Stirling Castle A few structures of the fourteenth century remain, while the outer defences fronting the town date from the early eighteenth century. Before the union with England, Stirling Castle was also one of the most used of the many Scottish royal residences, very much a palace as well as a fortress. Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542, and others were born or died there. There have been at least eight sieges of Stirling Castle, including several during the Wars of Scottish Independence, with the last being in 1746, when Bonnie
Mary Stuart (play) "Mary Stuart", which holds a place in the opera repertory in Donizetti's version (as "Maria Stuarda"), can still hold the stage in its original form as demonstrated in its successful production, given in a 2005 run at the Donmar Warehouse. Using Peter Oswald's new translation, it was directed by Phyllida Lloyd and starred Janet McTeer as Mary, Queen of Scots and Harriet Walter as Elizabeth of England. The production transferred to the Apollo Theatre in London's West End, where it also played a sold-out engagement from late 2005 into January 2006. The production opened on Broadway on 30 March 2009