Royal Burgh of Auchtermuchty civic sign

Photographer

Simmons, Jean

Date

• 1986

Summary

• The road sign posted at the approach to the town of Auchtermuchty, Fife, announces the town to be a Royal Burgh, a status granted under charter of King James V of Scotland in 1517. The town's name, in Gaelic, means "Upland of the Pigs" (or boars), a probable reference to this region having once been a haven for wild boars. A tusked boar figures on the town's emblem, which resembles a coat of arms. The motto "Dum sero spero,", as seen at the bases of the same emblem, means "while I sow, I hope," a variation on the more familiar phrase "Dum spiro spero," "while I breathe, I hope." The motto makes reference to the agricultural basis of the local economy.