Linlithgow Palace, birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots
© Lynda Langford
The palace was originally a wooden manor, with Edward 1 of England involved in it's early history. In 1424 James 1 began the works for the stone structure, after returning from his long exile in England. Further works were undertaken for the wife of James 111, Margaret of Denmark, who received the Palace and Doune Castle as a dower.
The palace was improved further for the arrival of Margaret Tudor, the wife of James 1V of Scotland, she was also the sister of Henry V111 of England. At the very top of the Palace is a place which is called Queen Margaret's Bower, it is the place where Margaret is said to have waited for the return of her husband from the Battle of Flodden, her wait was in vain, for her husband was killed in the battle.
Linlithgow Palace is probably best known for being the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots in 1542; the same year in which her father James V of Scotland suffered defeat at the hands of the English at the Battle of Solway Moss. James V died six days after the birth of Mary. Mary did not spend her childhood at Linlithgow, fears for her security were evident even when she was an infant, she was removed from the Palace at the age of seven months, and taken to Stirling Castle which was felt to be a more secure environment, although she did visit the Palace often during her personal reign. Mary's father comissioned further enhancements to the Palace for her mother, Marie of Guise, who was his second wife. The King was said to have remarked that the Palace was as grand as any Chateau in the Loire region of France. By this time the Palace was a four-sided structure around a courtyard.
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