Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

———MONTROSEthe Montrose and Arbroath railway. The site of theto\m is a peninsula jutting southwards, bounded ou theE by the sea, and on the S and W by the waters of theSouth Esk. Except for the low sand-bank along theedge of the links, the ground is almost entirely level.To the W of the town the river expands into a broadtidal loch known as the Montrose Basin and measuring2 miles by 1 j mile. At high water the whole area iscovered, but at low water by far the greater portionbecomes an unsightly expanse of mud. As the channelto the NE of the town is only from 115 to 130 yardswide, the tidal current sets up and down with greatswiftness—often from 6 to 8 miles an hour; but thisrush of water is beneficial, as its force clears off depositsfrom the town, and prevents the formation of any considerablebar across the mouth of the river. In 1670,by running a dyke from near the Forthill along thebank of the South Esk towards Dun, an attempt wasmade to drain and add to that estate some 2000 acres,but the bulwark — known as the 'Drainer's dike'had hardly been completed when it was breached anddestroyed by a violent storm, traditionally said to havebeen raised by Meggie Cowie, one of the last localwitches. A small portion of the area has, within the lastfive years, been reclaimed by the Montrose and Arbroathrailway company. The basin is frequented by wildgeese, ducks, and other aquatic birds. Although complaintsof damp sometimes arise, neither the flatness ofthe site nor the large expanse of water around seem tohave an injurious effect on the health of the inhabitants.The almost insular situation makes the climate verymild ; and the basin at high water adds materially tothe beauty of the neighbourhood.History. — The origin of the name of Montrose hasgiven rise to many conjectures Mons Eosarum, theFrench Mons-trois ('three hills '), the British ManUrrose(' the mouth of the stream '), the Gaelic Mon-ross {' thepromontory hiU '), Moin-ross ('the promontory of themoss'), and Meadh-an-ross ('the field or plain of themoss '), have all been brought forward, but the mostlikely seems to be that at the beginning of the article,which connects the name first with Old Montrose andso with Montrose, and seems also to account for thetradition (certainly unfounded), that the town at firststood at the former place. According to Boece theoriginal name of the town was Celurca, but this seemsrather to have been a contiguous place, as both Montroseand Salork are mentioned in a charter in the time ofMalcolm IV., and again in the time of William theLyon. All trace of the latter is now gone, but it waspossibly higher up the basin than Montrose. Of theorigin of the town nothing is known, but it has a highanti(]uity, for as early as the 10th century, when theDanes found the estuary a convenient anchorage, therewas, according to Boece, a town here, and in 980 theinhabitants were massacred by a band of these searovers.In the 12th century, under Malcolm IV., wefind that mills and saltpans had been established, andhis successor, William the Lyon, lived in the castlefrom time to time between 1178 and 1198. In 1244 thetown was burned, and at that time it seems to have beenone of the considerable places of the kingdom. When itobtained burghal privileges is not known, but probablyin the time of David I. At any rate, burgesses ofMontrose are mentioned in 1261-62, and in 1296 twelveburgesses went to Berwick, and in presence of Edward I.took the oath of allegiance on behalf of themselves andthe burgh. Edward himself was in Montrose the sameyear, from the 7th till the 12th July, when he lived atthe castle which then stood on the Forthill. Accordingto Wyntoun, Blind Harry, and Balfour, it was here thatJohn Baliol ' did render quietly the realme of Scotlandas he that had done amis.'' This John the Ealiol, on purposHe tuk and browcht hym til Munr09,And in the castell of tliat town,That then was famous in renown,This John the Baliol dj'spoyled heOi all his robys of ryaltie.'MONTROSEBut this is a mistake, for, though the ceremony tookplace while Edward was here, the scene was at Stracathro,whither Edward went for the purpose, returningthe same day. The castle was captured by Wallace inthe following year, and seems to have been completelydestroyed, for there is no more word of it.* Wallacelanded here on his return from France :* Eaith Forth and Tay thai left and passyt byOn the north cost [gud] Guthre was thar jjy.In Munross hawyn thai brocht hj'm to the land; *and, according to Froissart, Montrose was the portwhence Lord James Douglas, at the head of a brilliantretinue, embarked in the spring of 13.30 to fulfil the lastcharge of King Robert Bruce to carry his heart to Jerusalemand deposit it in the holy sepulchre. This, however,is against the testimony of the Scottish historians,particularly Barbour, who says Douglas sailed fromBerwick. In the rolls of the parliament, held in Edinburghin 1357 to arrange the ransom of David II.,'Montrose occupies the central position among the royalburghs, eight preceding and eight following it, andwould therefore appear to have, at that period, attainedconsiderable consequence. Subsequently, inthe same year, John Clark, one of the magistrates, wasamong those who became hostages for the payment ofthe ransom. In 1369, David himself visited the town ;and when the truce made between France and Englandin 1379 was renewed in 1383, with the stipulation thatScotland should be included if that country wished, abandof thirty distinguished French knights, who came to Scotlandin the hope of the war going on, landed at Montroseand passed S by Perth to Edinburgh. During the 15thcentury the inhabitants had a bitter feud against theErskines of Dun, seemingly on account of oppressionendured at their hands, but this was changed by thewell-known laird who figured among the Ketormers, andwho possessed great influence in the town, and establishedthere a school where the Greek language wastaught for the first time in Scotland by Pierre deMarsiliers, who had been brought by Dun from Francein 1534. In 1548 the English fleet, which was sailingalong the coast doing whatever mischief was possible,made a night attack, but the landing parties were, aftera stiff struggle, beaten back by the inhabitants withErskine at their head. Influenced, no doubt, by sucha leader, and probably also prepared for the reception ofthe new views by their trading intercourse with theContinent, and particularly with Holland, the peopleearly embraced the doctrines set forth by the Reformers.The spread of these must have been greatly aided by theteaching of George Wishart, who seems to have beenfirst a pupil of, and then assistant to, Marsiliers, andwho taught and circulated the Greek Testament soextensively among his pupils, that in 1538 the Bishopof Brechin summoned him to appear on a charge ofheresy, and he had to flee to England. He returnedin 1543, and for a time preached and taught openlyin Montrois within a private house next unto thechm'ch except one.' Wfien lie had again to flee, thepeople, determined to have what they wished, gotanother preacher named Paul Methven, originally abaker in Dundee, who, we are told, having administeredthe sacrament ' to several of the lieges in a manner fardifferent from the Divine and laudable use of the faithfulCatholic church, was denounced rebel and put to thehorn as fugitive ' in 1559, while the inhabitants wereordered to conform to the old state of things and toattend mass. Andrew Melvil, who was born at Baldowiein the adjoining parish of Craig, was one ofMarsiliers' later pupils, and his nephew James Melvil,who has in his Diary left an interesting account of his* The castle seems to have been the royal residence whenWilliam the Lyon was at Montrose, and Edward I. lived there,but there is no record as to where David II. resided. In 148S the;,'rant by James III. to David Lindsay, Earl of Crawford, of 'theloftier title ' of Duke of Montrose, mentions no castle but onlythe Castlested,' which would seem to imply that the 'castle was aruin, or had altogether disappeared. The site was at the Forthill,near where the infirmary now stands.