Mar's Wark is a ruined building in

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

built 1570–1572 by John Erskine, Regent of Scotland and

Earl of Mar There are currently two earldoms of Mar in the Peerage of Scotland, and the title has been created seven times. The first creation of the earldom is currently held by Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, who is also clan chief of Clan Mar. Th ...

, and now in the care of

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

. Mar intended the building for the principal residence of the Erskine family in Stirling, whose chief had become hereditary keeper of the nearby royal

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...

where the princes of Scotland were schooled. '' Wark'' is a Scots language word for ''work'', and here it means ''building''. The house is also called "Mar's Lodging."

Description

The building fronts the kirk yard of the Holy Rude Church and sits at the head of the processional route to Stirling Castle above the town's tollbooth. The windowless front façade survives lacking its upper storey, access is possible to the first floor. The basement vaults have doors and windows to the street and may have been intended for shops. The façade is nearly symmetrical around a gatehouse frontispiece with two polygonal towers. Liberal carved stone decoration is based on European print-sources or decorative arts with royal and Erskine heraldry, and wry inscriptions. A motif of the letter "A" with the earl's coronet points to a variant version of the family name, as "Areskine," or possibly the initial of Mar's countess, Annabella Murray. Traditionally it has been alleged that the carvings include stones re-cycled from

Cambuskenneth Abbey Cambuskenneth Abbey is an Augustinian monastery located on an area of land enclosed by a meander of the River Forth near Stirling in Scotland. The abbey today is largely reduced to its foundations, however its bell tower remains. The neighbouri ...

. The general articulation and architectural mouldings closely reflect royal buildings, especially the palace at

. The Earl of Mar may well have called upon the skills of the royal Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland of the time, William MacDowall. The Wark is now protected by the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

Inscriptions

The

middle Scots Middle Scots was the Anglic language of Lowland Scotland in the period from 1450 to 1700. By the end of the 15th century, its phonology, orthography, accidence, syntax and vocabulary had diverged markedly from Early Scots, which was virtual ...

inscriptions carved on the gatehouse centrepiece refer to the onlooker's appreciation of the architecture and the eminence of the Regent himself in the building's own voice:

South tower
I PRAY AL LVIKARIS ON THIS LVGING
VITH GENTILE E TO GIF THAIR IVGING
''I pray all lookers on this lodging'',
''With gentle eye to give their judging.''
North tower
THE MOIR I STAND ON OPPIN HITHT
MY FAVLTIS MOIR SVBIECT AR TO SITHT
''The more I stand on open height'',
''My faults more subject are to sight''.
Internal (exit) arch
ESSPY SPEIK FVRTH AND SPAIR NOTHT
CONSIDDIR VEIL I CAIR NOTHT
''See, speak forth and spare not'',
''Consider well, I care not.''

History

It is often said that the building was never finished, but there is little evidence for this, although it was probably unfinished at the death of Regent Mar in October 1572. It seems from the records of Stirling burgh that his widow Countess Annabella continued to use the building. In April 1584 supporters of the

Earl of Angus The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish Provinces of Scotland, province of Angus, Scotland, Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is held by the Duke of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldes ...

were ordered to surrender the castle and the town gates of Stirling with the "lodging of Annabell, Countess of Mar, and other places of fortification." The captive Earl of Gowrie was brought to the "Lady Marrs House" for his trial in May 1584. In December 1593

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...

, pregnant with Prince Henry came to Stirling and was first lodged in the Earl of Argyll's house, then Lady Mar's lodging until her rooms in castle were ready. In May 1595 a banquet for the marriage of the king's mistress

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian country, pop and adult contemporary music singer who has sold over 55 million album copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray has won four Grammys including the Grammy ...

and Lord Glamis was to be held at the Countess of Mar's new house in Stirling. In 1602 a French ambassador, the Baron de Tour came to Stirling and had a talk with the Countess in "Lady Mar's House". As the lodging commands Broad Street and the town it was later used to mount artillery during civil unrest. The building seems to be mentioned in this context in May 1578, when there was a discussion about holding a parliament in the tolbooth, and copies of documents refer to "Lady Maries House", possibly meaning "Lady Mar's House".''Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1574-1581'', vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 291 citing TNA SP52/27 ff. 37, 38.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline * Historic Environment Scotland
Visitor guide

Mar's Wark
Scotland's Places Houses completed in 1572 Scheduled monuments in Stirling Historic Environment Scotland properties in Stirling Ruins in Stirling (council area) 16th century in Scotland Renaissance architecture in Scotland 1572 establishments in Scotland

Description

Inscriptions

History

References

Further reading

External links