IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Beatty Avenue, STIRLING, FK8 1QQ

A northern suburb of Stirling as seen from the top of Mote Hill.

A pub on the edge of Raploch.

Huge thing between Raploch and the castle.

This is the opposite view to Image; the view is from beside the bench that is shown in that picture, and the bank, perhaps the wall of the fort, is shown from the other side. The view is therefore across the interior of the fort. An information panel can be seen on the left. Just to the right of it is a structure with iron bars, enclosing Image Further to the right are two cannons: Image On the skyline, just right of centre, is a close group of hills: Saline Hill (Image), Easter Cairn (Image), and Knock Hill (Image), from 15 to 16 miles (24 to 26km) away. Just to the left of that (almost dead-centre on the skyline) is a lower but wider group of hills: these include Cult Hill (Image), Dumglow (Image), Wether Hill (Image), and Outh Hill (Image), all in the Cleish Hills, and ranging from about 14 to 18 miles (23 to 29km) away. Both groups of hills are (roughly) north of Dunfermline. Another hill, smaller, most distant, and harder to spot, is directly above the top of the cage that contains the Beheading Stone: it is the area (Image) around Bishop Hill (25 miles / 40 km away), appearing just beyond the edge of the Ochil Hills, which take up the leftmost part of the background, with the Abbey Craig in front of them.

This is the western side of the summit. What looks like a linear mound crossing the image from left to right, on the near side of the bench, may be part of the outline of the fort described at the Canmore link given in the end-note. The view is from the interior of the fort, looking out across its wall. See Image for further possible traces on the opposite side of the summit. The prominent skyline hill near the right-hand edge of the present picture is Ben Ledi (Image).

They are just a few metres to the south of Image, as shown in Image They are also shown in Image For the skyline hills behind the left cannon, and other background details, see the comments at Image

In the background, on the right, is the Wallace Monument on the Abbey Craig. For more about the stone, and for more context, see Image, which I took on the same occasion. For other views, see Image / Image (with useful links) / Image The inscription on the plaque is as follows: "The Beheading Stone: Protected by the public at the instance of the Stirling Natural History & Archaeological Society / 1887". The stone, long before it was enclosed in the present structure (which is the work of John Allan), was mentioned by William Nimmo in his 1777 "History of Stirlingshire". I cannot vouch for his historical accuracy, but merely quote the relevant passages below for interest. From page 252: "Opposite to the castle, upon the north, lies the Gowan Hill, upon which is a stone, with an inscription, but it is unintelligible, nor does it appear, from the form of the letters, to be of any great antiquity. Upon the northern extremity of this hill, near the bridge, is a small mount, well known in the neighbourhood by the uncouth name of Hurly-Haaky, surrounded at the top with a parapet of earth, and having other remains of artificial works upon it. Upon this mount, Duncan Earl of Lennox, with his son-in-law, Murdoch Duke of Albany, who had been sometime governor of the realm, was beheaded, May 18th 1425, as were Walter and Alexander Stewarts, sons of that Duke, the day following". On page 255 of the same work, Nimmo mentions this location again, stating that "it is highly probable, that Hurly Haaky was the mote hill of the castle of Stirling, or perhaps of a much larger jurisdiction". For the meaning of "mote hill" (or "moot hill"), compare Image, Image, and the final few paragraphs at Image The name "Gowan Hills" was formerly applied to what is now Gowan Hill, Mote Hill, and the part that was later reshaped to form Ballengeich Cemetery. That earlier usage is reflected in the quotation from p252 of Nimmo, above.

See RCAHMS record http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/46206/details/stirling+mote+hill/ and http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/46234/details/stirling+gowanhill+the+beheading+stone/ for the Beheading Stone.