This image of Linlithgow Castle was done by Cattermole, the engraver was done by Appleton. The image is 4 x 5 1/2 inches in size an dates for the 1840's.
Linlithgow Palace is a former royal residence. It dominates the town and loch of Linlithgow from its promontory site. The layout of this now roofless 15th to 17th century building with its many staircases and corridors is typical of a search for comfort and a more logical disposition. The palace was the favourite residence of several Stewart monarchs.
It was during the reigns of James IV and V that Linlithgow became a favoured royal residence.
Linlithgow Palace Print by Cattermole.
James IV was responsible for another period of building and alterations (1490-1530) probably partly in preparation for his new bride Margaret Tudor, whom he married in 1503 and who spent most of her married life here.
This was Scotland's Golden Age and their court was a glittering one with Linlithgow Palace fully participating in the round of merry pursuits. James IV was an active sportsman who liked both hunting and hawking but he also loved the indoor entertainments provided by jugglers, acrobats, rope dancers, minstrels and poets.
On 10 April 1512 the future James V was born here, a year before that fateful date in 1513 when the flower of Scotland's knighthood died alongside their King at Flodden (see Index). Following this, the dowager queen left with her children for Stirling.
James V had his father's same love for Linlithgow Palace and often resided here. It was his second wife, Mary of Guise, who declared 'she had never seen such a princely palace'.
The palace was the venue for an open-air performance of James V's tutor, Sir David Lindsay's Satire of the Three Estates. Having lost two sons, Mary of Guise gave birth to the future Mary, Queen of Scots on 8 December 1542 only days before the king died of a broken heart.
As Regent, Mary of Guise continued to visit the great palace as did Mary, Queen of Scots on several occasions but its heyday was past and decline set in during the reign of James VI with the removal of the court to London following the Union.
