Stirling Castle (15)
At the north-west corner pf Stirling Castle, stands The King's Old Building, at the core of which are the royal lodgings of King James IV, which date back to 1496.  

J4's royal lodgings were L-shaped in plan and incorporated walls of an older building - an inevitably familiar theme in a fortress-palace such as this.  The main apartments were on the 1st floor, approached by a spiral stair in the entrance tower, which is on the far side, facing the Inner Close, capped by a half octagonal roof (you can see the finial on it).  

From the later 1600s, the building was converted for military use and by the 1800s, it provided married quarters and a sergeant's mess.  The former King's hall on the 1st floor, once a room of considerable size opening up into the roof space, was divided into separate floors, the attic room thus formed having new dormer windows.  

Under the 1881 Childers Reforms, the army was reoganised, one consequence of which was that the 91st (Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot amalgamated to form the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.  Stirling Castle became the permanent depot of the newly formed regiment, with all recruits receiving their basic training here until 1964.  The King's Old Building is now the regimental museum of the Argylls.
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