Archaeological & Historical Section
The Perthshire Society of Natural Science was founded in 1867 as a result of the ever increasing interest in science and nature during the Victorian era. From the end of the 19th century Sections of special interest developed within the Society.
It was in session 1948/49 that an Archeological and Historical Section was formed and Dr. Margaret Stewart, a local archaeologist was the driving force behind the Section's formation encouraging Section members to carry out any local excavations and surveys under her guidance. She was instrumental in holding seminars and instruction courses on many aspects of prehistoric and Roman archaeology.
In the late 1980s excavation by "amateurs" was discouraged and trained and qualified archeologists were employed, with amateurs providing labour. In recent years members of the Section have had opportunities to assist in excavation work through participation in digs carried out by SUAT(Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust) based in Perth, by Glasgow university and other bodies. Field walking and surveying has been done by small groups of members.
The Section has some 60+ members and, during the winter, holds monthly talks. In summer outdoor excursions are held to historic castles, sites and other places of historical or archeological interest.
The Section has liaison with other Historical Societies in Perthshire and with the Council for Scottish Archaeology, Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust and SUAT. At present the Section is expanding its commitment to "Adopt a Monument" scheme.
Interest in archaeology and study of past heritage has grown over the last twenty years and are fostered by the Section.
PERTH, THE FIRST CENTURY OF THE BURGH
INTRODUCTION
The Archaeological and Historical Section of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science has decided to make available to the public as a downloadable PDF the following article by Professor A A M Duncan, 'Perth: the first century of the burgh', as a contribution to the Perth 800 celebrations commemorating the earliest surviving charter to Perth, the charter of King William I (the Lion). The article was originally delivered as a lecture at a conference held in Perth Museum and Art Gallery on 24th March 1973 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Archaeological and Historical Section and subsequently published, with the other lectures delivered at the conference, as a Special Issue of the Transactions of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science in 1974.
The Special Issue has long been out of print and it is, therefore, appropriate for Section to re-publish the article with the author's permission to make it available to the public in view of the forthcoming commemoration of King William's charter. In the article Professor Duncan gives an account of the first century of the burgh of Perth's existence and fully discusses King William's charter.
It should be noted that William's charter did not create the burgh of Perth. Its significance lies in its being the earliest surviving charter to Perth. Perth had been a royal burgh since early in the reign of King David I (1124-53). In Professor G S Pryde's The Burghs of Scotland, A Critical List (Glasgow 1965) Perth is listed fifth of the royal burghs after Berwick and Roxburgh (both predating 1124) and Dunfermline and Edinburgh with which it was contemporary (between 1124 and 1127). Berwick was finally lost to the English in 1482 and Roxburgh ceased to exist as a result of the English occupation of Roxburgh Castle in the 14th and 15th centuries. The royal burgh of Dunfermline ceased to exist in the 12th century and was replaced by the abbot of Dunfermline's burgh by the 14th century. Perth thus became the second oldest surviving royal burgh in Scotland.
In the 12th and 13th centuries Scotland’s trade was predominantly centred on three burghs: Berwick south of the Forth, Perth between the Forth and the Dee, and Aberdeen north of the Dee. Archaeological excavations in Perth have confirmed its importance as a trading centre in this period and have also established its existence through radiocarbon dates as a settlement over a century before its emergence as a royal burgh in the 1120s. Perth's importance changed in the course of the wars with England after 1296, when it was twice occupied by an English garrison and Dundee emerged as a rival on the Tay. The rivalry with Dundee was finally settled by the Court of Session in 1602 when Perth was confirmed as controlling the Tay in Perthshire and was formally recognised as the second burgh in Scotland after Edinburgh, with Dundee as third, a situation that remained until the abolition of the royal and non-royal burghs in 1975.
Perth and the other early royal burghs have no foundation charter (and few other early charters in their favour either - Edinburgh's earliest surviving charter is dated 1329). The earliest surviving foundation charter for a royal burgh is that for Ayr (ranked No 31 by Professor Pryde), granted by King William between 1203 and 1207 shortly before his charter to Perth. (Ayr, it should be noted, is also a 'St John’s town', with a medieval parish church dedicated to St John the Baptist; perhaps the first settlers at Ayr came from Perth.) Perth and the other royal burghs are known to have been royal burghs because the king or others granted property in them to monasteries or to individuals. Perth's first mention as a royal burgh occurs in the grant by David I to the Benedictine priory of Dunfermline of a property in burgo meo de Perth, in my (i.e., the king's) burgh of Perth. Subsequent grants or confirmations by David I and his grandsons Malcolm IV (1153-65) and William I (1165-1214) were made to the monasteries of the Isle of May, St Andrews, Arbroath, Cambuskenneth, Lindores and Scone, confirming Perth's status as a royal burgh before William's own charter to Perth.
The text of William's charter is printed, with an English summary, in Regesta Regum Scottorum, vol 2, The Acts of William I (ed G W S Barrow, Edinburgh, 1971), pages 430-2.
Note
In his article Professor Duncan suggests the existence of a former road between the South Port and the east end of High Street. Archaeological investigations during the redevelopment of the St John's Square shopping mall in 1985-6 and at 80-86 High Street in 1992 revealed no trace of such a road and it is no longer a subject for archaeological research.
The full 22 pages of the Transactions from 1973 can be accessed via the link below:
Transactions of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science