Stirling

Stirling is a small but historically important city by the River Forth in the Stirlingshire council area of Scotland. It is a former ancient burgh that is overlooked by a large fortress and the medieval old-town. It is known as the "Gateway to the Highlands", and was a strategically significant settlement for many centuries, with as it is at the boundary between the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands, and a primary crossing point of the Forth.

The city was first make a Royal burgh by King David I in 1130, and it remained so until 1975. However, the settlement existed much earlier, and was probably founded in the Stone Age, as is suggested by the Randolphfield standing stones and Kings Park prehistoric carvings. The name Stirling is thought to come from a Gaelic phrase meaning "place of battle", and indeed, the settlement and surrounding area have seen much warfare in its lifetime, including a major battle of the Wars of Scottish Independence, which took place at Stirling Bridge in 1297.

The city's Church of the Holy Rude is the only surviving church in the United Kingdom besides Westminster Abbey to have held a coronation, which was of James VI of Scotland (later also James I of England). He and his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, lived in the castle.

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