Timothy Pont's hand-drawn map of Stirlingshire and its environs (circa 1583-1614).
This map by Scotland's first map-maker, Timothy Pont, transports us back in time to the late 16th century. It shows a predominantly rural landscape of castles, farms and hamlets, with scattered woodland, and rivers.
It also shows sketches of the larger towns of Stirling and Falkirk, and striking drawings of the castles of Airth, Callander, Cumbernauld, and Elphinstone. The map names 441 places, and this is the first time nearly all of them ever appeared on a map.
Loch Lomond and the Firth of Clyde can be seen in the west, whilst the Firth of Forth including Alloa and Grangemouth can be seen on the ragged eastern margin. The dotted line running across the map from west to east represents the line of the Roman Antonine Wall.
The red grid probably assisted with copying the map for publication in Joan Blaeu's first atlas of Scotland as the map of Stirlingshire (1654).
[Library reference: Adv.MS.70.2.9.]
