The Palace is an ornate edifice, showing a blending of the Gothic and the Classical designs. It is roughly in the form of a square, having a courtyard in the middle called the Lions’ Den, where tradition says the royal animals were caged. The third and fourth Jameses certainly owned lions, and it is likely that their successor kept a specimen of the King of Beasts as much for his amusement as for an emblem of royal power. On the exterior of the Palace, between the windows--each of which is surmounted by a stone showing I 5 for James V.--are shallow niches containing ornamental pillars supporting statues which are now much defaced. The figure at the north-east corner of the building is thought to represent the King disguised as the “Gudeman o’ Ballengeich,” as above the head a lion holds the crown and a tablet inscribed I 5. Running round three sides of the Palace is an elaborately-carved cornice, upon which rests a series of short pillars, each one intended to bear a small statue, although some on the north are wanting. Towards the west the building presents an unfinished appearance; obviously it was meant to have additions on that side. The interior of the Palace has been greatly changed since the days of James V., but one or two noble fire-places still exist in the rooms that are now given over to the soldiers. More than one ancient door studded with iron has survived the alterations; but the beautiful carved oak panels, representing members of the Royal Family and persons about the Court, and known as the Stirling Heads, were removed towards the end of the eighteenth century because one of them fell from its place in the ceiling and seriously injured a soldier. Tradition asserts, doubtless with truth, that the gratings were placed in the windows for the protection of young James VI., in the stormy days when raids on Stirling were events against which it was well to be guarded. [Illustration: THE PROSPECT OF THEIR MAJESTIES’ CASTLE OF STIRLING. From Engraving by Captain John Slezer, 1693.] On the north side of the inner square stands the Chapel rebuilt by James VI. in 1594. This was the Chapel Royal of Scotland before King James carried out Queen Mary’s wish and transferred the endowments and the epithet “Royal” to the chapel of Holyroodhouse. It is a somewhat plain Renaissance structure, having externally much the same appearance as when it was newly finished for Prince Henry’s baptism. The Chapel, however, has been put to so many secular uses that the interior now bears no resemblance to a place of worship, and it is hard to believe that within these walls a brilliant congregation of nobles assembled to witness the christening of an heir to two crowns.