The busy, commercial and industrial city of Dundee, situated along the North shore of the Firth of Tay, a river itself famed for good fishing, was made a royal burgh by William the Lion in the 12th century and quickly became one of the chief towns of Scotland. Its industrial heritage stems from shipbuilding, textiles and Jute. The history of the Jute trade is told in the Textile Heritage Centre.
The harbour is pleasing to the eye with spectacular ships. These include Captain Scott's 1901 ship, RRS Discovery, the frigate HMS Unicorn, a 46 gun wooden warship dating back to the days of Trafalgar and the North Carr Lightship, whose crew witnessed the first air raid in 1939, where their history can be uncovered at Discovery point. Dundee also has 13th century ruins of Dudhope Castle and 16th century Mains Castle. Dundee is full of contemporary and performing arts, which can be celebrated in the many galleries and theatres. Visit also the multi award winning Verdant Works, where discovering the past is made entertaining and enjoyable.
Dundee's past is a turbulent one, experiencing first hand the wrath of England's Henry VIII, whose forces plundered, burned, raped and pillaged the town for a week in 1547. In 1645 the town was stormed by Montrose and in 1651 it succumbed yet again to untold severity by Cromwell's army under General Monk. Many other turbulent stories can be found in the city but it is not all bad. It was here that in 1309 Robert the Bruce was proclaimed lawful King of Scots and William Wallace received some schooling here too. On a lighter note, the City is home to boiled sweets and jam, to the Beano and Dandy, timeless comics famous throughout the world and of course, the Sunday Post.
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