Editing Stirling (section)

===Roman and early Medieval===
[[File:Stirlingcastle.jpg|thumb|left|[[Stirling Castle]] (southwest aspect)]]Its other notable geographic feature is its proximity to the lowest crossing point of the River Forth. Control of the bridge brought military advantage in times of unrest and excise duty, or [[pontage]] dues,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fleming|first1=James Sturk|title=The old Castle Vennal of Stirling : and its occupants, with the old brig of Stirling / by J.S. Fleming; illustrated by ... the author; with introductory chapter by John Honeyman|date=1906|publisher=Observer office|location=Stirling|pages=151–160|url=https://archive.org/stream/oldcastlevennalo00flem#page/151/mode/1up|access-date=5 April 2017}}</ref> in peacetime. Unsurprisingly excise men were installed in a covered booth in the centre of the bridge to collect tax from any entering the royal burgh with goods.<ref>{{cite book|last=Durie|first=Bruce|title=The Story of Stirling|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cI_YBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT39|year=2014|publisher=History Press|isbn=978-0-7509-6040-3|page=39}}</ref> Stirling remained the river's lowest reliable crossing point (that is, without a weather-dependent ferry or seasonal [[Ford (crossing)|ford]]<ref>{{cite web|last1=Shave|first1=Paul|title=UPPER FORTH RIVER TO STIRLING|url=http://www.fyca.org.uk/Cruising/CruisingGuide/cruisingP17.htm|website=Forth Yacht Clubs' Association|access-date=11 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140507013258/http://www.fyca.org.uk/Cruising/CruisingGuide/cruisingP17.htm|archive-date=7 May 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>) until the construction of the [[Alloa Swing Bridge]] between [[Throsk]] and [[Alloa]] in 1885.<ref>{{cite web|title=OS 25 inch, 1892–1905|url=http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=12&lat=56.0953&lon=-3.7817&layers=168&b=1|website=National Library of Scotland|publisher=Ordnance Survey|access-date=3 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130162106/http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=12&lat=56.0953&lon=-3.7817&layers=168&b=1|archive-date=30 November 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

The city has two [[Latin]] mottoes, which appeared on the earliest burgh seal<ref>{{cite web|title=Stirling (Scotland)|url=http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Stirling_(Scotland)#Burgh|website=Heraldry of the World|access-date=3 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404044525/http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Stirling_(Scotland)#Burgh|archive-date=4 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> of which an impression of 1296 is on record.<ref>RM Urquhart, ''Scottish Burgh and County Heraldry'', London, 1973</ref> The first alludes to the story as recorded by [[Boece]] who relates that in 855 Scotland was invaded by two [[Kingdom of Northumbria|Northumbrian]] princes, [[Osberht of Northumbria|Osbrecht]] and [[Ælla of Northumbria|Ella]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nimmo|first1=William|last2=Gillespie|first2=Robert|title=The history of Stirlingshire|date=1880|publisher=Thomas D. Morison|location=Glasgow|pages=63–64|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofstirlin01nimm#page/64/mode/1up/search/osbrecht|access-date=7 April 2017}}</ref> They united their forces with the Cumbrian Britons<ref>{{cite book|last1=Holinshed|first1=Raphael|title=Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland 1577 (Vol 1)|date=1807|publisher=J. Johnson [etc.]|location=London|pages=203–204|url=https://archive.org/stream/holinshedschroni01holi#page/203/mode/1up/search/the+Britons+had+all+the+lands+from+Sterling+to+the+Ireland+seas|access-date=15 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413022354/http://www.archive.org/stream/holinshedschroni01holi#page/203/mode/1up/search/the+Britons+had+all+the+lands+from+Sterling+to+the+Ireland+seas|archive-date=13 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> in order to defeat the Scots. Having secured Stirling castle, they built the first stone bridge over the Forth.

On the top they reportedly raised a crucifix with the inscription: "Anglos, a Scotis separat, crux ista remotis; Arma hic stant Bruti; stant Scoti hac sub cruce tuti."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stewart|first1=William|last2=Turnbull|first2=William B.|title=The buik of the croniclis of Scotland : or, A metrical version of the History of Hector Boece|date=1858|publisher=Published by the authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls – Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts|pages=441–442|url=https://archive.org/stream/buikofcroniclis02boec#page/442/mode/1up/search/Anglos|access-date=14 April 2017}}</ref> [[John Bellenden|Bellenden]] translated this loosely as "I am free [[March (territorial entity)|marche]], as passengers may ken, To Scottis, to Britonis, and to Inglismen." It may be the stone cross was a [[tripoint]] for the '''three''' kingdom's borders or [[March (territorial entity)|marches]];<ref name="archive17">{{cite book|last1=Shearer|first1=John Elliot|title=Shearer's Stirling : historical and descriptive, with extracts from Burgh records and Exchequer Roll volumes, 1264 to 1529, view of Stirling in 1620, and an old plan of Stirling|date=1897|publisher=R.S. Shearer & Son|location=Stirling|page=17|url=https://archive.org/stream/shearersstirling00rssh#page/17/mode/1up/search/merchis|access-date=14 April 2017}}</ref> the cross functioning both as a dividing territorial marker, and as a uniting<ref>{{cite book|last1=Henry|first1=Matthew|title=Exposition of the Old and New Testaments ... with practical remarks and observations (Vol 2)|date=1708|publisher=Nisbet|location=London|pages=103–109|url=https://archive.org/stream/expositionofoldn02henruoft#page/103/mode/1up/search/bridge|access-date=15 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414174929/http://archive.org/stream/expositionofoldn02henruoft#page/103/mode/1up/search/bridge|archive-date=14 April 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Witness (altar)|witness stone]] like in the Bible story in Joshua 22.<ref>{{cite web|title=Joshua 22|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=joshua+22%3A10-34&version=ESV|website=Bible Gateway|access-date=13 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414081319/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=joshua+22%3A10-34&version=ESV|archive-date=14 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> "[[Edinburgh Castle#Early Middle Ages|Angles]] and Scots here demarked, By this cross kept apart. Brits and Scots armed stand near, By this cross stand safe here." This would make the cross on the centre of the first stone bridge the [[Centre of Scotland|Heart of Scotland]].

The Stirling seal has only the second part, in a slightly different form:

:'''''Hic Armis Bruti Scoti Stant Hic Cruce Tuti''''' 
:(''Brits and Scots armed and near, by this cross stand safe here.'')

The Latin is apparently{{whom|date=April 2025}} not first rate, as it has four syllables in "cruce tuti". However, the meaning seems to be that the Lowland [[Kingdom of Strathclyde#The Kingdom of Alt Clut|Strathclyde Britons]] on the southern shore and the Highland [[List of kings of the Picts#Kings of the Picts traditionally counted as King of Scots|Pictish Scots]]<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Broun|first1=Dauvit|title=Britain and the beginning of Scotland|journal=Journal of the British Academy|date=5 December 2013|volume=3|pages=107–137|doi=10.5871/jba/003.107 |url=http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/104300/7/104300.pdf#page=19|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923012710/http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/104300/7/104300.pdf#page=19|archive-date=23 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> on the northern shore stand protected from each other by their common Christianity.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Marquess of Bute|first1=John|last2=Lonsdale|first2=H. W.|last3=MacPhail|first3=J. R. N.|title=The Arms of the Royal and Parliamentary Burghs of Scotland|date=1897|publisher=William Blackwood & Sons|location=Edinburgh|page=370|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c2916083;view=1up;seq=380;size=125|access-date=11 April 2017}}</ref>

A more modern translation suggests that rather than Briton, bruit might be better read as brute, i.e. brute Scots, implying a non-Scots identity was retained in Stirling for some time after inclusion into the land controlled by the King of Scots.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://randomscottishhistory.com/2021/04/01/impressions-of-old-glasgow-and-other-seals-pp-164-166/|title=Impressions of Old Glasgow and Other Seals|date=April 2021 |pages=164–166|access-date=6 November 2022}}</ref>

The second motto is:
:'''''Continet Hoc in Se Nemus et Castrum Strivelinse''''' 
:(''Contained within this seal pressed down, the wood an' castle o' Stirlin' town.'')

It has been claimed that the "Bridge" seal was regarded as the Burgh seal proper, the "Castle" seal being simply a reverse, used when the seal was affixed by a lace to a charter.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Scottish antiquary, or, Northern notes & queries|date=1895|publisher=T. and A. Constable|location=Edinburgh|url=https://archive.org/stream/scottishantiquar10unse#page/24/mode/2up/search/%22the+old+seals+of+stirling%22|access-date=7 April 2017}}</ref> This agrees with a description in an official publication (which spells<ref>{{cite web|title=Beginners' Latin – Problems with Latin and the documents|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/beginners/problems/|website=The National Archives|access-date=8 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409112518/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/beginners/problems/|archive-date=9 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Bruti with only one letter t).<ref>{{cite book|title=Charters and Other Documents Relating to the Royal Burgh of Stirling, A.D. 1124–1705|date=1884|publisher=Printer for the Provost, Magistrates, and Council of the Burgh of Stirling|location=Glasgow|url=https://archive.org/stream/chartersotherdo00stir#page/n16/mode/1up}}</ref> Clearer images are available<ref>{{cite web|title=home|url=https://stirlingincorporatedtrades.org/home/|website=Seven Incorporated Trades of Stirling|date=14 October 2014 |access-date=7 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408082342/https://stirlingincorporatedtrades.org/home/|archive-date=8 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> with different lettering.<ref>{{cite book|title=Charters and Other Documents Relating to the Royal Burgh of Stirling, A.D. 1124–1705|date=1884|publisher=Printer for the Provost, Magistrates, and Council of the Burgh of Stirling|location=Glasgow|url=https://archive.org/stream/chartersotherdo00stir#page/n7/mode/2up}}</ref> [[Robert Sibbald|Sibbald]] conflated the two mottos into a single rhyme;<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sibbald|title=Sibbald's History & Description of Stirlingshire Ancient and Modern 1707|date=1707|publisher=R. S. Shearer & Son|location=Edinburgh|page=42|edition= 1892 |url=https://archive.org/stream/SibbaldsHistoryDescriptionOfStirlingshireAncientAndModern1707/Book_Stirling#page/n47/mode/2up/search/seal|access-date=19 June 2017}}</ref> he gave no indication that he was aware of Boece's work.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ronald|first1=James|title=Landmarks of Old Stirling|date=1899|publisher=Eneas Mackay|location=Stirling|pages=240–285|url=https://archive.org/stream/landmarksoldsti00ronagoog#page/n276/mode/2up|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010075855/http://www.archive.org/stream/landmarksoldsti00ronagoog#page/n276/mode/2up|archive-date=10 October 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

Stirling was first declared a [[royal burgh]] by [[David I of Scotland|King David]] in the 12th century, with later charters reaffirmed by subsequent monarchs. A ferry, and later bridge, on the River Forth at Stirling brought wealth and strategic influence, as did its tidal port at Riverside.<ref>{{cite web|title=Riverside Heritage Trail|url=http://www.stirling.gov.uk/__documents/temporary-uploads/employment,-community-_and_-youth/sht-2014/communitiesteam_shtriverside-boards.pdf|website=Stirling Council|access-date=3 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404044346/http://www.stirling.gov.uk/__documents/temporary-uploads/employment,-community-_and_-youth/sht-2014/communitiesteam_shtriverside-boards.pdf|archive-date=4 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> As Stirling's economy grew, a Royal Park was established as a landscape setting to the north of the castle in the 12th century.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=John G |title=The Creation and Survival of Some Scots Royal Landscapes |url=https://www.johnscothist.com/uploads/5/0/2/4/5024620/scottish_royal_landscapes.pdf |access-date=4 March 2025 |date=25 August 2016}}</ref> The short-lived New Park was established in the later 13th century and contains a [[cockshoot|cockshot wood]] (Coxet Hill), likely to have been used as a base in the [[Battle of Bannockburn]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=McNeill |first1=Alastair |title=Stirling's Coxet Hill may have been site of Bruce's Bannockburn headquarters |url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/stirlings-coxet-hill-been-site-24325575 |work=Daily Record |date=15 June 2021 }}</ref> Major battles during the [[Wars of Scottish Independence]] took place at the [[Stirling Old Bridge]] in 1297 and at the nearby village of [[Bannockburn]] in 1314 involving [[Andrew Moray]] and [[William Wallace]], and [[Robert the Bruce]] respectively. After the [[Battle of Stirling Bridge]], Moray and Wallace wrote to [[Hanseatic League]] leaders in [[Lübeck]] and [[Hamburg]] to encourage trade between Scottish and German ports.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Lübeck letter, 1297|url=http://www.scottisharchivesforschools.org/WarsOfIndependence/LubeckLetter.asp|website=Scottish Archives For Schools|publisher=National Records of Scotland|access-date=3 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170401015209/http://www.scottisharchivesforschools.org/WarsOfIndependence/LubeckLetter.asp|archive-date=1 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> There were also several [[Sieges of Stirling Castle]] in the conflict, notably in 1304.<ref>{{cite web|title=Stirling Castle Timeline|url=http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stirling/stirlingcastle/timeline.html|website=Undiscovered Scotland|access-date=8 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405200159/http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stirling/stirlingcastle/timeline.html|archive-date=5 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>