Falkland, Scotland

Falkland, Fife, this picturesque little Royal Burgh, with its
cobbled streets and old houses, is best known for the very interesting Falkland Palace, a favourite seat of
the Scottish Court from the time of James V, who died here, after having done much to improve its amenities. His daughter, the future Mary, Queen of Scots, used to hunt from the Palace.

Both Charles I and Charles II visited Falkiand, and Rob Roy occupied it in 1715, after the battle of Sheriffmuir. The Royal Tennis court of 1539 still exists. The buildings are in the Renaissance style, dating from 1530-1540, with a fine facade to the south wing, and containing a banquetin hall now a Chapel, showing a good screen and 17th century, tapestries. In 1654, the east wing was
burnt when occupied by Cromwell’s troops.

Scott, in his “Fair Maid of Perth,” has introduced the story of the Duke of Rothesay, who is said to have been starved to death in one of the dungeons. The Town House, with its spire, dates from 1805. A house in the square carries an inscribed panel to Richard Cameron, a
Covenanter martyr, born in 1648, who is associated with the raising of the Cameronjan regiment. On Green Hill stands a monument to Tyndall-Bruce an Englishman, who, in 1849, restored the Palace and built the Church. To the south rise the Lomond hills, with East Lornond, 1,471 ft., in the immediate background, and West Lomond, 1,713 ft., the highest point in the area.

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