A new visitors Bible was presented to Stirling Castle at the weekend. The presentation was made to the castle by the Bible Society on Sunday and saw local churches and choirs join visitors for a special event, Make a Joyful Noise, in the Chapel Royal.

In November 2011 the castle was presented with two Bibles to commemorate the anniversary of the publication.  One had been given pride of place on the Altar while the other was made accessible to castle visitors. In spite of our initial trepidation, it has been seen to be very much used. In fact we have found ourselves in the rather unique position of “wearing out” a Bible in eighteen months which was the reason for receiving a new one.

The event saw a selection of hymns sung giving visitors and guests a fantastic opportunity to witness the Chapel being used for its original purpose. Built by James VI in 1594 for the baptism of his son Prince Henry, the Chapel Royal was used as a place of worship for many centuries later.

Young soloist Lawrence Smith from Stirling was excellent as was the reading by Castle steward, Gordon Barclay that focused on Solomon’s Temple from Kings and Chronicles on which our own Chapel Royal was said to be based.  MC duties were carried out by Kathleen McKellar Ferguson who produced appropriate linked narratives between hymns and organist Alistair Warwick acted as choir master.  The Bible itself was presented by St Ninians’ Post Master, Mr Willie Troup, a well-kent figure in the local area, representing the Stirling action group of the Scottish Bible Society.

The acoustics were spectacular with a string quartet adding a new dimension to the sound.  All in all  it was wonderful to hear the choirs in this magnificent setting.

Eleanor Muir

Visitor Experiences Manager, Stirling Castle

A stunning tapestry from Stirling Castle has travelled all the way to London’s Fleming Collection where it will be the focus a unique exhibition.

“Finding The Unicorn – Tapestries Mythical and Modern” celebrates Historic Scotland’s stunning refurbishment of James V’s Royal Palace at Stirling Castle and the skills of the West Dean College tapestry weavers. A team from Historic Scotland travelled down to help the weavers and gallery staff unpack and install over thirty works of art.

The centrepiece of the exhibition, “The Unicorn is Found” is just one of a series of magnificent tapestries woven for the Palace by the West Dean Tapestry Studio in Sussex. And this is the first time the tapestry has gone on public display outside Scotland. Alongside it are other important pieces relating to the Stirling Castle Palace refurbishment and tapestries of works by modern and contemporary artists woven at West Dean, including Henry Moore and Tracey Emin.

The exhibition runs until 1st of June at The Fleming Collection in London’s Mayfair Find out more at the Fleming Gallery website

Peter Buchanan
Major Projects, Historic Scotland

It was a wonderful weekend here at Stirling Castle celebrating the life of John Muir on the anniversary of his birth – and the first ever John Muir Day!

Our stewarding team were keen to show their green credentials. Gordon was in the Queen Anne garden describing the replanting scheme and the past history of gardens in and around the castle whilst Charlie led special tours “The Castle and its Environment”. The exhibition “How green is my castle” was also opened and viewed by many of our visitors, who were keen to find out more about the castle’s environmental story, both in the past and in the present day.  And our “ promise tree “ is greening up nicely.

I have always taken a keen interest in how the landscape and climate have shaped our history and it was a delight to see this topic highlighted at the castle for our visitors.

Standing on the battlements I had two thoughts in my head. Firstly that the man that really knows his own land is on to a winner in every sense and secondly I thought of John Muir`s quote “in Gods wild places lies the hope of the world.

Eleanor Muir
Visitor Experience Manager
Stirling Castle