Mercat cross facts for kids
A mercat cross is the Scottish name for a special type of market cross often seen in Scottish towns and villages. These crosses show that a place once had the right to hold a regular market or fair. This right was usually given by the monarch (king or queen), a bishop, or a powerful local lord (a baron).
Mercat crosses were important symbols of authority and showed how successful a town was. The term "mercat cross" comes from a time before 1707, when Scotland was an independent country. However, the name is also used for similar structures built later. People often just called them "the cross" of a particular town. Today, there are about 126 known mercat crosses in Scotland, with even more if you include newer copies.
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History of Mercat Crosses
The first mention of a mercat cross in official papers was during the time of William the Lion (1165–1214). A rule was made that "all goods must be shown at the market and market cross of towns."
Early town crosses might have continued a tradition from church crosses. These church crosses marked holy land or safe areas. They were like early church crosses from before stone churches were built, acting as a meeting place for everyone. It's thought that the first mercat crosses were wooden pillars, perhaps on stone bases. Later, they became stone pillars. Some crosses, like the one in Inverkeithing, even have sundials built into them.
What Happened at the Cross?
The mercat cross was the central spot where market stalls were set up. It was also where merchants (both shopkeepers and traders) would meet to talk business. Important news and announcements from the government or town were also read aloud here by the "bellman" (a town crier). For example, in 1682, a town group in Stirling was allowed to make an announcement at the Mercat Cross so "no person pretend ignorance" (meaning no one could say they didn't know). Even today, important royal announcements, like calling a general election or announcing a new monarch, are still read at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh.
The cross was also a gathering place for public events. These included town celebrations and public displays of justice. Some crosses still have iron loops where old tools for public punishment were once attached. Today, people still gather at crosses for special events, like "Braw Lads Day" in Galashiels or the start of the Beltane Festival in Peebles. Crosses are also often the starting or ending points for traditional events like the Common Ridings in Musselburgh or the fireball ceremony in Stonehaven.
What Mercat Crosses Look Like
Even though they are called "crosses," most mercat crosses don't actually look like a cruciform (a cross shape). This is especially true since the Scottish Reformation, when many religious symbols were removed.
Instead of a cross shape, the top of the pillar might have a small statue. This could be a royal unicorn or a lion, which are symbols of the Scottish kings and queens. Or it might have a carved stone showing the royal burgh's (town's) coat-of-arms. If it was a church town or a lord's town, it might show the bishop's or lord's coat-of-arms. These are often painted. Another common top is a stone ball, like at Clackmannan and Newton Stewart. The pillar itself usually has a plain or decorated top part called a capital. Many different designs are used for decoration, such as leaves, symbols like thistles and roses, and shields.
Different Styles of Crosses
Five mercat crosses – in Edinburgh, Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen, and Preston (now Prestonpans) – had a drum-shaped base called a cross-house. This base had a platform that could be reached by steps or a ladder inside. The cross in Aberdeen, built in the late 1600s, has its platform supported by open archways. The Preston Cross, built in the early 1600s, is the only one of this type still standing in its original spot.
This old design has been copied in later times, especially during the Victorian era, for new crosses in Edinburgh and Perth. The cross in Glasgow, rebuilt in 1921, has a simpler base that reminds people of the old design. Other simpler versions can be found in places like Elgin and Selkirk. However, most mercat crosses stand on stepped stone bases, often with eight sides. They are usually between 9 and 13 feet tall. In some cases, like at Musselburgh and Kirkcudbright, the pillar is held firmly within or on top of a solid stone structure.
Modern Mercat Crosses
Some mercat crosses you see today are copies from the Victorian era, like those in Dunfermline and Scone. But they often include one or more original parts, especially the main pillar. Some crosses, like those in Linlithgow and St Andrews, were replaced with public drinking fountains after the older crosses were taken down.
After the Great War (1914–1918), some crosses were changed into war memorials. A war memorial might use part of the original cross, as in Renfrew or Bowden. Or it might be built to look like a mercat cross, as in Lauder and Moffat. The war memorials in Abernethy, North Berwick, and Portree also look very much like mercat crosses and are known as such. The one in Portree is far from the usual areas where these crosses were built. Another example of a cross that looks old but isn't is the war memorial in Dalmeny. It gives the village a central point but doesn't mean there was a historical market there.
Mercat crosses are often just seen as a normal part of the street. Because of this, their history, like when they were built or moved, hasn't always been well recorded. Many are no longer in their original spot. Some, like those in Forfar and Queensferry, have disappeared. Others, like those in Cupar and Banff, were moved outside the town but later brought back and put up again.
Scottish people who moved to countries like Canada and Australia took the idea of the mercat cross with them. So, some cities in these "New World" countries have or once had them in their town centers.
Places with Mercat Crosses
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Images for kids
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The Mercat Cross on Edinburgh's Royal Mile. An 1885 replacement of the original cross removed in 1756.
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Royal unicorn finial on the cross at Prestonpans
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The cross-house at Prestonpans, built some time after 1617 when the right to hold a fair was granted.
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The cross of Old Scone in the grounds of Scone Palace.
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Original shaft of the Dunfermline Cross in the garden of the Abbot House.
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Dunbar's 16th-century cross is surmounted by three grotesque human heads, believed to have been taken from the town's old parish church.
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Arms of the Earl of Kincardine on the cross at Kincardine, Fife. The creation of the earldom in 1647 points to the cross being erected some time after that date.
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A Glasgow Rangers F.C. shirt adorns the mercat cross in Doune after the team won the Scottish Cup in 2009.
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One of the oldest surviving crosses still on its original site at Prestonpans, East Lothian.
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One of the finest examples of a mercat cross at Inverkeithing in Fife.
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The cross at Coldingham in Berwickshire.
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The cross at Cockburnspath in Berwickshire.
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The cross at Pencaitland, East Lothian.
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The cross at Gifford, East Lothian.
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The cross at Carnwath, Lanarkshire, with inscribed mile distances to other burghs.
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The cross at Stirling, topped by a unicorn.
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The cross at Doune, near Stirling, topped by a lion.
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The cross at Cupar in Fife.
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The cross at Peebles in the Scottish Borders.
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The cross at Musselburgh, East Lothian, topped by the burgh arms.
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The cross at Haddington, East Lothian, topped by the town's symbol, a goat.
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The cross at Dundee, re-erected at a new location in 1874 without its original octagonal cross-house.
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The cross at Dunfermline, Fife.
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The cross at Crail, Fife.
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The cross at Anstruther, Fife, missing its finial.
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The cross in the village of Kinrossie, Perthshire.
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The cross in the 'new' village of Scone, topped by a foliated ornamental cross.
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The cross in the town of Clackmannan.
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The cross in the village of Airth near Falkirk, incorporating sundials.
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Some towns, like Hawick in the Scottish Borders, lost their crosses because they were increasingly deemed obstructions to wheeled traffic.
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The Cross Well at Linlithgow, modelled on the courtyard fountain of Royal palace, substitutes for the town's demolished cross.
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The cross at Sanquhar was transformed into a Covenanter monument in 1856.
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The cross at Abernethy. An example of a war memorial in the form of a mercat cross.
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Edward VII Memorial in Perth (1913), replacing the town's original cross removed in 1763.
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The cross in Turriff, Aberdeenshire comprises a 16th-century pillar and cruciform top raised on a 19th-century plinth.
