“Haven’t we already walked this way?” – Mike

On our last day in Stirling, we really just walked around town making sure we’d seen the most of the “points of interest”.  Not that there’s that many.  Even so, what’s there is fairly interesting for the most part.

King Street, the street our hotel was on, was a short street.  This building was at the head of the street where the road branched out in different directions.

it is known as the Athenaeum and was built in 1817.  It was originally used as private library, and meeting room, for the town’s wealthier citizens.  The statue of William Wallace was added in 1859.

We walked back toward the castle because I wanted to visit the Church of the Holy Rude.

On the way, we took a side street we hadn’t walked down before and found Mercat Cross.  Basically a nondescript spot on the road, this area was traditionally where markets were held, as well as where Royal proclamations were made.  This spot was marked by a pedestal with a unicorn finial on top.  The original structure was built in the 1500’s. On today’s version, only the unicorn statue is original.  It is nicknamed “Puggy”.   “Puggy” is a prominent feature of the cross and is a symbol of the Scottish monarchy.  The original version of this landmark was set in the middle of the road, but it was removed in 1792 to help with traffic flow.  In 1891 this version was returned to the site, but put on the sidewalk instead of the middle of the road.. 

This ruin was between the castle and the church.  It is called Mar’s Wark (Wark here means “building”).  Construction was started in the mid-1500’s by the Earl of Mar as a family home. At the time he was the keeper of the castle. It is thought he died before it was finished, but his Countess did live there after his death for a few years.  By 1715, the house was being used as a barracks and ultimately ruined by cannon fire during the Jacobite Uprising in 1745-1746.

Below is a monument to mark the burial site of a minister who started a church on this site.  The building behind it is now used as a youth hostel.

This is a picture I took standing next to Church of the Holy Rude, looking across the street.

Next I visited the Church. Mike decided to sit this one out. “Holy Rude” translates into Holy Cross. I had thought to walk through it the same day we visited the castle, but that was a Sunday and they were having services.

The first church built at this site was in 1129.  In 1405 a fire raged through the upper part of Stirling, including the church.  The church was rebuilt in the 1400s and that building is what we saw today.  Mary Queen of Scots’ son James was crowned King James IV here in 1567.

In the 1600’s, there was a religious dispute between two ministers of the church and the result was that a dividing wall was built, splitting it into the East congregation and the West congregation so each minister could lead their own congregations.  The wall (now removed) stayed up for 280 years.

Next, we wandered through the cemetery:

Toward the back, there was a small climb to an overlook.  We could see the castle and the countryside.

Yes, that is a golf course in the distance. And yes, Mike took this picture.

While up there, we spotted a paved walkway below.  We found our way down to that and followed it to see where it went. It was a pleasant walk, mostly following the old city walls.

Below is a statue of Rob Roy (1671-1734), a Scottish folk hero and outlaw.  He was often thought of as the Scottish Robin Hood.

This church was level with the path (now street) we’d been following since the cemetery, but this is the back side of it, second story!  There are nearby steps leading down to a street below that the church’s frontside is on..

There is an old tale, dating back to the 800s about a pack of wolves who woke up the town of Stirling in the middle of the night by howling after being disturbed by the approach of Viking raiders. To this day, the wolf is a symbol of the town.

By the time we got to the corner where I took the above picture, our hotel was just around a block away.  The next day was a travel day, so we picked a restaurant for dinner, repacked our bags and made an early night of it.

Stirling was actually nice, but you’d only need a day or so to see it all.  I’m glad we rented a car and went touring.  It only added to the fun of seeing so many interesting sights.

Categories: Stirling -Day 4