Yet, subject as he was to sudden changes of mood, James could turn quickly from fasting and praying to the pleasures of society and the excitement of the chase; indeed, his reign was probably the gayest period in Stirling Castle’s history. The King’s genial nature broke through the gloom of remorse and gave mirth and gladness to a brilliant Court. The affairs of state having been transacted, the days were often spent in hawking expeditions, or in tilting matches, in which foreign knights sometimes took part, while the evenings were passed in playing cards and in listening to performances given by the royal minstrels on various musical instruments. James’s expeditions in pursuit of the deer were not confined to the Royal Park. He often set out with a large retinue from Stirling to enjoy his sport in the neighbouring Highlands, and on those occasions tents were taken for the accommodation of the King and his nobles.[26] After one of those excursions, more than three hundred men were paid for having assisted James and his suite in their hunting in the forest of Glenartney.[27] In 1496 the King’s mistress, Margaret, daughter of John, Lord Drummond, resided for some months in Stirling Castle before being sent to Linlithgow.[28] James seems to have wished to have married this lady, but many of the leading nobles envied the power of the Drummonds, and the King saw what trouble would arise if he were to raise another member of the family to the throne; for David II. and Robert III. had both wedded daughters of that house. In 1502 Margaret and her two sisters fell suddenly ill, and died at Drummond Castle, but whether poison was administered at the instigation of envious nobles or not has never been ascertained. The three sisters were interred in Dunblane Cathedral, where, at the King’s command, masses were said regularly for the welfare of Margaret’s soul. Great improvements were carried out both within and without the castle during the reign of James IV. The main gateway, much of which is still standing, was erected in the first decade of the sixteenth century. Other buildings were enlarged during the same period, while plasterers, painters, glaziers and wrights were in almost constant employment. Towards the end of the fifteenth century part of the low ground below the castle rock was converted into a garden, which soon was stocked with vines and fruit trees, as well as flowers and vegetables. In the June of 1508 the gardener of Stirling travelled twice to Holyrood with strawberries for the King.