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Perthshire

Coordinates:56°30′N4°00′W/ 56.500°N 4.000°W/56.500; -4.000
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This article is about the county in Scotland. For other uses, seePerthshire (disambiguation).

Perthshire
Historic county

Perthshire within Scotland
Area
• 19752,528 sq mi (6,550 km2) (5th)
History
• Succeeded byTayside Region
StatusLocal government county(until 1975)
Land registration county(1868–)
Chapman codePER
Government
•HQPerth(county townandadministrative centre)
•MottoPro Lege et Libertate
('For Law and Liberty')

Coat of arms of the county council

Perthshire(locally:[ˈpɛrθʃər]ⓘ;Scottish Gaelic:Siorrachd Pheairt), officially theCounty of Perth,is ahistoric countyandregistration countyin centralScotland.Geographically it extends fromStrathmorein the east, to thePass of Drumochterin the north,Rannoch MoorandBen Luiin the west, andAberfoylein the south; it borders the counties ofInverness-shireandAberdeenshireto the north,Angusto the east,Fife,Kinross-shire,Clackmannanshire,StirlingshireandDunbartonshireto the south andArgyllshireto the west.

Perthshire is known as the "big county", or "the Shire", due to its roundness and status as the fourthlargest historic county in Scotland.It has a wide variety of landscapes, from the rich agriculturalstrathsin the east, to the high mountains of the southernHighlands.

History

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Administrative history

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Perthshire's origins as ashire(the area administered by asheriff) are obscure, but it seems to have been created during the reign ofDavid I(reigned 1124–1153).[1]

TheSheriff of Perthhad authority over severalprovinces,includingAtholl,Breadalbane,Gowrie,MenteithandStrathearn.Over time, Scotland's shires became more significant than the old provinces, with more administrative functions being given to the sheriffs. In 1667Commissioners of Supplywere established for each shire, which would serve as the main administrative body for the area until the creation of county councils in 1890.[2]Following theActs of Unionin 1707, the English term "county" came to be used interchangeably with the older term "shire".

Perth Sheriff Court:County council's meeting place 1890–1930

Elected county councils were established in 1890 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1889,taking most of the functions of the commissioners (which were eventually abolished in 1930). The burgh ofPerthwas deemed capable of managing its own affairs and so was excluded from the administrative area of the county council, although the county council still chose to base itself there.[3]Perthshire County Council held its first official meeting on 22 May 1890 atPerth Sheriff Court,then also known as County Buildings, the courthouse (built 1819) which also served as the meeting place for the commissioners.[4][5]

The 1889 Act also led to a review of boundaries, withexclavesbeing transferred to a county they actually bordered, and parishes which straddled more than one county being adjusted such that each parish was entirely in a single county. There were several such changes affecting the boundaries of Perthshire, notably including the exclaves ofCulrossandTulliallanbeing transferred toFife.[6]

Reforms in 1930 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1929saw the burgh of Perth brought within the administrative area of the county council, and merged the county councils of Perthshire and the neighbouring small county ofKinross-shirefor most purposes. The two county councils continued to be elected as separate bodies, but operated together as the "Perth and Kinross Joint County Council", serving the combined area of the two counties.[7][8]

County Officesin York Place, Perth: Headquarters of the Perth and Kinross Joint County Council 1930–1975

As part of the same reforms, the county council took over the functions of the abolished Perthshire Education Authority. The education authority had bought the former County and City Infirmary on York Place in Perth (completed 1838) in 1920 to serve as its headquarters; after 1930 it served as the headquarters of the joint county council, and was renamedCounty Offices.[9][10]

Perthshire was abolished as an administrative area in 1975 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973.It was split between theCentralandTaysideRegions:

  • West Perthshire (the area west and south ofKillinincludingCallander,CrianlarichandAberfoyle) was included in the Stirling District of the Central Region.
  • The parish ofMuckhartwas made part of Clackmannan District, also in the Central Region.
  • Longforganwas included in the City of Dundee District, in the Tayside Region.
  • The remainder of Perthshire was combined with Kinross-shire and theAngusparish of Kettins to form thePerth and KinrossDistrict Council in Tayside.

The two-tier system introduced in 1975 was superseded by a system of unitary authorities in 1996. The districts of Tayside and Central Scotland all became unitary authorities, withLongforganbeing transferred from Dundee to Perth and Kinross. The majority of historic Perthshire lies inPerth and Kinross.The exceptions are the southwestern part that is now in theStirling council areaand a few parishes that are now inClackmannanshire.Perth and Kinross also contains some areas that were not historically in Perthshire, such as Kinross-shire. Thelieutenancy areasin the area of historic Perthshire are mostly coterminous with the council areas, the exception being that the Stirling council area forms part of a larger Stirling and Falkirk lieutenancy.[11]The boundaries of the historic county of Perthshire are still used for some limited official purposes connected with land registration, being aregistration county.[12]

Coat of arms

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Thecoat of armsof the County of Perth appears to have been granted for use on the colours and standards of the volunteer and militia units of the county raised at the end of the eighteenth century. TheEarl of Kinnoull,a native of Perthshire, and commanding officer of the Perthshire Gentlemen and Yeomanry Cavalry, was alsoLord Lyon King of Armsat the time, and he presented the arms to the county in 1800. The grant document was discovered in the Lyon Office in 1890, and forwarded to the newly formed Perth County Council.

The shield is very similar to theScottish royal arms,reflecting that Perthshire was the home county of theHouse of Dunkeldand contains the former royal capital,Scone.Further royal references are made on thecanton,which showsScone Palacesurmounted by theCrown of Scotland.Thecrestis a Highland soldier, reflecting that the famousBlack Watchwere formed in the county.[13]The supporters are an eagle and a warhorse, the former from the arms of the city of Perth.

Burghs

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By the 1890s the county contained the followingburghs,which were largely outside the county council's jurisdiction:

  • Royal Burgh of Perth (which was styled a city)
  • Burgh of Auchterarder (formed 1894: reinstated as a royal burgh in 1951)
  • Burgh of Aberfeldy (police burghfrom 1887)
  • Burgh of Abernethy (burgh of baronyfrom 1458/9, police burgh from 1877)
  • Burgh of Alyth (burgh of barony from 1488, police burgh from 1834)
  • Burgh of Blairgowrie (burgh of barony 1634, police burgh 1833)
  • Burgh of Rattray (police burgh 1873)
  • Burgh of Callander (police burgh 1866)
  • Burgh of Coupar Angus (burgh of barony 1607, police burgh 1852)
  • Burgh of Crieff (burgh of barony 1674, burgh of regality 1687, police burgh 1864)
  • Burgh of Doune (burgh of barony 1611, police burgh 1890)
  • Burgh of Dunblane (burgh of regality of the Bishop of Dunblane 1442, police burgh 1870)

TheLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1929divided burghs into two classes from 1930:large burghs,which were to gain extra powers from the county council, and small burghs which lost many of their responsibilities.

Of the twelve burghs in Perthshire, only Perth was made a large burgh. There were ten small burghs: Blairgowrie and Rattray being united into a single burgh. In 1947 Pitlochry was created a small burgh.

Civil parishes

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Perthshire and Clackmannanshirec.1851.[14]Parishes outlined in red

In 1894 parish councils were established for the civil parishes, replacing the previous parochial boards. The parish councils were in turn replaced by district councils in 1930.

Following the boundary changes caused by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, the county contained the following civil parishes:

Districts

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In 1930 thelandwardarea of the Local Government councils (the part outside of burgh boundaries) was divided into five districts, replacing the parish councils established in 1894:

  • Central District
  • Eastern District
  • Highland District
  • Perth District
  • Western District

Geography

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The uncharacteristically flat lands of the Carse of Gowrie

The county forms part of theHighlandgeographic area; it consists of predominantly mountainous and hilly land within theGrampian Mountains,interspersed with numerous lochs and glens. The highest point isBen Lawersat 1,214 m (3,983 ft), making it the 10th highest peak in Scotland.[15]Most towns are fairly small, with the larger ones being clustered in the flatter south-east of the county. In the far south along the borders with Clackmannanshhire and Kinross-shire lie theOchil Hills,and in the south-east part of theSidlaw Hillslie within the county, continuing on into Angus. Perthshire borders theFirth of Tayin the south-east, which provides access to theNorth Sea;along the north shore lies theCarse of Gowrie,an extremely flat area of land given over to agriculture. Within the Forth can be found the small island ofMugdrum.

Rivers

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Lochs and Reservoirs

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Typical Perthshire scenery around Loch Garry
Ben Vorlich rising above Loch Lubnaig
Loch Loch from summit of Ben Vuirich
The Loch of Butterstone as seen from Benachally Monument

Mountains

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Ben Vrackie:View west to theLawersrange,Schiehallion,lochsTummelandRannoch,and very distantGlen Coepeaks

Glens and straths

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Settlements

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The River Tay at Perth
Bridge of Earn from Moncreiffe Hill
Crieff
Dunblane
Dull welcome sign
Killin
Pool of Muckhart

Transport

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Dunkeld & Birnam railway station

TheHighland Main Linerailway line connects Perth to Inverness, and in the far west theWest Highland Linecriss-crosses the Perthshire-Argyllshire boundary. Other lines in the south-east link Perth to the towns of Fife and Stirlingshire.

Parliamentary constituencies

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Following theAct of Union,Perthshire returned members to theHouse of Commonsof theParliament of the United Kingdomfrom 1708.

1707–1885

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1885–1918

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In 1885 seats in the House of Commons were redistributed: Perthshire received three seats.

  • Perth remained a burgh constituency.
  • Perthshire Eastern
  • Perthshire Western

1918–1975

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In 1918 there was a further redistribution. Perthshire was combined withKinross-shireto form a parliamentary county, divided into two constituencies:

  • Perthconstituency consisted of the burgh of Perth, the former Eastern constituency and part of the Western constituency. In 1950 it was renamed Perth and East Perthshire. The area included in the constituency was defined in 1948 and 1970 as the burghs of Perth, Abernethy, Alyth, Blairgowrie and Rattray and Coupar Angus; and the Eastern and Perth districts of the county of Perth.[16]
  • Kinross and Western Perthshire:the constituency consisted of the entire County of Kinross, the burghs of Aberfeldy, Auchterarder, Callander, Crieff, Doune, Dunblane and Pitlochry; and the Central, Highland and Western districts of the county of Perth.[16]

These boundaries continued in use until 1983, when new constituencies were formed based on the Local Government regions and districts created in 1975.

1975–2005

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Perthshire was represented inHouse of Commons of the United Kingdomfrom 1975 to 2005.

2005–present

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Perthshire has two constituencies and twoMembers of Parliament.

Famous places

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Notable people

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Schools

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See also

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References

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  1. ^Chalmers, George (1894).Caledonia: Volume 7.p. 167.Retrieved2 August2024.
  2. ^Brown, Keith."Act of the convention of estates of the kingdom of Scotland etc. for a new and voluntary offer to his majesty of £72,000 monthly for the space of twelve months, 23 January 1667".Records of the Parliament of Scotland.University of St Andrews.Retrieved25 February2023.
  3. ^Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, c. 50
  4. ^"Perth County Council".Perthshire Constitutional and Journal.26 May 1890. p. 2.Retrieved2 August2024.
  5. ^Penny, George (1836).Traditions of Perth, containing sketches of the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and notices of public occurrences, during the last century etc.Dewar, Sidey, Morison, Peat, and Drummond. p. 313.
  6. ^Shennan, Hay (1892).Boundaries of counties and parishes in Scotland as settled by the Boundary Commissioners under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889.Edinburgh: W. Green. p. 198.Retrieved2 August2024.
  7. ^"Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929: Section 10",legislation.gov.uk,The National Archives,1929 c. 25 (s. 10),retrieved1 August2024
  8. ^"No. 18972".The Edinburgh Gazette.16 March 1971. p. 165.
  9. ^Historic Environment Scotland."County Council Offices, York Place, Perth (LB39323)".Retrieved18 July2021.
  10. ^"No. 19298".The Edinburgh Gazette.21 August 1973. p. 979.
  11. ^"The Lord-Lieutenants (Scotland) Order 1996",legislation.gov.uk,The National Archives,SI 1996/731,retrieved3 August2024
  12. ^"Land Mass Coverage Report"(PDF).Registers of Scotland. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 3 March 2016.Retrieved16 May2015.
  13. ^Patton, David (1977).Arms of the County Councils of Scotland.Port Charlotte: Argyll Reproductions Ltd.
  14. ^Wilson, John Marius."The Imperial gazetteer of Scotland; or, Dictionary of Scottish topography".Edinburgh A. Fullarton.Archivedfrom the original on 5 August 2016 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ^"walkhighlands Ben Lawers".walkhighlands.co.uk. 2013.Retrieved20 October2013.
  16. ^abThe Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 1970 (S.I. 1970 No. 1680)
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56°30′N4°00′W/ 56.500°N 4.000°W/56.500; -4.000

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