Ancient history A stone
cist, found in Coneypark Nursery in 1879, is Stirling's oldest catalogued artefact. Bones from the cist were
radiocarbon dated and found to be over four millennia old, originating within the date range 2152 to 2021 BC. Nicknamed Torbrex Tam, the man, whose bones were discovered by workmen, died while still in his twenties. Other
Bronze Age finds near the city come from the area around
Cambusbarron. It had been thought that the Randolphfield standing stones were more than 3000 years old but recent radiocarbon dating suggests they may date from the time of Bruce. The earliest known structures in Stirling are now destroyed but comprised two Neolithic Cursus in Bannockburn. To the south of Stirling is
Gillies Hill which contains a series of prehistoric fortifications. Two structures are known: what is currently called Wallstale Dun on the southern end of Touchadam Craig, and Gillies Hill fort on the northwest end of the craig. Both structures were built by Iron Age peoples and Gillies Hill is c 2500 years old while the Wallstale structure is later and is related in form to brochs, these appear to coincide with the Roman period and there are around 40 or so in the wider area. South of the city, the King's Park prehistoric carvings (cup and ring marks) can still be found, these date to c 3000 BC.
Roman and early Medieval (southwest aspect)Its other notable geographic feature is its proximity to the lowest crossing point of the River Forth. Control of the bridge brought military advantage in times of unrest and excise duty, or
pontage dues, in peacetime. Unsurprisingly excise men were installed in a covered booth in the centre of the bridge to collect tax from any entering the royal burgh with goods. Stirling remained the river's lowest reliable crossing point (that is, without a weather-dependent ferry or seasonal
ford) until the construction of the
Alloa Swing Bridge between
Throsk and
Alloa in 1885. The city has two
Latin mottoes, which appeared on the earliest burgh seal of which an impression of 1296 is on record. The first alludes to the story as recorded by
Boece who relates that in 855 Scotland was invaded by two
Northumbrian princes,
Osbrecht and
Ella. They united their forces with the Cumbrian Britons in order to defeat the Scots. Having secured Stirling castle, they built the first stone bridge over the Forth. On the top they reportedly raised a crucifix with the inscription: "Anglos, a Scotis separat, crux ista remotis; Arma hic stant Bruti; stant Scoti hac sub cruce tuti."
Bellenden translated this loosely as "I am free
marche, as passengers may ken, To Scottis, to Britonis, and to Inglismen." It may be the stone cross was a
tripoint for the
three kingdom's borders or
marches; the cross functioning both as a dividing territorial marker, and as a uniting
witness stone like in the Bible story in Joshua 22. "
Angles and Scots here demarked, By this cross kept apart. Brits and Scots armed stand near, By this cross stand safe here." This would make the cross on the centre of the first stone bridge the
Heart of Scotland. The Stirling seal has only the second part, in a slightly different form: :
Hic Armis Bruti Scoti Stant Hic Cruce Tuti :(
Brits and Scots armed and near, by this cross stand safe here.) The Latin is apparently not first rate, as it has four syllables in "cruce tuti". However, the meaning seems to be that the Lowland
Strathclyde Britons on the southern shore and the Highland
Pictish Scots on the northern shore stand protected from each other by their common Christianity. A more modern translation suggests that rather than Briton, bruit might be better read as brute, i.e. brute Scots, implying a non-Scots identity was retained in Stirling for some time after inclusion into the land controlled by the King of Scots. The second motto is: :
Continet Hoc in Se Nemus et Castrum Strivelinse :(''Contained within this seal pressed down, the wood an' castle o' Stirlin' town.'') It has been claimed that the "Bridge" seal was regarded as the Burgh seal proper, the "Castle" seal being simply a reverse, used when the seal was affixed by a lace to a charter. This agrees with a description in an official publication (which spells Bruti with only one letter t). Clearer images are available with different lettering.
Sibbald conflated the two mottos into a single rhyme; he gave no indication that he was aware of Boece's work. Stirling was first declared a
royal burgh by
King David in the 12th century, with later charters reaffirmed by subsequent monarchs. A ferry, and later bridge, on the River Forth at Stirling brought wealth and strategic influence, as did its tidal port at Riverside. As Stirling's economy grew, a Royal Park was established as a landscape setting to the north of the castle in the 12th century. The short-lived New Park was established in the later 13th century and contains a
cockshot wood (Coxet Hill), likely to have been used as a base in the
Battle of Bannockburn. Major battles during the
Wars of Scottish Independence took place at the
Stirling Old Bridge in 1297 and at the nearby village of
Bannockburn in 1314 involving
Andrew Moray and
William Wallace, and
Robert the Bruce respectively. After the
Battle of Stirling Bridge, Moray and Wallace wrote to
Hanseatic League leaders in
Lübeck and
Hamburg to encourage trade between Scottish and German ports. There were also several
Sieges of Stirling Castle in the conflict, notably in 1304.
Late Medieval and early Modern ,
King of Scots, and
Margaret of Denmark at
Cambuskenneth Abbey Another important historical site in the area is the ruins of
Cambuskenneth Abbey, the resting place of
King James III of Scotland and his queen,
Margaret of Denmark. The king died at the
Battle of Sauchieburn by forces nominally led by his son and successor
James IV. During the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the
Battle of Stirling also took place in the centre of Stirling on 12 September 1648. The fortifications continued to play a strategic military role during the 18th-century
Jacobite risings. In
1715, the
Earl of Mar failed to take control of the castle. In
January 1746, the army of
Bonnie Prince Charlie seized control of the town
but failed to take the Castle. On their consequent retreat northwards, they blew up the church of
St. Ninians where they had been storing munitions; only the tower survived and can be seen to this day. The castle and the church are shown on
Blaeu's map of 1654 which was derived from
Pont's earlier map. (Holy Cross)Standing near the castle, the
Church of the Holy Rude is one of the town's most historically important buildings. Founded in 1129 it is the second oldest building in the city after Stirling castle. It was rebuilt in the 15th-century after Stirling suffered a catastrophic fire in 1405, and is reputed to be the only surviving church in the United Kingdom apart from
Westminster Abbey to have held a coronation. The death of James V led to the
Rough Wooing, a period where Henry VIII of England attempted to marry the infant Mary Queen of Scots to his son. Stirling responded by constructing a burgh wall to the south of town, which is among the best preserved in Scotland. Recent archaeological research has identified two new bastions or positions of strength on the wall and Stirling's last surviving medieval gate. On 29 July 1567 the infant son of
Mary, Queen of Scots, was
anointed James VI of Scotland in the church. Musket shot marks that may come from
Cromwell's troops during the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms are clearly visible on the tower and
apse of the church. in Belgium and
Veere in the Netherlands. In the 16th century there were so many Scots in
Danzig in
Prussia that they had their own church congregation and trade is mentioned with that city in Stirling Council's minutes of 1560. Around
John Cowane's time there is an account which states there were about 30,000 Scots families living in Poland although that was possibly an exaggeration. Trade with the
Baltic also took place such as a timber trade with Norway. After the Jacobite threat had faded but before the railways were established, the Highland cattle drovers would use the Auld Brig on their way to market at Falkirk or
Stenhousemuir. Three times a year, tens of thousands of cattle, sheep and ponies were moved together to the trysts in the south with some drovers going as far as
Carlisle or even London's
Smithfield. There is a record of a four-mile long tailback (of livestock) developing from
St. Ninians to
Bridge of Allan after a St. Ninians tollman had a dispute.
Victorian and Modern In the early 19th century an "exceedingly low" cost steamboat service used to run between Stirling and
Newhaven or
Granton. The coming of the railways in 1848 started the decline of the river traffic, not least because the
Alloa Swing Bridge downstream restricted access for shipping. The railways did provide opportunity too with one Riverside company selling their reaping machines as far afield as
Syria and Australia. Similarly, in 1861, a company making baby carriages was set up. These prams were exported to Canada, South America, India and South Africa. The
Princes Street drill hall was completed in 1908 and the
Municipal Buildings, which formed the headquarters of Stirling Burgh Council for much of the 20th century, were completed in 1918. After the blockades of the World Wars there was some increase in the use of the port including a tea trade with India. However, with normal shipping lanes open, the growth of the railways including The
Forth Rail Bridge, left the harbour uneconomical and by the mid 20th century the port had ceased to operate. ==Governance==