Issue No. 33 Oct 2012 St. Bartholemew patron saint of leatherwork- ers, painted for the Glovers incorporation just before the Reformation. He carries a skinner’s knife symbolis- ing his traditional martyr- dom by flaying (see Mark Hall’s article on page 4) Detail from a portrait in Perth Museum and Art Gal- lery. Chairman’s Notes and Archive News Page 2 Medieval Perth brought to life by its archaeology 4 Book Review; Bernard Byrom’s Gentlemen of Honour 10 The Murray Mausoleum at Ochtertyre 12 Review: The Lost gardens of Perthshire 14 The Story of Council Housing in Perth 15 The Rescue ship SS Perth 18 The Kenneth Young Collection 20 The Pavilion 21 Tracing Ancestors before 1750; Professionals’ Advice 22 Notes from the Chair Although the weather has been somewhat mixed, I hope that you have enjoyed the annual break and feel able and keen to participate in our winter season. As usual, there will be an interesting and varied programme of talks, ranging from the ar- chaeological exploration of Kenneth MacAlpine's capital to military family history, and featuring talks on Sir Robert Pullar; the Perthshire estates of Lord Lynedoch, the manufacture of parchment and vellum and the railways of Breadalbane. During the break we had two most enjoyable out- ings, blessed on both occasions with reasonable weather. The first, on Tuesday 26 June, was to Kinross, where Catriona McLeod gave us an ex- cellent walking guided tour of this handsome and historical town. I found it challenging to imag- ine much of the area I know in Kinross under the waters of Loch Leven. Then on Thursday 16 Au- gust, we had the pleasure of walking up the River Ericht and admiring the buildings, many now picturesque ruins, of the former mills and mill properties of Blairgowrie. On this occasion we had two very knowledgeable guides, Margaret Laing and Heather Gray, who have kindly invited us to participate in the Blairgowrie Blethers . This is a group meets on Wednesday mornings in the Victoria Hotel over tea or coffee. As I write, the Friends' Committee is actively considering various projects, including the production of a booklet for each division of Perthshire,and Kinross-shire giving guidance on records of local interest held in the Archive. Also being considered is an exhibition in 2014 to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War. If anyone with any documents or photographs dating from, or relevant to, the Great War, and is willing in some way to share them with us, please do get in touch. Finally, The Friends have just published Dr David Munro Robertson's second book on a Perthshire subject, The Lost Gardens of Perthshire, reviewed on page 14. This is beautifully illustrated and has been seriously researched using a lot of archi- val material. It is on sale for £6. With every good wish, Margaret Borland-Stroyan 2 Archive News This summer the Archive has been taking part in the Olympics! Well, actually, not running or jumping, but we were encouraging people to send in their photographs of the Olympic Torch relay as it came through Perth & Kinross and help create a brand spanking new digi- tal archive collection. Not content with this, we also asked for photos of the Queen’s Jubi- lee visit to Perth, so not only have we two new collections here in the Archive, but many of the images can be seen on our Flickr page. We also had the pleasure of working with Nora, an intern from RCAHMS, who came to us to find out the range of work that keeps an archive like ours running. Although only with us a fortnight, Nora managed to arrange and list two collections, one of which, MS312 Blairgowrie and Rattray Horti- cultural Society, is now available on our online cata- logue. She wasn’t the only one working hard; Jackie and Graham have been doing sterling work in pro- ducing catalogues too. So now we also have the Ken- neth Young papers (MS308), City of Perth Co- operative Society (MS311) and a more complete Stu- art of Annat (MS115) collection all available online. And I mustn’t forget Alisdair, who came to us for some work experience before starting the Archive course in Glasgow – he listed and arranged the pho- tographic collection, Snapshot Auchterarder (MS309), which was actually created by his grand- dad! While all these volunteers have been beavering away, the staff have been busy too (honest!) Apart from the daily routines of searchroom duty, answering enquiries that come in, accessioning and managing the new collections that have been coming in, we’ve also been working on a new-look website, which should be live just before Christmas. Actually, I think we could all do with a nice little holiday….. Jan Merchant Friends of PKC Archive, AK Bell Library, York Place, PERTH PH2 8EP Scottish Charity No. SCO31537 Tel:(01738) 477012 Email: [email protected] Hon. Presidents; The Provost : Sir William Macpherson of Cluny and Blairgowrie : Mr Donald Abbott Editor: David Wilson 3 On 22 March 2012 we heard a fascinating talk from Mark Hall (History Officer, Perth Museum & Art Gallery) on Medieval Perth and Mark has kindly given us a summary of his talk for this edition of the Newsletter. Medieval Perth by Mark A Hall This is a summary view primarily based on the archaeology collection of Perth Mu- seum & Art Gallery, the repository for all the finds excavated in the town. I will look at the following themes: Origins, Port of Trade, Craftsmen and Pilgrimage. Origins: All the evidence we have indicates that Perth is a medieval foundation. The name Pert implies that where Perth stands was a low-lying area of woodland in Pictish times. It was probably situated by a ford over the Tay within an area contain- ing a number of important Pictish and Picto-Scottish settlements: Moncrieffe Hill, Abernethy, Scone, Forteviot and possibly Bertha, which may have been called In- veramon then. The settlement of Perth seems to have begun and thrived as a port of trade, initially for goods and luxuries destined for Scone, a little up-river from Perth but not acces- sible to sea-going vessels. By 906 AD Scone was an important royal centre. It was the crowning place of kings and in 1120 Alexander I founded an Augustinian Priory there, which became an Abbey in 1164. The early town of Perth probably consisted of a harbour near the bottom of the high street, merchants’ houses along the water- front of Watergate and probably an early church on the site of St John’s kirk. The harbour is thought to have been in use long before its first mention in 1124 when English ships were recorded as bringing supplies up the Tay for scone Priory. As a crossing point across the Tay, Perth would have started out as a ford, waded across in the summer and, if necessary skated over in the winter. By the late 1100’s a timber bridge was in place, running off the end of the High Street. It was washed away many times. In 1209 a great flood washed away both the bridge and its chapel and also the royal castle. By 1214 the bridge had been rebuilt for it was crossed by the funeral cortege of William the Lion, on route to Arbroath abbey, where the king was buried. Once we reach the 12th century and beyond, we have a much clearer picture of Perth as a thriving centre of trade and commerce. David I made Perth a royal burgh in c.1124 and that status was confirmed by William the lion c.1205-10. Burgh status brought with it a privileged class of wealthy merchants and craftsmen, the Bur- gesses. Their wealth and privileges were based on trade monopolies granted by the Burgh charter. They served the king through the provision of goods and luxuries and by defending the Burgh in times of war. The king made profits through rents from burgage plots, tolls, burgh court fines and customs taxes on certain imported goods. 4 In addition to the burgesses there would have been their families, poorer craftsmen, apprentices, labourers, servants, priests and clerics all living in the burgh. The wealthier burgesses – generally the members of the Merchant Guild or Guildry – gradually took over the government of the burgh from the king’s officials, electing their own provost, bailies and a council to advise them. The successful growth of the burgh depended on its weekly markets. Food and raw materials would be brought into the town from the surrounding countryside and the goods of craftsmen and merchants would be put up for sale. Excavations have shown that the High Street was then some two metres wider than it is today, giving plenty of space for a thriving market. Tolls on trade were levied at the toll booth, at the end of the high street. Here the burgh council also met and occasionally the king’s Parliament as in 1445 and 1459, under James II. A Port of Trade: Perth’s trade in the Middle Ages was largely controlled by the Guildry, the wealthy burgesses who protected trade in the burgh in their own in- terest. Burgesses paid to enter the guild and had to provide wine for its feasts. In re- turn the Guildry did good works for its members: caring for the elderly, the poor and the infirm and also their widows and orphans. The guild also had religious duties – before the Reformation it kept an altar in St John’s kirk dedicated to the Holy Blood of Christ.