Linlithgow

Linlithgow lies between Edinburgh and Stirling, beside a loch overlooked by its royal palace. After a fire in 1424 James I began rebuilding the residence, and later Stewart monarchs enlarged it around a spacious courtyard. The palace became a favoured home of royal mothers and children: James V was born here in 1512, followed by Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542. In 1746, after government troops had occupied the palace during the Jacobite rising, fire gutted the royal residence.