stirling-1963-vol-1/05_223

Transcription

No. 192 -- CASTLES AND TOWER-HOUSES -- No. 192
placed their gear in the Castle for safety, there was "great
stoare of goods, by which the soldiers got very good
booty by helping to carry them out, and to guard them to
their severall places, the inhabitantes receiving little or
noe damage by any of their goods, but what their owne
souldyers had plundered before they went away."
Incredible as the latter statement may seem, it may still
not be far from the truth "so severe is the Lieut. Generall
and Officers against the Souldiers injuring the Countrey,
to whom we endeavour to shew as much favour as may
be (especially to the poorer sort) to convince them, if
possible, of the slavery they have been under, and free-
dom they may now enjoy under the English". But the
Diarist from whom the information about this siege
has been taken ¹ omitted to mention that the Public
Records of Scotland were also in the Castle, and that
they were forthwith removed to the Tower of London;
the greater part of them was lost at sea on their return
after the Restoration.
A number of miscellaneous Masters of Works
Accounts survive from the latter part of the 17th century.
They show that the Palace block was for the most part
"new rooft, floored, windowed with case Casements and
glass and plaistered" in about 1679 ²; plans of the Castle
were made at the same time ³ and were sent to the King,
but these cannot be traced today unless the reference is
to Slezer's plan and drawings of the Castle which may
have been executed at about this time. ⁴ Slezer's plan
shows a "designed Magazin for Powder" in the Nether
Green, and this may perhaps be the magazine erected by
Tobias Bauchop, master-mason, in 1681. ⁵ If so, it was
replaced in Queen Anne's reign by the structure that
stands there today (cf. p. 218). In 1688 James McClellan,
wright, entered into contract to carry out certain repairs
and alterations within the Castle. These included the
provision of a new door for the sally-port in the Nether
Bailey, the laying of two platforms in the Lady's Hole
(cf. p. 186) and the making of a new door in the place
"Commonly called where the devill flew out", ⁶ now
unfortunately unidentifiable. In 1689 it was suggested
that the sally-port in the Nether Bailey should be filled
up, as it was the weakest point in the Castle, and it was
also stipulated that "the vaults under the long or grand
batterie which bears on the bridge must be filled up with
earth" ⁷; these recommendations seem to have been
carried out, as the sally-port remains blocked to this
day (cf. p. 219) while the kitchen-range below the Grand
Battery (cf. p. 215) was opened up only in 1921. Also in
1689. Tobias Bauchop was engaged in building a three-
gun battery beside the Bowling Green ⁸; this structure
was presumably removed to make way for the Queen
Anne Battery (cf. pp. 215 f.). An account for the years
1699-1703 ⁹ shows that a great number of minor alterations
were being carried out at this time; new partitions and
corridors were constructed on the upper floors of the
Palace and new fireplaces were provided for the rooms
thus formed, while no doubt the upper windows of the
Palace, which pierce the parapet, were also thrown out
now. Much of this work remains today (cf. p. 204).
Andrew Sands, wright, was responsible for the wood-
work while Tobias and Thomas Bauchop were in charge
of the mason-work, the most important part of which was
the erection of a scale stair, six feet in width, to give
access to the second storey of the Palace. The is presum-
ably the stair that stands in the SW. angle of the Upper
Square (cf. p. 203). But in spite of constant patching it
was reported in 1706 ¹⁰ that "The Castle of Stirline -- is
mightily out of repair -- There's no beds within it for
the soldiers to ly in."
Immediately after the Act of Union an extensive
programme of alterations and additions was con-
templated, and, although the proposals then made were
not all completed, the outer defences of the Castle on the
SE. were entirely remodelled between 1708 and 1714.
These outer defences, as they existed about 1680, are
shown on Slezer's plan ¹¹ (Pl. 56). Their most prominent
feature was a projecting forework known as the Spur,
which was capped at its southern extremity ¹² by a block-
house (cf. Pl. 57). The Spur, with its blockhouse, is on
record in 1585 (cf. p. 186) and there are further references
to the blockhouse in the first half of the 17th century. ¹³
The Spur flanked the outer gate of the Castle, which lay
immediately to the SW. of it. On the other side of the
Spur a wall ran northwards to the French Spur, from
which batteries could command the approach road to the
Castle, and the road that led into the town from Stirling
Bridge. The French Spur may have been formed as early
as 1559 (cf. p. 184). Between the Spur and the French
Spur, and running parallel to the wall that joined them,
the outermost defence appears to have been a broad ditch,
presumably the "great fowssie" to which there is a
reference in 1633. ¹⁴ The date at which these defences
were erected is not recorded in the surviving documents,
but they were probably completed before the end of
the 16th century. Alterations and improvements were
evidently made in the 17th century; these included the
dismantling of the old entry in 1616-7 (cf. p. 186), and
the erection of the three-gun battery in 1689 (supra).
In 1708 it was decided to replace the existing outer
defences by a new system of fortification; a number of
different proposals were considered and contemporary
plans of two abortive schemes still survive, ¹⁵ one of them
providing also for elaborate defences in the Nether

1 Scotland under the Commonwealth, S.H.S. ed., xvii, 1-5,
16 n.
2 M. of W. Accts., MS. Vol. 30, 1675-9, Acct., 21.
3 Ibid.
4 Cf. the various editions of Theatrum Scotiae and P.R.O.,
MPF 246; also Pls. 56, 57, 58.
5 M. of W. Accts., Miscellaneous, Stirling Vouchers.
6 M of W. Accts., MSS., portfolio II.
7 National Library of Scotland MS. 577, No. 65.
8 M, of W. Accts., MSS., portfolio II.
9 Ibid.
10 Hist. MSS. Comm., Report on the Manuscripts of the Earl
of Mar and Kellie (1904), 305.
11 P.R.O., MPF 246; cf. also B.M., K. 50, 96 (a) of about the
same period (Pl. 55B).
12 The orientation of Slezer's plan is inaccurate.
13 M. of W. Accts., ii, 26, 364.
14 Ibid., 370.
15 National Library of Scotland MS. 1645, Z 2/16, Z 2/23.

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