stirling-1963-vol-1/05_222

Transcription

No. 192 -- CASTLES AND TOWER-HOUSES -- No. 192
repaired, as had been directed (supra). The greater part
of the W. quarter was evidently demolished later in the
17th century, however, as only its E. gallery appears on
Slezer's plan of about 1680 (cf. Pl. 56). The main
portion was probably removed because of the general
instability of the foundations, already apparent in 1625
(supra). William Wallace, the King's master-mason, was
at the Castle from July to October 1625 working on the
King's badges, which were carvings of lions, unicorns
and other devices set on the stone ridgings of the roof
of the Great Hall ¹ and similar to those that still stand
upon the Palace. Wallace spent two days superintending
the quarrying of the stones for the badges at Ravelston
Quarry, near Edinburgh. ² An account for 1628-9 speaks
of the "platting and contryveing his Majesties new
orchard and gardein", ³ and it is probable that the King's
Knot (pp. 219 f.), which still stands on the low ground to
the west of the Castle, originated at this time. If so, its
design may be attributed to William Watts, a "skilfull
and well experimented" gardener, who had been
brought from England in 1625 to supervise the Royal
gardens at Stirling and elsewhere. ⁴ The account shows
too that during the winter of 1628-9 Robert Norie and
James Rynd, masons, were fashioning the baluster-
shafts for the Lower Terrace on the S. side of the Fore-
work ⁵ (cf. p. 193). The most interesting part of the
account, however, is that which concerns the work of
Valentine Jenkin, painter, who came from Glasgow to
work at the Castle. ⁶ With his assistant Andrew Home he
was responsible for the redecoration of the Great Hall,
the Chapel Royal and parts of the Palace, together with
some smaller assignments such as the gilding of the
Royal Arms over the entrance gateways of the Castle. ⁷
Three of these entries may be quoted for the light that
they throw on the appearance of some of the apartments
of the Castle at this period. "Item the wallis gavellis
and pendis of the great hall all to be weill layit over whyte
abone the roll that gois round about the midis of the
wallis [presumably a roll-moulding which returned
round the hall at about sill level] and the roll weill
marbillit and all blew gray under and all the chimnayis
to be weill marbillit with ane crownell [coronet] to ilk
ane of thame with the trumpet loft to be weill paintit and
set af with housingis [canopied niches] and pilleris."
"Item the Chaippill Ryall all to be new paintit in the
rufe in the forme it wes before and betuix the rufe and
the wall pletis to have ane course of pannallis armes and
badgeis round about conforme to the rufe and ane
border under all these -- that the jeistis be all weill
paintit the feild thairof blew with flouris going all along
thame and antikis." "Item the queinis chalmer [Queen's
Bed Chamber] the pannallis of it abone the hingingis
round about the sylring [canopy] to be fair wrocht with
armes antikis and thair af settis conformit to the warkis of
the sylring abone with the windowis without and within
and the pendis schonschonis [sconcheons] chimnay and
dores to be fair set af as is forsaid." Nothing remains of
Jenkin's work today apart from the recently discovered
fragments of decoration within the Chapel Royal
(cf. pp. 212 f.).
Minor repairs and alterations, which included the
erection of new stables and a coach-house, were under-
taken in preparation for the Royal visit of 1633, ⁸ and in
1638, on receipt of a report from the Earl of Mar on the
ruinous state of the Castle of Stirling, Charles I wrote to
the Earl of Traquair and gave orders for certain work
to be done there, including the building of a stone dyke
about the garden adjoining the park, in order to keep
out the deer. ⁹ In 1649, when the news of the King's
execution reached Edinburgh , his son was proclaimed at
the Cross of Edinburgh "King of Great Britain, France
and Ireland", and on 23rd June 1650 Charles II arrived in
Scotland. A Parliamentary news-letter of 14th July 1650
reports that "Their declared King is at Sterling, where
he hath a Stately house -- the men bring in their plate
to Sterling (where their King is), and the women their
Thimbles and Bodkins, for the carrying on of the present
design against England". ¹⁰ After the surrender of Perth
on 3rd August 1651, Cromwell left Lt.-General Monk to
complete the conquest of Scotland, and the first concern
of the latter was to capture Stirling. On 6th August he
ordered the town to surrender and his men entered it
about one o'clock on the following morning. Next day
he began to construct platforms for his artillery, and in
the meanwhile his men fired on the Castle from the
tower of the parish church (No. 131), being bombarded
in their turn, by the Scots in the Castle. By 12th August
the mortars had begun to play on the Castle from the
new platforms, and the besieged garrison replied with
their great guns. A summons to surrender the Castle was
rejected. Then next day Mr. Hane, Monk's engineer,
"plaid with one of the mortar peeces twice. The second
shot fell into the middle of the Castle, and did much
execucion." On 14th August Monk's great guns were
brought into play, whereupon "The Highlanders and
other souldyers fell into a mutiny", and. after a parley,
the Castle capitulated.
Towards noon Col. Wm. Cunningham marched out
with his men, about 300 in all, drawn from every regiment
in the King's army. Col. Rede then took over for the
Parliamentarians, and entered the Castle "with his owne
and Capt. Badger's company". They found that their
mortars had defaced the Castle "in divers places". Their
booty included forty pieces of ordnance, including eleven
leather guns, together with ammunition, meal, beef, beer
and wine, "two coaches and a sedan, the Earle of Murris
[Mar's] coronet and Parliament roabes, divers of the
Kinges hangings". The burgesses of Stirling having

1 Presumably those shown on Slezer's views, cf. Pls. 57, 58.
2 M.of W. Accts., ii, 170, 179 f.
3 Ibid., 230.
4 Hist. MSS. Comm., Report on the Manuscripts of the Earl
of Mar and Kellie (1904}, 131.
5 M. of W. Accts., ii, 255.
6 Miscellany of the Maitland Club, iii, 369 ff; M. of W. Accts.,
ii, 255 ff.
7 M. of W. Accts., ii, 255 ff.
8 Ibid., 356-71.
9 Hist. MSS. Comm., Report on the Manuscripts of the Earl
of Mar and Kellie (1904), 195.
10 Terry, Life and Campaigns of Alexander Leslie, 454.

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