To render the early history of the town still more obscure, Beoce, in his history of Scotland, relates a story of Perth not being the ancient Bertha, but a new town built by King William, further down the river, after Bertha had been swept away by an inundation of the Tay, in 1210. The king, it is also said, transferred the rights and privileges of the old city to the new one. Buchanan, and later writers, have given currency to the statement of Beoce, and led many to believe that their existed a town called Bertha, previous to Perth being built, at the confluence of the Almond with the Tay. Fordun, however, a much earlier writer than Beoce, and generally admitted to be a historian worthy of greater credit, gives a detailed account of the inundation which happened in 1210, and speaks of Perth as a place "which of old was called Bertha." One thing also, appears certain, that the town was designated Perth long before 1210; for there are hundreds of Charters dating from 1106 to 1210, calling it by that name, still extant. Houses and streets, too, are also described in these charters prior to 1210, the same as they afterwards were. Add to which, that in recent times the remains of old streets have been found six or eight feet below the present surface, and old houses still existing in a dilapidated state have their ground floors a number of steps down from the street: making it evident that the town in former times had been much lower than it now is, and been raised at different periods to guard against future inundations. Two charters especially place the matter in such a clear light, we are induced to give them at length. The first appears to have been granted betwixt the years 1189 and 1199, and the other during the reign of Alexander II.

CHARTER OF WILLIAM THE KING, TO HENRY BALD, CONCERNING A LAND IN PERTH.

William, by the grace of God, King of Scots, to all good men of his whole realm, clergy and laity, greeting.

"Know all, who are, or shall be, me to have given and consigned, and by this my present charter, to have confirmed to Henry Bald, that land in my Burgh of Perth, which James, the son of Simon, and others, my Provosts of Perth, have delivered to him, according to my precept,

"To wit, that land which is in front of the street, which leads from the church of St John Baptist to the Castle of Perth, on the east side,

opposite to the house of Andrew, the Son of Simon. (Illam scilicet, quæ est in fronte vici illius, qui tendit de Ecclesia Sancti Johannis Baptiste, usque ad Castellum de Pert, ex orientali parte, contra domum Andreæ filii Simonis.)

"To be held to him and his heirs, of me and my heirs, in fee and heritage, freely, peaceably, fully, and honourably. Rendering thence yearly to my Chamberlain one pound of pepper at the feast of St Michael.

"Witnesses, Hugh Chancellor; Philip de Valoines, my Chamberlain; Malcolm, son of Earl Duncan; William de Hay; Alexander, Sheriff of Stirliug; Roger de Mortimer; Philip de Lundin. Perth, 14th day of April."

At

CHARTER BY HENRY BALD, GOLDSMITH, TO THE MONASTERY At Scone.

"To all who shall see or hear these letters, Henry Bald, Goldsmith of Perth, wishes salvation.

in pure and perpetual

"Know all of you, me to have given and consigned, and by this my present charter, to have confirmed to God, and to the church of the Holy Trinity, and of St Michael of Scone; and to the abbot and cannons serving God, and to serve him there; alms, my two booths, with the gallery placed above them, within the Burgh of Perth; in that land which William, of pious memory, King of Scots, granted to me for my homage and service. (Duas bothas meas, cum solario superposito, in burgo de Perth; in terra illa quam Gulielmus, piæ memoriæ, Rex Scotorum, mihi dedit pro homagio et serveto meo.)

"To wit, these two booths which are in the front of the street which leads from the church of St. John Baptist towards the Castle of Perth, on the east side, opposite to the house of Andrew, the son of Simon; those two booths, to wit, which are towards the north; (scilicet, illas duas bothas, quæ sunt in fronte vici illius, qui tendit de Ecclesia Sancti Johannis Baptiste, versus Castellum de Pert, in orientali parte, contra domum Andræ filii Simonis; videlicet, illias duas bothas versus aquilonem.)

"To be held and retained for ever, freely, peaceably, fully, and honourably; rendering thence yearly to the Chamberlain of our Sovereign Lord, King of Scots, one pound of pepper at the feast of St. Michael, in lieu of all service; and to the monks of Cupar, yearly,

one half stone of wax, at the purification of the blessed Mary, in name of alms.

"And that this my donation may be ratified and incontrovertible, I have confirmed this present page by my seal. And as my seal is not valid, the common seal of the Burgh of Perth is, at my desire, appended.

"Witnesses, Walter de Newton, and Henry de Abernitie, Knights; Galfrid de Perth, Clerk of our Sovereign Lord, the King; Henry, his son; Galfrid, Provost of Perth; Richard de Leycester; John, son of Lenna; David Jape; William de Dunde; James, son of James, son of Hutred; William Sper; Richard de Lenna, and many others."

The charter, moreover, granted by William in 1210, confirmatory of the privileges of the burgh, makes no mention of a change of situation. Other charters might be brought forward bearing on the same point; but sufficient evidence, we conceive, has been adduced to shew that the story of Boece is nothing more than a fabulous tradition, totally unsupported by facts.

But though the question of Perth having stood on the present site before the inundation of 1210 is thus satisfactorily disposed of, there remains for consideration, but which is more difficult of solution, viz., whether the place still called Bertha is derived from one of the same name, or so designated on account of the story of Boece, or has retained it from the time it was occupied as a station by the Romans? A Roman station undoubtedly there was at Bertha; the Roman road from the camp at Ardoch can be traced to it, and which, by means of a wooden bridge over the Tay about the same place, was continued to the camp at Keithock, near Brechin, where it terminated.*

Our own opinion is, that Bertha was the original name, and not a borrowed one. The supposed etymology of the word renders this very

* Concerning the Roman station here, and the remains which have been found at it, the Minister of Redgorton, in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical account of Scotland, has the following remarks. "Another piece of antiquity is the continuation of the causeway, leading from the Roman camp at Ardoch, which crosses the Tay, at its present conflux with the Almond. At this place, there are the remains of a Roman station, regularly formed into a square surrounded with a deep fosse, which has for some years been gradually washing away by the overflowing of the Almond. There have been dug up here several urns, filled with human ashes, a Roman lachrymatory, and also a pig of lead weighing about two stones, with Roman letters on it. The foundation of a wooden bridge which had been thrown over the Tay at this place, still remains, and consists of large oak planks, fastened together, coarsely jointed, and surrounded with clasps of iron."

probable, it signifying a confluence of water-the junction of rivers; and in all likelihood it was so called prior to the invasion of Britain by the Romans. But it has been said in reply to the above view, though there was a station at Bertha, yet, as no vestiges of a town have ever been discovered there, it must be considered only as an appendage to the winter camp, or colonial town, built at Perth; and the probability, therefore, is, that the name was derived from the more important place. Another conjecture is, that the whole plain, in the centre of which Perth stands, and of which the present Bertha is the northern extremity, had the same designation applied to it. Moreover, they conceive that this supposition is strengthened by the tradition which generally obtains that the aqueduct from the Almond was made by the Romans, and after supplying the ditches around the walls with which they had fortified Perth, fell directly into the Tay. Hence, they add, in this way may the similarity of the two names be accounted for.

That Perth was a Roman settlement scarcely admits of a doubt; for, wherever Rome extended its sway, it founded colonies, and placed them under the municipal institutions of the empire. That they, too, during this period made considerable progress in civilization can as little be questioned. The fall of the Roman empire, however, in the fifth century, consequent on internal dissension and the irruptions of the Goths, Vandals, and Huns, materially affected their condition. They became subject to new influences; in fact, from the elements now at work, society retrogaded-the towns fell into general decay, and Europe gradually reverted into nearly its original barbarism.

The history of Scotland, so far as it can be ascertained, from the fifth to the end of the ninth century, is nothing but a continued series of sanguinary conflicts between barbarous races and tribes, the more powerful displacing the weaker of their possessions, whilst everything indicated that its inhabitants were in the most rude and barbarous condition.

It is the opinion of some writers, that during the Pictish and Gothic periods, Scotland had no towns-fortifications and cities being the peculiar objects of the people's hatred; and that it was only when the English, Anglo-Normans, and Flemings settled in Scotland that the miserable villages at the foot of the religious establishments, and the castles of the barons, rose to be towns of importance. The flourishing state of trade, however, at that early period seems to militate against such an assertion. We conceive the time allowed by these writers is by far too short to account for the great prosperity to which Scotland had attained at the commencement of the thirteenth century. The

greater probability is, that at the period of the migration of the Flemings its trade and commerce was considerable, and that the occasion of their coming here was to exchange their cargoes for the productions of the country. The truth is, that even amidst the chaos and disorder of the dark ages, "there remained considerable remnants of the Roman civilization:" and that when Europe began to grope its way, through the influence of the Christian church, to something like social order, it was at those places where the Romans had had settlements that a commercial spirit first began to develop itself. It is appropriately observed, "The name of the empire, the remembrance of that great and glorious society, agitated the memories of men, especially of the town senators, the bishops, the priests, and of all those who had their origin in the Roman era. Many of the bar. barians themselves, or of their barbarian forefathers, had been witnesses of the grandeur of the empire: they had served in its armies or fought against it. The image and name of the Roman civilization had an imposing effect upon them, and they experienced a desire to imitate it, to bring it back, or to preserve some portion of it."*

The causes which probably led to Perth becoming a place of importance so early as the twelfth century, was its proximity to the religious establishment at Scone, and the direct communication afforded by the river Tay to foreign countries. Add to which, as the Scottish Kings were crowned at Scone, with their residence at Perth, and the parliaments and general councils of the nation held frequently at one or other of these places, there is no doubt that its trade was greatly promoted by the numbers of the clergy and nobility who re. sorted thither.

David I. was the first Scottish monarch that conferred on Perth important privileges; these were confirmed by William the Lion, in 1210. It is generally admitted, that till 1482, when James removed the seat of government to Edinburgh, it was the Metropolis of Scotland.

A national council was held at Perth in 1160, by Malcolm IV., occasioned, it is said, by a confederacy of six Earls against him. Their leader was Ferquhard, Earl of Strathearn, who, with five others, conspired against the person of their sovereign. They assaulted the tower in which he had sought refuge, but were repulsed. The clergy, however, interposed, and brought about a speedy reconciliation between the king and his subjects.

Other national councils were held at Perth by William the Lion;

• History of Civilization in Europe.