Stirling Heads

[5] James V may have been inspired by a current belief that the Roman general Gnaeus Julius Agricola had rebuilt Stirling Castle "with diligence and sumptuous expense",[6] and some of the medallion head carvings may have been intended to depict ancient heroes as supposed forebears of the Stewart dynasty.

[7] The Stirling Head carvings were traditionally attributed to a Scottish craftsman John Drummond of Milnab,[8] and it is likely that a French colleague Andrew Mansioun was a significant contributor to the project.

[12] The writer George Buchanan described the late 1530s as a period of relative stability in Scotland, and because James V was provided with heirs, he turned his attention to "useless buildings" and taxed the church and nobility to fund these projects.

[23] The subject matter is varied, and it is generally accepted that some of the medallions depict members of the Scottish royal family and Margaret Tudor,[25] while others portray mythological characters including Hercules, and at least two carvings represent Roman emperors.

In the 19th century, the medallion currently identified as Margaret Tudor, holding a greyhound emblem, then in the possession of David Laing, was thought to depict Mary of Guise.