Stirling castle

After visitng the Island of Skye, we stopped back in Fort William and spent the night at a very nice B & B called The Grange. It is run by a cheerful and motherly woman named Joan, who won an award for being the nicest B & B owner in Scotland. In the morning we drove south and stopped at Stirling castle. Stirling castle was one of the most famous and strategically important strongholds in the centuries long fighting between Scotland and England.

The castle sits on top of a hill that overlooks major trade routes running north-south and east-west into Scotland. It was the key pass for getting onto norrthern Scotland. Two of it's most famous rulers of Scotland associated with Stirling castle were Robert the Bruce and Mary, Queen of Scots. Robert the Bruce is, of course, famous for his involvement in the 14th century Scottish rebelion involving William Wallace. Outside the castle stands a large statue of Robert and across the valley you can see the Willam Wallace monument. Robert the Bruce actually burned down the first castle so that the English could not use it to their advantage when he was forced to retreat. Years later, his bloodline, the Stuarts rebuilt the castle. The Stewarts, which included Mary, Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charles, ruled in Scotland for I believe fourteen generations.



The new castle included a palace, a giagantic chapel that was built for the baptism of Prince Charles, and the Grand Hall. Stirling is also the site where the famous "Hunt for the Unicorn" series of tapestries were woven, and hung. Some of you might recognize the "Unicorn in Captivity" tapestry. We have a small recreation hanging in our house.

These tapestries are all part of a series which tells the story of a hunt for the unicorn. This is a religious allegory according to historians, and each tapestry is being faithfully reproduced by the guild of weavers in Scotland. The orginals are very fragile and the last one only contains tattered remnants. The reproductions are pictured here, the four of seven which have been completed. Each one takes 2 years to weave, and all the dying and weaving is done by hand in the same manner as the original.

After touring the grounds for a while we made our way down to Edinburgh for the night, and the next morning, we departed for China! - Scott