(53) Plate XXIV/a

                                                         Plate XXIV.

                         PART OF PERTH FROM THE NORTH.

No spot in Scotland claims more attention from the antiquary, the historian, and the admirer of fine
scenery, than Perth. In former times it was the seat of supreme courts, the residence of many powerful
feudal lords, and the seat of various religious establishments. Numerous vestiges of these antiquities strike
the eye in every part: amongst the rest must be particularly noticed the palace of Gowrie, so celebrated
for the tragical, yet mysterious, attempt against the life of James VI. This palace, the back of which is
seen in the present Plate, remains entire, and is now converted into barracks for a company of artillery.
The principal church of Perth was built about the end of the fourteenth century, and forms a venerable
Gothic pile, similar in form to most cathedrals. It is now divided into three modern churches.

In this town and neighbourhood both agriculture and manufactures have made the most rapid progress
and improvement within a very few years. Four or five hundred sloops annually deposit their cargoes of
lime for the use of the farmers, while near four hundred thousand bushels of grain, after supplying the
home market, have been shipped for the south. The manufactures consist of linens and cottons, shoes,
tanned leather, gloves, and paper, to the annual value of 250,000 l. and upwards; to which must be added
the valuable salmon fisheries, with which the Tay abounds. The consequences of this extensive commerce
are an increased population from fourteen to twenty thousand, an opulence, which shews itself at the
hospitable boards of the inhabitants, in the erection of handsome buildings, and the decoration and high
cultivation of the surrounding country. Among the rest is the handsome residence, as seen in the Plate,
called Bellwood, the seat of Mr. Young, whose enterprising spirit and well-directed industry have pro-
cured a large fortune for himself, and an improved trade for the town at large.

Although Perth may be surpassed by other towns in commercial or historical consequence, there are
few, that can rival its picturesque and beautiful situation. It stands on the right bank of the Tay, the shores
of which are six hundred feet distant from each other; and where that river unites the majesty and utility
of a navigable stream with the rich and smiling graces of inclosed scenery. The town itself is well built:
the streets are regular and spacious, and the number of buildings is daily increasing. But the best taste
has been chiefly shewn in the care, with which two extensive greens, that almost surround the place, have
been laid out and preserved. They are adorned with avenues, formed by double rows of trees, which afford
delightful walks, and make the entrance of the town appear to a stranger more like the approach to a
princely residence than a trading town.