Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/697

PERTH 667 Highland or Kyloe breed of cattle is common in the straths and lower grounds adjoining the Highlands. Sheep in 1883 numbered 696,640. All the pasturage iu the Grampians, not in deer-forests, is occupied by sheep, and there are also large sheep-runs on the Ochils. The blackfaced are principally kept in the Grampians, but there are also a large number of Cheviots, and in the lower grounds South Downs and Leicesters are common. In 1812 there were 203,880 acres under wood, of which 61,164 were planted and 142,716 natural. The area under woods in 1884 was 94,563 acres, in addition to which 424 acres were under orchards, 535 acres market -gardens, and 113 acres nurseries. In Breadalbane and Menteith there are still extensive remains of the old forest. According to the latest return (1872-73) the land was dividedamong 5737 proprietors, possessing 1,612,001 acres at an annual value of 959,365, or about 11s. lOd. an acre. Of the proprietors 4680, or nearly four-fifths, possessed less than one acre each. The follow ing possessed upwards of 20,000 acres each, viz., duke of Athole, 194,640; earl of Breadalbane, 193,504; Baroness Willoughby d Eresby, 76,837 ; trustees of marquis of Breadalbane, 40,662 ; earl of Moray, 40,553 ; Hon. Lady Menzies, 35,500 ; Sir A. D. Drummond Stewart, 33,274; trustees of R. Stewart Menzies, 33,000; Sir Robert Menzies, 32,784 ; duke of Montrose, 32,294 ; earl of Mans field, 31,197 ; D. R. Williamson, 29,494 ; C. H. Drummond Moray, 24,980; Mrs Mary Stuart Robertson, 24,000; W. M. Macdonald, 22,600; David Carnegie, 22,205; and Lieutenant -Colonel Far- quharson, 20,056. Manufactures. The manufacture of coarser linen fabrics is largely carried on in the towns and villages, and there ai*e a con siderable number of flour-mills. " Cotton-works exist at Deanston and Stanley; hand -loom weaving is carried on at Auchterarder, Dunblane, Doune, Crieff, and elsewhere, and in several places the manufacture of shawls, blankets, and other fabrics. For the indus tries of the city of Perth see below. Hallways. The lowland districts of the county are intersected by branches of the principal railway lines of Scotland, supplying convenient communication between all the principal towns ; and by the Highland and Oban railways, supplemented by coaches and steamers on the larger lochs, the finest scenery in the county has been rendered easy of access. Administration and Population. Anciently the county was divided into the hereditary jurisdictions of Athole in the north, Balquhidder in the south-west, Breadalbane in the west, Gowrie in the east, Menteith in the south, Perth in the south-east, Rannoch in the north-w r est, and Stormout and Strathearn in the middle. These jurisdictions were abolished by the Act of 1748, and in 1795 an Act was passed dividing the county for administrative purposes into the ten districts of Auchterarder, Blairgowrie, Carse of Gowrie, Crieff, Culross, Con par- Angus, Dunblane, Dunkeld, Perth, and Weern. The sheriffdom is divided into an eastern and a western district, the seat of the one being Perth and of the other Dunblane. The county is represented in parliament by one member, the city of Perth by one member, and Culross is included in the Stirling dis trict of burghs. Perthshire embraces eighty-one parishes, and con tains three ancient cities, Perth, formerly the capital of Scotland, and Dunkeld and Dunblane, formerly the seats of bishoprics, as was also Abernethy. The royal burghs are Perth (27,207) and Culross (380); and Auchterarder, Abernethy, and Dunblane formerly held this rank. The police burghs are Abernethy (906), Alyth (2377), Blairgowrie (4537), Callander (1522), Coupar-Angus (partly in Forfarshire), Crieff (4469), Dunblane (2186), Perth (26,951), and Rattray (2533). The population of the county in 1831 was 142,166, which by 1851 had diminished to 138,660, and by 1871 to 127,768 ; but in 1881 it had increased to 129,007, of whom 61,552 were males and 67,455 females. The increase has been wholly in the town population, from 44,250 (in 1871) to 49,642 (in 1881), there being a decrease in the village population from 23,321 to 22,349, and in the rural from 60,197 to 57,016. The number of persons speaking Gaelic was 14,505, or more than one-ninth of the total population. ^History and Antiquities. In the 2d century the district was divided, according to Ptolemy, among three tribes. The Damnonii inhabited Menteith, Strathearn, and Forthryfe (including the western part of Fife), and had three principal oppida Alauna, at the junction of the Allan and Forth, guarding the entrance to the Highlands from the south ; Lindum, at Ardoch ; and Victoria, at Loch On- in Fife. The Venicones inhabited part of Fife and the adjoining district of Perthshire, with the town of Orrea, probably Abernethy, at the junction of the Earn and Tay, the nearest Roman station to which was at Ardargie. The Vacomagi skirted the High land region, and had the towns of Tamea in Inchtuthil (an island in the Tay), where remains still exist, and Banatia, at Buchanty on the Almond, where there was a strong Roman station. In 83 A.I). Agricola explored the country beyond the Forth, and in the following year probably carried his legions to the foot of the Gram pians. At Mons Graupius or Granpius, whose site is not ascertained, but which is, according to the most probable conjecture (Mr Skene s), in the district of Stormont in Perthshire, amongst the outliers of the Grampians near Meikleour, where the Cleavers Dyke and Buzzard Dykes perhaps mark the camps of Agricola and Galgacus, and the Hill of Blair the scene of battle, the Romans (according to their own accounts) defeated the tribes of Caledonia with great slaughter ; but they deemed it imprudent to pursue the victory. Perthshire was accordingly left in the possession of its native tribes till its invasion by Severus in 207. The Roman road of Severus passed by Alauna to Lindum at Ardoch, where there are extensive remains of a Roman station, and thence by Strageath near Auchterarder, Dalgin Ross near Comric, where there were prominent remains a century ago, and Buchanty, where one branch passed eastwards to the coast, and the other turned northwards over the Grampians. As Severus renewed the wall of Antoninus, he does not appear to have retained possession of the county north of the Forth and the Clyde. Perthshire was included in the kingdom of the Southern Picts, who had their capital first at Abernethy and afterwards at Forteviot. On the burning of Forteviot by the Northmen in the 8th century the seat of the Government was changed to Scone, which continued to be the capital of Albany, the chief royal resi dence iu Scotland, and the place where its kings were crowned, though circumstances led to James II., James III., and Mary being crowned elsewhere. But, as Perth increased in population, it became the seat of the parliament, and the favourite residence of the kings, until it was succeeded by Edinburgh in the reign of James II. In the early history of the county fall the defeat of the Danes at Luncarty in the 10th century and of Macbeth by Earl Si ward at Dunsinane in 1054. To its later history, apart from incidents connected with the city of Perth, belong the removal of the coronation stone from Scone to "Westminster by Edward I. ; the battle of Dupplin, where Edward Baliol defeated the earl of Mar ; the rout of the troops of General Mackay at Killiecrankie by the Highlanders under Dundee, 17th July 1689 ; and the indecisive battle at Sheriffmuir, 13th November 1715, between the adherents of the Pretender under the earl of Mar and the forces of the Govern ment under Argyll. Apart from the camp at Ardoch Roman remains are not important. Of hill-forts the most remarkable is that on Dunsinane Hill. Among other relics of an early period are a ship-barrow of the vikings on the Hill of Rattray ; weems in the parishes of Monzie, Alyth, and Bendochy ; the witchstone near Cairnbeddie, where Macbeth is said to have met the witches, pro bably a sepulchral memorial of some old battlefield ; another stone in Meigle parish called Macbeth s Stone ; a group of standing stones near Pitlochrie ; and a number of sculptured stones at Meigle. Abernethy, originally founded by the Pictish king Nertan in the 5th century, and refounded by St Columba in the 6th, succeeded lona as the seat of the primacy of Scotland, afterwards transferred to St Andrews. The round tower in the churchyard, resembling those in Ireland, is supposed to have been built in the time of Kenneth Macalpine. The Culdees had monastic churches at Dun blane, Dunkeld, Abernethy, and Muthill. DUNBLANE (q.v. ) and DUNKELD (q.v.) were subsequently erected into bishoprics. The Canons Regular had an abbey at Scone, founded in 1124 and burned in 1559, its site being now occupied by a modern mansion ; a priory at Loch Tay, 1114 ; a priory at Inchafray, 1200 ; a priory at Strath- fillan, 1314 ; and a priory at Abernethy, 1273. The Dominicans had a convent at Perth, 1231, where there was also a Carthusian monastery, 1429, and a Grey friars monastery, 1460. Culross abbey, of which the tower and the Gothic choir still remain, was founded by the Cistercians in 1217, and there was also an abbey of Cistercian nuns at St Leonards, Perth, founded in 1296. A Carmelite convent was founded at Tulliallan in 1 267. There were collegiate churches at Methven and Tullibardine. Of the old castles of the chiefs mention may be made of Elcho Castle on the Tay, 4 miles south of Perth ; Blair Castle, garrisoned by Montrose in 1644, stormed by Cromwell in 1653, occupied by Claverhouse iu 1689, dismantled in 1690, and restored in 1870 ; Castle Huntly, built in 1452 by Lord Grey, master of the household to James II. ; the ruins of Castle Dim, near Moulin, once a stronghold of the Campbell family ; the ruins of Finlarig Castle, Killin, the cradle of the Breadalbane family ; Cluny Castle, on the island in the loch of the same name between Dunkeld and Blairgowrie ; and Doune Castle, on the Teith, a pic turesque ruin of very old date, rebuilt by Murdoch, duke of Albany. Among modern mansions the principal are Keir House, the seat of the late Sir W. Stirling- Maxwell ; Blair Drummond House, the seat of the Drummonds ; Blair Castle, duke of Athole ; Taymouth Castle, earl of Breadalbane ; Doune Lodge, earl of Moray ; Dupplin Castle, earl of Kinnoul ; Scone Palace, earl of Mansfield ; Gleneagles, earl of Camperdown ; Strathallan Castle, Viscount Strathallan ; and Drummond Castle, Baroness Willoughby d Eresby. PERTH, an ancient city, a royal and parliamentary burgh, and the chief town of the above county, is beauti fully situated at the foot of Kinnoul Hill, chiefly on the west bank of the Tay, about 40 miles north of Edinburgh and about 20 west of Dundee. It is substantially built