"They can take our land, but they can never take our freedom," noted a well known former resident of Stirling.
Nowadays, the marauding hordes come to stare in awe at our land, but can't take our awful pubs.
Stirling is now officially Scotland's newest city. Unfortunately that doesn't give it a cosmopolitan air overnight. Despite being a university town, a teeming hotbed of nightlife and cultural happenings it is not.
There are some fantastic old pubs in Stirling, but the choice is still limited if you want more than a pie, a pint and a puggy machine.
The Barnton Bistro is still going strong despite its service which seems to be designed to keep you sober. There's also a shiny new Czech beer emporium which is great during the day but a seriously pre- club province on weekend nights.
A new dimension to Stirling's pub life has been seriously wanting and with the opening of The Tolbooth, a chic and bijou pounds 6million arts centre, it has come in the form of its cafe bar.
Near the castle, it's now the terror of the tartan tearooms, a good place to escape the scampi and chips cartels at lunchtime and a great bar in the evening.
The centre has been converted from the old jail and court, with the result that the whole place is on a mini- scale, but it's all the more interesting for being an ultra-modern, award- winning piece of architecture in a historic building.
From the galleries outside the cafe bar the views over Stirling are spectacular. It's not every visit to the pub that leaves you with such a warm glow - okay, maybe it is, but you don't regret it in the morning.
The bar itself is run by the same people who have made Dundee Contemporary Arts cafe bar such a success. It's small, stylish, but not so self- consciously trendy that it's too intimidating for the everyday Stirling resident.
Depending what's on at the Tolbooth, the crowd can consist of thirtysomething ex- punks there to see an ex- member of the Stranglers, to some energetic middle-agedsomethings, there for The Kings of Swing Big Band.
Cocktails, jugs of booze and the occasional DJ are on the menu in the evenings, and a lunchtime menu that won't cause a heart attack - literally or to the tight- fisted - is on during the day. Between times there's an adjoining restaurant for pre- theatre and dinner.
Disappointingly, they've ditched their original offer of tapas in the evenings, replacing it with scoops of Bombay mix or Smarties for 50p a go.
Let's hope they remember they're a city now and don't drop those for packets of scampi fries.
Open: Monday - Thursday and Sunday, 10am - midnight; Friday and Saturday, 10am - 1am
Drinks: Pint of lager, £2.15; spirit and mixer, £2.30; glass of wine, £2.10
Details
01786 274010
A new dimension to Stirling's pub life has been seriously wanting and with the opening of The Tolbooth, a chic and bijou pounds 6million arts centre, it has come in the form of its cafe bar.
Near the castle, it's now the terror of the tartan tearooms, a good place to escape the scampi and chips cartels at lunchtime and a great bar in the evening.
The centre has been converted from the old jail and court, with the result that the whole place is on a mini- scale, but it's all the more interesting for being an ultra-modern, award- winning piece of architecture in a historic building.
From the galleries outside the cafe bar the views over Stirling are spectacular. It's not every visit to the pub that leaves you with such a warm glow - okay, maybe it is, but you don't regret it in the morning.
The bar itself is run by the same people who have made Dundee Contemporary Arts cafe bar such a success. It's small, stylish, but not so self- consciously trendy that it's too intimidating for the everyday Stirling resident.
Depending what's on at the Tolbooth, the crowd can consist of thirtysomething ex- punks there to see an ex- member of the Stranglers, to some energetic middle-agedsomethings, there for The Kings of Swing Big Band.
Cocktails, jugs of booze and the occasional DJ are on the menu in the evenings, and a lunchtime menu that won't cause a heart attack - literally or to the tight- fisted - is on during the day. Between times there's an adjoining restaurant for pre- theatre and dinner.
Disappointingly, they've ditched their original offer of tapas in the evenings, replacing it with scoops of Bombay mix or Smarties for 50p a go.
Let's hope they remember they're a city now and don't drop those for packets of scampi fries.
Open: Monday - Thursday and Sunday, 10am - midnight; Friday and Saturday, 10am - 1am
