As footballing history is made at Hampden, Scots fans are being offered the chance to get up close and personal with the oldest football in the world. Made from cow leather and a pigs bladder, it was found behind panelling of the Queen’s chamber in Stirling Castle, which was decorated in the 1540s. But it could be even older than that. “There were four footballs bought for the Castle by the king (James IV) in the 1490s,” said Michael McGinnes, collections manager at the Smith Museum in Stirling. “So it could be one of those balls, that has actually lasted through the years and was given to Mary (Queen of Scots) as a young child, to play with.”
Source/more: BBC