Qualla: Battle of Stirling (1648)

Battle of Stirling (1648): Introduction

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit QuintusPetillius, Public domain. Argyll had barely begun his meal when the Highlanders crested the Deer Park. It was 12 September 1648, and the Marquess of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, was dining in the Earl of Mar's residence at Stirling, his guards stationed across the burgh, his army of about a thousand men still digesting their march. The man hunting him was Sir George Munro of Newmore, a hard Highland soldier serving the Earl of Lanark and the Engagers. There was no time for argument, no time for plates to be cleared. Argyll mounted, kicked his horse over Stirling Bridge, and rode for his life.

Image: QuintusPetillius | Public domain

Battle of Stirling (1648): Covenanters Against Covenanters

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. This was not English against Scot. It was Presbyterian against Presbyterian, the bitter splintering of a movement that had brought down a king and then could not agree what to do with him. The previous December, one faction of the Scottish Covenanters had signed The Engagement wi...

Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

Battle of Stirling (1648): The Burgh Caught Mid-Bite

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit QuintusPetillius, Public domain. Argyll's force on the morning of 12 September was thin and scattered. About 300 men formed the nucleus, with another 400 picked up on the road north and 300 militiamen joining at Stirling itself. Most were posted to guard the town gates. The main body was sitting down with their ...

Image: QuintusPetillius | Public domain

Battle of Stirling (1648): A Gesture Between Chiefs

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Scotland_location_map.svg: Eric Gaba, NordNordWest derivative work: Uwe Dedering, CC BY-SA 3.0. One detail from that day reads like something out of an older world. Dougal MacTavish, younger son of the chief of Clan MacTavish, was killed in the fighting on Argyll's side. His father, John MacTavish, lost both his sword and his musket in the rout. The Marquess of Argyll, chie...

Image: Scotland_location_map.svg: Eric Gaba, NordNordWest derivative work: Uwe Dedering | CC BY-SA 3.0

Battle of Stirling (1648): Walking the Battlefield Today

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit QuintusPetillius, Public domain. Nothing on the slope below the castle marks the day. The King's Park is still grass and trees, golfers walking where the Highlanders advanced. Mar's Wark stands at the head of Broad Street, roofless and quietly ruined, its carved inscriptions still readable in middle Scots. The C...

Image: QuintusPetillius | Public domain