The county of Stirling has aptly been called the “Battlefield of Scotland,” for no less than six memorable conflicts have taken place in this district within historical times. During the wars with England, in the period of the Stewart sovereigns, the Borders and the neighbourhood of Edinburgh were the principal scenes of operations; but Stirling Castle was the centre of hostilities in the stirring days of Wallace and Bruce. Edinburgh, though an important fortress and town, was not the capital of the country at the time of the War of Independence. In later years, the armies of England did not need to advance any further than Lothian. The heart of Scotland lay south of the Firth of Forth; a blow struck there was felt throughout the kingdom. But in the beginning of the fourteenth century no fixed seat of government existed; and thus the chief aim of the leaders of both nations was to occupy the place of greatest strategic value. The strong position of Stirling Castle, near the head of the country’s most important estuary, guarding the fords of the River Forth, and keeping watch over the passes leading to the Highlands, made the castle the focus of the military operations of both the English and the Scots. Seven times in half a century the veteran fortress changed hands. When Edward I. agreed to act as arbiter in the case of the Scottish succession he startled the competitors by demanding their acknowledgment of his claim to be Lord Paramount of Scotland. The selfish disputants, each anxious to obtain the prize of even a vassal kingdom, and not being stirred with the patriotism which was to be born of the coming struggle, reluctantly consented to admit the English King’s pretension, while the guardians of the realm apparently saw no way of avoiding civil war except by concurring in this base arrangement. It was agreed, therefore, in 1291, that Edward should have seisine of Scotland and its royal castles until two months after the award of his arbitrament; and in accordance with this compact a southerner, named Norman Darcy, was placed in command of Stirling Castle.