Perthshire

Perthshire (Siorrachd Pheairt in ), officially the County of Perth, is a in central. It extends from in the east, to the  in the north,  and  in the west, and  in the south. It was a  from 1890 to 1930.

Perthshire was known as the "big county" and had a wide variety of landscapes, from the rich agricultural in the east, to the high mountains of the southern.

Perthshire was a top-level local government area between 1890-1975, governed by a county council. From a joint county council was formed with the neighbouring small county of.

The county was abolished in by the  and split between  and  Regions:
 * West Perthshire (the area west and south of including,  and ) was included in the Stirling District of Central Region.
 * The parish of was made part of Clackmannan District, also in Central Region.
 * was included in the City of Dundee District, in Tayside Region.
 * The remainder of the county was combined with the county of Kinross and the parish of Kettins to form  District in Tayside.

The two-tier system introduced in 1975 was replaced by a system of unitary authorities in. The area of the former county is now divided between the council areas of Clackmannanshire, Perth and Kinross and. The area included in Dundee in 1975 was transferred to Perth and Kinross.

The Perthshire county boundary is still used for the purposes of land registration. Perthshire extended to.

Boundaries
Prior to the 1890s Perthshire's boundaries were irregular: the parishes of Culross and Tulliallan formed an exclave some miles away from the rest of the county, on the boundaries of and ; while the northern part of the parish of  formed an enclave of  within the county. Following the recommendations of the boundary commission appointed under the, Culross and Tulliallan were transferred to Fife, and the entire parish of Logie was included in Stirlingshire.

Coat of Arms
The of the County of Perth appears to have been granted for use on the colours and standards of the volunteer and militia units of the county raised at the end of the eighteenth century. , a native of Perthshire, and commanding officer of the Perthshire Gentlemen and Yeomanry Cavalry, was also at the time, and he presented the arms to the county in.

The shield is clearly based on the. The red lion was made to stand on a grassy mound and brandish a scimitar, probably symbolising defence of the county. A blue canton in the top left of the arms depicted the Palace of ensigned by an imperial crown.

The crest was a highland warrior, holding a broadsword "aloft in a menancing posture". The depiction of the highlander differed over time: the illustration here is from the turn of the twentieth century and shows the full dress uniform of an officer of a British army highland regiment.

The supporters were an eagle and a white war horse. The eagle was taken from the arms of the Royal Burgh of Perth. The war horse may refer to the military use of the arms.

The motto was Pro Lege et Libertate or For Law and Liberty, and was similar to that of Perth.

The grant document was discovered in the Lyon Office in, and forwarded to the newly formed Perth County Council.

Burghs
By the 1890s the county contained the following s, which were largely outside the county council's jurisdiction:
 * Royal Burgh of Perth (which was styled a city)
 * Burgh of Auchterarder (formed 1894: reinstated as a royal burgh in )
 * Burgh of Aberfeldy ( from 1887)
 * Burgh of Abernethy ( from 1458/9, police burgh from 1877)
 * Burgh of Alyth (police burgh 1834)
 * Burgh of Blairgowrie (burgh of barony 1634, police burgh 1833)
 * Burgh of Rattray (police burgh 1873)
 * Burgh of Callander (police burgh 1866)
 * Burgh of Coupar Angus (burgh of barony 1607, police burgh 1852)
 * Burgh of Crieff (burgh of barony 1674, burgh of regality 1687, police burgh 1864)
 * Burgh of Doune (burgh of barony 1611, police burgh 1890)
 * Burgh of Dunblane (burgh of regality of the Bishop of Dunblane 1442, police burgh 1870)

The divided burghs into two classes from : s, which were to gain extra powers from the county council, and small burghs which lost many of their responsibilities. Of the twelve burghs in Perthshire, only Perth was made a large burgh. There were ten small burghs: Balirgowrie and Rattray being united into a single burgh.

In Pitlochry was created a small burgh.

Civil parishes
Following the boundary changes caused by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, the county contained the following civil parishes:


 * Aberdalgie
 * Aberfeldy
 * Aberfoyle
 * Abernethy
 * Abernyte
 * Alyth
 * Ardoch
 * Arngask
 * Auchterarder
 * Auchtergaven
 * Balquhidder
 * Bendochy
 * Blackford
 * Blair Atholl
 * Blairgowrie
 * Callander
 * Caputh
 * Cargill
 * Clunie
 * Collace


 * Comrie
 * Coupar Angus
 * Creiff
 * Dowally
 * Dron
 * Dull
 * Dunbarney
 * Dunblane and
 * Dunkeld and Dowally
 * Dunning
 * Errol
 * Findo Gask
 * Forgandenny
 * Forteviot
 * Fortingall
 * Foss
 * Fowlis Easter
 * Fowlis Western
 * Glendevon
 * Glenshee


 * Inchture
 * Innerwick
 * Killin
 * Kilmadock
 * Kilspindie
 * Kinclaven
 * Kinfauns
 * Kinloch
 * Kinnaird
 * Kinnoul
 * Kirkmichael
 * Lethendy
 * Little Dunkeld
 * Logiealmond
 * Logierait
 * Longforan
 * Madderty
 * Meigle
 * Methven
 * Moneydie


 * Monzie
 * Monzievaird and Strowan
 * Moulin
 * Muckhart
 * Muthill
 * Persie
 * Perth
 * Port of Monteith
 * Rattray
 * Redgorton
 * Rhynd
 * St Madoes
 * St Martins
 * Scone
 * Stanley
 * Strathfillian
 * Strathloch
 * Tenandry
 * Tibbermore
 * Trinity Gask
 * Weem

In parish councils were established for the civil parishes, replacing the previous parochial boards. The parish councils were in turn replaced by district councils in.

Districts
In 1930 the landward area of the county (the part outside of burgh boundaries) was divided into five districts, replacing the parish councils established in :
 * Central District
 * Eastern District
 * Highland District
 * Perth District
 * Western District

Parliamentary constituencies
Following the, Perthshire returned members to the of the  from 1708.

1707 - 1885

 * The Royal Burgh of Perth originally formed part of the constituency along with burghs in Fife and Forfarshire. The  made Perth a separate burgh constituency.
 * The remainder of the county returned a single member as the parliamentary county of . The parishes of Tulliallan, Culross, Muckhart, and the Perthshire portions of the parishes of Logie and Fossaway were annexed to constituency of in.

1885 - 1918
In seats in the House of Commons were redistributed: Perthshire received three seats.
 * Perth remained a burgh constituency.
 * Pertshire Eastern
 * Perthshire Western

1918 - 1975
In there was a further redistribution. Perthshire was combined with to form a parliamentary county, divided into two constituencies:


 * constituency consisted of the burgh of Perth, the former Eastern constituency and part of the Western constituency. In it was renamed Perth and East Perthshire. The area included in the constituency was defined in  and  as the burghs of Perth, Abernethy, Alyth, Blairgowrie and Rattray and Coupar Angus; and the Eastern and Perth districts of the county of Perth.
 * the constituency consisted of the entire County of Kinross, the burghs of Aberfeldy, Auchterarder, Callander, Crieff, Doune, Dunblane and Pitlochry; and the Central, Highland and Western districts of the county of Perth.

These boundaries continued in use until, when new constituencies were formed based on the regions and districts created in.

Towns
Besides, other towns in Perthshire included:


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Famous places

 * Near and  many  stone formations can be found
 * and, famous from 's 
 * Near and  many  stone formations can be found
 * and, famous from 's 
 * and, famous from 's