Mercat cross

See also: Market cross

The Mercat Cross on Edinburgh's Royal Mile. An 1885 replacement of the original cross removed in 1756.
Royal unicorn finial on the cross at Prestonpans
The cross-house at Prestonpans, built some time after 1617 when the right to hold a fair was granted
The cross of Old Scone in the grounds of Scone Palace
Original shaft of the Dunfermline Cross in the garden of the Abbot House
Dunbar's 16th-century cross is surmounted by three grotesque human heads, believed to have been taken from the town's old parish church.
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.
A Glasgow Rangers F.C. shirt adorns the mercat cross in Doune after the team won the Scottish Cup in 2009

A mercat cross is the Scots name for the market cross found frequently in Scottish cities, towns and villages where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. It therefore served a secular purpose as a symbol of authority, and was an indication of a burgh's relative prosperity. Historically, the term dates from the period before 1707, when the Kingdom of Scotland was an independent state, but it has been applied loosely to later structures built in the traditional architectural style of crosses or structures fulfilling the function of marking a settlement's focal point. Historical documents often refer simply to "the cross" of whichever town or village is mentioned. Today, there are around 126 known examples of extant crosses in Scotland,[1] though the number rises if later imitations are added.

  1. ^ Scottish Market Crosses: The development of a risk assessment model Archived 2008-04-03 at the Wayback Machine