Argyll's Lodging is a 17th-century town-house in the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
style, situated below
Stirling Castle in
Stirling
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. It was a residence of the Earl of Stirling and later the Earls of Argyll. The
Royal Commission regards it as “the most important surviving town-house of its period in Scotland”.
At the end of the 20th century it became a museum.
History
Traill and Erskine
It is uncertain who built the first house that developed into the house eventually known as Argyll's Lodging, located in Castle Wynd on the uphill approach to
Stirling Castle. It is assumed that the house was built originally by the wealthy merchant John Traill and comprised two storeys with a hall on the first floor and a kitchen on the ground floor. In 1559 Traill sold it to
Adam Erskine, the Commendator (lay administrator) of nearby
Cambuskenneth Abbey
Cambuskenneth Abbey is an Augustinian monastery located on an area of land enclosed by a meander of the River Forth near Stirling in Scotland. The abbey today is largely reduced to its foundations, however its bell tower remains. The neighbouring ...
. Erskine converted the dwelling into an L-shaped
tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...
comprising four floors with a small south wing and west wing, the latter containing the kitchen. In 1604 Erskine sold the house to a relative.
[C. Tabraham, ''Argyll's Lodging & Mar's Wark - Stirling'' (2002). Historic Scotland. ]
Sir William Alexander
In 1629
Sir William Alexander
William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling (c. 1567 in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire12 February 1640) was a Scottish courtier and poet who was involved in the Scottish colonisation of Charles Fort, later Port-Royal, Nova Scotia in 1629 and Long Is ...
, whose family was related to the Campbells of Argyll, bought the house from the Erskines. The house adjoined property of the Campbells who had owned several houses in Stirling since the fourteenth century. Around 1600 their residence stood on the corner of Broad Street and Castle Wynd. Sir William was able to buy the Erskines’ home because he was related to the family, his wife being Janet Erskine.
![Nova Scotia plaque, Edinburgh Castle Esplanade](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Nova_Scotia_plaque%2C_Edinburgh_Castle_Esplanade.jpg)
Sir William was born in 1577 in Menstrie, a village lying a few miles to the north east of Stirling. He was one of several tutors to
Prince Henry, heir to the Scottish throne. In 1603, when the crowns of Scotland and England were united, he followed
King James VI
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
to London. He was
knighted in 1609 and in 1626 was appointed principal Secretary for Scotland for life. He is chiefly remembered today for his settlement of the colony of
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
in North America under a royal charter granted in 1621. In 1630 he was elevated to 1st Earl of Stirling and Viscount Canada.
Sir William had his Stirling home redecorated when he realised that
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
was intending to come to Scotland for his Scottish coronation in 1633. He had the house remodeled into a small palace with public and private suites and a grandly decorated exterior. He died insolvent in 1640, leaving the house to his son Charles, but the town of Stirling claimed the property in lieu of his unpaid debts. The town council wanted to furnish it as a guesthouse, but this plan was never realized, and in the 1660s, it was sold to the Duke of Argyll.
An armorial tablet on the wall above the main entrance displays Alexander's
coat-of-arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its w ...
. The shield is supported by a
Native American and a
mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes ass ...
. A scroll above displays his family motto ''Avt Spero Avt Sperno'' and a scroll below the motto of
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
''per mare per terras''. The crest is believed to be the first armorial representation of a
beaver.
Campbells of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll (26 February 1629 – 30 June 1685) was a Scottish peer and soldier.
The hereditary chief of Clan Campbell, and a prominent figure in Scottish politics, he was a Royalist supporter during the latter stage ...
was born in 1629. He was a staunch supporter of the monarchy. In 1666 he bought the house that would become known as Argyll's Lodging and built it outwards to the north and south, while enclosing the courtyard behind a screen wall with an elaborate entrance gate. He also had the interior walls decorated with paintings, some of which have survived.
In 1680, the Earl opposed the oath attached to the
Test Act
The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and nonconformists. The underlying principle was that only people taking communion in ...
, intended to ensure the loyalty of the holders of public office to
King Charles II, because it also demanded conformity with the king's ideas on forms of church government and religious worship. The earl's refusal to take the oath led to him being declared a
traitor
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
in 1681. He was imprisoned in
Edinburgh Castle, but escaped, disguised as a woman, and fled from
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
to the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. His estates were confiscated.
The Earl had possessed the foresight, however, to have an inventory drawn up of all the belongings in his house in Stirling and had assigned them to his wife, Lady Anna Mackenzie, daughter of the Earl of Seafield, whom he had married in 1670. Due to the fact that her first husband, the Earl of Balcarres, had remained loyal to the King, the latter granted her a pension and allowed her to keep her personal property.
In February 1685 Charles II died and was succeeded by his brother
James VII
James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
. Argyll returned to Scotland intending to lead a rebellion against the King to coincide with the
Duke of Monmouth's revolt in England. In June, shortly after landing, Argyll was captured in
Renfrew, taken to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
and beheaded in the town's
Grassmarket
The Grassmarket is a historic market place, street and event space in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In relation to the rest of the city it lies in a hollow, well below surrounding ground levels.
Location
The Grassmarket is located direct ...
.
The house remained in the hands of the Campbells for the best part of a century. In 1746, during the
Jacobite rebellion
, war =
, image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766
, active ...
, the
Duke of Cumberland
Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland.
History
The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom ...
resided in the house.
Military hospital
In 1764 the 4th Duke of Argyll sold the house to Robert Campbell and James Wright, who in turn sold it to the McGregors of Balhaldie. Around 1800 the Army bought the house for use as a military hospital, because of lack of space in Stirling Castle. During the
Napoleonic wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
the army was greatly expanded, from 40,000 to 225,000 men, and the small hospital in the castle proved inadequate.
The house remained in use as a military hospital until 1964 when it was turned into a
youth hostel
A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ...
. In 1996
Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...
opened it as a
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
and has refurnished the rooms using the inventory prepared by the 9th Earl.
Building
Argyll's Lodging stands in Castle Wynd on the final approach to Stirling Castle. It was built and decorated in the
Renaissance style
Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought a ...
. The plan of the house was originally a "P", the upper part of the "P" consisting of three wings around a courtyard to the west screened from the street by a wall with an entrance gate. The lower part of the "P" was a southwest wing which also bordered the street before it was demolished.
The north wing contained the kitchen on its ground floor, the eastern half being the original building with its early kitchen. The first floor contained the private rooms. The main entrance which is in the central east wing led directly into the Laigh Hall (ground-floor cellar). The first floor of the east wing contained the High Dining Room for entertaining guests and, on the south side, the more private Drawing Room. The ground floor of the south wing contained rooms for the head of the household and the eldest son. The southeastern corner of this wing housed the Lower Dining Room. The first floor of the south wing housed the bedrooms of the Lord and Lady of the house (''My Lord and Lady's Bed Chamber'') and ''My Lady's Closet'', the private salon of the lady of the house.
Management
Argyll's Lodging is managed and maintained by
Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...
.
References
External links
*
Historic Scotland, Stirling: Argyll's LodgingRoyal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Stirling, Castle Wynd, Argyll's Lodging
{{Authority control
Category A listed buildings in Stirling (council area)
Houses in Stirling (council area)
Houses completed in the 17th century
Museums in Stirling (council area)
Historic house museums in Stirling (council area)
Clan Campbell
Buildings and structures in Stirling (city)