Dundee () is the fourth-largest city in Scotland with a population of around 150,000 people. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast of the Central Lowlands of Scotland. The Dundee area has been settled since the Mesolithic with evidence of Pictish habitation beginning in the Iron Age. During the Medieval Era the city became a prominent trading port and was the site of many battles. Throughout the Industrial Revolution, the local jute industry caused the city to grow rapidly. In this period, Dundee also gained prominence due to its marmalade industry and its journalism, giving Dundee its epithet as the city of "jute, jam and journalism".
Toponymy The name "Dundee" is of uncertain etymology. It incorporates the place-name element dùn, fort, present in both Gaelic and in Brythonic languages such as Pictish.Taylor (1898); Forsyth (1997) The remainder of the name is less obvious. One possibility is that it comes from the Gaelic 'Dèagh', meaning 'fire'. Another is that it derives from 'Tay', and it is in this form, 'Duntay' that the town is seen in Timothy Pont's map (c.1583–1596).Pont (1583–1596) p325 Another suggestion is that it is a personal name, referring to an otherwise unknown local ruler named 'Daigh'Barrow or 'Deaghach'.
Folk etymology, repeated by Hector Boece in 1527, claims that the town's name was originally Allectum, and it was renamed Dei Donum 'Gift from God', following David, 8th Earl of Huntingdon's arrival there on his return from the Holy Land.Boece (1527) The city was referred to by some Gaelic speakers, particularly in Highland Perthshire and Braemar as An Athaileag.
Early history Dundee and its surrounding area have been continuously occupied since the Mesolithic. A kitchen midden of that date was unearthed during work on the harbour in 1879, and yielded flints, charcoal and a stone axe.Historic Environment Scotland: NO43SW 20; Mathewson(1878–79)
A Neolithic cursus, with associated barrows has been identified at the north-western end of the cityHistoric Environment Scotland: SM6560 and nearby lies the Balgarthno Stone Circle.Jervise (1854–57); Historic Environment Scotland: SM128 A lack of stratigraphy around the stone circle has left it difficult to determine a precise age,Historic Environment Scotland: NO33SE 5 but it is thought to date from around the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age.The Council for Scottish Archaeology: Balgarthno Stone Circle The circle has been subject to vandalism in the past and has recently been fenced off to protect it.BBC News: Stone circle protected by fence Bronze Age finds are fairly abundant in Dundee and the surrounding area, particularly in the form of short cist burials.See for example: Coutts (1963–64); Kerr (1896)
From the Iron Age, perhaps the most prominent remains are of the Law Hill Fort,Driscoll (1995) although domestic remains are also well represented.Gibson (1989) Near to Dundee can be found the well-characterised souterrains at Carlungie and Ardestie, which date from around the 2nd century AD.Armit (1999) Several brochs are also found in the area, including the ruins at Laws Hill near Monifieth,Feachem(1977); Brand-dd.com: Drumsturdy Broch at CraighillFeachem (1977); Historic Environment Scotland: SM3038 and at Hurly Hawkin, near Liff, Angus.Feachem (1977); Historic Environment Scotland: NO33SW 7; Taylor (1982)
Early Middle Ages
The early medieval history of the town relies heavily on tradition. In Pictish times, the part of Dundee that was later expanded into the Burghal town in the twelfth/13th centuries was a minor settlement in the kingdom of Circinn, later known as Angus.Barrow (1990); Chadwick (1949) An area roughly equivalent to the current urban area of Dundee is likely to have formed a demesne, centred on Dundee castle.Barrow (1990)
Hector Boece records the ancient name of the settlement as Alectum in his 1527 work Historia Gentis Scotorum (History of the Scottish People).Boece (1527) p325 While there is evidence this name was being used to refer to the town in the 18th century,Small (1842) its early attribution should be treated with caution as Boece's reliability as a source is questionable.Ferguson (1998)
The Chronicle of Huntingdon (c1290) records a battle on 20 July 834 AD between the Scots, led by Alpin (father of Kenneth MacAlpin), and the Picts, which supposedly took place at the former village of Pitalpin (NO 370 329). The battle was allegedly a decisive victory for the Picts, and Alpin is said to have been executed by beheading.Skene (1886); (1867) This account, while perhaps appealing, should be treated with caution as the battle's historical authenticity is in doubt.Historic Environment Scotland: NO33SE 4
High Middle Ages Tradition names Dundee as the location of a court palace of the House of Dunkeld.Mackie (1836); Ordnance Survey (1857): Town plan of Dundee; Wilson (c1883); Fordun (1360); Wyntoun (c1420) However, no physical trace of such a residence remains and it is likely to be mythical.Historic Environment Scotland: NO43SW 39; The origin of this myth is likely to have been a misinterpretation of the ancient name of Edinburgh, Dunedin.Skene (1886
Dundee's history as a major town dates to the charter in which King William granted the earldom of Dundee to his younger brother, David (later Earl of Huntingdon) in 1179–1182.Barrow (2003) Earl David is thought to have built Dundee Castle, which formerly occupied the site now occupied by St Paul's Cathedral.
Dundee's position on the Tay, with its natural harbour between St Nicholas Craig and Stannergate (now obscured by development) made it an ideal location for a trading port, which led to a period of major growth in the town as Earl David promoted the town as a burgh.Barrow (1990); Mackie (1836)
On David's death in 1219, the burgh passed first to his son, John. John died without issue in 1237 and the burgh was divided evenly between his three sisters, with the castle becoming the property of the eldest, Margaret and, subsequently, to her youngest daughter, Dervorguilla. Dervorguilla's portion of the burgh later passed to her eldest surviving son, John Balliol, and the town became a Royal Burgh on the coronation of John as king in 1292.
Dundee experienced periods of occupation and destruction in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Following John Balliol's renunciation (1295) of Edward I's claimed authority over Scotland, the English King twice visited Scotland with hostile intent. Edward (the 'Hammer of the Scots') revoked Dundee's royal charter, removing the town's people the right to control local government and the judiciary. He occupied the Castle at Dundee at the outbreak of the First War of Independence in 1296 but the castle retaken by siege by the forces of William Wallace in 1297, immediately prior to the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
From 1303 to 1312 the city was again occupied. Edward's removal resulted in the complete destruction of the Castle by Robert the Bruce, who had been proclaimed King of Scots at nearby Scone in 1306. In 1327, the Bruce granted the royal burgh a new charter.Mackie (1836) Later in the 14th century, during the conflict between England and France known as the Hundred Years' War, the French invoked the Auld Alliance, drawing Scotland into the hostilities. Richard II subsequently marched northward and razed Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee.
Early modern era Dundee became a walled city in 1545 during a period of English hostilities known as the Rough Wooing (Henry VIII's attempt to extend his Protestant ambitions north by marrying his youngest son Edward, Duke of Cornwall to Mary, Queen of Scots). The Wishart Arch was believed to be the only remaining part of the wall though a piece behind St Paul's Cathedral may have survived, though this remains unconfirmed pursuant to further investigation. The English took a clock from the burgh kirk and left the church unroofed.Marcus Merriman, The Rough Wooing (Tuckwell, 2000), p. 23.
Mary maintained the alliance with the French, who captured Protestant opponents, including John Knox, at St Andrews Castle, in nearby east Fife in July 1547. That year, following victory at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, the English occupied Edinburgh and went on to destroy much of Dundee by naval bombardment. The Howff Burial Ground, granted to the people of Dundee in 1546, was a gift from Mary. In July 1547, much of the city was destroyed by an English naval bombardment.
During a period of relative peace between Scotland and England, the status of Dundee as a royal burgh was reconfirmed (in The Great Charter of Charles I, dated 14 September 1641). In 1645, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, Dundee was again besieged, this time by the Royalist Marquess of Montrose.Gazetteer for Scotland: Overview of James GrahamBartholomew (1887) In 1648 Dundee was badly hit by the plague.The Dundee Book, Billy Kay
On 1 September 1651, during the Third Civil War, the city was attacked by Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarian forces, led by George Monk. Much of the city was destroyed and an estimated 2000 inhabitants were killed or taken prisoner. (See Siege of Dundee.) Up to 200 Dundee ships were sunk and/or confiscated. In the aftermath, a large contingent of English soldiers remained in the town and married local women, causing a permanent impact on the composition of the population.
Dundee was later the site of an early Jacobite uprising when John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount Dundee raised the Stuart standard on Dundee Law in 1689. This show of support of James VII (James II of England) following his overthrow, earned the Viscount the nickname Bonnie Dundee.Gazetteer for Scotland: Overview of John Graham of Claverhouse
Troubles and financial collapses in the 1760s caused the background of the Tayside Meal Mobs on 1772 and 1773 which began in Dundee in the summer of 1772.The Tayside Meal Mobs of 1772-3 S G E Lythe
Modern era Dundee greatly expanded in size during the Industrial Revolution mainly because of the burgeoning British Empire trade, flax and then latterly the jute industry.A vision of Britain through time: Dundee Total Population By the end of the 19th century, a majority of the city's workers were employed in its many jute mills and in related industries. Dundee's location on a major estuary allowed for the easy importation of jute from the Indian subcontinent as well as whale oil—needed for the processing of the jute—from the city's large whaling industry. A substantial coastal marine trade also developed, with inshore shipping working between the city of Dundee and the port of London. The industry began to decline in the 20th century as it became cheaper to process the cloth on the Indian subcontinent. The city's last jute mill closed in the 1970s.
In addition to jute the city is also known for jam and journalism. The "jam" association refers to marmalade, which was purportedly invented in the city by Janet Keiller in 1797 (although in reality, recipes for marmalade have been found dating back to the 16th century). Keiller's marmalade became a famous brand because of its mass production and its worldwide export. The industry was never a major employer compared with the jute trade.Keiller's: Sticky Success Marmalade has since become the "preserve" of larger businesses, but jars of Keiller's marmalade are still widely available. "Journalism" refers to the publishing firm DC Thomson & Co., which was founded in the city in 1905 and remains the largest employer after the health and leisure industries.Dundee History, Travel Scotland Holidays; Victorian Dundee – Jute, Jam & Journalism The firm publishes a variety of newspapers, children's comics and magazines, including The Sunday Post, The Courier, Shout and children's publications, The Beano and The Dandy.D.C. Thomson Web site