History of Markets In Montrose

Towards the end of the 17th century the Council had other things to think of.... there was a weekly market to be regulated.

It was one of the bigger projects that began to develop during the second term of office of the 3rd James Scott of Logie.

Just before he became Provost, the rest of the council tried to persuade him to sell them a piece of his land fronting high street, right across rom the Tolbooth, for a slaughterhouse. It was unhygienic having folks slaughtering their beasts on their own property, down the closes. But Scott thought they should find a less central site and refused to sell.  Ten more years passed before they began to build their slaughterhouse outside the town on the edge of the Basin, on the Hospital lands at the foot of Dummie Ha's Wynd.

Meanwhile the Council went ahead with their plans to modernise the market. While Scott was Provost, a site was fixed for the sale of 'skinned fleshes' - on the cobbles between John Vallantyne's house and Patrick Rany's, on the west side of the street. The market dues for each sheep sold were 4d Scots, for veal 8d, for swine 1/- and for ox or cow 1/8. And each flesher who sold a carcase that was slashed on the back had to pay 12/- if it was beef and 4/- if it was mutton, as a reminder that it paid to be careful in the killing.

Cordiners by the dozen from the surrounding countryside sold their shoes at the market place and they paid 8d Scots for the use of the stands that the Council made for them. It was important that the market should have a reputation for honest dealing. When complaints arose in 1678 that the shoemakers were charging exorbitant prices the magistrates made an immediate enquiry.

Even the local fishermen had to do as the Council told them. Cadgers had been in the habit of buying what they wanted direct from the boats, but that was stopped in 1680. From then onwards, the catch had to be hung from poles which the Council provided at the market place, to ensure that townspeople would get first choice.

Montrose had a new mealmarket by that time. It was built in 1677 beside the churchyard dyke and it cost the Council nothing.

( extract from MONTROSE (before 1700) by Duncan Fraser )

 

 

The George Hotel stands on the grounds of a former fish market and what was then known back in the 1800’s as The Eagle Inn, part of which can still be seen from the hotel car park.

 

Trade and Industry

Montrose in the early- to mid-nineteenth century was a diverse and successful manufacturing town. The principal industry was flax spinning, and the town contained five flax mills, employing over 2,000 people. On the River North Esk, close to the town, there were an additional three flax mills, and two bleaching works. Handloom and power-loom linen weaving was a also a significant industry in 1850s Montrose, employing approximately 1,400 people. The town contained three starch-making factories, two tan works, two iron foundries, two machine-making factories, a soap factory, two rope works, a shipyard, several breweries and miscellaneous workshops. Montrose was also a market town for the surrounding agricultural area, and weekly grain and produce markets were held on Fridays, in addition to fairs at Martinmas and Whitsunday. The principal exports out of Montrose harbour were manufactured goods, fish grain and cattle, and the main imports were coal, lime, slate, iron, flax, hemp and timber. In the final decades of the nineteenth century, trade and industry in Montrose suffered during an economic slump, and the population of the town fell.

 

Hinterland

Farming in the area around Montrose was predominantly arable, and the sandy nature of much of the soil meant that it was not particularly rich farming country. The most consistently profitable crops grown in the area were grass, wheat and turnips. The water that surrounded Montrose on three sides was probably a greater provider of wealth to the town. Montrose basin was a rich source of mussels, and the South Esk contained a pearl fishery and salmon fisheries. Sea fishing had been an important part of Montrose's economy throughout its history, and in the nineteenth century three vessels from Montrose were involved in the whaling industry.

 

Historical description

In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Montrose like this: