Mercat cross

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 Scotland was an independent kingdom, 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 Historical documents often refer simply to "the cross" of whichever town or village is mentioned.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, though the number rises if later imitations are added.

History

The earliest documentary reference occurs in the reign of William the Lion (1165-1214), when it was decreed that "all merchandises sal be presentit at the mercat and mercat croce of burghis". Early town crosses may have continued the tradition of church crosses used to mark consecrated land or sanctuary boundaries, and functioned similarly to early ecclesiastical crosses, from before the building of stone churches, in marking a communal gathering place. They are thought to have been originally pillars of wood, possibly placed on stone bases, changing to stone pillars in later centuries. Some, as at Inverkeithing, incorporate sundials (the pillar of each cross itself acts as a primitive sundial).