Tour Scotland Video Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Memorial Stirling Castle

Tour Scotland video of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Memorial at the entrance to Stirling Castle, Scotland. the Argyll and Sutherland Highlander have a well earned reputation for valour in the face of the enemy, most notably the 93rd, later known as the 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, during the Crimean War. It was there that the 93rd earned the sobriquet of The Fighting Highlanders and carried with it the status of having been the original Thin Red Line. This title was bestowed following the action of the 93rd at Balaklava on 25 October 1854 in which this single battalion alone stood between the undefended British Army base at Balaklava and four squadrons of charging Russian cavalry. The 93rd, under the command of Sir Colin Campbell, not only held steady, but for the first time in the history of the British Army, broke a large cavalry charge using musket fire alone, without having been formed into a square.

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Tour Scotland Photograph Entrance Stirling Castle

Tour Scotland photograph of the entrance to the castle in Stirling, Stirling, Scotland.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.

Tour Scotland Winter Photographs Stirling Castle

Tour Scotland Winter photograph of Stirling Castle, Scotland. Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned in the Castle as an infant in 1543 and James VI was baptized there, as was his first born son, Prince Henry. From the 18th century until the 1950s Stirling was an army base, with a garrison in the Castle and a depot beside the railway. Much medieval and 17th and 18th century building survives in the town.


Tour Scotland Winter photograph of Stirling Castle, Scotland.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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October 13th Photograph Stirling Castle Scotland

October 13th photograph of Stirling Castle, Stirling, Scotland.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

Set high on its striking volcanic rock, Stirling Castle has been the scene of some of the most dramatic events in Scottish history, culminating in the unsuccessful siege by Bonnie Prince Charlie 200 years ago. It was the last siege of a castle on the British mainland. This text provides the reader with a tour of this historical site and evokes the changing life of the castle and its human dramas. It is a survey of a site which, strategically, was perhaps the most important in the whole of Scotland. It concentrates on the castle's construction, highlighting its pre-eminence from the 12th century and its development and strategic importance over the next 700 years. It also looks at the building of the magnificent royal residence during the 16th century by James IV, James V and James VI, and examines the adaptation of the castle as a major fortress in the 17th and 18th centuries. Stirling Castle (Historic Scotland).


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Small group tours of Scotland. Ancestry tours of Scotland. Tour Scotland. Tour Aberdeen, Tour Dundee, Tour Edinburgh, Tour Glasgow, Tour Isle of Skye. Tour Glencoe, Tour Loch Lomond. Tour Loch Ness.

Tour Scotland Photograph Cannon Stirling Castle

Tour Scotland photograph of cannon at Stirling Castle, Stirling, Scotland.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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Tour Scotland Photograph Great Hall Stirling Castle

Tour Scotland photograph of the Great Hall in Stirling Castle, Stirling, Scotland. On the east side of the Inner Close of Stirling Castle is the Great Hall, or Parliament Hall. This was built by James IV following on from the completion of the King's Old Building in 1497, and was being plastered by 1503. Described as "the grandest secular building erected in Scotland in the late Middle Ages", it represents the first example of Renaissance-influenced royal architecture in that country. It was worked on by a number of English craftsmen, and incorporates some English design ideas, being comparable to Edward IV's hall at Eltham Palace, built in the late 1470s. It includes Renaissance details, such as the intersecting tracery on the windows, within a conventional medieval plan. Inside are five fireplaces, and large side windows lighting the dais end, where the king would be seated. It is the largest such hall in Scotland. The original hammer beam roof was removed in 1800, along with the decorative crenellated parapet, when the hall was subdivided to form barracks. Two floors and five cross-walls were inserted, and the windows were altered accordingly. As early as 1893, calls were being made for the restoration of the Great Hall, but it was not until the army left in 1965 that the opportunity arose. It was agreed that a historically correct restoration could be achieved, and works began which were only completed in 1999. The hammerbeam roof and parapet were replaced, windows reinstated, and the outer walls were limewashed.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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Tour Scotland Photograph Entrance Stirling Castle

Tour Scotland photograph of the entrance to Stirling Castle, Stirling, Scotland. King James IV was fascinated by the code of chivalry and the legends of King Arthur. His Forework was seen as a breathtaking processional entrance into the royal castle.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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