Montrose

Sister cities

• Luzarches

History

Prehistoric elements are found in the vicinity of Montrose, including the Stone of Morphie located to the north. One ancient name for Montrose was Celurca. The place-name is formed from the Scottish Gaelic Moine (meaning moor or peat moss) and Ros (meaning peninsula or promontory), perhaps ultimately of Pictish origin. The first documentary evidence of the existence of Montrose is the burgh charter issued by David I, ′who founded the town around 1140 as Sallorch or Sallork. By 1178 the name had taken the form Munross before becoming Montrose. Folk etymology attributes the origin of the town's name as "Mount of Roses". This is reflected by the motto on the town's seal: Mare ditat, rosa decorat. (English: The sea enriches, the rose adorns) Montrose was visited and plundered in numerous instances by Danes. In 980 it was sacked and razed to the ground. It was once believed that a castle had existed in Montrose in the 10th century and was destroyed by Kenneth III. However the authenticity of this account has been disputed. In the two subsequent centuries there are no precise dates in its history. During the 1140s it was an important trading town. The trading revenues received from Montrose as well as Forfar and Dundee were acquired by Malcolm IV and contributed to Restenneth Priory. A convent dedicated to the Virgin Mary is said to have been founded in 1230 by Alan Durward but the precise location is unknown. during the Wars of Independence, Edward I of England visited the town with 30,000 of his men and stayed at Munros castle for three nights. Some accounts state that it was there that he humiliated the Scottish king, John de Balliol, by publicly stripping him of his royal insignia and status; other accounts claim that this occurred in Brechin. However the dyke was…

Most-observed species

• Eurasian red squirrel

  Sciurus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Mammalia
  3,044
• eastern gray squirrel

  Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin, 1788 · Mammalia
  2,415
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  943
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  931
• Herring Gull

  Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, 1763 · Aves
  922
• Eurasian Oystercatcher

  Haematopus ostralegus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  687
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  679
• Marmalade hoverfly

  Episyrphus balteatus (De Geer, 1776) · Insecta
  656

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2005-12-31
  3 km WSW of Auchterarder, United Kingdom