Stirling Castle Palace Archaeological and Historical Research 2004 - 2008

The History & Archaeology of Stirling Castle Palace Dennis Gallagher & Gordon Ewart

K I R K D A L E

A R C H A E O L O G Y

HISTORIC

SCOTLAND

Longmore House Salisbury Place Edinburgh EH9 15H

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View of Stirling Castle by Jan Vosterman, c.1670

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Contents

1 Introduction: before the palace

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2 A renaissance palace: the exterior design

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3 The mid-16th century palace: interiors

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4 Slow decline: James VI, Charles I and Charles II

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5 A governor’s residence

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6 18th to early 19th centuries

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7 The argyll and sutherland highlanders

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8 A public monument

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9 Restoration and conservation

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References

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BEFORE THE PALACE INTRODUCTION The complex history of Stirling Castle is described not only in historical documents but through its buildings. The programme of excavation, survey and research which has been completed at the palace within the castle has endeavoured to synthesise historical evidence with the findings of an exhaustive archaeological standing building survey. The results of this research are presented as a narrative account which is based on the archaeological sequence as revealed in the various episodes of construction, demolition and repair completed on this royal fortress from the late medieval period to the present day.

Despite the extensive range of information regarding the castle, it is not always readily translated into clear evidence of the precise evolution of the site. Documentary sources as well as the results of archaeological excavation are rarely straightforward and are more usually highly ambiguous. However, the synthesis of apparently disparate and fragmentary blocks of evidence can eventually define a clear sequence of activity. The following account is therefore based on a series of major changes both in terms of historic events and changes within the building. The present form of the palace today is the result of the changing role of the building, firstly under the Scottish royal house and later by the army. The sequence culminates with its present role as a major public monument of international renown. The authors feel that while the evidence can never reconstitute the past absolutely there is sufficient to create a reasonable account which hopefully avoids unnecessary jargon and detail in the attempt to produce an entertaining and readable document.

The castle of Stirling is sited in a dominant position on a high volcanic rock that overlooks the plain of the upper Forth valley and its major river crossing; a position of immense strategic strength at the heart of the nation. Such a site naturally attracted high status occupation, giving it a long history in its double role as a fortress and as a royal residence. Its site on such a rock is comparable to the other Scottish strongholds at Edinburgh and Dumbarton, important royal centres in the Early Historic period, and the Anglian stronghold of Bamburgh Castle in northern England.

The recent excavations within Stirling Castle have revealed a fragment of shale bangle and a bead: artefactual evidence for an Iron Age occupation of the site. Its early history is obscure but 1

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there are suggestions from the surviving documentation that Stirling had a similar role. The History of Scotland published by Hector Boece in 1527 states that the castle was besieged by Kenneth Mac Alpin, king of the Scots from 842, during the expansion of his rule eastwards. However, while this may be based on fact, its publication also helped to strengthen the historical credibility and the dynastic claims of the Stewart dynasty. Also the standing of the monarchy was enhanced by the Arthurian connections that had been claimed for Stirling. The Arthurian connection had been pointed out to Froissart when he visited Scotland in 1365 who was told that its ancient name was Snowdon and that the knights of the round table had met there (Loomis 1970, 149). Froissart made use of this information in his romance, Méliador, in which Stirling appears as the venue for a splendid tournament (Stevenson 2006, 72). John Barbour’s late 14th century poem The Bruce describes how Edward II passed Stirling:

And beneuth the castell went thai sone Rycht be the Rond Table away And syne the Park enveround thai And towart Lythkow held in hy (Book XIII, 378-81)

The 15th century writer, William of Worcester, described it as the home of the Order of the Knights of the Round Table (Fawcett 1995, 35). Such legends enhanced the appeal of Stirling, adding to the considerable mystique arising from its natural setting. It was a ‘high place’, and, like the king himself, aloof above the ordinary subjects of the realm. So the decision to construct the palace buildings was based not only on the day to day needs of court ceremonial and the domesticity, however grand, of royal lodgings. It was also a physical manifestation of Scottish kingship and in particular, the Stewart dynasty.

The castle is known to have been occupied by the Scottish kings onwards from the reign of Alexander I, when the chapel was dedicated there. Alexander himself died at Stirling in 1124. When William I was captured by the English in 1174, Stirling was one of the five great strongholds that were to be placed under English control. The castle continued to play a major role in the security of the kingdom, suffering a lengthy siege at the hands of Edward I in 1304. Major building campaigns took place in the later 14th century after its return to Scottish control, including the rebuilding of a forework called the Barvicane and a north gate. The latter is likely to have been the present gate to the Nether Bailey and as such is one of the earliest 2

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existing structures within the castle that can be identified from documentary evidence. A chapel, known from archaeological excavation, was sited to the north-west of the present palace. In the 15th century there are specific mentions of royal accommodation: a king’s chamber and a queen’s chamber, only the latter having glazed windows (RCAHMS 1963, 182). The castle was used from 1439 as a secure nursery for the young James II during his minority, a role that was found necessary to be repeated during the turbulent course of the following century.

It is in the reign of James III that there are the first suggestions of the deliberate re-structuring of the castle core, centred on the present Inner Close, exclusively as the site for the high status residential and ceremonial buildings, the centre of court ceremony and pageantry. According to the 16th century chronicle of Lindsay of Pitscottie, it was James III who ‘bigit the great hall of Stirling’ but, although he may have been responsible for its conception, the building as it stands is the work of his successor, James IV (RCAHMS 1963, 182). James IV would seem to have been responsible for the decision to create the Inner Close as a formal space around which the high status buildings of royal government would be grouped rather than choosing the continuing development around pre-existing buildings.

The layout of the castle was to a large extent dictated by the form of the underlying rock. Three terraces in the natural bedrock defined the three open places that survive today as the Upper Square (Courtyard 1), Lower Square (Courtyard 2) and Lion’s Den (Courtyard 3). The major buildings for accommodation, defence and ritual/formal usage were distributed towards the edges of each of these relatively level areas with the Upper Square on the rock summit.

JAMES IV THE GREAT HALL James IV erected a magnificent great hall, completed in c.1503. Excavations conducted during the refurbishment of the building demonstrated that the hall itself lay just beyond this upper terrace to the east and that the builders exploited the irregularities of the site, extending an artificial platform from the natural terrace of the bedrock This was an architectural statement of the perceived status of the Scottish monarchy, for it rivalled in size the hall of Eltham Palace, built by Edward IV of England in the 1470s (Fawcett 1995, 41). The great hall formed the east side of the inner courtyard of the castle around which stood the high status residential and 3

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ceremonial buildings of the king. This creation of exterior formal space within the castle is paralleled at Edinburgh Castle where the great hall formed the focus of the newly-formed Crown Square. Out with the formal buildings, a great range of kitchens were erected against the north-east curtain wall of the castle to serve the great hall (Fawcett 1995, 43-4).

THE CHAPEL ROYAL The upkeep of religious establishments was considered a high priority among noble household, who were spurred by the promise of spiritual benefits in the afterlife combined with prestige for the living. James IV spent lavishly in the latter years of the 15th century on the upgrading of the Chapel Royal to collegiate status. His patronage of religious music is seen in the compositions of Robert Carver, notably his 10-part mass Dum sacrum mysterium which Kenneth Elliot has suggested was composed for the coronation of the infant James V in 1513. It is based on the plainsong antiphon at the Magnificat in the feast of the dedication of St Michael the Archangel and this invocation of the leader of the heavenly host would have been particularly appropriate so soon after Flodden. The expenditure on the chapel, however, included not only an increase in the size of the staff and the splendour of its fittings but also on the structure. The aptly named David Kevour worked on the woodwork of the ceiling, showing that elaboration in that field was known in the castle before the famous example of the place of James V (TA1, 357; TA2, 429). The location of the Chapel Royal is uncertain. It was long identified with foundations on the part of the Inner Close, near to the present Chapel Royal (RCAHMS 1966, 185 and 211; Fawcett 1995, 46-7) but the discovery of a chapel to the south of the King’s Old Building. This chapel may be identified with a building, known from its foundations, that preceded the present Chapel Royal constructed by James VI. Another chapel existed south of the King’s Old Building.

There are indications that the visits of James IV to Stirling were strongly connected with religious devotion (MacDonald 1996, 187-8; MacDonald 1984, 70-2). Both the Chapel Royal and the local Franciscan convent benefited from his patronage. This may have instilled an air of austerity to the court, possibly reflected in the apparent lack of much space for guest accommodation for courtiers. The contrast with the gaiety of life in Holyrood Palace, which benefited from the adjacent facilities of Edinburgh, was presented in mock liturgical form by William Dunbar in his poem The Dredgy of Dunbar:

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The Fader, the Sone, and the Haly Gaist, The mirthful Mary virgine chaist, Of angellis all the ordouris nyne, And all the hevinly court deveyne, Sone bring yow fra the pyne and wo Of Strivilling, every court manis fo, Agane to Edinburghis joy and blis, Quhair wirschep, welth, and weilfar is, Pley, plesance, and eik honesty: Say ye amen for cheritie (Mackenzie 1932, 57)

Allowance must be made, however, for Dunbar’s strong exaggeration of his case in contrasting the paradise of Edinburgh with the ‘hiddous hell’ of Stirling and it must be presumed that court life there had its more pleasant moments.

ROYAL LODGINGS: THE KING’S OLD BUILDING The Inner Close occupies the sloping surface of the natural summit of the castle rock. The much-altered building now known as the King’s Old Buildings, sited on the west side of the Upper Square and at highest part of the innermost courtyard complex of the castle, is believed to have contained the king’s apartments erected by James IV (Fawcett 1990). Like many residences within existing castles, the King’s Old Building respected the lines of the earlier fortifications. It was built along the highest point of the crag and is likely to have replaced or modified a much older range in that position. Recent excavations have revealed the existence of an older chapel to the south of the King’s Old Building, extending the royal complex to the south. Other buildings were enveloped during the building of the palace of James V but whose residual remains in the later structure show that the building complex extended over this area.

There seems to have been no second floor apartments at that date; the royal lodgings were not stacked but that the queen’s lodgings were situated elsewhere (Dunbar 1999, 140). The communication between the two sets of lodgings may have been facilitated in 1497 by the building of a gallery of timber on a stone footing (TA1, 336, 357 and 370; Dunbar 1999, 41), possibly on the site of the present west gallery of the palace. 5

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There seems to have had three principal rooms in the king’s lodgings in the early 16th century: a hall, a great chamber and a chamber (Dunbar 1999, 140). They also mention the ‘dusty hall’ and chamber, the latter possibly the same as the chamber within the dusty hall (MW1, 107). The term ‘dusty hall’ is thought to be derived from the French ‘salle de hoste’ or reception room (MW1, 383). There also was the king’s outer chamber (‘kingis uter chalmer’) which had two great windows (MW1, 105 and 107). The king’s chamber appears to have been on the first floor. There is a reference to ‘the tugreis [turnpike stair] that passis up to the kingis chalmer’ and also, in the same account, to the mending of a lock in the chamber ‘under the kingis chalmer’ (MW1, 110). The Queen’s outer chamber is also referred to (MW1, 107 and 109). There is also a reference to a ‘litill hall’, its tables damaged during the festivities of Easter (MW1, 110).

THE LADIES LOOKOUT There were further buildings to the south of the King’s Old Building and the old chapel, now an open space known as the Ladies Lookout. This is an area based on bedrock terraces sloping to the south and west. The small upper terrace is adjacent to, and on the approximate level with, the old chapel, A steep cliff forms the western boundary. There was a building here, later known as the West Quarter, which survived until the end of the 16th century as an adjunct of that palace (MW1, 311). The function of the latter is unknown. Excavation in the Ladies Lookout revealed the fragmentary remains of a long sequence of structures, much damaged by the erection of later buildings and the installation of services. The earliest buildings were on the upper terrace and consisted of the W end of a major stone structure, 5m north/south and parallel with the chapel. The walls were 1.5m thick. A shelf in the north wall had heat-effected tiles, possible evidence culinary or minor industrial activity. At the SE end of the Ladies Lookout there was the west face of a north/south wall surviving to a height of 1.5m above bedrock. The area between the two structures had humic earth in pockets of the bedrock suggesting an open space. In the southern part of this open area there was the vestiges of steps. The southern part then saw the construction of a boundary wall extending NW-SE that was to form the outer wall of the castle at this point until the 16th century. This reporesented the rationalisation of the SW sector of the castle circuit during this period with the establishment of a stone boundary wall. A coin of Henry, earl of Huntingdon, and pottery evidence suggests a date of 12th – 13th century. The NW end of the wall is fossilised in the later boundary wall of the Ladies Lookout. Its SE end overlaid the early wall and presumably incorporated it. This

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boundary is associated with the fragmentary remains of another major building at the SE corner of the present Ladies Lookout.

The next structure identified was a substantial clay-bonded stone E-W wall overlain by the present west wall of the west range. This was the northern part of a rectangular structure, its eastern wall respecting the present line of the east wall of the west range. Further fragmentary footings lay to the north of this clay-bonded structure. The latter went out of use but the claybonded footings remain, and its north wall was modified to form a doorway having a step covered with a mortar spread. A new mortar-built was constructed on the east. Another lay 2m to west, under the present west wall of the palace but in a slightly different alignment. A drain entered from the east and turned to the south. The arrangement suggests that this was a small recess within the south side of a group of buildings.

The present west range of the palace then was constructed. The south end of the west wall of the present west range utilises early footings, the north end is built anew. The drain is capped. A east-west wall is built towards the north end of the west range respecting the southern side of the north terrace revetment.

A north-south wall, 1.8m in width, extended across the centre of the N terrace. Both walls, although stratigraphically unconnected, may together form a substantial range predating the present palace. Immediately to the W of this wall, there was a rectangular, E-W orientated structure just over 4m wide, with an entrance to the east. There were some insitu tiles within the entrance area. These were heat-cracked and had splashes of slag. The W end of this structure appears to have collapsed over the cliff. Similar tiles were found in the 16th century midden infill behind a massive wall that formed a new outer limit to the S-W of the Ladies Lookout on the outermost edge of the cliff. This wall at the south-west survived up to 8m in height and 2m in width, and was truncated in its upper part. It was angular on its outside and rounded on the inside. The inner face had a poor finish. Its north end overlay the earlier outer boundary wall.

Two wall were built over the industrial structure on the north terrace may indicate steps connecting the terraces, in a different position from the present steps.

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THE DEFENCES Excavations have shown the gradual development of the defenses in the Ladies Lookout in relation to the bedrockrock terraces. On the south, a natural fault in the bedrock of the castle hill extends across the site forming a ditch or at least a rocky scarp on to which the medieval walls of the castle were built. Fragments of this outer work can be seen at the base of the Prince’s Tower and the footings of a possible tower exist beneath the paving of the Ladies’ Lookout, defining the southwest corner of the castle curtain wall. Recent excavations showed an earlier defensive wall continuing northwards through the Ladies’ Lookout. The castle defences were extensively rebuilt by James IV in the later 15th century most probably reworked an existing line of defence on the south side of the castle, possibly that of the Barivane of 1381.

The castle received a magnificent public face with the erection of the Forework, a splendid symmetrical defence that served as much to announce the prestige and splendour of the monarch as it did create a defensive barrier. Its central component, the gatehouse, is now much reduced but originally was possibly four stories high with four towers at its angles, each capped with a conical roof. It was completed by 1504 when a final payment for its gate was made. The gatehouse was considered an architectural asset; an inventory of 1581x3 described it as the ‘haill utwart beautie of the place’ (NAS E37/2). The entrance gate is flanked on each side with foot passages recalling great triumphal arches and the city gates of antiquity (MacKechnie, 1991). The gatehouse survived complete into the early 18th century; it was depicted on the late 16th manuscript maps by Timothy Pont (NLS Pont 32) and, a century later and in more detail, on views by John Slezer (Cavers 1993, 24-5). At each end of the forework, flanking the gatehouse complex, there was a square tower. Elphinstone’s Tower lay to the east and the smaller Prince’s Tower to the west. The line of the forework may be based on an earlier wall, as is suggested by the rubble base of the Prince’s Tower, which contrasts with the ashlar of its upper build (RCAHMS 1963, 195). The difference in size between the Prince’s Tower and the much larger Elphinstone Tower also suggests that they were not built originally as part of a symmetrical scheme with the gate house but were an adaptation from earlier buildings.

Dunbar (1999, 42-3) has suggested that an entry in the Treasurer’s Accounts for August 1502 (TA ii, 85) recording payment for the heading of the foretower can be identified with the completion of work on the Prince’s Tower. The main faces of the tower are faced with ashlar 8

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but the base of the tower, like the base of the adjacent forework, is of rubble construction and may be of an earlier date than the upper parts of the tower. The parapet has been altered, with the loss of its merlons, although it retains the decorative double corbel table that is the hallmark of the Forefront. The merlons are shown on Slezer’s drawing of 1693 but were missing when Paul Sandby sketched the castle in 1751 (NGS RSA 1402).

One of the sequences of fireplaces uncovered in the Prince’s Tower (M:01.3)

Inside the Prince’s Tower there was a stacked suite of two rooms with a vaulted basement. The vault was reached from the present Trance via what was originally an exterior door on the north side of the tower. Above this there was a single room on two floors linked by a turnpike stair which, like the basement, was accessed by a doorway on the north side of the tower. The plan by of 1708 by Dury (NLS MS1646 Z02/16a) shows several details of the first room (P:10). It was entered via the now blocked doorway in the west wall, adjacent to the turnpike stair as well as the present door from the Prince’s Walk. On the north wall of there is what appears to 9

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be a blocked fireplace, with circles drawn on the jambs suggesting the presence of columns. The presence of such a fireplace indicates a high status room, this would correspond with the tower’s use as infant accommodation in the palace period, as suggested by its present name, but it is also likely to have been a residential tower of some importance in the pre-palace period.

The lowest floor of the Princes Tower consists of a vaulted chamber reached from the present Transe. Another doorway from the Transe leads to a turnpike stair situated in the north-west angle of the tower. This stair gives access to a stacked suite of two rooms. Above this were two floors each with a single room linked by a turnpike stair situated at the NW corner of the tower. The plan by of 1708 by Dury (NLS MS1646 Z02/16a) shows several details of the first room (P:10). It was entered via the now blocked doorway in the west wall, adjacent to the turnpike stair as well as the present door from the Princes Walk. On the north wall of there is what appears to be a blocked fireplace, with circles drawn on the jambs suggesting the presence of columns. The presence of such a fireplace indicates a high status room

The next room in the Prince’s Tower (M:01) was much better lit than the room below, with two windows to the west (now both blocked). The exterior doorway to the east has settings for two doors. There is a rebate for a normal door plus an outer groove. RCAHMS (1963, 195) suggests that the latter may be for an iron yett.

THE SITE OF THE LATER PALACE Courtyards 1-3 are separated by pronounced drops in the level of bedrock there being approximately 5m difference in height between the Upper Square and the Lion’s Den. These shelves in the bedrock have been variously used to both define the courtyards and to build structures with several floors as the best means of accommodating the irregularities of the ground. The congruence between building and layout with the strike and shape of the bedrock head is evident in all the building at the castle up until the reign of James IV. These early medieval structures are aligned NW-SE and use the borrowed space in the lea of each rocky terrace. These elements form the context for the evolution of a series of enclosures within a defensive circuit, the functions of each was refined to meet the increasing sophistication of the royal household. It is uncertain whether the topography of the castle informed the ultimate cellular layout of the medieval castle and later palace but the early building work at Stirling 10

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and at similar rocky sites such as Edinburgh Castle was a function of the natural site to a large degree.

The vast majority of standing buildings associated with the development of this Palace at Stirling Castle date from the 16th and later centuries. Only a few examples of buildings which predate the main building phase of the 1540s can be identified clearly, independent of the Palace ranges. However it is equally true to say that the 16th century work was informed to some degree by earlier structures, some fossilized within the new fabric, others buried below it. Those few buildings which continued as recognisable and discrete structures within the new layout were themselves special and retained for a specific purpose within the new formulaic and highly conceptualised mid-16th century plan.

Stirling from the late 16th century manuscript map by Timothy Pont (NLS: Pont 32).

Similarly the Old Chapel lay at the edge of the upper terrace and occupied a narrow natural shelf before the ground dropped away steeply to the south later exploited as the Ladies’ Lookout battery. Excavation around these buildings has demonstrated that the sequence of occupation at Stirling Castle is often best reflected by the progressive infill and extension of the rocky profile of the hill itself. This is in order to extend available ground for building and most 11

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notably for the projection of its defences to the west and south by building up massive earthworks over the craggy natural topography. With this in mind, the aspect of Stirling Castle up until the mid-16th century when the first large earthworks were laid in, in the form of the French Spur and the angle pointed forework by 1543, was very different from today. At present, the esplanade completely covers the steeply sloping profile of the hill and has obscured a view of the early medieval castle which would have been seen from the area occupied by Mar’s Wark and Argyll Lodging. Both these structures are built into lower terraces of the crag and stand up to 25m lower than the gatehouse threshold of James IV ‘fair front.’ This natural eminence was then enhanced by high walls standing in excess of 30m in height. Finally the Upper Square itself with the Kings Old Buildings and the chapel to the south stand even higher, built from a platform some 10m above the entrance gateway. Stirling up until the extensive rebuilding of the 18th century must therefore have had an almost pyramidal quality with buildings of increasing status perched ever higher around each of the three principal levels.

The line between the Lower Square and the present Lion’s Den was formed by two separate buildings which stood to first floor level. The two structures are presently completely embedded within the masonry of the 16th century Palace East Range. It was during the reign of James III that the first attempts were made to build against the natural strike of bedrock in the form of the Great Hall trance. This was part of a programme that arguably for the first time created a building platform perpendicular to the line of the south curtain wall. These considerable efforts saw the construction of the Great Hall and it is likely that the earlier buildings on the east side of the Lion’s Den followed this work. It seems more certain that by the reign of James IV the alignments of the principal buildings within the curtain followed this new orientation which enabled the creation of regular courtyards within the castle.

Once the precedent was set for realigning the orientation of the castle structures, this theme informed the building campaigns of James IV to a major extent. The main emphasis for this period of building was on the Forework and it was the Forework which appears to have provided the base line for a pattern of courtyards edged by two ranges running parallel, north from the south wall itself.

The eastern vaults of the palace contain a number of different elements that would seem to predate the building campaign of c.1540. Two main elements can be traced, constructed on 12

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slightly different alignments from each other. One (P:1A) consisted of V02, the central part of the present east range and was aligned with the great hall. It was separated by passage V:03 from the other earlier element (P:1B) comprising of V:05 and V:06 and aligned with the forework (or its predecessor). The original eastern extent of this structure is unknown. The western wall of these two components, i.e. V:02.4, V:05.4 and V:06A.4, and its upper part at the level of the principal floor, forms the spine wall that supports the western wall of the King’s Bed Chamber and the Queen’s Bed Chamber. The incorporation of this earlier wall into the later fabric of the palace has resulted in irregularities of its thickness arising both from the different alignments of the earlier buildings and from the thickening of parts of the masonry in c.1540 to carry the weight of the palace superstructure. The aumbry in the north wall of the King’s Bedchamber has a single internal hinge pivot; unusable in its present situation, this might be a survival from an earlier door.

This evidence suggests that to the east of the present Lion’s Den was a new range created from two separate buildings now merged and standing to second floor level. Over a series of three barrel vaulted cellars at its south end and a larger undercroft at its north end, the range extended for some 55 metres north of the south rampart. It stood parallel to the four towered Gatehouse running roughly to a point just south of the south end of the Great Hall. At ground level the two parts of the range were separated by a covered pend which led straight through into what is now the Lion’s Den Court Yard. At first floor level a possible single space was later subdivided to form two large interconnected rooms which then became the King and Queen’s Bedchambers and were accessed from the courtyard via either a stair tower in the southeast corner or a gallery running along the west face of the range. This formed the east wing of a substantial residential block which in turn was complimented by a South Range which lay to the north of the Fair Front. There is no obvious trace of an equivalent north range and there has been no opportunity to excavate any potential earlier structure beneath the present James V work. However, excavations in the Lion’s Den revealed a redundant drain and soakaway which did not relate to any guttering etc. within the present building on the north side of this courtyard. The feature was filled and levelled over at an early date but may be the only surviving evidence for a building on the north side of this courtyard.

Another, east-west, range lay to the north of the Prince’s Tower, separated from it by an open passage 3.4m in width which provided access to gun ports in the forework, such as that surviving at V:08A. This range consisted of the present vaults V:11-13. These originally 13

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extended further but were shortened slightly when the present palace was constructed leaving a notable break between their vaults and the later north wall. The foundation of the earlier north wall of the vaults is visible along the south side of the Lion’s Den. The south wall of this range (the present north wall of the Transe) has two discernible pre-palace phases visible in its openings.

As noted by RCAHMS (1967, 198), the earlier east-west passage to the north of the Prince’s Tower was narrowed in the building campaign of c.1540 by the addition of an extra skin of masonry on its southern side, the wall of the Forework, to carry the weight of the southern wall of the palace. The vertical break between the original Forework and the later strengthening is visible in the openings along the south side of the Trance. This break is clearly visible in a former gun loop (V:08A), its exterior opening now blocked.

The open passage to the north of the Prince’s Tower stopped to the east where it entered a building. The position of a north-south wall is indicated by vertical breaks in the masonry on the sides of the Transe, previously noted by RCAHMS 1967, 198). A small excavation within the Transe uncovered the threshold of a former doorway.

The earlier medieval south range rose to first floor level and may have linked with the east range (as defined by P:1A and P:1B) via a stair in the southwest corner of the Lion’s Den or possible gallery leading to a door at the north end of the west wall of P:04. This arrangement was later embedded within the King’s Closet suite after the conversion of James V. It is likely that access to the partially opened passage lying to the north of the forework at ground floor was achieved through the existing pend V:09. There was a link with an earlier west range from the south range at ground level the dimensions of which are similar to the present west range. This route allowed access out to the west, beyond the major buildings and may have been part of a significant revision of royal apartments building into the arguably older west gallery. Two doors lead out at ground floor level into an open area which might have been defined by a new outer wall at the southwest corner of the site. Excavation within the Ladies’ Lookout has shown how the western edge of the site developed from the diagonally aligned trace of James IV into a much more extensive area created by a new outer wall rounded in plan but which appears to have been primarily a revetting structure against a considerable infill of earth. This activity brought the ground level up to meet that of the transe level to create two earth terraces.

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During the years 1531-32 James V undertook some works improving the existing royal lodgings under the supervision of the Master Mason, Sir James Nicolson, before the building of the new palace. The accounts mention work to the kings chamber and his outer chamber, the latter having two great windows (MW1, 107). The king’s chamber was reached by means of a turnpike stair (MW1, 105, 110). Certain alterations were made to the ‘dusty hall’, identified by Paton as a reception chamber or ‘salle de hoste’ (MW1, 383). This had a ‘parpane’ wall, that is, a partition, possibly a screen (MW1, 105). There was a great chamber described as being within it (MW1, 107). The accounts also mention the repair of the lock on the ‘uter chalmer dure’ of the dusty hall; this may be simply the outer door of the hall rather than a separate outer chamber (MW1, 109). The ‘dusty hall’ thus appears to have served as the outer chamber in a sequence of three rooms, thus serving the role of the outer hall, later guard chamber, in the palace erected in the 1540s. The exact location of the king’s chamber is not known, other than that they were in the King’s Old Building. It must be presumed that they were found lacking in either the convenience of layout or the grandeur that is found in the later palace. Besides the royal apartments, there is mention of those of court officials, such as the comptroller (MW1, 106), the master of the household (MW1, 108 and 109).

Another royal chamber that is mentioned in 1531-2 is the king’s great chamber ‘quhair he eittis’ (MW1, 104); it appears in the accounts alongside work on the stables below the castle and may be a connected banqueting hall. This specific description of the chamber in this manner may indicate the novelty of the practice of eating apart from the household.

Besides the construction of the main prestige buildings, there are references to other work included the creation of a garden. Work was carried out during the early part of 1532 to create a garden described as being within the ‘plas’ or ‘palice’ of Stirling. Four men with horses brought earth into the castle as well as turfs for benches, whilst two gardeners created a knot garden, constructing the turf benches, ‘casting’ knots and sowing flowers. The plants included lettuce and thyme, supplied in seed form (MW1, 109-110). The discoveries of the earth terrace sequence in the Ladies’ Lookout may relate to such a garden, overlooked by the west gallery and accessed via the ground floor route from the South Range. It is also possible that this earthwork, which was later reduced and levelled off to form the footings for an 18th century gun battery, may represent an artillery work at the west end of the front of the forework or indeed was the conversion of an earlier terrace garden into a gun platform by the 1540s.

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The castle that was inherited by James V was therefore the result of an extended building programme featuring a few earlier buildings to the north and east which were retained within an extensively rebuilt plan of ranges to the east south and west all within the rebuilt south rampart. The irregular topography of the site necessitated multi level structures to the south of the Inner Close so that they might successfully link with buildings at the top of the site. This principle, along with a policy of building a pattern of regular enclosures perpendicular to the forework, formed the basis of the Renaissance palace. However the work of James IV featured galleries, elaborate fortifications, courtyards, even gardens and the earliest versions of an integrated system of access routes at various levels. In considering the form and spatial arrangements of the three floors of the later palace it is clear that in terms of height, disposition and interconnection, the ranges of the later plan were already largely in place. In contrast with the detail and precision of the later palace, the development of this early palace is in turn better seen as, a rational solution for the creation of a regular plan featuring direct links between major residential blocks. Whereas the dimensions of the Lion’s Den and the layout of the principal rooms in the later palace are based on prescribed designs, the arrangement of service spaces, corridors, open passages and transes, within the later palace was an inheritance from the earlier layout largely by simply covering them over within the slightly enlarged footprint of the later work.

It is important to emphasise that the castle of James IV was still a fortification as well as royal residence. There is a generous provision of gunloops on all the three surviving floors of the main gatehouse towers which project forward of the main defensive wall thus enabling flanking fire along the wall line. The gunloops are of a dumbbell form also found on the east curtain wall (RCAHMS 1963, 21). There are further gunloops in the wall between the main gatehouse and its flanking D-shaped towers. One gunloop in the wall between the gatehouse and the Prince’s Tower, now blocked. This would have provided limited frontal fire from this area of the defences, probably supplemented by another in the rebuild section of walling near the gatehouse. The gunloops would serve to emphasise the martial nature of the castle and the status of its owner. Likewise, numerous gunloops were placed on the south front of the palace of Linlithgow, remodelled by James V, and at ground level at his great tower at Holyrood, although neither palace seems to have been considered as a serious place of defence. Stirling, however, was primarily a stronghold and here the gatehouse could be seen as a form of gun tower, although one that allowed for the use of small guns only. It is probable that the lower

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gunloops were complemented by fire from the wall walks and tower heads, as at Ravenscraig Castle in Fife, which could if necessary take larger ordnance.

The defences of James IV were still in place when James V erected his new palace behind the older forefront but by the mid-16th century advances in artillery and in the art of fortification made them inadequate in the face of a more hostile political climate. It was about that time that new artillery defences were erected in front of the walls of James IV. The form of these is known from late 17th century plans which refer to the eastern part, which had a prominent pyramidal talus, as the French Spur. They may date from the period of Mary of Guise (Fawcett 1995, 65). The remains of a wall that runs south from the south wall of the Prince’s Tower may be part of these defences.

‘The Prospect of Her Maties Castle of Sterling’ by John Slezer, late 17th century.

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2

A RENAISSANCE PALACE: THE EXTERIOR DESIGN The essence of Renaissance kingship was personal rule. This emphasis on the royal personage meant that the court was a place where access to the monarch and his patronage was both sought after and highly regulated. As the king was expected to live in a manner and in surroundings that befitted his position, so a royal palace was an expression of the prestige of the royal personage. The government of the kingdom centred on the personal and status of the monarch. Few people had direct access to the king, but his power and magnificence could be proclaimed in court pageantry and in the architecture. This concept was formulated by Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics, and became an idea embodied in all later thought. Aristotle stated that ‘… great expenditure is becoming to those who have suitable means to start with, acquired by their own efforts or from their ancestors or from connections, and to people of high birth and reputation, and so on; for all these things bring with them greatness and prestige’ (Thomson 1993, 2). The concept can be seen in the writings of Guillaume Fillastre, chancellor of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1470, who states that ‘The magnificent man is a sort of connoisseur, he has an eye for fitness, and he can spend large sums with good taste’. Monetary restraints were not to be a priority. Unlike his more lowly subjects, the prince should be interested in ‘how he can achieve the finest and most appropriate result rather than how much it will cost and how it can be done most cheaply (cited in Thurley 1993, 11). It was thought essential that a successful monarch be seen ‘to live like a king’. This could be expressed in military campaigns, preferably successful. On a more domestic level it could be expressed by the upkeep of large stables or lavish expenditure on hunting. For example, a Sforza prince of Milan could spend an equal amount on hunting dogs as on the arts (Welch 1995, 208). One of James V’s first building works at Stirling, in 1534, was the erection of new kennels (ER xvi, 585). But palaces were an essential part of this expression of greatness. They were the centre of the living theatre where the monarch enacted the role of Renaissance prince. Its trappings included the display of rich clothing, tapestries and table ware in precious metals. These, as much as the heraldic display on the palace walls, were symbolic of the monarch’s power and status in the kingdom.

To the contemporary participant in court affairs, the building must have been subsidiary to the court life within. But the structure of the palace and its architectural decoration were an important part of this expression of royal power. This aspect of display is manifested in the building of the palace on the fore wall of the castle, rather than in the seclusion of the Inner 18

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Close like the former royal lodging in what is now known as the King’s Old Building (Fawcett 1990, 181). The greater safety of the Inner Close was forsaken for the opportunity to present the palace as the architectural expression of the power and magnificence of the monarch not only to those privileged enough to gain access to the castle but also to the outer world, the burgh and beyond. It confronted the visitor as he approached the castle, epitomising the strength and splendour of the kingdom in stone. This outward display of the palace was earlier paralleled at Edinburgh Castle where the 15th century great chamber, with its magnificent oriel windows, rose on the front wall of the castle. In this case it was paired with the bulk of the earlier David’s Tower. The presence of towers associated with favoured monarchs of the past helped to strengthen the position of the royal dynasty. Display was an essential ingredient in the design of any palace and Stirling presents a flamboyant exuberance of ornamentation that demonstrates that his was the court of a king who had embodied the Renaissance deals of classical grace and cultivation.

But these ancient strongholds such as Stirling Castle and Edinburgh Castle encapsulated both the present strength of the monarchy and its antiquity. The bulk of the palace building and its castellated appearance fitted this role, combining with the buildings of James V’s predecessors in an assemblage that stressed the continuity of Scottish kingship. It combined with earlier buildings to enrich a group that symbolised the Stewart heritage. They contrasted with other palaces such as Holyrood and Falkland which, although to a certain extent fortified, were designed primarily for court life and its important adjunct, hunting.

THE PALACE IN ITS WIDER SETTING The palace forms part of the castle, a stronghold perched on the highest part of a volcanic crag from which it dominates the wider landscape of the upper Forth valley and the nearby crossing of the River Forth. The burgh of Stirling occupies the remaining part of this crag; its lands, extending to the castle walls and including the church of the Holy Rude. The route through the town formed a potential processional way to the castle, culminating in the great gatehouse of the fore work of James IV. The castle itself was territorially separate from the burgh, the centre of the Constabulary or precinct of the castle that included the park and gardens to its west, the steep slopes of the castle rock, and the adjacent Gowane Hills to the east. It was to the south and west of the palace that the various outdoor leisure activities of the court were concentrated.

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Later in the 16th century it was said that the view in this direction was ‘the maist plesand sycht of all the foure airthis, in speciall perk and gairdin, deir thairin’ (MW1, 310-11). The tournament was another occasion for the conspicuous display of manly virtue in a chivalric setting. The ground below the castle to the west was the site of the tiltyard, known in Scots as ‘the barras’ or ‘the barres’. There is a reference of 1534 to them being ‘under the castell of Striveling’ (Dunbar 1999, 204) and in 1625 the Master of Works was required to build up ‘the fundatioun of the west quarter [of the palace] abone the barres quhilk is schote over the craig’ (RPC 13, 706). Young monarchs eagerly competed in what could be, despite regulations, a highly dangerous sport. James V had injured himself whilst in France (Thomas 1997, 250). The inventory of the king’s possession, made after his death, included a rich garment for jousting: ‘ane sleif for justing of purpor taffateis thredit with gold’ (BL Royal 18 C xiv f. 203r in Harrison forthcoming) It is probable that the events were viewed from temporary stands erected in the tiltyard, but such structures could take a more permanent form, as with the series of towers in the tiltyard at Hampton Court, built in 1537 (Henderson 2005, 157; Thurley 1993. 181-2).

Another feature of this area was the butts for archery. In 1497 payment was made to the king when he ‘tynt [lost money] at the Buttis in Strevelin’ (TA 1, 329). The butts were located in the area close to the barras as is shown by the case of a couple who were summoned to appear before the kirk session in Stirling on a charge of fornication between the butts under the castle (SCA, Stirling Kirk Session Minutes, CH2/1024/2 quoted in Harrison 2005, 76).

Hunting was another vehicle for the display of those skills that were deemed a necessary part of high status life in the 16th century and, as well as hunting expeditions to more distant forests, it was common practice to keep animals in enclosed parks adjacent to principal residences. A park had been created at Stirling by William I in 1165 x 1174 (Gilbert 1979, 215). It had later fallen out of favour, replaced by the New Park a little to the south, but the Old Park was revived by James IV (Gilbert 1979, 82-3). It figures prominently in Timothy Pont’s depiction of Stirling on his late 16th century manuscript map of the area (NLS: Pont 32A gate, repaired in c1540, led from west side of the lists in the park (MW1, 289). The park was well stocked with deer, reared elsewhere and transported to Stirling, and contained other exotic animals such as white cattle (Gilbert 1979, 221). There was also a loch stocked with swans and herons and some woodland (Thomas 1997, 69). An inventory of James V’s included hunting horns decorated with silver and a hawking lure of velvet embroidered with gold (Harrison forthcoming). Fine horses were essential for the exuberant style of hunting expected of 16th 20

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century monarchs. Early in his reign, in 1530-1, James V built stables below the castle (Dunbar 1999, 191).

On the lower ground to the south-west of the palace are the earthworks known as the King’s Knot, the remains of an elaborate Renaissance garden. Gardens of this period were conceived as an integral part of a great house, a place of relaxation and pleasure outside the more formal indoor apartments but which could nevertheless impress in its scale and complexity. The King’s Knot consists of a number of regular geometric forms centring on a low octagonal mound, possibly the site of a banqueting house or arbour, such as the round arbour on a mount at Hampton Court (Henderson 2005, 79). Its form does not have the height associated with surviving mounts that acted as viewing platforms; its low form is ideally appreciated when viewed from the castle. The exact date of the garden in its present form is unknown. The area was known in the 16th century as the Haining, a general name for an enclosure. A grant of 1582 to the Countess of Mar describes it as being bounded to the south by the garden hedge; in the following year the view from the palace was said to include a ‘speciall perk and gairdin’ (MW 1, 310). In 1620 another grant was made including rupem lie Heuche alias lie Hanyng bonda. ad pomarium Regis (gardine) contiguam ad hortum magni edificii le Newwark in Stirling… (RMS 7, 2125 quoted in Harrison 2005, 75). In its present form it may date to 1628-9 when payments survive for the ‘platting and contryveing his Majesties new orchard and gardein’ (MW2, 230). It is shown in Vosterman’s painting of the castle of 1673-4 and its earthworks are marked on John Laye’s A Plan of the Town and Castle of Sterling of 1724 as ‘old gardens’ (NLS MS.1646 Z.02/19a). The gardens were commented on by visitors in the early 18th century visitors. Defoe, visiting the castle during his tour of 1724-6, wrote that ‘the figure of the walks and grass-plats remains plain to be seen, they are very old fashion'd’ (Defoe 1726, Letter 12). A fuller account was given by Nimmo, in his History of Stirlingshire, published in 1777, who wrote that the ‘vestiges of the walks and parterres, with a few stumps of fruit trees, are still visible… In the garden is a mount of earth, in form of a table, called the Knot, with benches of earth around it’ (Nimmo 1777, 250).

In the area between the burgh and the castle lay the Valley, an open hollow now mostly filled by the Castle Esplanade. This had a practical purpose in the defence of the castle, providing an open field of fire for the artillery. It also, however, provided an area for festivities. Activities took place here during the celebration of the baptism of Prince James in 1566 and Prince Henry in 1594 (Lynch 1990, 6; Goodare & Lynch 2000, 88-90). This area was in more immediate proximity to the palace than the areas below the castle to the west and would seem to have 21

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been chosen as a place where public celebrations of state events could take place, as opposed to the more restricted ceremonies inside the castle walls. It lay immediately below the walls of the palace and the Prince’s Walk could provide a viewing platform. It was probably from here that, during the celebrations in 1594, largesse was scattered from the terrace of the castle to the awaiting crowds below, to the sound of trumpets (Harrison 2005, 121-2).

The earthworks of the King’s Knot seen from the castle, with the area of the Old Park extending beyond.

It is possible that the visitor to the palace would have passed through a low outer gate some distance in front of the main mass of the castle, as at Linlithgow Palace which has a prominent display of the four orders of heraldry awarded to James V. The defences of James IV were described in building accounts of 1633 as ‘the wall that gois about the great fowssie [ditch] without the yet [gate] and the lang wall besowth the same’ (MW2, 370). The long straight walls linking this outermost gateway with the castle have no towers or bastions and therefore cannot be seen as a serious part of the defences. The stub of walling that leads south from the south wall of the Prince’s Tower may have been part of this earlier enclosure, reused in the later fortifications.

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THE DESIGN OF THE EXTERIOR The exterior of the palace is an exuberant example of the display of magnificence, proclaiming to all that James V was a true Renaissance monarch. It complements the earlier forework of the castle, erected by James IV. The palace rises above the forework as an architectural unity; it combines the concepts of palace and fortress. The forework base recalls the massive escarpe (outer base) of various French palaces such as Chambord (Thompson 1987, 122-23) and the slightly later Louvre of Charles V (Chastel 1995, 138-9). Crenellations, which are a feature of many royal buildings of both James IV and James V, but there are no gun loops, except within the inner courtyard known as the Lions Den. The small openings facing the approach to the gate are likely to later in date.

Figure with a crossbow, decorating the south parapet of the palace

The facades of the palace that were visible when the building was constructed, that is the north, east and west elevations, are constructed in a micaceous sandstone. The type of stone would seem to be carefully chosen both for its functional role and its decorative appearance. The north facade has two main types of stone being mainly of coarse-grained very quartz rich pale yellow sandstone with a horizontal band of finer grained lighter sandstone traversing the entire elevation. This lighter band does not continue on the other elevations. Its presence suggests that the stone of this elevation was not covered by another material such as harling. The columns and statuary are carved from a variety types of fine sandstone. 23

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The design of the palace exterior consists of windows set in salient panels alternating with shallow recesses. This gives an impression of strength and is a subtle variant of the donjon tradition. The tower was symbolic of lordship and throughout Europe solar towers continued to be part of high status dwellings up to the 16th century (Dixon & Lott 1993, 98). The solidity emphasised by strong string courses which help to unify the façade. However, the martial face of Stirling is enforced by the armed figures rise above the parapets of the palace, one with a sword, another with a crossbow.

Such figures are found on the great northern English castles of the 14th century such as at Alnwick, Hilton and Raby. Similar defensive figures, in this case hurling rocks, were placed on the temporary palace at the Field of Cloth of Gold (Thurley 1993, 47). The palace, however, while offering a martial front, is essentially a non-defensive building within the walls of the castle.

The east facade of the palace

The parapet walk is at present interrupted by later alterations to windows but originally it was continuous around all but the west side of the palace. While this has a defensive appearance and could be used as a fighting platform it is possible that is main purpose was that of recreation. 24

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The architectural sources for the palace have been a topic of much discussion. Dunbar (1999, 52) has stressed ‘the French character of much of the detail’ in the palace. Several masons had been sent by the Duke and Duchess of Guise to work for James V on the royal palaces in the spring of 1539. Nicholas Roy and others are documented working at Falkland. The French influence, however, was not total. The exterior does not have the modular rhythm defined vertically by thin pilasters with shallow relief carving and horizontally by cornices that articulate the facades of early Renaissance buildings in the reign of Francis I. The sense of architectural mass in the building is more Italian than French and the inspiration for its form may be related to developments in the form of Italian palazzos of the early 16th century with their stress on the windows of the principal floor, the piano nobile.

The palace at the Field of Cloth of Gold

Like these palazzos, the palace at Stirling is symmetrically planned and centred on a small courtyard, although it lacks the loggias and inward-looking aspect of the former, at least in its present form. The flat wall surfaces of the exterior elevations at Stirling articulated by blank arcades and the strong horizontal stress of the ornamental pediments perhaps owe more to the buildings of Giulio Romano for the Gonzga court at Mantua, such as the Palazzo del Tè, begun 25

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1525, the Cortile della Cavallerizza of the Palazzo Ducale, of c.1539 and the architect’s own house, c.1540 (Blunt 1958, 22; Heydenreich & Lotz 1974). Like Stirling, the Palazzo del Tè is essentially a single storey building, with all the stress is on the principal floor. Stirling is in essence a single storey building. Its basement and upper floor are of secondary importance, hidden for the most part behind the façade. The important feature is the principal floor, the piano nobile of Italian palaces. The Mantuan style was influential north of the Alps, especially through the artist Francesco Primaticcio who worked on the Palazzo del Tè and later, in 1532, was invited by Francis to work at Fontainebleau (Heydenreich & Lotz 1974, 227-33).

The sources that influenced the design of the palace could be transmitted in a variety of ways varying from the personal experience of travellers to the acquisition of printed designs made possible by developments in copperplate engraving.

A reconstruction of the east façade without the sculptural decoration and later alterations. This emphasises the classical articulation of the bays and the symmetry of the design.

The design of the palace façade is also governed by a strong sense of symmetry, especially the east façade, the largest and the first to confront the visitor after entering through the gatehouse. James V also displayed a taste for symmetry at Linlithgow Palace when he remodelled the south façade to provide a better front for the new principal entry into the palace (McWilliam 1976, 295).

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The number of the windows is likely to be significant. Palaces were symbols of the power and glory of the dynasty and, intertwined with this, that of the nation. Architecture as propaganda was rarely subtle and the message is conveyed on a number of levels. The window pediments are decorated with small panels bearing the inscription I 5, for James V. It is likely that these were emphasised with paint, as they were in 1628 (MW2, 255). There are five principal windows on each of the main facades recalling the five Stewart monarchs and reinforcing the message of the inscriptions above the windows. The dynastic message is reinforced by the sculpture on the gables of heraldic beasts surmounted on crowns. They are first referred to in 1625 when some were carved by the master mason, William Wallace in preparation for the proposed visit of Charles I in 1625, but he may have been repairing or replacing part of an already existing scheme (MW2, 180; Fawcett 2001, 8). Other roofline symbols of dynasty are to be seen at Holyrood in Gordon’s view of c.1649, where large crowns surmount the towers and thistles decorate the roof ridge.

The eroded lion finial on the south-west gable of the palace.

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The imagery of the sculpture on the facades, with its mythological allusions, drew on the new humanist learning familiar to patrons such as James V in order to evoke, through allusions to the past, the comparable glories of the present.

The blank sculptural bays of the façade are decorated with multi-cusped arches. This has been seen as a French influence. The use of such cusped arches has been noted, for example, at Chateaudun, with the suggestion of an influence via the Guise family (Bentley-Cranch & Marshall, 1996, 228; McKean 1999, 161; McKean 2001, 90; Gifford & Walker 2002, 682). Such decoration, however, was part of the sculptural repertoire of French Flamboyant architecture and found on early 16th century French buildings. Also the cusped decoration at Chateaudun is a prominent feature on the Longueville wing, constructed c.1509-18 (Chatenet 1999), and a generation before the palace at Stirling and is unlikely to have had any influence on Stirling. There is a long tradition of the use of cusped arches in Scottish ecclesiastical architecture as an enrichment of recesses, such as for tombs (Fawcett 2002, 317-21). It is also a feature of 15th century secular buildings where, as at Linlithgow Palace and like the later Stirling, it is used as a decorative hood over sculpture (Dunbar 1999, 10). Cusps very similar to the Stirling examples decorate the fountain of c1538 at Linlithgow Place, possibly by the same masons (McWilliam 1976, 297). These were following a long tradition in their use of cusped arches to enhance niches containing sculpture. As elsewhere in northern Europe, the repertoire of late medieval architecture could be combined with that of the new Renaissance all’antica style. At Stirling this may be seen as a conservative decorative icing on the Renaissance façade.

The palace façade incorporates one of the most remarkable assemblages of stone figurative sculptures in Britain. The immediate effect of the sculptural decoration and architectural detail is one of richness. Magnificence is conveyed through the wealth of ornament; the message is one of not only material wealth but also a wealth of learning. The unusual richness of the sculptural display on the facades recalls the displays of antique sculpture that were a feature of some other European courts. These normally were presented in interior galleries, often mounted in alcoves. One of the earliest surviving examples of a kunstkammer is that created in 1563-71 in Munich by Duke Albrecht V (Hein, 178). Other notable collections were held by the Hapsburg Archduke Ferdinand II at Schloss Ambras in the Tyrol. Such rooms were to develop into the kunstkammer, where collections of the antique and curious intermingled.

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The palace of Nonesuch may have been another influence on extensive use of figures in the exterior decoration of Stirling. Nonesuch palace, begun for Henry VIII in 1538, was notable among that monarch’s palaces in being constructed on a virgin site, its design unimpeded by earlier building. It was also built as a hunting retreat for a reduced court, lavish in scale but without the state rooms such as a great hall (Thurley 1993, 63). It is comparable in both its purpose and exuberance to Chambord. The builder of Stirling would be aware of both these palaces. Nonesuch is unusual for the figural painting that covered its exterior elevations for such painting, common in central and southern Europe, was unusual in Britain. The palace has long since vanished but the illustration by John Speed of the exterior shows that the principal windows of the upper floor, possibly a gallery, alternated with paintings of large figures (Thomson 1987, 127). An awareness of this magnificence by his contemporary prince may have influenced the design and degree of display on the exterior of the palace at Stirling.

Large free-standing sculpture in recesses often was over entrances conveying the idea of triumph and often incorporating the figure of the patron. A notable example of this was Francis I’s scheme to create a composition of monumental bronze figures for the Porte Dorée of the chateau of Fontainebleau. The renowned Italian artist, Benvenuto Cellini was commissioned in 1542 to create a group of allegorical figures illustrating the legendary foundation of the chateau. In the event, only one figure, a bronze relief of the nymph with stag, was cast. Although probably conceived a little later than the decorative scheme of the elevations at Stirling, it demonstrates a similar use of sculpture to proclaim, by allegorical allusion, the grandeur of the monarch to the approaching visitor. The sculptural programme at Stirling was similarly oblique in its praise of the monarch. Although the decoration is incomplete, that surviving has few direct references to the king, apart from his figure on a corner of the building and his monogram over the windows.

The exterior of the palace at Stirling presents a wealth of imagery to the viewer, drawing on a variety of sources, both Christian and classical. It is suggested that this diversity has its principal source in the allegorical imagery typical of the House of Fame genre of literature, popular at the time, which presented ideals of chivalry and kingship that were highly compatible with the aspirations of James V. One very well-known example of this genre was Chaucer’s House of Fame, written c1380. In a dream vision, the narrator travels from the allegorical Temple of Venus to the mountain of ice on which the house of Fame sits. The latter is lavishly decorated with tabernacles filled with images; figures of minstrels were depicted 29

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playing the harp and wind instruments in praise of Fame. The Scottish poet, Gavin Douglas, continues in this genre in his poem, The Palic of Honoure, which depiction of an ideal palace rich with imagery derived from both Christian and classical as well as from popular contemporary sources. It praised James IV and may have been written with Stirling in mind. But it also presented a powerful model for a palace to his successor, James V, both in terms of construction and of visual imagery.

Gavin Douglas was a younger son of the Archibald, 5th earl of Angus. As with many younger sons of nobility, he sought a career in the Church, gained a Master’s degree at St Andrews and may have studied at Paris. The Palic of Honoure was completed by Douglas in 1501 or 1502 during a period when he was seeking ecclesiastical office. To this end, Douglas employs architectural allegory to present an elaborate complement to James IV, identifying the Scottish court as ‘the newest and most magnificent manifestation of an illustrious European tradition of courtly honour’ (Whitehead 2003, 6). He was successful and in 1503 was appointed as Provost of the collegiate church of St Giles, Edinburgh. As uncle of the sixth Earl of Angus, he prospered when the latter married the widowed Queen, Margaret, sister of Henry VIII of England. Douglas became Bishop of Dunkeld in 1516. Douglas died of the plague in London in September 1522.

The influence of the poem did not end with Douglas’s death and it must have been well known to the new king, James V. The earliest known printed version of The Palic of Honoure is that produced by Thomas Davidson of Edinburgh in c.1535 (Edinburgh Univ Lib STC 7072.8).

In the poem the dreamer is led towards the Palace of Honour. It lies in a fertile plane, with well-stocked ponds, while above this is the palace, like Stirling, standing on a rock of hard stone.

Hewyn in the roch of slyde hard merbyll stone. Aganne the sonne lyk as the glas it schone. (1300-1301)

The exterior of the palace is described, the emphasis on detail following a contemporary rhetorical convention.

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A palyce stude with mony riall touris Quhare kernellys quent, feil turretis men mycht fynd And goldyn fanys wavand with the wynd.

Pynnakillis, fyellis, tournpikes mony one, Gylt byrnyst torris, quhilk lyk til Phebus schone, Skarsement, repryse, corbell, and battelyngis, Fulyery, borduris of mony pretius stone, Suttyl muldry wrocht mony day agone On buttres, jalmys, pilleris and plesand spryngis, Quyke ymagry with mony lusty syngis Thare mycht be sene, and mony worthy wychtis Tofore the yet, arrayit all at rychtis. (1429-1440)

magnificent towers; intricate battlements, many banners waving

Pinnacles, finials, spiral staircases Gilded [and] polished knobs;

Ornamental leaf patterns Fancy moulding door-jambs; bases for arches; Lifelike carvings; effigies

In front of the gate; properly

In the first ward of the palace, the dreamer passes tournaments performed in honour of Venus and then, in an enclosed garden, Venus herself with Cupid by her side (1470). Venus holds a mirror in which is seen a multitude of visions ranging from Aeneid, the Old Testament, Livy’s history of Rome to more popular legends such as Robin Hood and displays of conjuring and juggling (1720). This wide-ranging display has been compared with the array of statuary on the exterior of Chaucer’s House of Fame (Whitehead 2003, 196). 31

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The next section is an allegorical list of virtues who act as the members of the household. Charity is Master of the Household (1795), Constance is the king’s secretary (1797) and Liberality his treasurer (1798). Innocence and Devotion were clerks of his ‘clerkis of closet and cubeculeris’ [closet and the cubicular] these being the attendants to the king in his bedchamber, the first his private confessor, the second his groom or personal servant. Discretion was his Comptroller (1801), ‘Humanyte and Trew Relatioun’ [Courtesy and Fair Report] were ushers to his chamber (1802). Peace, Quiet and Rest walked in his hall as marshalls of renown (1804-5).

They enter through a doorway that was engraved with every natural thing that could be imagined (1836):

Thare wes the erth enveronyt wyth the see Quhare on the schyppes saland mycht I se, The ayr, the fyre - all the four elymentis The Speris Sevyn and Primum Mobile, The Sygnis Twelf, perfytly every gre, The Zodiak, hale as bukis represents, The Poil Antertik that ever himselfe absentis, The Poil Artik, and eik the Ursis twane, The Sevyn Sterris, Pheton and the Charle Wane. (1837-1845)

The dreamer was then led into a courtyard where the walls and paving were so well constructed that they seemed to be of silver.

The durris and the wyndois all wer breddyt With massy gold, quhareof the fynes scheddit. With byrnyst evyr baith palyce and touris Wer thekyt weil, maist craftely that cled it: For so the quhitly blanchit bone ovirspred it, Mydlyt with gold, anamalyt all colouris, Inporturat of byrdis and swete flouris, Curius knottis and mony sle devyse, Quhilkis to behald wes perfyt paradice. (1882-6)

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The dreamer then ascends ten steps to the door, but the door is shut. Such is the exclusiveness of the royal place that even in a dream one cannot enter. A surreptitious view is obtained through a jink in a shutter to see a bejewelled interior:

Me thocht the flure wes al of amatist, Bot quhareof war the wallis I ne wist. The multitud of prectius stonis sere Thairon swa schane, my febill sycht, but were, Mycht not behald thair vertuus gudlynes. For all the ruf (as did to me appere) Hang full of plesand lowpyt saphyrs clere. Of dyamantis and rubys, as I ges, Wer all the burdis maid, of mast riches. Of sardanus, of jaspe and smaragdane Trestis, formys and benkis wer, pollist plane. (1907-1917)

In the hall there ‘Intronyt sat a god armypotent’ [mighty in arms] surrounded by royal princes in armour. However, the viewer is physically overwhelmed by the brightness of this vision. The dreamer is obliged to withdraw but recovery was rapid and there followed a lengthy appreciation of the palace garden (2063-2078):

… our gardyng, lo, full of lusty trees, All hie cypres, of flewer maist fragrant. Our ladyis yonder, bissy as the beis, The swete florist colouris of rethoreis Gaddris full fast, mony grene tendir plant; For with all plesance plenist is yone hant, Quhare precious stanys on treis doyth abound In sted of frute, chargyt with peirlis round."

On till that gudly garth thus we proceid Quhilk with a large fowsy, fare on breid, Inveronyt wes, quhare fysches wer enew. All wattir foulis wer swomand thair gud speid; 33

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Als out of growand treis thair saw I breid Foulys that hyngand by thair nebbis grew. Out ovir the stank of mony divers hew Wes laid a tre, ovir quhilk behovyt we pas

Thereafter the dreamer falls in the moat and awakens, concluding with a dedication to James IV.

In this poem the narrator presents a wealth of imagery made visible by Venus in the first of this ideal palace. Could it be that James V, aware of this ideal, decided to portray some of this imagery in stone when building his own palace of honour. Little of this imagery can be identified today, partly because past damage and erosion has deprived the major figures of many of their recognisable attributes. But the overall scheme may well be intended to give the effect of a comprehensive vision such as in The Palic of Honoure including the planetary deities of the ‘Speris Sevyn’. The figures at the top of the facades include a lutenist and a flutist: similar to the minstrels of Chaucer’s House of Fame.

Exotic figure on the north façade of the palace.

As well as the figural sculpture, one distinctive element in the decoration of the exterior was its use of candelabrum. The basic design of the exterior consists of windows alternating with 34

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shallow recesses, the latter containing figures mounted on candelabrum balusters beneath multi-cusped arches. The candelabrum, of a similar form to those on which the principal figures rest were a popular motif in 16th century art, derived from classical candelabrum. Although the form had continued in use in Roman churches, they had acquired a new popularity inspired by finds from ancient Rome, eagerly collected by the humanist Church hierarchy. One source was the Golden House of Nero, where they were associated with a newly discovered style of antique painting that had a huge influence on artists of the early Renaissance and the subsequent development of the decorative arts (Segala & Sciortino 1999, 47-53). The loggetta in the Vatican, painted under the direction of Raphael in 1516, depicts sculptured figures in recesses between flat fields of grotesque ornamentation inspired and closely modelled on those discovered in the late 15th century in the Golden House (Thornton 1998, 20). The candelabrum was seized upon as a decorative motif and its use in relief panels became common in northern Europe from the early 16th century onwards but the use in a three dimensional form in a size that resembles the original models is unusual. Occasionally there where used, however, to convey allusions of imperial grandeur both past and present. The tomb of Henry VIII, for example, was surrounded by six candleholders of candelabrum form (now in Ghent cathedral) based on antique.

Detail of the candelabrum supports for statuary on the north façade of the palace and the Colleoni Chapel, Bergamo.

The bold usage of the candelabrum motif may be contrasted with another contemporary Scottish example, an armorial panel from the Bishop’s Castle at Glasgow of c.1540 (Burnett 35

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1996, 296 and fig 6). Here the lower arms are flanked by relief columns whose main components are two inverted candelabrum, possibly a misunderstood copying of Stirling. Candelabrum were used as motifs on the fountain at Linlithgow Palace, as well as sphinxes and nude figures (McWilliam 1978, 296-7). The use of candelabrum as pedestals for exterior statuary is unusual but not unknown. It appears in the 15th century in the manuscripts by Filarete and notably on the façade of the Colleoni Chapel at Bergamo, erected in the 1470s, which employs what has been described as ‘encyclopaedic usage’ of baluster forms (Davies and Hemsoll 1983, 9 and 6). Used with confidence at Stirling, the candelabrum motif would convey overtones of classical splendour to the educated onlooker.

The acanthus ornamentation of the candelabrum was thought to resemble that of the pomegranate flower; the whole may be taken as a reference to Solomon’s temple where the columns were similarly decorated (Davies & Hemsoll 1983, 13). 16th century monarchs were not averse to a little flattery and it is likely that James would welcome this comparison. The connection between the candelabrum baluster and the pomegranate flower was made by Diego da Sagredo in his architectural treatise Medidas del Romano, published in Toledo in 1526. This treatise presents the candelabrum baluster as one of the orders of classical architecture. A northern example of their use as such an architectural form, rather than as a decorative motif, was in the courtyard arcades of the prince-bishop’s palace at Liége where the huge columns convey a Renaissance air to an otherwise Gothic building (Kuyper 1994, 185). Shortly after this they were used as an architectural component at Stirling.

A more immediate source of the balusters may be connected to the Order of St Michael, which James V received in 1537, shortly before the erection of the palace. It is likely that James received the book of ordinances. It no longer survives but that given to Henry VIII in 1527 does and that includes balusters very similar to those used that Stirling (NA E36/276). It is possible that that high status volume was the source for the Stirling balusters.

The candelabrum components of the balusters have a variety of forms of columns as their lower element on the north and east facades of the palace whilst the statues in the bays on the south elevation have shorter supports, all with spiral columns. Spiral columns are also used to support the smaller figures on the upper level of the façade above the bays. The spiral, or solomonic column is a form again associated with the temple of Solomon and used with this connotation most notably in the former baldacchino at St. Peter’s, Rome (Krautheimer 1980, 27). 36

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The building of the temple, as described in detail in the Bible, was taken from the Early Christian period onwards, as the example great architectural achievement against which contemporary building could be measured. Such a comparison was made, for example, according to a legendary account by the emperor Justinian on entering the newly built Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (Mainstone 1988, 10). Solomonic columns appear prominently on the façade of the Cortile della Cavallerizza of the Palazzo Ducale at Mantua, erected c.1539 by Guilo Romano (Heydenreich & Lotz 1974, pl 235). An educated onlooker would make this allusion on seeing the use of solomonic columns at Stirling. The use of the form at Stirling with its allusions to antiquity, again through architecture emphasises the achievements of James V to the educated onlooker.

A MODULAR LAYOUT? Recent excavations inside the great hall noted the floor was divided into 5.5m (18 feet) modules. The same dictates aspects of the exterior, for example the great window of the bay is 5.5m square. A similar module would seem to be used on the façade of the palace, although irregularities of the site have led to a large degree of distortion. The most regular side has been taken to be that on the north. The east elevation is stretched because of the obtuse angle between it and the north elevation. That on the south is restricted by the already existing Prince’s Tower. Therefore, if the north elevation is considered it can be seen to consist of mostly bays 2.75m wide, although the westernmost sculpture bay is narrower, possibly suggesting that allowance was made for a pre-existing building extending north from the scar of a wall. The height from the lower plinth to the top of the crenellations is 11m or two modules of 5.5m. The height from the lower corbel table to the springing of the arch of the sculpture bays is 5.5m. This same measurement corresponds to the height of the principal figures and their busters when measured from the top of the corbels. The arch of the sculpture bays consists of an arc of a circle of 2.75m diameter. There are variations on these measurements on other parts of the elevations because of distortions of the plan, but there is enough evidence to indicate that such a module was the basis for the layout of all the major elements of the facades.

In order to create the key component of the modular plan, the Lion’s Den, it was necessary to move the north wall of the earlier South Range by some 1.2m. This enabled the creation of a sheer façade despite the resulting shallow step within the Lion’s Den itself. Other than its role as the focus for the geometry of the four ranges in both vertical and horizontal plains little 37

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evidence has survived of what actually lay within the Lion’s Den itself. Great care seems to have been taken to restrict lavish and expensive ornamentation to those parts of the palace which were on most prominent display. This has created a distinctly contrasting quality between the north, east and south with the west of the palace and arguably the Lion’s Den interior.

THE BUILDING CAMPAIGN The building of the palace at Stirling was part of an intensive campaign of building by James V during the latter part of his personal rule, 1528-42. Large amounts were spent on palace building at Holyrood during 1528-36, Falkland 1537-41 during, and Linlithgow in the years 1534-42, the recorded annual expenditure on architecture rising from around £1,700 in 1529-30 to over £5,000 in the later part of the reign (Dunbar 1999, 214-15; Cameron 1998, 262). Stirling comes late in this series of buildings, evidence suggests that it was erected c.1538-42, and it may be seen as a culmination of the king’s architectural aspirations. Few accounts of this period survive for Stirling but those of Falkland suggest that craftsmen were transferred from there during 1540. There is some uncertainty as to who was responsible for the building of Stirling. This was normally the remit of the Master Mason, a craftsman by training who was skilled in the technical aspects of building and could be responsible for the over design and the execution of the work on site, often working on finer details himself. The term also was applied more generally to a mason who employed apprentices (Dunbar 1999, 223). The finance and administration of a building project was the responsibility of the Master of Works. James Nicholson held the post of master of Works at Stirling from 1530 until he was replaced in some way by James Hamilton of Finnart. Finnart was an illegitimate son of the first earl of Arran and cousin to the king. He had become increasingly prominent as a favourite in the royal household until his sudden downfall and execution in 1540. He was involved in work on site at Stirling in 1538 (MW1, 227-28). Finnart was given a commission in 1539 appointing him ‘maister of werk principale to our soverane lord of all his werkis within his realme now biggand or to be biggit and to haif thre or four deputis under him quha sall ansuer to him and his directioun over all (MW1, xxv). The degree of involvement of Hamilton of Finnart in the work at Stirling has been much debated. McKean argues that his role was equivalent to that of architect (McKean 2001, 272). Dunbar takes a more cautious line, commenting that while it was likely that Hamilton ‘may have had some input to the design, the extent of this contribution, as of any made by the king himself, must remain uncertain (Dunbar 1999, 53). 38

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Dendrochronological analysis of the ceiling timbers of the principal floor has demonstrated that many were cut during the spring/summer 1539 (Crone 2005 Interim Report 2). If the building of James V’s tower at Holyrood Palace is taken as a parallel, then the first season may well have been taken up with the construction of the vaults and the raising of the building to principal floor level. It is probable, therefore, the work must have commenced on site in spring 1538 or earlier.

THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTION Whilst the palace was innovative it its architectural detail, its construction still relied on the tested skills of the masons and other craftsmen and their ability to translate the traditional local materials into the architectural form conceived by the master mason. The palace is constructed with ashlar on its exterior and mostly random rubble on the interior walls. Some idea of the process of construction can be gauged from the use of types of stone, the relationship of walls and the building breaks them.

PARTIAL DEMOLITION The first part of the building campaign was the partial demolition of the existing buildings on the site, a process that provided material for the new structure. The vaults of the earlier building were retained, the floor level providing a building platform for further work. Ashlar arches were constructed to strengthen the existing rubble vault where the increased weight of the new superstructure required extra support. This is seen, for example, where the west wall of the Queen’s Bedchamber crosses the trance. The north and east walls the earlier buildings were clad with an ashlar skin, visible in the two doorheads of the east door of the north-east vault (V:01.2).

The exterior wall was then raised to a height of approximately 2m (possibly 2 ells) and a level course formed in the random rubble build. The height of this stage may have been dictated by that that could be worked without the use of scaffolding. The random rubble of the interior has an intermediate stage formed by a level course at the height of approximately 1.25m above floor level. Slate pinning was used in the formation of this level course. A great of reused stone was utilised in this part of the construction, notably the two capitals of two chimney-pieces. The outer casing of the doorways was erected as an integral part of the build of the exterior 39

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wall. The partition wall between the King’s Hall and Outer Chambers (P:03.4) was also erected, but breaks in the coursing of the rubble shows that the completion of the doorway was later.

ERECTION OF THE WALLS TO SPRINGING OF THE WINDOW ARCH It is likely that the fine exterior ashlar was raised ahead of the interior rubble walling. The interior walls were then raised another 2m (possibly 2 ells) to the height of the springing the window arches. The exterior wall has a change in stonework at this level, with fine grey sandstone below forming the moulding of the windows but courser yellow sandstone above. The figurative carving also employs a finer stone. On the interior walls, the break is seen by the creation of another level course in the random rubble. The walls of this stage have smaller stonework than below, with much less reused stone. The walling of the interior walls between the principal rooms abuts that of the exterior walls above the height of the doorways. The juncture of the walls often is crudely executed. For example, the east wall of the King’s Hall (P02.2) overlaps the face of the reveal of the window to its north. The south wall abuts the east wall above the doorway to the King’s bedchamber.

WALLS ABOVE THE PRINCIPAL WINDOWS The next stage of work was the erection of the window heads in the principal rooms and the stonework of the upper walls of those chambers. The change here is very marked and may indicate a long pause in construction, possibly over a winter. The placing of the window arches on the existing reveals required a precision that seems to have been beyond the capabilities of the masons. The break in constructional phases can be seen as a scarcement (P:03.1.241) at the western end of the north wall of the King’s Outer Chamber (P:03.1). Often the window arch, pre-cut to a template, does not correspond with the available space to be spanned suggesting a degree of experimentation or haste. This is especially the case where they is no splay to the window reveals and the arch springs directly from the wall head as with the south-east window of the King’s outer chamber (P:02.3) and the adjacent south-west window of the King’s Outer Chamber (P:03.3). With both of these the window arch springs from inside the line of the wall face of the wall dividing the outer and inner chambers. This change is seen also in the south-east corner of the King’s Outer Chamber where there is a change in construction, the crude abutment of the walling immediately above the height of the doorway contrasting with the treatment of the corner in upper part of the chamber where there is more attempt to bond 40

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together the two walls. Such apparent defects in the co-ordination of the component parts of the masonry would be hidden if, as likely, the stonework was covered with plaster.

The walls are constructed of random rubble with the occasional horizontal courses that give an indication of the process of construction. These courses occur at a height of c.2m above floor level and at c.4m (slightly below the springing of the window arches). The lower 2m of the N wall (P:02.1) is of one construction with the E door, its outband jambs continue are shaped to form the splay of the adjacent N window. The break in construction at the head of the windows is clearly seen in the Lion’s Den elevations. Above this level, apart from the window margins, the eaves cornice and the later heightening of the wall head, there is a consistent use of dolerite in the upper 4m of walling, a difficult rock to work but readily available in the immediate vicinity of the castle. An exception may be between the south windows of the King’s outer chamber where the predominance of dolerite begins half way up the window height.

One of the final architectural components to be fitted would be the great iron window grills. Such grills are a common protective feature of contemporary palaces across Europe but the Scottish examples are distinct in their interwoven structure. It is known from the accounts of Holyrood Palace these grills were put into place shortly before the glass was added.

THE GEOMETRY OF THE PALACE The palace at Stirling is built according to the fashionable European trend for palaces consisting of a set pattern of rooms arranged symmetrically around a courtyard. This regularity was an essential component of the civilised, sophisticated image that was conveyed by the architecture. It was to symbolise how the monarch through his rule imposed order on an otherwise chaotic universe. At Stirling, this order was achieved by daringly ignoring the restraints imposed by both the geology of the site and by existing buildings. The layout of the building is evidently the result of a carefully conceived plan on the part of the architect. In order to investigate the methodology behind this plan it is useful to consider two elements: the overall plan of the palace and the individual room plans. The investigation into the former is hampered by irregularities in the plan resulting from the need to fit into a site restricted both by existing standing buildings and by the fall of the natural bedrock. The palace is designed to fit into an irregular quadrilateral area, lacking right angles whilst outwardly appearing to 41

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conform to a regular symmetrical pattern. Rooms of a required size and regular plan have been fitted into an irregular shape with a considerably degree of ingenuity on the part of the architect.

No original plans survive for the palace of James V at Stirling, or for any Scottish royal palace of this period, but it is likely that plans of the whole building were drawn together with others of architectural details. Such drawings survive for some contemporary buildings elsewhere, for example, the plans of 1538 illustrating proposed alterations of Hull Manor to create a residence for Henry VIII (Thurley 1993, 116-118). The early 16th century witnessed the production architectural treatises which provided idealised plans for palaces and other high status residences. The De Architectura Libri Decem (Ten Books of Architecture) of the Roman writer Vitruvius appeared in various editions in the 16th century, notably the illustrated edition by Fra Giocondo published in Venice in 1511, which provided a wealth of both architectural detail and severely symmetrical plans derived from classical models. Of contemporary writers, the work of Sebastiano Serlio (1475-1554 was particularly influential. The first volume of his treatise, Quinto Libri d'Architettura, was published in Venice in 1537 and dealt with the five orders of architecture. Book III was published in 1540 and dealt with the buildings of antiquity. A further series of seven books on architecture was projected, five of which were published. Serlio moved to France in 1541 on the initiation of Francis I to take the position of ‘premier peintre et architecte’ at Fontainebleau. Here he had the opportunity to create in stone some of the designs of his treatises. In Book VI of his treatise, unpublished at the time, there appears a design for a ‘House of the illustrious Prince in the Style of a Fortress’ which was used as a model for the chateau of Ancy-le-Franc, Burgundy, built for count Antoine de ClermontTonerre from c. 1541 (Hart and Hicks 1998, 144; Rosenfeld 1996, 52-3). Both his treatises and in his built work for Francis I at palaces such as Fontainebleau and Ancy-le-Franc were influential in making the repertoire of Renaissance architecture widely available. The use of this style was seen to be an essential part of being a civilised European monarch, a Renaissance prince. Few architects north of the Alps, however, tried to emulate the Renaissance style as used in Italy, but these centres used it to produce a style that combined elements of the new repertoire with more traditional local elements. Hence, the architecture of the Fontainebleau school, although heavily influenced by Italian buildings, has a distinctive appearance; whilst being European it was also French. In a similar way, the architect at Stirling has taken elements of the Renaissance style, both in plan and in ornamentation, and combined them with traditional building practices to produce a building worthy of the king of Scotland as major European monarch. 42

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The palace, whilst having an architectural integrity of its own, first must be considered as part of the castle in which it lies. Architectural taste in the 16th century demanded a regularity of layout both in new buildings and in the adaptation of already existing structures. James V was not the first to attempt this at Stirling Castle. His predecessor, James IV had already brought about a transformation of the architectural space within the irregular walls of the medieval castle. The new forefront had given the castle an outward appearance of symmetry with the gatehouse as an imposing centrepiece. Such was its architectural impact that Sir David Lindsay, in his parody ‘The Testament and Complaynt of our Soverane Lordis Papyngo’, written in 1538, has the dying ‘Papyngo’ (parrot) after a rich life as a courtier, laments having to leave fair “Snawdoun” (Stirling) with its “touris hie”

Adew, fair Snawdown! With thy touris hie Thy Chapell Royall, park and tabyll rounde! May, June and July walde I dwell in thee War I ane man, to heir the birdies sounde Quhilk doith agane thy royall roche redounde.

Behind the gatehouse rose the gable of the great hall. The erection of the great hall and the King’s Old Building had imposed a new order on the inner courtyard giving the castle a nucleus of great buildings. But it was the gatehouse complex and the great hall that were the outstanding elements in the buildings of James V. Together, they formed a spine that divided the ceremonial and residential buildings of the court from the domestic. To the south-east of the great hall there was a great kitchen range occupying that ‘quarter’ of the castle. Although severely restricted by the topography of the site its situation would convey a sense of regular zoned. To the south-west of the great hall lay an assortment of structures whose purpose is unknown. It was in this area that James V added another element to the grand design of his predecessor with the building of his new palace.

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3

THE MID-16TH CENTURY PALACE: INTERIORS The building in the castle erected by James V to contain the royal lodgings has been known as the ‘palace’ from the 16th century; an account of 1558 refers to the ‘Palece in the Castell of Sterweleng’ (MW1, 294). The palace, however, was only one part of a complex of buildings placed around the inner courtyard of the castle, now known as the Upper Square, which also included the older royal lodgings and the great hall. The former royal lodgings have been identified as occupying the west side of the square, in what is now known as the King’s Old Buildings (Fawcett 1990). On the opposite side is the great hall erected by James IV. The hall does not act as an antechamber to further apartments of a more intimate nature, as is found in contemporary English palaces but there is a distinct separation of private space and public, ceremonial space. The former consists of the royal lodgings and the latter the great hall. This separation was continued with the erection of the new palace by James V. The only connection between it and the great hall is via a small doorway and bridge, built more as a private convenience for the monarch than for any recognise public access. This separation of public and private space echoes that found in late medieval French royal palaces, such as Amboise where the great hall was on the north side of the courtyard and the king’s lodgings on the south (Whiteley 1994, 56; Whiteley 1996).

The palace at Stirling consists of a double suite of lodgings laid out around a small courtyard, the Lion’s Den. The courtyard plan has a long ancestry, with origins both in the cloister and in the generally looser grouping of buildings in castles. The 16th century saw the further development of a fashion for a compact arrangement of rooms around a small courtyard, with services around a larger, adjacent court. The palace of Linlithgow had been expanded in the 15th century as a tall quadrilateral building around a regular courtyard with a great hall on one side and stacked lodgings for the king and queen on the other. The main piazza of the palace of Holyrood was also laid out around a regular courtyard.

The fashion is seen in England with the development of the courtyard house. The palace of Henry VIII at Nonsuch, begun in 1538, has a compact, regular plan echoing this new sense of order (Howard 1987, 68). The courtyard plan with a perfectly symmetrical layout is seen in the publications of Jacques Androuet du Cereau who rendered in a French manner the ideas advocated by Serlio. The latter’s Livre d’Architecture of 1559 presented details of a wide range of symmetrical buildings based on square or rectangular plans (Thomson 1984, 1827). 44

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The layout of Stirling, however, is unusual in that the main façade of the rooms face outward and the courtyard of the Lion’s Den is not the heart of the building but appears to act as a large light well. There is some uncertainty in this as the exact role of the doorway leading from the gallery (P:02) into the Lion’s Den is unknown. It is not known if this acted in any way as a major entrance into the palace and if the Lion’s Den was conceived as a public space or rather a form of privy garden or yard overlooked by the king’s most private rooms, the closets of the bedchamber. The lack of ornamentation on the façade and the plain treatment of the windows suggest that this was not a place of display, that it functioned less as a courtyard, but rather as a large light well around necessitated by the plan of the palace.

The royal chambers at Stirling occupy the principal floor of the palace of James V. This arrangement reflects a change in fashion of palace design that took place in the 1530s and is discernable in France and England as well as Scotland. During the early part of the 16th century there was a tendency to build stacked lodgings in which the queen’s apartments were placed either above or below those of the king. These were often placed in a great tower or donjon slightly apart from the main residence, its size and detachment emphasising its lordly role. This stacked layout of royal apartments had been chosen by James V in the great tower of Holyrood palace, begun in 1528, where the Queen’s apartments are above those of the king and linked by a private stair (Dunbar 1999, 63). The royal lodgings at Linlithgow were also stacked, the queen’s apartments being situated in the west range above those of the king (Dunbar 1999, 137-8).

In c.1538 James V chose a different arrangement at Stirling where both royal apartments occupied the principal floor. They are, however, placed in a structure that is discrete from the other buildings of the castle and as such conveys the presence of the monarchy to the exterior viewer. Whilst benefiting from the horizontal layout, the bulk of the building also conveys the message of power expressed by the towers of stacked lodgings.

This horizontal layout had been chosen by Henry VIII in his reorganisation of Hampton Court after 1533, the queen’s lodgings mirroring those of the king on either side of a courtyard (Thurley 1993, 52). In France, a similar layout was chosen at Fontainebleau in the 1530s, breaking earlier tradition in that country (Chatenet 1988, 25). The symmetry of the royal apartments has long been recognised, planned to provide parallel sets of increasingly private 45

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rooms for both the king and the queen, with the bedrooms adjacent and combining a fashionable geometry of layout with domestic convenience (RCAHMS 1963). A similar layout is found at Henry VIII’s palace at Waltham (Colvin et al 1982, 14) and at Nonesuch, begun in 1538 and thus contemporary with Stirling (Thurley 1993, 63). The position of the king’s apartments at Stirling are closer to the ceremonial core of the place, the great hall and the chapel is perhaps indicative of his greater status (Richardson 2003, 147). This gender imbalance could be seen as being reversed in the aspect of the respective apartments as the king’s apartments look inwards to the palace courtyards, while the queen’s apartments look outwards across the castle wall to the town and countryside. This apparent better aspect of the queen’s apartments is in contrast to that found in English palaces, such as Nonsuch (Richardson 2003, 148). It may have arisen not from a desire to favour the queen, but from James V’s heightened sense of insecurity which may have led him to avoid outward facing windows.

THE NAMES OF THE ROOMS The names applied to the principal rooms in the palace reflected a protocol of court behaviour that was similar to other European courts. There was a standard of ceremony, manners and display that was deemed worthy of the Renaissance prince. Deviations from the norm or failures to conform to an expected standard would be noted by critical visitors such as ambassadors, who would report to their masters. But, like all human institutions, the pattern of life changed with time. Its inhabitants changed, as did the fashions in European court protocol that influenced its use. This is reflected in the changing names given to the principal chambers of the palace. Works recorded in 1558 refer to the Queen’s Hall, The Queen’s Outer Chamber and the Queen’s Chamber. An inventory of 1581x83 (NAS E37/2) mentions the king’s outer chamber and his inner chamber. Both had a dais and the latter, the inner chamber contained a bed: presumably the bedchamber. This inventory also mentions the king’s cabinet and the king’s garderobe. These terms are often interchangeable, but in this case it would seem to specify two separate rooms. It also lists the Dukes Inner Hall. The Duke was Esmé Stuart, a great favourite of the king. He was created Duke of Lennox in 1581. Given the absence of a queen at this date, it is possible that he occupied the southern apartments of the principal floor.

By the early 17th century the names applied to the rooms had changed, although usage was still flexible. There are references in this period to glass repairs to the windows in ‘His Majesties hall, ‘His Majesties chamber of presence’ and ‘His Majesties Bed Chamber’ (MW1, 349). The 46

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account of 1629 from Valentine Jenkin details the individual rooms on the principal floor MW2, 255-57). These included the king’s bedchamber, the king’s great chamber and the guard hall. Elsewhere in the same account, when describing the location of rooms above the guard hall, it is termed the king’s hall. By 1670 the use of the terms guard hall, presence (chamber) and bed chamber seem to have become firmly established. It is these names that were used to describe the rooms on the plan of the palace by Dury in 1708 (NLS MS 1646 Z02/16a).

The elaboration of court protocol varied from country to country, influencing the elaboration of building. Little is known of the degree of formality at the Scottish court at this period. The English court under Henry VIII and Elizabeth was renowned for the degree of ceremonial that controlled access to the monarch. The French court of the mid-16th century, in contrast, allowed greater freedom of access to the monarch. The ceremonial of the French court was reformed under Henri III in the 1570s introducing a new formality further restricted access to the royal presence, a ceremonial that was reinforced by the constant presence of the king’s Scottish Guard (Chatenet 2002, 135-141). Some indication of the protocol may be obtained, however from anecdotal evidence. In 1564 Melville of Halhill, a Scottish envoy at the English court, entered a room unannounced after hearing the sound of virginals only to discover that the player was Elizabeth herself. Making an excuse, he claimed he was brought up at the French court where an intrusion on the royal presence could be taken as ‘homely’ and thus acceptable (Thomson 1827, 124). The formality of the occasion could vary. It is recorded, for instance, that in 1550 when the young Lord Elphinstone symbolically resigned his lands of Corgarff and Skellater into the Governor Arran’s hands before having them re-granted to him, he did so on bended knee in the Queen’s chamber at Stirling (Renwick 1887, 269).

The comparative informality of the court etiquette as practised by James VI received many comments from English courtiers when the king moved to Whitehall for it greatly contrasted with the protocol expected by previous English monarchs. It was remarked that while ‘no king, I am sure, in Christendom, did observe such state and carried such distance from the subjects as the kings and queens of England did’ ‘there was no such state observed in Scotland’ (Stevenson 1992, 133). Sir Henry Wooton noted in 1601 that ‘anyone may enter the king’s Presence while he is at dinner, and as he eats he converses with those about him’ (Cuddy 1987, 180; Stevenson 1992, 133). After his move south, James stressed the door of the bedchamber as the key privacy filter, creating the Bedchamber as a separate department within the

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administrative structure of the royal household, an indication of protocol north of the border (Cuddy 1987).

Plan by Dury c.1708 (NLS MS1646 Z02/17).

THE ROOMS The basic requirements in the palace were two sets of three rooms of an acceptable size. The architect then appears to have wished to place these symmetrically on each side of a courtyard, the Lion’s Den. A superficial appearance of symmetry has been achieved, but the reality was that the architect had a site that was too small. Ideally both bedchambers would have been sited in the east range, possibly with a small chamber between them. But the rooms fit awkwardly into the space. The King’s apartments on the north appear to have been restricted at the west by an existing building so that the King’s Bedchamber is pushed into the centre of the east side of the palace. The Queens’ chambers were not restricted to the same extent to the west, so could extend in a linear manner along the south side. The chambers had to be adjusted in this manner because a certain size and proportion was expected.

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Each royal suite consisted of three main rooms that are called different names over time. These diminished in size as one proceeded from the outer chamber to the more intimate bedchamber. Likewise, the sizes of the fireplaces diminish in proportion to the size of the rooms.

The length of both guard halls is 14.8m. This was not a size tailored to meet the requirements of the site but appears to have been an almost universally accepted size for a room with this function. Dunbar (1984, 20) has pointed out the similarities between the overall layout of the Royal apartments at Stirling and the earlier layout at Linlithgow palace. The outer chamber at Linlithgow measures 15.25m in length, similar to that of Stirling. The outer chamber at Holyrood, judging from Milne’s plan of 1663, was approximately the same size.

The relative sizes of the different principal rooms of the palace would seem to conform to some formula but, without any original documentation as a guide, it is difficult to know what the architect considered significant points on the plan when considering desired proportions. Was the internal length of a room the important measurement or was the thickness of walls taken into account. However, they are some patterns in the layout that may have been significant. For example, both presence chambers are about three-quarters the length of the outer chambers. The Kings Presence Chamber is 11.3m in length, or 76% of the length of the outer chamber. The Queen’s Presence chamber, with a length 11.8m is 79.7% that of the Queen’s outer chamber. The size of the fireplaces is identical on each side of the palace, although their decoration differs. Their size is in proportion to the room in which they are positioned and, as with the rooms, they diminish in size as their importance increases along the ‘axis of honour’ in an approximate 7:6:5 ratios.

Another geometric sequence is apparent in the relationship of the main rooms of the royal suite. The two bedchambers, whilst they differ in length and width, have the same diagonal dimension. A relationship can be seen between diagonals and lengths of the other rooms of the royal apartments. The bedchambers are of different dimensions in their lengths and breadths but the diagonals are the same, at 10.7m. The diagonal measurement of the bedchamber (P:04 and P:07) is very close to that of the length of the Queen’s Presence Chamber (P:09), at 10.9m. This may have been intended in theory with the King’s Presence chamber although it is unclear because of the irregularity in its dimensions. The same equation does not apply to the relationship of the Presence Chambers and the Guard Chambers.

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THE PRINCIPAL CHAMBERS The layout of the rooms within the palace was dictated by the court protocol of the 16th century. 16th century government consisted of the monarch and his household. An individual’s power at court depended on degree of access to the monarch; this was regulated by the layout of the chambers within the palace that was designed to filter access to the royal presence. A favoured visitor could progress from the most public antechamber, past guarded doors, through to the most intimate room, the royal bedchamber and closet. The concept was not new; in the 14th century the papal court at Avignon had been likened by the Florentine writer, Francesco da Barberino, to a pyramidal structure with gatekeepers at each level stopping physical access upwards but allowing a flow of petitions (Welch 1995, 209). A tip to a doorkeeper helped to hasten access. In 1575, the Countess of Moray recorded a payment in her household book (HMC 1877, 658):

Item, to the porters of my Lord Regent’s utter hall dure and Inner Chalmer, to get Enteres in tyme, 13s 4d.

The physical architecture enhanced the status of the monarch by enabling this separation of the royal presence from the unprivileged. The Florentine architect Antonio Averlino (known as Filarete), writing on this subject in his treatise Trattato de architettura in c.1461-5, compared the position of a ruler with that of a fortress, visible to all yet accessible only to a few. This exclusion of the many was seen as essential in maintaining the aura of power. If intimacy with the ruler was to be regarded as a much sought after commodity, his presence was to be carefully guarded.

The lord is always accompanied by those appointed by those appointed to the task of not letting every person come near him [in order to maintain] the dignity and reputation of his command. If every person did go to him wherever he might be, he would not be valued highly (Welch 1995, 205 quoting Spencer 1965, 20).

THE ENTRANCE The principal access to the palace is from the Inner Close through a doorway, 2.3m high and 2.1m wide, with massive roll moulding of a similar size to that of the window opening. A 50

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single massive door closes this entrance, its exterior undecorated apart from iron studs with raised heads. It has been dated by dendrochronological analysis to the first half of the 16th century and is likely to be contemporary with the construction of the palace. This huge door contrasts with the elaborate decorative surfaces of the palace facades and gives an impression of strength and security emphasising the role of the castle as stronghold as well as being a palatial residence. The door is of plank and batten construction the plank on its outer edge joined to the battens with three dovetail joints. This form of construction is found on the other surviving early doors in the palace and also on doors in James V’s tower at Holyrood Palace. The door originally was secured with a draw bar; the deep barhole survives on the E side of the door. Repairs/ alterations to the ironwork of this door are recorded in 1558 when one hundred nails were supplied and a ‘crampat’ (cramp-iron) was provided (MW1, 294) – one now protects inner edge of the barhole from wear. The exterior of this part of the façade has been much altered, most obviously by the addition in the 18th century of a small porch and adjacent stair of a domestic rather than palatial scale.

On the exterior, to the east of the doorway is a prominent tusking positioned central to a recessed bay with multi-cusped arch, which elsewhere on the façade hold statues on balusters. This is clear evidence of a structure extending to the north, but its original form is far from clear. It would not seem to be an earlier version of the triumphal arch frontispiece of the Chapel Royal. There is no evidence for a similar raggle on the western side of the doorway. The walling of the corner of the north-west corner of the palace, visible as the south wall of P:15, is ashlar. The RCAHMS (1963, 197) suggests that the northern continuation of the wall may be identified with a wall extending south from the south-west corner of the Chapel Royal. It is shown on Dury’s plan of c.1708 (NLS MS 1646 Z.02/16b). Possibly surviving as a terrace wall, it is shown as similar to that flanking the ramp at the south-east corner of the square. The wall also may relate to the pre-Chapel Royal walling known from early 20th century work. Recent excavations in that area uncovered two phases of walling extending south near the south-west corner of the present Chapel Royal. The wall may be the west wall of a gallery or loggia linking the palace of James V with other parts of the complex.

The crenellations over the doorway show signs of alteration. Irregularities in the ashlar above the raggle, together with a patch of course rubble, may indicate the original position of another small figure surmounted on a column, as above the other sculpture bays of the façade. The

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lines of the ashlar coursing, however, do not continue westwards of this break so the stonework there may be secondary.

The doorway is at present off-centre to the room. Inside, the doorway to the King’s Guard Hall (P:02) is recessed into the east wall of the north end of the gallery, the present P:01. This east wall appears to be of two builds, the western half secondary and forward of the earlier west gable of the King’s Guard Hall (P:02). It is maybe contemporary with the rebuild of the west wall of the Lion’s Den in the late 16th century.

THE WEST GALLERY The first public chamber is the west gallery. Access to this was controlled in order to filter out undesirables. An undated instruction signed by James V ordered that none of the officers, gentlemen or others about the court were to bring in any ‘lads or vile boys within our place’ or to hold them in their office houses [work places] on pain of loss of their office and that ‘our portars to hals all sic personis away without ony exceptioun’ (NAS E34/46). A list of the king’s household in 1582 included a master porter and his three aides whose role was ‘to see that no beggars or vagabonds are permitted to enter’ (NAS E34/36). Entering from the courtyard, one passes through a door designed to impress by its 2m width. This chamber can be entered also by a central door on the east wall, probably approached by a stair from the Lion’s Den, but it is thought that this is a later adaptation. The principal rooms are situated on the first floor of the palace, thus adding the prestige of the piano nobile but, because of the slope, they can be entered from ground level from the upper court on the north side of the palace. A similar utilisation of the natural slope was used by James IV when erecting the great hall at Stirling and also its counterpart at Edinburgh. The west gallery would serve as a waiting room for the King’s and Queen’s halls. Its transitory nature would be emphasised by the lack of a fireplace, the present one being a later insert.

The west gallery is a long narrow space, originally 10.5m in length but now divided by the insertion of a later partition wall. This gallery acted as an intermediate space linking the entrances of the two sets of royal apartments. Today it lies on the extreme west of the palace but originally it allowed access to other chambers further west, through now-blocked doorways into the now demolished west quarter. It was situated therefore more centrally in the palace complex than it appears today. It is likely to have served as a processional route and a 52

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place of assembly before entry into the royal apartments. This use of a central space as a foyer is unusual in 16th century palace planning, the norm being a strict linear progression from one room to another. A centrally-placed vestibule with gallery above is found at the chateau of Chenonceau (completed by 1523), an unusual arrangement that Babelon (2002, 48) considers has been influenced by the plans of Venetian palaces. The same concept may be found later in the great cross-shaped spaces in Chambord that act as salle des guardes for all the apartments on a floor. The centrality, however, may be merely the result of the conjoining of the new palace apartments with the earlier, now demolished, buildings to the west.

The direction of progress through the palace towards the inner chambers is emphasised by the decorative treatment of the door surrounds. The principal doorways have roll mouldings on their outer face and chamfers on the inner. Those leading to the bedchambers consist of a passage approximately 1.8m in length through the width of the wall. These form a short buffer zone between the outer chambers and the more private inner/bedchambers. Additional intermediate space may have been provided by a timber porch. No structural evidence has survived for such a porch at Stirling but the existence of one in the Presence chamber at Linlithgow was indicated by the paving pattern before the doorway leading to the bedchamber (Kerr 1881, 194). Such buffer zones, areas that Whiteley (1996, 74-5) terms ‘semi-private space’ are found in the palaces of late medieval France. A similar corridor survives between the King’s bedchamber and the King’s Closet. The closet-and-gallery plan used in the palaces of Henry VIII serves a similar purpose as well as providing space for private devotion (Thurley 1993, 126).

The form of flooring of the principal floor in the 16th century is uncertain as investigation was prevented by the discovery of asbestos, which required the underfloors to be sealed. During the remote recording carried out as this operation proceeded, broken paving was noted in the King’s Hall, but further investigation was impossible. Such paving would have been laid on the core of the vaults and earlier wall heads but this would not necessarily have been the case. At James V’s tower at Holyrood, for example, floor boards were laid over the vaults.

The gallery gave access to the apartments of the King, on the north side of the palace, and to those of the queen, on the south.

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THE KING’S APARTMENTS THE KING’S HALL The King’s Hall was the outermost of the three rooms that constituted the principal chambers of the royal suite. It was the largest, most public of this ‘axis of honour’. It is 14.8m long and has a width of 7m, a ratio of 2:1. The original main doors of both the King’s Hall and the Queen’s Hall are situated at the ends of a long wall on the left of a person entering the chamber, with the entrance to the Presence chambers on the same side and the fireplace near the end of the opposite long wall. The access route through the room, therefore, follows the side wall. It gave a direct processional route, allowing those in the chamber to watch the progression of the king through this more public space. This contrasts with the arrangement in the Outer Chamber/Presence Chambers discussed below, where the access to the next chamber in both cases passes diagonally across the room.

Both the King’s Hall and the Queen’s Hall are lit by windows on at least two walls of the chamber, providing a generous lighting that emphasises the grandeur of the setting. This generous provision of light was not merely utilitarian for at a time when glass was an expensive commodity; large windows were a statement of status. This is seen in the great hall where large oriel windows light the high table. The placement of the outer windows is dictated by the rhythm of the outer exterior facade of the palace. The windows on the courtyard side of the chambers are not placed according to any symmetry of the facade but they are placed to emphasis particular features associated with the court as a theatrical display of the royal presence. The generous allocation of windows means that there is little remaining blank wall. In the King’s Hall (P:02), only east and west walls have large areas of walling un-pierced by openings. These are lit by windows placed hard against the east and west walls of the chamber. While this arrangement may have been necessitated by the design of the facade rather than any deliberate intention on the part of the architect, it has the effect of lighting the whole room, including the corners, and adding to the general spacious feel of the whole. The arrangement of windows also provides a dramatic side lighting that would emphasis any fittings on the end walls.

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The deep splays of the windows, whilst primarily designed to maximise the light within the room, also acted as places where more intimate conversations could be carried out, away from the main floor of the room.

The fireplaces of these Halls are the largest of those in the palace, their sizes echoing the size of the room. The fireplaces of both the King’s and the Queen’s Halls are placed on inner side wall at the east end of the room. Their rich ornamentation thus emphasises the royal end of the room but they do not act as the main focal points. Like the other fireplaces of the principal floor, these fireplaces originally had a horizontal band of moulding along the top of the lintel, now removed. The capitals here have a full-bodied roundness in their execution of the figures that typifies all the treatment of all the 16th century fireplaces in the palace. It is a style that is also found on the contemporary fireplace in the King’s Presence Chamber at Linlithgow Palace. The reveals of the capitals on the fireplace in the King’s hall each have a boldly carved crouching animal, possibly a deer, whose neck terminates, on the front, as a down-facing human head with wings. The intended symbolism is unclear. The capital rests on an engaged circular shaft and octagonal base.

Capital of the fireplace in the Queen’s hall

The flue of the fireplace rises at an angle to meet the chimney stack, which is positioned a little to its west in order to appear central in the north elevation of the Lion’s Den, another indication of the desire for symmetry in the construction of the palace.

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There is an aumbry low on the west wall of this chamber. Its present position is near floor level, but as the floor level has been raised with the introduction wooden floors, then this aumbry would be at a more usable level if still low. Its function is uncertain. Its position near the entrance at the ‘lesser’ end of the room does not suggest a role of great significance in state ceremonial or display. There are no fittings for a door, so if the purpose was storage, it was not for anything of great value. Similar cupboards occur in the palace in the King’s Outer Chamber (P:03) the King’s Inner Chamber/ Bedchamber (P:04) and in the Queen’s Hall. They do not occur in the Queen’s inner chambers (P:07 and P:11). Their purpose, therefore, must be gender related. Given this gender divide, and that the rooms in question would be occupied by male courtiers a large part of whose life was occupied by the twin activities of waiting and drinking, it is suggested that these spaces were intended for the storage of portable urinals. In all except one case, a position near the door would facilitate their removal by servants. The exception is the King’s Outer Chamber (P:03) where the cupboard is in the south wall adjacent to the fireplace. Here the usual choice was not possibly because the walls adjacent to the entrance to the room were either too narrow, as with the west wall, or occupied by windows. Aumbries in a similar position are found in the royal apartments in Edinburgh Castle, the base of one in the Ante room being only 0.3m above the present floor level. Urinals are a common find in late medieval pottery assemblages. Their use is recorded in a palace context at the sophisticated court of Urbino where ordinances state that the lord was to be provided at night with two glass urinals (Ermini 1932, 21).

There is no evidence , either structural or documentary, for the ceiling decoration of the King’s hall. Oak beams span the 7m width. These are mostly of single boxed baulks, but some are built-up beams consisting of two narrower beams secured together with three wooden dowels. Dendrochronological analysis of this ceiling and that of the adjacent King’s Outer Chamber (P:03) showed that the majority of the timbers had been felled late in 1538 or early in 1539. The double beams also dated from this building campaign.

THE KING’S OUTER / PRESENCE CHAMBERS The King’s Outer Chamber is shorter than the King’s hall, being 11.3 long and 7m wide, a ratio of 5:3. The chamber is entered by a door in its north-west corner, the door to the Inner Chamber/ Bedchamber being diagonally opposite. Any person passing across the room would have to pass either before the monarch or, in his/her absence, the cloth of state, symbol of the 56

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royal presence. The latter is listed in an inventory of 1581x3 which gives the contents of the King’s Outer (Presence) Chamber as five pieces of tapestry and a ‘daa’ [dais] of red silk ‘frenzeit w[ith] red and yellow (NAS E37/2). This access route contrasts with that through the King’s hall, discussed above. A similar arrangement of doors can be found in some English royal palaces, for example in the presence chamber of the unexecuted design for Waltham-inthe-Forest (Thurley 1993, 125). The same arrangement is found in France at the royal chateaux of Saint-Germaine-en-Laye, remodelled by Francis I (Chatenet 2002, 147).

The door from the King’s Hall is of early 16th century date and is likely to be contemporary with the building of the palace. Although it is positioned hard against 6the exterior wall of the wall, the door when fully open fits into a recess (P:03.1.026) in this latter wall, allowing a clear passage the full width of the doorway into the next chamber, an arrangement that facilitates graceful procession between the rooms. A similar recess is present in the same position at the entrance to the King’s presence chamber in Linlithgow Palace.

The door is of plank and batten construction the plank on its outer edge joined to the battens with three dovetail joints, as on the other 16th century doors surviving in the palace. The door furniture may be of late 17th century date.

Both the fireplaces of the King’s and Queen’s Outer/ Presence Chambers have columns on their jambs with simple bases consisting of roll tops above ogee curves set on block plinths. The earlier floor level was lower, which would make the ornamental elements of the fireplace slightly higher than at present. The original proportions of the fireplace would have the effect of making the whole appear less squat.

Like the King’s Hall, the Outer Chamber is generously provided with windows. The King’s Outer Chamber has only one window on its southern wall, the provision being limited because of the chamber’s juxtaposition with the bedchamber. This window is placed immediately against the west wall of the chamber, not having a splay on that side. Like the King’s outer chamber, this provides dramatic side lighting to that wall and its former fittings.

Access to the royal presence in the bedchamber was a tightly controlled privilege; again the architecture was designed to emphasis the unique position of the king in the social hierarchy of the kingdom. Chancellor Maitland advised James VI ‘not to be over famylier nor of easy acces’ 57

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(Brown 1986, 120) but, in practice, the opposite seems to have been the case. Access through to the bedchamber was controlled by the king’s ushers, but at times the clamour of persons in the presence chamber eager to solicit the kings help could get out of hand. Alexander Stewart was denounced in 1600 for assaulting one of the ushers and ‘halding him at his Majesties chalmer dur at tyme quhen his Hienes desyrit to be quyet’ (RPC 4, 186; Brown 1986, 120-21). He wrote an apology to the king, after two years, explaining how

I beying at your at you Majesteis dur, the preis of the pepill thrust me haiff in, and the said Mr Alexander put bak the dur in my faice and hurt me, and I thocht he had done it upoun some evill will, albeit I dorst nocht declair the samin to your Majestie for feir of my lyff (RPC 4, 862).

Given the weight of the existing doors, they would easily cause hurt to anyone in whose face they were slammed.

There is evidence that the windows of the palace in the 16th century had glass fixed to the stone in their upper parts; grooves surviving in the reveals of the upper windows indicate how the glass was fitted directly into the stonework. The windows also carry the scar of a vertical iron fitting in the centre of the soffit, probably the seating for a vertical fitting, either an iron strengthening of the glass or for a wooden mullion. The lower part of the window was likely to be hinged or at least moveable in some way. The accounts for 1558 give some indication that the lower part consisted of glass set within a wooden casement. A ‘band’ was made for the window of the Queen’s mid-chamber (MW1, 294) and a payment was made for tacks to nail the cames to the case of the window. The contemporary account for the woodwork of the windows includes the making of ‘tua wendocht brodis and the meid standar of the kait [two window boards/ shutters and the mid-standard of the case indicating a central wooden mullion (MW1, 295). This form of casement continued to be used into the later seventeenth century.

Inventories of 1581x 1583 show that the walls of the chambers on the principal floor were hung with tapestry. These may have been suspended from iron nails, examples of which survive ain the great hall at Linlithgow Palace. A single nail at c.4m above floor level, between the north windows.

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A doorway leads from the King’s Presence chamber to the Great Hall. Its construction is unlike that of the other doorways in the palace, for it has an ashlar soffit similar to the windows of the principal chambers. The possibility that the doorway may be secondary is strengthened by a report that at about the time of the baptism of James, Queen Mary 'causit begin to mak a passage beuix hir chalmer in the New Work or Palace, within the Castell of Streuiling and the Great Hall thairof, thinking to have access at all tymes by that meane to Boithuile, quhome purpoislie she causit by ludgit at the north end of the said Greit Hall'.

There is documentary evidence suggesting that the ceiling of the King’s Outer Chamber was decorated with the remarkable wooden roundels known as the Stirling Heads. These, based on classical medallions, are a type of motif very common in early Renaissance architecture. Italian in inspiration, they were used in France from the early 16th century. In a Scottish context, stone medallions with heads in garlands were used on the façades of the courtyard at Falkland Palace from, constructed from 1538. The 38 surviving heads from Stirling are evidence of the richness of decoration that once existed in the principal chambers of the place. Two more are known to have existed, and are drawn by Grahame (1817) but were destroyed in a fire at Dunstaffnage House in 1940. The heads are constructed of radially-split boards, the majority of which have four components, three boards butt-jointed together to create the width of the plaque, and a fourth board which has been stuck to the central board to create the depth of relief for the carved faces. They are constructed of Polish oak, either from the south and east of the country or from the area of the Baltic coast near Gdansk, a source of fine, straight-grained timber which was particularly prized for boards which were going to be painted or carved. Dendrochronological dating shows them to be of a date compatible with the construction of the palace in c.1539.

The surviving support for the ceiling of the King’s Outer Chamber consists of oak beams, some of which are doubled. Whilst both ends of the beams are set into the walling, the sockets at the south ends are based on large pad stones. The underside of the beams has been used to support later ceilings, lathes being applied directly to their lower face. Thus, although early nails and nail holes survive, any meaningful pattern of nails has been obscured by generations of later nailing.

As no 16th century records survive that describe the interiors, we are reliant on the accounts of later writers. These are often frustratingly vague in their descriptions. John Taylor, writing in 59

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1618, comments that ‘the rooms of it are lofty, with carved workes on the seelings’ (Hume Brown 1891, 118), while John Ray, in 1662, remarked on the ‘many very stately rooms, both for lodging and entertainment, in many of them very good carved woodwork on the roofs’ (Hume Brown 1891, 236). John Mackay gives a fuller description in his A Journey through Scotland (1723):

In this palace there is one apartment of six rooms of state, the noblest I ever saw in Europe, both for height, length and breadth, and for the fineness of the carved work in wainscot and on the ceiling, there’s no apartment in Windsor or Hampton-Court that comes near it.. And in the roof of the Presence Chamber are carved heads of the Kings and Queens of Scotland.

A fuller account was published by Loveday (1890, 124) who, after visiting the palace in 1732, states that ‘the apartments are large and handsome, roofed – most of ‘em – with Irish oak in large square panels; two of these ceilings further set-off with well carved busts ( in Irish oak, too) of the Kings and Queens of Scotland, as I suppose. The garrison lodge in two of these rooms.’ Of those that saw the decoration in situ, only Mackay refers to them as actually being on the ceiling of the Presence Chamber. By 1788, the ceiling of the Presence Chamber had fallen into a state of disrepair and some of the medallion heads had fallen, so it was decided to dismantle it. In 1817, Jane Grahame, wife of the deputy governor of the castle and sister to the novelist, Susan Ferrier, illustrated and published the surviving heads in the volume Lacunar Strevelinensis (Grahame 1817). These are a remarkably accurate rendering of the sculpture, despite concessions to contemporary female sensibilities in the rendering naked figures such as putti. The volume included a reconstruction drawing of the heads in situ in the King’s Presence Chamber, by Edward Blore. The ceiling(s) were dismantled only some three decades before the publication of the heads so it is probable that Grahame would have had ample opportunity to draw on local knowledge. Unfortunately the reconstruction is unsupported by evidence, so Mackay (1723) remains the only source for the heads being on the ceiling of the Presence Chamber.

The surviving ceiling consists of oak beams, approximately 1.2m apart. These are 300mm wide but some consist of narrower double beams placed side by side. Their northern ends are set within the vertical wall but their southern ends are set into a rebate, the wall above narrowing at the upper floor level. The latter ends rest on large blocks.

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THE KING’S INNER CHAMBER / BEDCHAMBER Entry from the King’s Outer Chamber to the Inner/ Bedchamber is through a doorway in what is in practice a short corridor, 0.8m in length. The doorway is positioned so as not to allow a view from the Outer Chamber to the more private space of the Inner Chamber/ bedchamber. Whiteley (1996, 74) has noted a similar use of such a buffer zone before the bedchambers in royal and princely residences in late medieval France.

Both the bedchambers face east, a desirable aspect according Vitruvius who thought that they should benefit from the morning light (Book VI, chapter 4). This was echoed by the French writer, Corrozet describes an ideal house with that aspect in order to enjoy the sunrise (Thomson 1984, 11). What the King’s bedchamber at Stirling lacks is any privacy of aspect. There is no view over the garden. The reverse is true; the visitor to the castle, on passing through the gatehouse, is confronted with the façade of the bedchambers.

A working drawing of the west elevation of the King’s bedchamber (P:04) showing the disposition of doorways to the closet.

The fireplace is set in the west wall of the chamber. Each capital is decorated with a lion’s head flanked with foliage and with a human head on the side. They are supported on pilasters decorated with a long-stemmed thistle motif. There were possible traces of an early decorative scheme in the form of red and yellow paint surviving under a relatively recent grey paint.

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The arrangement of the King’s Inner Chamber/ bedchamber appears to have a symmetrical formality, but this impression is false. The present entrance to the closet on the south (left) side of the fireplace is thought to be a later insertion, giving access to the early 17th century Privy stair. It would be possible, before the insertion of this doorway, to place the bed next to the fireplace, suitably following the French pattern. The furnishings of this room were enriched with fine textiles. Inventories of the early 1580s show that the focal point was a state bed hung with crimson velvet and damask and fringed with crimson silk and gold thread (‘ane bed of reid cramoise velvot pasmentit w[ith] gold w[ith] courting of red dames pasmentit w[ith] the same’). On the walls, there was a cloth of estate made of cloth of gold and seven pieces of tapestry. Other furniture consisted of chairs, a coffer, and a table covered with a turkey carpet and another ‘litill burde’ (NAS E37/2; HMC Elphinstone Papers).

The ceiling of the King’s Inner Chamber differs in its construction from all the other ceilings in the palace. It consists of five beams of native oak, 2.28m apart, diagonally set to rest on their arris. Three lines of short joists, each line about 1.15m apart, span the gap between the beams; their ends rest on the upper faces of the beams to which they secured by nails. The upper arris of the principal beams is chamfered to create a horizontal surface, 40-60mm wide that lies flush with the upper face of the joists. A sequence of small nails, mostly broken off, run along the top, narrow facet of those beams may relate to the attachment of a plank floor directly on top of those beams. Most of the original under-surface of the beams had been cut back at a later date, but on one there was a thin sliver of wood was nailed to its north side, along the top edge of the lower facet. It is possible, therefore, that the beams had boards nailed to their lower facets.

Six diagonal struts stretch between the joists at an angle of about 32˚ to the beams, to which they are fastened by nails. Other nails show the existence of more such braces. The struts begin, not at the intersection of the principal beams and the joists, but some 0.3 along the face of the latter, a practical arrangement that gives space in which to nail the struts in place. It would have been impossible to nail the struts in place if they had extended into the corners, and the same applies if they had been set at right angles to the joists. These struts are of reused timber with redundant mortice holes, and pegs, the angles of the former joints indicating that they originated from walls, not a roof. It is considered that the purpose of the struts is constructional rather than decorative, providing rigidity to the whole ceiling during construction.

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The timber appears to have had a coating of limewash, perhaps applied as a preservative.

Detail of a beam of the King’s Bedchamber. Note that the underside surface has been cut back, apart from near the wall face.

Dendrochronological analysis shown that the main beams were felled in 1500/01 or thereabouts (Crone & Fawcett 1998, 79). Further sampling of the secondary timbers has shown that they also were felled at this time. The ceiling included a mixture of native and imported timber, possibly indicating that it was reused from more than one structure.

Detail of ceiling timbers showing diagonal strut.

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THE KING’S CLOSET Even the Inner Chamber was semi-private space for the king. Only the closet could provide private space, outside the public life of the rest of the palace. In the closet he could escape from playing role in the pageant of court life and be alone: to read private papers without hindrance, or merely to think, to eat or to sleep. It could be used as place for intimate conversations, and for the storage consultation and storage of important documents. .As Castiglione expressed it in The Book of the Courtier, ‘when princes are by themselves, they enjoy the liberty of saying and doing just what they please, and so they do not want to be seen or overheard by anyone in a position to criticise, and this is quite proper’ (Bull 1967, 127). Such private spaces were richly decorated, often with panelling. By the later 16th century such rooms were becoming known as cabinets (DOST) from their role in storing private papers. In 1541 William Bell was paid for a container to contain the king’s books at Stirling (Murray 1965, 44). An inventory of 1581x 1583 lists the contents of the king’s cabinet as ‘a locked coffer with books and other geir contained in the inventory of the same’ (NAS E37/2). The use of the closet/study/cabinet as a private space is illustrated in the account of English ambassador, Errington, who writing on 4 April 1580 describes how the fourteen-year old James IV received a letter from Elizabeth then took it to his cabinet where he read it once or twice ‘with good deliberation, as Mr Peter Young, his schoolmaster told him’ (CSPS 5, 388). In 1581, during the minority of James VI, an attempt was made to control petitions to the king by insisting that they should be presented in short written form, which the king would place ‘in his awin cabinet’ until the Wednesday of each week when their merits would be discussed with the relevant royal official (Brown 1986, 119). The small size of the King’s Closet is comparable with the situation in French palaces in the early 16th century before their increase in size and number by Francis I (Chatenet 2002, 184).

A doorway off west side of the King’s Inner Chamber/ Bedchamber (P:04) led to a three linked closets, their sequence now interrupted by the later privy stair. The small closet to the north (P:05) has a plank and batten door decorated with nails with raised, decorative heads. Its construction is similar to the other old doors that survive on the principal floor of the palace, all of which are of 16th date. There is a payment in 1628-9 for 100 bell-headed nails for the ‘privie dore in the kingis chalmer’ (MW2, 241). The nail heads are emphasised by scribed diagonal lines. The rear of the door on the closet has a slot in its rail, probably for the pivot of a lifting latch (cf Ayres 2003, 66 on a 17th century doorway). In the early 17th century these closets were divided by the insertion of a stair and a new ceiling of stone slabs created. Beam sockets for the 64

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earlier roof survive in both walls of the space above this stone ceiling, and in the east wall above these, there are seven stone corbels which the upper purlin of the present roof sits.

The present south door from the bedchamber to the closets has undergone many changes, including an increase in its height. Its original date is uncertain; it may have been inserted in the early 17th century when the privy stair was inserted. The northernmost closet is likely to have been for a close stool. The use of close stools gained favour in aristocratic households during the first half of the 16th century. This change can be seen in contemporary building as high status rooms were no longer provided with garderobes. James V’s tower at Holyrood, constructed 1528-32, has garderobes on its upper floor but there is no such provision is known of in the main royal apartments below which only have closets, presumably for close stools. A similar development can be traced at Falkland Palace where the galleries of the royal lodging in the east range, constructed in c1530, had shafted latrines whereas the gatehouse of c1540 has closets for close stools (Dunbar 1999, 197).

There is an apotropaic design of marigold on rear of door of P:05. Similar designs are found inscribed on a door of the garderobe at Huntly Castle and, unusually, on a chair at Pitmedden (Hesketh-Campbell 2004, 2). Although a common design, it is interpreted in this context as a ritual protection mark. The date of this symbol is unknown but it may be particularly appropriate to James VI with his interest in the supernatural and the unfortunate incident at Holyrood in 1593 when the earl of Bothwell burst in him whilst James was on his close stool (Meikle 2000, 133-134).

The closet to the south (P:06) is larger with a further, smaller chamber off to the south. This latter chamber has two ambries in its south wall. It may be identified with the king’s study listed in a glazing account of 1676 as the room where the Honours of Scotland were kept (NAS E36/37/6, page 2). The room may be that described in an inventory of 1581x3 as the king’s cabinet where there as a locked coffer containing books and other ‘geir’ (NAS E37/2). This would agree with the room being a place of security. The southern chamber in the King’s Closet is entered via a short passage which, although much altered, may have had a door at each end. Such it entry may have been comparable to the room where the Honours were kept in Edinburgh Castle where, in the late 17th century, there was an outer wooden door and an iron inner door, known from a receipt for the keys: ‘two large keys for the wainscot door, one

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lesser key of the hanging lock for the iron door within that, and two keys, for the chest in which the honours are’ (NMRS 332/F2/579).

The inner side of the doorway to the King’s Closet.

A staircase leads from the King’s Closet to the upper floor. The stair in its present form is an early 17th insertion; in the 16th century, the king’s private apartments would seem to have been confined to the principal floor. It is not known how the upper floor was used in the mid16th century. The absence of a stair from the inner chambers to the exterior and a privy is also unusual in a 16th century palace context, perhaps explained by the fortress nature of Stirling and the king’s understandable sense fear of insecurity leading to a limitation of entry points in the palace.

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Line of earlier ceiling and plaster surviving on the west gable of A:06, in the roof of the south range of the palace.

There is, however, evidence for a timber barrel-vault ceiling in the roof space above the room over the Queen’s presence chamber. The form of this roof is evident from a curved scarcement on the interior gable, the west gable of A:06. There is fine plaster surviving below this scarcement, an indication that it was the interior of a room that spanned the whole width of the upper floor although the inner section has been destroyed by the insertion of a chimney. Plaster also survives in the roof space over the King’s bedchamber (A:04), especially on its south wall. Here again the limits of the plaster indicate that the upper chamber continued up into the present roof space. The horizontal upper limit of this plaster is likely to represent the collar of a former roof.

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THE QUEEN’S APARTMENTS THE QUEEN’S HALL The size of the Queen’s Hall is very similar to the equivalent room in the king’s apartments, being 14.8m long and 7.5m wide. The present entrance from the gallery into the Queen’s Hall is at right angles to its main axis and this route was likely to have been the main route into the room in the 16th century. The present door is modern. The low northern window in the west wall of the Guard Hall is likely to have been originally a doorway giving access from the palace into the now demolished West Quarter.

The fireplace in the Queen’s Hall (P:11).

The two window recesses on the south side of the Queen’s Guard Hall add to the stately effect of the room with the rhythm of their bays but only the eastern one of the pair functions as a window and it is blocked on its lower half. The arris of one window reveal to the north is slightly out of vertical, possibly an adjustment during building to accommodate a difference between the base of the window bay and the arch of the window head, the latter assembled to a fixed template.

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The fireplace is on the southern side of the chamber. It is 3.4m wide, the same as that of the King’s Hall. Its capital has the same style of highly modelled sculpture, in this case with cherub-like heads.

There is an aumbry at floor level between the two window bays at the west end of the chamber, similar to those found in all the rooms of the king’s apartments. As with the latter, this aumbry is also thought to be for the storage of urinals.

The south exterior elevation of the Queen’s Guard Hall bears the evidence of a complex history. The two principal windows (P:11.3.033 and P:11.3.043) have scars of former metal grills but the windows have been long blocked, although one was at least partly open in 1613 when glass was repaired in a window on the south side of ‘hir Majesties hall’ (MW1, 349). There is the scar of a gable between the lower part of the two windows that extends down to cut the plinth moulding on its west side. The west window is totally blocked while the lower part of the east window is also blocked. The line of the gable crosses the corners of the two windows suggesting that the construction of the roof was contemporary with the blocking of the windows. Below the scar of this gable, but possibly not contemporary in construction, is a much-altered opening. Originally a doorway, and shown as such on early 18th century plans, this was converted into a fireplace and is depicted on plans of c.1900. The fireplace flue leads to chimney RC12, which also serves the fireplace of the floor above. This chimney is shown on 18th century drawings of the palace. The opening has since been blocked with brick. It may be the ‘wanscot doore’ at the queen’s hall’ for which 97 bell-headed nails were supplied in 1633 (MW2, 362).

This now-blocked door leads south from the Queen’s Guard Hall to closets that were formerly in the re-entrant angle of the palace and the Prince’s Tower. This may be tentatively identified with the ‘tufall of the Quenis chalmer’ which was roofed with lead in 1541 (TA vii, 47). It is shown on Dury’s plan of 1708 linking the Queen’s Guard Chamber with the Prince’s Tower. It may have served as a pages’ chamber, a usage paralleled in English palaces (Thurley 1993, 1201). It would also provide access to the stair of the Prince’s Tower and could be used for service access such as the bringing of food from the privy kitchens. The location of the latter is unknown but possibly in the eastern vaults of the palace, under the bedchambers – a traditional position in English palaces (Thurley 1993, 160-1). 18th century drawings of the

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palace, such as a pencil drawing by Paul Sandby (d. 1809), and a drawing by Grose (1790) show some form of structure built against the south wall of P:11.

Working drawing of the south elevation of Queen’s Guard (P:11 showing changes to windows and blocked doorway between the windows, later converted to a fireplace.

The accounts for the period 1558-9 record that 20 feet of old glass was used in repairs at the ‘west syd of Quenis graic hall’, the number of windows not being specified (MW1, 295). The west-facing windows of this chamber are very exposed to the elements, probably the reason why further glass repairs were necessary shortly after the first (MW1, 297).

The original door of from the Queen’s Hall/ Guard to the Outer/Presence Chamber was at the northern end of the wall between the two rooms. Its northern side was destroyed when another doorway was inserted in the 19th century. The early doorway was blocked in the early 18th century when it was replaced by a doorway positioned in the centre of the wall. The original door is shown in place on undated plans by Dury of c.1708 (NLS MS1646 Z02/16a and 16b). Another undated plan, also by Dury, shows the later door, either proposed or in place (NLS MS1646 Z02/17). Its southern jamb and the relieving arch for its lintel survive the later alterations. The surviving jamb is similar to other 16th century doorways in the palace in that it has roll moulding on its outer side and is chamfered on the inner face.

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The west wall of the Queen’s Outer/ Presence chamber showing the blocked 16th century doorway (P:09.4.020) from the Guard Hall. One side of the doorway has been destroyed during 19th century alterations.

THE QUEEN’S OUTER CHAMBER The original doors of the Queen’s Outer Chamber are at opposite corners giving a diagonal path of access through the room, like the King’s Outer Chamber. The fireplace is to one side, on the northern wall towards the eastern half. Its capitals have a carving of the Judgement of Paris, suitable iconography for the Queen.

There is a blocked door with roll-moulding in south wall (P:09.3). This is shown open on a plan by Dury of c.1708 as leading to a small intramural chamber (NLS MS 1646 Z02/16b) and on a plan similar date, also by Dury, this small chamber is shown as connecting with the Prince’s Tower (P:10). The other side is visible as in a short intramural passage accessed from the Prince’s Walk, at present sealed with cupboard-like doors. The level is lower than the present Prince’s Walk suggesting that its surface has been considerably raised.

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North elevation of the Queen’s outer chamber/ Presence chamber.

The original ceiling of this room had ten beams spanning it from north to south. The beams are all well squared oak which has been dressed using a tool such as an adze. Some of the beams have charcoal lines running centrally along their underside and there are very faint traces of similar lines running in an east-west direction. These are thought to indicative of a decorated ceiling attached to the undersides of the beams.

A capital on the fireplace in the Queen’s Outer/ Presence Chamber.

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The door from the Queen’s Outer Chamber to the Inner Chamber/ Bedchamber is of plank and batten construction similar to the other early doors surviving on the principal floor and with hinges having the same upturned terminals. There has been much alteration to the door furniture but one staple survives for the draw bar. There is a reference of 1558 to the provision of a key for the hanging lock of the door to ‘the Quenis graic chalmer’, probably this door (MW1, 294). Dendrochronological analysis showed that it had been felled sometime after 1518 and was probably contemporary with the construction of the palace.

The blocked doorway on the south side of the Queen’s Outer Chamber (P:09.3.054).

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Rear of the door to the Queen’s Inner Chamber/ Bedchamber.

THE QUEEN’S INNER CHAMBER / BEDCHAMBER The Queen’s Inner Chamber/ bedchamber does not have this formal symmetry in its arrangement. The fireplace is placed at the south end of the north wall, in contrast with the centrally placed fireplace of the King’s bedchamber. This position conforms to contemporary French practice, as described by Philibert de l’Orme in the treatise of 1567 (Chatenet 1999, 10)

The fireplaces of the halls, chambers and garderobes are made in various ways… for halls they should always be placed in the middle of the dividing wall which separates the hall from the chamber… because it is extremely ugly to see, on entering a hall, a fireplace situated near a corner. On the contrary chamber fireplaces should not be built in the middle of the wall, but should be pushed to one side to leave sufficient space to place the bed, the chair which must be at one side, and another little space for the ruelle [the space between the bed and wall].

Thus the bed was placed beside the chamber fireplace, with its head against the wall. In 1561 the queen’s life was endangered when her bed curtains caught fire (Calendar of State Papers I, 74

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555). A couchette (a smaller day bed) may have been placed in the opposite corner from the main bed (Chatenet 1999, 10). The bedside space or ruelle was regarded as a more intimate part of the room. Contemporary illustrations show that the chair that occupied part of this space was often highly decorated as befitted a high status object. Such an arrangement of a bedchamber in the French manner would have been expected by Mary of Guise.

The fireplaces of both bedchambers have a similar style of jambs, both pilasters with panels, the form derived from early Renaissance ornament. That of the king’s bedchamber is decorated with thistles of Scotland, that of the queen with the emblem of Lorraine, three eagles pierced by a single arrow. The fireplaces have large crude, pedestals, that of the Queen’s Bedchamber with a slight ogee moulding, the King’s chamfered. This use of pilaster panels would seem to be reserved for special positions. It is used on these fireplaces in the innermost of the principal rooms but also on the pedestal supporting the sculptured figures on the north-east and southeast corners of the palace facade, the former bearing the portrait of James V. The accompanying thistle was acquiring special significance as a royal symbol at this time as part of the outward projection of royal prestige (Burnett 1996, 296). The fireplace of the Queen’s bedchamber is decorated. The fireplace has traces of red and yellow paint which appears to have been applied directly to the stone with no ground layer. A pronounced diagonal line suggests a chevron decoration along the abacus of the capital.

The Queen’s Inner Chamber/ Bedchamber has a large relieving arch, at upper floor level, over the openings of its south wall and a smaller one over the doorway in the north wall. This is the solution to a problem that arose through the perceived need to create regular chambers within the confines of an irregular site that had an acute angle at its south-east corner. The maximum room area has been created by narrowing the wall thickness at the south-west corner of the bedchamber, from the 0.6m norm to 0.3m, thereby severely weakening its load bearing capacity. This problem is solved by the large arch in the south wall of the room which carries the weight of the upper wall of the palace at this weak point. Relieving arches are used in a similar way at Chambord, but this may be just a coincidental similarity of solution to a similar problem.

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Working drawing of the north elevation of the Queen’s bedchamber (P:07) showing position of fireplace. The doorway and surrounding wall is modern.

The ceiling of the Queen’s Inner Chamber/ Bedchamber consists of eleven oak boxed heart baulks spanning the room from east to west. The two southernmost beams have been cut by the insertion of a later stair. Dendrochronological analysis of the ceiling timbers has shown that four of the seven beams were contemporary with the construction of the palace, being felled in 1538/9. The remaining three were of an earlier date, although they did not display any redundant features indicative of this reuse. The beams have a charcoal line along the centre of their lower face, with the occasional cross line, interpreted as the marking out for a decorative scheme. Later a floor was inserted at a higher level, but an area of the earlier floor boards survive resting on the mid-16th century beams.

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The ceiling of the Queen’s Inner Chamber from the south.

Detail of the ceiling of the Queen’s Inner Chamber (P:07) showing charcoal lines and early floor boards.

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THE QUEEN’S CLOSET While the King’s Closets can be identified with existing structures, the equivalent closets for the Queen have long since gone. They are thought to have been to the south-east of the palace in the former gatehouse complex. A door in the south-east of the Queen’s Inner Chamber/ Bedchamber led to this area. This door was reconstructed in 1971 after the removal of a later stair which had destroyed its upper part. The lower five courses of the 16th century jambs survived and formed the basis for the reconstruction (SPARC photographs 370-1). The extent of the rooms that constituted the private area of the queen is not known but plans of c.1708 by Dury (NLS MS 1646 Zo2/16a and 17) show a room immediately to the south of the bedchamber with another three to the east before a turnpike stair was reached. One of the latter chambers was within the projection of the west D-shaped tower, the foundations of which still survive.

The first room off the bedchamber was likely to have been contemporary in construction with the palace of James V and have acted as a link between it and the older structure of the gatehouse. The crenellation of the forework is stepped higher at this point to act as a south wall of this chamber. The moulding of this wall is partly cut by the roof of the present later structure (P:08). The lower part of the southern corner of the east elevation of the palace appears to have abutted the gatehouse. There is a section of cruder stonework at the south-east corner of the palace which may be the scar of the earlier building. There is an entry in the accounts for the period 1699-1703 for ‘building up the corner of the wall betwixt the palace and the laigh palace gate’ (NAS E37/33) which may refer to this area (alternatively, it may refer instead to the northwest corner of the palace).

This area of rooms may be identified with references to the Queen’s cabinet, for which a new lock was bought in 1613 (MW1, 348). The lock was repaired and tinned in 1633 (MW 2, 365). There are references in 1672 to slating and pointing work at the Queen’s study. The number of private rooms for the Queen may have expanded by this date into the chambers of the gatehouse as there is a further reference to pointing the transe to the Queen’s study (NAS E36/34). There was at least one other floor above the Queen’s apartments in the gatehouse, for an account of 1633 refers to the repair of a door to the chamber ‘abone the queines cabinet (MW 2, 361).

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THE PRINCE’S TOWER The Prince’s Tower was part of the Forework of James IV, balancing the Elphinstone Tower to the east to form a more or less symmetrical composition with the gatehouse as a centre-piece. The accommodation in the tower consisted of a stacked suite of two rooms, linked by a turnpike stair, with a vaulted basement below. When the palace was constructed, in c.1540, the new building was linked to the existing tower by various routes. A doorway was created at the top of the turnpike stair through the north wall into the upper floor level of the palace. Other doors led to chambers in the east and west re-entrant angles of the tower and from them into the Queen’s Hall and the Queen’s Outer Chamber.

One role of the castle was to act as a safe nursery for the heir to the throne. The present name of the tower suggests it was used as this accommodation for the royal infant. It may be identified with the rooms cited in a reference to the arrival of the infant Prince James in Stirling in 1566 when a list was compiled of things needed for ‘my Loirde Prince chalmer’ and ‘my Loirde Prince uter [outer] chalmer’ (Fleming 1897, 499-500). The first floor room (M:01) of the tower may be identified with the former of these chambers. The south wall has the remains of an elaborate fireplace. This has a narrow lintel below a stone relieving arch. This lintel appears to be chamfered on its upper edge and has moulded capitals below pronounced abaci. The sides of the chimneypiece have pilasters, the decorative scheme of which is mostly hidden by the masonry of later fireplaces. To the north-east of the chamber is the ashlar-faced stair turret, accessed by a doorway that is now much altered and sealed.

The west elevation of the Prince’s Tower has a complex series of openings, many of which relate to the changing use of the re-entrant angle between it and the palace. The earliest openings appear to include the exterior door to the turnpike stair and a small window lighting it. In the floor above there is a blocked window, with chamfered surround, set in ashlar. This originally may have had central mullions. To the north of this, and cut by later openings, is a door with a shallow rebate. It is possible that this door led to the wall walk of the outer curtain wall of the forework, the position of the latter visible as an ill-defined raggle in the random rubble immediately to the north of the fine ashlar in which the visible face of the forefront was constructed.

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A building then was erected against this wall necessitating changes in both the access and fenestration of the adjacent walls of the Prince’s Tower and the Queen’s Guard Chamber. This structure was entered by doorways from two floors of the Prince’s Tower. Both are now blocked. The northern door cut an earlier window and itself has been cut by a later window. It was also reached by a chamfered doorway from the, via a short flight of steps within the palace wall. The building of a structure against the south wall of the Queen’s Guard Chamber necessitated the blocking of the windows of that room; that on the west was blocked completely and that on the east blocked on its lower half.

With the removal of this building the two doorways connecting in to the rooms of the Prince’s Tower and that leading to the Queen’s Guard Chamber, were blocked. The upper one in the Prince’s Tower was replaced by a window.

The west face of the Prince’s Tower is of rubble construction, unlike the other faces of the tower and was harled in the past. An account survives from c.1699-1703 for ‘pointing and harling the southwest side of the Trance, the Gable of the new dining room and that side of the Prince’s Tower all from tope to Bottom’ (NAS E37/33 f8r).

EAST ELEVATION / PRINCE’S WALK An example of how the ornamentation of the facades of the palace was carefully designed to only be viewed from the main approach to the castle is indicated by the south elevation of the palace. The wall head of the early 16th century forework has been reduced to allow maximum light to enter the great windows within the Queen’s Presence Chamber but is just high enough to obscure the absence of finished ashlar on the lower section of the standing masonry. This would only have been noticed at close hand from the walkway itself and was not apparent from the main route to the castle.

THE LION’S DEN The image of a lion played a prominent role in the image of kingship and Scotland was no exception, with it prominent in the royal arms. With the image of the beast being such a powerful evocation of the role of the monarch, it was natural that the presence of a real animal would add to the majesty of the court, a physical representation of the lion rampant of the royal 80

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arms. Scottish kings are recorded as having lions from as early as Robert I, in 1330 (Dunbar 1999, 208). The urge to possess such beasts in the sixteenth century was also encourages by an increasing curiousity about the marvels of nature and to display such added to the prestige of the monarch. There was a menagerie at Holyrood and a stone-built lion house was erected there in 1512 (Dunbar 1999, 209). In 1537 it was suggested that a young lion, bought in Flanders, should be presented to James V, the ‘Prince delighting in such things’ (State Papers, Scottish, I, 39). The lion arrived in 1539 (Bain 1892, I, 56). There is no reference to a lion actually at Stirling but it is probable that it accompanied the king during his visits there. The Holyrood menagerie continued to be maintained during 16th century. There is a further reference in the rules of the household compiled in 1598 stating:

That Thomas Seatoun... to tak the charge of the keeping of his Majesties Lyonis & uther bestis in respect he keipis the place and hes allowance thairof and that the puir man quha had the lyon in keeping be recompensit... (NAS E34/39)

There are no contemporary accounts indicating where the lion was housed. The interior court of the palace was known as the Lion’s Den by 1703 (NAS E37/33, f.26). This suggests that the Lion’s Den was used for the royal menagerie, at least occasionally. If so, the lion must have been housed in a temporary cage or in a chamber off the courtyard. One can further speculate that this was possibly in the windowless room in the north-east corner of the vaults that has direct exterior access to the west. But any such speculation must be tempered by echoes of Victorian romanticism; Shirra’s guide of 1853 remarks that ‘the cellars now occupied by the canteen are also said to have been possessed by the Keeper of the Lions, the windows looking into the court are still pointed out as the place from whence they fed their royal charge (Shirra 1853, 99).

Excavations within the Lion’s Den revealed the presence of a series of drains and little else. If this area was ever laid out as a parterre garden as might be expected, no trace remains. If this space was indeed used as a compound for the royal menagerie it would have created significant drainage problems due to the slope of the ground down towards the transe level and beyond.

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THE UPPER FLOOR The evidence for use of the upper floor in the mid-16th century is slim. There is a reference of 22 December 1578 to the Commissioners of the Kirk meeting in the ‘utter high chamber direct above the king’s inner hall (Calderwood 1843, iii, 433). Although the nomenclature of the rooms varies through time, the chamber referred to is lkely to be that later referred to as the King’s Presence Chamber (P:03). This would indicate a high staus use of at least the north range of the upper floor. A detailed description of this part of the palace in 1629 survives in the detailed accounts of the painter, Valentine Jenkin (MW ii, 25-7). An arrangement of chambers existed very similar to that which exists today and it can be inferred from references to the Duke of Buckingham’s chamber that at least some of these were in place for the return visit of James VI to Scotland in 1617. The present Privy stair from the King’s Closet is thought to date from that period and it would appear that in the 16th century there was no private access from these closets to the upper floor. It is not known if these rooms were all creations of the early 17th century or if some existed earlier. The present fireplaces mostly date from the later 17th century remodelling. There is no evidence for fireplaces of either of early 17th century or those of the 16th century. There has been no intrusive archaeological investigation of the upper floor and further evidence is likely to be hidden by later wall coverings.

However, there is some indication of the use of the upper floor in the mid-16th century palace from the evidence of fenestration. The gables of the present roof space have double light mullioned windows which would have provided some light for the upper floor before the insertion of the ceilings. It is probable that light was also provided by dormer windows, as are shown on the late 17th century drawings of the palace by Slezer, discreetly set back beyond the wall walk but with a view through the crenelles of the parapet. A now detached dormer pediment built into the walling of the lower terrace has a panel, surmounted with a crown, bearing the initials MR that may be identified as those of Mary of Guise or Mary, Queen of Scots (RCAHMS 1963, 195). Although the attribution is uncertain, it must indicate that dormers were a feature of the 16th century palace: they would provide enough light for its use as a habitable space.

There is evidence for earlier windows in the upper part of the north, south and west facades of the Lion’s Den. The windows took their present form following a heightening of the wall in the 18th century, but the larger quoins of their lower halves survive from the earlier windows. The 82

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latter respects the earlier string course, which is contemporary with, and continues across, the early chimney stacks. This suggests that the upper windows were of 16th century date. Those on the west facade, however, are likely to date from alterations recorded in the early 17th century (RPC xiii, 706).

The survival of earlier forms of doors is a further indication of the use of the upper floor before its major reconstruction in the latter 17th century. There is a doorway with simple stone jambs and lintel on the south side of the palace, its iron pintels partially covered by successive layers of plaster. Its threshold is visible in the upper part of the east wall of the Queen’s bedchamber (P:07.4), redundant after the raising of the floor level in the 17th century. The pintels are on the east side of the doorway, indicating an access route from the west. This doorway is situated above the doorway on the principal floor between the Queen’s Presence Chamber (P:09) and the Queen’s Bedchamber (P:07). There is a similar door surround at the west end of U:03, again above a doorway of the principal floor, in this case the west doorway of the King’s Guard Chamber/ Hall (P:02).

Threshold of earlier doorway in the upper wall of P:07, now supporting the beams of the later floor.

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A possible use of the upper floor in the 16th century is for the royal wardrobe. The department of the wardrobe was responsible for the storage and upkeep of the king’s portable belongings. The area dedicated to the wardrobe would include not only storage space, but also accommodation for the senior officers of that department, important figures in the royal household. The location of the wardrobe is unknown in Stirling, but it was located on the upper floor in James V’s tower at Holyrood (Dunbar 1999, 177-8).

The principal chambers of the palace could be reached from ground level so there was no need for a major stair, a feature of many contemporary European palaces. Access to the upper floor was of secondary importance and there was no access to the upper floor from within the main body of the palace of James V, the builders utilising pre-existing routes. One access was via the narrow the turnpike stair in the Prince’s Tower. There is evidence of other access at the NW corner of the present palace where a blocked opening in the upper north wall of the present entrance (P:01) indicates a route to the upper floor from pre-existing buildings. From the upper level of the west gallery there are two doorways leading to the chambers above the King’s and Queen’s apartments respectively. The upper parts of these doorways are obscured by the present upper floor. The ceiling of the King’s Guard Hall was higher than the floor of the adjacent upper west gallery and steps can be seen in the adjoining upper door. Recent investigations revealed the lower part of an upper doorway in the south wall of the gallery which would have led to the space over the Queen’s apartments.

KITCHENS The ritualised consumption of food was an important feature in palace life. The great hall would be used for major celebrations and it would be supplied by the main kitchens of the castle which were situated adjacent to the curtain wall to the east of the great hall. However, normal dining would take place in one of the palace chambers, the choice of place depending on the intimacy of the occasion. It would be normal practice for both the King and the Queen to have separate kitchens to cater for their own apartments. One of the few surviving building accounts relating to the actual building of the palace is that of two payments, in April and June 1542, for building two kitchens ‘in the palace of Striveling’ (TA vii, 72 and 84). The account does not give any further indications as to the precise location of these kitchens but it is possible that the final phase of the kitchen area excavated in the northern part of the Ladies’ Lookout relates to one of these kitchens, possibly that of the king. 84

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A cut-away reconstruction of the palace showing the position of the west galleries and access doorways.

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4

SLOW DECLINE: JAMES VI, CHARLES I AND CHARLES II JAMES VI The future James VI was baptised in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle on 17th December 1566. Stirling was to be his home as a child under the protection of the Mar family with the countess of Mar as his surrogate mother. The infant was allocated a suite of at least two rooms: a list of ‘necessaris’ detail linen for the ‘rokaris’ of ‘my Loirde prince chalmer’ and further cloth sheets for the servants‘ that lyis on my Loirde prince uter chalmer’ (Fleming 1897, 499-500). The prince was visited by the Queen in January 1567, the latter complained that the house where the prince was nursed was ‘incommodious, because, the situation being damp and cold, he was in danger of catching rheumatism’ (Buchanan 1827 ii, 487). The castle, however, played a vital role in protecting the heir and, during the turbulent times of the regencies, he was regarded as embodying the hope of a more peaceful future. This was expressed in an anonymous tract printed in 1572, The Lamentation of Lady Scotland, which looked forward to the time when ‘That fair young Prince in Sirling, my richt hand… sall purge thir foull humoris away (quoted in Bardgett 1989, 132).

The Prince’s Tower may refer to his apartment there, but there is no firm evidence to confirm this. During James’s minority the household was of reduced size and little seems to have been spent on maintaining the fabric of the royal palaces. In September 1580, James having reached the age of fifteen years, the Privy Council decided that it was time for a fuller household. They appointed a lord chamberlain and a first gentleman of the bedchamber along with twenty-four ordinary gentlemen of noble and baronial rank, all ‘being personis knawin to have bene affectionat to his Hienes sen his birth’ (Brown 1986, 118). Under the newly established court structure access to the monarch mattered possibly more than ever before. Personal patronage flourished; access to the presence chamber and especially the bedchamber was the route to patronage and favour. The newly expanded court required a physical environment, the palace, and this needed to be put into order after years of neglect during the king’s minority. The king, however, still remained under the control of whichever faction of the nobility was uppermost at the time. In the so-called Ruthven Raid of 22 August 1582, James was seized while at Perth by a group led by the Earls of Gowrie and Mar in order to remove him from the influence of Esmé Stuart. He was taken to Stirling remaining there under their control until June 1583.

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A report of 7th May 1583 estimated the repairs needed to the various royal palaces, including Stirling.

The apeirand expensis to be maid wpone the Castell of Stirling.

Item to mend the gret windois in the cowrthall in the new vork twa dissone vanescott here dissone daillis with foure corballis of aik, price of the tymmer and the workmenschip to ane hundrerethe merkis.

Item the westqwarter thairof thairof to be all tane downe to the grownd thane to big and beild the same up agane in the maist plesand maner that can be dewyssit; quhilk qwarter of the said paleys is the best and maist plesand sitwatioune off any of his hienes palayes be ressone it will have the maist plesand sycht of all the foure airthis, in speciall perk and gairdin, deir thairin, up the rawerais of For the, Teyth, Allone, and Gwddy to Lochlomwnd, ane sycht rownd about in all pairtis and downe the rewear of Forth quhair thair standis many greit stane howssis providing thair be ane fair gallery beildit on the ane syd of the said work with ane tarras on the uther side of the said work, and this foirsaid gallerie and tarras to be beildit and bigit upone the heich pairtis off the foresaid work. Item the foirsaid westqwarter the rwif thaiof is all brokin and fallan downe, necessary it is the tymmer and skailye thairon to be takin downe presently and laid up in howssis for suppleing the kingis grace workis.

It is nocht wnknawin to your Lodschips that the new work off the Castell of Stirling is the maist substantious work and maist plesand withein the same, yitt the sitwatioun thairof is nocht gwid nor plesand in respect thair can na plesand sycht be had; swa giff this uther new work wer beildit the kingis hienes wald mak his recedence in the west quarter (MW1, 310-11).

The estimate gives a picture of a general state of disrepair at Stirling, neglect being encouraged by the occasional occupation of the buildings. There appears to have been no continuous programme of maintenance, with work being carried out only immediately before a royal visit.

In the estimate, special attention was given to the state of the west quarter of the palace, the roof of which was ‘all brokin and fallan downe’. Such was the state of this section of the palace that it was proposed that it be rebuilt completely: ‘all tane downe to the grownd thane to big and beild the same up agane in the maist plesand maner that can be dewyssit’. The timber of the roof was to be dismantled and stored for future use. The recommendations for rebuilding unfortunately are somewhat imprecise. There is glowing description of the extensive view from 87

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that quarter, the ‘speciall perk and gairdin, deir thairin’ and the beyond that ‘many greit stane howssis’. This is followed by the suggestion that

thair be ane fair gallery beildit on the ane syd of the said work with ane tarras on the uther side of the said work, and this foirsaid gallerie and tarras to be beildit and bigit upone the heich pairtis off the foresaid work (MW1, 311).

A further recommendation in 1583 was for the repair of the great windows in the cowrthall’ of the ‘new vork’. A quantity of woodwork was used in this repair, including eight corbels of oak (MW1, 310). The ‘new work’ normally refers to the palace, but it uncertain as to what the term ‘cowrthall’ refers, possibly the King’s Hall. Elsewhere in the same account the term cowrt’ is used for the upper court, so the repairs may refer to the five windows of the King’s chambers fronting the courtyard, but this must remain speculative.

In 1590 James VI returned to Scotland with his Danish bride, Anna, to a somewhat impoverished court. According to one observer ‘Scotland was never in a wourse state to receave a Quene... for there is nether house in repaire but most ruinous and want furniture’. Anna established her own household at Dunfermline. With the advanced pregnancy of Anna of Denmark, Stirling Castle had to be prepared for the royal confinement. A sum of £50,000 for this and related expenses was sought in taxation, but was refused by a convention of estates (Meikle 2000, 134). Prince Henry, the son of James VI and Anne of Denmark, was born in the castle on 19 February 1594. The castle was once again called upon to be the setting for a great state occasion at the baptism of the prince. A new chapel was erected on the north side of the Upper Square, on the site of an earlier structure, and for the last time the castle flowered with the theatrical festivities of a Renaissance court. The new Chapel Royal was the last building in the castle erected to enhance the castle as a royal residence. It also finally regularized the plan of the Upper Square. Up until this time there was a substantial building situated obliquely across the northern side of the Upper Square, its eastern end obscuring part of the facade of the Great Hall. This building, probably the collegiate chapel of James III , was finally levelled and a new north side to the Upper Square was created.

James had been over anxious about the safety of the child from before its birth. In a letter to Robert Bruce, he complained of Anna's determination to go riding whilst pregnant, expressing his frustration and blaming Anna's 'wilfulness' on her condition (NAS GD1/240/5). This 88

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extreme protectiveness continued after the birth of Prince Henry, the king insisted that the infant be placed under the custody of the Mar household within the walls of Stirling Castle. John Eskine, earl of Mar, and his wife were appointed Keepers and Governors of Prince Henry in Stirling Castle. The Prince was to be ‘under the nuritur of the said Annabell, Countesse of Mar... as towards his mouth and ordering of his persoun’ (Hist. MSS. Com., Mar and Kellie MSS, 40). The Queen, outraged by this Scottish royal practice, fought for custody of the child. James issued an order in 1595 that until the prince reached the age of eighteen years no one, including the queen, was to remove him from Stirling Castle without the king’s permission. The queen, intimidated by the dowager countess of Mar, made increasingly few visits to Stirling (Meikle 2000, 134-136). It is not known if the Queen’s apartments stood empty during this time, or if they were used in part by Mar household.

Prince Henry was considered by many to be a model prince and his death in 1612, at the age of eighteen, probably from typhoid after a November swim in the Thames. He was educated with John, the son of Lord Eskine, with Sir Adam Newton as their tutor. The Prince was said to have excelled in the martial arts but with a sense of intelligence and fairness. A contemporary account of his life (D’Isreali 1871) related that:

Prince Henry in his childhood rarely wept, and endured pain without a groan. When a boy wrestled with him in earnest, and threw him, he was not “seen to whine or weep at the hurt.” His sense of justice was early; for when his playmate, the little Earl of Mar, ill-treated one of his pages, Henry reproved his puerile friend: “I love you because you are my lord’s son and my cousin; but, if you be not better conditioned, I will love such ane one better,” naming the child that had complained of him.

Dendrochronological analysis of the timber floors of the Prince’s Tower (Crone 2005) has shown that it was refurbished around 1593. Analysis showed timbers of the floors with felling dates of 1591/2 and 1593/3. The floor of the middle chamber (M:01) appears to have been replaced, using seven oak quarter baulks. This differs from the use of oaks elsewhere in the palace where boxed heart baulks were employed. The floor above, that of U:30, is carried on three heavier timbers. One is quarter sawn, like on the floor below, but the other two are boxed hearts. Dendrochronological analysis showed that one of these latter timbers had a felling date of 1505. There was also some evidence for the re-used of older timber, as one sample had. This may be attributed to the building of the Prince’s Tower as part of the forework of James IV. Documentation for this particular building campaign is slight but there was a final payment in 89

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1506 for the gate of the ‘forewerk’ (Fawcett 1995, 51). It is uncertain if the earlier timber is in its original position or has been re-used during the refurbishment on c.1593.

The date of this refurbishment is remarkably close to that of the birth of Prince Henry, on 19 February 1594. It is high probable, therefore, that this tower was overhauled as the high security nursery of the young prince. Its present name may originate at this period.

Investigation of the principal room in the Prince’s Tower revealed graffiti on the plaster with the words ‘God made Man and [Wom}an’. ‘God made man’ and ‘James 6’. Given the refurbishment of the tower, this graffiti must postdate 1593 and one can speculate that it could have been written by the young Prince Henry. The use of the Arabic six in the context of the monarch was normal in 16th century Scotland, until after the union of the Crowns when it was superseded by the English use of Roman numerals.

Graffiti in the Prince’s Tower.

Recent detailed recording of the surviving woodwork has noted various examples of graffiti, the significance of some of which has only recently been realised. Recent dendrochronological analysis of the surviving doors in the palace at Stirling has indicated that they date from the 90

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first half of the 16th century and are likely to be part of the original fittings of the palace of James V. Two of these doors carry incised marks that previously have been disregarded as casual graffiti but now can be interpreted as ritual protection marks, sometimes known as ‘witches marks’. These acted as charms against the evil forces of the supernatural. Their presence is physical evidence of a period when a fear of the work of witchcraft and the forces of evil tormented all levels of society, a fear that is difficult to comprehend to the modern mind.

Ritual protection marks on the main door of the palace.

The main door of the palace has the linked initials AMV. Combinations of these initials, often conjoined, are interpreted as an invocation of the protection of the Virgin Mary, the AMV being Ave Maria Virginus (Dean 1997; Easton, 1999; Easton 2005). Such marks have been noted elsewhere, usually on buildings of a lesser social status. Few have been recorded in Scotland, but similar markings have been noted in a house in Anstruther, Fife (Darwood & Sherriff 2003, 126). On a higher social scale, intersecting marks with variations of the MV theme have been found carved into the wooden eaves of Kew Palace, erected in 1631. This Stirling mark is placed in a central position on the outside of the door. This is an unusually prominent position and demonstrates the high priority given to this form of protection at Stirling. 91

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The rear of the door of the King’s Closet has an incised marigold. This compass-drawn symbol is an example of a widespread type that appears both on buildings and on furniture. It appears to have acted as a general protection against ill-fortune. A similar design is found on the door of a garderobe at Huntly Castle and on a chair at Pitmedden (Hesketh-Campbell 2004, 2).

Incised marigold on the rear of the door to the King’s Closet.

While a precise date cannot be placed on these marks, they are likely to be associated with the growing fear of witchcraft in the late 17th century. James VI himself was well known for his deep interest in the supernatural. The king’s tract on subject, Daemonologie, was published in Edinburgh in 1597. This was a neurotic investigation into the nature of the forces of evil, a condemnation of atheism, idolatry and Catholicism which helped to encourage the mass hysteria of the contemporary witch hunts. One well-known passage describes how houses were vulnerable to penetration by witches:

for some of them sayeth, that being transformed in the likeness of a little beast or foule, they will come and pearce through whatsoever house or Church, though all ordinarie passages be closed, by whatsoever open, the aire may enter in at. (Daemonologie Book II, 39).

The ‘ordinarie passages’ into houses could be afforded protection from such evil by ritual protection marks. The name of the unidentified part of the castle that was, according to a document of 1688, ‘commonly called where the devill flew out’ would seem to be connected with such beliefs in the supernatural (NAS E28/579/1/9). Although the examples at Stirling cannot be dated, they are highly likely to be have been made in the late 16th century and are of

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particular significance as they served to protect the house of King James himself and of his heir, the Prince Henry.

JAMES VI AND I With the accession of James to the English throne in 1603 the court moved to London. Stirling became virtually redundant as a royal palace, held in readiness only for the distant possibility of an occasional visit by the monarch. It still remained, however, a royal fortress under the control of the Governor. Therefore, while the royal apartments saw comparatively little change, other parts of the building were adapted to serve as a fashionable residence for the Governor.

On heading south, James had declared his intention to make frequent visits to his native land but the lure of the southern court proved too enticing and the king only returned on one occasion, in 1617. However, a visit was proposed in 1615 and preparations made. On this occasion it was considered necessary to furnish only two rooms for the intended royal visit, probably the King’s Presence Chamber and his Bedchamber.

Jhon Auchmoutie, keeper of the Gardrobe within our kingdome of Scotland, yow shall not faill, immediatlie after the sight hereto, to delyuer unto the Lord Erskin as many hingings as may furnishe two Roomes with our Castle of Stirling, for the which hee will answere: And this shale unto you a suffient warrand – Royston, the 27 Oct 1615. (Rogers 1885, 8)

Large amounts were spent in preparation for a royal visit, which finally occurred in 1617 and James VI stayed in the castle on two occasions during the July of that year.

The succession of a new monarch, Charles I, in 1625, again raised questions about the condition of the royal palaces in readiness for a potential visit. On 9 March 1625, the Privy Council expressed concern about the ruinous state of parts of Stirling Castle and also of the palaces of Linlithgow and Falkland. It ordained that repairs were to be made to the great hall at Stirling and also specified substantial alterations to parts of the palace.

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Monday 28 November 1625

Item the haill skailye of the chaipell royall imployit and put new in wark with the haill sklaittis that cam of the west quarter of the new wark and littill galrie all of new imployit agane

Item the haill aikin rufe of the west quarter wes all imployit of new in beting and mending of the rufe of the great hall with sindrie uther small thingis of lead and irne all being of new imployit be the said maister of wark in his Majesties warkis for the quhilk in consideratioune thairof to him

vc lib. (MWII, 182).

Work seems to have been delayed on the ruinous west quarter; no action is recorded until 1625 when it was too late. On March of that year, the Privy Council expressed concern about the ruinous state of parts of Stirling Castle and also of the palaces of Linlithgow and Falkland. It ordained that repairs were to be made to the great hall at Stirling and also specified substantial alterations to parts of the palace, including the west. It was decided to

… big [build] up with stone work a grite pairt of the fundatioun of the west quarter abone [above] the barres quhilk is shote over the craig, with the whole bartisene of the west quarter that is downe, quhilk he sall raise up with stone work thrie foote height

(RPC xiii, 706-6).

Although the exact interpretation of this passage is problematic, like so many building accounts of this period, it would seem that the foundations of part of the west quarter above the ‘barres’ or outer defences had collapsed together with part of the bartizan. Although it is not clear in the text, it appears to have been the outer defences that were raised three feet (1m) as the west quarter was subsequently dismantled. The Master of Works accounts for November 1625 record how the whole of the oak roof of the west quarter was used to repair the roof of the great hall (MWii, 182). The rest of the building presumably was demolished at this time or shortly afterwards.

The demolition of the west quarter necessitated the modification of the remaining west part of the palace that fronted the Lion’s Den. In 1625 James Murray, Master of Works, was ordered to: 94

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that he tak downe the whole sclaitt and roofe of the west galryis of the new work that gois betuix the King and Queen quarter, and to raise sindrie parts of the stone worke thairof, and to roofe, theake, and sark the same all new with all things belonging thairunto (RPC xiii, 706).

This indicates a major reconstruction of the upper part of the west gallery, re-roofing and heightening the structure. The two stone corbels that survive in the south section of present roof space (A:01) may be a survival from before this reconstruction. They are similar in form to the redundant corbels in the roof space above the King’s Closet (U:13B) and are likely to have supported the upper part of a lean-to roof. This would suggest that the Lion’s Den façade had been raised considerably at this period and that formerly the west gallery was a much lower structure, corresponding more to the form of the King’s Closets. The accounts for August 1625 include the cost of drink given to the wrights ‘at the laying of the flanker abone the heiche galerie’ (MW2, 171). A flanker, according to DOST as ‘a side projection of a wall, roof, or the like’.

It may have been at this time that the windows on the south side of the Queen’s outer chamber was blocked to strengthen the stability of the structure at this vulnerable corner, perched as it was over the cliff face. A detailed account of 1676 for re-glazing mentions only one window on the south side of this chamber, described as measuring 26⅛ ft2 (2.43m2) and ‘on the stonework, that is, an upper widow.

As well as this work on the west side of the Lion’s Den, similar roofing work was ordered to be done in 1625 on the east side, to the King’s Closet which was in a poor state of repair

and to doe the like with the toofall on the east syde of the new worke that is abone the Kings cabinett, …quhilk is decayit (RPC xiii, 706).

The disposition of windows in the Lion’s Den, symmetrically placed but with the outer windows against the angle of the wall, is similar in treatment to the chateau of St Maur-lèsFossés, erected for Cardinal du Bellay from 1541 (Blunt 1958, 21 and pl. 3a). This façade has a much richer architectural treatment than the others in the Lion’s Den; possibly a model palace front to be admired from the King’s Closet. 95

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The account of the painter, Valentine Jenkin, in 1629 (MW ii, 255-7), gives some indication of the earlier use of the chambers on the upper floor. Two rooms above the king’s bedchamber (U12 and U14) and one above the king’s great chamber (?U10) are referred to as the Duke of Buckingham chambers. The Duke of Buckingham was a favourite of James VI and his closest companion on his visit to Scotland. This apartment would have has public access via the transe (U03). It was also connected to that of the king via the Privy Stair (U13). The present buffet niche in the east wall of U:10 may be an adaptation of an intramural close stool closet. A drawing of 18th century date (RCAHMS 1963, pl 88A) showing the north facade of the palace depicts a small window, to the east of the present window. Such small windows provided discrete lighting for close stool closets. The present stonework shows alterations in this position.

Section through the King’s Closet showing inserted stair and details of roof space.

A glazier’s account of 1676 mentions the transe from the King’s bedchamber to the Privy stair (NAS E36/37/6). It is possible that the stair was created in its present form in anticipation of a visit of James VI. Work in 1617 included payment for nineteen long steps and seven lintels, one being ‘the longest lintel’ (MW2, 26). About the same time payment was also made for square table stones (MW2, 28) that were probably for the massive stones that form the ceiling of the King’s Closet (P:06) at the foot of the Privy stair. A similar arrangement of accommodation was created for Buckingham in the palace block at Edinburgh Castle where repairs made in 1623 mention that he had rooms above the king’s rooms connected in Edinburgh Castle (MW2 154). The upper lintel of the straight stair from the 96

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closet reuses a stone identical with the coved string course around the upper part of the elevations of the Lion’s Den. The remaining section of the stair is of turnpike form. It is lit by a window in a gablet that breaks the earlier string course: the removed stone may be that reused in the lintel of the straight stair suggesting that the construction of the lower stair and the structure housing the upper, turnpike, stair are contemporary.

The lower section of the Privy Stair from the King’s Closet.

The original entrance to the King’s Closet was through the doorway from the bedchamber into P:05. The privy stair was erected within the suite of small rooms that constituted the King’s Closet blocking the doorway that formerly gave access from P:05 to the rooms to its south (P:06). A new door created to give access to the southern part of the closet (P:06) and the short corridor that now led to the privy stair.

A close stool closet was an essential requirement for any high status accommodation of this date. In the early 17th century these were often intermural as, for example, at the Palace Block in Edinburgh Castle and in the north quarter of Linlithgow Palace. A similar arrangement is to be expected at Stirling. These spaces were often, at a later date, either completely blocked or converted into wall cupboards. In the case of the apartments assigned to the Duke of

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Buckingham, the close stool closet may have occupied the intramural space, now a wall cupboard, in U11, the short passage between rooms U10 and U12.

The lower section of the Privy Stair from the King’s Closet.

CHARLES I Charles I became king in 1625 but it was not until 1633 that he eventually visited Scotland for his Scottish coronation. In a letter of 8 July 1628 the king announced to his Council that he wished to see Stirling and Falkland (Rogers 1885, 294). This prompted further work on the palaces. While it was recognised that the proposed visit had been delayed, the Master of Works was ordered to undertake surveys and to proceed with repairing and decorating ‘with more leisour and conveniencie’ (Rogers 1885, 364). In August 1628 the painter, Valentine Jenkin, began work in preparation for the long-awaited event. The king would first pass through the great gateway, its main arch surmounted with the freshly painted and gilded royal arms over the gateway was to be painted and gilded. The iron window grills of the palace were painted red and their pediments, with the royal cipher of James V, painted and gilded. His detailed account of work on the interiors of the palace provides a valuable account not only of the decorative scheme but also of the layout of rooms at this period, both on the principal floor and on the upper floor (MW2, 256-7). His work of 1628 in the nearby Chapel Royal still exists in a 98

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heavily restored state. Traces of a grey wash made from charcoal were found on a window reveal in the King’s Presence Chamber (P.02) which may be the ‘blew grey’ mentioned in Jenkin’s account (MW2, 256). Similar grey paint was also found near the aumbry in the west wall of this chamber.

The layout of the upper rooms as detailed in Jenkin’s account is similar to that existing today, suggesting that the partition walls are likely to have been in place at this date or earlier, although the later raising of the floor on all but the north side of the palace must have involved severe adaptation of existing partitions, if not complete replacement. The former, however, may have been the preferred option on economic grounds. The account describes two rooms above the king’s bedchamber (U12 and U14) and one above the king’s great chamber (?U10) that are referred to as the Duke of Buckingham chambers.

The Valentine Jenkin’s account also describes two chambers above the ‘kingis hall’ (P:02) together with the transe that served those rooms. These may be identified with the space now occupied by U04-U08. The two rooms are likely to have formed one apartment consisting of an outer chamber and a bedchamber, the norm for guest accommodation. It is possibly that the lobby, U05, originated as an internal porch. Payments were made in 1633 for door furniture, four pairs of hinges, for the ‘over chalmeres abone the kingis rowmes’ (MW2, 363). Latrine provision in these chambers may have been provided by close stool closets in the intramural spaces on the outside of U04 and U08, now wall cupboards.

Jenkins’s also decorated three chambers above the ‘queinis hall’. These presumably included U29, but their precise location and extent of these is not known.

The Jenkins’s account includes the chambers of Sir William Alexander. A poet, playwright and composer, Sir William was tutor to James VI’s son Henry. After the latter’s death he became a courtier and companion of Prince Charles. He was knighted in 1609 and was granted lands in Nova Scotia in 1621. He held the position of Secretary of State for Scotland from 1626. Sir William acquired Argyll’s Lodging as a residence in 1630. Three years later, in 1633, he was created Earl of Stirling and Viscount Canada. He occupied a suite of state rooms in the King’s Old Building consisting of a hall and great chamber and three rooms to the east, which probably included a Withdrawing Room and Bedchamber. The status of these rooms is shown

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the fact that, in 1629, besides painted decoration, the hall and the great chamber also had hangings, a reminder that high status accommodation was not confined to the Palace block.

The terminology of the rooms is changing at this time. The Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (DOST) records an early use of Presence Chamber in 1614 with reference to the repair of glass in ‘hir majesties chalmer of presens’ (MW1, 349).

In February 1633 the castle was one of the royal residences, along with the palaces of Linlithgow and Dunfermline, visited by Lord Traquair in his capacity as treasurer-depute (MW2, 307). This resulted, in the following month, in the Privy Council issuing instructions for further minor works to be carried out in preparation for the royal visit (RPC 5, 38). These included repairs to the great hall and the outer defences of the castle (MW2, 358 and 370). There was some work also on landscaping the immediate surrounds of the palace in March 1633, before the king’s visit. References to this include the removal of a ‘craig’, presumably a rock outcrop described both as ‘forgaine’ the palace and ‘at the palace door’ (MW2, 358). As with many references in these accounts, the precise location being carried out is now obscure.

In 1637, with increasing political opposition, the decision was taken for the council and Court of Session to meet away from its usual venue, the politically volatile Edinburgh. Linlithgow was considered but rejected because of the ruinous state of the palace and the hostility of the town and eventually it was decided to meet in the security of Stirling castle (Stevenson 1972, 228-9). The Treasurer was instructed to prepare for their accommodation ‘in a comely and fitting way’ (RPC6, 546). The Court of Session met in the great hall, despite a boycott by the advocates. It is not known if much work was carried out in the palace in preparation for this gathering.

CHARLES II Charles I was executed in London in January 1649. When the news reached Edinburgh, his son was proclaimed king as Charles II . In June 1650 Charles returned to Scotland from exile in the Netherlands and set up court in the safety of the castle in June 1650, following his coronation as king of Scotland. A weekly newspaper, The Perfect Weekly Account, published in Newcastle on 14 July 1650 declared that ‘their declared King is at Sterling, where he hath a Stately house, and is Courted somewhat beyond the ancient Scottish custome (so much are they Anglified).. 100

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the men bring their plate to Sterling (where the King is), and the women their Thimbles and Bodkins, for carrying on the present design against England’ (Terry 1899, 454). The arrangement and nomenclature of the palace chambers in use at the time is likely to be that preserved in the early 18th century plans. The hierarchy of chambers, the so-called ‘axis of honour’ was still very much present. The west gallery was the first control point, as opposed to the armed guards of the garrison on the outer defences

Item induring the kingis aboade at Stirling castle, the garysone is to keep ye first and second gates, and ye ordinarie Mr Porter and his men to attendat the entrie of the trance qr the kings majestie enters into his rowmes (NAS E31/19).

The Scots recognition of Charles as king brought about the hostility of their former allies, Cromwell and the English Parliamentarians and Cromwell invaded Scotland After some negotiations, in June 1651 the state archives were transported to Stirling castle to be housed there ‘where the Kings Majestie and public judicatories reside for the tyme (Paul 1940, ii, 320). The castle did not remain in Scottish hands for long. Defended by a garrison of about 300 men commanded by Colonel William Cunningham, was besieged by General Monck. After a week a mutiny among some of the highlanders in the garrison who claimed that ‘they would fight for their king but not for their country’s geir’ (Stevenson 191971, 159). Cunningham negotiated with the besiegers and he was permitted to surrender honourably. The state registers were removed to the Tower of London. Looting by Highland soldiers followed (Cary 1842, ii, 32).

Excavations in the Ladies Lookout showed that the fortifications in this area were remodelled in the mid-17th century. The curtain wall on the west was truncated and the present boundary wall built directly over it. The northern section of the boundary wall was not excavated but may be contemporary. A large dump of mid-17th century date was deposited raising the whole lower terrace approxiately 1m in height. The precise date of this operaration is not known as the dump may be redeposited earlier material. Two gun platforms were created, situated under the sites of the present platforms. A line of post holes, running NW-SE, was associated with this work.

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PRINCE’S TOWER There was work during this period on the Prince’s Tower. Glazing accounts for 1613-4 include glass for the ‘Prince laich chalmer’ and the Prince bed chalmer’ (MW I, 349-50), suggesting that it functioned as a separate suite of rooms. There was some alterations in 1629 when payment was made for ‘5 cast of cleikis to the wall plet in the princes tower’ (MW II, 250). There is also evidence that the some walling on the west side of the Prince’s Tower was covered with a render as in 1628 arrangements were made to harl the wall ‘at the craig neir the prince tour’ using a cradle suspended from a pulley (MW II, 233). Also in 1628, three iron bands were supplied for the chimney head at the Prince’s Tower (MW II, 239). Similar iron bars placed across the top of the chimney vent survive on the early 17th century north quarter at Linlithgow Palace (Bridgland 1996, 6).

Roofing work undertaken in 1672 included glass for the ‘Princess Chamber’ (NAS E36/34).

Among the accounts for repairs to the castle during 1674-77 is the cost of three days work on the bartizan on the west side of the Prince’s Tower which had been blown down in a storm, along with repairs to a chimney head (NAS E36/37/7).

A plan of c.1718 by Dury showing a proposed stair in the Ladies’ Lookout (NLS MS 1646 Z02/17).

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5

A GOVERNOR’S RESIDENCE THE MEMORY OF A PALACE After the restoration of Charles II in 1661 the palace’s role as a royal residence faded and it assumed the role of purely that of a fortress and military base. It was not forgotten for in 1671 Lauderdale commented that ‘the King’s heart is upon Sterlin’, but the rebuilding of Holyrood Palace occupied most of the available funds (Mylne 1893, 167). The castle was again entrusted to the Earls of Mar who continued to serve as Governor of the castle. John, 4th/21st Earl of Mar had acceded to the title in 1653 and died in 1668, being succeeded by Charles Erskine, 5th Earl of Mar, born 1650. In 1674 Charles married Mary Maule, the daughter of George Maule, 2nd Earl of Panmure. This marriage alliance was to prove useful in the subsequent building work at Stirling as a number of the key craftsmen were men who had worked for the earl of Panmure. In 1678 Charles Erskine expressed his support for Charles II by raising a new regiment which, from the colour of their uniform, soon acquired the nickname of the ‘Earl of Mar’s Grey Breeks’ and in 1751 became known as the 21st (Royal North British) Fusiliers. In 1683 a detachment of 60 men from the Earl of Mar’s regiment were placed in Stirling Castle (NAS GD124/11/32; HMC, 214). Charles, 5th Earl of Mar, died in 1689. He was succeeded by his eldest son, John, whose strong interest in architecture seems to have stimulated an upgrading of the palace as a governor’s residence.

Work was initially in the hands of Sir William Bruce, who was appointed Surveyor General and overseer of the king’s buildings in Scotland on 3 June 1671’, an English title that replaced that the Master of Works (MacKechnie 2002, 503). Bruce’s powerful patron, the duke of Lauderdale, had written to him in from Whitehall on 16 March 1671 encouraging him to send to the king the ‘draft’ of the palace of Holyroodhouse adding that he was waiting for an occasion to present Bruce’s commission for taking control of the work, adding that ‘if you please I wold put in Sterlin castle also into that commission, because the money given by parliament is to be employed for both of these houses’ (Marshall 1880, 327).

Bruce is likely to have been the surveyor who made a ground plan of Stirling Castle that same year, the payment for which was recorded by the Treasury (NAS E6/2. p21):

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26 June 1672 Precept on the Cash Keeper for pay[men]t of the surveyor of his fie from the 8 May last to the 8 July 240.00.

Item for paying to him for his charges in goeing to whitehall to his Maj[esty] with the grundplot of Stirling Castle 400.0.0 Scot

This plan has not been identified but it is possible the early of Ordnance plans of the castle were based on this work. There are three almost identical copies of a plan of the castle signed by Theodore Dury and usually attributed to 1708. The plan, however, shows the granary erected by Tobias Bauchop in 1681 as an addition, partly drawn over existing detail. It is possible that these plans were based on that drawn by Bruce or his surveyor and merely amended by Dury.

Bruce was formally appointed Surveyor General on 3 June 1671 (Mylne1896, 60; Dunbar 1970, 6). This preparation of a plan of Stirling Castle to present to the king may have had a practical purpose but it also demonstrates the emphasis placed by Charles II on the ancestry and permanence of the monarchy. Royalist writers could stress the ‘uninterrupted Obedience’ of the Scots ‘to an Hundred and Ten Kings, in Two Thousand Years Time, by Exact Calculation’ (Jackson 2003, 51). This was given visual form in the gallery at Holyrood where the Jacob de Wet was commissioned to paint 111 portraits depicting the entire Stuart monarchs. The ancient royal palaces of Scotland stood as a physical expression of this ancient race of kings. The room in Edinburgh Castle where James VI was born had already become a shrine to the monarchy. When the palace of Holyrood was rebuilt, Bruce carefully preserved the old tower of James V which housed the royal apartments and planned to replicate this symbol of ancient monarchy on the south side of the front of the new palace, a project initially conceived by James V (Dunbar 1999, 61). Stirling Castle was also a symbol of the permanence of the monarchy, the birthplace of the king’s royal ancestors. The royal bedchamber remained empty, despite increasing for space for the garrison; in theory, ready for a royal visit but in practical terms as a monument to the ancestry of a remote monarch.

Bruce held the position of Surveyor General until 1678 when he was suddenly replaced by Lord Hatton, the brother of his former patron, and then by the architect, James Smith (MacKechnie 2002, 505). The major part of Bruce’s work during his brief term of office concerned the 104

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rebuilding of Holyrood Palace as a residence suitable for the more elaborate protocol of a Restoration court. Stirling was maintained, but its role as a royal residence receded further with the emphasis on Holyrood. It still remained, however, an important part of the Stuart heritage and its restoration was a statement of a reinvigorated royal presence in Scotland.

In 1670 the Privy Council voted £30,000 for the repair of Holyroodhouse and Stirling Castle. On 20 July 1671 a warrant was provided by the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, to Sir William Bruce of Balcaskie as Surveyor General, to repair the roof and alleyways at the castle and to provide for wright and glass-work of the rooms there, to provide carriages for the cannon and to repair the park dyke (NAS GD29/92). This initiated a huge programme of works that continued for the rest of the 1670s. Progress on these different aspects of the work was recorded by the surveyor, James Kennerie who made several journeys to Stirling for that purpose, which gives some indication of the chronological sequence of the work. In 1674 he was measuring the wright and slate work, indicating that a large amount of timber work for floors and roofs had been completed by that date. He also measured the extent of repairs to the park dykes. The following year he was checking plaster work and in 1676 ‘glass work’. In 1679, when the palace was described as for the ‘most pairt new rooft, floored and windowed with case casements and glass and plaistered’, he made a plan of the castle ‘to be sent to his Majestie’ (NAS E36/31/page 21).

THE ORGANISATION OF LABOUR The construction work carried out under Bruce’s ultimate supervision and John Hamilton acted as storekeeper and overseer of the works at the castle but Bruce relied on a number of large contractors who dealt with particular aspects of the construction. The 17th century had seen the development of contractors whose work embraced both the supply of materials and the on site work. The wright work was largely in the hands of James Baine, an Edinburgh burgess who, in his position as the King’s Master Wright, was involved in many building projects both for his royal patron including Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh Castle. He was also engaged by prominent courtiers, working for the Duke of Lauderdale at Thirlestane and for the Earl of Panmure at Brechin and the new Panmure House. All this work depended on continued patronage by the king and the aristocracy. The unreliability of payment from such patrons eventually brought about Baine’s downfall by the late 1690s (APS x, 81).

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THE SUPPLY AND TRANSPORT OF MATERIALS The work on the floors and roof of the palace required a huge amount of timber which could not be supplied locally. Dendrochronological analysis of the pine floor joists in the palace indicated a Baltic/Scandinavian provenance with felling dates between 1664 and 1671, the greatest number having been felled in 1671. This would suggest the use of some stock-piled timber with the bulk bought in for the project. The building accounts for 1671 show that large quantities of timber were transported by water from Leith to Stirling for use in the palace. The descriptions of timber include deals, great and small knapel, single and double trees and double doubles. The latter may be what are described elsewhere as great joists. These terms mostly conform to the common types of the period and it has been argued that Scottish merchants ordered timber of standard dimensions at source (Newland 2007, 46-7). This is further shown by the delivery of 29 small trees ‘sawen of jeasts’ (NAS E36/34. voucher 21). The accounts of timber include few measurements; one such is for a ‘dorment’ 17 feet (5.18m) in length ((NAS E36/34/11).

On two joists above the Queen’s Bedchamber features were observed which indicate that the timber had probably been rafted down a river on its journey from forest to port. On U19.5006 and U19.5001 a single peghole was observed in cross-section at one end of each timber (Figure 3). The pegholes have been split by the sawing of the timber in half, so they clearly had no function in the construction. It is likely that they were drilled into the original trunks to hold pegs around which rope was tied to secure rafts of logs as they were floated down river. These features would also be of use when the timber was transported in Scotland.

The accounts indicate the use of ships purpose-built for the timber trade, having gates/ ports low in their sterns for receiving long lengths of timber. This modification is known on Dutch ships from contemporary illustrations (Newland 2007, 45), but not previously on Scottish ships. The accounts include payment for putting great joists ‘out of the starne port to the watter & from the watter to the shore’. The workmen appear to have been somewhat inexperienced at this task as there was a further payment made to retrieve great joists that were carried away for about two miles by the water (NAS E36/34/41, page 6). The timber then was hauled by horses on an iron-shod sledge (‘slype) to the castle, the ‘double doubells’ each requiring two horses (NAS E36/34/4).

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FLOORS A major part of the work at this period involved the strengthening of the old oak ceiling beams of the principal floor of the palace. This was achieved mainly by nailing new timbers to each side. 130 pounds weight of rope was purchased ‘for the use of the wall and drawing up the great jeasts’ (NAS E36/34. page 1). Once in position these were secured with large bolts termed ‘garrones’ in the building account.

Detail of beams in the King’s Outer Chamber (P:03) showing 16th century oak beam strengthened with another shorter, beam nailed to its side.

This technique was not new; ‘battis’ (bolts) were used in 1625 during the repair of the roof of a window bay of the great hall (MW2, 181). Ironwork purchased in c.1671-2 from David Archibald, a smith in Stirling, included 12 stone in weight of great garrones (large nails/ bolts) each weighing 1½ pounds (0.68 kg), driven into place with a 9lb hammer (NAS E36/34/ 41/ page 7-8). Supplementary beams were placed between the earlier beams. The logistics of placing these new timbers in place is not known but, not surprisingly, it appears to have necessitated the dismantling of the earlier ceilings. The ceiling of the Presence Chamber, decorated with the Stirling heads, may have remained fairly intact as there only the ends of the 107

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beams were reinforced in contrast with elsewhere on the principal floor where they spanned the entire length of the room. The accounts for 1671-2 show that a total of 42,700 nails were supplied by William Smith, smith in Bannockburn including door nails, flooring nails and ‘plencher’ nails, the latter being similar to floor nails (NAS E36/34/ 41/page 4). Among the nails supplied were 2,200 ‘blind plencher nails for nailing the top of the carved work and seylering’ [ceiling], possibly a reference to the putting back in place of the 16th century ceilings.

Contemporary with the strengthening of the older beams, the floors of the upper rooms were raised to rationalise former differences in levels. The floor boards originally rested directly on the main beams without intervening floor joists, a common practice in early floor construction (Brunskill 1994, 76-77). The floors on the north of the palace were higher than elsewhere and here they were not raised. Here the floor boards continued to rest on the main beams; they were levelled, where necessary, by wood laid along the upper surface of the beams. The latter varied in size from slivers to sizeable timbers where the earlier timbers had sagged. This operation is described in the accounts for 1699-1703 which include a payment for ‘for lifting of the floor of the Transe in the north palace [U:03] and levelling the jests of it (NAS E37/33. f6r). As this work postdates the main campaign of c.1670 it may be connected with later alterations to the trance.

The 16th century ceilings of the King’s and Queen’s bedchambers are lower than those of the larger principal rooms, so the level of the upper floor needed raising a considerable amount to achieve some sort of unity throughout the upper floor. The floors above the two bedchambers were raised by the insertion of a further, secondary, layer of joists over the earlier beams, which in turn supported the floor joists that carried the floor boards. Steps were inserted in the passage (U:13) at the head of the stair from the King’s Closet to bring it to the level of the new floor. It is possible that one or more of the doorways that pass through the interior walls at upper floor level were created at this time.

The surviving fragments of floor boards in the north-west room (U:10) are contemporary with the panelling of that room. The boards are of an unusual form, having loose tongues rebated on their underside, in contrast with the tongue and groove construction of the more recent floors.

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The floor below U:28 showing the late 17th century strengthening of the timbers.

The floor of U:10 showing additional narrower timbers and herring bone strutting.

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THE ROOF The roof space is divided into sections by the internal cross walls containing chimneys. The roof itself is constructed of pine and mostly consists of double-collared rafter single trusses. The collars are joined to the principal rafters with dovetail halved joints. Many sections of the roof have a strut linking the upper and lower collar beams. These struts have dovetails, a usage identified by Brunskill (1994, 64) on traditional work of the late 17th and 18th centuries.

Section of the roof at Stirling.

The construction technique is similar to that found in the roofs of other buildings known to have been designed by Bruce, such as Lauder parish church, erected in 1673, and Auchindinny House.

The timber is rectangular in section and has evidence of being cut both by both sawmills and by hand tools, such as an axe or adze. Most of the timbers bear incised assembly marks in Roman numerals, with the exception of a small number of later replacements. There is a long tradition of such marks. They are found, for example, on the timbers of the roof of the south range at Falkland Palace (NMRS SC 397164). Details of the roof appear in a section of the

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Section of the roof at Lauder parish church (1673).

building drawn by Thomas Moore in 1719 (NLS MS1646 Z02/18a). This series of drawings is not always accurate in details and this is the case with the roof. It shows a king strut with diagonal struts above and passing braces; there is no evidence for these elements in the present structure but this may be due to inaccuracies in the Board of Ordnance plan.

Upper roof structure showing detail of carpenter’s assembly mark on rafters.

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It is unclear if the roof of the west gallery took its final form at this date or during the work of 1690-1. The account of roofing work carried out in January 1672 by the slater, Andrew Cassie, includes ‘the toofall on the Inner West Syd’ of the palace, indicating that a lean-to roof existed similar the present roof but, if so, it was remade in 1690-1. This work included the raising of the exterior west wall of the palace some 4m to the height of the adjacent roof ridges. The north side of the southern gable above the Queen’s Guard Chamber was integrated into the line of this new wall. Most of the skewputts on the north side were removed but fragments remain in situ indicating the original roof line. The roof of the north part of the palace was extended to meet this newly heightened wall, 5m to the west of its original position.

The exterior of an earlier gable, with mullioned window, in the roof space over the line o the west wall of the King’s Guard, looking east.

It may be at this time that the main roof of the north range of the palace was extended westwards from its earlier gable for 4.5m to the line of the present west exterior gable, although it is possible that it took place in the building campaign of c1625. The earlier gable, with a blocked mullioned window into the roof space, is preserved in the roof space over the line of the west wall of the King’s Guard Chamber. Some early timbers, probably from the roof of the former west quarter, were reused as purlins in the extension of the roof at this point. The new gable is surmounted by a heavily eroded heraldic beast, moved from its earlier position. Some of the skewputts were reused also, but with their exteriors now set into the gable as is shown by the displaced rebate for a roofline.

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PLASTERWORK Once the roofwork was completed, work commenced on the interior. The plasterwork was done by Thomas Alborn. Thomas Alborn worked in 1661 for the earl of Breadalbane at Balloch castle, the predecessor of the present Taymouth Castle (NAS GD112/15/5). He also worked with the king’s master mason, Robert Mylne, at Holyroodhouse, Wemyss Castle and Lauderdale Castle. Although skilled, his work was not of the very best, for he was not considered competent enough to execute the ‘fine fret work’ ceilings at Lauderdale Castle (Dunbar 1975, 206). He also worked with Bruce and James Smith at Melville House, Fife.

An account dating from 1673-5, of work by the plasterer, Thomas Alborn refers to ‘Plain plaistering upon Lath, Rooff & Partitions’ in the King’s Guard Hall (NAS E36/37.5). The space is still referred to as one room so the ‘partition’ may have been a screen, surmounted with the royal arms. The account of the plastering by Thomas Alborn in 1676 describes the position of the different rooms in the palace and, although mostly it does not give their individual names, it gives a picture of the division of space on the upper floor in the early 1670s (NAS E36/35/ item 5). There were five rooms off the ‘long trance’ on the north side of the palace and three rooms on the east side. The west gallery led to the south side where there were four rooms, the innermost two of which were entered from a smaller trance, and beyond this was another room. Apart from the alteration of a small number of wall partitions, the layout of rooms is very similar to that which exists today.

Work was also carried out facing the walls with lathes. £18 Scots was paid in 1676 ‘for the leathing of the Long Transe and other pleaces in the pallice’ (NAS E36/37/6). The Long Transe can be identified elsewhere in the accounts as the west gallery of the principal floor of the palace. This introduction of lathe and plaster facing to walls other than timber partitions reflects a move away from the practice of plastering directly on the stone walls, although from the summary of work carried out during the early 1670s it is apparent that many walls remained plastered on stone.

WINDOWS The final stage in the major repairs of the 1670s was the installation of new glass in the windows, necessary after the major alterations to the interior of the building. In 1676 the 113

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glazier, John Maisterton, undertook a comprehensive of the windows of the palace installing what was termed ‘New English Glass’ (NAS E36/37/6). Like James Baine, Maisterton had also worked at Panmure House, during 1670-4 (NAS GD45/18/604 and 589). The Stirling accounts lists the size and position of each window, dimensions which would have been carefully checked by Bruce’s surveyor, James Kennerie. The means of fixing the glass does not appear to have changed since the 16th century. The thirteen outer windows on the principal floor are described in the account as having ‘glass fixed on the stonework above and ane pair of casements below’. The glass on the stonework was 5 feet 10½ inches wide and 5 feet 8 inches high. Each of the pairs of casements in the lower part of the windows had a width of 2½ feet and a height of 5 feet 8 inches. The grooves for fitting the glass are still visible on the upper parts of the windows. The casements, fitted with glass, probably could be removed in warm weather. This may have been the arrangement in the 16th century rather than wooden shutters on the lower windows as in previous reconstructions.

The inner windows of the King’s Guard Hall, the King’s Presence and the Queen’s Presence as inserted in 1676 were a slightly smaller size than those of the exterior. The upper glass on the stonework was 4 feet 6½ inches wide and 4 feet 10½ inches high. Only one window is mentioned on the south side of the Queen’s Guard Hall and this only had 26 1/8 ft2 of glass on the stonework in its upper part. No lower casements are mentioned; presumably this was the easternmost window which is still of a smaller size today.

The glazier’s account of 1676 (NAS E36/37/6) shows that there was a much greater variety of window on the upper floor, reflecting their difference in size and the status of the room which they lit. Some were smaller versions of those of the principal floor, with glass fitted on the stonework in the upper window opening and casements below. Among these were one described as the ‘eastmost room in the North quarter the eastmost window to the south’, which may be identified as that in U:09 indicating that at that period it and the adjacent room were all one. The upper gallery (U:31) also had this type of window, with three windows on its east side and two on the west. Some other windows just had casements whilst others were described as ‘stonework windows’, presumably just with glass set into the stonework. Among these was that in the ‘southmost of the 2 gavels [gables] that looks to the East’. Other windows were described as ‘storm windows’, i.e. dormer windows. There were four storm windows on the north ‘on the roof of the North bartisan’ and a similar number to the south.

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THE DUKE OF YORK IN SCOTLAND In 1680 a new royal presence was established in Scotland with the appointment of the Duke of York, the future James VII, as High Commissioner in Scotland, a position formerly held by the duke of Lauderdale. James received an enthusiastic welcome from the Scots and established a court at Holyrood. He did not neglect Stirling, visiting there with his family on 3-4 February 1681, although he stayed not in the palace but in the newly erected Argyll’s Lodging nearby. James made a careful inspection of the castle and recommended to the Privy Council that a new powder magazine be built (NAS E6/3. p 350). Not surprisingly, this recommendation was promptly acted upon. Tobias Bauchop was given the contract for its erection in March 1681 and it was erected in the garden to the north of the King’s Old Building, where it still stands (NAS E28/240/3/2; Fawcett 1995, 81-2).

Bauchop benefited from the patronage of the Earl of Mar. His home was at Alloa, close to the seat of the earl, Alloa Tower. He enlarged Alloa church in 1680-2 and he constructed his own house in Kirk Gate, Alloa, dated 1695. Sir William Bruce recommended him to the Duke of Hamilton, in 1692 as ‘a fit person to build your palace at Hamilton’ (NAS GD406/1/9760). Bauchope worked as a master Mason alongside Sir William Bruce at Hopetoun House and at Bruce’s own home, Kinross House.

The Duke of York’s presence prompted another campaign of work on the castle. On 19 March 1681 an estimate was compiled of the repairs needed to the castle. For once there was a positive comment, that ‘The six great roomes in the palace are already in repair, and so is the two roomes above them’ (NAS E7/2. page 391). The ‘six great roomes’ are easily identifiable with the state rooms of the principal floor. It is interesting that only two rooms of the upper floor are mentioned. It is likely that the ones referred to were those that were part of the royal apartments above the king’s bedchamber, accessible from the king’s closer via the privy stair, and that these were the same as ‘Buckinghameis tua chammeris’ that were listed in Valentine Jenkin’s account of 1629 (MW II, 256).

Another report of dated 18 July 1682 was critical of the structural condition of the castle, in particular the condition of the roof of the palace: ‘the slait roof of this palace must be pointed and helped in severall of the flankers or run roofs’ [main roofs of the building]. It also recommended that that a slater should be employed on a yearly basis to maintain the roofs. If 115

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this was not the case in the past, it would explain the rapid decay of the fabric. The report also pointed out the need for a stair to the upper floor of the palace (NAS E37/24).

The priorities in the work schedule show the shift in the role of the castle further away from a royal residence to the castle purely as a fortress. Discontent was rife in a country torn by religious and ideological differences, where active opposition was encouraged by a repressive regime. In March 1685 an attempted rising by the Earl of Argyll emphasised the continuing role of the castle as a fortress. The castle as provisioned for a possible siege and the king’s and queen’s bedchambers were converted into a granary by James McLeland between 19 May and 24 Sept 1685, 328 ells of timber being purchased ‘for Lyning the King and Queene’s Bedchameres for holding of meall’ (EUL Laing MS 87/6). In 1688 the castle garrison was increased by another company of 100 soldiers and 54 new timber beds were ordered for the new ‘highland souldiers’ (NAS E28/ 472/ 16/2). James McCleland, wright, was commissioned to lay two platforms, presumably for artillery, ‘in the place called my Ladies holl’ , today known as the Ladies Lookout (NAS E28/579/1/9), The roof of the ‘the haill roof of the palace & ludgings’ was repaired late in 1688, this time with blue and gray slate by the slater, John Kevine (NAS E28/473/1/1; NAS E28/473/1/2). Further adaptations were needed when the royal munitions magazine was moved from Edinburgh Castle to Stirling, especially as the floor of the recently erected powder magazine in the castle had collapsed. A Treasury order of 27 Sept 1688 shows how military pressures was stripping away any aura of majesty that the outer rooms of the palace may have possessed by utilising the King’s Guard Hall as a munitions store.

It being his Majesties pleasure to remove his magazine in Edinburgh Castle to his Castle of Stirling; You are therefore ordered to have in readiness for that effect the great Guardhall The Roome on the syd of the Castle where the powder was laterly lodged (when the floor of the powder magazine did break) as also the Kings Guard hall within the palace, and that the soldiers of the garrison be aiding and assisting in transporting of the Amunition from the shoare to the said Castle.. (NAS E7/5, f7r)

A report by William, third duke of Hamilton, in 20 May 1689, stressed the need to strengthen the defences by filling with earth the vaults under the batteries. He also recommended that ‘there must be new platforms on all the batteries in the castle’ (NLS MS 577, no 65). James McCleland, wright, was contracted on 22 Jan 1688 to ‘lay two plateformes in the place called my Ladys holl’, presumably for guns. It was also required that he shall ‘make a new door and 116

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hang the same and close in the place commonly called where the devill flew out (NAS E28/579/1/9). Unfortunately the latter location remains enigmatic. In June 1689 Tobias Bauchope was contracted to create a new gun battery on the site of the former kitchens on the east side of the castle. The same contract included the erection of a battery with three gun ports ‘in that part of the castle called the bowling green’, probably the southern casemates of the present defences (NAS E28/579/11/2). The latter created a line of fire parallel with that of the southern battery of the Ladies’ Lookout. Bauchope provided all the building materials required and when paid for the work in the December of that year he was described by Colonel Lauder as ‘Tobias Bauchop entrepreneur’, a very early use of the term in English (E28/579/11/1). The rebellion of 1689 and the battle of Killiecrankie in the July of that year fully justified this extra expense.

The two main rooms on the south side, the Queen’s Guard Hall and the Queen’s Presence chamber may have been used as formal reception rooms by the Governor. The doorway at the north end of the wall that divided the two rooms was blocked and another opened in the centre of the wall,. This created a continuous vista from the entry into the Guard Hall to the door of the bedchamber, an enfilade effect that satisfied contemporary fashion. The lintels of the fireplaces in both the Queen’s Presence chamber and Queen’s Guard Hall have a row of horizontal dooks (P:09.1.036 and 037.; P:11.3.062-5) drilled into the stone which may have supported an elaborate overmantle fitting for public rooms of this period.

THE GOVERNOR’S RESIDENCE IN A HANOVERIAN STRONGHOLD In 1689 Charles Erskine, Earl of Mar, died. He was succeeded by his eldest son, John Erskine (1675-1732) who became 6th Earl of Mar. Mary Maule, the former wife of Charles Erskine, married Col John Erskine, the son of Sir Charles Erskine of Alva on 29 April 1697. Col John Erskine was Deputy Governor of Stirling Castle. So the situation arose whereby the Earl was Governor of the castle and his mother, who still retained the title of Countess of Mar, was married to the Governor. The Countess’s second son was James Erskine, was educated as a lawyer and became lord justice clerk of the Court of Session and Lord Grange in 1710. John initially pursued a very successful political career with the Tory government, acting as a Commissioner for the Union. After the Union he was made a representative peer for Scotland and in 1713 he was appointed Secretary of State. On 6 April 1703 he married Margaret daughter of Thomas Hay, later 7th Earl of Kinnoull in Twickenham. The marriage was short-lived, as 117

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Margaret died in 1707, at the age of 20. Mar married again in 1714 to Lady Frances Pierrepont, sister of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. He was an enthusiastic amateur architect. In 1711 he produced drawings for the layout of the grounds of Secretary Johnson’s house in Twickenham. Mar was a friend of the architect, James Gibb, who on his death left a generous bequest to Mar’s son in gratitude for favours received from the Earl. The Earl’s architectural ambitions found expression in Scotland with the remodelling of his seat at Alloa Tower and the laying out of an extensive designed landscape there. His interest in Stirling may have waned after his second marriage

With the succession of the Hanoverian George I and the subsequent fall of the Tory party in 1714 and, the Earl of Mar lost office and influence. He headed north to Scotland where he declared his support of the Jacobite cause and on 6 September 1715 raised the royal standard stating the rebellion. After the defeat of the Jacobite forces, the Earl went into exile in France. He was deprived of his estates and titles and thereafter the governorship of the castle was awarded to various distinguished army commanders.

Following the accession of the 6th Earl of Mar, the work in the palace became more concentrated on providing a fashionable residence on its upper floor for himself as Governor and for his mother, the Countess of Mar, who was the wife of the resident Deputy Governor. The palace during this period therefore functioned as a minor stately home, the residence of the Countess of Mar who, although her financial circumstances were diminished, was still a premier member of the Scottish elite society and, as such, intensely aware of the demands of fashionable society. The King’s Presence Chamber and the two bedchambers are shown as empty on the plan of 1719 by Thomas Moore (NLS MS 1646.Z.02/18c) and it is likely that they remained empty, still a symbol of the royal presence and in theoretical readiness for a royal visit.

The Earl of Mar was able to use his influence to obtain generous funding for the upkeep of the palace. A total of £10,531.15s 10d spent during 1699-1703 on the palace from Treasury funds. In 1706 a Royal Charter was issued granting John, Earl of Mar, duties from Stirling and Clackmannanshire and the Stewartry of Montieth ‘for upholding and keeping in good repair the roof of our palace in the Castle of Stirling (GD124/11/51/1).

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ROOF WORK The surviving accounts of this period give some indication of the changes to the fabric of the building. Further alterations to the roof took place from October 1690, continuing into the following year. The account of slate and mason work by William Jack during 1690 and 1691 shows work being carried out on the west side of the palace ‘building up the battalliges [battlements] in the southwest and pointing all the west of the Batlings about the house and making needle holes for the Scaffold & filling them up again’. Two masons spent sixteen days ‘hewing and ragling & setting the couples of the toofall [lean-to roof]’. New timber couples were made for the roof of the ‘long trance’ and sarking boards under the slates (NAS E28/579/15/1). The precise location of the long trance is unclear, as it may have been applied either to the upper west gallery (U:31) or the corridor on the north side of the palace (U:03), however, given the accompanying entries, it is probably the former.

Other slating work carried out at this time included repairing the ‘storme windowes [dormer windows] of the insyde of the palace’ with grey slate. This indicates the existence of dormers on the upper part of the Lion’s Den elevation before the later heightening gave the wall heads their present appearance.

William Jack, the slater, has left a dramatic account of battling with the weather when called to repair a leaking roof over the ‘girnell’ – the granary that still occupied the former royal bedchambers. The collapse of scaffolding resulted in four men being seriously injured and he wrote a graphic petition requesting payment for the surgeon’s expenses incurred by the accident, which the then Master of Works, Sir Archibald Murray of Blackbarony, had refused to pay (NAS E28/473/36). Its style contrasts with the mundane accounts that make up most of the documentation for the building works:

The humble petitione of William Jack sclaitter Showeth That Wherupon the moneth of October last I being imployed by Sir Archibald Murray of Black Barrony their Majesties Master of work for repairing of the sclaitt Roofes of the Castle of Stirling And accordingly I went thither and entered to work. And in December last thereafter the wind arose so considerably so that therby a great pairt of the roof wes firred [agitated/ disturbed]. And the Battlements cloven over Which is notourly [by common knowledge] knowen to the Governours and all the rest of the officers in 119

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the Garison ther, So that I wes necessitate to desire the Master of work to apply to the Lords of Privie Counsell for ane order to press sclaitters for forewarding of the said work; which order wes accordingly granted And efterwards in february also last the wind haven broke out in severall places and parlly over the Meall Girnells And the store master having Complained to the Master of work there anent of the meall in the Girnell being somewhat spoiled and damnified, I wes ordained by the said Master to continue at work in repairing theirof Notwithstanding of the inseasonableness of the year And in the lyne of the said work The Scaffold throw the great violence of the storm brock And four of my men haveing therby fallen off the Insyde of the Palace, four house hight, So that two of them have therby their armes broke and two of them their armes disjointed. The expenses to a Chirurgeone in nursing of them – The Master of work refuses to lett the same bestated in my accompt of work ther. And in June last The work being wholly finished and measured by two sworne measurers ther. The Mr of work notwithstanding therof sent one intrusted be him from this place thither and caused measure the same of new again upon my expenses also.. The tyme of the said work which Continued from October 1690 to June last…

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FLOORS The surviving fragments of floor boards in the north-west room (U:10) are contemporary with the panelling of that room. The boards are of an unusual form, having loose tongues rebated on their underside, in contrast with the tongue and groove construction of the more recent floors.

The floor of U:10 showing additional narrower timbers and herring bone strutting.

WINDOWS The transformation of the palace into a fashionable residence in the later 17th century required the refurbishment of the windows. This initially seems to have involved the enlarging of the dormer windows of the upper floor. The previous windows of the upper floor had been were set back behind the parapet, as shown in the late 17th century view by John Slezer, ‘The Prospect of Her Maties Castle of Sterling (Cavers 1993, 25) and an 18th century view of the north facade of the palace (RCAHMS 1963, pl 88A). The new windows were brought forward across the wall walk, their openings piercing the crenellations. The ‘storm’ [dormer] window above the kinges bed challmer’ was dismantled and enlarged in September 1672 (NAS E36/34/41/ page 14). This can be identified as the east window in U:14. 121

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The late 17th century witnessed a transformation in window design prompted by developments both in glass technology and in the construction of windows. Advances in France from 1660s had led to the development of high quality spun glass, sometimes known as ‘Normandy glass’ that was in great demand in fashionable circles for use both in mirrors and in windows. Sash windows, counter balanced and lifted with lines and pulleys, were an innovation which appears in the royal palace of Whitehall in 1669 (Louw 1983, 63). The idea was embraced by the Earl (later Duke) of Lauderdale who during the period c.1670-80 incorporated sash windows in extensive building works at his London residences of Ham House, Surrey and Lauderdale House, Highgate, and also at his three Scottish houses, Thirlestane Castle, Brunstane Castle and Lethington Castle (Dunbar 1975, 224-5). They became fashionable during the latter years of the 17th century, displacing the earlier casement windows, especially for principal floors and elevations (Ayres 2003, 77-8).

London joiners, experienced in work at the royal palaces there, specialised in the making of the new form of windows. The normal procedure for distant orders was for a prototype to be made in London, which would be copied by local joiners. When the Duke of Hamilton wished to have new windows for Hamilton Palace he took the Edinburgh wright, James McLellan, to London during the winter of 1693-4. There McLellan inspected work done by the Office of Works for the royal palaces and was instructed in the making of sash windows in the workshop of Charles Hopson. The latter then made two prototypes which were sent to Hamilton via Edinburgh (Louw & Crayford 1999, 188). These two windows were the pattern for the windows in the rest of the building. A similar procedure seems to have occurred at Stirling where the accounts for 1699 to 1703 include the fitting of sash windows. Most of the work was done by local craftsmen but a ‘double sash window’ that was paid for in Edinburgh and then despatched to Stirling by water in a special box is likely to have been a prototype similar to that made for Hamilton.

Payments in the accounts include ‘pins’ for the wheels of the ‘darkening boords’ [shutters] (NAS E37/33/ f11r) and also pins for the ‘paces [weights]. ‘Paces’ [weights, modern Scots ‘paise’] were cast for a window of 32 panes (NAS E37/31.f14v). Payments were made for pins for the weights (NAS E37/3.f12v).

Pulleys and ‘buttones’ were bought in Stirling (NAS E37/31.f22r). The term ‘buttons’ was sometimes used for were catches fitted to stop the window rattling; such buttons were fitted on 122

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windows at Whitehall during 1699-1700 (Louw & Crayford 1999, 219). It was more frequently applied, however, to a fitting for lifting the sash (Louw & Crayford 1999, 222-23).

Once the sashes were made, glass was ordered and fitted. The purchase of 232 large panes of French glass is recorded in 1702-3 (NAS E37/33. f 29v). The Stirling glazier, John Don, fitted the glass, he was paid 530 panes of glass at 8s per piece £212 [Scots]. He also cast the weights and coloured the sashes. One item, possibly an unusual piece, was ‘a Chass window of 32 Pains at £1 per piece is £32 [Scots]’. The accounts record John Don being paid a total of £223 6s 6d [Scots] for his work but he seems to have grossly underestimated the cost involved and was allowed £24 Scots, ‘he having beend a great loss by the bargain’ (NAS E37/33 f14v).

The introduction of sash windows meant modifications not only to the window openings but also to the reveals. The reveals of the window held the pulley boxes that contained the weights. Shutters were mounted on the pulley box which when closed formed a facing for the reveal. The shutters themselves were faced on the inside by the architrave of the window.

The exact whereabouts not normally specified. Payments in 1702-3 included one for a little window on the east side of the palace that looks into the Lion’s Den.

Early astragals (glazing bars) were heavy in section, often with a semi-circular profile Louw & Crayford 1999, 215). Many of the astragals on the principal floor have an ovolo section with a fillet, similar to early 18th century examples. These include all the windows on the north and east side of the palace (with the exception of the restored window P:W05) and two windows on the north side of the Queen’s outer chamber (P:W38 and 40). The existing windows of the principal floor may have been last to be replaced, not being occupied at the time. They may date to 1720-30, and can be compared to those at James Johnston’s pavilion, Twickenham of 170 (Louw & Crayford 1999, 215) and the post-1730 alteration of Ham House.

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A reused door of c.1700, one of two similar door cut down and reused as a closet doors in U:20.

Panelled doors were introduced c.1700. Two early examples of two-panelled doors survive, cut down in size and reused on closets off U:20. By the late 18th century the four-panelled door with a central muntin was becoming standard and is found on most of the doors of the upper floor.

In 1699, in a contract for the sutlery of the castle, the garrison is said to be 100 men (NAS GD124/11/46). In 1693 John Keirie of Gogar was granted the tack of the sutlary, together with the brewing and other equipment (NAS GD124/11/46).

EARLY 18TH CENTURY By the beginning of the 18th century Stirling had become increasingly important as a stronghold in a country where opposition to proposals for union with England combined with support for the Jacobite cause to fuel potential rebellion. The castle witnessed major building campaigns in the early 18th century, in particular the massive remodelling of the outer defences. Work on the palace continued; surviving accounts detail many changes during the 124

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period 1699 to 1703 although their useful is often limited by problems in identifying the exact location of the specific work.

The principal floor saw little major change during this period. Defoe, visiting Stirling on his tour of 1724-6 commented that ‘The palace and royal apartments are very magnificent, but all in decay’ (Defoe 1726, Letter 12). There are a few references to the principal floor of the palace in the accounts of 1699-1703. One is an enigmatic reference to the taking down of a partition ‘where the arms was’ and for taking down ‘the heads of the arms were the arms lay’ (NAS E37/33/ f 6v). These may have been fittings surviving in the King’s Presence Chamber, although the obscurity of the reference is such that both the subject and location must remain uncertain. The doorway from the Queen’s Guard Hall (P:11) into the Queen’s Presence Chamber (P:09) was moved into a central position, the earlier doorway being blocked. Traces of red paint remained on the mouldings of the doors and a simple red wash on the lower part of some walls. This red paint continued across the blocking of the earlier doorway between the Queen’s Guard Hall and the Queen’s Presence and may be attributed to the early 18th century. Analysis of similar paint traces near floor level showed that the red paint lay over at least eight layers of whitewash under which there was a thin coating of black (charcoal).

Most work took place on the upper floor of the palace. One part of this was the insertion of new fireplaces. These are described as ‘concave chimneys’ or simply ‘concaves’. These can be identified as the bolection-moulded chimney pieces, with fine concave stone sides to their interiors, which survive in some rooms today. Three of these ‘concaves’ needed to be ‘carried up to the head’: presumably new chimneys or at least new lining (NAS E37/33/ f 7r). Some needed alterations at the hearthstones. Costs for alterations to the west chamber on the North side of the palace (U:04) included the dressing of the hearthstone and setting ‘pigs’ (chimney pots. In the Prince’s Tower (M:01), a new fireplace was inserted within the 16th century one. This latter fireplace had fine roll moulding in a shallow ogee on its lintel.

The creation of more modern windows on the upper floor involved the raising of the wall head c.0.8m above the former string course around the north, south and west sides of the Lion’s Den. Evidence of earlier mullioned windows can be seen on the north side of the Lion’s Den. These replaced dormer windows, which are shown faintly on Moore’s section of 1719 (NLS MS1646 Z02/18a). The raising of the wall head involved alterations to the roof with additional rafters added to its lower half. The heightening of the window openings involved cutting back the 125

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rafters of the roof timbers and supporting them with bridles. There was a payment for ‘cutting the roof for a long window in the C room crydling it’ (NAS E37/33/ f 23).

The need for a major stair to the upper floor, a lack pointed out in the report of 1682, was remedied at this time. The accounts for 1699-1703 include the sum of £80 to Thomas Bachop, mason:

For building a scale [straight] stair; six foot broad, to the second storey of the palace, with a plat [landing], conforme to draught, and for making a door through the dike from the platt to the Kitchine Court and for heightening that dike as high as the Eising [eaves] of the kitchine’. (NAS E37/33/ f 8r)

This stair, the present access to the upper floor, is shown on Dury’s plan of c1708 (NLS MS1646 Z02/16a). Another plan by Theodore Dury (NLS MS1646 Z02/17), dated on uncertain grounds to 1708, shows a proposed great staircase in the re-entrant angle between the palace and the governor’s kitchen, at the north end of the Ladies’ Lookout. This scheme for a staircase more suitable to the status of the residence may have proceeded to the first stages of construction. The accounts of the mason, Tobias Bauchop, for work carried out between October 1709 and July 1710 included the construction of a foundation for a stair to the palace (PRO WO53/446):

Imprimis Ane rood of Rough Work at the foundation of the Great Stair caise in the palace of the said Castle Item labourers digging the foundations thairof

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Rough work consisted of walls of rubble construction, in contrast to freestone work. The rood used here may be the English measure of length, 16.5 feet, rather than the Scots unit of area. It may be that the foundation was finished first with the intention to allow it to stand and settle over the winter, before further construction was undertaken, a practice recommended by William Bruce for Hamilton Palace (NAS GD406/1/9760).

At about the same time a door (U:04.4) was slapped through the wall ‘from the Gallery to the stairhead (NAS E37/33. f 8r). This may have replaced an earlier door which opened onto the north trance, the studs of which are visible in the lower part of the partition wall. The doorway to the gallery has the lugged architraves characteristic of the work of c.1700 in the place. It indicates that the floor of the gallery was raised to its present level by this date.

Some rooms on the upper floor can be identified from references in the accounts. There was a dining room in the ‘South Palace’ (NAS E37/33/ f 6r). Other accounts refer to the C: room. This may refer to the room of the Countess of Mar. One account among those for the period 16991703 mentions a payment for work on ‘the lumb [chimney] of the Kings bed chamber and the C: room that looks towards the Lyons den’ (NAS E37/33/ f 27r). This would place the C: room above the King’s bedchamber, that is, in U:14. This may be presumed to be the room referred to as ‘my Ladies’ chamber’ elsewhere in the accounts of the same period. This work may be identified as the insertion of a fireplace in the upper floor chamber (U:14) which is positioned immediately to the south and adjacent to the chimney of the earlier fireplace of the King’s Bedchamber, which it shares. The work would involve the insertion of a new flue to serve the upper room. The 16th century ceiling was pierced and was trimmed to create a support for the new hearthstone and its brick substructure. The large brick-blocked opening in the chimney breast of the King’s Bedchamber may have been created as part of this fireplace insertion. The insertion of a fireplace in U:14 is likely to relate to the creation of that room as a separate living space contemporary with the erection of the stud wall dividing it from the room to the north (U:12).

A large number of structural alterations were carried out to the C: room in the early months of 1703, mainly concerning access. This involved the creation or enlarging of passages between rooms. Masons and joiners spent four weeks working on ‘the trance that goes from the C: room to the other syde of the palace’ (NAS E37/33/ f 23r – 26r). This may be the corridor (U:18) at the south-east angle of the Lion’s Den that utilises an earlier intermural space. 127

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The north side of U:10 with the buffet niche to the right.

A number of dining rooms are mentioned in the accounts, but it is difficult to be certain as to their locations. Their proliferation may reflect the continuation of the division of fashionable living quarters into individual apartments. A component of the dining room was the buffet niche, a shelved alcove often with elaborate surrounds that enhanced the architectural presence of a room. Corner buffets were also popular in parlours (Gow 1994). One example survives in the palace, in U:10, with three scalloped shelves below a shell head, the shape of the shelves being intended for the display of fine porcelain. The moulded architrave is a later addition. There are documentary references to the insertion of wall cupboards (presses) in dining rooms that may have been buffet niches. One such details the alteration of the flooring and the working of seven boards ‘for cleading of it within (NAS E37/33/ f 6v). Some buffet niches may have reused previous intermural spaces, such as close stool closets but in at least one case the wall was ‘slapped’ in order to build a cupboard (NAS E37/33/ f 27r).

The Prince’s Tower seems to have continued as a separate suite of rooms. One room (P:10) functioned as a bedroom, details of which are shown on the plan of 1708 by Dury (NLS MS1646 Z02/16a). The room was entered via the now blocked doorway in the west wall, adjacent to the turnpike stair. There was a bed alcove on the east wall formed by flanking closets. That on the south led, via the present door from the Prince’s Walk, to a smaller chamber placed in the angle 128

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between the east wall of the Prince’s Tower and the south wall of the Queen’s Presence Chamber. On the north wall of P:10 the plan depicts what appears to be a blocked fireplace.

The room above in the Prince’s Tower (M:01) had a new chimneypiece inserted inside the preexisting fireplace. This had an ogee lintel with narrow roll moulding with a central quirk. The sides of this chimneypiece are not in situ but many fragments are reused in the build of the later reconstruction of this fireplace. This includes what appears to be a dressed-back section of the concave interior of the fireplace, reused above the lintel curve (RCAHMS 1956, 173, fig 202).

The work recorded for 1699-1703 included raising the floor of the transe on the north side of the palace levelling the joists levelled (NAS E37/33/ f 6r). ‘Walling boords’ (skirting boards, dados?) were then fixed in place after the floor was altered (NAS E37/33/ f 6v). The north-west room of the upper floor (U:10) retains many features of late 17th century or early 18th century date. Here a coved ceiling has been carried up into the roof space. This has replaced the lower collar rafter of the roof structure, making the ceiling contemporary or later than the present roof construction. The room has panelling of a late 17th century or early 18th century date, although the architraves of the door and window openings have been replaced c.1800. The fireplace has bolection moulding with a fine concave interior. Fragments of early floor boarding survive, with loose tongues set in rebates on the lower sides of the boards. It is a single floor, that is, the boards are carried directly on the beams. Thin strips of timber laid on the upper surface of the beams provided a level bedding for boards and compensated for the sagging of the earlier beams.

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The ‘concave’ fireplace and panelling in the north-east room of the upper floor (U:10).

Some of the door surrounds in the northern part of the upper floor retain lugged architraves, for example, in the corridor (U:03) and in U:09, a form common from the late seventeenth century. These were favoured by the architect, Tobias Bauchop, who used it for his own house, dated 1695, at Alloa (Gifford and Walker 2002, 157). None of these doorways have contemporary doors; all have been replaced at a later date. Two examples of two-panelled doors of this period do survive, however, cut down in size and reused on the doors of closets (U:21 and U:22). Their original provenance is unknown.

All the above alterations seem to have concentrated on the higher status residential aspects of the castle, possibly to the neglect of the military. A letter from the Earl of Mar to Sir David Nairn, dated 29 October 1706, described the poor condition of the garrison (Mar & Kellie p 305):

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The castle of Stirline, of which I have the command, is mightily out of repair, and hardly a gun mounted, and there is not five barrels of powder in it. There’s no beds within it for the soldiers to ly [sic] in; by all which you may see how litle service it cou’d be of it if there were anything to be done, and how easily it might be taken.

The Act of Union, which took place on 19 March 1707, was far from being universally accepted in Scotland and opposition to it encouraged lent support to the abortive Franco-Jacobite invasion of 1708 which sought to place James Francis Edward Stewart, the son of James VII and II on the throne of Scotland. The almost successful landing near Burntisland of an army that had the capture of Stirling castle as a prime objective stressed the need for military strongholds in a potentially insecure North Britain (Gibson 1988, 122). Captain Theodore Dury, engineer of Scotland, surveyed Stirling Castle in June 1708 and reported on its condition to the Board of Ordnance (NAS GD124/15/831/12). One immediate effect of the 1708 rebellion was the arrest of a large number of Jacobite supporters, including many prominent members of the aristocracy. These were imprisoned in the castles of Edinburgh and Stirling creating problems of accommodation for the respective governors. Prisoners at Stirling castle included prominent members of the Scottish nobility, a number of who were related to the governor and his wife. For the Countess of Mar, the problem of housing these prisoners was more related to that of hosting an over large house party than running a gaol. On 11 April 1708 the Countess of Mar wrote of how crowded the castle was. Further suitable accommodation was in short supply and another prisoner, the Earl of Saltoun, was about to arrive. All that was available was ‘the two great roomes in the low palace which is the King & Queens bed Chambers’, ‘those two great lone rooms where there is no furniture’ that were still kept empty as before in readiness for the monarch (GD124/15/771/ 8).

The crisis of 1707 over, the Countess of Mar concentrated on decorating her apartments in the most fashionable way. She was eager to obtain printed (or possibly painted) wallpaper, probably of Chinese origin, a recent innovation in interior design, as shown by her letter of 5 May 1708 (GD124/15/771/10) to her son Mar’s brother, James Erskine:

Let me know the price of the prittiest stamp paper for lyning of rooms, & by the next I will wyrt how much I need, I will tae anie that is showing except blew because some here [damaged].

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Her next letter of 29 May 1708 shows how eagerly the arrival of the wallpaper was anticipated and how its request was followed with another for items of Chinoserie: little stools and two stoops [platform steps] for her bed. The latter were to be decorated with ‘black Japan ground & a little green, & red flowering, & gilding’ to complement the existing decoration of the cornice of the bed. Such decor had increased in popularity from the late 17th century, encouraged by the Dutch East India Company’s decision to import cheaper, Chinese, copies of Japanese lacquer furniture to European patterns (Impey 1989, 182-4). The letter also requests that her brother sends a coachman (GD124/15/771/11):

Coll Easkine made me expect that y[ou] wo[ul]d have caused send the stamped paper last week so soon as thy comes to y[our] hand I intreat you cause immediatlie buy it, & if the carrier will not stay so long then send an express w[ith] it because I must have the dressing room readie for y[our] Brother send also the little kean [word erased] stools w[ith] black frames Japan… I hope you immediatlie cause buy the paper hangings & send them & ye litile stools w[it]h ye bearer & also I intreat that you cause buy for me two Japan half stoops for my own bed but I would have them like ye Cornice w[hi]ch is black Japan ground & a little green, & red flowering, & gilding so I wo[ul]d have ye gilding appear most so Dear James if possible send them wt ye bearer as near what I have written as they can be got for there is one here just now to cut ye foot stoops of ye bed… I must beg you to send a coachman..for we was alone all winter, & now to be prisoners all summer is a litile hard.

A small trace of printed wallpaper has been identified in a former closet (U:1`5). This has a pattern consisting of a dark outlined loop encircling dots. The ‘litil [sic] stools’ probably had large squared cushions, known as squabs or carreau, constructed with vertical sides like a mattress. A pair of these could accompany a grand bed (Thorton 1978, 181). The next letter of 7 June 1708 requested more painted wallpaper, and a mirror was added to the list of desired furniture. Meanwhile, although the coachman had arrived, the Countess was still immobile as her old horse had died (GD124/15/771/12):

My D C I had yrs wt ye Coachman, but we are yet like to be prisoners for ye old horse is so failed yt there is no going wt him.. Send wt ye bearer six ells more of ye painted paper for ye room needs it, & also ye square litile stools & a litile dressing looking glass,.. so pray cause some of ye servants tell Mr Moubray to speak to y[ou]r Brother yt he may direct him to make a cornice for ye foot pand & he sqith yt finishing in place of ye half 132

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stops upon it, & it must be Japan like ye high cornice w[hi]ch is black ground, & red & green painting, & in ye midle & ye corners gilding, so cause tell Moubrie yt ye length of ye bed is two ell, & ye breed a ell & a half.

The most notable changes during this period were those concerning access. A new stair was created in the north-west of the palace and another at the south east. The latter, following on from the partial demolition of the gatehouse and forework, descended in the south side of the Queen’s Bedchamber (P:07) to the door that formerly served the now demolished Queen’s Closets. The stair is shown on the plan of 1733 (NLS MS 1649 Z46/58). The turnpike stair in the Prince’s Tower continued in use as a link to the upper floor but the former Privy stair (U:13) may have been blocked at this time, its upper landing converted into a wall cupboard.

‘Plan of the Governor’s apartments at Stirling Castle’ dated 1733 (NLS MS1649 Z46/58).

The layout of the upper floor during this period is documented on two plans, one of 1719 by Thomas Moore (NLS MS1646.Z02/18a) and a more detailed ‘Plan of the Governor’s apartments at Stirling Castle’ dated 1733 (NLS MS1649 Z46/58). These two plans show the arrangement of rooms, and the former plan shows the position of beds. From this information it is possible to 133

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deduce a little of the organisation of the upper floor. The fashionable arrangement of interior rooms was for each important individual in the household to have their own apartments, a development of the earlier royal chambers. These would consist of a chamber and a bed chamber. Bedchambers could be used as intimate reception rooms whilst adjacent dressing rooms could also be used as private sitting rooms. The present layout of the rooms on this floor preserves much of this early 18th century layout.

The upper floor appears to have consisted of a number of these apartments of two rooms, although differences in the plans show that minor changes in layout took place in the early 18th century. The rooms to the north of the Lion’s Den consisted of two apartments, each of two rooms that in 1733 were entered via a lobby (U05) off the northern corridor. The eastern-most apartment was the better appointed of the two, connecting with a dining room (U10) to the east, the usage of the latter identifiable by the buffet niche in its eastern wall. To the south of this dining room was another apartment of two rooms. The southernmost of these (U:14) occupied the whole width of the building, as today, but the northern room (U:12) had a corridor on its eastern side. Moore’s plan of 1719 shows that here only the southern room had a bed. The access to the Privy stair from U:14 is not shown on the 1719 plans when it was presumably already blocked, although the plans are not accurate enough in their details for this to be confirm this with certainty. In the south-west corner of the upper floor there was larger room, probably another dining room. The rooms between this and the eastern side of the palace (U23-28) were occupied by the housekeeper rooms (they are identified as such on the 1719 plan). This section had access to both the larger of the dining rooms and, in a discrete manner, to the apartment to the east. It also had access to the service areas at vault level via the turnpike stair in the Prince’s Tower.

The access from the southern part of the palace into the eastern rooms (U14 and U12) is shown in simplified form on the plan of 1719. The plan of 1733 (NLS MS 1649 Z46/58), however, shows it similar to its present form but with a doorway opening from U:17 to U:14, not from U:18 to U:16 as today. This blocked doorway is visible in the remains of the present wooden partition wall. The two smaller spaces, U:15 and U:16, are shown in 1733 (NLS MS 1649 Z46/58) as closets entered from U:14. They do not appear on Moore’s plan of 1719. The doorway in U:16.3 is marked as ‘opened’ in a pencil amendment to the 1733 plan. U:17 is likewise marked ‘pantry’ and the doorway to the E is shown blocked.

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There were two closets U:21/22 attached to the south side room in the south-east corner of the palace are not shown on the plan of 1719 but the plan of 1733 (NLS MS 1649 Z46/58) shows them as one space entered from the W, alongside the stair up from the principal level. The present doors from the north reuse 17th doors, suggesting that this room had a low status use. The wooden partition wall that forms the northern wall of the closets U:22.1 is shown on both the plans of 1719 and 1733 as dividing the window to the E (U:W07).

Records of alterations to the vault rarely appear in the record but an account of James Allan, painter, dated 28 October 1710 includes work on two doors ‘laitlie strocken out in the vaults under the palace’ (PRO WO54/446).

Plan of the upper floor and section through the palace, by Thomas Moore, 1719 (NLS MS 1646 Z02/18a).

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THE GOVERNOR’S KITCHEN The area to the north-west of the palace was, in the period, a conglomerate of rooms connected with the kitchens. There are many references to kitchens and associated rooms in the 17th century but with the duplication of cooking areas within the castle it is difficult to tie documentation to structure. The buildings to the north-west of the palace were certainly in use as kitchens in the late 17th century and it is possible that payment in 1628-9 for the ‘platfurme to the heid of the stairis of the highe kitching’ (MW II, 254) refers to this area. Access to the upper floor may have been through a doorway at the extreme west end of the north facade of the palace. A blocked doorway is visible on the north wall of P01 over, and to the west of, the present entrance at the level of the floor of the upper gallery before it was raised to its present level.

Between 1699 and 1703, improved access to the upper floor was achieved by the building of a scale stair (i.e. one with a landing) six feet wide leading up from the Upper Square. This stair was enclosed by 1719, probably as part of the works commenced in 1708. The Board of Ordnance plans of the early 18th century show this stair, although they can be unreliable in details. It is shown on Dury’s plans of c.1708 as a straight stair terminating at the north-west corner of the palace (NLS MS1646 Z.02/16a and 16b). The upper section of the stair is not shown, although it may have existed then and was not shown on a ground floor plan. The stair in its present form is shown on Thomas Moore’s plan of 1719 (NLS MS1646 Z.02/18a). It is also depicted on an undated 18th century drawing of the south side of the Inner Close in the Bodleian Library (NMRS STD/136/111).

The accounts of 1699-1703 include payments that can be identified with alterations to structures in this area, some as a result of the erection of this stair. James Allan, wright, made a ‘slap’ (opened a doorway) between the ‘bouthouse’ and the pigeon house, (NAS E37/33.f 6r). The ‘bouthouse’ was a place where flour was bolted, that is, sifted through a cloth, called a bolting cloth, to separate the flour from the bran. The new stair provided the possibility of new access to the upper floor of the kitchin buildings to the north-west of the palace. A door (U:D33) was created ‘through the dike from the platt [landing: U:01A] to the Kitchine Court and for heightening that dike as high as the Eising [eaves]of the kitchin’ (NAS E37/33.f 8r). This doorway remains as access to the upper floor of the former kitchens.

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The more detailed plans of 1719 by Thomas Moore mark the different rooms of the ground floor and first floor and describe their use (NLS MS 1646 Z02/18a and 18b). They show the adaptation of the buildings in this area to a series of service uses. Area P16 is shown as the Governor’s kitchen, approached as today down a short flight of steps in its north-east corner. The space was divided approximately in half by a north-south wall, the eastern half of this structure appearing from the simplified plan to be secondary. An oven projected through the southern part of the west wall of P16 into the adjacent P18, which is marked on the 1719 plan as a yard. The present open space to the south of the King’s Old Building (S07) was a yard in 1719, marked as a passage to the latrine, the ‘Bogg House’ (P19), a one-storey structure placed between two larger buildings. Above the central part of this passage was a doocote. The remains of the floor of this structure survive as remnants of springing of vaulting visible on the south gable of the King’s Old Building. Above the western part of this yard, over the present P20, there was an oven with its mouth to the north in the bakehouse, (P24).

Detail of a plan of 1719 by Thomas Moore showing the upper floor of the Governor’s Kitchen (NLS MS 1646 Z18a). C: The Wood House; D: Bakehouse for the Garrison; E: The Oven; F: Dove House: G: The Yard; H: Infirmary; I: Governor’s kitching.

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Detail of plan of 1719 by Thomas Moore showing the ground floor of the Governor’s kitchen (NLS MS1646 Z02/18b). K: beer cellar; L: passage to ‘Bogg House’; M: yards; N: Governors kitchen; O: oven; P: ‘Bogg House’; R: infirmary; Q: stairs.

Detail of a plan of the principal floor (right) and vaults (left) of the palace by Thomas Moore, 1719 (NLS MS 1646 Z02/18c). Principal floor: A: Soldiers’ barracks; B: empty rooms; C: store rooms for the castle provisions; D: passages; E: door going on to the rampart; F: Lion’s Den. Vaults: A: door going to the rampart; B: door going to the Lieutenant’s lodgings; C: vaults belonging to the Lieutenant’s lodgings for coals, beer and a stable; D: the sutling rooms; E: the vault for the garrison’s beer; F: the Governor’s wine vault; G: passages; H: door going to the Lion’s Den.

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A PAPER PALACE: DESIGNS IN EXILE The Earl of Mar was am enthusiastic architect, in his own words ‘infected with the disease of building and gardening’ (Friedman 1986, 103). He had already been active transforming his home at Alloa and in various projects in the Richmond area. His exile in France after his major part in the Jacobite rising of 1715 gave him the time in which to pursue this interest. In the early years of his exile he produced plans for a plan for a house and garden at Marble Hill, Twickenham, to be his residence following his return and anticipating the villa erected their after 1724 (Bryrant 2002, 34). Other schemes were for new royal palaces, motivated by the destruction of Whitehall palace by fire in 1698. These included Italianate fantasies with heavy pilasters and central domes, inspired by his continental travels (Friedman 1986; Glendinning and MacKechnie 2004, 94). Scotland was not forgotten; plans were draw for improvements to his former estate at Alloa, to Dun House, and to Drumlanrig. In April 1724 he devised a set of plans for transforming the palace at Stirling Castle into a modern residence (NAS RHP 13258/ 45-49). They are based on plans of the palace which have an historic interest in themselves, but the proposed scheme gives an insight into the spatial requirements of a great house of the period, one worthy of a king. They also show the failings of the existing palace in contemporary eyes and why it was no longer used as a residence. Mar was busy on other schemes at this time.

The drawings date from April 1724 and show exterior of the building deprived of its 16th century decoration and transformed into an acceptable symmetrical structure. Four domed angle turrets, each surmounted by smaller turrets, rise from each corner of the building giving it the height that often is a feature of Mar’s designs. Such turrets were used later by William Adam at Duff House. The Prince’s Tower, surmounted with the royal arms, was to form the centrepiece of the southern façade. A doorway, emphasised with a triangular pediment, led out to a balcony on the principal floor level. Below this Mar added an imaginative feature – a doorway from the terrace below the palace led into a grotto that occupied the lower floor of the tower. A grotto was an obligatory feature of every great house of this period and the cruciform form with a circular apse conforms to the norm. What is unusual but the location within the structure of the house. Inigo Jones included one in the basement of the Banqueting House at Whitehall, built 1619-21 but a more recent inspiration may have been the grotto erected by Alexander Pope in 1722 which, though extending into the garden, was entered from the basement of his house. 139

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In his ‘Description of the Designe for a New Royall Palace for the King of Great Britain at London’ written in 1724 there are various insights which may be based on his experience of the palace at Stirling. Commenting on the disadvantages of open central courts, he writes that these are suitable for hot countries but in France and Britain:

… there is no heat to be apprehended and so that the fresheur that Comes from these Courts not wanted, on the Contrary the view into these Courts are but Dull and trist and the more of the windows of the principall apartments be to the gardens and Courts before the house, the more agreable and Convenient they are, giveing the more Light and Sun to the apartments…

(Friedman 1986, 115)

This could have been written with the Lion’s Den in mind, and this space was not emphasised in Mar’s proposed reconstruction.

The greatest change was to be a new range was to be constructed to the west, on the open space of the Ladies’ Lookout. This was to have a great staircase at its northern end on the site of that begun in 1709.

The royal apartments, on the principal floor, were to be modified to make space for an extended suite of inner rooms that consisted of an antechamber, bedchamber and cabinet or closet. These were based on the French pattern that was made fashionable in Britain by Charles II, designed to combine majesty with a degree of controlled informality (Girouard 1978. 130131; Stevenson 1992, 141). The King’s Guard Hall and Presence Chamber were retained but the former bedchamber was to be converted into an Antechamber. Beyond this was the bedchamber, taking the place of the former Presence Chamber. A new circular staircase, the ‘Back Stair’ was to be built on the eastern side of the Lion’s Den to provide access to the King’s private apartment above, the two rooms above the new Antechamber. The former King’ closet on the east side of the Lion’s Den was converted into a corridor giving service access to the new chambers and thus achieving the contemporary requirement for the separation of owner and servant (Bold 1993, 115).

The Queen’s apartment was to occupy the remainder of the southern part of the principal floor with the Guard Hall partly in the extended south-west angle, then the ‘Queen’s Drawing Room 140

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or presence chamber’, the bedchamber and a closet in the Prince’s Tower. The existing stair in the Prince’s Tower would then give access to a, the Queen’s private apartment, that occupied the upper four rooms of the upper floor on the south side of the Lion’s Den. Another, smaller, suite of three chambers situated in the new western extension is labelled ‘the Prince’s apartment’.

The main entrance was, as now, from the Upper Close, but enhanced by a two-storey arcade along the west side of the square connecting the palace to the chapel. There was a service entry at basement level from the lower court, which led through to the ‘Back Stair’ in the Lion’s Den. With these new segregated access routes Mar could enhance the privacy of the owners, thus providing a residence that fulfilled the contemporary social expectations in a way that the existing palace did not.

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6

18TH TO EARLY 19TH CENTURIES With the Act of Union in 1707 the castle became a fortress for an insecure North Britain. Except in times of national emergency, the garrison of Stirling was not high on national defence priorities during the 18th century. Several of those who commanded the castle in the early 18th century thought the defences were weak. Lieutenant Colonel John Blackader, when appointed Deputy-Governor of the castle in 1717, complained that he was ‘posted among heaps of rubbish, and bare rocks, and almost defenceless walls, with a weak invalid garrison (Blackader 1824, 489). Major David Cunningham wrote in a similar vein to John earl of Loudon on 5 March 1744 expressing his hopes that the Jacobites would not attempt to surprise the castle as the garrison was elderly and the castle ruinous (NRAS 631/4 Bundle A2181).

The career of the Earl of Mar, hereditary keeper of the castle, was somewhat volatile during this period. A successful parliamentarian after the Union, he became Secretary of State for Scotland but fell out of favour in 1714 with the accession of George I and despite his declaration of loyalty to the king he, like his fellow Tories, was deprived of office. This led to disaffection and he allied himself with the Jacobite cause and after the defeat of 1715 he went into exile in France. He was deprived of the governorship of the castle which was thereafter given to various high ranking soldiers. Several of these fought in North America. The well-connected Lord Loudon was made governor of Stirling castle early in his career, in 1741. He proved loyal to the government in the rebellion of 1745 when he commanded a newly formed regiment, the 64th Regiment of Foot, known as Loudon’s Highlanders. In 1756 he was appointed Commander in Chief in North America. He was replaced in this role by General Abercrombie who, after the dismal failure of his military campaign culminating in a retreat after an abortive attempt to capture the French stronghold of Fort Tinconderoga. He was replaced by General Amherst in 1759 and thereafter returned to Britain. In 1772 he was made Lieutenant Governor of Stirling Castle (NAS GD105/391).

Mar’s brother, James Erskine (1679-1754) was educated as a lawyer and became a lord justice clerk of the Court of Session and Lord Grange in 1710. He took no part in the rising of 1715.

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The palace in the 18th century military context: a detail from a drawing by Paul Sandby, dated 8 June 1786 (NLS D185).

Improvements were made to the outer defences which were reconstructed during the period 1708-14. Part of this work involved changes to the gatehouse of James IV, which may have suffered structurally when the castle was besieged by Lieutenant-General Monck in 1650. The two central towers of the gatehouse were lowered so as not to be exposed to gun fire from outside the castle and its side towers were reduced to their foundations. This probably was carried out by March 1714 when a report mentions that five old towers and several decayed walls had been demolished (Fawcett 1995, 88). It is shown in this condition in 1781 in a watercolour drawing and engraving by Thomas Hearne (NMRS SC 731368; NMRS A976/6), a semi-ruinous state surmounted with a platform on which was based a flag pole. It is also conceivable that the gatehouse in this reduced ruinous state was more acceptable to the early 18th century Picturesque concept of an ancient castle. This was perhaps a concession to the preservation of a perceived antiquity in part of the castle that was no longer essential for either defence or accommodation. The platform at the head of the reduced tower was protected by only a wooden handrail. Its flimsy nature was partly responsible for the death of at least one soldier, as reported in the Connaught Journal, 16 June 1823:

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Bombadier McGREGOR of the Royal Invalid Artillery, in the execution of his duty at the flag staff of Stirling Castle, on the 3d instant, in consequence of a rope giving way, was precipitated from a perpendicular height of 43 feet into the area, on the pavement. His body was so mutilated by the fall, that notwithstanding every medical assistance was procured, he expired in the course of two hours afterwards. He has left a wife and four children to lament his untimely death.

(www.irelandoldnews.com/Galway/1823/JUN.html)

William Adam played some role in the remodelling of the outer defences. It is just possible that the truncated gatehouse influenced his son, Robert Adam, whose design of 1774 for a ruined castle at Osterley Park, Middlesex (illustrated in Linstrum 2000, 195) shows a diminutive gatehouse flanked by demolished sections of curtain wall – and pepper-pot turrets on other towers. This alteration of the gatehouse affected the palace. The latter had been linked to the gatehouse by chambers within the forework, as shown in an early 18th century plan of c.1708 by Dury (NLS MS 1646 Z02/16a). The section of the forework to the east of the palace was rebuilt shortly after this date as a simple barbican wall. This is shown on an undated Board of Ordnance plan, also by Dury (NLS MS 1646 Z02/17).

Following the partial demolition of gatehouse, the present exterior stone stair was constructed as access to the terrace to the south of the palace, the Prince’s Walk. The former doorway to the Queen’s Closets was utilised to give access to a new stair that was inserted into the south side of the Queen’s bedchamber to give access to upper floor. As well as providing another exit from the upper floor of the palace, this stair provided a short route from the Governor’s apartment to his garden to south of the palace via a new opening in the forework. This stair appears on a plan of the upper floor that is dated 1733, but possibly earlier. Its construction blocked the south window of the bedchamber, as shown on the view by Mason & Gellattly published in 1830 (Mason & Gelattly 1830, 16). This stair supplemented the access to the upper floor that provided by the stair at the north-west corner of the palace. The turnpike stair in the Prince’s Tower continued in use as a link to the upper floor but the former Privy stair (U:13) may have been blocked at this time, its upper landing converted into a wall cupboard. The doorway between the north-west room of the upper floor (U:10 and that to the south (U:12) underwent some changes in this period. It is marked in a pencil amendment of unknown date 144

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on plan of 1733 (NLS MS 1649 Z46/58) as ‘stopped up’. A door is added in pencil at U:11.1, opening into U:10 and labelled ‘[The] communication has been stopped when the 53rd [acquired] this room’. The 53rd were the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, raised in 1755. Their stay in Stirling has not yet been traced but it was possibly in the period 1770-94 when Robert Dalrmyple-Horn-Elphinstone was their colonel.

The principal floor of the palace seems somewhat underused in the early 18th century. The two plans of c.1708 by Dury names the main rooms on the principal as ‘The King’s garde hall’, ‘Presence’ and ‘King’s Bedchamber’ on the north side of the palace with the equivalent for the queen on the south (NLS MS 1646.Z.02/16a and MS1646.Z02/17), which have formed the basis for subsequent interpretations of the palace layout. A plan of 1719 by Thomas Moore (NLS MS 1646.Z.02/18c) marks only the Kings Guard Chamber as ‘soldiers barracks, while the Queen’s Guard Chamber and the Queen’s Presence Chamber were ‘store rooms for the castle provisions’. The two bedchambers and the King’s Presence Chamber remained as ‘empty rooms’, a relic of the date when it was kept in readiness for a royal visit. Macky’s account of the King’s Presence chamber, published in 1723, still appeared to be able to contemplate the whole room which he considered as ‘the noblest I ever saw in Europe (Macky 1713, 187).

Early 18th century plans show the eastern rooms of the vault as occupied by the sutlery. Thomas Moore’s plan of 1719 (NLS MS1646.Z02.18c) marks the central room (V:02) as the vault for the garrison beer while, across the passageway, the two interlocking rooms to the south (V:05 and V:06A & B) are shown as the ‘sutling room’. Another door is shown leading from the southernmost room (V:06) to the trance; it is now blocked. The large chamber in the north-east of the vaults appears on the 1719 plan as the Governor’s wine cellar. The passageway on the west side of the east range (V:04) is shown running from the cellar to the north south to the Transe. The doorway giving access from this passage to the former wine cellar is now blocked, as is that which opened into V:07 to the south. This passage also had a doorway near its northern end that gave access to the Lion’s Den. It is shown on a elevation and plan of 1719 by Thomas Moore where it is described as a door going to the Lion’s Den’ (NLS MS 1646.Z02/18a and NLS MS 1646.Z02/18c). This doorway survived until the early 19th century when it was replaced by a window (V:W.10).

The plan of 1741 shows four rooms with a simplified regularity on the north side of the trance. Three open only onto the trance whereas the westernmost vault (V:13) also has a door (now 145

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blocked) giving access to the Lion’s Den. These rooms are described as ‘vaults belonging to ye Leivtnt for coals Beer and a stable’. The earlier form of the eastern vault and the passage of the trance (V:07, V:09) is uncertain. The date of the passage (V:09) is uncertain as it does not appear on the early 18th century plans (which, however, are far from accurate). Together with adjacent spaces, it may have formed part of the stables. Also it is difficult to see how horses could be led through the present doors. The western vault (V:16-18) is marked as a ‘passage’ which led to a small vault (V:19). Its use is not marked on Moore’s plans but it has stone wine bins that are likely to date from the late 18th century, if not earlier. One can speculate that this was the wine cellar for the Lieutenant Governor.

The outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756, followed by wars in North America, gave an increased impetus for the formation of new regiments. Pitt had recommended to George II that the recruitment of Highlanders was a means of increasing loyalty to the government in that area and Stirling became the centre for the formation of new regiments. The 57th Regiment of Foot was raised at Stirling in 1755 with Col George Perry in command (the regiment changed its name to the 55th in 1757 after the transfer of two companies to the Marines). The 77th Regiment of Foot (Montgomerie’s Highlanders) was raised at Stirling in 1757 under the command of Col Archibald Montgomerie, son of the Earl of Eglington.

The Muster rolls during the period 1773-97 list the garrison as having 100 soldiers, as well as officers. For example, in 1773 the roll listed the Governor, the Deputy Governor, a Fort Major, two lieutenants, an ensign, four sergeants, four corporals, two drummers, a chaplain and a gunsmith, as well as 100 soldiers (PRO WO12/11595). In 1775 Stirling was chosen as the Scottish depot for ‘additional companies’, to serve as a recruiting and training centre for parent regiments serving overseas (Houlding 1981, 119 and 274). Randal, in his history of Stirling published in 1794 states that the garrison was commanded by a governor, deputy-governor, major, two lieutenants, and an ensign and garrisoned by one hundred invalids. The garrison of invalids was discontinued in 1802 (NRAS 771/ Bundle 1001).

Major General James Grant (1720-1806), appointed governor of East Florida in 1763 and played a prominent part in the campaigns of the American War of Independence, he was appointed governor of Stirling Castle in 1789. In 1777, recruits from Scotland for additional companies formed for service in North America were to be trained and exercised at Stirling. 200 sets of bedding were provided for this purpose (NA WO 47/89. f23r). 146

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The growth in the size of the army with the Napoleonic Wars increased the demand for barrack accommodation. Alterations were made to Stirling to accommodate a regular infantry battalion rather than the existing garrison of invalids (NRAS 771/ Bundle 973). Robert Heron, visiting the castle in 1792, commented on how there were still a number of stately buildings within the castle ‘which, if not disturbed, and fallen into a state of disrepair, both within and without, might still afford not inelegant accommodation’. But, he notes

Carpenters were busy, converting the ancient state-rooms into barracks for the reception of soldiers,- at the time I was within the walls of this castle. (Heron 1793, ii, 441)

The wall of the King’s Closet has the graffiti ‘1787’, possibly by a visitor to the state rooms before their conversion to barracks as witnessed by Heron. One notable visitor to the palace in that year was the poet, Robert Burns. His poem, Lines on Viewing Stirling Palace, dwells on the past glory of the Stuart dynasty and somewhat exaggerates the decay of the building, describing it as unroofed:

Lines on Viewing Stirling Palace

Here Stuarts once in glory reign’d, And laws for Scotland’s weal ordain’d; But now unroof’d their palace stands, Their sceptre sway’d by other hands; The injur’d Stuart line is gone, A race outlandish fills their throne An idiot race to honour lost: Who know them best, despise them most.

So the principal floor of the palace, no longer needed as a royal residence, became a barracks for soldiers. Galleries were inserted around the walls of five of the rooms taking advantage of the high ceilings and it may be this work that Heron witnessed. The changes are similar to those put in place in the great hall of Edinburgh Castle in 1737 (MacIvor 1993, 95). They remained in place until the mid-19th century. Private Archibald McIntosh of the 42nd, who was stationed in Stirling in 1858, commented in his diary that he ‘did not like soldiering in 147

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Stirling… The barracks are very small, and each room has two flats, the upper one being reached by a ladder which goes through a trap door cut in the floor’ (Henderson 1989, 168). A report of 1847 noted that the rooms had ‘floors around the walls and an open space railed round in the centre of each’ and that ‘the upper rooms have no fireplaces, receiving warmth from those in the lower’ (A Return for Each Barracks in the United Kingdom 1847). The OS 1:500 plan of 1858 shows a dog-leg stair positioned immediately to the west of the fireplace on the south side of the former King’s Presence chamber (P:02) which would give access to the gallery. Although the report of 1847 does not give the location of any rooms, it gives both their dimensions and the heights from floor to gallery and from gallery to ceiling, thus enabling them to be identified.

Room

Length

Width

Height

Number of

Number of

Number of

windows in

fireplaces in

men each

each room

each room

room is regulated to

ft. in.

ft. in.

ft. in.

hold

P:02

49 6

23 0

9 4

3

1

20

P:02 gallery

49 6

19 0

9 0

3

none

29

P:03

37 6

23 0

9 1

3

1

16

P:03 gallery

37 6

19 0

10 0

1

none

24

P:04

34 6

19 6

9 0

2

1

14

P:04 gallery

34 6

18 0

9 0

1

none

16

P:07

24 6

22 6

8 9

2

1

15

P:07 gallery

24 6

22 0

8 7

1

none

18

P:09

39 6

24 8

9 6

2

1

21

P:09 gallery

39 6

20 0

10 2

2

none

25

P:11

49 6

24 0

9 3

3

1

22

P:11 gallery

49 6

24 0

9 3

5

none

26

The arrangement of the barracks was heavily criticised in a further report of 1859 (PRO WO55 33/8/884).

The barrack accommodation in the Palace is of a very inferior character. The old halls of the building have been crowded with men not only on the floors but on the galleries carried round the walls, exhibiting one of the worst barrack arrangements in the three kingdoms.

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The men’s heads in the upper tiers of beds are above the tops of the windows, and the galleries have neither sufficient light nor ventilation.

The report also gives the number of windows in each room. The numbers indicate that various windows were sealed, thus maximising the amount of wall space for beds. The interior at this period must have been very gloomy, in contrast with the original lighting. In 1859, the creation of the mezzanine gallery and the blocking of various windows allowed a total of 187 soldiers to be housed in single beds in the rooms of the principal floor (PRO WO55 33/8/884). This figure would have been much greater when double bunk beds were the norm, before the introduction of single beds in 1828.

The position of the gallery floors can be reconstructed using a combination of the known documentation and the structural evidence such as surviving beam holes and other alterations to the fabric. There was a dog-leg stair in P:02 to the west of the fireplace, partly blocking the central south window (OS plan 1858). There is likely to have been a railed light well in the area of the fireplace. Also the dimensions given in the 1847 report (PP 1847 xxxvi, 28) suggest that the upper level was four feet (1.39m) narrower than the lower floor. It is likely that this discrepancy was caused by fittings such as panelling encroaching on to the floor space of the gallery rather than the actual floor being narrower.

In 1859 in the Interim Report on the Hospitals and barracks in the North British District, War Office was again critical of both the standard of barrack accommodation and the misuse of buildings of national importance (PRO WO55/33/88/884/ page 26).

The original character of these national buildings has been completely lost sight of in the clumsy alterations which have been made in them, without any corresponding benefit to the soldier, at least in so as regards the Palace barrack, the rooms of which are among the worst barrack block we have seen anywhere.

It was recommended in the 1861 General Report of the Committee appointed for Improving the Sanitary Condition of the Barracks and Hospitals (PP 1861, xvi) that the galleries be removed and that the rooms be ventilated by glass louvres in the top window panes. Cundy’s stoves were recommended for warming the barrack rooms. Its recommendations also included that the ‘flagged floor of the lower barrack rooms to be boarded’; it is not certain if this applied to 149

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the floors of the palace but if so this may indicate the nature of the earlier flooring. The broken paving slabs found under the wooden floor of the King’s Guard Chamber may be the debris from this operation. It is likely that the galleries were removed shortly after this date although the exact date is unknown. The infilled socket holes for the beams that supported the galleries survive. During restoration work in 1968, a stone-lined channel approximately 2m in length was uncovered which ran from the centre of fireplace interior of the Queen’s Guard Hall and curved to the west (SPARC photographs 95 and 96). This may have been a form of ventilation for a stove but problems with asbestos meant that this, along with other underfloor features, could not be inspected in the present investigation.

It was noted in 1859 in the Interim Report on the Barracks and Hospitals in the North British District that ‘one or two of the larger rooms of the palace have been subdivided by partitions onto serjeants’ quarters. They are not very good but may be improved by inserting a pane of perforated glass into the top row of each window’ (PRO W55/33/8/884, 28).

The layout of the upper floor during this period is documented on two plans, one of 1719 by Thomas Moore (NLS MS1646.Z02/18a) and a more detailed ‘Plan of the Governor’s apartments at Stirling Castle dated 1733. The south rooms became the public rooms of the Governor, with his private rooms on the east side of the palace. The housekeeper’s rooms are shown in the area of U:23-28, with access to both the public rooms and, in a discrete manner, to the bedchambers etc. to the east.

The plan of 1733 shows the position of beds. Bedchambers could be used as intimate reception rooms whilst adjacent dressing rooms could also be used as private sitting rooms.

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The roof on the south side of A:03 showing the structure of the cove ceiling of room U:10 and timbers inserted to accommodate the raising the wall head.

At some time in the late 18th or early 19th century, the wall heads around the north, west and south sides of the Lion’s Den were heightened by c.0.6m and the lower part of the roof raised correspondingly. The northern façade of the Lion’s Den was the first to be heightened, as shown by the quoined vertical joint at the western end of its wall head. The cavetto eaves cornice that defined the earlier wall head was clawed back to the wall surface, except where it crossed the chimney stacks. The lower part of the roof was raised with supplementary rafters to compensate for this change in height. The present taller sash windows, 0.9m in height, were inserted. These windows on the north side of the Lion’s Den can be seen to have cut the earlier windows. One early window was retained in a partly-blocked state to light a wall cupboard, or possible close-stool closet, at the west end of the north elevation (U:04.3). The evidence for earlier windows on the south and west sides of the Lion’s Den is less clear. The difference in the treatment of the upper and lower quoins shows that the windows have been heightened whilst retaining approximately the same width. The earlier windows may have been single openings, not double with mullions like on north which suggests a higher status of use on the northern part of the upper floor. 151

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CHANGES IN LAYOUT Changing ideas in barrack layout and innovations in equipment brought about a complete alteration of the means of access to the barrack rooms on the principal floor of the palace. Part of the change was through the development of the miasmic theory in which disease was spread by a vapour of poisonous airborne particles deriving from decomposing material. Ventilation, therefore, was very desirable as a means of dispelling the miasmic vapours and to this end the access to the barrack rooms was reorganised so that each had its own access to the outside rather than the arrangement of interlocking rooms that was inherited from the Renaissance layout of the palace. Improvements in hygiene also brought about the introduction of the single metal bedstead instead of the double tier bunk beds, often sleeping four men, which had been standard in barracks from the 17th century. A memorandum for repairs of 1828 noted that:

In order to make room for the iron bedsteads, the rails for arm bands and to add to the comfort of the rooms the doors communicating between them which are not required for the accommodation of the troops, to be built up on one side with brick. (PRO WO55/822)

All three main internal doors on the south side of the palace were blocked, that is, the door from the west gallery into the Queen’s Guard Chamber, the door from the latter into the Queen’s Presence Chamber, and the door from that into the Queen’s bedchamber. The door between the King’s Guard chamber (P:02) and the King’s Presence chamber (P:03) was also blocked. Separate entry to the two rooms on the south side of the palace was created via a wooden gallery erected along the south side of the Lion’s Den, the rooms being entered via a new doorway. The gallery was reached by an L-shaped stair leading up from the ground level of the Lion’s Den. It entered the building at the junction of the two rooms; part of the partition wall between them was demolished and an internal porch inserted. The floor level was lower than that previously in the palace. This operation removed one side of a sealed 16th century doorway in the partition wall between the two rooms and most of its early 18th century blocking. Another door was inserted at the east end of this exterior gallery that led into the closet of the King’s bedchamber (P:06). This arrangement is shown on a plan of the castle in 1847 showing Ordnance property (PRO WO44/565) and in more detail in 1900 on a plan of the palace by James Gillespie (HS 340/291/L/145). It may have been in this reorganisation of access that a brick archway was inserted between the two bedchambers replacing the earlier doorway 152

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and creating one larger barrack room. Photographs of 1970 show this stair before its removal (SPARC photographs 249-50). The door from the king’s bedchamber to the King’s Closet now acquired greater prominence as an exit route and it may have been at this time that its lintel was raised. A course of roll moulding was inserted identical to the earlier fabric but with an infill of brick. This internal arrangement of the barrack rooms remained until after 1900. An undated plan of the early 19th century details the proposed removal of the gallery (HS

A recess behind the door in the north wall of P:03 has been cut back partly through the margins of the window (P:W04). Its height corresponds with the known height of the gallery in that room and it is likely to have been cut to take a fitting after 1828 when the doorway was sealed.

With the introduction of single beds, there was also a regulated arrangement of other fittings for the soldier’s equipment. Private Archibald MacIntosh has left a detailed description of the barrack room at Aberdeen in 1858; its fittings, the bed with shelf behind, would be very similar to those provided in Stirling.

Every soldier has a bed to himself which he makes up every morning in the following order, viz, The Tick [mattress] which is filled with straw is rolled up, tied with a belt and placed at the head of the Iron Stretcher, the blankets are folded in four, the sheets also in four and covered with a Rug are placed on top of the Tick, a Ticket having his Name, Regiment, Number, Company, Rank and Squad is placed at the head of his bed in his bed clothes…

The kilt is hung on two pegs at the head of his bed, the Accoutrements on the right peg, the Purse and Gaiters on the left one, the Knapsack is on a shelf at the head of the bed, the Feather Bonnet is on the right, Canteen on the left, the Rifle is placed in a stand also at the head of the bed, there is a place for everything and everything goes in its proper place (Henderson 1989, 192).

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Cutaway reconstruction showing the alterations of the Palace as a barrack, post 1828, with the blocking of internal doorways and the creation of access at principal floor level from the Lion’s Den.

During the 19th century, the growing awareness of the necessity for public hygiene combined with an increase in the size and diversity of the garrison population led to a demand for improved toilet facilities. In the early 19th century the privates used two privies on the edge of the Ladies’ Lookout. These are shown in this position on a plan of 1806 by Alexander Bryce (PRO MR2/2). A drain led from the palace to flush the contents down the rock face. The privy was for daytime use only, at night soldiers would make use of a wooden bucket in the barrack room, part of the regulation furnishings (PRO WO26/36). Barracks were to be washed once a week and the walls and ceilings limewashed by the troops twice a year (Britannica 1875, 3, 391).

The officers had a more discrete, though equally primitive, latrine near the southern end of the King’s Old Building. This room (P:19) is marked as the ‘Bogg House’ on the Ordnance plan of 1719 (NLS MS 1646 Z02/18b). This arrangement of privies was unpleasant both for the garrison

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of the castle and, perhaps more especially, for the inhabitants of the fashionable suburb of Stirling that was developing nearby.

The privies were inspected in 1810 by J Carmichael of the Royal Engineers who reported that:

‘The privies of the Palace barracks are made so as to project over the battlements without any drain or cess-pool whatsoever – The consequences are that the whole of the wall beneath these privies is covered with filth and an accumulation of dirt that is absolutely insupportable – I understand that when the wind blows from that quarter, it is impossible to open either the windows of the Governor’s house, the Mess room or those of the Officers’ Quarters that front in that direction.

However, changes were being made at the time of Carmichael’s visit; changes that he cynically thought would not improve the cleanliness of the castle in the slightest degree:

To obviate this inconvenience the Barrack Board are at this moment excavating for a tank or cess-pool close to these Barracks and within the Castle; over which they mean to build a range of Privies – The soil from the Cess-pool to be taken away in Carts through the Governors lower garden and out of the Castle gate.

I must confess that I do not think the cleanliness of the Castle will be in the slightest degree promoted by this measure; as the constant stench that must arise from a Tank close to the Barracks, as well as the inconvenience the Garrison will have to suffer during the operation of carting and removing the soil will be nearly if not fully as bad as that under which they present labour.

The new privies were erected at the south-west corner of the palace in the western re-entrant angle of the Prince’s Tower with access to the cess tank via the present garden. Emptying the tanks was a long job, in 1826 it was estimated that it would take two labourers 24 days to remove the sewage from the castle at a cost of £4.8.0 (WO55/820).. They are shown on the OS 1:500 plan of 1858. This area continued in use as toilets until 1996. Despite this new facility, further problems arose with the increasing number of families in the garrison. An Inspection Report of 1831 (PRO WO55/823) recommended a separate privy for children, observing that:

Owing to the great number of children in Barracks 102, and there being no Privies for them nuisances to a disgusting extent are constantly to be met with below the barracks and in every corner and place not 155

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immediately in view. Nuisances are likewise caused by the men making their water in Corners of the building which in hot weather causes an intolerable stench.

The standard of the privies had improved by the mid-19th century. In 1859 it was noted in the Interim Report on the Barracks and Hospitals in the North British District that

The privies have been recently remodelled on Macfarlane’s plan. They are sufficient for sanitary purposes, except that the divisions between the seats are rather too small, and there are no have doors. It would be well in future reconstructions, with Macfarlane’s apparatus, to have them made with proper divisions, and the means of hanging half doors on them. New urinals have been supplied, but as they are not cleaned daily they are found to smell. It should be borne in mind that all improved sanitary contrivances require care in using and cleansing them.

Improved privies as produced by Macfarlane and recommended from use by the army.

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There was still an element of public nuisance as:

Castle drainage is conducted down the rock to a large pit, from which it is allowed to flow over some meadowland. Nuisance is complained of from this pit by persons frequenting the public walks below. We have been informed that steps are being taken to remedy this evil.

(PRO W55/33/8/884, 29).

The provision of enough water was another subject that concerned the Board of Ordnance. A large cistern had been placed under the upper courtyard near the Great Hall but this was insufficient for the needs of the castle. In 1853 a scheme was initiated for the installation of two water tanks (NAS E886/11/36). One large octagonal tank was placed on the north side of the Lion’s Den and a rectangular tank in the Ladies’ Lookout, to the south of the cookhouse. Washing places were provided by the tanks. The tanks were partly fed from the earlier cistern and partly from water from the roofs of the palace. The latter was collected in gutters around the eaves of the building and led to the tanks in pipes, one passing under the floor of the west corridor on the floor (U:31) on its way to the Ladies’ Lookout. The two tanks are shown on the OS 1:500 plan of 1858.

PRISONERS IN STIRLING The year 1820 saw popular unrest in the manufacturing areas of Lowland Scotland erupt into armed rebellion, albeit poorly equipped, against the government. On 3 April a group from the Falkirk area confronted mounted troops at Bonnymuir and after a short struggle eighteen of the radicals were imprisoned in Stirling Castle. The weapons of the radicals, five muskets, two pistols and eighteen pikes, were also carried to the castle (Ellis and Mac A’Ghobhainn 2001, 166-78). The prisoners and their formers weapons aroused the curiosity of contemporary tourists. A group of women touring Scotland record visiting the castle and also seeing a scaffold outside the jail (NAS RH1/2/819). Public access to the prisoners was stopped after an incident in the castle (NAS RH4/187/1/88). John Baird and Andrew Hardie, identified as leaders of the Radicals, were executed outside the jail at Stirling on 8 September 1820 (NAS RH1/2/930; Ellis and Mac A’Ghobhainn 2001, 278).The room near the western end of the Transe (V:13) has a small window in the upper part of its south wall that may date to its use as a cell.

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THE BLACK HOLE The place of close confinement, or Black Hole as it was universally known, was an essential part of every garrison. In 1826 it was deemed that the existing black hole was unfit for the purpose. The position of this room was not specified but it may have been in the lowest room of the Prince’s Tower. Two rooms off the Transe, named as Nos 1 & 4 cellars in what is called the ‘Long Passage’ were fitted up for use in March 1826. A report of the previous month emphasised the economy of this measure: ‘the alteration required will be merely boarding up two windows and inserting in each an iron plate with holes for ventilation’ (PRO WO55/820). The small window over the door to V:13 may date from this time. In 1831 the room ‘under the Prince’s Chamber’ in the Prince’s Tower (P:10), formerly used as a girls school, was adapted into the black hole. Heavy iron window bars and door hinges were fitted and an alcove on the north side of the room was built up (PRO WO55/823). The room still has a steel door. The room above (M:01) had a fireplace built replacing the previous, slightly larger, early 18th century fireplace. The brick core of this fireplace survives, the interior blocked with brick. It is likely to have had a cast iron interior. The easternmost rooms of the vaults were used as the canteen. Moore’s plan of 1719 marks the two southernmost rooms as the ‘Sutling Room’. North of that was the ‘vault for the garrison beer’ and the north-east room was the ‘Governor’s wine cellar’ (NLS MS1646 Z02/18c). The garrison continued to use these rooms for their refreshment. In 1830 it was noted by the Board of Ordnance that the Lieutenant Governor had, at his own expense, enlarged the window on the left of the entrance to the canteen to make it into a habitable room. The north-east room is marked on the OS plan of 1858 as the canteen cellar.

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Plan of 1831 for the conversion of a room in the Prince’s Tower (P:10) from a girl’s school to a place of close confinement (NA WO55/823).

THE LADIES’ LOOKOUT Private soldiers collected their food from the cookhouse and ate in their barrack rooms, dining rooms being an innovation of the 1890s (Douet 1998, 185). The cookhouse was built against the wall of the palace on the east side of the Ladies’ Lookout. This was not a new building. It appears in an Ordnance sketch of 1814 as having a hipped roof mounted with a tall louver. On the west side there appears to be a short chimney with a projecting cowl. A single large south window also is shown (PRO WO44/270). A plan of Stirling Castle in 1842 shows the ‘cooking house’ (PRO WO55/828). Another plan of 1847 shows an extension, probably an external stair, on its southern side (PRO WO44/565). In 1854 this building was converted into an ablution house with a double washing bench installed along the centre of the room. The existing chimney stack was removed along with a boiler. The new washing benches were covered with Welsh slate and the floor covered with Arbroath stone with wooden gratings placed in front of the wash benches. Fittings included wooden shelves supported by wrought iron brackets and pin rails. Water was collected from eaves gutters on the roof of the palace building and led into an octagonal iron tank on the north side of the Lion’s Den and from there to the Ladies’ 159

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Lookout. An iron overflow pipe, 87mm (3½ inches) in diameter, drained surplus water from the tank in the Lion’s Den. A rectangular cast iron water tank was mounted on stone all footings to the south of the ablution house (NAS E886/11/36). The ablution house and the water tank are shown on the OS 1:500 plan of 1858.

The building was changed back into a cookhouse by 1900 as is shown on a plan by James Gillespie (HS plan 310/291/L/153). Interior details are shown on plans of 1926 (HS 340/291/L/36) and 1955 (HS 340/291/L/48). A small porch on the north linked it with the adjacent palace vault. The cookhouse was demolished in 1970 (SPARC photographs 159-187). Photographs before demolition show it as single storey building with a gabled roof surmounted with a louvre. The cookhouse was lit by two windows to the west and one each on the north and south. All the openings had thin roll moulding. The small porch on the north side had a door with a segmental arch. There were traces of earlier building. The lower courses of the west wall appeared to be of a different build from that of the upper wall (SPARC photograph 169). There was a blocked part of an earlier window opening in the south wall.

The Ladies’ Lookout continued to serve as a gun battery. A plan of 1806 (PRO MR2/2) shows, as at present, a paved setting for a north-facing gun at the northern end of the Ladies’ Lookout.

OFFICERS: THE UPPER FLOOR In the early 18th century the upper floor of the palace was the apartments of the Governor. The layout is shown on a plan of 1719 by Thomas Moore (NLS MS1646/18a). His housekeeper occupied rooms on the south side of the building. This plan also shows the position of beds.

The most notable changes during this period were those concerning access. A new stair was created in the north-west of the palace and another at the south east. The latter, following on from the partial demolition of the gatehouse and forework, descended in the south side of the Queen’s Bedchamber (P:07) to the door that formerly served the now demolished Queen’s Closets. The stair is shown on the plan of 1733 (NLS MS 1649 Z46/58). The creation of this stair involved the blocking of the easternmost window on the principal floor. It was lit by a small window, shown on Hooper’s view of the castle, published in 1791. The stair was removed in 1970 (SPARC photographs 251-3).

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The turnpike stair in the Prince’s Tower continued in use as a link to the upper floor from the transe in the vaults. With the non-use of the royal bedchambers the former Privy stair (U:13) from the King’s Closet was redundant and was blocked, its upper landing converted into a wall cupboard.

A drawing of 1814 concerning a proposed water supply to the castle, showing details of buildings in the Ladies’ Lookout (NA WO 44/270).

The south rooms became the public rooms of the Governor, with his private rooms on the east side of the palace. The housekeeper’s rooms are shown in the area of U:23-28, with access to both the public rooms and, in a discrete manner, to the bedchambers etc. to the east. The plan of 1733 shows the position of beds. Bedchambers could be used as intimate reception rooms whilst adjacent dressing rooms could also be used as private sitting rooms. The stair from the King’s Bedchamber to the upper floor is mentioned in a glazier’s account of 1676 (E36/37/6). It was blocked by the early 18th century when the upper section was converted into a wall cupboard. It is not shown on Moore’s plan of 1719.

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Detail of a plan of 1806 by Alexander Bryce (NA MR2/2) showing the ‘Officer’s Necessary to the north of the Mess Kitchens, the ‘Necessary for Privates’ in the Ladies’ Lookout and the ‘Waste Necessary’ to the west of the Prince’s Tower.

By the early 19th the Governor’s apartments had moved to the north end of the King’s Old Buildings and the upper floor was used solely for officers. On a plan of 1842, while the palace is marked generally for officers and soldiers, the eastern part is depicted as Fort Majors Quarters (PRO WO55/828).

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7

THE ARGYLL AND SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS Edward Cardwell, the Secretary of War between 1870 and 1874, initiated a series of far reaching reforms of the British army. The Army Enlistment Act fixed the term of enlistment to twelve years, part on active service and part on reserve, rather than the previous ‘life’ enlistment. The purchase of Commissions was abolished in 1871. In 1872, he introduced a reorganised regimental structure which established depots to which pairs of regular arm battalions were assigned, the theory being that one of the battalions would serve overseas for a time whilst the other was stationed at the home depot. Regiments were given a local attachment for recruitment purposes. In 1874 these depots were renamed ‘Infantry Brigade Depots. A second phase was introduced in 1881 by the Secretary of War, Hugh Childers, when he paired battalions were permanently linked into new two battalion regiments. The 91st (The Argyll Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) were merged in 1881 to form The Princess Louise’s (Sutherland and Argyll) Highlanders. Following these reforms, Stirling Castle became the depot for the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

THE SOLDIERS’ BARRACKS Through the first half of the 20th century, there was an increasing amount of space of the principal floor allocated to leisure activities, such as billiards and reading, taking up rooms that formerly barrack accommodation. These latter took place in the eastern rooms of the principal floor (the former bedchambers) that were linked by a brick arch, probably dating from the reorganisation of barrack space.

THE CANTEEN ON THE PRINCIPAL FLOOR Plans of c. 1900 show the King’s Guard Chamber (P:02) subdivided. Some plans show the eastern part as a library and the western part as a Billiard Room (HS plan 310/291/L/2 and 3). Other, undated plans of a slightly later date show the eastern part as a Reading Room and the western part as a Recreation Room, with a bar in its south-west corner (HS plan 310/291/L/1). It was to continue as some form of refreshment room for the most part of the 20th century. A plan of 1900 shows a fireplace between the two western windows of the south wall. The catering facilities increased in complexity. HS plan 310/291/L/15 shows this fireplace with a gas range on a plinth and adjacent gas boiler to the west. This plinth survived under the later 20th century flooring. A large channel that was discovered driven through the rubble core that formed the 163

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foundation of the western part of the King’s Guard Hall (P:02/V:21) to the vault V:20 is likely to have been excavated to provide service piping to the boiler and kitchen range. The same plan shows subdivisions of this western half of P:02 into an office and a larder.

In the early hours of the 9 April 1929 fire broke out in the King’s Guard Chamber (P:02), then used as a coffee bar. The fire, believed to have been started by a cigarette dropped on an armchair, spread under the floor damaging an area of approximately 10m2 (NAS MW/1/100). Charred beams noted in the ceiling of this room and the floor of the room above (U:04) may be evidence of the effects of this fire.

‘The Canteen (NAAFI), where goods and refreshments can be bought at the lowest of prices’ is shown in a recruiting photograph of the 1930s. Two new recruits, Spud and Jock, enjoy cups of tea served at a marble-topped bar, supervised by a paternal-looking officer. Pictures decorate the walls, suspended from a picture rail and a radiating collection of small arms surround a breastplate mounted on the chimney breast.

THE DINING ROOM The Queen’s Guard Chamber (P:11) and the Queen’s Presence Chamber (P:09) remained in use as barrack rooms until the 19th century. Access to both was through a shared entrance from the Lion’s Den. The use of dining rooms was introduced in the late 1890s; before this date soldiers collected their food from the kitchen and ate it (Douet 1998, 185). When the rooms were converted into dining rooms the common doorway from the Lion’s Den was blocked and the central door between the rooms reopened. A photograph dating from the 1930s shows the south side of the Queen’s Guard Chamber (P:11) with recruits seated at simple benches and the caption ‘P.T. and Drill in the open air gives a healthy appetite, so Spud and Jock along with the other recruits sit down to their dinner and enjoy it’.

THE RECREATION ROOM The billiard table was an essential part of the soldier’s leisure in the 20th century. Early plans show this in one half of the partitioned King’s Guard Chamber (P:02; HS plan 310/291/L/3). The recruiting leaflet from the 1930s has a photograph showing a table in Queen’s Bedchamber (P:07) with the caption stating that: 164

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‘In the recreation room Spud and Jock are able to play billiards, read the daily and weekly papers, listen to the wireless, read books from the Government library free of all charges. Here we see Spud and Jock playing billiards while other men are reading, awaiting their turn to show their skill on the billiard table’.

This room and the adjoining P:04 are decorated with antique arms and trophy heads of deer. Another photograph shows a darts board mounted on the north wall of the King’s bedchamber. The walls are shown as decorated in a light colour wash with a lower dado zone, also painted on the plaster. Pictures hung from a picture rail. Two lines of dooks survive in P:04 indicating the position of probable picture rails, at 4m and 4.3m above floor level (P:04.1.055-9, and P:04.1.049 and 054).

OS 1:500 plan of 1858.

Under the order of Lord Howick, Secretary of State for War from 1836, libraries were established in major barracks (Douet 1998, 116). Early 20th century plans show the library/reading room occupying the eastern half of the former King’s Guard Chamber (P:02; HS plan 310/291/L/3). This arrangement seems to have overestimated the soldier’ appetite for literature as the actual library, as opposed to the reading room, shrunk to the space of the 165

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King’s Closet (P:06; HS plan 310/291/L/15) and by 1953 the northern part of this space had been taken for use as a store (HS plan 310/291/L/49).

Spaces of secondary importance, such as the closets, were used for a variety of purposes during the buildings life as a barrack. The King’s Closet was used as a barber shop in c. 1900 before its use as a library (HS plan 310/291/L/3). The west gallery on the principal floor (P:12) was another space which varied in its usage. The OS 1:500 plan of 1858 shows it as a shoemakers shop, although it may refer to the rooms in the vault, as the plan shows part of both floors. An undated plan of c.1900 (HS plan 310/291/L/3) shows it as Store No 2, with the southern door blocked. It later became an adjunct of the cookhouse. A plan of 1953 (HS plan 310/291/L/48) shows it as the Wash-up Room for the adjacent cookhouse in the Ladies’ Lookout. Hot plates are shown at its southern end on plan and a dumb waiter was used to convey food from the level of the cookhouse up to the gallery, to be carried to the dining room (HS plan 310/291/L/15). The cookhouse, a one-storey structure in the Ladies’ Lookout, had been an ablution house during the mid-19th century but was reconverted to its former use as a cookhouse in latter years of the century, possibly when the Queen’s Guard Chamber was converted into a dining room for soldiers. It was demolished in 1970.

Extra accommodation was created by the insertion of a mezzanine floor at principal floor level in the west gallery. A brick partition was inserted to create a lobby at the entrance to the palace from the Inner Close. The mezzanine was reached by a stone stair ascending on the south side of this partition wall and then turning to the south. The stone steps were inserted into the masonry of the west wall of the palace and supported by a brick substructure, the space under which was used for storage. Three new sash windows were then inserted to light the mezzanine below the existing windows of the upper floor. The floor of the mezzanine, however, was lower than that of the large late 16th century windows on the Lion’s Den façade of the principal floor so it was necessary to reduced these in size when the mezzanine was inserted. These smaller windows were constructed in a manner that showed some sensitivity to the historic structure, with roll moulding that partly reused earlier fabric and so contrast with the more mundane construction of the contemporary mezzanine windows. It is not known when the mezzanine floor and its associated stair and windows were constructed. They appear on the 1st edition OS 1:500 plan of 1858 and are not shown on the early 18th century Ordnance plans but documentation is absent for the intervening century.

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The late 19th century arrangement of the upper floor is shown on the first of the sequence of plans of the former Office of Works (HS 340/291/L/1), Historic Scotland’s predecessor in the care of the building. The Mess Room occupied the south-west (U:29), with two fireplaces on its south wall and one on the east wall. The room to the east (U:28) was a billiard room. To the east of that was room subdivided into a space for a W.C. (U:26) and a urinal (U:27). The next room to the east was a servants’ room, with a closet at its southern end. To the east were two officers’ apartments, one occupying the south-eastern corner (U:20, U:21 and U:22) labelled ‘Off Qrs No.2’ and to the north ‘Off Qrs No.1’ (U:12, U:14, U:15 and U:16). The door into U:10 is shown blocked, the wall space being used as a wall cupboard entered from U:10.

Plan of the principal floor by Gillespie Graham, 1900.

The north side of the palace is marked ‘F.O. [Field Officers’] Quarters No.1’. The easternmost room (U:10) is marked as ‘Room No.2’, that to the west (U:09) as ‘Room No.1’. The next room (U:08) was a kitchen, with a cupboard on its western wall opposite the fireplace. Next was a lobby (U:05) with a W.C. opening off it to the south (U:07), its western wall slightly further west than at present. The remaining rooms were a plate room (U:04) off the western corridor with a room for a waiter off it to the east though a central door (U:06). The plate room (U:04)

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had a cistern on its west wall to the north of the fireplace and a sink in the window opening to the south.

The Mess room on the south side of the upper floor (U:29) was transformed into a new Banqueting Room was installed in 1925, with an adjacent Officers’ Mess Room in the upper room of the Prince’s Tower (U:30). The former Billiard Room then became the Officers Dining Room (HS plan 310/291/L/38). Both the Banqueting Room and the Officers’ Mess Room were given oak dados, with a Jacobean style oak fireplace in the latter room. The Banqueting Room was given a coved ceiling. The OS plan of 1858 shows a doorway from this room to the stair of the Prince’s Tower. This was blocked by the early 20th century when it is shown on plans as a shallow alcove on the south side of U:29.

These changes are shown on a slightly later, again undated plan (HS 340/291/L/4) shows the permeations of the upper floor arrangements. A number of the room names shown on the previous plan (HS 340/291/L/1) crossed out and replaced by new names. The former Mess Room is now the Dining Room. The Billiard Room is marked ‘now small dining room’ and there is a serving hatch at the north end of the west wall, where there is a door at present’.

Fragment of newspaper preserved on the stair of the Prince’s Tower, announcing the destruction of Nazi tanks.

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The urinal (U:27) has become a bathroom. The various officers’ quarters are now for single officers. On the north side, the former (U:04) became the ‘Officers Mess Pantry’, with a doorway to the north corridor marked ‘built up’. The room to the east (U:06) became the ‘Single Officers’ Bath Room’, a sign of changing standards of living. Another, more finished, plan showing these arrangements of the upper floor is dated 1926 (HS 340/291/L/38).

Numerous soldiers passed through the Palace during the Second World War, when the two battalions of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders acted for a time as the 91st and 93rd AntiTank regiments. This latter fact makes the page of a newspaper found preserved on a ceiling in the Prince’s Tower particular relevant to the life of the regiment. Dating from December 1943, it proudly announced ’11 Nazi Tanks Destroyed in Two Days’.

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8

A PUBLIC MONUMENT Stirling castle today flourishes as one of Scotland’s premier tourist attractions. The roots of this transformation from a military fortress lay in the 18th century when guides and topographical prints fed a growing fashion for travel. In the late 17th century, Scotland had benefited from the work of various artists of Low Countries origin where the skills of landscape art were highly developed. Johannes Vosterman (1643-1699) painted various versions of the view of Stirling castle and town from the south (Smith Art Gallery & Museum Stirling; NGS B7205), the precursor of many similar views. More useful for the record of building details were the work of artists with military connections with the castle and had intimate knowledge of the building. John Slezer (c 1650-1717) was Chief Engineer and Captain of the Artillery Train in Scotland produced a number of drawings of Stirling Castle, some of which were published in his Theatrum Scotiae, the first edition of which appeared in 1693 (Cavers 1993).

An early commentary on the castle has been left by John Macky, published in 1732. After introductory remarks on general situation and strength of the castle he comments that:

King James the Fifth also built a noble Palace here, adorn’d without with Pillars finely engrav’d, and Statues as big as the Life at the Top and Bottom. In this Palace is one Apartment of six Rooms of State, the noblest I ever saw in Europe, both for Height, Length, and Breadth. And for the Fineness of the carv’d Work, in the Wainscot and on the Ceiling, there’s no Apartment in Windsor or Hampton Court that comes near it. At the Top of this Royal Apartment, the late Earl of Mar, when he was Governor, made a very convenient Apartment of a Dozen Rooms of a Floor, for the Governors to lodge in. Joining to the Royal Apartments fore-mention’d is the Great Hall of Audience, roof’d at the Top with Irish Oak like that of Westminster-Hall at London: and in the Roof of the Presence-Chamber, are carv’d the Heads of the Kings and Queens of Scotland (Macky 1732, iii, 183-84).

Another valuable record of the castle was left by Paul Sandby 1725-1809), the official draughtsman of the mid-18th century military survey of Scotland, who mixed private enterprise with army business to produce an extensive topographical record of major Scottish buildings.

There has been a demand for descriptions of the attractions of Scotland from the 18th century, which included the palace. Randal, in his General History of Stirling published in 1794, 170

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commented that the exterior was ornamented with ‘rude sculptory work’ (Randal 1794, 100). Francis Grose, who toured Scotland in 1788-90 gathering material for his Antiquities of Scotland, published in 1797. Of the palace, he notes that it was

…a square all of hewn stone, adorned with sculpture; in the centre is a small court called the Lion’s Den, from the king’s lions having been kept there. The palace contains many large and elegant apartments; the ground storey has been converted into a barracks for private soldiers; the upper storey gives a house for the governor, and lodgings for the officers (Grose 1797, ii, 238).

Detail of ‘Stirling Castle’ by Francis Grose, dated 2 June1790 (NGS D187).

Whilst visitors commented on the exterior of the palace, the interior remained neglected. The fine carved ceilings were removed in 1777 following the fall of certain parts.

While the public appetite for the antiquarian was growing in the late 18th century, it was considerably wetted by Sir Walter Scott 1771-1832 who published his collection of ballads, The Border Minstrelsy, in 1802 and the first of his novels, Waverley, in 1814. Scott played a major role in the recovery of the Honours of Scotland from their sealed vault in Edinburgh Castle, an act that generated a fervour of interest in Scotland’s romantic past. This interest, however, was selective, centring on key romantic figures such as Mary Queen of Scots. Stirling does not figure large in any of Scott’s work, nor in the public imagination was it associated with any romantic episodes such as, for example, Loch Leven Castle. The castle was already a tourist 171

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attraction but possibly mainly as a picturesque site rather than for its historical associations. This may be reflected in Scot’s comment early in his career that:

To me the wandering over the field of Bannockburn was more the source of exquisite pleasure than gazing over the celebrated landscape from the battlements of Stirling Castle (Reed 1980, 10).

A new chapter in the appreciation of the palace as a monument began with the work of Jane Graham (nee Ferrier), wife of the Colonel Samuel Graham, Lt Governor of the castle who realised the importance of the surviving Stirling heads that had decorated the palace ceilings. Her fine illustrations of the heads were published in 1817 in Lacunar Strevelinense together with a reconstruction of the King’s Presence Chamber and a view of the east façade of the exterior by Edward Blore.

The 1817 reconstruction of the interior of the King’s Presence Chamber from Lacunar Strevelinense.

The castle was an attraction to visitors in the 19th century, although only a limited area was shown to the public. Most admired the view and the ancient atmosphere Alexander Campbell in 1802 writes of ‘the grotesque and uncouth appearance of the ancient buildings.. the ruinous state every object presents; the mind associating chains and dungeons with the murderous artillery on the ramparts. The only details he notes are the ‘grotesque figures’ built by James V, including the effigy of that king ‘in the highland dress of the times, and that of his cup-bearer 172

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Douglas’ (Campbell 1802, I, 87). Visitors were conducted to the upper court where the main attraction was the Kings Old Building. The principal floor of the palace was closed to visitors, as it served as barrack rooms. From the upper court, Visitors could be led via the Lady’s’ Lookout and the trance to the Lion’s Den. Added spice was given to the visit after imprison of the ‘radicals’ involved in the 1822 rebellion. Helen Graham, daughter of the Deputy Governor of the castle, tells of party given a tour before luncheon:

To the Armoury [the present Chapel] first where they were shewn the Radical pikes, the hat called Oliver Cromwell’s (once said to be Robert Bruce’s, and in reality a hat case of a West Indian hat of Papa’s), John Knox’s pulpit, etc., then to the Old Palace, the Great Door, the Lion’s Den, afterwards the Radicals Cells, the view from the battlements, and then returned to the house (Irvine 1957, 145).

The heads themselves became celebrated as works of art and were much copied. Sir Walter Scott, in a letter of 29 October 1817 to Daniel Terry commented on how the Stirling heads ‘would be admirably disposed in the glass of the armoury window’ (www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/etexts/etexts/letters5). Lord Cockburn had several, sold on his death in 1854. Casts were popular among collectors; for example, when Robert Hay of Linplum died in 1864 he left a museum that included casts of the Stirling heads along with six mummies and other Egyptian antiquities (NRAS 2720/ bundle 858).

By the mid-19th century the co-existence and the garrison was becoming a problem. The number of tourists was growing; a letter of 8 January 1848 pointed out that ‘in Summer they may be reckoned in hundreds’ (PRO WO44/565). The chamber known as ‘King James Room’ in the King’s Old Building was still the highlight of any visit. The Board of Ordnance begrudged any interest in the historic architecture but admitted that visitors should be encouraged for Stirling Castle had a place in the country’s heritage.

That the room in question is a common wainscoted apartment containing nothing of Antique fitment, except the ceiling of a recess on which is some Oak carved Work radiating from a centre – both rooms are modern even in their mantelpiece. Thus as regards the interior there is nothing of historical interest left to preserve.But I am predisposed to enter into the Spirit of any recommendation tending to promote an interest in Monuments as scenes connected with the Ancient History of the Country… (PRO WO44/565).

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A development of architectural studies led to a more analytical appreciation of the exterior ornamentation of the palace, although the appreciation of Renaissance rather than Gothic architecture was more problematic. A German visitor in 1858 thought the palace was best appreciated from the bottom of the hill for at a closer inspection ‘you recognise the crude, bad taste in something that from afar was by no means without effect’ (Fontane 1998, 107). In the account of Queen Victoria’s visit to the castle, in 1842, the palace is described as ‘richly and grotesquely carved with figures’ (Lauder 1843, 423). Rogers (1861, 9) in his guide to Stirling of 1861 sees it as

A square building, of Lombard architecture, having the south east and north sides ornamented with curious specimens of sculpture; on each of these walls, statues being erected in Saxo-Gothic niches, on variously formed balustrade columns, supported by grotesque figures issuing from the building.

The architect Robert Billings deplored the exterior decoration of the palace, falling as it did neither into the accepted styles of Gothic or the classical but found it ‘obscene groups… betraying the fruits of an imagination luxuriant but revolting’ (Cherry 1987, 36). By 1887 McGibbon & Ross (1887, II, 475) had modified this view; they considered the exterior of the palace as a ‘very fantastic design’ but interesting ‘as being probably the earliest example of the Renaissance style into Scotland’.

But the image of James V that captured the popular imagination was not that of the monarch in a Renaissance court but of one renowned for amorous nocturnal jaunts, disguised as the Gudeman of Ballengeich’ (Cherry 1989, 29-31, Stevenson 2004), a role far removed from the splendours of a place. James Shirra echoed this in his manuscript account of the castle written in 1853 in which he identified the statue on the north-east corner of the palace as ‘unquestionably one of its royal founder “The Gudeman of Ballangevek” whom it represents as of short stature, dressed in a frock coat and a hat with a bushy beard’ (Shirra 1853, 96). The king was thought to have identified so closely with the common people that he was portrayed wearing bohemian 19th century dress!

In the later 19th century the royal castles came to be seen increasingly as reflecting the pass glories of the Scottish Nation and so worthy of restoration. In 1883 Lord Napier corresponded with the Scotsman concerning the restoration of Edinburgh Castle. A letter in reply by M.R.

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pointed out the case for Stirling, the Chapel Royal and the Great Hall being highlighted as a misuse of historic buildings which were so neglected that

The state of things in Stirling Castle is such that there is very little for a visitor to see, and almost its only attraction is the view from the Rampart (The Scotsman 28 February 1884).

The use of the palace as a barrack meant that public access to the interior was restricted. A guidebook published in 1830 noted with regard to room that was formerly decorated with the ‘Stirling heads’ that it was ‘a mere barrack for private soldiers; but it is designated by the title of The King’s Room’ (Mason & Gellatly 1830, 18). The Prince’s Tower, however, was on the tourist circuit as the former royal nursery and it was accessible by its own turnpike stair. Queen Victoria, when she visited the castle with Albert in 1842, was scheduled to see ‘the nurseryroom of James VI, and the school-room, where he was taught by the celebrated George Buchanan’ (Lauder 1843, 429).

The barrack use of the principal floor of the palace resulted in other spaces being opened for display, at times with completely false attributions to King James. Thus the panelled room in the north-west corner of the upper floor was shown as ‘King James’ Audience Chamber’. This room is shown as such on a postcard registered in 1890 by Valentine & Co fitted out with a motley array of objects (St Andrews University, Library Photographic Archive JV-13669). A suit of armour stands in the window recess and bagpipes are prominently placed on a small table in the centre of the room, whilst the walls are adorned with a variety of curiosities ranging from skean dhus to oriental fans.

Pressure continued for the further restoration of the histories royal apartments. Particular criticism arose following the Edinburgh meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1892 which included an excursion to Stirling. A series of letters win The Scotsman was very critical of the state of the historic buildings within the castle. An article in The Scotsman on 31 August 1892 deplored the state of the castle and the perceived lack of care of the ancient buildings. It remarked on the ‘grotesque carvings’ on the palace exterior which were ‘battered beyond recognition’ and inferred that this damage was the fault of the military. The article cited a local resident who had ‘not many years ago’ visited the castle:

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…and found the officers, headed by a recently-deceased Scottish nobleman, practising pistol firing on the east wall; and this may be a fair instance of the manner in which the process of destruction has gone on’.

The preservation of the palace, great hall and chapel was seen as ‘a matter of national pride and national patriotism. It supplied a description of its state:

Now we have the walls and ceilings of these magnificent chambers daubed thick with repeated applications of whitewash and only the mouldings round the windows and the great open chimneys with their carved jambs remain to show that the interior of the palace was not originally as plain as a workhouse. In one corner of the recreation-room a wooden coffee shed has been knocked up. A brick chimney has been built against the inner wall, between two windows looking into the palace yard. In the adjoining reading room we have the great fireplace of the original reception room. Its jambs have not escaped the general baptism of whitewash.

Stirling Town Council raised the matter with the local Member of Parliament, Campbell Bannerman, who also happened to be the Secretary for War. A committee of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland visited the castle on 17 November 1873 to report on what steps that could be taken to further alterations to the ancient buildings. Whilst giving credit to the knowledge and sensitivity of the commanding officer, Colonel Nightingale, they deplored the ‘ruthless manner’ in which the buildings had been adapted for temporary purposes. But they stressed these buildings ‘of great national, historical and architectural interest’ had not been destroyed to an extent that prevented them being restored to something of their former condition’ (The Scotsman 26 April 1893). Campbell-Bannerman, replying to criticism on the condition of the castle in his role as Secretary for War, was defensive, stating that:

With regard to the interiors, there are probably not now in any of the buildings any interesting or decorative features which would be disclosed if the walls were cleared and the ceilings and floors removed (The Scotsman 26 April 1893)

In 1906 the responsibility for maintenance in the castle was transferred from the War Department to the Office of Works (NAS MW/1/909), thereafter the latter department undertaking any works required in the castle on behalf of the military. The palace, however, remained in use as a barrack.

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Early postcards also show restored windows on the south side of the Prince’s Tower.

Photograph of c1911 showing early 20th century restoration to the west side of the Lion’s Den. Note the new stonework around the windows.

A few early photographs show that extensive repairs to the fabric of the building were carried out, including a degree of restoration. One, undated, shows the east side of the Lion’s Den with extensive replacement stonework (SPARC photograph 63). The southernmost window of the principal floor, formerly a door leading to a 19th wooden gallery on the south side of the Lion’s Den, has been replaced with a window, its new stonework clearly visible in the photograph. Also, a former doorway at vault level, noted by James Gillespie on a plan of 1900 as an ‘old door’, has been replaced by a window replicating the form of the one to its south, again the new stonework is visible. The photograph may be dated to c.1911 by the new square paving of the Lion’s Den laid out in that year (NAS MW1/92). Another two photographs of 1912-13 show the exterior of the Queen’s Guard Chamber to the west of the Prince’s Tower before and after restoration and as such are a unique record of the extent of masonry restoration during this period. The position of the blocked window of the principal floor as been emphasised by lowering its surface below that of the rest of the wall face (SPARC photographs 64-65). Blocked openings on the west façade of the palace were given the same treatment, although there is no accompanying documentation.

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Photograph of c.1911 showing restoration to the east side of the Lion’s Den. Note the new stonework around the window at vault level, formerly a doorway. The south window at principal level replaces a 19th century doorway.

Investigation of the ceiling timbers of the King’s inner chamber (P:03) show that there was extensive work strengthening, and it some cases replacing, earlier timbers. One replacement beam was signed in pencil by the joiner and dated September 20 1913.

Other beams were supported by small steel angle brackets, work that caused some damage to the masonry of the wall head.

Problems with damp resulted in major work being undertaken around 1917. The south-west walls of the palace block were raked out and pointed with cement mortar because of ‘the damp driving through the walls into the rooms occupied by the officer’s and men’s dining rooms, and also the Sergeants Quarters (NAS MW1/92). The problem of damp continued and in 1950 concern that it was ‘causing the stands of old colours to deteriorate’ led to the installation of central heating. These ‘old colours’ were the former flags of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders that were displayed in the officers’ dining room.

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Graffiti by a joiner in 1913.

In 1964, when the castle ceased to be a Regimental Depot, the opportunity arose to open the interior of the palace to the public. Whilst the architectural merit of the exterior had been long recognised, inside the subdivided state of the principal rooms hindered appreciation. A brief to the Under Secretary of the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works in 1962 stated that ‘Unfortunately little of the original interior remains’ and the initial aims of were modest, concluding that ‘Nonetheless we should like to have control of at least part of the building which, one day, we might convert into a tearoom and museum’ (NAS DD27/783). These proposals did not necessitate great changes and, from 1964, the former NAFFI canteen which occupied the King’s Guard Chamber and Presence Chamber (P02 and P03) became the tearoom. A counter, backed by large urns, occupied the south-west corner of the Guard Chamber. This appears in photographs of 1965, resplendent with Formica surfaces (SPARC photographs 1-7). The army continued to occupy other parts of the palace. Most of the upper floor was a Regimental Museum, the dining table with the regimental silver being a centrepiece in U:29. The corridors and various other rooms were utilised for display, as photographs taken in 1972 show (SPARC photographs 380-388).

The south side of the principal floor was used by Army Cadets, who had a billiard table and table tennis table in the Queen’s Presence Chamber (NAS DD27/4565).

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Work gradually proceeded with the aim of restoring the integrity of the principal rooms within the palace and emphasising the surviving features. One of the first steps in this direction was the removal of later fireplace interiors; in February 1968 the ‘ugly stoves and blockings’ were removed from five fireplaces (NAS DD27/4565). Further, more comprehensive, work was carried to provide clean, sound floors and walls and to provide a better means of heating. Hardwood flooring was laid in the Queen’s Guard Chamber and Presence Chamber (P:11 and P:09) and the floor of the King’s Guard Chamber (P:02) was lowered to its ‘correct level’ (NAS DD27/4565).

The first major structural project undertaken by the Ministry of Works within the palace was in 1970 when the large arched opening that existed between the two bedchambers on the principal floor was in filled with a brick wall with random rubble facing and a copy of a 16th century doorway reinstated as access between the two rooms.

The south wall of the Queen’s Bedchamber was occupied by a stone stair leading from the exterior to the upper floor and in 1969 it was proposed that this be removed. Regulations required an alternative exit from the upper floor in case of fire and it was further proposed that the stair from the King’s Closet, blocked at its upper end by a Georgian wall closet, be opened as a fire escape (NAS DD27/4565). This work was carried out in 1970 although in was not until 2001 that the former exit doorway from the stair on the south side of the Queen’s bedchamber was rebuilt in a 16th century style.

The single storey cookhouse that stood against the west gable of the palace in the Ladies’ Lookout was demolished in 1970 and the area landscaped.

The ceiling of the Queen’s Guard Chamber was reinforced in 1972 with the insertion of steel girders below the exiting beams. Other structural work included the rebuilding of the chimney stack on the north side of the Lion’s Den which took place late in 1978.

In the winter of 1975-6 the north-west entrance to the palace was lifted and for the insertion of concrete service ducts. There was no archaeological excavation but the proceedings were recorded by photography. The removal of the floor of the entrance revealed a void with a sequence of walling north of a former wine cellar. The work included the removal of an area of

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bedrock and the foundations of the palace walls were reinforced with brick walling and a steel girder.

The cookhouse in the Ladies’ Lookout in 1970, shortly before its demolition. Note the earlier stonework visible at foundation level.

In 1994 the tearoom was removed from the King’s apartments and the rooms presented as state apartments, although with a minimal display.

A problem that arose with the removal of the army from the palace was the presentation of the large rooms of the principal floor which, apart from the fireplaces, had little decorative detail and no surviving furnishings that would attract the eye of the visitor. There was a limited exhibition of artefacts and information; the Stirling heads were exhibited on the walls of the Queen’s Guard chamber from 1970. But overall there was a problem in that the rooms appeared to the average visitor to be empty. In 2003 an extensive programme of restoration was initiated with the eventual intention of restoring the Renaissance interiors of at least part of the principal floor. This was combined with a detailed archaeological recording of the standing structure. Major structural alterations included the removal of the mezzanine floor, the space having previously been used as a ladies toilet. The modern ceiling of the Queen’s Guard Hall was removed. The walls of all the principal rooms were stripped of modern plaster in order to 181

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record the fabric, a difficult operation because of its concrete-like nature. All recent flooring on the principal level was removed with the intention of archaeological excavation of the sub floor deposits but this was severely limited by the discovery of asbestos. Detailed recording of the upper floor and vaults was carried out but without the removal of any recent wall coverings or fittings apart from in V:17 (the area under the west gallery) which was stripped of modern plaster.

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9

RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION The Army vacated the palace building in January 1964. Whilst there was an appreciation of the fine exterior of the building, the interior was obscured by later accretions and initially plans for its display were limited. A letter written in 1962 from the Ministry of Works commented that:

The Palace Block is one of the finest buildings in the castle. Unfortunately little of the original interior remains. Nonetheless we should like to have control of at least part of the building which, one day, we might convert into a tearoom and museum.

The idea that little of interest remained inside the palace slowed its appreciation as a Renaissance interior. Apart from the sculpture on the fireplaces there was little to catch the eye of the visitor. The drastic conversion of the palace to military use meant it had not retained the furnishings and fittings and the patina of genteel decay that the visitor expected in historic interiors, nor did it have the romance associated with ruins. The former NAAFI bar and tearoom continued to be was used as tearoom until 1994. The tearoom included the adjacent Presence Chamber which was floored with two shades of lino tiles (HS drawing 340/291/L/26). A self-service counter was installed in 1964 (HS drawing 340/291/L/56).

There was gradual restoration aimed at restoring the rooms to their 16th century appearance. This was helped by the publication of the details of the palace in the Royal Commission inventory in 1963 (RCAHMS 1963, 179-223) and the growing momentum towards the restoration of the great hall. In the palace, the arched opening, possibly of 19th century date, between the two former bedchambers (P:04 and P:07) was in filled in 1970 (SPARC photographs 108-09, 262-63). A stair that occupied the south side of the Queen’s bedchamber was removed in 1970 (SPARC photographs 251-3 and 259). The lower part of the 16th century doorway in the south wall of the bedchamber was found to have survived, the upper part being destroyed when the stair was inserted (SPARC photographs 370-1). The doorway was subsequently reconstructed for the surviving structural evidence (HS drawing 340/291/L/8493).

The fireplaces of the King’s Guard and the King’s Presence Chambers were restored in the early years of the 20th century to what was perceived as closer to their original appearance. A photograph of c.1910 showing the fireplace of the King’s Guard Hall, labelled the ‘mens 183

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reading room (SPARC photograph 61). The inventory by the RCAHMS (1963, plates 81A and 82A) shows the fireplaces of the as restored, with rebuilt hearths and interiors. Photographs of 1963 show the fireplaces of the other principal rooms still with 19th century cast iron register grates in place (RCAHMS, 1963, plates 81 and 82). The other fireplaces of the principal floor remained unrestored until 1968 when stoves and metal fireplace interiors were removed (NAS DD27/4565; Foreman’s Reports). When the heath of the fireplace in the Queen’s Guard Hall was removed in 1968 a stone-lined channel was revealed (SPARC photographs 94-6), which had possibly acted as ventilation for a former stove.

The Queen’s Bedchamber (P:07) before the restoration of its north wall, looking into the King’s Bedchamber (P:04).

The adaptation of the palace to modern use and to that of the visitor brought about adaptations of the historic fabric that were at times not in the best interests of the conservation of the building. The former King’s Closet was converted into a urinal in 1953 (HS drawing 340/291/L/45 and 46). This space again changed use in 1995-96 when it was converted into a wash up room for functions. The privy stair from the King’s Closet was reopened in 1969 to serve as a fire escape for the upper floor, breaking through the closet that blocked its upper exit.

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Continued maintenance and repair of the building necessitated some major rebuilding. The large 16th century chimney stack on the north side of the Lion’s Den was rebuilt during 1978-9. In November 1983 masonry at the south-west corner of the palace was rebuilt with epoxy and delta pins. Further repair work to the chimney stacks took place in 1990-1.

Insertion of steel girders in the Queen’s Guard Hall, 1972.

In October – November 1975 a large concrete service duct was laid through the north-west corner of the palace and the Lady’s Lookout. This necessitated excavation under the entrance to the palace from the Upper Court. The under floor area was strengthened by the insertion of steel and masonry (HS drawings 340/291/L/133-4).

The western part of the upper floor of the palace continued to be used for the Regimental Museum, with the main display in the room above the Queen’s Guard Chamber (U:29). The weakening of this floor brought about the decision to remove the museum to the King’s Old Building. In 1972 the floor was then strengthened with the insertion of steel girders placed below the earlier beams. This strengthening was hidden by a Renaissance style tromp-l’oeil painted ceiling.

In 1996 five rooms in the vaults were used for themed displays on characters from the life of the palace: the tailor, the stone mason, the painter, the wood carver and the jester (HS drawings 340/291/L/208-13). This year also saw the repaving of the Lion’s Den and the erection of a

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wooden stair on its west side to provide access to the door at principal floor level (SPARC photographs 592-610).

In 2003 the Stirling Palace Academic Research Committee was formed and work was started towards the present programme of restoration of the palace interiors. This combined historical research into the surviving documentation for the palace with a thorough archaeological investigation of the standing building. Parallel research on furnishings, fittings and decoration was undertaken to provide a fuller understanding of the original appearance of the mid-16th century palace so that an accurate restoration of the rooms to that period could be possible.

The Queen’s Guard Hall in 2002 (SPARC 1032).

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