Stirling’s Mercat (Market) Cross was its symbol of its right to trade as a burgh; the town was decalred a Royal Burgh in the 1120s. The column, topped by a unicorn, known as ‘the puggy’, can be seen in the Old Town on Broad Street. The Mercat Cross would have been at the heart of the town's trading activity. Across Scotland there are more than 100 mercat crosses and records show announcements, celebrations and even executions would have been carried out by them.
