House myth is debunked
Blurred line between fact and fiction
A historian researching the story behind Perth’s oldest secular building reckons most people go to see it because of a myth that has built up around the attraction over the years.
Dr Nicola Cowmeadow, local history officer at Culture Perth and Kinross, says there is a common misconception that the Fair Maid of Perth made famous by Sir Walter Scott’s novel actually lived in what is now known as the Fair Maid’s House behind Perth Concert Hall.
“The first thing to understand is that the Fair Maid didn’t really exist,” says Dr Cowmeadow, who is researching the story as part local and community history month. “She was a character, Catharine Glover, created by Scott.
“Scott was adept at weaving historical truth with fiction and was clearly inspired by the building’s history in creating the Fair Maid. The building in Curfew Row housed the Glover’s Hall where the city’s Glovers met for 150 years.”
The site is located where the ancient Blackfriars monastery stood but there was a great deal of debate around its ownership. The house House Fair Maid’s stems from the ownership of an Alyth solicitor, William Japp, who bought it around 1890.
The house was then given over to the City of Perth at the turn of the 19th century and, due to the success of Scott’s novel, it had become known as the Fair Maid’s House.
After falling into disrepair and lying empty for more than 15 years, the listed building re-opened in 2011 after extensive refurbishment.
It is now a visitor centre housing the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
Dr Cowmeadow went on: “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.”
A number of talks, workshops and drop-in sessions are being held at libraries across the region to mark local and community history month.
For more information about what’s on in the region as well as Culture Perth and Kinross visit www. culturepk.org.uk