Series 1 > Tours in Scotland 1747, 1750, 1760

256
TOUR THROUGH SCOTLAND, 1760.
abdication it was retaken and repaired by the English who
kept possession till King Robert Bruce besieged, took it and
raized its walls to the ground. The town continued open till
after the Battle of Duplin, when the Earls of March and Mar
the Goverra of Scotland were overthrown. Baliol refortified it,
and leaves a garrison which was besieged by the Earl of March
and after 3 months taken, & razed again. King Edward
the 3d takes Perth and rebuilds its walls, upon it charge the six
abbacies, viz. Couper, Lindores, Balmerinock, Dunfermling, St.
Andrews and Arbroath, & kept a garrison there till it was
besieged by Robert the Second, & the Eng8*1 expelled, the walls
being in a great measure demolished. Thus it continued till a
Burgess was killed by some highlandmen who were pursued by
the Townsmen to a place called Hoghmanstains where many
were killed and wounded, on which occasion to Defend them¬
selves it was refortified by the inhabitants, the old walls serving
for the foundations, the ruins of which are still standing. On
King William the Lyon’s founding Perth the Temple of Mars
the Castle, the lines of a Camp and the ruins of the Bridge all
Roman works were extant. On the spot where he founded the
new town he built a bridge on the old foundation of eleven
arches which was frequently impaired by the great floods in
the river particularly on 23d Nov. 1567 when the bridge of
Almond was carried away. On the 20 Decr 1573, 3 arches
next the town and Lowswork carried away but soon repaired
in 1582 Jany 14 five arches carried away, and likewise soon
rebuilt. Decr 23d 1589 2 piers were carried away and after¬
wards repaired, but on the 14th of October 1621 the bridge
was entirely carryed away, and never yet rebuilt, in 1544 on
St. Magdalen’s day was fought a battle on the* bridge of Tay
on Cardinal Bethun’s endeavouring to intrude Kinstans upon
the town for Provost, wherein many were slain, a number of
the inhabitants zealous for the reformation of religion took
arms in order to appease the Cardinals Cruel usage of the
Protestants, fell under his power, all agreeing in testimony of
their resolution to put a hempen cord about their necks,
wherewith they should be strangled if they either turned their
backs or denied their faith, from whence a rope is yet called a
St. Johnston’s ribband.
Before the reformation there were in Perth 5 Monasteries