Mercers of Perth

The origins of the first Mercers in Scotland are lost in the mists of time and their precise relationship to one another can only be speculated upon.

There is an early (c.1200) charter, "Liber de Calchon," which names William le Mercer as a witness.

William may have been the father of John Mercer who gave three watermills at Perth to King Malcolm Canmore. The following epitaph is said to have been put on John's tomb in the Audie Vault in the Cathedral of St Johnstoun (Perth) when he died in 1280.

A rough "poetic" translation (we would be pleased to hear from Latin scholars who can do better) reads:

Grave old John Mercer, lies within this stone
A pleasant man as e'er Perth has known.
The thirteenth century, when he left life's stage
Attained with him, their 80th year of age.

John's son could have been Bernard le Mercer, Burgess of Perth who signed the Ragman Roll* on 28th August, 1296.

Bernard may have been the father of Thomas Mercer who is the first individual about whom we have more detailed information.

*The Ragman Roll was the deed on parchment on which the Scottish nobility and gentry subscribed allegiance to King Edward 1st of England following Edward's defeat of Scots led by King John Balliol and the annihilation of the inhabitants of Berwick. Scotland was on her knees and the signatories, who had little option but to swear fealty to Edward (whether they meant it or not), were made to walk through the streets of Berwick which were littered with corpses left to rot on Edward's orders. Other Mercers who signed the document included Austin le Mercer, burgeis de Rokesburgh (Roxburgh.)