Scotland is known worldwide for its folklore and legends but a Perth historian has debunked the myth behind one of the city’s most famous tales.
The Fair Maid of Perth, made prominent by Walter Scott’s namesake novel, is believed by many to have lived in the house which now bears her name — the oldest secular structure in the area — near the North Inch.
However, Dr Nicola Cowmeadow, a history officer for Culture Perth and Kinross, has set the story straight as part of Local and Community History Month.
She said: “The first thing to understand is that the Fair Maid didn’t really exist. She was a character, Catharine Glover, created by Mr Scott.
“Mr Scott was adept at weaving historical truth with fiction and was clearly inspired by the building’s history in creating the Fair Maid.”
The old building has changed hands throughout the years and is now the headquarters and visitor centre for the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
Placed in the hands of the city at the beginning of the 1800s, it was named the Fair Maid’s House, due to Mr Scott’s novel.
Owned by an Alyth solicitor, William Japp, around the 1890s, it was renovated into its current form and, in 2011, was taken on by the RSGS after more than 15 years unoccupied.
Dr Cowmeadow said: “Scott’s novel created a narrative around the Glovers and this property and it was an immense and immediate success.
“The entire tale lives on as an intrinsic part of Perth’s history and one that put the city on the international map.
“However, with so many coming to visit both the historic sights of Perth and those places which had featured in The Fair Maid of Perth, it has become difficult to separate the myth from the reality.”
The Local and Community History Month in Perth runs until the end of May.
Talks, workshops and drop-in sessions at libraries across the city are continuing, with a film screening two 1950s short films being shown at AK Bell Library on May 31 to round it off.
