Aberdeen - Mercat Cross

Diagonally opposite the Tolbooth and adorned with a white unicorn stands the Mercat Cross, a medieval symbol of the Aberdeen's right to hold a market. On the town cross which was built in 1686 by Aberdeen's guild of merchants, the portrait medallions show the heads of the 10 Stuart monarchs from James I through to James VII, Charles I, Charles II and Mary Stuart.

Only a few yards away stood the town residence of the Earl Marischal from whose window in 1562 Mary Stuart is said to have watched the execution of her cousin and admirer Sir John Gordon of Findlater. He had threatened Mary with a forced marriage but later found himself a victim of the "Aberdeen Maiden", a Scottish variation of the guillotine.