Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/209

PERTH. 197 PERTHSHIRE. has been carried on to a considerable extent in several yards for upwards of twenty years, and Perth had the honour of turning out the first iron steam-vessel launched on the eastern side of Scotland. Many of the inhabitants are also engaged in the iron-foundries, bleach-works, dye-works, distilleries, breweries, saw- mills, flour-mills, rope-walks, and in coach-building, tanning, and in the salmon-fishery of the Tay, which last is still very considerable, though salmon are becom- ing scarcer than formerly. The authorities of the town have from time to time made great exertions for im- proving the navigation of the river Tay, which is much obstructed by sand-banks, even below the bridge, and obtained an Act in 1834 for constructing a harbour and wet dock, and enlarging the quays, which Act was further extended in 1866. In 1840 Perth was made an independent port, with Newport, Port-Allen, Carpour, Pitfour, and Powgavie, as its creeks or supports, and has belonging to it about fifty sailing vessels, of aggre- gately 4,000 tons, and five steam-vessels. The chief im- ports are coal, lime, salt, and manure ; and from the Baltic, timber, flax, linseed, corn, bark, hides, and inudder. The exports are chiefly potatoes, corn, timber, and slates. Perth likewise forms a separate excise col- lection, and is the headquarters of the county militia. The sheruTs court of the county and the justice court for the district are held in the town. Perth is the seat of a presb. in the synod of Perth and Slirling. The four pars, of East Kirk, Middle Kirk, West Kirk, and St. Paul's, are all in the patron, of the town council of Perth. The ministers' stipends average between 250 and 300. The churches of the East, Middle, and West parishes are parts of a very ancient structure, originally called " The Kirk of the Holy Cross of St. John the Baptist," in which Edward III. of England killed his brother John Earl of Cornwall, for devastat- ing the W. parts of Scotland, and in which Knox preached his celebrated sermon, which was followed by the demolition of the monasteries. The building is 207 feet long, with an ancient square tower, surmounted by a pyramidal spire, or belfry, of later date, 155 feet high. The East Kirk has a Gothic window of stained glass, and contains the tomb of James I. and his queen ; the Middle Kirk occupies the space beneath the tower, which is supported by four massive pillars ; while the West Kirk was almost entirely rebuilt in 1828, after designs by Gillespie. Four other churches of the Established Kirk are situated within the borough ; St. Paul's, with a spire, at the W. end of High Street, St. Leonard's, in King Street, in the patron, of the heads of families ; St. Stephen's, or the Gaelic church, and Kinnoul-street Kirk the two last in the patron, of the male communi- cants. There are four places of worship belonging to the Free Kirk, besides one in which the service is conducted in the Gaelic language; three to the United Presby- terians, two to the Independents, and one to the Original Seceders this last being considered very venerable as one of the four structures belonging to the fathers of the secession. The Scotch Episcopalians have two churches in the town, viz. : St. John's, in Princes-street, rebuilt in 1851 upon the site of the old chapel ; and St. Ninian's, incomplete, comprising as yet only the choir, transepts, and one bay of the nave, but forming a portion of a cruci- form Gothic structure, intended to serve as the cathedral of the dioc. of St. Andrew's, and also as a collegiate church and scholastic institution. The public schools in- clude the academy, instituted in 1760, a grammar school, endowed trades' school, girls' school, with an income from endowment of X50 ; infant school, with an endow- ment of 75 per annum ; school of industry for destitute boys ; school of industry for females, and a ragged school farm, besides numerous other educational establishments for which Perth has long been famed. The charitable institutions include an infirmary, a dispensary, James VI. 's hospital, destroyed by Cromwell, but rebuilt in 1750 on the site of the Carthusian monastery, with an income of 700 ; hospital for the destitute sick, with an income from endowment of 75 ; clothing charity, with an income of 70 ; old men's charity, with an endowment of 120, besides numerous other charities. Four weekly newspapers, the Perthshire Advertiser, Constitutional, Courier, and the Northern Warden, are published in the town; also an annual periodical called the Perthshire Register. From this place the Drummonds take the title of earl, and formerly took that of duke. The antiquities include Roman coins, urns, antique armour, remains of a temple which once stood on the " site of the House of the Green," and the church of St. John, originally founded in the 5th century ; but many of tho most interesting antiquities of Perth have recently been removed, including the city walls and fosse, tho royal castle, or Cromwell's citadel, the parliament house, where the early parliaments of Scotland were held ; Earl Gowrie's palace, erected in 1520 by the Countess of Iluntley, and known in the days of the city's pride as tho Whitehall of Perth ; Spey tower, one of the mural fortresses, near Speygate, long used as a prison, and memorable in history as the place where the six Protes- tant martyrs were confined, and from the windows of which Cardinal Bethune witnessed their execution ; the city cross, bearing the royal and city arms, erected in 1668, in place of the original one, destroyed by Cromwell to furnish material for his citadel ; this cross, which was 12 feet high and terminated in a spacious terrace, is said to have been of remarkably elegant design, embellished with statuary, but was unfortunately sold by the city authorities for 5 as a mere worthless obstruction to the thoroughfare of the High-street. The monas- teries and monastic churches of Perth were both numerous and wealthy, as the Blackfriars, or Domini- can convent founded m 1231 by Alexander II., and in which James I. was killed ; the Carthusian monastery or charterhouse, founded in 1429 by James I. ; the Whitefriars, or Carmelite convent, a little to the W. of the town ; tho Greyfriars, founded in 1460 by Lord Oliphant, the site of which was converted into the city cemetery in 1580 ; besides about nine other nunneries and chapels, of which but slight, if any traces are now remaining, most having been more or less demolished at tho first outburst of the Reformation. Besides the Perth races and hunt, which take place in October on a flat course of two miles on the North Inch, there are clubs for golfing, curling, and cricket, and the Perth Highland friendly society. Market days are Wednesday and Friday. Fairs are held on the first Fridays in March April, July, and September, and on the second Friday in December for cattle and horses ; on the third Friday in October for cattle, butter, and cheese ; and on the first Tuesday in July after Inverness fair for sheep and wool. PERTHOLEY. Set LLAUTILLIO PEKTHOLEY, co, Monmouth. PERTHSHIRE, an extensive inland co. in the centre of Scotland, lying between 56" 4' and 66 57' N. lat., and between 3 4' and 4 60' W. long. It lies on tho Highland border, connecting tho northern Highlands with the southern Lowlands, and the Highlands of the W. with the Lowlands on tho E., thus comprising almost every variety of soil and climate to be found in Scotland. Its geographical boundaries are for the most part defined by natural barriers of lofty mountain ranges, forming parts of the northern and western Grampians and of the Ochill hills. On the N. and N.W. it is bounded by the counties of Aberdeen and Inverness ; on the E. by Forfarshire; on the S.E. by Fifeshire, the Frith of Tay, and Kinross-shire ; on the S. by Clackmannan and Stirling shires; on the S.W. by Stirling and Dumbarton shires ; and on the W. by Argyllshire. Tho form of the county is compact, but a small section of it, comprising the parishes of Culross and 'rulliallan, on the N. side of the Frith of Tay, is separated from the main body by a belt of the counties of Clackmannan and File, and another small detached section is almost surrounded by Stirlingshire. Its extreme length from Invergowrie on the E. to Bonley on the W. is 77 miles, and its extreme breadth from the source of the Tilt on the N. to Culross on the S. is 67 miles. Its superficial extent is variously estimated