Fair Maid of Perth's House

Dating at least in part from 1475, the iconic Fair Maid's House is regarded as the oldest secular building in Perth.

Located in Curfew Row, behind the Perth Concert Hall, the two-storey B-listed building is much altered but still contains Mediaeval sections.

The Fair Maid's House is an education, information and exhibition centre.

The house is most notably linked to Catherine Glover, the fictitious heroine of Sir Walter Scott's popular novel the Fair Maid of Perth (1828), which provides a romanticised account of the city in the late 14th century, intermixed with some genuine historical events.

The Fair Maid's father, Simon Glover, was a senior member of the Glover Incorporation who, according to Scott, lived here with his pious and chaste daughter. The Glover Incorporation, one of the Mediaeval guilds of Perth, bought the house in 1629 and used it as a meeting hall for the next 150 years. Their motto, Grace and Peace, is carved above the door.

The Fair Maid also appears in Georges Bizet's four-act opera La Jolie Fille de Perth (1866) and features in verse by the doggerel poet William Topaz McGonagall (1830 - 1902).

With the exception of a prayer niche and a fireplace on the first floor, which most likely date from the 15th century, the wood-panelled interior is largely a fantasy.

More info here if you should wish it.