The tide of Scottish history long flowed towards and around Stirling Castle. The time when it was not a place of strength and of strife is lost in the mists of antiquity. Early, too, it became the seat of kings; and the Castle, and the little burgh upon the slope behind, have witnessed many a stirring sight. Scottish Parliaments were held here, or in the Abbey of Cambuskenneth, whose ruined tower rises, on a "link of Forth," opposite what is now the railway station. Sovereigns were born and baptised, were wedded and buried, held joyous jousts, and committed foul deeds of blood and shame, on Stirling Rock or under its shadow. [Illustration: OLD BRIDGE OF FORTH, STIRLING.] The buildings on the highest platform of the Rock--still a fortified and garrisoned place--surround the "Upper Square." What is the Armoury was the Chapel, erected on the site of an older Chapel Royal, by the "Scottish Solomon," to celebrate, with pomp till then unheard of, the baptism of Prince Henry. Opposite is the Palace of James V., its front still embossed with the remains of rich carvings and uncouth sculpture. The Parliament House, built by James III. (now put to barrack purposes), and the building within which James II. stained his name and race with blood, by stabbing to the heart the Earl of Douglas, complete a group of buildings upon which have been indelibly impressed the character and the fate of the Sovereigns of the House of Stuart. The visitor to Stirling Castle can view Highlands and Lowlands from "Queen Mary's Lookout;" and then, for change of sympathy and impression, inspect the pulpit and communion-table of John Knox; or, if his faith be great, the dungeon where Roderick Dhu drew his latest breath. The windy hollow between the Castle and the "Gowling Hills," he is told, is Ballengeich, of which that hero of ballad adventure, James V., was "Gudeman." The most distant of these braes was the "Mote" or "Heading Hill," the old place of execution, where many a noble and guilty head has fallen--the Albany faction and the murderers of James I. among the number. Below the Castle, on the other side, are the King's Garden and King's Park, the scenes of the sports and diversions in the olden time, where James II. held tournaments, and James IV. delighted in his "Table Round." [Illustration: STIRLING, FROM ABBEY CRAIG.] Nor are the history and aspect of the town of Stirling unworthy of its noble station. It, also, is crammed with memories and antiquities--from the square tower of the West Church, grouping so well with the buildings on the Castle, and surmounting the hall where Knox preached and the infant James VI. was crowned, down to the burial-place of the murdered James III., under the tower of Cambuskenneth and close by the winding Forth.