Towns > Stirling > 1866 - Threepenny guide & directory for Stirling, Bridge of Allan, etc.

6 STIRLING.
in that portion of the Cemetery, known as The Valley^ and not yet used as a place of
sepulture. The fountain is understood to have heen erected hy the private munifi-
cence of Mr Wm. Drummond of Eockdale Lodge, Stirling, and is but one of several
appropriate adornments of the place contributed bj'' that gentleman, and by which
he has won in no small measure the esteem and gratitude of the community.
THE LADIES' HOCK.
This picturesque little eminence may be regarded as a spur of the great basaltic
rock on which the Castle is reared. It rises abruptly over The Valley^ to the west,
and served as a kind of natural platform whence the ladies of court were wont, in
the days of the Jameses, to witness and encourage the jousts and tournaments en-
gaged in by the gallant knights in the valley below, — whence it is said to have de-
rived its name. On turning from the Valley^ and looking to the south-west, we see
close at hand the King's Park, a noble enclosure of about three miles in circumfer-
ence, surrounded in great part by a graceful iron railing, the rest by a substantial
stone wall, and is at all seasons open to the public.
Immediately beneath, and close by the foot of the Castle rock, maj' be seen what
is called the King's Garden, thought to be one of the most ancient in Scotland. The
eye is attracted to it chiefly by a singularly shaped mound in the centre, called the
King's Knot. It rises by several terraces, the outer ones square, the inner, near the
top, octagonal. What the original object of the mound preciselj^ was appears uncer-
tain ; but it is commonly believed to have been the scene of some courtly amusement,
particularly in the early days of King James Y., known as the game of the Round
Table, and supposed to have been founded on the history of King Arthur. The
King's Knot is in all probability referred to by Sir David Lindsay in the following
lines addressed to Stirling in his Complaynt of the Pajnngo: —
" Adeu, fair Snawdown, with thy towris hie,
Thy Chapel Royall, Park, and Tabill Round ;
May, June, and July, would I dwell in thee.
Were I aue man, to hear the birdis sound,
Whilk doth against thy royall E-ocke redound."
HOSPITALS.
Of these there are the following : —
1. Spittal's Hospital, endowed by Robert Spitt;il, Tailor to King James TV., for
the support of decayed members of the Seven Incorporated Trades of Stirling, viz.,
Hammermen, IVeavers, Shoemakers, Tailors, Bakers, Skinners^ and Fleshers. The
weeklj^ allowance is said to range from Is. to Is. 9d.
2. Coavane's Hospital, endowed in 1635, by John Cowane, Merchant in Stirling,
for maintaining a limited number of decayed members of the Guildry. AVeekly
allowance said to be from 2s. to 6s.
3. Allan's Hospital, founded in 1728, by John Allan, Writer in Stiiding, for
maintaining and educating bo5's belonging to the Incorporated Trades of Stirling,
above named.
4. Cunnimghah's ^PiIohtification, as it is called, being a sum of money left by
one Alexander Cunningham for a similar purj.0:e to that of Allan's Hospital.