Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-09-03
Mutes o1r cfureigm gaud5.
SKETCHES OF TRAVEL IN SCOTLAND.
Written for the Yorkville Enquirer.l
BY REV. r. LATHAM.

Written for the Yorkville Enquirer.l
There are many places in Stirling which
are full of interest to the student of history.
Here 1 may remark that without some
knowledge of the history of country the
traveller feels very little interest in passing
through it. He may admire it's progress in
agriculture, gaze with delight on its hills
and mountains, behold with intense delight
its silvery lakes and pearly brooks, but
what is Bannockburn without know
ledge of the fierce contest which took place
on its banks between forty thousand Scotch
under Robert the Bruce and one hundred
thousand English under Edward the Sec
ond ? Nothing but crooked Scotch stream.
| What is Plymouth Rock without know
ledge of the fact that there the Pilgrim
Fathers landed? Nothing but rock such
as can be seen all over MASSACHUSETTS.
Among the old things in Stirling may be
mentioned the Mars Work. This is an un-
about the middle of the sixteenth century.
The object in view was the erection of a
grand palatial residence. Its exact dimen-
sions do not know, but its size corresponds
with the notions of the age in which it was
built. Huge proportions and massive walls
were then considered an essential element
of beauty. The Mars work is said to be a
ruin. This is not stictly true. 1t is going
to ruin, but certainly not fast. 1t has been
in existence more than three hundred years
and the walls are standing to-day. In fact
| little was ever completed but the walls.
At present it is without roof. The mason
work was we'll done. The cement in which
the stones were laid was good, and saw no
evidence of stones ready to fall. Over the
doorWays and windows there are some
strange inscriptions. They are not hard to
read, but difficult to interpret.
| I copied some of these and as curiosity
they are reproduced, but the reader is left
to interpret for himself. The letters are all
capitals and there is period between and
at the top of each word. One of these is As
as follows:
THE MoIR l. STAND ON OPPIN HITHT
MY. FAVETIs MoIR SUBJECT TO SIGHT
Another is:
essay SPEIK FOITH SPAN NOTHT
CONSIDER VEIL : I CARR NOTHT
Ihave several other inscriptions, but they
are all of the same character.
The stones used in constructing the Mars
Work were taken from Cambuskenneth Alb
bey. The removing of these stones arous-
ed a general feeling Of disapprObation. The
great Scotch RefOrmer, John Knox, was Op-
posed to it and predicted that no good would
come out of it. In the center of the build
ing, and above the entrance, are inscribed
the royal arms of Scotland and on one side
of these the arms of the Regent Mar, and
on the other side those of the countess.
For some time James the Sixth of Scotland
and First of England lived in the Mars
Work.
Cambuskenneth Abbey, from which the
Earl of Mar took stones to erect the Mars
Work, is about half a mile distant from
Stirling. 1t stands on neck of land form
ed by one of the many crooks in the river
Forth. On this neck, or isthmus, a fierce
battle was at one time fought with the
Picts. OF the ancient Abbey, only the tow
er, seventy feet high, remains. The Abbey
of Cambuskenneth was founded by David
the First in 1l47. In the Abbey Of Cambus-
kenneth, the Scotch parliament at one pc
riod met, and in 1926, within its walls,
the barrons and clergy, with Robert Bruce
at their head, met and sWOre fealty to the
infant Prince David. This gave to the
Scotch representative government. In
Cambuskenneth Abbey, James the Third
and his queen, Margaret of Denmark, were
buried.
In 1864, excavations were made for the
purpose of discovering the extent of the
Abbey, and finding the place where James
the Third was buried. Tradition had ever
related that the sp was near the High AL
tar, but so great were the ruins that the To-
cation of the High Altar could not be point
ed out. The eXcavators were successful in
tent of the Abbey. The location of the
High Altar was discovered, and near by
was found tomb covered with large block
of limestone. In the tomb was found an
oaken coffin, and in the coffin the remains
of the king and queen. These remains
were, in the presence of the Magistrates of
Stirling, re-buried and over the spot mon
ument erected in 1865, by Queen Victoria.
On one side of this monument is the follow
inscriptions:
"This restoration of the tomb of her an
cestors was executed by command of Her
Majesty Queen Victoria, A. d., 1865.
On the other side is the following: In
this place, near the High Altar of the Alb
bey of Cambuskenneth, were deposited the
remains of James I'LL, King of Scots, who
died On the 11th of June, 1883, and of his
Queen, the Princess Margaret of Denmark" "
On the west end are the Scottish arms and
the Latin motto: "Nena0 me impune idces-
set." On the east end the Scottish arms are
quartered with those of Denmark. The
whole is very beautiful.
James the Third was killed at Lauchie-
burn about two miles from Bannockburn.
The circumstances are too long to relate
here. Suffice it to say that James and his
mobiles were mutually suspicious of each
other. James determined to arrest them
for conspiracy, but they learned the fact
and rebelled. A skirmish was fought near
the Lauchieburn. The royal party was
defeated and James fled. AS he rode from
the battlefield he passed by where woman
was drawing water. Surprised by the sud-
den and rapid flight of the horse, she drop
ped her pitcher. This frightened the horse
and James was thrown to the ground and
badly hurt lie was carried, unrecOgniZed,
into Braton's mill. Soon some Of the enc
my came up and stabbed him to death.
His son, James the Fourth, was with the
mobiles. For this act James the Fourth it is
said, never to have forgiven himself. Mar
garet, the Queen of James the Third, died
before her husband.
A short distance from the Ladies' Rock is
the High Church. The length of this build
ing is two hundred feet, the width tifty-two
feet and the height fifty feet. At one end
there is a tower near ninety feet high. AT
one time this was only one church or place
of worship, but now it is two, which are
known as the East Church and the West
Church. Without any confusion congre-
CATION worships in each end at the same
hour, wall separating between the con-
gregati0ns. This is the case in several other
Churches. At the time of the Reformation
the High Church of Stirling suffered serious
damages at the hands of those whom John
Knox called the "rascal multitude" In
the East Church Mary of Guise was, by
four prelates and twenty-one mobiles, consti-
tuted Queen Regent of Scotland during the
minority of her daughter, Mary Queen of
Scots. In the same place James the Sixth