Provosts were elected by the council and served not only as the chairman of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire town.
They were equivalent in many ways to the institution of mayor.
Each of the 32 Scottish local authorities elects a convener or provost, but it is only the four main cities, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee that have a lord provost.
This is enshrined in the Local Government etc.
The Provost of Peterhead painted by Edward Burton after Sir John Watson-Gordon, is of Roderick Grey, the portrait now being in the Scottish National Gallery.