Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 5

PERT
NNW of Blairgowrie, was built as a cliapel of ease about
1785 at a cost of £150, and contains 400 sittings. Persie
is in the presbytery of Meigle and the synod of Angus
and Mearns ; its minister's stipend is £120. Three
schools— Blacklunans, Strone of Cally, and Drimmie
Burn — with respective accommodation for 49, 87, and
58 children, had (1883) an average attendance of 39,
41, and 27, and grants of £53, 5s. 6d., £53, 15s. 6d.,
and £35, 10s. Pop. (1871) 820, (1881) 715, of whom
149 were in Alyth, 216 in Bendochy, 226 in Blairgowrie,
33 in Caputh, 55 in Kirkmichael, 3 in Lethendy, and
33 in Rattray.— Or(f. Sur., sh. 56, 1870.
Pert. See Logie-Pert.
Perth (perhaps from Gaelic Bar-tatha, 'height of
Tay '), formerly also St Johnstoun, is the name of an
ancient city, four parishes, and a district in the SE of
Perthshire. The city is a royal and parliamentary
burgh, a river-port, a post and market town, the seat of
a presbytery and synod, the capital of its county, and
one of the assize towns of Scotland. It is situated on
the river Tay, at the junction of several important rail-
ways, 15i miles SSE of Dunkeld, 211 WSW of Dundee,
89i SW by S of Aberdeen, 47 NNW of Edinburgh, 33
NE of Stirling, and 62i NE of Glasgow. Its bounds
include three cognominal parishes and part of St Paul's
a fourth, besides portions of KinnouU, Scone, and
Tibbermuir parishes. The main part of the town,
including all the ancient quarters, is on the right bank
of the Tay ; but the chief suburb, named Bridgend, is
situated on the left bank immediately opposite. The
site of the whole is a flat-bottomed hollow or plain
bisected by the river Tay and environed with rising
ground, and overlooked from a little distance by an
amphitheatre of well-wooded hills, whose skirts are
thickly dotted with villas. The situation of Perth, its
beautiful environments, its fine buildings, and its
magnificent view, amply justify its old title of 'The
Fair City.' The more prominent natural features in the
vicinity are the broad river, with Moncreiflfe island, to
the SE of the city ; Moncreiffe Hill to the S, and Kin-
nouU Hill to the N, of the Tay ; the Wicks of Baiglie
to the S ; and the two public parks. The views from
points of vantage in these hills are very extensive and
beautiful. According to an anecdote, repeated in every
description of the city, when the Koman legionaries, in
their march of invasion, came in view of the city's site
as seen from the Wicks of Baiglie, they cried out ' Eccc
Tiber I Eccc, Ca/nxjms Marlins I ' But Sir Walter Scott,
looking at the comparison from a Scotsman's point of
view, wrote the retort long after —
' Behold the Tiber ! the vain Roman cried.
Viewing the ample Tay from Baiglie's side.
But Where's the Scot that would the vaunt repay,
And hail the puny Tiber for the Tay ? '
The two public meadows or parks of Perth are called
Inches {i.e., islands), from the fact that they used at
one time to be insulated by the Tay, along the right
bank of which they still extend. Separated from each
other by the main body of the city, they add very
greatly to its beauty and airiness, and serve as spacious
grounds for the recreation of the inhabitants. They
are said to have been exchanged by the Mercer family
(their original possessors) for a vault under St John's
church, and this gave rise to the couplet —
' Folks say the Mercers tried the town to cheat.
When for twa Indies they did win six feet.'
The North Inch, which has received considerable addi-
tions at comparatively modern dates, begins near the
main bridge, and extends northwards beyond the town,
forming an oblong measuring about 1400 yards by 330,
and containing an area of 98 acres. Previous to about
1790, when the present road was formed considerably
to the W, this Inch was traversed through the middle
by the road to Dunkeld and Inverness. A racecourse,
curving at the extremities, and measuring about 950
yards from end to end, is laid out upon it parallel to
the river bank. The Perthshire Hunt races are held
180
PERTH
here annually, and those of the Caledonian Hunt once
every four years. The Inch is used now for military
reviews, golf, and other games ; and in ancient times it
seems to have been the favourite arena for judicial com-
bats. Here a combat took place under Robert Bruce
between Hugh Harding and William de Saintlowe ; and
in the reign of Piobert III. it was the scene of the deadly
encounter between the clans Chattan and Kay or Quhele,
so graphically described by Scott in his Fair Maid of
Perth. The South Inch stretches southwards from a
point opposite Moncreiffe island, about 130 yards S of
the Central station, and forms a square of about 680 yards
each way, with an area of 72 acres. An avenue of stately
trees surrounds it on three sides ; and the Edinburgh
Road, opened about 1760, which traverses its centre, is
also similarly shaded. The trees on the N side were re-
moved in 1801, when the handsome houses of Marshall
Place were begun. King's Place also overlooks its N
side ; and on the W is a line of ornate villas called St
Leonard's Bank, and the buildings of the railway station.
The South Inch had formerly a racecourse, and was
anciently the place for witch-burnings, mUitary dis-
plays, and archery-practisings ; and stones were set up
on it at the distance of 500 fathoms from each other, to
mark the proper flight of an arrow.
Streets. — The old part of Perth, or what existed prior
to the extensions begun towards the end of last century,
forms the central division of the present town, and
occupies less than one-half of the entire area. The
course of the Tay at Perth is pretty nearly due S ; and
the city lies on its right or W bank, chiefly between the
North and South Inches, though it extends in breadth
further to the W than either of the parks, and a con-
siderable section lies to the NW behind, or to the W of,
the North Inch. The plan of the city is very regular, the
chief streets being parallel to each other, while most of
the other and connecting streets run at right angles to
them. In the older part of the city, between the
Inches, two wide streets, about 160 yards from each
other — High Street and South Street or Shoegate — run
parallel from E to W, through the entire breadth of the
town. The latter, which is the more southerly, used
to be called the Southgate and 'the Shoegate,' and
at its western ' extremity are County Place and York
Place. Parallel to these, in order as we proceed
northwards from High Street, are Mill Street, Murray
Street, Foundry Lane, Union Lane, and the broad AthoU
Street, from the E end of which Charlotte Street runs
SE to the bridge along the S margin of the North
Inch. These parallel streets are short ; and the
triangular region betwixt their E ends and the river is
less regularly disposed on the rectangular system than
the rest of the old town. Proceeding southwards from
South Street, we come upon the following parallel
streets : Canal Street, Victoria Street (continued W as
Paradise Place), South William Street, and Marshall
Place (continued W as King's Place). At right angles
to these, and extending along the river bank from Inch
to Inch, is a comparatively modern and very handsome
promenade called Tay Street, in which are some of the
finest buildings in the city. In order, towards the W,
the following streets run parallel to Tay Street for more
or less of its length : Speygate and Watergate, between
Canal Street and High Street ; Princes Street, which
continues the road from Edinburgh from the N margin
of the South Inch to South Street, whence St John
Street, a few yards to the E, leads to High Street,
between which and the bridge George Street rrms ;
Meal Vennel, between South and High Streets ; Scott
Street, between King's Place and South Street ; the
broad thoroughfare, known successively as King Street,
South Methven Street, and Methven Street, and run-
ning due N and S the entire way from King's Place
to the S to Atholl Street in the N. Still further
W Pomarium and Leonard Street, the latter leading
from the General Railway Terminus, converge at the
SW end of Hospital Street, and are carried N in New
Row to High Street. Caledonian Road also runs N
from the terminus, and continues past the Perth