Stirling is generally understood to have derived its name from two Celtic words—considerably changed, however, from their original form and sound—and signifying The Jim of Strife. With this appellation its early history well accords, inasmuch as the precipitous and commanding eminence, on the eastern slope of which the town is mainly built, together with the fields adjacent to it, have often, in days gone by, been the scene of fierce and desperate conflict, on the issues of which not infrequently depended the fate of Scotland and of Scottish liberty. The town, which is a Royal and Parliamentary Burgh, is situated 35 miles north-west from Edinburgh, which. city, by the way, it is said in some respects to resemble; lies 28 miles north-east from Glasgow; and 33 miles south-west from Perth.
