THE MARKET CROSS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 14 June 1930, Page 12

THE MARKET CROSS

* 1 'r*o : Glasgow has •again a' market cross oroctea on the site of t/ie Mercat Cross’; which was removed;-inf'l6S9. Speaking at the formal restoration ceremony, Professor R. ,S: Raityfa'ijM the Cross in an ancient burgh, .-in; Scotland or elsewhere, served the purpose,’;ryhieh was served by the' gate many ce/hiuie'k' earlier, in the cities of th.c Israelites. Justice, bargaining ; and legal. evi(lcnc6,,,of.. these three - things’ constituted a large part of llie life. of an early .mercantile community, and in .day? when the art of writing was a rare, 'accomplishment human memory was' helped .by the( cir« cumstancc that such things were dohe afi a - fixed and . recognised place. So the

Cross became the scene of almost evenrthlng that-affected the secular life of the community. Goods for sale were exposed at or near the Cross. Royal proclamations .were read from it and legal notices wore posted on it. Perhaps nothing showed inure clearly-the part played by the Market Cross- in the burghal life than HiC- fact'that' the Town Council which had made it ‘‘equal with the ground.’ continued to speak and act as if it were still there. There were many references to it in the printed records, And no • reader would guess that it had ceased to exist. Everybody knew where it,"had been, the name, was. retained in common 'use, qnd the egg and butter market,.for . example, continued to be held' at . the CroSs.just as in the days when an actual Cross stood there.