There is no ancient or modern account of the history of the parish ; nor am I aware, after much inquiry, of any existing in manuscript. There are two or three histories of Stirling, and accounts of its scenery, antiquities, and other objects of interest, chiefly intended as manuals to visitors. An immense number of notices, relating to the history and antiquities of Stirling, lie scattered in ancient and modern chronicles, and histories of Scotland, in Chalmers's Caledonia, Sibbald's History of Stirlingshire, and other works. Nimmo's History of Stirlingshire, edited, with many additions and corrections, by Stirling, contains most of these notices collected with much industry, and no little care and discrimination, especially by the learned editor. But it requires to be read with caution; and there are some statements which may be corrected by a reference to the works already mentioned and to other authorities.

Stirling and its Castle.-Stirling is situated partly on an eminence which, as already stated, rising from the south-east, terminates on the north-west, in the precipitous rock on which the castle stands, and partly on the lower ground to the north-east, and south-east of this eminence ; the former being the more ancient, and the latter the more modern part of the town. Like many other places, both in Scotland, and in other countries, it has evidently owed its existence to that of the adjoining fortress, in whose immediate neighbourhood the inhabitants had been induced to build their dwellings, for the sake of the protection it afforded, in times when security could only thus be hoped for.

It is impossible to fix, with any approach to certainty, the date of the erection of Stirling Castle. There are good grounds for believing that it is of very ancient origin. Boece affirms that Agricola raised fortifications on the rock on which it stands. That the Romans had a station here, is almost certain. Their military road from Camelon to the north of Scotland is known to have passed, either close under the south-west side of the Castle-hill, or as seems more probable, through the hollow way, which passes over the high ground immediately contiguous to it on the north known by the name of the Ballingeich Road. There existed in Sir Robert Sibbald's time, on a rock overhanging this road, opposite to tire old gate of the castle, the following inscription:

"IN EXCU. AGIT. LEG. II," supposed to intend ln Excubias agitantes Legionis Secundae. Boece says, that, in the latter part of the ninth century, the Northumbrian princes, Ella and Osbricht, having defeated Donald V. and taken him prisoner, followed up their victory by marching northward, and subduing all before them to the Forth and Stirling; and, rebuilding the castle, placed in it a strong garrison. He adds, that, after it had continued twenty years in the possession of the Northumbrian Saxons, it was restored by treaty to the Scots. From authentic documents, we learn, that it was possessed by its rightful masters in 975; when Kenneth III. not only maintained his authority over this part of the country, but made himself master of the extensive kingdom of Strathcluyd, comprehending almost the whole of the west and south of Scotland. In the twelfth century, it had become a stronghold of great importance to the nation, as appears from the fact, that, in 1174, it was surrendered into the hands of the English by William the Lion, as one of the four principal fortresses of the kingdom, in fulfillment of the treaty, by which he was delivered from captivity in England. By this treaty, also, the English king, Henry II. was acknowledged superior of the whole kingdom of Scotland. This claim, however, was renounced, and Stirling Castle, with the other strongholds restored by Richard 1 his successor. The circumstances that led to the revival of the claim of lordship over Scotland, by Edward I, and to events resulting from it of deep interest to the nation, and permanent importance to its history, are too well-known to require more than an allusion to them here; although they produced consequences, in which Stirling and its castle were, for a considerable period, more or less deeply involved. The Scottish army being, on the 28th or April 1296, defeated in an attempt to relieve the castle of Dunbar, the English speedily obtained possession of all the principal fortresses of Scotland, Stirling being of the number. On this occasion, two priests, Thomas Chaplain, and Richard Tulle, had the boldness to excommunicate Edward before his whole army; and were seized, and committed to Stirling gaol, and afterwards tried and punished. William Wallace, however, having been raised up to be the deliverer of his country, and having expelled the invaders from a large portion of it, Stirling returned into the possession of the Scots. Edward having, soon after, sent a large army into Scotland, and reconquered the south and west, Wallace was recalled from the siege of Dundee, by the intelligence that Stirling was again in danger. The Scottish army took up its position at or near Corntown, on the north side of the Forth; while the English, posted at Kildean on the south, where it was crossed by a narrow bridge, prepared to avail themselves of this dangerous path to make their assault. Ere one-half of the English army had crossed, and formed on the north bank of the river, Wallace attacked and routed them; and a panic seizing those who were crossing and preparing to cross, they fled in utter confusion; the bridge being destroyed, say some, by a stratagem of the Scottish chiefs, according to others, by fire applied to the wooden fabric by the fugitive English. Cressingham, Edward's treasurer, who, in opposition to the better judgment of Warenne, tire commander-in-chief of the army, had insisted on the attack being made in a manner so rash and unskilful, perished with thousands of his followers; and a blow was inflicted on the English king, whose immediate result was the temporary loss of Scotland, and by which the nation was animated to a series of patriotic enterprizes and struggles, that eventually issued in the deliverance, and permanent settlement of the independence, of the kingdom. The loss of the conquerors in this memorable engagement, known in history as the battle of Stirling, and fought on the 12th of September 1297, was inconsiderable in point of numbers; but Sir Andrew Murray, the faithful associate of Wallace, fell.

Next year, Edward having entered Scotland at the head or 80,000 men, and defeated the Scottish army near Falkirk, Wallace retreated beyond the Forth, burning in the confusion of flight the town and castle of Stirling. The castle was repaired by Edward, and made by him a place of arms; but was besieged by the Scots the following year, and the English king's affairs in Scotland having experienced reverses that discouraged and enfeebled him, some time after, by his orders, capitulated. In 1300, after its brave garrison, under Sir William Oliphant, had sustained a siege of three months, it was recovered by the English; who were, in their turn, three years aferwards, compelled to surrender it, when it was again entrusted to its former governor. Early in 1304, Edward, who had passed into the north by another route, approached Stirling; and, in spite of a feeble attempt by John Comyn, the guardian of the kingdom, to dispute his passage, crossed the Forth near Kildean, immediate vicinity of the scene of the conflict, which, seven years before, had proved so disastrous to his forces. He was, however, baffled in his design on the castle, which, notwithstanding the defection and treason of Comyn, boldly held out. But, being determined to obtain possession of a place so important to his interest, he laid siege to it with all the force he could employ ; with all the resources he could command, even to the despoiling of the church of the lead that covered it; and with such ardour as often to expose his own person in the assault; but with a spirit withal so unbecoming a brave monarch, who ought to have honoured, if not the indominatable patriotism of a resolute defender of his country, at least the fidelity and courage of a magnanimous foe, that, when, after the most indefatigable efforts, met with the most obstinate resistance, he at length succeeded in conquering all opposition, he refused a capitulation to the garrison, and sent Oliphant to the Tower of London. The castle remained, after this, in the hands of the English for ten years. Early in 1314 it was invested by Edward Bruce, the gallant brother of the renowned King Robert, who prosecuted the siege for some months, until Philip Mowbray, who held it for the second Edward of England, agreed to surrender, should he not be relieved on or before the 24th of June.

Robert, who had been crowned in 1306, and with various success had been nobly asserting the independence of Scotland, although much dissatisfied with such a covenant, had nevertheless given his sanction to the truce. Meanwhile the greatest host which had ever entered the country, having been marched north-ward by Edward II., for the relief of the contested fortress, arrived in the immediate neighbourhood of Stirling, where it was met and intercepted by Bruce at the head of his small, but brave, band of patriots. On the 23d of June, a fine body of 800 English cavalry was pushed forward, but in a circuitous direction, so as to pass round the flank of the Scottish army, to attack and dislodge the besiegers. Bending eastward by the low grounds on the edge of the carse, they succeeded in eluding observation until they had actually passed the left flank of the Scots,-when, being discovered, they were pursued by Randolph, Earl of Moray, with 500 horse, who intercepted their attack, and, assailing them on the ground now occupied partly by the modern suburb of Stirling, called Southfield, and the villas of South Lodge and Randolph, Feld in the parish of Stirling, and partly by the northern end of the village of Newhouse, in that of St Ninians, intlicted upon them, with the loss, it is said, of only one man, a complete defeat, with great slaughter. From this decisive conflict, which had a powerful influence in leading to the great result or the general action of the following day, the ground, which formed probably the centre of the struggle, obtained tile name of Randolph Field; and two stones, one of which still remains within the wall separating it from the public road, and near the gate of the avenue leading to the mansion-house, were erected in its commemoration. The famous battle of Bannockburn, which decided the long depending contest for the claim of the English monarchs to the sovereignty of Scotland, and finally established the independence of the kingdom, but whose details do not belong to our subject, its scene lying within the parish of St Ninians, of necessity produced the immediate evacuation of Stirling and its castle by the English governor; who entered into the service of the Scottish king, while the garrison, agreeably to the terms of the previous agreement, were suffered to pass unmolested into England.

From this period, no event of national importance took place here till the reign of James 1 On the 24th and 25th of May 1425, Murdoch, Duke of Albany, who had been regent of the kingdom during the captivity of this prince in England, Duncan, the aged Earl of Lennox, his father-in-law, and Walter and Alexander, his sons, were beheaded on a small mount in the neighbourhood of the castle. This eminence forms part of the Gowland hill, lying to the north of, and separated from, the castle by the hollow way already mentioned, called the Ballengeich road; and is the most northern extremity of the hill, looking down upon the plain below. It is surrounded by a kind of parapet, and has on it the remains of artificial works; from which appearances, combined with its name, the Mote Hill it seems to have been at a very early period the place where councils of the chiefs were held, and justice was administered. It is also known by the name of the Hurly-Haaky, probably from its being the scene of a childish sport, known to have been practiced at a later time. These executions took place by authority of a parliament held in the castle, in which James presided, and by the verdict of a jury of twenty-one members formed out of that body. This severe measure, if demanded by considerations of state necessity, which it is somewhat difficult to collect from the researches of the historian, but which were probably connected with the overgrown power of a family whose influence endangered the security of the throne, appears at any rate to have been dictated more by policy than by justice. Here also, in 1437, took place the more righteous execution of Sir Robert Graham and several of his associates, for the assassination of this able and accomplished, but ill-fated prince, in the convent of Black Friars at Perth. In the castle itself, in 1451,James II., assisted by Sir Patrick Gray, captain of his guard, and in the presence of a few members of his council, perpetrated the murder of the Earl of Douglas; an act, which, however he might esteem it necessary for his own protection against the enormous power and perhaps dangerous designs of that baron and his retainers, has justly fixed an indelible stain upon his memory. This took place in a small room, or rather closet, known by the name of the Douglas Room, in the north-west corner of the building, where were then the royal apartments, and which is now the residence of the governor. The third James, who was distinguished by peaceful tastes, and literary and other accomplishments, in advance of the barbarous and turbulent age in which he reigned, resided frequently in the castle. Besides repairing and embellishing such parts of his favourite residence as had gone into decay, he erected in it several new and handsome structures. One of these was the Parliament House, containing a fine hall, 120 feet in length, and other suitable accommodations, which was a noble and magnificent fabric, but which is now occupied by mess-rooms and other apartments for the garrison, and although in good preservation, is much deteriorated, both in its external and internal appearance. Another was the Chapel royal; which, however, James VI demolished, erecting on its site the present building; part of which is now occupied by the armoury, the remainder, after many years' disuse in this character, having been within these few weeks restored to its sacred purpose as a chapel for the staff and garrison. The Palace, now converted into barracks for the soldiers, was begun by James V., and finished by Mary. It is all in hewn stone, in a singular style of architecture, neither Grecian nor Gothic; emblematical figures standing on wreathed balustrade pillars on pedestals supported by grotesque figures, under something like Gothic arches, and in pediments of the windows. Two of these are said to be figures of James and his daughter. Some of them have been removed. The form of the building is square, with a court in the middle, where the King's lions are said to have been kept, still known by the name of the Lions' Den. it contained many large and elegant apartments ; one of which was a hall covered with an oaken roof of exquisite workmanship, ornamented with a great number of carvings of heads, which, in 1777, when Nimmo wrote, were not much decayed, but which have now, for several years, been removed, and lie scattered in various hands. Masterly etchings of them were, some time since, executed by Mr Lizars of Edinburgh, aud published there under the title of Lacunar Strivinilese, to which I refer the antiquary.

The Scottish kings often held their court and parliament in the castle. But it did not become one of the stated royal residences till the family of Stewart had mounted the throne. The second and fifth Jameses were born in it. Here James V. was crowned; as was Mary also, when scarce nine months old. James VI. was conveyed hither from Edinburgh soon after his birth ; and, on the 15th of December 1566, when nearly six months old, baptized with great pomp, in the presence of many of the nobility and gentry, and of ambassadors from England, France, and Savoy; Elizabeth sending as a gift a font of gold, weighing a couple of stones, which was used on the occasion. After Mary's resignation of the throne in 1567, the nobility, gentry, and burghers of the kingdom met at Stirling on the 23d of July, and, having walked in procession to the Town Church, after sermon by John Knox there, with the usual ceremonies, set the crown on the head of James, then about thirteen months old. The infant king was conveyed back to the castle in the arms of the Earl of Mar. The castle continued to be the residence of this prince during his minority. His education was conducted by George Buchanan and three other preceptors. The apartment occupied by the royal pupil and his celebrated instructor as a school-room, is on the southeastern side of the palace, and is approached by a stone stair on the outside of the building, and without the gate leading into the inner court of the castle. Associated as it is with a circumstance of so much national interest, good taste might suggest its being kept in a state in which, when visited by strangers, it would appear more worthy of its history. In Stirling Castle, James held, in 1578, his first parliament, after taking into his own hands the reins of government. And here the infant prince, Henry, born to him of his queen, Anne of Denmark, on the 19th of February 1594, was baptized on the 30th of August following, with still greater magnificence and show than had distinguished his own baptism, and with a variety of childish but very costly pageants, that threw into the shade, both in number and in pomp, the similar exhibitions, which, in his own infancy, had desecrated the divine ordinance.

Before leaving the more ancient portion of the history of the castle and town of Stirling, which, down to the date we have now reached, were in a great measure identified, the latter deriving from the former its chief importance, and usually following its fortunes, some places may be noticed, interesting from their association with the early times, when this intimate connection and dependence subsisted. There is, immediately under the castle on the south-east, but still on the lofty ground of the castle-hill, a level inclosure of about an acre in extent, called the Valley, where jousts and tournaments and other sports and feats of chivalry used to he exhibited for the entertainment of the royal family and court. Immediately adjoining is a small rocky eminence on the very edge of the hill, and not only commanding a view of the valley, but looking down also upon what was the royal gardens close under the castle-hill to the south, and a little farther off upon the slightly elevated table-land of the King's Park, and gently rising eminences by which it is girdled in from the fertile and magnificent plain beyond. From this spot, which is called the Ladies' Hill, the ladies of the place enjoyed a bird's-eye view of the sports engaged in by the court in the gardens, and might witness also the occasional military arrays and encampments, and other spectacles in the King's Park, which the royal residence and the natural importance of Stirling Castle must have produced, and which, we have reason to believe, did actually grace the scene. Within the space formerly occupied by the royal gardens, is a very remarkable piece of antiquity, known by the name of the King's Knot, consisting of a central mound in the form of a table, surrounded at the distance of a few feet by another in the form of a bench, of nearly equal height, and again at a greater distance by a kind of low esplanade, and this once more by what appear to have been canals or ditches. Here was the scene of various sports, one of which, frequently practiced, was that called the Knights of the Round Table. From the authority of authentic historians and the best antiquaries,* this singular structure is known to be of very great antiquity ; and is to be traced to a period when admiration for the real or imaginary exploits and institutions of the celebrated King Arthur led to the commemoration of him in many parts of the island by this and other modes of perpetuating his fame, and when in Scotland, in particular, his name was given to an immense number of objects, natural and artificial, many of which in different districts still retain it.

*See William of Worcester, Itinerary, p. 311 ; Barbour in his account of the Battle of Bannockburn Gough's edition of Camden, Vol. iii, arid Caledonia) Vol. i. pp. 244, 245.

All the different localities 1 have mentioned in connection with tile castle, viz. the Royal Park and gardens, the Ladies' Hill and valley, the Ballingeich Road, and the Gowling Hill, as well as a few houses in the higher portion of that part of the town of Stirling called the Castle-hill, make up, with the castle itself, the Constabulary, the whole of which is comprehended within the parish of Stirling, there being no extra-parochial territory in Scotland. The castle is under the government of a lieutenant-governor and a deputy-governor. In 1360, Sir Robert Erskine of Marr was appointed captain or governor by David II., from which time the office appears to have continued, with little interruption, hereditary in the family till the Earl of Marr's forfeiture in 1715. The present lieutenant-governor is General Sir Martin Hunter, and the deputy-governor, Colonel Sir Archibald Christie, who, since his appointment, has resided in the castle. Along with him, a fort-major, a store-keeper, who is also acting barrack-master, a barrack-sergeant, and a master-gunner, form the resident staff. There is a garrison, which consists of the depot of one of the regiments of infantry, usually amounting to from 250 to 300 men. For the religious instruction of the staff and garrison, with their families, a chaplain is provided by Government. Down to 1835, it had been the practice, for a considerable time, to give this appointment to one of the parochial ministers of Stirling, or even to the minister of a parish at a distance from the place, converting the office into little better than a sinecure. A better system is now acted upon. The chaplain has no other office to withdraw him from his duties in the castle. The present chaplain is the Rev. Robert Watson. The rural portion of the Constabulary, which is under the management of the Corn missioners for Woods and Forests, is let on lease, with a servitude, by which the race-course is preserved from being turned up by the plough, and with a reservation of 73.3 acres, 47.8 of which are in the King's Park, and 25.5 in the Gowling Hill, whensoever the commissioners may think proper to plant them with trees. This would be a great improvement in respect of ornament to these places, as well as beneficial to the royal demesne.

Considering the remote antiquity of the castle, we may conclude with great confidence, that the nucleus of the town would be formed at a very early period. Indeed, the existence of the burgh at a date antecedent to 1120, and its early importance, which we shall have occasion afterwards to show, demonstrate this. The higher portion of the adjoining declivity would he gradually covered with houses ; and at a subsequent period, while the monarchs frequently resided, and held their courts, in the castle, many of the nobility and gentry of the kingdom would be attracted to reside in, and would give a rapidly growing importance to, the town. The existence of Marr's work, erected in 1570 by the Regent of that name, and the traditions that prevail on good authority respecting one or two very old houses, and the sites of several modern ones, chiefly in or near to Broad Street, illustrate the probability of this account of its earlier history. That the residence of the kings of the Stewart family, and the occasional meetings or parliament, and similar circumstances, conferred upon it a distinction, which occasioned a rivalship with Edinburgh for metropolitan supremacy, is well established; and it is said, that the title of the latter to be regarded as the capital of the kingdom was only settled by the accident of its chief magistrate being able to anticipate the provost of Stirling, in taking precedence of all the other burghs at some public procession, or festive entertainment. It does not appear, however, to have been a place of any considerable trade; and its population, down to about the middle of the last century, does not seem ever to have exceeded between three and four thousand inhabitants. The following notices of events of historical importance may be given.

It was here that the reforming preachers, Paul Methven, John Christison, William Harlaw, and John Willock, were summoned by the Queen Regent to stand their trial before the justiciary court, on the 10th of May 1559, for disregarding the proclamation forbidding them to preach what she called heresy, and, as she pretended, exciting tumults and seditious among the people. This summons having been, after much tergiversation and treachery on her part, peremptorily renewed, brought on the crisis, to which the affairs of the Reformation in Scotland had been for some time evidently tending. The nobles and gentlemen who had embraced the Protestant doctrines mustered in force for the protection of these reformers; and the people in various places openly declared themselves on their side, and threw off the yoke of Popery. Stirling was one of the first towns to follow the example of Perth and St Andrews in abolishing the Popish ceremonies; over-throwing the monasteries; destroying the instruments of idolatry; and setting up the Protestant worship. The same year, the Lords of the Congregation took possession of Stirling, in order to prevent the purpose of the regent to introduce a garrison of French soldiers, with the view of stopping their passage across the Forth. On this occasion, the Abbey of Cambuskenneth, and the convents of Black and Grayfriars were demolished by them. In the month of August, the reformers here entered into their third bond of mutual defence. In 1569, four priests of Dunblane were, by order of the Regent Murray, chained to the market-cross, where they stood for an hour with their vestments, books, and chalices, for having said mass contrary to Act of Parliament. On the 1st of April 1571, John Hamilton, who had been Archbishop of St Andrews, and Primate of the kingdom, and who had been a particular friend of Queen Mary, and had officiated at the baptism of James, her son, was executed for high treason; one of the articles of charge, viz. that he knew, and was participant, of the murder of the Regent Murray, being acknowledged by himself, with expressions of deep sorrow. In 1571, a parliament being held in the castle by the Earl of Lennox, the king's grandfather, then regent, the town was surprised at four o'clock in the morning of the 4th of September, by the Earl of Huntly and his faction, with 800 horse and 80 foot soldiers; the houses and lodgings of the chief nobility surrounded, and the regent, with ten other noblemen, made prisoners and carried off in triumph. The only one who could make resistance was the Earl of Morton, who did not surrender till the house he occupied, which stood at the east end and south corner of Broad Street, was set on fire. The enterprise was eventually defeated, and the captive noblemen recovered, by the Earl of Marr, but not till the regent had been mortally wounded. He died in the evening, and was interred in the Chapel Royal. Calder and Bell, two of Huntly's party, of whom twenty-six were taken prisoners, were executed two days after in Broad Street. During Lennox's regency, the Court of Session for some time held its sittings here. And the General Assembly of the Church met here in August 1571, and in June 1578. In 1584, the Earls of Angus and Marr the Master of Glammis, and others who had been concerned in the Raid of Ruthven, took possession of the town and castle. Being obliged to flee into England, they remained there till next year, when they returned with a larger force, and again took possession of the town. When they were preparing to invest the castle, which was not in a state to hold out against them, James sent commissioners to treat, and the result was their pardon, the reversal of their forfeiture, their restoration to the king's confidence, and their elevation to offices of public trust. This expedition was called the Raid of Stirling. Upon the ferment at Edinburgh in 1637, from the introduction of the liturgy, the Privy-Council and the Court of Session were, by royal mandate, removed to Stirling, and continued for several months. The liturgy was proclaimed at the cross. The Earl of Home, with a great number of barons, ministers, and burgesses, entered a public protestation against it; and in the evening, the town was taken possession of by 2000 armed men on the part of the Presbyterians. They all left the place, however, on the following day, to join their friends in Edinburgh. In 1645, a pestilence having entered Scotland from the south, the parliament removed from Edinburgh to Stirling, but, being followed by this dreadful enemy, retired to Perth. It raged here from the middle of July till October. The town-council held their meetings in the open field, near to what is now called the inclosure. Tents were erected for the sick on Sheriff moor lands, north of the bridge. Cleansers were appointed for the different quarters of the town, and a spot of ground near St Ninian's Well was allotted for the burying of the dead.

In 1648, when " Duke Hamilton's Engagement," as it was called, had been entered into, the Marquis of Argyle and others raised a considerable force, with a view to bring about its renunciation by the estates of the kingdom. Argyle occupied Stirling; but while he was at dinner with the Earl of Mar in the Castle, the small body of Highlanders he had stationed at different posts, were surprised; many of them were cut in pieces, the rest surrounded. He himself effected his escape.

In 1650, after the defeat of the Scottish troops at Dunbar by Cromwell, Stirling became the rendezvous of the Committees of Church and State, the of Edinburgh, and the remains of the army. A Parliament, the last held in Scotland in which the sovereign personally presided, met here, but adjourned to Perth. in consequence of their deliberations, an army was collected at Aberdeen, and thence marched to Stirling, and afterwards encamped at Torwood. After a variety manoeuvres, Charles, who commanded in person, was obliged to retreat before Cromwell, and encamped at Stirling, in the King's Park. Cromwell in his turn having retreated into England, and being followed by the King, defeated him in the memorable battle of Worcester. Soon after Charles's departure from Stirling, General Monk, who had been detached by Cromwell with a strong body of men, arrived at Stirling; took possession of the town, and proceeded to besiege the castle. He erected batteries on the Tower of the Church and on the adjoining burying-ground; and thus succeeded in reducing the fortress. The ornamental parts of the palace, and the church tower, still bear marks of the mutual cannonading. It was on this occasion that the national registers, which had been lodged in the castle as a place of security the preceding year, were seized and removed to the Tower of London; whence being conveyed by sea at the Restoration, they were lost in a storm.

In 1715, the Duke of Argyle, before proceeding to fight the battle of Sheriffmuir in the neighbourhood of Dunblane, en-camped here in the King's Park.

In 1745, the walls were repaired, probably with a view to its protection from the Pretender's forces. On the return of his army, however, from England the following year, the town being found untenable against him, he was admitted on terms which, it is said, were immediately violated by his men; who pillaged the houses and shops of those who were known to be most opposed to them. He invested the castle; erecting batteries on the Gowling hill in the space between the church and Mar's work, and on the Ladies' hill; and would have succeeded in forcing it to capitulate for want of provisions, had he not been compelled by the approach of the Duke of Cumberland to retire from the neighbourhood.

One other event may be noticed as of more than local interest. This was the execution of Baird and Hardy for high treason in 1820, after the absurd rising which took place under the excitement of Radical agitation, goaded on by scarcity of work and want of the means of subsistence amongst the operatives; and which terminated in the defeat at Bonnymuir. They were beheaded in Broad Street, in front of the Townhouse; and buried in the church-yard.

Burgh of Stirling.-On an ancient seal of the corporation was a wooden bridge; on one side of which were English soldiers appearing to attempt the passage, on the other, Scottish in the attitude or opposing them ; with the legend "Hic armis Bruti, Scoti stant hic cruce tuti ;" all which seems probably to have been intended to commemorate the successful defence of the bridge , at Kildean by the Scottish army at the battle of Stirling. But, what-ever may have been indicated by the engraving on this seal, the origin of the corporation is of a much earlier date. The most ancient charter of the burgh in existence was granted by Alexander I., and is dated at Kincardine, August 18, 1120 ; and even this is not a charter of erection, but only confers additional privileges. At what period the erection took place cannot now be ascertained. Stirling is the fourth burgh in the historical order in which such corporations appear in Scottish annals ; those which precede it being Edinburgh, Berwick, and Roxburgh. Along with these, it was one of " the Court of the Four Burghs," a kind of Commercial Parliament, instituted, it would seem, by David I., and invested with great powers in all matters of trade ; which was by James III. changed into " the Convention of Royal Burghs." This court appears to have had its meeting in Stirling as early as 1405. In 1454, it was transferred to Edinburgh. The register of sasines of the burgh commences in 1473; the Council Records in 1597. In 1773, by a decision of the Court of Session, affirmed by the House of Lords, the election of magistrates and councillors, made at Michaelmas of that year, was, owing to some corrupt influence employed, declared null and void; and the privileges of the town as a corporate body, were for a season annihilated. In 1781, on a petition of the inhabitants, they were restored by the Crown with some alterations in the set or constitution of the burgh. This new set continued, until superseded by the Municipal Reform Act of the 28th of August 1833, according to which the owners or occupiers of houses of the value of L.10 annually, elect the councillors, in number 21 ; the councillors elect from among themselves a provost, four bailies, a dean of guild, and a treasurer. One-third of the councillors retire annually, according to a prescribed order; the provost and treasurer being, however, excepted, who remain in office three years. The election of councillors takes place on the first Tuesdav of November; that of the magistrates, &c on the Thursday following. The town-clerk cannot be a member of the council. By an Act of Parliament in 1437, various burghs were appointed to keep the standard measures for liquid and dry goods, from which all others throughout the kingdom were to be taken. To Edinburgb was committed the ell; to Perth the reel; to Lanark the pound ; to Linlithgow the firlot ; and to Stirling, being at that time the principal market for distilled and fermented liquors, the pint. The Stirling Jug, as this pint measure is called, is kept with great care in the council-house in Broad Street, where the magistrates and councillors hold their meetings. This Jug was for a time amissing; and after a very curious and sagacious search by the Rev. Alexander Bryce, minister of Kirknewton, was discovered in a tradesman's shop in the town. It is made of a kind of brass or yettlin, in the shape of a hollow cone truncated, and weighs nearly 15 lbs. Scottish Troy. The magistrates have, to a certain extent, a civil and criminal jurisdiction. For the government of the town, it is divided into four districts or wards, over each of which a bailie presides. They have four officials called town-sergeants for preserving the public peace ; in which they are more effectively assisted by a regularly organized body of high constables. The officer at the head of the county police has his station here. The revenue of the burgh is derived from the customs at the Bridge and Port, the markets, the shore, and the fisheries; and averages about L. 2300 per annum. The custodier of this revenue is the Chamberlain, generally a respectable legal practitioner in the place, who is really the Treasurer, the other being so only in name. The charges upon this fund are ministers' stipends; salaries to schoolmasters; lighting the streets; supplying water; repairing and renewing the streets; and keeping up the jail, supplying necessaries to the inmates, and paying the salary of the jailor. In this last item, thecounty of Clackmannan aids to a trifling amount; the county of Stirling not at all. The Town-house in Broad Street is the property of the burgh; a large and handsome building, with a lofty and beautiful steeple, containing a clock, a fine deep-toned bell, and musical bells, which play a tune immediately before the striking of each hour. In this building the council hold their meetings; as also the sheriff, the county gentlemen, and the Lords of Justiciary in their circuit, their respective courts.

Modern improvements and present condition of the Town.- From various circumstances there is reason to believe, that Stirling had been nearly stationary in extent, population, and general condition, from about the time of the Reformation down to nearly the middle of the last century. To the castle it had been indebted for its birth, and to the Court, for the magnitude and importance to which it had attained; and when the latter was withdrawn, and the former ceased to exercise any influence upon its fortunes, the impulse given by the Reformation, followed by the gradually increasing peace and civilization of the country, and industry of the people, while they contributed to the progress and enlargement of other towns, served in a great measure to counteract, in the case of Stirling, what must have been otherwise felt to be a heavy loss. These counteracting influences, however, while they prevented any considerable decay, were insufficient to effect any improvement, in so far as size and general appearance were concerned. But when the influence of the union of the kingdoms began to be developed, which was not, at least in this part of the country, until after the suppression of the two rebellions in favour of the Stewart family, and abolition of the hereditary jurisdictions belonging to the feudal barons, Stirling again started forward in a course of improvement, which has never been arrested, but, on the contrary, appears to be -becoming more and more distinguished, and to keep pace with the general progress of the country. Since that time, it has been greatly extended; and a rapid advance has been made in many particulars, which mark the growing prosperity and comfort of the community. During this interval, the population has more than doubled. New and handsome streets have been built. Old houses have been replaced by new, in many instances; in others, have been modernized and beautified. Many excellent dwelling houses and splendid shops, and elegant suburban villas, give an air of wealth and comfort; the streets have been lighted with gas of first-rate quality; and the municipal rulers have, within the last seven years, by improving the streets, immensely added to the beauty of the town, and to the safety and accommodation of the inhabitants, and rendered it greatly more attractive to the numerous strangers who visit -it for business, health, or amusement. One of the most pleasing and beautiful ornaments of the town, however, not only contributing to its embellishment, but providing for the healthful recreation of the inhabitants, and enabling them to contemplate the enchanting prospects by which it is surrounded, the " Back Walk," is of older date, although belonging to the modern history of the place. It was begun in 1723 by Mr Edmonstone of Cambus- Wallace, and from time to time extended, until completed, towards the end of the last century. Commencing in the south-east part of the town on the outside of the hill, it gradually rises through a grove of tall and luxuriant trees, and then by the naked and rocky edge of the hill, till it attains near to its summit tinder the castle, and proceeding to skirt the lofty eminences, terminates on the Mote hill or Hurly- Haaky. From its gradually increasing elevation, the magnificent landscape by degrees discloses itself to the eye, and is beheld to very great advantage. There is only one point from which it can be seen to greater; that is in the governor's garden, on the north-western verge of the castle grounds, where the whole may be viewed as one glorious panorama.

Stirling is the county town of Stirlingshire. The sheriff-substitute for the western district resides here; and, as well as the sheriff of the county, holds courts for civil and criminal causes. The circuit court of justiciary holds its meetings here in April and September for the counties of Stirling, Clackmannan, and Kinross. It is the seat of a presbytery, and, along with Perth, is also the alternate place of meeting of the synod of Perth and Stirling, which convenes here on the third Tuesday of April, and at Perth on the third Tuesday of October.

There are no maps, plans, or surveys of the parish. Plans of the town have been made for various purposes, but throw very little light onits ancient history. There are no letters, papers, pictures, or other documents, so far as 1 have been able to discover, in the possession of any resident individual, tending to illustrate the biography, history, or antiquities of the parish, with the exception of one ancient painting, and three engravings probably of the reign of William II I., in the possession of J. Lucas, Esq.

Eminent Persons connected with the Parish by birth or otherwise.

Of these the most remarkable was the celebrated George Buchanan, one of the best classical scholars in modern times; as his History of Scotland, whatever may be the weight which it is entitled to as an authority, his translation or rather paraphrases of the Psalms, and several other poetical works, all of which are composed in Latin, distinguished for purity and elegance, abundantly demonstrate. He was the third son of Thomas Buchanan of Moss, on the western bank of the Blane in Stirlingsliire, where he was born near the beginning of February 1506. His father died early, leaving his wife and eight children in indigence. He was enabled, however, by the assistance of a maternal uncle, to go to study at Paris about 1520. He afterwards served in an expedition against England. At eighteen, he went to the Uiiiversity of St Andrews. Returning to France he studied at the Scots College, where in 1528 he obtained the degree of Master of Arts. About this time, he embraced the doctrines of Luther; notwithstanding of which, he obtained a professorship in the College or St Barbe, where he taught grammar for three years. Returning to Scotland in 1537 he made to himself enemies of the Popish party by some of his writings; and, although for some time patronized by James V., was at length exposed to their resentment, and was only saved from destruction by escaping from a window in the Castle of St Andrews. He was Professor of Latin at Bourdeaux for three years; and a regent in a college at Paris for about the same time. he became afterwards a professor in a newly founded college at Coi[libra in Portugal, where he was persecuted by the monks. He again obtained a regency in a college in France, where he was highly honoured, and remained for several years. In 1562, he had returned to Scotland; and next year, during the month of April, he read with Queen Mary, then in her twentieth year, a portion of Livy every afternoon. In 1564, she conferred upon him the temporalities of the Abbey of Crossraguel; and two years after, he was appointed, by the Regent Murray, Principal of St Leonard's College in the University of St Andrews. He lectured on Theology; was repeatedly a member of the General Assembly; and, in 1567, although not a minister, yet, in his character as a Professor of Divinity, at a period when the imposition of hands had not been introduced into the Reformed Church of Scotland, was moderator of that court. Being, about 1571, called to superintend the education of James VI., he resigned his principality at St Andrews, and came to live in Stirling. He resided in a house in the Castle-Wynd, on the left hand proceeding up the street, which he is said to have erected. This house, interesting both from its association with the name of this illustrious Scotsman, and from its ancient form, which imparted a sombre dignity to the narrow street, and harmonized beautifully, when seen in a particular direction, with the majesty of the large and lofty cathedral looking church beyond, was a venerable relic of antiquity. It was taken down only six years ago. Besides being commendatory abbot of Crossraguel and principal preceptor to the King, Buchanan was lord-keeper of the privy-seal, and, ex officio, a Member of Parliament. He died at Edinburgh on the 28th of September 1582, in his 77th year, and was interred there in the Grayfriar's Church-yard.

The most eminent individual, as a statesman and warrior, was John Erskine, sixth Earl of Mar of the name of Erskine. He was appointed by James V. Commendator of Cambuiskenneth and Inchmahome; and invested by Mar with the hereditary prefecture or captainship of Stirling Castle; which latter office, however, had been from 1360 chiefly in the family. His name and seal appear at the deed of Mary's resignation of the kingdom. On that event, he was entrusted with the keeping of the young Prince. On the 5th of September 1571, when the Earl of Lennox had been slain by Mary's faction, the defeat of whose enterprize was chiefly owing to his gallantry in hastening from the castle to assail their retainers, he was proclaimed Regent of the kingdom. After discharging this high and arduous office in troublous times for a year, he died, still a young man, in 1572. His son, and successor in his titles, and in the office of governor of the castle, had been a fellow pupil of James, under the tuition of George Buchanan; and was entrusted by him with the education of Prince Henry. The building at the upper end of Broad Street, known, by the name of Marr's Work, which has long been a ruin, but which still retains traces of elaborate and costly architecture, and, when entire, must have been a magnificent edifice, was erected by this distinguished person. There are still to be traced upon it some quaint inscriptions. Here he resided with great splendour, during the brief period his occupancy. The date 1570 probably determines the time of its completion. This was the year preceding his appointment to the regency; and only two years before his death. The stones in great part were taken from Cambuskenneth Abbey. While this palatial residence was in the possession of Annabella, the Regent's widow, it was occupied for a time in 1593 by James and his Queen, until their own palace in the castle was made ready for their reception.

No individual connected with Stirling is better entitled to a memorial in its parochial statistics, than the Rev. James Guthrie. This noble martyr for Christ's crown and cause was the son of Guthrie of Guthrie in Forfarshire; and was educated at the University of St Andrews,in which he afterwards for some time taught philosophy; and where he gave abundant proof, that he was an exact scholar and excellent philosopher; and so highly distinguished him-self, "that," says an Episcopalian writer of the day, "if he had continued fixed to his first principles,which were anti-presbyterian, " he would have been a star of the first magnitude." While at St Andrews, by conversation with Samuel Rutherford and others, and by a careful study of the subject, he was led to was, for some time, minister of Lauder in Berwicksbire; from which he was translated to Stirling in 1648. In 1650, he preached against certain resolutions of the Commission of the General Assembly, as involving the church and nation in an approval of those, who were disaffected to the solemnly approved and ratified ecclesiastical establishment. In February 1651, he was summoned by the chancellor to appear at Perth, and answer before the King and Committee of Estates, for the doctrine he had preached, and for a letter he had written to the Commission of Assembly, remonstrating with them on the same subject. On the 22d of that month he appeared, and gave in a protestation against the authority of the king and his Estates, to take trial of his doctrine, and to be his judges, as to matters for which he was answerable to the ecclesiastical courts only; while he submitted himself to their jurisdiction in all matters of a civil nature. He was kept in prison at Perth, till the 28th of the same month; when he again appeared before the King and the Committee of Estates, and gave in a similar protestation. At that time he was dismissed, and the matter was no farther proceeded with. But, ten years afterwards, when Charles had been restored, and the determination was adopted to crush the Presbyterian Church, and assert the royal supremacy in all causes, spiritual as well as civil, upon the same grounds, as well as for being, as alleged, the author of a publication entitled " The Causes of God's Wrath," he was seized and imprisoned, and brought to trial before the Parliament in Edinburgh. He defended himself with such eloquence, knowledge of law, and strength of argument, as utterly amazed his friends, and confounded his enemies. But he had been the leader of the protestors; his death might strike terror into that party, and induce them to yield; and he had pronounced sentence of excommunication, many years before, against the Earl of Middleton, the chancellor, for which that vindictive nobleman sought to be revenged. He was therefore found guilty of high treason; condemned to suffer death; and hanged on the 1st of June 166 1, at the cross of Edinburgh. In pursuance of his sentence, his head having been separated from his body, was fixed up on the Nether-Bow Port. After it had remained thus a public spectacle for about twenty-seven years, Mr Alexander Hamilton, then a youth at the College of Edinburgh, took it down at the peril of his life. Thirty-eight years afterwards, this same Mr Alexander Hamilton succeeded him in the ministry at Stirling; where he proclaimed the gospel from the same pulpit for twelve years, his decease taking place in January

The Rev. Henry Guthrie, author of Memoirs of Scottish Affair,.' from 1627 to the death of Charles I in 1649, was minister of Stirling about the period to which his work relates. Being thrust out from his charge by the Commission of the General Assembly, for malignancy, he resided for a considerable time at Kilspindie, where he probably prepared his memoirs. It appears from the Council records, that upon the vacancy occasioned by the arrest and execition of Mr James Guthrie, his successor, he received repeated invitations from the patrons^* to return to his ministry in Stirling, but declined them on the plea of ill health. Having conformed to Prelacy, he became afterwards Bishop of Dunkeld.

* This, however, they did with great reluctance. It was not their own wish they were expressing; but that of the then ruling powers, using influence with them, to which they found themselves constrained to yield.

A native of Stirling, of the name of Edmond, the son of a baker, born, it would appear, towards the end of the sixteenth century, having run away from his parents, and enlisted in the service of Maurice, Prince of Orange, so greatly distinguished himself as to rise to the rank of Colonel. Having acquired considerable wealth, he returned to reside in, and distinguished himself as a benefactor to, the place of his birth. A plate, in addition to that which received the usual weekly collections for the poor, was for some time placed at the church door, that such as were able, and willing, might put into it their contributions towards the erection of a manse for the minister. A donation was given by Colonel Edmond so munificent, that it appears to have been equal to, if not greater than, all the rest of the amount obtained by this collection. Tile manse thus built, stood at the junction of Church Street and St John's Street, not many yards from the south-east come? of the church; the site being still plainly indicated by the state of the ground. It was taken down in 1824, and contained till that time some hooks, of which Mr Guthrie had been the custodier, and his chair; both of which had been Carefully preserved by his successors in the first charge. The chair is now in the library room of the School of Arts. The following anecdote is related of Colonel Edmond. When on the Continent, being on the parade with several brother officers, he was accosted by a stranger, who professed to have newly come from Scotland, and left the Colonel's relations well, enumerating several of high rank. Edmond, turning from him indignantly, informed the circle, that, however this unknown person might flatter his vanity, he must in candour tell them, that he had the honour, of which he should ever be proud, to be the son of an honest baker and freeman of the ancient burgh of Stirling. He then ordered the abashed impostor out of his sight. He would not visit in Stirling, unless his father and mother were invited. The Earl of Marr, son to the Regent, and himself Lord High Treasurer of the Kingdom, asked him to dine or sup. Edmond agreed on the fore-mentioned condition; and, thus happily escorted by the aged pair, did the gallant Colonel wait upon his illustrious entertainer.

The excellent Christian soldier, Lieutenant-Colonel John Blackadder, son of a faithful minister, who, during the time of persecution, after the restoration of Charles II., suffered long for his adherence to Presbytery, and endured a distressing imprisonment on the Bass Rock, falls here to be mentioned. He was not more distinguished for his personal bravery and military accomplishments, than for his private worth and devoted piety. After serving many years on the continent, under the Duke of Marlborough, in command of the celebrated Cameronian Regiment of Infantry, he was appointed Deputy-Governor of the castle, where he closed his life in August 1729, at the age of 65.

The Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, whose name is associated with a deeply interesting event in the history of Scotland, the rise of the Secession from the Established Church, somewhat more than a century ago, was for several years minister of the third charge of Stirling. His grandfather, Ralph Erskine, descended from the family of Marr, had thirty-three children; of whom Henry, Ebenezer's father, was the youngest, and was born at Dryburgh on the Tweed, in the parish of Merton, in Berwickshire. Henry Erskine was one of the most eminently pious and deeply experienced ministers of his day; and passed through a long course of remarkable vicissitudes and heavy trials, which render his biography highly instructive, as well as full of extraordinary interest. He was minister at Cornhill in North Durham; whence be was ejected in 1662. After various changes of place and circumstances, he became, under King James's toleration, on the call of a number of Presbyterians at or near Whitsome, a few miles from Dunse, in his native county, pastor of a congregation, which assembled at Rivelaw, in that parish; where he continued till the Revolution, when he became minister of Chirnside, in the same district. Here he died in 1696, aged 72. His second son, Ebenezer, was born June 22, 1680, and most probably at Dryburgh. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh; became chaplain to the Earl of Rothes; was licensed as a probationer for the ministry, February 11, 1703; and ordained minister of Portmoak, within the bounds of that Presbytery, on the 22d of September following. His fidelity, and other ministerial gifts, recommended him so powerfully wherever he became known, and he acquired So much distinction bv his zeal and firmness in advocating the ancient principles of the Church of Scotland, that he was solicited by many vacant parishes in succession, to become their minister. He at length accepted an invitation from the town and parish of Stirling, and was admitted minister of the third charge, which appears to have been erected for the purpose, on the 6th of September 1731. Soon after his settlement here, those proceedings of the General Assembly, relative to the settlement of parishes, in the case of the right of presentation falling into the hands of the Presbytery, by the patron failing to present to the benefice within six months from the vacancy, took place; and that course of keen discussion, and determined opposition and remonstrance on the part of some ministers, commenced; which resulted in the setting-up of a separate ecclesiastical court, and the formation of a body of church-members in connection with it, under the name of Seceders, which, from a combination of causes, has greatly extended itself, and has for many years comprehended a considerable proportion of the church-going population of the country, and sent forth branches into almost every part of the globe, where natives of Scotland, or their descendants, are found. Mr Erskine took a very active part in these discussions, and this opposition to the measures of the ruling party in the Church. Be was one of the most influential and determined in the steps they took in resistance; and one of the four who brought about the separation, and organized the Seceding court. He was deposed by the General Assembly in 1738; but, a large body of people adhering to him, he continued to exercise his ministry with great acceptance, in a place of worship, erected for their accommodation, on the south side of St John Street. He died on the 2nd of June 1754, aged 74; and was buried under the centre of his meeting-house. This place of worship having been taken down, the present one, which is large and handsome, was erected a little farther back, and opened in 1826.

Dr Robert Henry, author of a History of Great Britain, was for some time educated at the grammar school of Stirling. He was born in 1718, in the parish of St Ninians. He became minister of a Presbyterian congregation at Carlisle in 1748; was translated to a similar congregation at Berwick in 1760; and in 1768 to Edinburgh. He was moderator of the General Assembly in 1774; and died in 1790.

Dr David Doig, rector of the grammar-school, who acquired great celebrity as a classical scholar, and raised the character of the seminary, over which he presided for forty years, to a height of fame, which attracted many families to settle in Stirling, that their children might have the benefit of his instructions, died here in April 1800, at the age of 82.

Dr John Moore, an eminent physician, well known as the author of several successful works in various departments of literature, and father of Sir John Moore, who fell gallantly at Corunna, was born 1730. He was the son of the Rev. Charles Moore, one of the ministers of Stirling; he was educated in Glasgow; and there, after serving with the army in Flanders, and studying in London and Paris, he was settled as partner to an eminent medical practitioner. He afterwards visited different parts of the Continent; and spent the latter part of his life in London, where he died in 1802.

Land-owners.- There being but a small part of the parish land-ward, the properties in land are inconsiderable. The Crown, the Corporation of Stirling, Cowan's, Allan's, and Spittal's Hospitals; Robert Bruce, Esq. of Kennet; Mrs Burd of Forthside; Mrs Smith of Randolphfield; and William Tumbull, Esq. of Forthbank own nearly the whole land in the parish.

Parochial Registers.-The whole number of volumes is twenty-four; of which eight are session-records, and sixteen registers of proclamations, baptisms, &c. &c. The date of the earliest entry in the session records, is November 7, 1597. The earliest volume of the register of proclamations, baptisms, and marriages commences in 1585. The register of burials begins in 1727. Of the above-mentioned volumes, three of session records, embracing the period from November 7, 1597, to December 3, 1649, and one of proclamations, &c from 1585 to 1594, are in the Register House in Edinburgh How they came to be there, no one can tell. It is said they had been in the possession of a shopkeeper in that city. Whether they can be recovered by the kirk-session has not yet been ascertained.

The presbytery of Stirling's records commence with the erection of the presbytery, August 8, 1581; and those of the synod of Perth and Stirling, in 1638.

Ancient Buildings and other Antiquities.- Several of these have been already more or less particularly indicated. The following may be noticed in addition. On the right hand, proceeding up the Castle Wynd, stands a spacious quadrangular edifice, known by the name of Argyle House, or Argyle's Lodging, occupied as a military hospital for the garrison in the castle. It is of massive and handsome architecture, according to the style of the period. It was erected in 1632, by Sir William Alexander, created in 1633 Earl of Stirling, a person of great and various accomplishments. After his death in 1640, it became the property of the family of Argyle, who removed the arms of Stirling from some parts of the building, and substituted their own. While it continued in this family, it was for a short time, in 1680, the residence of James VII. then Duke of York; at whose instance, five years afterwards, the Earl of Argyle, his entertainer, was put to death. Here the Duke of Argyle, his grandson, resided and held his council of war during the Rebellion of 1715. It afterwards passed into the hands of the Wrights of Loss, near Menstrie; and from them, to Macgregor of Balhaldie. It was sold about 1797 or 1798, by the representatives of the late Mr Macgregor, to a company of gentlemen residing in and about Stirling, who retained it till the beginning of the present century; when it was purchased by the Crown, and converted to its present useful purpose. It contains many spacious apartments well adapted to the use to which they are put. The chaplain of the castle is here accommodated with a large and convenient lodging. The ground intervening between this edifice and St Mary's Wynd anciently formed part of the property. Almost immediately contiguous to the south-west corner of the church, stands Cowan's Hospital, erected in 1639. The front is ornamented with a statue of its founder. It is a handsome house ; and crowns suitably with its pinnacles, seen above the neighbouring trees, the romantic height it occupies. The lower apartment is the Guildhall The upper is used as a school-room. The venerable edifice, under whose roof are the two parochial churches, is of great antiquity, having been erected in 1494. The church of the Dominicans or Black Friars had been, for a long period previous to this date, the principal place of worship for the people of Stirling. It stood on the outside of the town; on ground now occupied partly by what is called Spring Garden, and partly by the houses and gardens adjoining to it, bounded by King-Street and Friar's-Wynd. In the year above-mentioned, James IV. founded a convent of Franciscan or Gray Friars, in the upper part of the town, and built this church for their accommodation. The eastern portion was the choir, in which the public service took place, and the western portion the nave, which was left unoccupied, and open for other purposes of a devotional and sacred nature. The chancel, that is, the circular portion at the east end, in which is a large and handsome window, is believed to have been added several years afterwards by Cardinal Beaton, contributing much to the improvement of the structure, in respect both of convenience and beauty. It was in 1656 divided into two distinct places of worship; both of which are handsome, and much admired by visitors. The East Church is very commodious; and in respect of facility of speaking and hearing, a quality of first-rate importance in a place of Protestant worship, is remarkable. This quality it owes to a large and lofty curvilinear recess at the west end, in which the pulpit is placed, constructed, with a view to this effect, under the direction of the celebrated Professor Robison of Edinburgh. Whether the position ₀f the large and very convenient, but old fashioned and rather ungainly-looking pulpit, and the corresponding arrangement of the pews, adopted several years since, when an alteration in these respects was made, be the best fitted to give effect to the internal structure of the church, is another matter. The view is certainly seen to most advantage from the pulpit; from which point this church, with its lofty roof, its double row of light and elegant pillars, and its eastern window, presents one of the chastest and most pleasing specimens of the pure Gothic architecture now existing in Scotland. The West Church is in some respects less comfortable and commodious. The pillars, of which there is here also a double row, are inconveniently large; obstruct in many places the sight of the preacher and the sound of his voice; and give a heavy appearance to the place. The ground rises behind in the adjoining burial-yard, and renders at least part of the church damp; increasing thereby the coldness, which in winter is experienced in both churches. The pulpit, however, being light and handsome; there being a west window of stained glass; and a splendid central gaselier; and the whole interior having received a complete and costly repair, when, after being disused for three-quarters of a century, it was re-opened in 1817, at an expense which might have been more beneficially employed in building a new fabric in another part of the town; it presents to a spectator, looking towards the pulpit westward, an imposing aspect. There was in the East Church, till it was removed on the introduction of gas, a brazen chandelier, said to have been the gift of John Cowan. At the west end of the whole building rises a massy tower, 22 feet square, and 90 feet in height. In this there are four bells of considerable size, and of different depths of tone; so that they might be rung in a regular chime. This has lately been attempted; but hither-to, without the desired success.-A still more ancient building, but which has long been a ruin, is the Abbey of Cambuskenneth; situated in the immediate vicinity of the little village named from it, on the northern side of the Forth, and in the county of Clackmannan, although within the parish of Stirling. The name signifies the field of Kenneth; the adjacent grounds having been, it would seem, the scene of some transaction, in which one of the princes of that name was concerned. It was founded in 1147 by David I.; and was endowed by himself, and some of his successors, with many privileges, and vast possessions in different parts of the kingdom. It was often called the Monastery of Stirling, and its abbots styled Abbots of Stirling. The church belonging to it was called St Mary's; and hence the street leading to it from Stirling was called by the name it still bears, St Mary's Wynd. It was frequently, in its palmy days, the scene of transactions of national importance. From the middle of the fifteenth century, it began to decline. At the time of the Reformation; it was spoiled, and great part of-the fabric demolished. It is understood to have furnished materials for the older houses of the adjoining village. The buildings appear to have been of vast extent. One tower alone now remaiiis. A large old building in St Mary's Wynd, on the west side, close to which was the North Port, enjoys a traditional importance, as being of great antiquity, and having been the residence of one of the king's household when the court was kept in the castle. This however is plainly fabulous. The date 1633; the style of architecture, the bastard Gothic, similar to that of Argyle House; the initials, J. C. and A. C., which may have been those of John Cowan and his wife; the arms, which are those of the merchants, to which class he belonged; and other circumstances ; make it next to certain that it was erected by that individual, and probably the house in which he dwelt. There is a large and handsome apartment in it, now used as a carpenter's workshop. The rest of the building is occupied as dwelling-houses. In this street, also, there is within a garden belonging to a family of the name of Henderson, higher up on the same side, a well dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The ruins of a chapel or bath at St Ninian's well have been already noticed. A more minute description of the numerous remains of antiquity in the form of ruins and buildings, still traceable here, must be left to the professed antiquary.

There are no obelisks or crosses, or traces of ancient camps in any part of the parish. The ancient market cross of Stirling stood in the centre of Broad Street, opposite to the Town-House. It was removed in 1792. Traces of the great Roman military road have been found at a late period. And the remains of the stone piers, on which the famous bridge of Kildean rested, are still observable under the water of the river. A small sword was dug up lately in the King's Park, and is in the possession of Mr Tennant, the present lessee of the Constabulary farm. It appears to have been a couteau de chasse, of about the end of the fifteenth century. A curious box, of the size of a snuff-box, was found in Spring Garden some time ago. It is of copper, gilt in the inside, and plated with silver on the outside, and probably contained some articles buried along with the individual, to the remains of whose coffin it was found attached, in these ancient grounds of the Dominican convent. It is in the possession of Mr John Dow of the Stirling gas-work. Other antiquities, such as coins, &c. are in the possession of James Lucas, Esq. Provost Gillies, and James Chrystal, Esq, and probably of other individuals residing here. There is in the session-house, in good preservation, and occasionally in use, the pulpit from which it is uriderstood John Knox sometimes preached in the East Church. There is, also, in the Chapel Royal in the Castle, the wreck of one, occupied by him in that place of worship.

Modern Buildings.-The Athenaeum, at the head of King Street, a handsome structure, highly ornamental to the neighbouring streets, having a lofty spire with a hell, and containing a reading-room and public library, the ground floor being occupied as a shop, was opened on the 7th of January 1817. The Commercial Bank in Spittal Street, the Bank of Scotland in King Street, and the National Bank in Baker Street; all erected within these few years, are beautiful buildings. A large Corn Exchange, for the accommodation of those who attend the grain market on Fridays, has been lately erected; and, besides being used for the special purpose of its erection, is occasionally occupied by such public meetings and festive entertainments as require a large space.

The Royal Hotel, fronting Friars Wynd and the new road to the north, opened last year, is a great ornament to the locality in which it is placed; and is most conveniently situated for visitors and travellers arriving in, or departing from, the town; and along with the other hotels and inferior inns in the place, supplies for the many individuals and families, who from time to time, especially in the summer and autumn months, come to the place, the accommodations they require. Ten years ago a new bridge, in the best moderate style of such structures, was erected across the Forth, to the north of the town, a very little lower down than the old one, which still remains in use. A few mills for the woollen manufactory have been lately built; and a new parochial church is at present being erected in the eastern and lower part of the town, which promises to be a handsome structure. The material employed in all buildings is almost universally stone. In ordinary dwelling-houses and shops, it is the trap or greenstone on which the town rests; in those of a better sort, freestone, brought from quarries beyond the bounds of the parish. In a very few cases, brick, made in the place is employed.