchyard, as it occupied a high piece of ground, commanding the entrance to the castle. The citizens, however, objected to this plan, as General Blakeney’s guns would have reduced their town to ruins. Charles therefore ordered the Frenchman, Mirabelle de Gordon, whom the soldiers ironically called Mr. Admirable, to undertake the siege operations. Mirabelle, according to the Chevalier Johnstone, had little knowledge of engineering and was totally destitute of judgment, discernment and commonsense; but because he was a French engineer, decorated with an order, it was supposed he was a person of experience, talents and capacity. The Frenchman began to dig trenches on the Gowan Hills, at a place where the solid rock was only fifteen inches below the surface of the ground, so that bags filled with wool and earth had to be brought from a distance to afford some sort of cover. The battery after all did little damage to the castle, and when Blakeney’s guns were turned upon it Mirabelle’s men were slaughtered in great numbers, and the position had soon to be abandoned.[89]