Perth

Town and administrative headquarters of Perth and Kinross, central Scotland, on the River Tay, 70 km/43 mi northwest of Edinburgh; population (2001) 43,450. It is known as the ‘fair city’. Industries include dyeing, textiles, whisky distilling, and light engineering. It is an important agricultural centre, noted for the sale of pedigree livestock, particularly young beef cattle. It was the capital of Scotland from the 12th century until 1452. James I of Scotland was assassinated here in 1437.

Reputed to have been founded by Agricola in AD 70, Perth is believed to have been occupied by the Romans for 320 years. The town was known as ‘St John's Toun’ until the Reformation. The oldest building in Perth is the cruciform church of St John, which was founded in 1126.

Perth was the scene of the murder of the Duke of Cornwall by his brother, Edward III of England, in 1335, and of the battle between the clans Quhele and Chattan described in Walter Scott's novel The Fair Maid of Perth (1828). John Knox preached a sermon on idolatry at St John's church in 1559, thus initiating the Scottish Reformation.

The Tay is spanned by two fine bridges, and along its banks are two public parks known as the North and South Inches.