Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-18
PERTH, ONCE BERTHA.
Ancient City Said to Have Been
Founded by Agricola.
THE TIBER AND THE TAY
Roman Compliment Not Relished by
the Scotch Poet.
LA FAIL AND JACOBS DREAM
Here Knox Preached the Reforma-
ton With Dire Results to
Catholic institutions.
THE TlBER AND THE TAY
LA FAIL AND JACOBS DREAM
By WILLIAM r. CURTIS.

By WILLIAM r. CURTIS.
Speciai Correspondence Of The Star and the
Chicago Record-Ilerald
PERTH. Scotland September -. 1905.
The good peopl.. of Perth boast. and they
truly believe, their city has the most
beautiful situation in all Britain, If not in
the entire world. Perth. however is better
known for it's whisky and its dyes and as
the scene of Sir Walter Scotts historical
novel, The Fair Maid OF Perth" 1t
overlooks the valley OF the Tay. an am
ple useful aud dignified stream whose
banks are studded with stately mansions
and ancient groves. The hills OF Mon
cre!H and Kinnoul, crowned with pic
turesque crags rise behind it, and far in
the background may be seen the Gram
plan hills where SOM body's father used
20 feed his focss in our schooiboy decla-
nations. 1t is a wide and charming as
pect and few landscapes that l have seen
leave deeper impression upon the be-
holder.
River Tay and Its Wonderful Bridge
The Tay is A nobl' stream, and the
largest in Scotland. Il rises in the High
lands. flows swiftly down the mountains,
widens out o become Loeb Tay. and then
resumlng the app aranco OF a river, car
ries mora water II the sea than any other
river in the Kingdom. Lakes and rivers
and brooks po,Ir INTO it from all direc-
lions. Il j nav;Gab:e to Perth and
steamers com up as far as the great
railway bridge which was considered one
of the wonders of the world when it was
built many years ago. The great port
OF the Tay is Dundee, which lies at Its
mouth.
1t is said when the Roman legions came
upon its banks they gave shout of ad-
m:ration and cried: Behold the Tiber!''
But Scotchmen who have seen the Tiber
do not appreciate that compliment. and
Sir Walter Scott wrote Indignantly:
Where's the SCOT that would the vaunt repay,
And hail the puny Tiber for the Tay?
Other Scotch Rivers Described.
The Tweed, the second river in Scot
land. a broad, clear deep stream, has
given it's name to a familiar textile that
is woven in many towns upon its banks.
II forms part of the boundary between
England and Scotland. 1t rises within a
mile or two of the sources of the Clyde
and the River Amman. which geogra phical
phenomenon suggested the following
rhyme:
Tweed. AMMAN. CLYDE
Rise out o ane hillside;
Tweed ran, AMMAN a wan and ,ro.. ,,s nor. oxer
Clyde, a mountain torrent, makes three
leapS eighty-six feet into a rocky abyss
and then flows p!acidly to Glasgow
through the fertile Clydesdale country.
where the big horses come from.
The Tweed waters a rich agricultural
region and flows at the foot of the lawn
of Sir Walter Scott's home at Abbotsford.
and on through Melrose near the cele-
brated abbey.
The Firth Of Forth rises on the side OF
Ben Lomond, the famous mountain, and
is wild and windy until 1t drops down |
to the level of the tide and flows into the |
North Sea. The River Dee and the River |
Don both rise in the Grampian hills and
flow through romantic scenery until they |
reach the North Sea at Aberdeen.
Perth Founded by Agricola.
The city of Perth is believed to have |
been founded by the Roman Emperor |
AsricoIa in the year 81. The Romans |
came over to conquer Britain in the year
43 AID. and it took them thirty-four
years to reach the Tay, where Agricola
decided to locate his capital He called
the town Bertha, by which name it was
known until st. COLUMBIA founded a
church and monastery here in honor Of
John the Baptist. Then they called IL ST.
Johns Toun until the reformation. The
dislike of the Professionals tor anything
that savored of saint worship caused
them to revive the old Roman name, but
they were such careless spoilers that it
finally became Perth. There is another
story that kns William the Lion called
i Johns Toun in honor of one of his chill
dren who was drowned in the Tay.
The Romans found Scotland in possess
sion of two great tribes called the Picts,
who were Britons. and the Scots, who
we're descended from the Scanda navians.
The Romans called them both Gale
domains and gave that name to the coun-
try. The PictS and the Scots, who had
heen fighting each other furiously until
then. united against the common foe The
Romans built a wall between Edinburgh
on the Forth and Glasgow on the Clyde
and drove the Caledonians north OF it
They built another later between the
Tyne at Newcastle and the Solway above
Carlisle to keep them from coming south
ward, but the Caledonians outlasted them
and still occupy the ground.
Lila Fail, the Stone Of Destiny.
Kenneth MacAlpine was the first chief
tain TO unite the two tribes the Scots and