County town: Stirling
Stirlingshire was established as a sheriffdom from the 12th century, centred on Stirling, the strategic fortress guarding the lowest crossing of the Forth. Its position made it the 'key of Scotland'.
Stirlingshire is the gateway to the Scottish Highlands, its county town of Stirling sitting on a volcanic crag above the Forth's floodplain at the lowest practical crossing point of the river — the 'brooch' clasping Highlands and Lowlands together. Stirling Castle, built on this crag, was one of Scotland's most important royal residences, where Mary Queen of Scots was crowned in 1543. Two of Scotland's most decisive battles were fought within the county: Bannockburn (1314), where Bruce defeated Edward II's English army, and Stirling Bridge (1297), where Wallace routed an English force. The Trossachs, popularised by Scott's Lady of the Lake, begin at the county's northern edge.
The Statistical Accounts of Scotland — the Old Statistical Account (1791–99) and the New Statistical Account (1834–45) — provide detailed parish-by-parish descriptions of Stirlingshire at two moments of transformation. Aubrey draws on these accounts when generating reports for Scottish locations, providing historical context specific to the parish and county.
Scotland's 33 traditional counties, established as sheriffdoms from the 12th century onward, were the administrative framework of the country until the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975 replaced them with regional councils. They remain the reference framework for historical records, genealogy, and cultural identity.
An Aubrey report for a specific location in Stirlingshire draws on historical maps, archaeological records, Domesday data, Statistical Account records, and landscape history to tell the full story of any site in the county.
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