So many folks told us to visit this castle that we decided to make it our last hurrah. It was so different from Dunvegan Castle that we had visited on Skye. That castle was started in the 13th century and added to over the centuries. It is still inhabited by the chief of the Clan MacLeod (pronounced MacCloud) and feels more like somewhere one could live. Stirling castle is much more of a fortress and was, apparently, important to the defense of Scotland as well as being a royal residence in the 15th and 16th centuries. For more information, click here. There are some good pictures in the link to give an idea of the fortification. It would have been, and apparently was, very defensible. Apparently the Great Hall and much of the castle were, at one time, finished to look like gold. We were told that James V wanted the world to know the importance of the Stewart kings. We were told by one of the docents (all of whom seemed very knowledgable) that James V was good at fundraising. When asked for an example, he explained that the king blackmailed the pope by suggesting Scotland might follow the king’s relative (Henry VIII) and leave the Roman Catholic Church.