Perth

PERTH, city, royal, municipal and police burgh, and county town of Perthshire, Scotland, 32 m. N. by W. of Edinburgh by the L.M.S., and 47i m. by the L.N.E. railway, via the Forth bridge and Kinross junction, the two companies using one station. Pop. (1931) 34,807. It is situated on the right bank of the Tay, between the meadows of the North Inch and those of the South Inch, both laid out as public parks. The river is crossed by St. John's bridge of nine arches; by Vitoria bridge, connecting South street with Dundee road; and farther south (at the end of Tay street) by a footway alongside the viaduct belonging to the rail way. On the left bank of the river lie the suburb of Bridgend and Kinnoull hill (729 ft.). To the south are the wooded heights of Moncrieffe hill, Magdalenes hill, Kirkton hill and Craigie wood. In the river are Friarton or Moncrieffe islands and the Stanners. Notwithstanding the importance of Perth in former times, almost the sole relic of the past is the church of St. John the Baptist. The original building is believed to have been erected in the time of Columba, but the transept and nave of the existing structure date from the early part of the 13th century, the choir from the I 5th. It was previously divided into three churches, but was in process of complete restoration in 1927. In May 1559 John Knox preached in St. John's his famous sermon in denuncia tion of idolatry. The Dominican, Carthusian, Franciscan and Carmelite monasteries, the castle, palace and fortress, have all disappeared. The tombstone of James I. and his queen, who were buried in the Charterhouse, was afterwards removed to St. John's East church. During the period between the beginning of the 12th century and the assassination of James I. in 1437, many of the Scottish parliaments were held in Perth. The building in which they met stood off High street and was only cleared away in 1818, its site being occupied by the Freemasons' hall. The house of Catherine Glover, the "Fair Maid of Perth," still stands in Cur few Row. James VI.'s hospital, founded in 1569, which occupies the site of the Carthusian monastery, has been converted into workmen's dwellings. A replica of the old market cross (re moved in 1765) has been erected opposite the new City Hall (191I). Among modern public buildings the principal are St. Ninian's Episcopal cathedral (1890) ; the municipal buildings (1881) ; the Marshall Memorial hall, housing the public library and the museum ; the Perthshire natural history museum ; the Sandeman public library, founded by a bequest of Professor Sandeman of Owens college, Manchester. The general prison for

Scotland, south of South Inch, was originally erected in 1812 as a depOt for French prisoners. North-west of the city are the military barracks built in 1793-94. The Burgh Grammar school, supposed to date from the 12th century, has been amalgamated with the Perth academy (1807), and Sharp's institute (1860).

The city has long been famous for its dyeing. Perth is under the jurisdiction of a town council, with a lord provost and bailies.

History.

During the time that it was occupied by the Romans, a period estimated at 32o years, the city was called Victoria; its present name probably derives from the Celtic Abertha ("at the mouth of the Tay"). On the conversion of the original Pictish inhabitants and the dedication of the first church to St. John the Baptist, the town was designated St. Johnstoun, and it continued to be known indifferently by this name and that of Perth down to the 17th century. Perth is stated to have been a burgh in 1106 and was made a royal burgh by William the Lion in 1210. Dur ing the Scottish wars of Independence its fortifications were strengthened by Edward I. (1298). Robert Bruce several times ineffectually attempted to seize it, but in 1311 he succeeded in scaling the walls during a night attack. This was the fourth and most brilliant of the seven sieges which the city has sustained. Taken by Edward III. in 1335, it was recaptured in 1339. In 1396 the combat between the Clan Chattan and the Clan Quhele, described in Scott's Fair Maid of Perth, took place on the North Inch in presence of Robert III. and his queen, Annabella Drum mond. The Blackfriars' monastery was the scene of the murder of James I. by Walter, earl of Atholl, in 1437. In consequence Perth lost its status as capital, in which it had succeeded to Scone, and the Parliament Courts were transferred to Edinburgh in 1482. Gowrie palace was the scene of the mysterious "Gowrie" conspiracy against James VI. in 1600. The town was taken by Montrose in 1644, by Cromwell in 1651, and was occupied by Viscount Dundee in 1689. In 1715 the Old Pretender was pro claimed king at the Mercat cross, and the chevalier himself ap peared in the city in the following January, only to leave it pre cipitately on the approach of the earl of Argyll.