Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/579

 STIRLING 555 at the south-west of the fortress, and forms a quadrangle, the front and pillars of which are adorned by quaintly sculptured figures. The royal chapel founded by Alex- ander I., rebuilt in the 15th century, and again by James VI., was subsequently converted into an armoury and is now used as a store. To the west of it is the Douglas room, the scene of the treacherous murder of William, eighth earl of Douglas, by James II. in 1452. Below the castle on the north-east is the road of Ballangeich, which supplied a fictitious title to James V. when wandering in disguise. Beyond it is the Gowan or Gowlan Hill, at the west corner of which is Mote Hill or Heading Hill, where Murdoch, duke of Albany, and several of his relatives were beheaded in 1425. On the north-east side of the esplanade a statue of King Robert Bruce was erected in 1877. Below the castle rock to the south-west were the king's gardens, now laid out in grass, with an octagonal mound, called the King's Knot, in the centre. Farther south is the King's Park, now used for recreation, and as a drill ground. In the cemetery to the south of the castle esplanade there are a number of interesting monuments. Near the main entrance to the esplanade is the building called Argyll's Lodging, erected by the poet, Sir William Alexander, who was created earl of Stirling by Charles I. It passed into the possession of the Argylls in 1640, and was the head- quarters of John, duke of Argyll, during the rebellion of 1715. South-west of it is Mar's Work, the ruins of the palace built as a residence by the earl of Mar about 1570, from the ruins of Cambuskenneth Abbey. Next to the castle the most interesting public building is the Greyfriars church, some portions of which date from the 13th century, although the monastery with which it was connected was not founded till 1494. The greater part of it is in the Later Pointed style. The church was the scene of the coronation of James VI., 29th July 1567, when John Knox preached the coronation sermon. The site of the Dominican monas- tery founded by Alexander II. in 1223 is now occupied by the National Bank. In the immediate neighbourhood of Stirling, on the other side of the Forth, in Clackmannan county, is the beautiful ruin of Cambuskenneth Abbey, chiefly Early English or First Pointed, founded by David I. in 1147 for canons regular, associated with the meeting of parliaments and other interesting events in Scottish history, and the burial-place of James III. and his queen, Margaret of Denmark. The principal secular buildings are the old town-house, erected in 1701 ; the new town buildings ; the jail, erected in 1848 at a cost of 12,000 ; the county buildings (1875, 15,000); the Smith institute, founded by the bequest cf 22,000 and a valuable collec- tion of paintings by Thomas Stewart Smith, and embracing a picture gallery, a museum, and a reading room ; the public halls (1883, 12,000); and the high school (1855, 5000 ; now being extended at a cost of 8000). Among the benefactions are Co wane's hospi- tal, founded by the bequest of John Cowane, clean of guild in 1633, for twelve decayed members of the guildry, but the distribution of the charity has since been altered, and the building erected in 1639 now forms the guild hall ; Spittal's hospital, founded by Robert Spittal, tailor to James IV., about 1530 for decayed tradesmen; Allan's hospital, founded in 1725 for the maintenance of children of poor townsmen ; and Cunningham's mortification, founded in 1808 with an endowment of 4000 for the clothing and schooling of sons of mechanics. By the operation of the Endowed Schools and Hospitals Act the charities are now largely devoted to education. As early as the 15th century Stirling had a trade with the Nether- lands in worsted cloth, shalloons, stockings, and thread, but the manufactures afterwards declined. The cotton manufacture carried on in the beginning of the present century has now entirely ceased. During the last century the manufacture of tartans and carpets was carried on, but this also languished about the end of the century, and was not revived till about 1820. The woollen manufacture is now the staple industry, the principal goods being carpets, tartans, tweeds, and shawls. There are also breweries, coachbuilding works, and agricultural implement works. The population of the royal burgh in 1871 was 10,873, and in 1881 12,194. The population of the parliamentary burgh, which includes the village of St Ninians, in 1871 -was 14,279, and in 1881 it was 16,001. The town is of unknown antiquity, and undoubtedly owed its origin to the fortress on the rock, which became one of the most important strongholds in Scotland and the centre of the struggle between Scotland and England. As early as 1119 the town was a royal burgh, and under Alexander I. it became one of the four towns which constituted the Court of the Four Burghs, superseded under James III. by the Convention of Royal Burghs. Its earliest charter was that of Alexander II. in 1226, who first made the castle a royal residence. Its last governing charter was obtained from Charles I. in 1641. On account of a combination of three members of the council to retain themselves in office it was deprived of its corporate privileges in 1773, and they were not restored till 1781. The castle was held by William the Lion before 1174, was occupied by Edward I. with his army in 1296, and was burned with the town in 1298 by the Scots on their retreat from the battle of Falkirk. Between this time and 1341 it was frequently besieged and taken by the English, the longest period during which it remained in their hands being from its capture by Edward I. in 1304 till his sou's defeat 10 years afterwards at the battle of Ban- uockburn. It was the birthplace of James II. in 1430, and, it being the jointure house of his mother, he was removed to it in 1438 from Edinburgh to thwart the ambitious purposes of Sir William Crichton. It was in one of its rooms that James, as stated above, slew the earl of Douglas, after which the town was burned by the earl's brothers. James V. took refuge in it after his escape from Falkland in 1528. During the reign of Mary and the period of the Reformation, Stirling occupied a position of almost as great prominence as during the wars of Scottish independence. Here the infant queen was crowned by the cardinal's party in 1543 ; here her son, afterwards James VI., was baptized according to the Roman Catholic ritual, 17th December 1566; and here he was crowned by the leaders of the congregation on July 29th of the following year. In 1571 rival parliaments were held by the queen's party in Edinburgh and the king's lords at Stirling, shortly after which an attempt was made by the queen's adherents to surprise Stirling castle, which was almost successful, the regent (Lennox) being slain in the fray. On the 26th April 1578 the castle was surprised by Morton, after which a reconciliation took place between the two parties. In 1584 the castle was occupied by the earls of Angus and Mar, the Protestant leaders, but on the approach of the king with a large force they fled to England. Returning with a formidable army collected in the south in the following year, they compelled James after the flight of Arran to open the gates to them, safety to his person having been guaranteed. The town was the scene of the baptism of Prince Henry with great pomp in August. 1594, for which purpose the chapel royal was rebuilt on a larger scale " to entertain the great number of strangers expected." The meetings of the privy council and court of session were held in 1637 at Stirling on account of the disturbed condition of Edinburgh, and a parliament was held at it in 1645, on account of Edinburgh having been visited by the plague, but the outbreak of the disorder in Stirling caused an adjournment to Perth. During the Civil War Stirling was held by the Covenanters, and the committees of church and state adjourned to it after the victory of Cromwell at Dunbar 3d September 1650. In August of the following year the castle was taken by General Monk. In 1715 it was held by Argyll to prevent the passage of the Forth by the Jacobites ; and during the rebellion of 1745 it was unsuccessfully besieged by the Highlanders. See History of the Chapel Royal of Stirling, Grampian Club, 1882; Local Notes and Queries relating to Stirling,' 18&3 ; Charters of Stirling, 1884; ISurton, History of Scotland. (T. F. H.) STIRLING, EARL OP. See ALEXANDER, SIR WILLIAM, vol. i. p. 493. STIRLING, JAMES (1692-1770), mathematician, third son of Archibald Stirling of Garden, and grandson of Sir Archibald Stirling of Keir (Lord Garden, a lord of session), was born at Garden, Stirlingshire, in 1692. Part of his early education was probably obtained at Glasgow, but at eighteen years of age he went to Oxford, where, chiefly through the influence of the earl of Mai- he was nominated (1711) one of Bishop Warner's exhibi- tioners at Balliol. During his residence at Oxford he made for himself considerable reputation as a student of mathe- matics. In 1715, however, he was expelled on account of his correspondence with members of the Keir and Garden families, who were noted Jacobites, and had been accessory to the " Gathering of the Brig of Turk " in 1708. From Oxford he made his way to Venice, where he occupied himself as a professor of mathematics. In 1717 appeared his Linex Tertii Ordinis Newtonian^ sive .... (Svo, Oxford), which contained one or two notable additions to the theory. While in Venice, also, he communicated,