Perth...
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Sitting on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire. According to an estimate taken in 2008, Perth has a population of 44,820. Perth has been known as The Fair City, since the publication of the story, Fair Maid of Perth by the Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott in 1828. During the medieval period, the town was also given two alternative names, St. John's Toun or Saint Johnstoun by its Scots-speaking inhabitants in reference to the main church dedicated to St John The Baptist.
The name Perth derives from a Pictish-Gaelic word for wood or copse. There has been a settlement at Perth since prehistoric times, which was probably on a site where a river crossed a slightly raised mound on the west bank of the River Tay. The area surrounding the modern town has been known to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers since their arrival more than 8,000 years ago. Nearby Neolithic standing stones and circles also exist, dating from about 4,000 BC, following the introduction of farming in the area.
