, the Thistle, Garter,
Holy Ghost, and Golden Fleece; but these are now nearly effaced. The palace
itself is a massive quadrangular edifice of polished stone, the greater
part being five stories in height. A plain archway leads to the interior
court, in the centre of which are the ruins of the well.
The west side of the quadrangle, which is the most ancient, was originally
built and inhabited by Edward I., and is also interesting as the
birth-place of Queen Mary. The room in which she first saw the light is on
the second story. Her father, James V., then dying of a broken heart at
Falkland, on account of the disaster at Solway Frith, prophetically
exclaimed, "It came with a lass," alluding to his family having obtained
the crown by marriage, "and it will go with a lass."
The east side, begun by James III., and completed by James V., contains the
Parliament Hall. This was formerly the front of the palace, and the porch
was adorned with a statue of Pope Julius II., who presented James V. with a
consecrated sword and helmet for his resistance to the Reformation. This
statue escaped the iconoclastic zeal of the Reformers; but at the beginning
of the last century was destroyed by a blacksmith, whose anger against the
Papal power had been excited by a sermon.
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