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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through I lie lull lexl of 1 1 us book on I lie web al |_-.:. :.-.-:: / / books . qooqle . com/| L JEW •St>/ THE NEW STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND. VOL. IX. THE NEW STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OP SCOTLAND. BY THE MINISTERS OF THE RESPECTIVE PARISHES, UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF A COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE CLEROT. VOL. IX. FIFE— KINROSS. WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH AND LONDON. MDCCCXLV. 00 S FIFE CONTENTS. ABBOT8HALL, • m PAGB 146 ABDIB, • m 47 ABBRCROMBIB, ff • 337 ABBRDOUR, • • 716 ANSTBUTHBR EASTER, ■ • 295 AN8TRUTHBR WESTER, ■ 611 AUCHTBRDBRRAN • 165 AUCHTBRM UCflTY , • 781 AUCBTBRTOOL, • a 249 BALLINGRY, • • 446 BALMBRINO, . • • 577 BBATB, . • • 174 BURNTISLAND, • • 404 CAMERON, • • 304 CARNBBB, • * 913 OARNOCK, • • 690 CERES, • • 517 COLLBSSIE, ■ • 21 CRAIL, • * # 959 CRBICH, • • 631 CULTS, • • 558 CUPAR, . • • 1 DAIBSIB, • • 770 D ALGETY, • « • 181 DUNBOO, • v 205 DUNFBRMLINB, • • 821 DUNINO, t 356 DY8ART, - ■ • 127 BLIB, * • ■ 278 FALKLAND, • • 920 FERRY PORT-ON-CRAIG, 81 FUSK, • • 595 FOR G AN, • a 505 INYBRKBITBING AND ROSYTH, 230 KBMBACK, m m 719 KBNNOWAY, • • 375 KETTLE, • • 102 KILCONQUHAR, t • 315 K1LMANY, .;0 532 VU1 00HTKHT8. KILKENNY, KINGHORN, KINQLASSIE, KING8BARN8, KIRKCALDY, LARGO,' LESLIE, LEUCHARS, LOGIE, MARKING H, MONIHAIL, MOONZIE, NBWBURGH, . NBWBURN, PITTBNWBEM, ST ANDREWS, 8T LEONARDS, ST MONANS, . SALINE, SCOONIE, 8TRATHMIGLO, TORRYBURN, WEMYS8,. PAGB 970 800 194 89 740 434 111 217 426 655 37 786 56 124 983 449 497 337 798 264 775 727 390 mm&msm&m smms. PARISH OF CUPAR. PRE8BYTERY OF CUPAR, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. LAURENCE ADAMSON, D.D. FIRST MINISTER. THE REV. JOHN BIRRELL, A. M. SECOND MINISTER* I. — Topography and Natural History. Name, Boundaries, fyc* — This parish consists of the two parishes of Cupar and St Michael of Tarvit, which were conjoined in the beginning of the seventeenth century, in 1618, — the boundary of separation betwixt them having been the small river of Eden, as it then flowed, f It is situated about the middle of the county or pe- ninsula of Fife, and is nearly equidistant, about 10 miles, from New- burgh, Ferry- Port-on- Craig, St Andrews, and Largo. It contains the town of Cupar, which was made a royal burgh, invested with extensive privileges and properties at an early period, and*is de- scribed by Cambden as " Burgus insignis." Though divested now, by the liberality or prodigality of its rulers, of nearly all its extensive properties, as a burgh Cupar enjoys still the privileges that are al- lowed by the late Reform Act, and ranks as the county town of Fife.} The parish is of a very irregular form, and is much indented by the parishes of Dairsie, Ceres, and Monimail. It measures from east to west nearly 5 miles, and about the same from north to south. Its surface is beautifully diversified by rising grounds, and intersected by the river Eden and the Lady Burn, or St Mary's Burn, which meet at an acute angle at the eastern extremity of the town. It is bounded on the north and east by Dairsie and Kern* back ; on the south by Ceres ; on the west by Cults and Monimail ; and on the north by Moonzie and Kilmany. Meteorology. — The climate of this parish is mild and salubrious. * Drawn up by the Rev. John Birrell, second minister of the parish. t Having been a fewyears ago straighted, a small portion of St Michael's is situat- ed to the north of the Eden, near the County-Hall. X By the ancient charters to the town of Cupar, preserved in the Register Office in Edinburgh, whereof an authentic duplicate is deposited with the town clerk, the magistrates possessed a much more extensive jurisdiction over the surrounding pa- rishes than what is now or has been for a long time exercised. FIFE. A 2 FIFESHIRK. Though the town of Cupar and the lower parts of the parish that lie along the banks of the Eden are liable to be enveloped in hoar frost at certain seasons, particularly in the spring and autumn, yet the air is in general dry and exhilarating. As the town is situated little more than twenty-five feet above the level of the sea, the temperature and climate are warm and agreeable. In consequence of this, there seems to be no particular disease incident to the parish. And while there are some instances of extreme old age in it, — two or three persons upwards of 90 and one above- 100, — there are many of an almost youthful vigour at the advanced period of three- score and ten and fourscore years. Hydrograpliy. — The small river of Eden, flows from west to east through the parish, as well as the strath to which it gives its name. It rises about sixteen miles west, near the north side of the West Lomond. It is joined, at the eastern extremity of the town, by the Lady Burn, which flows from north-west to south- east till . the point of junction. The bed of the Eden is very level, in consequence of which it flows sluggishly (lene fluit aquis.) Though Cupar is six miles from the sea, at Edenmouth, the river has a fall of only twenty-five feet. It is not available, therefore, for the purposes of machinery to the extent that the vo- lume of water which it contains would justify, were its descent more rapid. Through the enterprise of modem times, however, nearly every fall has been seized upon and turned to account And though there is not a wheel moved by it within the parish that has more than a breast-fall, yet there are several employed for the move- ment of powerful machinery. From entering the parish till leav- ing it, it is made available to the extent of eighty horse power. The course of the Lady Burn is more brisk and rapid ; but the volume of water is in general so small, that, except by much damming up and saving, it cannot be made to serve any other purpose than that of driving thrashing-mills. The junction of these two streams at the town gives to it a lively appearance, and contributes greatly to its cleanliness and healthfulness. There are many perennial springs in the parish. And at any place of the town, by sinking to the depth of 20 or 30 feet, an abundant supply of water can be pro- cured, fit for all domestic purposes except washing. Geology and Mineralogy. — While the surface of the parish is diversified and undulating, the geological construction and the cha- racter of the minerals is also various. Along the banks of the Eden on either side, white sandstone abounds, lying in strata of CUPAR. 3 various degrees of compactness according to their depth, and dip- ping on both sides towards the south. Along the banks of the Lady Burn, a sandstone conglomerate prevails, consisting of large masses of quartz and other flinty ingredients, and resembling a coarse puddingstone. Surmounting this rock, and at irregular and undulating distances from the Lady Burn, there runs a very singular mound, composed (when examined) of fresh water gravel Beginning at the distance of nearly a quarter of a mile from the point where the Eden and the Lady Burn meet, this mound runs in a serpentine direction, till it terminates, as it rises, abruptly, in what is now called the School, but anciently the Castle-hill. About the middle, there is a peak of greater elevation than the rest, which is called the Moot-hill, and on which, according to tradition, the Earls of Fife used to hold their councils of war, and dispense the awards of justice. Were one to look to appearance, or to listen to report without attending to the magnitude of this mound, he might conclude, as has been sometimes supposed, that it is artificial. But, looking to the size, this supposition is instantly checked. And ex- tending the view across from the Castle or School-hill to the op- posite side of the Eden, and remarking the same serpentine and mound-like appearance continuing, there is left no room to doubt that the mound is a natural deposit formed at some remote period, and broken through, as it now is, by the action of the Eden* Above this mound, and on the north and south sides of the Eden, there is an immense bed of clay of a very excellent quality, and peculiarly fitted for the making of brick and tiles, for which it has long been used. Recently, it has been employed for the making of coarse earthen-ware, and is found to answer well. Higher up, and behind this embankment, as it must have been till it was worn away by the water, lie what are called the Wards, — an extensive and fertile plain, all now under the plough, but wearing decided marks of having been at one time under water, and forming the bottom of a large lake or basin, which has been emptied and laid dry by the wearing down of the embankment The name of Fer- ry still attaches to some of the places on the sides of this plain ; and even at the period of the Reformation it was of such an impassable nature, that, while the royal forces lay on the hill or Garley Bank on the south side, and the Lords of the Congregation lay encamped on a moor on the opposite, this marsh formed a barrier of separa- tion betwixt them sufficiently strong to prevent them from advan- cing to or molesting each other. 4 FIFESHIRE. Above the gravel and sandstone strata which lie along the banks of the Eden and Lady Burn, trap rock, greenstone, and clinkstone, abound and are quarried extensively. Neither coal nor lime are to be found in the parish, nor in any part of the Strath of the Eden or How of Fife, — although both of these valuable articles are in abun- dance, and of excellent quality, about seven and ten miles to the south. The soil of the parish is very variable, from a light sandy soil to that of a strong and heavy clay. In general, however, it is good and fertile, and through the means of long cultivation, and from a full command of manure, it is highly improved, and produces the finest crops. Zoology. — The rarer species of birds to be found in the parish, are the jay, the golden crested -wren, the willow-wren, the water- hen, the water-ouzel, the kingfisher, the long- tailed titmouse, the goat-sucker. * II. — Civil History. There is a good map of the parish lately executed and litho- graphed by John Govan, Esq. W. S. common agent for the heri- tors in adjusting the localities, — and which, though not scientifically correct, gives a good view of the conjoined parishes. There is also a good plan of the town in Wood's Burgh Atlas, published several years ago. Antiquities. — The ancient Castle of Cupar stood on the termina- tion of the mound already described as running along the course of the Lady Burn. This is represented by Buchanan as a place of very considerable strength in the time of Edward Baliol. During the invasion of the English at that time, it was seized upon, and occu- pied by them till they were driven by famine to abandon it and re- turn across the Forth to their own country. Its position at the junction of the Eden and Lady Burn favours the opinion, that, at a time when these streams were not so well guarded within their banks as they now are by artificial means, it must have been a for- tress of considerable strength, and in a rude state of warfare must have presented considerable resistance to an assailing force. While workmen were employed some years ago in improving the line of road that runs to the east, several skeletons were found, which were conjectured to be those of the soldiers who had fallen while con- * A pack of fox hounds is kept at Cupar as head quarters, subscribed for by seve- ral gentlemen in the county, and as there are abundance of woods in Fife, the sport is generally good. There is also at Cupar a small subscription pack of harriers. 4 CUPAR. 5 ducting some assault upon this fortress. Now, however, there re- main no vestiges of the fortress. The hill has long been held as the property of the town, and occupied as the site of the schools and academy. In the times of Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, it is said to have been used as the play-field for the exhibition and the acting of his dramatic pieces. The name of Castle-hill has now pas- sed into the more peaceful name of School-hill, and the plays ex- hibited daily, are those of youths when just " let loose from school." Under this hill, on the south, stood a convent of Dominican or Blackfriars, belonging originally to the Island of May, and after- wards transferred to. St Andrews, which, like its more warlike neigh- bour, has now been completely removed. That part of the chapel " % built of cut freestone," which at the writing of the last Account is said to have been standing, has been taken away to make room for a very handsome street Near or on the very site of the cha- pel of the convent, stands now the Episcopal chapel, St James's, which is a very handsome building, meant to form part of the street when completed. And lately, when the grounds of the convent were trenched, to answer the purposes of a kitchen-garden, many re- ceptacles of the dead were disturbed, and their skeletons dug up. Another striking remembrancer of the olden times is a small co- nical eminence on the opposite side of the Eden, and lying a little further down the river than the School-hill. This, which, at the time of the last Account, was under cultivation, is now covered with a young thriving plantation belonging to the proprietor of Tarvit. It was the site of the church of the parish of St Michael, and formed the burying-ground of that parish. A few years ago, when an alteration was making upon the public roads, many of the depositaries of the dead were broken open, and the remains of their inmates brought to view after a repose of at least two centuries. This receptacle of the dead has thus been again converted into common earth. In the same manner, has the burial-ground of the parish of Cupar, which lay at a remoter period at a distance of fully a mile to the north-west of the town, and of the present burial- ground, where the church also stood, been converted again into common earth, and scarcely does a vestige remain to shew where it was. At the time of the last Account, it formed part of what was called the glebe of the first minister of the parish. An excambion has since been made to accommodate the proprietor of Springfield, in whose policy it lies. With the exception of its being a little more elevated than the surrounding field, nothing remains to tell 6 F1FESHIRE. the passing stranger that the dead lie there. To shew, howeyer, the effect of prejudice upon the mind, it may be noticed, that there are still individuals to be found who have aa unwillingness to pass the spot under night The present burial-ground haying been set apart and conse- crated in 1415, when the church was removed from its former si* tuation, and built nearer the town, can boast of few ancient monu- ments. One of the most ancient is that erected to the memory of Mr William Scott, who was for many years first minister of Cupar, and who built the spire of the steeple at his own expense, and ac- cording to his own design. This monument shews the burial-place of the ministers of the parish. But, in consequence of the action of the weather upon the stones of which it is composed, the inscrip- tion is completely obliterated* It is said to have been executed in Holland, and erected by the relatives of Mr Scott, who belonged to the family of Balwearie, shortly after his death, and must have been thought a work of taste in that time. As there is none to take an interest in its repair, it bids fair to go soon into com- plete decay. There is also a monument erected to the memory of some of those who suffered for conscience sake in the times of Charles II. * In the east end of the outside of the present church there is a niche shewing where St James's altar once stood. Within the church in the western wall, lies a full length statue of Sir John Arnot of Fernie, who fell in the last crusade. And in the same wall is a very handsome marble tablet, erected to the memory of the late * This is a simple 6tone> modern in its appearance, and bears this inscription. ** Here lies interred the heads of Laur. Hay, and Andrew Pitulloch, who suffered martyrdom at Edinburgh, July 13th 1681, for adhering to the word of God and Scotland's covenanted work of reformation ; and also one of the hands of David Hack- ston of Rathillet, who was most cruelly murdered at Edinburgh, July SOth 1680, for the same cause." On the obverse of this stone are the following lines, with the date at the top, 1680. Our persecutors filled with rage, Their brutish fury to aswage Took heads and hands of martyrs off, That they might be the people's scoff; They Hackstoris body cut asunder, And set it up a world's wonder In several places, to proclaim, These monsters gloried in their shame. At the bottom of these lines there is this intimation, " Erected July 13th 1792.* On inquiry, however, it is found that this present stone, which certainly was erected in 1792, was put up as a substitute for another which had become quite decayed, and which is supposed to have been erected immediately after the events recorded. The epitaph and the lines on the obverse are said to be the same as those that were in- scribed upon the original stone. This stone is newly painted once a year, as it has been, ever since it was set up, by private individuals, at their own expense. .CUPAR. 7 Dr Campbell, writer of the last Account, by his sons Sir George of Eden wood, and Sir John, the present Attorney- General The ancient cross of Cupar still stands, and is seen from a great distance on the top of the hill of Wemyss Hall. It was carried up and placed there by the late Colonel Wemyss, father of the pre- sent proprietor of Wemyss Hall, when it had been removed from its original position to make way for the improvements that were making upon the streets. It is a straight round column surmount- ed by the town arms, and placed now upon a strong pedestal, com- posed of the rock of the hill on which it stands. Parochial Records. — The records of the kirk-session reach back to the year 1648. The minutes of session contain many curious and interesting views of the character and manners of the times. Excepting a chasm from 1661-1695, they are complete. The re- gisters of baptisms, deaths, and marriages, reach back to 1654, and are brought down regularly, and without interruption, to the present time. Modern Buildings, $*c. — The modern buildings of the town are, the Town and County Halls, and an Episcopal chapel, standing in the New Street, otherwise called St Catherine Street, and form- ing part of it Also, a town and county jail, standing on the op- posite side of the Eden from the town, but built in the style of the New Street, and according to a plan by which it was to orna- ment that street Its present site, however, and the plan on which it is built, do not correspond. None of the modern build- ings can boast of much elegance. The County Buildings, when the plan by which they are now being enlarged shall have been completed, will be very spacious, and afford such accommodation for the county meetings, and the meetings of the Sheriff-courts, and Justice of Peace Courts, and also for the keeping of the pub- lic records, &c of the county, as will reflect great credit upon the county. In the County Hall, there are two very elegant portraits lately procured by the county. One of these is a portrait of the late General John Earl of Hopetoun, by Raeburn. The other is that of Thomas Earl of Kellie, Lord Lieutenant of Fife, by Wil- kie. They were procured by the gentlemen of the county in tes- timony of the high respect in which they held these noblemen, and in return for the high services which they rendered, by their atten- tion to the business of the county. The most ancient mansion-houses in the parish are those of Carslogie and Wemyss Hall. The former was built upwards of four 8 FIFESHIRE. hundred years ago ; and, having long served as the family seat of the Clephanes, has now passed by purchase into the hands of the Rev. Mr Laing, who resides at his living in Northumberland. The latter, according to Sibbald, was newly built in the beginning of last century, and has been lately enlarged by the present proprie- tor, James Wemyss, Esq. of Winthank. The famous iron hand of the Clephanes is said to be still in preservation, and in the pos- session of the heirs of the family. There is said, also, to be a charter, granted to the family by Malcolm Canmore, in the posses- sion of the heirs of the family. The modern mansion-house of Kilmaron, the country seat of James Cheyne, Esq. Edinburgh, built in the castellated form, according to a plan by Gillespie, is the only house that lays claim to any degree of magnificence. The other houses are plain, and suited to the modest and unpretending requirements of the pro- prietors. They are, the house of Tarvit, the property and fa- mily residence of James Home Rigg, Esq. of Downfield ; Spring- field, that of Colonel Don, E. I. C. S. ; Dalyell, that of John Dal- yell, Esq. of Lingo ; Hilton, that of William Tod, Esq. ; Cairnie Lodge, that of General Foulis, C. B., E. I. C. S. ; Pitblado, that of George Russell, Esq. ; Prestonhall, that of R. Swan, Esq ; Mid- dlefield, that of John Russell, Esq.; Foxton, that of Andrew West, Esq. ; Balas, that of Alexander Bogie, Esq. ; Ferrybank, that of Colonel Craigie, E. I. C. S. ; Bellfield, that of Captain Moncrieff of Balcurvie; Blalowne, that of John Govan, Esq. W. S.; and Westfield, that of Mr Walker of Pittencrieff. III. — Population. When the parishes of Cupar and St Michael were united in 1617, the population of the two did not much exceed 1000. Since that period it has continued to increase gradually and progres- sively. Population in 1801, 4463 1811, 4758 1821, 5692 1831, 6473 One mode of accounting for this gradual increase is the disposi- tion, engendered in some measure by necessity, on the part of the la- bouring classes, to repair to towns when old age and infirmity ren- der them unfit for the labours of the field. Another mode of ac- counting for it is, the increase of trade and manufactures of all kinds in the town, and the facility that exists of obtaining all the comforts and conveniences of life at a cheap and easy rate. It is CUPAR. 9 to be remarked, too, that the increase has taken place principally in the town of Cupar, and in the two villages of Springfield and Glaidney Cotton, — the one on the western, and the other on the southern extremity of the parish* In the landward part of the parish, the population has diminished rather than increased. Number of population in the town of Cupar is about 5000 That of Springfield and neighbourhood, . . 500 Glaidney, • . 300 the landward part, • 678 Number of families in the parish, - - 1482 chiefly employed in agriculture, - 142 in handicraft, - - 766 It is impossible to give any accurate average of the births in the parish, as the dissenters of all kinds are in the practice of declin- ing to register their children in the parish register. The funerals that take place in the parish amount to about 149 annually. Of these, some are brought from adjoining parishes ; while many of those that die in the parish are carried out of it for burial. The number of marriages, or at least of proclamations for marriage, amounts to 56 or thereby. Land-owners. — The parish can boast of no nobility resident in it, and none connected with it except the Earl of Glasgow, who, as heir to the Crawford estates, ranks as an heritor. There are, how- ever, residing in it 14 families of independent fortune. All these are landed proprietors, and with an yearly income from their land of L. 50 and upwards. There is nothing peculiar in the strength, size, complexion, or other personal qualities of the inhabitants. There are only two cases of confirmed derangement in the parish. Of late, the at- tention of the public to any instance of temporary derangement has been particularly favourable to their speedy recovery. By sending the patients, or, if paupers, by applying to have them sent, immediately to the very excellent and well-conducted asylum at Dundee, the effect -has been truly gratifying. Of five or six that have been sent within these ten years, all have been restored, af- ter one or two quarters' confinement, perfectly cured. There are four or five fatuous cases in the parish ; one of blindness, occa- sioned by accident ; none deaf and dumb. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — The state of agriculture in this parish is the most approved. The number of acres is 5545, imperial measure. Where every acre is arable, and either under the plough or covered with plantations in various stages of advancement, every spot wears the ap- 10 FIFESHIRE. pearance of the highest cultivation. As a great many of the farms are in the natural possession of the proprietors, and either ma- naged by themselves or by skilful and experienced overseers, it may be said, that nothing remains to be done in the way of im- provement There are no wastes to be reclaimed, no commons to be divided, and no marshes to be drained* Rental) $c. — The total valued rent of the parish is L. 7237, 15s. 7d. Scots. Of this, L. 1912 Scots is assumed by the burgh as the value of the burgh lands, and other property in the town ; and in this they allow themselves to be liable for repairs of church and manse. This sum, however, holds no place in the cess books of the county. The real rental, as taken in 1829 for a process of augmentation before the Teind Court, was L. 9977, lis. 9d. Ster- ling. This rental was subsequently examined and generally ac- quiesced in by all concerned, as a fair rule for laying on the cho- lera assessment in 1832. This, therefore, may be taken as the actual rental of the whole parish ; and if the number of acres is taken to be 5545, imperial measure, we have the average rental per acre to be L. 1, 15s. 1 lfd. This includes what is under wood. Making a deduction for what is under wood and inarable, perhaps L. 2, 10s. per acre for what is under cultivation is as near an ap- proximation to the truth as any that can be found. According to its quality, or its distance from the town, the land varies from L. 5 to L. 1, 10s. Some small spots have let within these seven years as high as L. 7. The average rent of grazing during the year, may be set down at L. 6, 6s. per ox, and L. 1, 5s. per ewe or full-grown sheep. The rate of a mason's labour is 2s. 6d. and that of a carpenter's 2s. 3d. a day. Live-StocL — The common breeds of oxen are the ancient Fife breeds, which have gained the prizes at all the great cattle-shows in Scotland, and so excel other breeds, that the Highland Socie- ty have doubts about allowing them to enter for competition. Some specimens of the Teeswater breed have been introduced, and do very well ; but there seems to be a partiality for the old stock rather than for the new. And this arises from the impression that the for- mer are more hardy, equally profitable for feeding for the butcher, and more useful for all the purposes of the dairy. As sheep are little attended to except by those who feed their own. mutton, no- thing can be said of this kind of stock. Husbandry. — The mode of husbandry in the parish is much CUPAR. 11 the same as what prevails over the county* It is the five or six year's rotation, and as the soil is suitable both for wheat and tur- nips, the most luxuriant and productive crops are everywhere to be found* The general duration of leases is nineteen years, with entry at Martinmas* The farm-buildings are neat and commodi- ous, and suitable to the requirements of farms where all is under the plough* Quarries. — There are four quarries in the parish of excellent white sandstone, and two of greenstone fit for road metal and coarse kinds of building* Produce.— It seems quite impossible to state the gross amount of agricultural produce* The number of heritors liable to pay stipend, or rather the number of small properties in the hands of heritors so liable, amounts to 172* Any attempt at determining the gross produce, could lead to nothing but a distant approxima- tion to the truth* It is no uncommon thing, however, to find land yielding 3£ quarters of wheat, 6 do* of barley, 5£ do* of oats per acre* Of potatoes, of which a great many are grown' to be shipped for the London market, it is not very uncommon to find 50 or 60 bolls of 28 stones on the acre. Fifty bolls an acre, however, may be taken as an average crop of this valuable root Manufactures. — There are three spinning^mills in the parish, one of which is driven entirely by water, another partly by water and partly by steam, and a third altogether by steam. Of these tbe first two are occupied in spinning flax, and the last in making thread* The number of hands employed in the three amounts to 236. Besides these there are two corn and barley mills, and two flour mills, all well employed* The corn, barley, and flour mills at Cupar, especially since they were feued by the burgh of Cupar to the late John Inglis, Esq* of Colluthie, have been celebrated as the best in Fife ; and have been employed by bakers and meal- dealers from a great distance. There is a snuff-mill, to which to- bacco is sent to be manufactured, not only from all parts of Fife, but also from the counties to the north* It is said that about 60,000 lbs. of snuff are manufactured there every year. And whether it is owing to the greater consumption of that article, or to the growing celebrity of the mill, it has been found necessary of late to increase the power of the mill, and to add a steam power to that of the water, by which it was fonrierly driven. There is also a washing or fulling mill. There are two tan-works ; one for hides and another for sheep skins. To this latter a manufacture 12 FIFESHIRE. of glue has been added within these few years. There are three breweries ; a brick and tile-work, at which coarse earthen-ware is made ; and a rope-work. Though there are no linen manufactures upon a united scheme, and no power looms, yet the manufacture of linen is carried on to a considerable extent, and the number of weavers and others em- ployed is great. There are at least ten distinct manufacturers with their capitals embarked in the linen trade. By these different ma- nufacturers, there are employed within the parish not less than 600 weavers. And as every two weavers require one person to wind for them, the number employed and earning a comfortable subsist- ence from this trade may be reckoned at 900, all living in their own houses, and labouring in their own workshops. Besides those that are employed within the parish, the different manufacturers have weavers employed in the various towns and villages in the neighbourhood throughout the county. The linen manufactured is of various kinds and qualities, and is exported to the East and West Indies, as well as to all parts of the continent of Europe and of America. V. — Parochial Economy. Markets. — Cupar has long been known as a leading and import- ant market-town. Besides the weekly corn-market, which is held every Thursday, there are a great many fairs for the sale of all kinds of stock, and domestic and agricultural utensils of all sorts. Till within these few years, these fairs took place on particular days of the month, and thus occasioned great confusion. Now, by an arrangement that has been generally approved of, they are held on the Thursday next to the day of the month on which they used to be held. Besides being a market-town, Cupar is also a post- town. And lying on the great road that leads from Edinburgh to Dundee and the north of Scotland, through Fife, there are three coaches that regularly pass through it every day except Sunday, to the north and to the south. There are also coaches to St An- drews and to Largo, where there is now a steam-boat ferry to New- haven. So that, with all the conveniences of excellent markets, the inhabitants of the town and parish can boast of as many advan- tages as are possessed in any town or parish of its size in the king- dom. The town of Cupar, along with St Andrews and Craill, the two Anstruthers, Kilrehny and Pittenweem, send a member to Par- liament. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church is situated as nearly as CUPAR. 13 may be in the middle of the parish. It is a large and commodi- ous, though by no means an elegant building, according to the no- tions of elegance that are now entertained. It was built in 1785, and is in the plain and unattractive style of that period. It was originally built to accommodate 1196; but, by some slight altera- tions since made, it accommodates now 1300 sitters. This, how- ever, is far from being sufficient for a population of 6473. And did the law not define the extent of the accommodation that pa- rishes should have, it might be enough, to show the inadequacy of the accommodation in this instance, to mention that, in July 1635, the number of those that communicated at the dispensation of the Lord's supper was 1237. Another building of the same dimen- sions as the present would not furnish the requisite accommodation. To obviate the evils arising from this want, an application was made by the kirk-session to the heritors two years ago to hire the Mason's Hall, for the benefit of those who could not be provided with seats in the church. This they very readily did, and service is now performed in it by the collegiate ministers every Sabbath, to a congregation of not less than 300. The sittings in this place of temporary accommodation are all free. The sittings of the church are all occupied, and, with the exception of about 150, which are free, are all either let at a small rent, or are in the na- tural possession of the proprietors and their tenants. To get a permanent remedy for the want of accommodation, a subscription was entered into last year by a number of spirited and well-affect- ed individuals, among whom were almost all the heritors, to build another church in a convenient part of the town. The subscrip- tions were nearly completed. An application was made to the Presbytery to sanction the erection of the building, according to the conditions proposed by the subscribers. The Presbytery ap- proved and granted the application. But an application made to the General Assembly of 1835, to sanction the whole proceedings, was met by an injunction from that venerable court, which paralyz- ed all the proceedings of the subscribers and of the Presbytery ; and whether the building will now go on is very questionable. It is very much wanted* It was anxiously wished for, by the church- going people of the parish. And without it, the population of the parish, as they are daily increasing, must either go off, against their will, as they have hitherto done in many instances, to the dissen- ters, or they must sink, as in many other large towns, into a state of heathenism, and show all the evils of spiritual darkness in the 14 FIFESHIRE. midst of the very light in which the people of this country have so long rejoiced* Though there were originally two parishes in this locality, there is only a piece of land of about three acres got in exchange for the old kirk-yard, and which goes under the name of glebe for the first minister, belonging to the living. Till the decision of the House of Lords in the case of Ayr, there was not even one manse. Since that decision, a manse has been built for the first minister. The second minister, though his stipend is paid out of the teinds, has neither manse nor glebe. Since the last Account was written, the number of dissenting chapels has very much increased, in consequence, no doubt, of the increase of the population, added to the want of accommodation in the parish church. There is an Episcopalian chapel ; two cha- pels belonging to the Relief connection ; one to the Associate Sy- nod ; one to the Old Light Burghers, or Original Seceders ; one to the Baptists, and one to the Glassites. Till the late voluntary move* ments began in the country, the different dissenting bodies stood well affected to the church ; and, while they retained their own particular tenets, lived in a kindly understanding with the church. The mass of the people are still well affected as before, and show a disposition to go hand in hand with the church in all those mat- ters which tend to promote peace and good feeling. The exact number of Dissenters and Seceders in the parish, it has been found impracticable to ascertain. Divine service, is, in general, well attended in the Established Church, and also in the dissenting chapels. The average number of communicants in the church is 1237. The stipends of the Es- tablished ministers are 18 chalders each, half meal half barley, with L. 10 each for communion elements. The stipends allowed by their people to the dissenting ministers are from L. 80 to L. 120 per annum. There is a Bible Society and a Missionary Society in the pa- rish, but supported by contributors from adjoining parishes. Their contributions are not great, and not on the increase. The Bible Society suffered by the Apocryphal controversy a few years ago ; and the Missionary Society is suffering now by the voluntary dis- turbances, and by the misunderstanding that these have produced betwixt churchmen and dissenters. Education. — There is not, and, strictly speaking, never has been, CUPAR. 15 a parochial school in the parish. Up till the year 1823, there were two burgh schools, which were under the sole patronage and direction of the magistrates, — the masters' salaries being paid out of the funds of the burgh. In 1823, a subscription was entered into, to have an academy erected according to the approved model of modern times. An arrangement was made betwixt the magistrates and the sub- scribers, by which the former merged their rights of patronage and direction, and agreed to be represented at the meetings of the subscribers or patrons of the academy, by certain members of their own body. They agreed,' also, to pay a certain proportion of the teachers' salaries along with the patrons, and to grant the use of the buildings belonging to them as a corporation, for the academy. ' This arrangement still subsists. By the munificence of the late Dr Bell, the estate of Egmore in Galloway has been left under trustees, consisting of the Lord Lieutenant of the county, the Lord Justice- Clerk, the Sheriff of the county, the Provost, the Dean of Guild, and the two parochial ministers of Cupar, to be manag- ed for the purpose of forwarding the interests of education accord- ing to the Madras system. By special stipulation, Dr Bell wishes his institution to be amalgamated, under certain conditions, with the academy as already existing. Hitherto the arrangements have not been completed. The burgh have it in their power to make arrangements which may free them and the community from a great expense, and to secure for them a great advantage under this trust. But whether they will see their interests, remains to be proved. In the meantime, the business of education is conducted by Dr Bell's Trustees, in concert with the patrons of the academy. In the academy, there are three departments of teaching : English in all its branches ; the languages, ancient and modern, with geo- graphy ; arithmetic in all its branches and writing. The salaries of the masters are good, and the school-fees small ; but, as there is nothing as yet permanently fixed, and as Dr Bell's Trustees are burdened in the meantime with the payment of several annuities, and are therefore not yet come to the use of those funds which may enable them fully to develope their plans, it is premature to be more particular at present. The community are fully alive to the benefits of education. Dr Bell's trustees are required to be libe- ral. The result, consequently, must in time be highly salutary. Besides the academy, Dr Bell's trustees have opened three schools in the town, for the benefit of the industrious classes, at which education is to be had at the most moderate rates ; and in 16 FIFKSH1RK. cases where the parents are not able to pay these rates, it is to be had, as Dr Bell stipulates, upon making proper application, for nothing. There are, in addition, to all this, four female schools, and one promiscuous school, in the town. Of the female schools, one is un- der the patronage of the magistrates and ministers, as trustees of a fund of L. 500, left by the late Dr Gray of Paddington Green, Lon- don. And at Springfield, on the property of David Maitland M'Gill, Esq. of Rankeillor, there has been erected, and also endowed by him, a very handsome school for the benefit of that portion of the parish. Under these circumstances, there is not a child in the parish of five years of age and upwards, but is able to read, or is at school ac- quiring that power. And, with the attention that is paid to reli- gious instruction in the different schools, there is reason to believe, that, as the people have hitherto improved in- their conduct, and morals, and religious character, through the facility of acquiring education, — so, through the blessing of God, they will continue to improve. Literature. — There is one public library in the parish, founded in the year 1797, and which has increased gradually till now it contains upwards of 4000 volumes. Dr Gray also bequeathed his library to the subscribers, which contains many scarce and curious books. Its only regular source of increase is the annual subscriptions of the proprietors. There are two public reading-rooms, one frequented by the better classes, the other by the mechanics. There are five stationers' shops in the town. There are now two printing-presses. One of these, under the management of the late Mr Robert Tullis, had the credit of having sent out Hunter's immaculate editions of the classics. And there are two newspapers published weekly ;— one at the office of Mr Tullis, who was the first to publish a newspaper in Cupar, many years ago ; — another at the office of the Fifeshire Journal, recently set up. Charitable Institutions. — There is an alms-house, with a yard at- tached, containing 62 falls 9 ells Scotch measure. This is sup- posed to have been set apart for the benefit of the poor of the pa- rish, about the time that the church was removed from its former site, and placed where it now is in 1415. There is no exact trace of its original. It is in the management of the kirk-session, and, so far as their records go back, — to the year 1648, — it is found that it was under the same management as it is at present, kept in repair by the session, disposed of by the session for the accommodation CUPAR. 17 of their poor, and treated in all respects as if it were their sole and inalienable property. The house contains accommodation for ten or twelve paupers, living two together in the same apartment. And the yard is let every year for the behoof of the session. As there is a great want of room for burying in the present churchyard, the session have resolved to feu or let out the yards for burying-ground according to a plan which will reflect credit upon the place. In addition to this place of accommodation for the poor, which is of very ancient standing, the late David Knox, Esq. of London, who was a native of Cupar, has left the sum of L. 8000 Sterling, for the purpose of building and endowing an asylum for females above fifty years of age, who have seen better days. It is judiciously to be placed under trustees not officially connected with the town, and* according to the conditions expressed in Mr Knox's will, it pro- mises to be of great benefit The plan of the building has been already drawn out by an eminent architect in London, the site has been fixed upon, and, through the active benevolence of the testa- tor's sister, Miss Knox, the institution will, in all probability, be completed and occupied in the course of the present year. The trades' corporations were formerly the only friendly socie- ties that existed. Their funds, however, being now all squander- ed away, except those of the weaver trade, who have a piece of ground which they are feuing out for building, they contribute very little, if any thing at all, to their decayed members; and it is no un- common thing to find one who once plumed himself on the honour of some civic office, either becoming himself, or allowing his widow to become, a burden upon the funds of the session. Savings Bank. — There is a savings bank; but from the very low rate of interest which is allowed upon the money deposited in it, it meets with but little support. The deposits altogether do not ex- ceed L. 150. Poor and Parochial Funds* — The parish of Cupar presents still an engaging specimen of the working of the poor laws of Scotland. Great as the population is, there is no such thing as any regular assessment for the poor. They are supported, therefore, by the collections at the doors of the Established Church, — by a poors' box carried through the town on Saturdays, — by the due3 upon marriages and births, — by the exertions of a female society for the benefit of aged and decayed females, — by a fund of L. 450, left under the management of the town by the late Dr Gray already men- tioned, — and by voluntary charity, exercised by private individuals fife. B 18 FIFESHIRE. and families towards the well-deserving of their poorer neighbours. Twice during the last ten years, the heritors of the parish have been called upon to subscribe a sum in aid of the funds of the session, and at each of these times have subscribed L. 100, ac- cording to their valued rent Altogether, the sums distributed by the kirk-session from church collections and poors' box among the poor upon their roll amount yearly to L. 326, 9s. 0£d. or there- by. They make no distinction between the members of the church and dissenters, even though the latter do not contribute to their funds, and they allow to each pauper a sixpence or a shilling, or sometimes more, a week, according to their circumstances, making their distributions, in as far as they can, auxiliary to the industrious exertions of the individuals. The female society distributes about L. 35 annually, and the magistrates out of Gray's fund distribute L. 18 annually. The number of the poor upon the roll of the session who re- ceive a weekly allowance is 61. The number of those who re- ceive occasionally is 68. Those that receive from the female so- ciety amount to 30 females ; and those that receive from Gray's fund to 16 males and females. As many of those that receive from one fund receive also from another, the number of poor alto- gether may be rated as amounting to 150, and the total sum dis- tributed among them, as amounting to L.379, 9s. 0£d. The amount raised by church collections is L. 261, 9s. O^d. ; by the poors' box L. 65. As the kirk-session do not hold themselves liable for house rents, these are often raised by private application made by the needy themselves for subscription ; and there is generally a distribution of coals during the winter, procured by subscriptions or donations. Upon the whole, it may be said that they are well provided for. They are at the same time contented and industrious, and grate- ful, — very different from what the poor are found to be in parishes where the system of assessment is followed. Several cases have oc- curred of individuals refusing to take parochial aid, even when offer- ed and pressed upon them. And some have occurred, of individuals declining the allowance which has been for a time made to them, after they found themselves so improved in their circumstances as to be able to do without it. Prison. — There is a prison in the parish for the use of the town and county. The number of prisoners confined in it last year was 37. Of these, 15 were for debt, and 22 for stealing, assault, and such crimes as commonly occur in a populous country. The' com- CUPAR. 19 mitments before trial were 91. The prison is sufficiently secure, having been built upon the most secure plan within the last thirty years; but the accommodation that it affords is uniformly con- demned as most unworthy of the town and county. The lodging is bad, and reckoned unhealthy, — there is no room for the classifica- tion of criminals, — there is no chapel or place of worship attach- ed; and consequently, any attempt to reclaim or improve those that are once committed to it, becomes absolutely hopeless. The most unpractised being lodged in the same cells with the most hardened ; instead of a penitentiary, the prison may be said to be actually a school for confirming the one and ruining the other. Though the government and superintendence by a jailor acting under the Sheriff of the county and the Magistrates of the burgh be good, yet the construction and the defective accommodation destroy all their endeavours to soften or to reclaim its unhappy in- mates. Fairs. — These are numerous, as already stated. Inns. — Inns and alehouses within the burgh amount to 49; the number of alehouses in the country part of the parish amount to 4, — making a total of 53, besides several licenses granted to deal- ers in spirits, who do not keep public-houses. Fuel. — The fuel uniformly used is coal, which is to be had in great abundance from the southern and western parts of the county. The distance being six or ten miles, it is, however, not remarkably cheap. A railway would be of great service to the town, in furnish- ing the means of having this very essential necessary brought and laid down at a more reasonable rate. And as it is now in contem- plation to open a railway through Fife, it is to be hoped that the public will soon have the benefit. Cupar being nearly in the direct line of communication between Edinburgh and Dundee, it is hoped that the Royal Mail will be established to run by Cupar as soon as some water piers are formed on each side of the Frith of Forth, and which are now in contemplation. Miscellaneous Observations. When Buchanan wrote his history, he described St Andrews as " Fanum Andreae oppidulum memorabile propter bonarum ar- tium studia," and Cupar as the town or oppidulum " quo reliquis Fifani ad jus accipiendum conveniunt." The characters thus given to these towns they still retain. St Andrews is still the seat of learning; and, the local courts, and the public records of the county being all kept in Cupar, it is still the seat of the law and equity 20 FIFESH1RE. of the county, and there are no less than 28 procurators before the Sheriff-courts, who reside and carry on a respectable busi- ness, and hold a respectable rank in the town. Since the last Ac- count, the number of these procurators has increased from 12 to 28. Allowing to each of them 2 apprentices or clerks, there are no less than 84, all busied in directing the course of justice. Since the time of the last Account, a Sheriff-court has been esta- blished at Dunfermline for the western district. The principal change that has taken place in the town since the last account is the removal of the jail, and the town and county halls, so as to open up the streets and improve the thorough- fares. The consequence is, that Cupar wears now the appear- ance of a clean and comfortable English town. Being lighted up with gas, during the night it has a very attractive appearance. Its dimensions have been much extended by the suburbs called the Brae-heads, New Town, and Lebanon. The principal change that has taken place in the parish is the improvement of the cross roads, which are now, with few exceptions, kept like turnpikes. The villages of Springfield and Glaidney have also been much extended since last Account, and are still in- creasing. There have been three handsome stone bridges thrown over the Eden tolncrease the communication betwixt the north and south sides. And should the railway that is now talked of be car- ried through, it seems impossible to conceive the advantages that would accrue to the town of Cupar and the neighbourhood. The people are much the same in character as they were forty years ago, — greatly influenced by politics, and very excitable, but upon the whole far more temperate and reasonable than in many other places. March 1836. PARISH OF COLLESSIE. PRESBYTERY OF CUPAR, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. JOHN MACFARLANE, MINISTER. L — Topography and Natural History. Boundaries — Extent. — This parish is bounded on the north by Abdie ; on the south, by Kettle ; on the east, by Monimail ; and on the west, by Auchtermuchty. The village is easily accessible from any quarter, being near the place where the two roads cross each other by which the parish is intersected, — the one leading from Newburgh to Kirkaldy ; the other from Cupar to Kinross. The points of the parish most distant from each other, and which are between north-west and south-east, include a space of eight miles. The average breadth of the parish is about four miles. Name. — Collessie has always been the name of this parish. Al- though, from a few relics of antiquity that have been found in the neighbourhood, but principally, I believe, from the resemblance between the word and the Roman Colosseum, a classic origin has been claimed for it, it may with more truth be referred to a Gae- lic source. The name is a compound Gaelic word, signifying, the bottom of a glen. This derivation is corroborated by the fact, that it is exactly descriptive of the situation of the village which has given name to the whole parish. Soil, Sfc. — There is great variety in the quality of the soil. The northern and north-west parts of the parish are by far the most fertile. In these districts, there is a good deep sharp soil, principally upon a whinstone bottom. From the position of the ground, too, situat- ed upon the sloping sides of the hill* that form the northern boundary of the parish, it has a good southern exposure ; and, be- ing in a high state of cultivation, it produces early and excellent crops. The eight farms of Hall-hill, Collessie-mill, Corn-hill, Meadow-wells, Cold-wells, Weddersbie, Wester Rossie, and Lum- quhat, including in all about 1560 Scotch acres, present from the road to Auchtermuchty an appearance of considerable natural beauty, and great agricultural skill and industry. Although this 22 FIFESHIRE. may be described as the best part of the parish as to depth and fer- tility of soil, there are some fields of good ground both for tillage and pasturage, besides what have been mentioned, upon the properties of Rossie and Kinloch. Upon the estates of Rankeilour, Ramor- nie, and Pitlair, too, as well as belonging to the farms of Drumten- nant upon the banks of the Eden, and the Bowhouse and Shields of Lathrisk in the eastern and southern districts*, there are some parts scarcely inferior in soil and cultivation. Towards the centre and southern district of the parish, however, the soil for the most part becomes light and sandy. It is occupied to the extent of some miles by fir plantations. Much of the ground here does not seem capable of being turned to better account. Some recent attempts, at least, to clear and cultivate it have prov- ed unsuccessful. The wood, however, is of considerable value. Besides the country purposes to which it is applicable in fencing, and even roofing and flooring, large quantities of it are shipped from the port of Newburgh to Newcastle and other parts of Eng- land for planks and coal-props. When full grown it may bring from L. 40 to L. 50 ; when cut down at half-growth, it may be worth at the rate of about L. 20 per Scotch acre. The climate, which, in consequence of extensive draining and enclosure, and an advancing state of cultivation, has of late years been greatly improved, is dry and healthful. There are no dis- tempers or epidemics peculiar to the parish. Many instances of great age having been attained by the parishioners might be ad- duced in evidence of the salubrity of our atmosphere. There is at present an elder in the parish, who is in church every Sabbath, and who was born in the year 1745. Cases of no remote date are upon record, of parishioners having lived above a hundred years. Hydrography. — Since the draining of Rossie Loch, which was partially done in 1740, and more perfectly accomplished at a sub- sequent period, there is no lake worthy of notice in the parish. That was once, indeed, the largest sheet of water in the county, abounding in perch and pike. There are several rivulets that -di- versify and enliven the landscape; among which, one of the most considerable is the water of Keilour, which forms the eastern boundary of the parish, dividing it from • Monimail. The only stream we have, entitled to the name of a river, is the Eden, which gives its designation to the strath, and glides with noiseless current through the central vale or How of Fife. This river runs about three miles along the southern boundary of the parish, dividing it o COLLESSIE. 23 from that of Kettle. Even this stream is not more than twenty-five feet broad in any part of its course along the confines of the pa- rish ; nor does it become considerable till it reaches the Guard Bridge in the parish of St Andrews, where it forms an estuary of the German Ocean. Geology. — As no mines of any description are wrought in this parish, and no considerable portion of the strata or formation of its rocks is exposed to view, it presents no feature of interest to the eye of the geologist. The only organic remains of any consequence of which I have heard being found in the parish, were the large branching horns and almost the entire skeleton of an elk of great size, which were dug up a few years ago in the marl pits of Pit- lair, in the eastern part of the parish. At the same place were found several segments of the oak, denoting great circumference and corresponding length in the trees of which they had formed a part ; probably a portion of the primeval timber that grew in the district, and so few traces of which are now to be found. There is excellent whin or greenstone open in the parish ; it is much used for building, for which purpose it is at once durable and ornamental. Sandstone has also been exposed on the proper- ty of Rankeilour, though not wrought to any considerable extent. Great quantities of marl too, both shell and clay, are found in the parish. It was formerly much used, and some of it even shipped to the Carse of Gowrie. It is now little in demand, except for top- dressing and forming compounds for grass. It may perhaps have been formerly applied in too large quantities, or the cropping may have been too severe after it. Botany. — I have been kindly furnished by one of the heritors with the following notice of the rarer plants found in the parish. It may be proper, however, to mention, in reference to this enu- meration, that, although part of the banks of the Black Loch are in this parish, the loch itself lies in the adjoining parish of Abdie. There is nothing in this parish which would, a priori, seem to indicate a great variety in its botany ; but, when more accurately viewed, we find that, being bounded by water on the north and south, and occupied in the centre by a wood of several miles in extent, in which there are several large marshes, few parishes are in this re- spect more favourably situated. A very brief view of the rare plants to be found within it will not disappoint the botanist. The Hippuris is found at Monkstown, and near the edges of the Black Loch ; the Scirpus sylvaticw is found on Edensmuir, and 24 F1FESH1RK. the Eriophorum polystachion is common there and in the other marshes of the district ; the Alopecurus geniculates, var. 7. is found at Lawfield ; the Agrostis alba, var. £. (the Fiorin grass) on the banks of the Eden; the Glyceria Jluitans is not uncommon, and is noticed here as forming the chief grass in a meadow at the north end of the Black Loch ; the Poa nemoralis grows in patches on Edensmuir ; the Triodia decumbent is to be found on the farm of Birns; the Lolium temulentum is occasionally met with. It is supposed the intoxicating and noxious effects of its weeds is exagge- rated. The smooth variety of the Scabiosa arvensis, a plant which, Sir James Smith says, has never been seen in England, grows on Ballomill. The Potamogeton lanceolatum, var. |3. (without any floating leaves) grows on the Black Loch ; and P. pusillum in the old bed of the Eden near Pitlessie Bridge, and it is not uncommon in the district The minute Radiola millegrana is found on Edens- muir, on those places overflowed in winter. The Cynoglossum of- ficinale is found near Trafalgar. The Echium vulgare is only men- tioned, because dangerous to bees, as it tears their wings, and should be eradicated by each bee-master. The Solatium dulcamara, sup- posed by Hooker to be rare in Scotland, grows in many places of the district ; it grows on the banks of the Eden, on the farm of Lawfield. The Gentiana campestris grows at Daftmill and near Ramornie. The poisonous Conium maculatum is to be found near Trafalgar. The Sambucus Ebulus grows near Kinloch, where it was found by the late Dr Malcolm. The beautiful Drosera ro- tundifolia is found plentifully in the marshes of Edensmuir, and a dead fly is not unfrequent in its leaves. Luciola congesta (Luzula congesta, Hooker,) is found near Ramornie. The Rumex sangui- neus grows near Melville. The R. acutus grows in many places ; it is used by the country people as a vulnerary. The CaUuna vul- garis and Erica tetralix and cinerea are all occasionally found with white flowers ; and the variety of JB. cinerea, named by Loddiges E. cinerea, also purpurea, grows in considerable quantity near Ra- mornie. The Polygonum aviculare is noticed, because horses are particularly fond of it, and it will grow on the poorest soils. The Pyrola minor is the only Pyrola as yet found in the parish ; it grows on many places of Edensmuir. Arenaria rubra grows on Hetherinch. The Sedum Telephium on Ballomill, and near the Eden. A white flowering variety of Lychnis Flas-Cuculi is not un- common. The Cerastium aquaticum is rare in this part of the country. A single plant of it was found near Pitlessie dam-dike. COLLESSIE. 25 The Lythrum salicaria grows on Hetherinch, on the banks of the Eden. The Reseda lutea has been found on Ballomill. The Spircea Filipendula grows on the farm of Birns ; — this beautiful plant is only found in two other places in the county, viz. North Queensferry and Aberdour. The Tormentilla reptans has been found in the willow grounds near Ramornie. The beautiful Nym- phaa alba and Nuphar lutea are found abundantly in the Blaek Loch ; the latter also grows in the river Eden, near Pitlessie Bridge. The Ranunculus Flammula, var. d. is very common in Edensmuir. The R. auricomus is met with in Melville plantations. The Trol- lius Europeans (the Luckan gowan of Allan Ramsay) grows in con- siderable quantity on Ballomill. The Mentha viridis 9 not yet no- ticed as a native of Scotland, grows betwixt Collessie and Kinloch. As it has been met with at two other places within the county, it seems an undoubted native. The Galeopsis versicolor is plentiful in the parish. The Thymus serpyllum, var. y. grows on Edensmuir. The Digitalis purpurea var. fiore aJbo is found on Peterhead, where the Camelina sativa has also been found growing. The Nasturtium terrestre is found at a pond near the Earl of Leven's cottages, and on the edges of the Black Loch. The Barbarea vulgaris grows near Collessie, on the burn. The Erodium cicu- tarium, both with pink and white flowers, is pretty common ; also the beautful Geranium pratense is found near Pitlessie Bridge. The Malva moschata grows near Lumquhat The Genista anglica grows plentifully on Edensmuir and near Ramornie. The beauti- ful AnthyUis vulneraria will be found near the road betwixt Hether- inch and Daftmill. The Trifolium officinale has been found on Lawfield. The Leontodon palustre is found occasionally in the marshes. The Hieracium murorum is found on the walls. The H. sylvaticum is frequent in the woods. The Cichorium Intybus grows at Daftmill, and is not uncommon in the district. The Bi- dens tripartita grows on Drumtennant, and at the south end of the Black Loch. The Gnaphalium diotcum, uliginosum 9 and germa- nicum grow on Edensmuir. The Senecio lividus and sylvaticus grow in the parish ; the former sparingly, the latter abundantly. These specie3 are perfectly distinct, and cannot be mistaken. The S. aquaticum is also to be found. The Orchis bifolia grows near Monkstown ; the O. mascula on Lawfield ; the O. latijblia, ma' eulata, and Conopsea on Edensmuir. The Sparganium simplex grows on the edges of the Black Loch only 2 or 3 inches high ; while i in Pitlessie dam it has leaves 6 or 8 feet long. There is a con- } 26 FIFESHIRE. siderable number of Carices on Edensmuir : the C. pulicaris grows near Ramornie ; the C. stellvlata, curta, pendula, Jlava, pracox, piluligercL) paludosa, and riparia on Edensmuir ; while the C. hirta grows near the Black Loch. The C. armaria, so common on the sea coast, is found on the lands of Ramornie, running among the sand at a distance of ten miles from the sea. Littorella lacus- tris grows round the Black Loch. The Poterium sanyuisorba was found near Birns farm. The Betula alba, var. 0. grows at Rankeilour, while the Pinus sylvestris, either planted or native, covers the lands of Edensmuir. Besides the cultivated willows, such as the Triandra, fragilis, decipiens, Rwselliana, rubra, cine- rea, mminalis, and alba; the repens, aquatica, and caprea are found in their native situations. Myrica Gale grows abundantly in the marsh at Muirside. The Aspidium Oreopteris is found on Edensmuir, along with the Blechnum boreale and the Lycopodium clavatum. Botrychium lunaria is found on the pastures of Ballo- mill. It would be improper here to enter the names of the other cryptogamic plants, but it may be mentioned that it is supposed there is no parish in Scotland where there is an equal number of agarics ; 125 species were gathered previous to the dry summer in 1826. They have not been so numerous since that year ; but many sorts which had not been seen for years have again made their ap- pearance, so that it is probable they will now rather exceed than fall short of that number. II. — Civil History. Pictures. — Under this head it may be mentioned, that there is in the possession of Charles Kinnear, Esq. of Kinloch, three original paintings by our countryman Wilkie. They are interesting not only as some of the earliest productions of his genius, but as indicating by their history, the good feelings of his heart They were painted for the late Mr Kinnear, and presented to him by the artist, in testi- mony of the kindness and friendship he experienced at Kinloch in early life, and on this account are much valued by the family. They are in that peculiar style of his art in which he has acquired the greatest celebrity. It was by the largest of these pictures, indeed, that he first came into notice. The subject is " Pitlessie fair," con- taining upwards of 150 figures, the labour of a year. The size is 3 feet 9 inches by 2 feet. The grouping is admirable. The princi- pal figures in the piece are characters who were well known in the neighbourhood during the early life of the artist, which gives a COLLESSIE. 27 greater interest and value to his painting as a record of the times. It is considered equal in merit to some of the more recent and most admired productions of his pencil Eminent Men. — Among the eminent characters connected with this parish, is the distinguished courtier Sir James Melville, who figured during the reign of Mary Queen of Scots, and who, according to bis own relation, performed so* many feats of dexterous diplomacy between the rival queens of Scotland and England. He was. proprie- tor of the estate of Hall-hill. This property, it appears, originally belonged to Henry Balnaves, who, in 1542, was Deputy- Keeper of the Privy- Seal, and the following year, Secretary- Depute. The lands of Hall-hill were by him disposed of to Sir James Melville, who was third son to Sir John Melville of Raitb, one of the early promoters of the Reformed faith. The property continued in his family till the reign of Charles IL, when it was purchased by the Earl of Melville. No trace of the house now remains, and the ground where it stood forms part of the present enclosures of Melville.* The celebrated Dr Hugh Blair commenced his ministry in this parish, to the pastoral charge of which he was ordained on the 23d September in the year 1742. I have in my possession a list of the names of the ministers of the parish as far back as 1578. There have been fifteen ministers since that year, previous to the present incumbent, of whom it appears that four were removed to other charges. One, Mr John Ogilvie, was ejected during the attempt to establish Episcopacy in Scotland before the Revolution of 1688; and the rest seem to have died in the parish. Antiquities. — There are several antiquities in the parish as to * The family burying-ground of Sir James is in the churchyard of Collessie, upon one of the walls of which the following inscription can still be decyphered, though much obliterated by the hand of time. 1609. Te * loadin * pilgrims * passing * langs . this • way, Paus * on * your * fall, * and * your * offences • past. Hou * your • frail * flesh, * first * formit * of ' the * clay. In * dust * mon * be * dissolvit • at - the * last * Repent * amend * on - Christ * the * burden • cast . Of • your • sad • sinnes • who • can • your • savls • refresh • Syne * raise * from • grave * to * gloir • your * grislie * flesh * Defyle • not • Christ's • kirk • with • your • carion • A * solemn • sait * for * God's * service * prepar'd * For * praier ; * preaching * and * communion • Your * byrial * should * be * in * the * kirk * yard On • your • uprysing • set • your • great • regard • When • savll • and ■ body • joyncs • with • joy • to • ring • In • Heaven * for * ay • with • Christ * our * head • and * king * 28 FIFESH1RE. which no very certain information is possessed, but which might fur- nish interesting subject of investigation to those who devote them- selves to such inquiries. One of the most prominent of our me- morials of past times is a mound, consisting of a cairn of stones, a short distance south of the village of Collessie, usually called the Gash-hill. It is about twelve feet above the level of the ground. It has been supposed to be the remains of a Roman station. It consists of loose stones, now grown over with turf. A few years ago a sword, about eighteen inches in length, with one edge, and so formed that it might be used either for cutting or thrusting, but much corroded by time, was dug up from among the stones. Some fragments, too, of human bones were found here, enclosed by a few large flat stones. From their appearance, position, and mixed state, and their having evidently been subjected to the action of fire, it would require less effort of fancy, than antiquarians sometimes exert, to suppose these remains to have consisted of what the Ro- mans called the o&silegium, or gathering up of the bones, after the body was burnt. About a quarter of a mile east of the village, and within the grounds of Melville, there is one of those large whinstones placed on its end, so frequently seen in other parts of the country. It is upwards of nine feet above the ground, and about six feet in cir- cumference. This stone is near the spot where the house of Hall- hill stood, but probably of much greater antiquity. Tradition marks two spots near the hamlet of Trafalgar, and at about equal distances to the east and the west of the inn known by that name, as the sites of two ancient military forts, which were probably intended to secure the pass leading from Newburgh to the central part of Fife. This must have been a station of great importance in times of war, as, with the exception of one other pass, it formed the only access to the interior of the county from the north. The loch that lies upon the road between this place and Newburgh has in consequence received the name of Lindores, (Linne-doris) the water of the pass. The eastern fort was called Agabatha, or marsh-field castle. This name was appropriate to its situation, as, within the last forty years, the fields adjoining the little eminence called a castle, were a complete marsh, although now under cultivation. The eminence itself was surrounded by a ditch or moat, forming in a remote age the most effective kind of fortification. Several relics of antiquity have been found at this place. Among others a quern or hand- COLLBSSIE. 29 mill of mica slate, a mineral not belonging to Fife. A number of coins also, belonging to the reign of Edward I. of England, were here turned up by the plough. They are the coinage of different towns, as London, Canterbury, and York, but are evidently all of the same reign* The western fort is called the Maiden Castle. A clump of trees planted by the late proprietor, Mr Thomson, points out its situa- tion. The tradition as to the origin of this name is, that during a siege laid to this station, the governor died, and that his daugh- ter, concealing the event, gave the necessary orders in his name, and that the castle thus defended held out till the enemy was obliged to retire. There is scarcely any thing in the external ap- pearance of the grounds in either of these places that would ar- rest the attention of an observer unacquainted with these tradi- tions. But in the fields adjoining, and particularly in the inter- vening space between these two stations, there are many traces, in the human bones, stone coffins and urns, which from time to time have been dug up, — that point out this place to have been, at a re- mote period, the scene of battles and of sepulture. Among the most entire of these remains may be mentioned two urns, said to be perfect specimens of the ancient Celtic urn, for de- positing the ashes of the dead. One of these, still to be seen at Kinloch, is made of bluish clay. Its height is about eighteen inches, and its diameter at the widest part about fifteen inches, like a bee's cap, a little more conical. It was found at the depth of a foot below the surface, in an inverted position, on a flat slab of stone, and enclosing several human bones which have been partial- ly burnt The other urn, which has been carried away in frag- ments by different visitors, was in every respect similar, only its dimensions, somewhat smaller than that described.* • From its proximity to Falkland, the frequent residence of James VI. this parish is recorded to hare been the scene of some of the eccentric feats and munificent acts of that facetious prince. The following is one of the most authentic. It is related that in the disguise, which he often assumed, of a poor travelling man, he knocked one evening at the door of the miller's house of Ballooiili. After some little difficul- ty he obtained quarters for the night. He joined the circle round the miller's fire- side, and partook of their social glee, as well as of their homely cheer. The miller's frank and honest bearing gained upon the good opinion of the King, bis hospitality and kindness increasing as he became more intimate with the stranger. In the morn- ing, accompanying his unknown guest in familiar converse to the extremity of the farm, they were met, according to previous appointment, by the royal guards. Hie miller then saw with astonishment that he had had the honour of entertaining the . King. At parting, to reward his hospitality, and at the same time to try his know- ledge of fractions, his Majesty asked the miller, whether he would have the fourth part, or the eighth part, or the sixteenth part of the lands on which they stood. The miller pondered a little a question so important, and said to himself, to ask the sax- 30 F1FESHIRE. III. — Population. It appears from the account of this parish, published in the for- mer Statistical Account, that in the year 1791, the population was 949 souls. By the last census of 1831, the population amount- ed to 1162, viz. 559 males, and 603 females. The increase is to be referred to the steadily advancing prosperity and improve- ment of the country. Besides the village of Collessie, which con- tains 180 inhabitants, there are several other villages and ham- lets in the parish. Three of these are of recent erection, viz, Gifferton, Edenston, and Monkston. The houses of which they are formed are well arranged, neat, and comfortable. That a greater increase of the population has not taken place in conse- quence of the recent erection of these villages, is accounted for by the almost entire removal of the village of Kinloch, which, not many years ago, was the largest in the parish, containing 191 in- habitants. A considerable number of the families formerly resid- ing there now occupy Monkston. This village consists of twenty- four houses forming one line, with an interval of twelve feet between every four houses, so that the whole is divided into six squares. The place originally called Monks-moss takes its name from the district where it is situated, having been granted to the monks of St Mary's at Lindores Abbey to supply them with heather and moss for fuel. Number of families in the parish, ... 247 chiefly employed in agriculture, - 73 trade, manufactures, or handicraft, 104 Upwards of 100 of the families live in the several villages, the rest in the country part of the parish. The yearly average, as ap- pears from the sessional books, which have recently been kept with considerable accuracy, is, for the last seven years, of births, 18; of deaths, 14 ; of marriages, 9. Resident Land-owners. — This parish has the advantage of the permanent residence of most of its landed proprietors. To begin at the western extremity : — John Cheape, Esq. of Rossie ; Miss Arnot of Lochie Head ; Charles Kinnear, Esq. of Kinloch ; Wil- liam Walker, Esq. of Pitlair ; D. Maitland Makgill, Esq. of Ran- keilour ; of whom the two last mentioned gentlemen are also elders in the parish, — all reside upon their estates. teenth part wud be o'er greedy, to ask the fourth part would be cheat in mysell, I'll ] e'en strike between the twa and ask the aught. In consequence of this decision the eighth part of the lands of Ballomill was measured off to him, which long remained in the miller's family. The description in the title deed still runs " All and whole of the one-eighth part of the lands of Ballomill." The royal charter by which it was conveyed is still preserved in the parish. COLLESSIE. 31 So many of the heritors permanently resident, not only form a pleasant neighbourhood, but their residence exerts a very favour- able influence upon the condition and moral character of the whole population. Anxious as the gentlemen of the parish are to give employment to the labouring-classes, and to relieve the necessities of the poor, their liberality, as will appear in a subsequent part of this account, is of great benefit to the parish. And it may be said of the people at large, that they enjoy, in a very considerable de- gree, the comforts and advantages of society. During the last three years there have been 2 illegitimate births. IV. — Industry. Manufactures* — There are no manufactories or public works in this parish. Yet more than a hundred families are supported by hand- loom weaving, the materials beingsupplied by agents, and the manu- factured goods transmitted by them to Glasgow, Dundee, and Aber- deen. It requires great industry to enable a weaver to make 9s. a- week. Females are also employed in this occupation, whose earn- ings are scarcely so good. Agriculture. — The number of acres, imperial measure, cultivated or occasionally in tillage, is about 5000. There may be between 200 and 800 imperial acres of marshy and barren land lying continually waste, almost the whole of which might be improved for pasture, or planted to advantage. The only common in the parish, viz. Edens- muir and Monks-moss, was divided by Adam Holland, Esq. advo- cate, as arbiter, about forty years ago. Plantations. — The greater part of that common, extending in all to 967 imperial acres, has been planted, chiefly in fir. Weddersbie hill, also, extending to upwards of 200 imperial acres, was planted upwards of twenty years ago by William Johnston, Esq. of Lathrisk, the proprietor. The plantations in the neighbourhood of the man- sions in the parish extend to 60 or 70 acres, — so that the total wood- land may be about 1237 imperial acres. In Edensmuir and Monks-moss the wood planted is chiefly fir, too generally of a soft yellow pine, by mistake, instead of the Scotch fir. This great forest did not, in due time, receive judicious pe- riodical thinnings, which, from the lightness of the soil, it particu- larly required. It is, consequently in many places, not in a thriv- i ing state, and the trees will not reach above two-thirds of the size to which they might otherwise have attained. Upwards of twenty years ago, a large fir plantation on the bor- ders of the common, belonging to the Earl of Leven and Melville, 32 FIFESHIBE. suddenly died, when come to about two-thirds of its growth. The decay was so rapid that little value was secured. Numbers of in- sects were found on the trees. This extraordinary effect is pro- bably to be referred to the want of proper thinning, the poor soil being unable to sustain so large a crop. The space once occupied by this plantation still retains the name of the " Dead Wood." In the thriving plantation of Weddersbie hill, there is, along with the fir in the better parts of the soil, a judicious admixture of larch and the ordinary forest trees. In planting Edensmuir, the genuine Scotch fir ought to be introduced ; and everywhere except on the poorest parts of the soil, an admixture ought to be supplied of larch and of the hardy species of forest trees. Rent — The rent of arable land in the parish varies according to its quality, from 10s. to L. 2, 10s. per Scotch acre. Stock. — The Fifeshire breed of black cattle is reared. It is much crossed with various breeds, chiefly, however, with the short-horned or Teeswater, and with the Angus polled breed. More attention should be given to preserving and propagating the pure breed of the county. It combines in a great degree the hardiness of the Highland with the size of the southern breeds. Husbandry. — The mode of farming pursued in the parish is si* milar to that of the district at large. The common duration of leases is nineteen years. And the rents are now generally fixed, partly in money and partly in grain, according to the fiars of the county. The farm-buildings are generally good and commodious, and the fields for the most part enclosed with stone dikes or thorn hedges. Improvements. — Besides that this parish, in common with the coun- try at large, advances progressively in agricultural improvement, seve- ral extensive undertakings have been executed which have proved very beneficial. One of these was the embankment of the Eden by the late Mr Johnstone of Lathrisk, the father of the present proprie- tor. That river flowing through a level country, very often over- flowed its banks, and considerably injured the grounds on either side by washing away the soil. To prevent this, Mr Johnstone caused a spacious canal to be made for the water, 12 feet wide at the bottom and 30 feet at the top, secured on the sides by em- bankments and hedges, which include a space 70 feet in breadth, so that in time of a flood there is sufficient space for containing the water, and preventing its overflowing and damaging the adja- cent grounds. COLLESSIE* 33 Extensive improvements have also been effected upon the flat lands of Rankeilour- Makgill, and Pitlair. A quantity of ground has here been reclaimed from marsh, by the spirited improve- ments of the late Charles Maitland, Esq. of Rankeilour. In ac- complishing this, he deepened the water of Keilour, to give greater descent to his drainage. So beneficial has been the effect of his operations in this neighbourhood, that it is difficult now to believe the tradition, that in 1745, when the horses at Rankeilour were seized for the use of the Pretender's army, those of Pitlair remain- ed secure, the Highlanders being unwilling to approach it by the single road which led to it through the surrounding morass. In connection with these improvements, Mr Maitland worked marl on Pitlair, to the extent of 83,010 bolls fine, and 28,721 black do., which he used largely for his own estate, and sold besides to the surrounding landlords, to the value of L. 1461, lis. O^cL Draining of Rossie Loch, §*c. — But the most remarkable of all the improvements effected in the parish was the draining of Rossie Loch. The first attempt to accomplish this object was made in 1740. Notwithstanding the means then used, however, the ground was still left a kind of morass in summer, and almost covered with water in winter. It continued in this unsatisfac- tory state till 1805-1806, when Captain Cheape, the present proprietor, deepened and extended the drains, leading off the water to the Eden, at an expense of L. 3000. The land was thus brought into a comparatively dry state. About 250 acres of it have been made capable of producing good crops of grain, although about 40 acres in the middle of the former loch still remain marshy, producing only natural hay. In carrying for- ward his operations, Captain Cheape found it very advantageous occasionally to pasture the reclaimed fields with sheep. They consolidated the land, and prepared it for the plough, without breaking the surface, as heavier cattle must have done. The ex- tensive drainage which has been effected by the active and intel- ligent proprietor of Rossie has at once improved and beautified his estate, and greatly promoted the healthfulness of the neigh- bourhood. The system of draining has not only been successfully employ- ed upon the lands of Rossie, but upon the estate of Kinloch and other adjacent districts. It might be suggested, however, that, although little remains to be done in reclaiming, much might still fife. c 34 FIFESHIRE. be effected in improving the more retentive soils, by means of the system of furrow or frequent drainage. Produce. — The average gross amount and value of raw produce yearly raised in the parish, as nearly as can be ascertained, is as follows : Grain, 9000 quarters, . . . . L. 13*500 Potatoes, turnips, &c 6000 tons, ..... 5000 Hay, 1550 tons, . . . • • • 8875 Dressed flax, 4 or 5 tons, ... . 150 Land in pasture, 9000 or 10,000 acres of various qualities and some wood pasture, at L. 3 per cow or full-grown ox grazed, and 7s. per ewe or full-grown sheep pastured, ..... 1800 Gardens, ........ 120 Thinnings of plantations, ...... 300 I- 24,745 Agricultural Society. — A society, formed with the view of giving encouragement to the raising of live-stock and other agricultural produce, holds its meetings in this parish. It is one of the oldest associations for this purpose in the county. Its annual meeting, known by the name of the Trafalgar show, is held on the 21st of Oc- tober, the anniversary of the great victory of Trafalgar. The system of sweepstakes has lately been substituted for the premiums for- merly given by the society; and the competition excited, in improv- ing the breed of stock, and introducing improved seeds, is consi- derable. The Chevalier barley and the Italian rye-grass were lately brought into general notice in this district, by means of this society. It is supported by the neighbouring landed proprietors, and a considerable body of the tenantry. V. — Parochial Economy. Means of Communication. — As the parish is situated upon the road between Cupar and Auchtermuchty, our means of communica- tion are easy and direct There is a runner between these towns every day, who leaves letters and parcels at Trafalgar inn, and at the lodges of the mansions upon the road. No coach now passes through the parish ; the nearest point at which a public conveyance can be got is three miles distant from Collessie. We are six miles from the New Inn, where coaches to and from Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdeen, pass three times a-day. The projected railway, for connecting the Forth and Tay, will run through the centre of the parish. There are carriers almost every day to various parts of the country, and one regularly twice a week between Cupar and Auchtermuchty. Ecclesiastical State. — The great majority of the people are mem- bers of the Established Church. There is no dissenting meeting- COLLESSIE. 35 house of any description in the parish ; but there are about 80 families of dissenters, who go to their several places of worship in adjoining parishes. There are 135 male heads of families upon the parochial roll, who have the right of exercising the veto, in conformity with the recent enactment of the General Assembly, among whom are included all the heritors, and every farmer in the parish. There are 330 communicants in the Established Church, and 8 elders. The manse is a very comfortable and commodious house, much improved and enlarged, — almost, indeed, renewed within the last fourteen years. If, for the personal comfort of the minister and his family, it is, like many of the manses in Fife, too much in the village, he has the advantage at least of being near the scene of his ministerial labours. The glebe is of not more than the le- gal size, but the land is of good quality. The stipend is 15 chal- ders of grain, half meal, and half barley, a small sum for vicarage and grass money, with the usual allowance for communion ele- ments. The last augmentation was granted in 1822. There is a considerable amount of unexhausted teind. The church is an exceedingly uncomfortable and ill-adapted structure. It is one of the few remaining long and narrow build- ings, that seem to have been common in the country in Ro- man Catholic times. It is 75 feet long, by 25 broad. The pul- pit is in the middle, and there are galleries to the right and left of it. Some of the old seats that remain bear the date of the fifteenth century. From its original situation, or by the accumu- lation of graves in the church-yard in which it stands, it is sunk some feet below the level of the ground, and is in the winter sea- son cold and damp in the extreme. It cannot, at the utmost, be seated for more than 400 hearers ; and, besides being too small for the po- pulation of the parish, it is irremediably defective in form, and can by no repair be rendered commodious or comfortable. There is no remedy but in a new one, which it is hoped will soon be erected. Poor.— The poor of the parish are amply supported by the volun- tary collections made at the church doors. Our heritors for the most part being resident, and such of them as are not so occasionally coming to church, or sending their contributions, — although there is no fund or vested property for charitable purposes, — the kirk-ses- sion has been able, for the last three years, during the incumbency of the present minister, to meet, from the source alluded to, the exigencies of the poor. There is a prevailing opinion of the 36 F1FESHIRE. advantages to all parties attending this mode of parochial admi- nistration. The number of stated pensioners on the poors' roll is eleven, — 3 men and 8 women. The highest allowance is 10s. a month, — the lowest to any pensioner in the parish, 4s. The average sum collected yearly for the last three years is L. 58. This includes sums collected upon sacramental occasions twice a- year, and which, for the most part, are appropriated to the tem- porary relief of such of the poor as are not regular pensioners. It includes also the amount of annual collections made upon the first Sabbath of every year, being at an average L. 7 for coals to the poor. The kirk-session have thus been able to distribute upwards of thirty cart loads of coals annually, the heritors and farmers, in addition to their collections, giving the carriage free. Societies for Religious purposes. — Besides these collections for the temporal necessities of the poor, there is collected at the church door, for religious purposes, from L. 12 to L. 15 annually. The money thus raised for promoting Christian objects constitutes the funds of a parochial society, which are placed at the disposal of a committee, consisting of the kirk-session, ex officio, and three other members of the congregation, annually elected. And these funds have been principally appropriated to the support of insti- tutions connected with the Established Church. Education. — The facilities for education in the parish are con- siderable. There is the parochial school, where the usual branches are taught. It is attended, at an average, by 65 scholars. The schoolmaster has the maximum salary ; a comfortable and well-si- tuated house and garden. His fees may amount to L. 23 per an- num : he has also about L. 5 a-year from other sources. There is also a female school, a neat and well adapted building in the cot- tage style, near Collessie village, erected at the expense of the Mel- ville family, and partly endowed. It is attended by 50 girls, and a few boys under six years of age They are not only well in- structed in the elementary branches of general education, but the girls are taught knitting and needlework in its several branches, and, what is scarcely less important, are trained to habits of order and exactness. Our only other school is a small one at Monkston, attended by about 25 scholars, the teacher of which is wholly dependent on the fees of his pupils, and the voluntary kind- ness of his employers. Some endowment for a school in this part of the parish would be highly desirable. The number of children, in all, receiving a public education, is 140, being about MONIMAIL. 37 1 to 8£ of the whole population. A Sabbath school, well attend- ed by the children, and also by many of their parents, is taught at Collessie ; one at Rankeilour, and another at Monkston. We have a Parochial Juvenile and Adult Library, containing 370 well se- lected volumes. March 1836. PARISH OF MONIMAIL. PRE8BYTERY OF CUPAR, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. JAMES BRODIE, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name. — The name of this parish is spelt in several different ways ; but appears to have been the same in pronunciation from time immemorial. The first part of the word seems to be derived from the Celtic word Man or Monath, a hill ; while the latter part may be either mile, a mile ; or meal, honey ; or meille, a mill. Extent, Boundaries. — The parish forms an irregular oval, of which the extreme length is 6 miles, and the extreme breadth 5 ; and con- tains about 16 square miles. It is entirely inland ; and is bounded on the north and east by the parishes of Abdie, Dunbog, Moonzie, and Cupar; and on the south and west by Cults and Collessie. The northern part of the parish consists of a range of whinstone hills, of which the Mount Hill is the highest The southern part is more level, being a portion of the hollow which occupies the centre of Fifeshire. Meteorology, fyc — The general temperature of the atmosphere, as ascertained by a register kept at Melville House, in which the greatest heat of each day, and greatest cold of each night, are re- gularly noted, is as under : Jan. Feb. Mar. Ap. May. June. July. Aug, Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 1833, 37.1 38.5 40.8 45.3 548 52.8 59 56.1 5&4 49.3 38.5 38.1 1834, 31.3 38 38.5 43 55.1 56.4 59.6 1835, 35.2 38.8 40.5 46.1 49.3 55.2 57.2 58.3 50.6 43.1 39.1 35.5 Generally speaking the climate is mild. The hills to the north and east break the force of the wind from these quarters, while the abundance of plantations add to the warmth, as well as to the beauty of the district The lower part of the parish was formerly sub- 38 FIFESHIRE. ject to damps and hoar frosts ; but, by means of thorough drain- ing, these evils have been almost entirely removed. In conse- quence of its dry and sheltered situation, it is considered by medi- cal men as peculiarly healthy. Agues are unknown, and fevers occur but seldom, and are generally milder in their character than in other places. Hydrography. — There are several rivulets in the parish, all of which fall into the river Eden. There is only one of them of such a size as to turn a mill-wheel without the aid of a dam. In some places, owing to the porous nature of the subsoil, the supply of water is deficient ; but in general the springs are abundant, and the water good, without any trace of mineral impregnation. Geology. — The northern half of the parish consists of a mass of whinstone, full of rents, speedily yielding to the action of the at- mosphere, and, consequently, unfit for building. There are, how- ever, isolated portions of a harder and more durable nature* In some places, agates are found imbedded in the rock* Besides these portions, which seem to have been formed at the same time as the softer rock by which they are surrounded, there are two contigu- ous veins, or seams, of a more recent formation, running nearly east and west for many miles. The one to the north is a very tough, heavy, and coarse-grained stone, and varies in thickness from 15 to 40 feet. The other is harder and closer in the grain, and is from 10 to 20 feet thick. Between these veins there some- times occur cavities* in which very beautiful crystals of carbonate of lime and sulphate of barytes have been found. The southern half of the parish contains some sandstone, be- longing to the coal formation, which is spread over a large portion of the county. The more hilly parts present very evident proofs of the action of a strong current, flowing from the west or south-west. On that side of the different rising grounds, the soil rests immediately on the whinstone, and consists of decomposed rock and vegetable mould. Wherever it is of sufficient thickness, it produces abun- dantly all the different species of cultivated plants. On the east and north, the whinstone is covered by a deposit of clayey till se- veral feet in thickness. The soil in such places is more tenacious, and generally less productive. In the more level district, the coal strata are covered with a thick bed of gravel and sand, apparently deposited by an extensive lake, which had at some former period extended over the " Laigh of 3 MONIMAIL. 39 Fife." This gravel is composed of fragments of many different rocks ; and the soil above it is light and thin. Botany. — The greater part of the land having been under culti- vation from time immemorial, and the rest affording good pasture for cattle and sheep, there is no secluded corner to afford a ha- bitat for any of the rarer indigenous plants. The yellow aco- nite grows in great abundance in the shrubberies at Melville, and the Geranium lucidum on the old walls round Monimail. The va- rious kinds of grasses and vetches are especially abundant. In the soils formed from the decomposition of the whinstone, we find Poa arvensis, P. trivialis, Festuca duriuscula, Cynosurus cri&tatus, Phleum pratense, and Holcus avenaceus most commonly occurring; on the soils lying above sand or gravel, the Festuca ovina, and Agrostis communis are most frequently found ; while the Holcus lanatus and DadyKs glomerata are everywhere abundant.. All the diffe- rent kinds of trees commonly planted seem to thrive ; some of the oaks in particular have been noted for an unusually rapid growth. Zoology. — Owing to the sheltered situation of the parish, and the number of plantations, there is a superabundance of the fea- thered tribes. Occasionally, some of the rarer species have been met with. Among others may be mentioned, the Bohemian and silken chatterers, the grossbeak, the siskin, th% kingfisher, and the passenger pigeon, — the last being the only specimen hitherto discovered in Britain. A few foxes and roe-deer are found in the plantations, but none of the rarer quadrupeds have been observed. The jealousy of the gamekeeper has destroyed almost all the birds and beasts of prey (not excepting the cat) ; wood-pigeons, rabbits, rats, and other vermin, are in consequence numerous and very de- structive. The rivulets supply a few t routs and eels. The only shell-fish is the fresh water muscle. II. — Civil History. Eminent Men, — Of eminent men connected with the parish we may mention, Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, whose family Cor many years retained that property. Several individuals belonging to the noble family of Melville have also received an honourable place in the history of their country. Melville of Raith, (ancestor of the present Earls of Leven and Melville,) was one of the first who embraced the Reformed religion. His sons, James and Andrew Melville, were distinguished for their diplomatic talent in the times of James and Mary. George, the first Earl of Melville, had the honour, as His Majesty's Commissioner to the General Assembly, 40 FIFESHIRE. of announcing that church patronage had been abolished. He was also one of the most active instruments of bringing about the Revolution of 1688. In later times, this parish was the residence of Sir John Hope, afterwards Lord Niddry and Earl of Hopetoun, who acted so distinguished a part in the peninsular war. Land-owners. — The chief land-owners are, the Earl of Leven and Melville ; General the Hon. Sir Alexander Hope of Ran- keilour, G. C. B. ; Francis Balfour, Esq. of Fernie, (nearest heir- male to the attainted title of Burleigh ;) George Paterson, Esq. of Cunoquhie ; and Thomas Webster, Esq. of Balgarvie. Parochial Registers* — The parish registers commence in the year 1626. They are in general pretty well kept; but several portions have been lost. Some of the entries show that the for- mer state of the country was very different from the present Thus, from the treasurer's accounts, we learn, that, besides maintaining the poor, and assisting in educating young men for the ministry, the collections made at church were applied to the repairing of roads, bridges, and harbours. Antiquities. — Of antiquities the number is but small. An old tower yet stands, which is said to have been built by Cardinal Bethune or Beaton, who resided here in 1562. It seems to have formed an addi- tion to a building»which had previously been one of the country resi- dences of the Archbishops of St Andrews. There are several dis- tinct heads of the Cardinal in his cap, in relievo upon the walls. The arms of the family of Bethune are also entire. The house of Fer- nie is believed to have been one of Macduff's castles ; it is very old, and has evidently been a place of strength. In taking down the old church, a stone coffin was found in the wall, formed of a single stone, with a cavity cut of the shape of the body. Another stone formed the cover. Some remnants of what seemed to have been gold lace were found among the mouldering bones and dust ; but who was the person thus immured, could not be ascertained. About a mile from the site of the old church, there is a strong spring of very pure water, which is known by the name of Cardan's well ; so called from a celebrated physician, who is said with this water to have cured Hamilton Archbishop of St Andrews, of dropsy. A belief long prevailed, that this spring was possessed of peculiar me- dicinal properties, and within the last fifty years many persons used to frequent it ; but now its very name and situation are almost for- gotten. Its reputation perhaps arose from a cunning device of the physician, who praised its virtues, that he might induce a lazy eccle- MON1MA1L. 41 siastic to take the exercise necessary for his health, in walking to the well.* Buildings. — The parish is rich in gentlemen's seats; Melville, Rankeilour, Cunoquhie, and Balgarvie, are elegant modern man- sions. Fernie Castle, as before observed, is more ancient, and re- tains marks of having been a place of strength. A beautiful pil- lar, upwards of 100 feet in height, has been erected on the top of the Mount-hill, in memory of the late Lord Hopetoun. The materials generally used in building are freestone for the hewn work, and whin- stone for the ruble. They form together a very solid and durable wall. A few of the cottages are covered with thatch ; but most of them are roofed with tiles, and the better class of buildings with slates. HI. — Population. Judging from the entries in the session registers, the population of the parish does not appear to have made any great increase for the last two hundred years. Dr Webster states it at 884, but this seems to be too low. The increase has arisen from the number of additional hands employed in weaving. The amount of the agri- cultural population is less than in former times. The numbers at each census are as follows : In 1791, .1101 1811, 1160 1821, . 1227 1831, . 1230, of whom 599 were males; and 631 females. Number of persons residing in villages, .... 560 the country, ... 670 children under 12 years of age, ... 426 individuals of 70 and upwards, - - 50 The yearly average of births is - - 28} of illegitimate births is ... 1 of marriages, ..-•££ of deaths, .... 19 Of these last there are at an average, of children either still-born or under a week old, 2 Of persons of 70 and upwards, ..... 8 In the roll of heritors, there are one Earl and one Knight G. C. B. There are ten proprietors of land of the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards, four are non-resident, and six have their mansion-houses in the parish. The number of families is 277, (including in this number single and unmarried persons, having houses of their own.) * A stone coffin containing two skeletons was lately found at Uthrogal, in trench- ing a piece of ground, which is said by tradition to have been a Roman Catholic burying-placc Uthrogal was formerly a leper hospital, and with the lands of Hos- pital mill in the adjoining parish of Cults, was given by Mary of Gueldres, the wi- dow of James II. to the Trinity Hospital at Edinburgh. On the suppression of religious houses it became the property of the town of Edinburgh, and now belongs to the Earl of Leven. 42 FIFESHIRE. The number of families chiefly employed in agriculture, . . • 147 in trade, manufactures, or handicraft, 108 There are in the parish 1 insane person, 1 fatuous, 2 blind, and 1 deaf and dumb. During the last three years there have been 3 illegitimate births in the parish. Language. — The language spoken is the dialect peculiar to Fifeshire, which contains a good many words not to be found in Johnson, though their number is gradually diminishing. The pro- nunciation is slow and rather drawling. The double oo, as in fool, is sounded as the French u in un. The / after p and b is often changed into a short i ory, plough and blue being pronounced piu and bin, a corruption similar to the change of the Latin planus into the Italian piano. The a in haste, hate, &c. has a sound interme- diate between the ay in may, and the e in me, which is in fact a dis- tinct vowel, peculiar to the " kingdom of Fife." The short 1, as in him, is pronounced nearly as the u in tub. IV. — Industry. Provisions and Wages. — The price of provisions and rate of wages at different periods may be stated as under : In 1750. 1790. 1810. 1834. Provisions, 9 sed of his property in this parish, found it in a very rugged and un- productive condition,* yet capable of right culture, and of produc- ing good crops. With other proprietors, he took an active part in deepening and straighting a burn, which obstructed the agri- culture of a large district, and affected the whole of the north side of his property. Here he succeeded completely, by drain- ing effectually the parts contiguous to the bum, and also by providing sufficient levels for all the other arrangements. The chief ingredient of the soil is clay. The surface was a good deal encumbered with stones, many of them of an unwieldy size, but all obstacles have been surmounted, and by a liberal encou- ragement to his tenants, and by a judicious superintendence, the farms are well drained, well enclosed, and well cultivated. Up- wards of twenty years ago, the late J. Reddie, Esq. of Redhouse, planted a large piece of peat moss, of about fifteen Scotch acres with Scotch firs. The ground was previously drained and levelled ; and although the moss be in several places upwards of seven feet deep, of a substance entirely moss, yet the trees have thriven, and now the place formerly so gloomy and ugly, presents a pleasant prospect of verdure and utility ; and the surrounding grounds, for- merly marshy and insalubrious, are become wholesome. A good many years ago, Robert Ferguson, Esq. of Raith, took under his management a tract of ground, at that time remarkably ugly, almost waste, and very unproductive. This he has converted into an arable farm, and adorned with thriving plantations. The farm itself is well enclosed, well cultivated, and very productive. It rents, I understand, at the rate of L. 1, 5s. the acre. The extent is 200 acres ; and it is pleasant to learn, that while the country is hereby improved, the original improver has already been indemni- fied for outlays, and continues to draw very good interest for his money. The name of the farm is East Cardon. What a benefit to a country are resident proprietors ! Produce. — Potatoes, 160 acres Scots, at 40 bolls per acre. Turnips, 160 acres. Hay, water meadow, 100 acres, at 150 stone per acre. Pasture, one-third of the whole parish ; the other two-thirds (with the above deductions,) grow wheat, barley, pease and beans, and oats. The quantity of oats sown amounts to perhaps more than that of all the other grains. Quarries* — We have good limestone quarries, and coal is found 170 FIFESHIRE. in every quarter of the parish. The average output of the Cluny coal, belonging to R. Ferguson, Esq. Raith, has been for the last four years: Great coal, per year, 70,499 loads, sold at lid. per load, — 22 stone Dutch each load, or 24 stone 1 pound English ; the whole sold for home consumption. Above and under ground, at the colliery, 74 hands at present are employed, including men and boys. The quantity just now thrown out at Lord Minto's coal work, Lochgelly, is 900 loads per week, 21 stone Dutch, at lid. per load; also 400 ditto, chews, 8d. per load ; exported 300 loads per week. Men employed, 32 colliers ; women, 12, under ground ; men, 7, above ground. The quantity now brought up from Robert Wardlaw Ramsay's coal-work, Dundonald, is 133 loads per week, at 8d. of 22 stone Dutch ; the men employed 7. V. ��� Parochial Economy. The chief village is Lochgelly. We have now useful metalled roads in various directions. The lines have not been well chosen ; but we are thankful for the roads as they are. In the present de- pressed state of agriculture, nothing but the improvement of roads could have kept us up. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church is central. It was built in 1789; the manse in 1784. There are no free sittings. The heritors divide the area, according to their valued rent, among their dependents. The glebe is 14£ Scotch acres in extent, and, including the glebe, the living is about L. 300 a-year. The pay- ment of the grain of stipends by the county fiars is an excellent arrangement At present, the average number of communicants at the Established Church is 300. All our dissenters are Presby- terians : and there is a meeting-house at Lochgelly. About one- half of the population is dissenting or seceding. Education. — There are three schools within the parish, and a border school; one is the parish school, the other two village schools. The parish schoolmaster has the maximum salary, and the required accommodations. The border school, supplied with more than one-half of its scholars from this parish, has upwards of 50 scholars. The other two have about 70 each : and the mas- ters have no salaries. The parish school has at present upwards of 90 scholars ; the wages 2s., 2s* 6d., and 3s. per quarter. Clas- sical learning is little in request, even in the parish school. The branches commonly taught are, English, grammatically, the English Bible, English collections, writing, accounts, a religious catechism, AUCHTERDERRAN. 1 7 1 geometry, mensuration, geography, navigation, book-keeping, church music Considering their moderate means, the parents are remarkably anxious to procure education for their children, and none of these grow up without being put to school. Our paro- chial schools have been much improved by the augmenting of the salaries, — a measure equally wise and benevolent Savings Bank. — A savings bank has been kept in this parish ever since that kind of institution was introduced into Scotland. It was for some years managed by Mr Greig, the dissenting minister of Lochgelly, and myself jointly. Upon Mr Greig*s death the ma- nagement devolved wholly upon my family. The amount of de- posits has varied from L. 900 to L. 400. The persons depositing are all of the industrious and poorer classes. The sums deposited are sometimes as low asLl, and never of great amount They are deposited with the Kirkaldy branch of the Bank of Scotland. It is to be regretted that this sort of institution has not become more prevalent Perhaps it would become more prevalent, if, instead of dividing into single parishes, a number of parishes were group- ed together, such as those of a presbytery or a small county. The small county of Kinross carries on with success a county savings bank, kept at the county town. Poor and Parochial Funds. — Our poor are supplied from our collections at the church, and from the interest derived from a sum of money (about L. 700) in the management of the kirk-session. But though our collections have increased, yet, for the last two years, the interest of our money has decreased in a greater propor- tion. Yet we are averse to frequent assessments ; for although our heritors are well inclined to our poor, we think it would not prove ultimately for the public benefit to apply often to this resource. Dur- ing my long incumbency we have had only three assessments on the heritors for the poor, and these were for very moderate sums. Our number of poor upon the monthly list runs from 15 to 22 families. To each of these families the kirk-session distri- butes monthly 3s. at an average. But our greatest disburse- ments the session reserves for occasional charities, for sickness, for severe accidents, for house rents, for school wages to poor children, for defraying the expenses of patients going and coming to or from an infirmary, &c Every individual case is inquired into, and care- fully judged of by the session. Alehouses. — We have 12 of these in the parish. 172 fifeshire. Miscellaneous Observations. I mentioned in my last report, that a turnpike road, running from east to west through this district, had been projected, and even at that time had obtained the sanction of Parliament ; but it has never been executed. It was to run from the Plasterers' Inn on the Leven to Kirk of Beath. It was to give a shorter and better line of travelling towards St Andrews, Dundee, Cupar, on the one hand, and towards Queensferry, Dunfermline, Edinburgh, Glas- gow, on the other. Several roads have since been made here with various views, but none directly or properly laying open this great thoroughfare. Were the lines now referred to adopted, the other roads would fell into country bye roads. It is surprising how slow- ly even in this mercantile country improved lines of communica- tion are adopted. But this direction of road will, from its obvious benefits, still force itself upon the public attention. Another turnpike still more universally important, running from south to north, and crossing the above at right angles, is projected, and engrosses much attention. It is proposed to carry this road from Burntisland to the Inn of Farg in Strathearn, there to join the great Queensferry and Perth road. From Burntisland the line runs on to Auchtertool, from Auchtertool to Auchterderran, from Auchterderran to Portmoak, passing the east end of Loch- leven near to Scotland Well From this, the line runs through part of Strathmiglo parish, near to Edenhead and to the old castle of Balvaird, and then joins the Queensferry and Perth road near the Inn of Farg. Whoever casts his eye upon a map will per- ceive how much space is cut off by this line, compared to that round by Queensferry. The district is also much more level From the day when it was first ascertained that steam-vessels could with advantage ply the Frith of Forth, this road might have been expected to commence. But it was immediately found that, to have the benefit of such a road, a low water pier would be necessary at Burntisland, and this became a preliminary obstruc- tion which has not yet been surmounted. If we compare the outlay that would be necessary for this plan of road to the inn of Farg, with outlays made upon other great roads and works, it appears compa- ratively trifling. The new road from Glasgow to Carlisle, for in- stance, is said to have cost upwards of L. 60,000. This Fife road could be executed for less than a third of that sum : yet the city of Glasgow alone derives almost all the benefit from that conveyance, whereas here all Scotland north of Forth would be essentially be- AUCHTERDERRAN. 1 73 nefited by rendering their travelling to Edinburgh and London, and all the south-east parts of the island shorter, far more speedy and pleasant,— not to speak of the great local advantages that would attend it It has not yet been ascertained by experiment whether, from our clayey close-bottomed strong soil, spade culture could, with a sure prospect of remuneration, be introduced into general practice in farming. From the effects produced by this practice on our kitchen gardens, we have the fullest conviction, that the crops thus raised are far better than those from the plough furrow. We sow our grains earlier than formerly, particularly barley, which was wont to be sown in May, but now generally in April; and ex- perience confirms the advantage of the change. There is a full crop, and the grain is weightier and better ripened. Drunkenness, formerly rare, is now lamentably frequent — Forty years ago, emigration was thought of with much reluctance ; now the predilection for the native spot has diminished, and emigration is more readily embraced. — Forty years ago, we were accustomed to regard increase of population as increase of national prosperity ; now such increase seems regarded as an obstruction.— -Forty years ago we had no medical gentlemen in the parish ; at present two are resident — Since the draining of our soil and marshes obtained, the heron has nearly disappeared, and since our district became wood- ed, pheasants have reached our latitude. — Forty years ago, ser- vants for husbandry were few in number, at present they seem re- dundant—Formerly coal-hewers were inferior to other classes in morals and respectability, here they are now nearly on a level. — Forty, nay twenty, years ago, we had not one metalled road, now we have several. — Forty years ago, irregularity, multiplicity and con- fusion of weights and measures pervaded all transactions, now we have one philosophical and just standard. — Forty years ago, the ministers of the Established Church generally delivered all their discourses from the pulpit without reading ; now they are general- ly read. — Forty years ago, land was sold in Fife at thirty-five years' purchase of the existing rental, now it sells at twenty-six years' pur- chase of the present rental The valued rent of this parish is upwards of L. 7000 Scotch. The present real rent is about L. 7000 Sterling. — Forty years ago, rents were all paid here in money ; now they begin to be paid in grain, at the rate of the county fiars. — Forty years ago, resurrec- tionists, as they are called, were unheard of; now, even the poor 174 FIFESHIRE. labourer is under the hardship of providing safes for the graves of his friends. — Forty years ago, thrashing machines were unknown to us; now, they are become general and so beneficial that it is difficult to believe how farming could be carried successfully on without them. — Forty years ago, the different ranks in society were distinguished from each other by their dress ; at present there is little distinction in dress. — Forty-nine years ago, I was the youngest minister of the presbytery, now I am the oldest. Revised May 1836. PARISH OF BEATH. PRESBYTERY OF DUNFERMLINE, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. JAMES FERGUSSON, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name.— The name of the parish was anciently spelt Baith, and signifies, in Gaelic, birchwood,— of which there is not a vestige now to justify the etymology. Extent and Boundaries. — The parish is about 4 miles long, and 3 broad, and is of an irregular figure. It is bounded on the west by the parish of Dunfermline ; on the south by Dunfermline and Aberdour ; on the south-east and east by Aberdour and Auchter- tool ; on the north-east by Auchterderran ; on the north and north- west by Ballingry and Cleish. Topographical Appearances. — Its surface is rugged and hilly; but there are no mountains. The beautiful hill of Beath, in re- gard to the excellence of its pasture, and the fine and extensive view it affords, is well entitled to the description given of it in the last Statistical Account The Saxifraga granulata is found on it in abundance. Owing to the elevation of the parish, and to the quantity of wet land in and around it, the climate, during the greater part of the year, is cold and humid. The only lake in the parish is Loch Fitty (not Tilly, as, by mistake, in the last account) It is about three miles in circumference, rather shallow, adorned with little scenery, and contains pike, perch, and muscle. 3 BEATH. 175 At present there are three collieries in operation in the parish. The rocks in the hills and plains are, so for as known, of whin and free or sandstones. Some years ago, a lime rock was discovered in the west end of the parish, and partially wrought The soils, all untransported, are brown earth upon whinstone, till, and moss. II. — Civil History. Land-owners.— -There are thirteen land-owners connected with the parish, all of whom, except one, possess property in it above L. 50 a-year. The principal proprietors are, the Earl of Moray, patron; Mr Dewar; and the Lord Chief- Commissioner Adam. Several others have lands of considerable extent and value. Only five of the heritors are at present resident Parochial Registers. — The parochial registers, consisting of mi- nutes of session, records of marriages, births and burials, have been pretty regularly kept The earliest entries were in 1642, and were prefaced with a very curious and interesting account of the causes which led to the rebuilding of the church, — which it is thought proper here to subjoin. * • « A short andjlne Naration concerning the Kirk qfBalth, 1640 The kirk of Baith, a most fittand convenient place for the situatione of a kirk, being upone the roade way, and in the just midis betwixt Kinross and Innerkethine. Sua it is to rememberit that tho* it be amongst the smallest, yit the name of it is amongst the antientest par- roches in Scotland. Wherefore, a most reverend and worth ie brother, Mr William Scott, sometime minister at Couper, reported that the first place of meeting that ever the Protestant Lords of Scotland had for the covenante and Reformation*) at the kirk of Baith. This kirk in some sorte myght be compared to Gideon's fleece, which was dry, when all the earth was watered. " When all the congregations of Fyfe were planted, this poore kirk was neglected and overlooked, and lay desolate then fourteene yeeres, after the Reformatione eighty yeeres. The poore parochiners being always lyke wandering sheep without a sheep- hard, and whairas they should have conveened to bear a pastoure preiche, the princi- pal cause of the people's meetinge, wes to heere a pyper play upone the Lord's daye, which was the daye of thair profaine mirth, not being in the workes of thair calling. Which was the caus that Sathane had a most faire name amongst them, stirring many of them up to dancing, playing at foot-ball, and excessive drinking, falling out and wounding one another, which wes the exercise of the younger sort, and the older sort played at gems and the workes of their calling without any distinction of the weeke daye from the daye of the Lord, and thus they continued, as said is, the space of eighty yeeres : this poore kirk being always neglected, became a sheepe hous in the night. " And becaus some of the poore people desyred to have yr poore little ones (being young maydes for the most pairt) brought up at school, what abominatione was com- mitted by the profaine Mr, I will not expresse : let it suffice the world to know, that the poore criminall, after his flight, was overtaken and brought to justice, for such ane vile and hard misdemaner ; this which hath been wreatten, may be sufficient to make any hart melt for the most abominable estate of this poore kirk. In end, recourse wes hadd to the Yerle of Moray, lord and patrone of the lands of the parroch, to try if it might pleis Lo. to kntribute any thing to the building of that poore kirk, or iff he would pittye the poore people, and such a long soul murther that hadd been amongst them. The Countess of Home, his mother-in-law, was also dealt with to the samine purpose, but both refuissed. Sua when that poore people hadd been so long excluded from all hopes to gett their kirk builded, or any pastoure to speakc a word of comfort to the parrochiner's souls, it pleised the Lord to put it in the hart 176 FIFESHIRE. III. — Population. In 1821, the amount of population was 729. By the census of 1831, very accurately taken, it was 921, — males, 459 ; females, 462. Of this amount there were 23 above 70 years of age. About 400 of the population live in the villages of Kelly and Oakfield. of Mr Alexander Collville of Blair, having no relatione to doe for this poore people, but being only their neere neighboure, and beholding from his own window* thair pyping and dancing, revelling and deboshing, their drinking and excesse, thair ryote everie Sabbath day, was moved by the Lord, and mightilie stirred up to undertake something for that poore people, and having assembled some of the speciall men of the parroch, at the village of Sheills, sounded thair mindes, if they might be bold to ad- venture to assist and help him with horses for drawing of timber and'stones, (he and they both fearing the oppositione and discountenance of the lord and patrone of the paroch,) the parrochiners present did give this comfortable answer, that they woud both doe and adventure to kntribute thair best endeavores with men and horses, for building of their kirk, but becaus of their povertie, they were not able to kntribute anie of their owne private monnie, but amongst others that were present, none was found more foreward with his horse and assistance than Mr Johne Hodge, tennent in Leuchat's Baith, of whome I made electione to oversee the worke and the work- men, and did presentlie advance him some monnie for that effect. "It pleised the Lord, so be blessed our endeavores that the worke prospered in our hand, and was brought to great perfectione in a short tyroe, even to the admiratione of the people and passengers, who marvelled to see the worke goe on so sudanlie, neither knowing the way nor the instruments. And becaus it wes impossible, when the walls were up to get the kirk slaitted in such haist, the slaittes being at Tippermoore, which was at sizteene miles distance ; thairfor it wes thought expedient for the present yeere, that it should be sarked with dealles, which being done with very great diligence, 1 thought good to send for ane old reverend brother, Mr John Row Law, minister at Carnocke, who after some refuisalls, without the consent of the minister of Aberdour, (becaus into his kirk, the parroches of Dalgetie and Baith were annexed,) he ooud not undertake to preach, yet after muche intreattie he was moved to come to such ane eflamished congregatione, in such a retyred place. The people understanding that scrmone was to be at the kirk of Baith so unexpectedlie, and so suddeolie builded ; did resort from all places, and much out of everie sitie, being new tangled with such a suddan change, thronged in so to kirk, that thair wes scarce anie place left to raise up some height for a place to the pastoure. And while the pastoure was in a most moveing and elegant straine for the kindness and mercie of God to that people that hadd lived so long in darkness, it pleised the Lord out of his free and immense love to bring such a suddain rushe of joye upone my hart, that I had almost fainted, but in end remembering myseiffe, I was comforted to think that the Lord had shewed a pledge of his goodnesse towards me, and accepted of my weake and unworthie obedi- ence, to make me instrumentall for the worke of his majestic 1 shall not insist to speike anie thing at all of my actings and doings, or sufferings, to be instrumentall in the worke of the Lord, but one thing I must dec 1 aire, that Sathanebath beene, is, and will be bussie against all those that will be instrumental for the service of God, so be- came he my enemy in stirring up some to scourge me with the tongue/and put grie- vous aspersions upone my name and reputatione ; in stirring up some to slander mee, as iff I had intervened something that was given by some few friendes for that proud use. But I declaire in the presence of God, to all after ages, that .such reports are but false calumnies and lyes ; thair wes never suche a thing as one penny intervened or withheld by me from the work of the Lord. And becaus my conscience beares mee wttnesse of the honestie of ray carriage therein, it is also borne in upon mee to pronunce from God, that he who devysed to scourge me with the tongue shall be punished without repentance. And more, to shew my integrity, where ane promise that ever I had in the worke of the Lord, was from a most religious Christiane, Wil- liam Breggs of Athernie, and becaus I did alwayes rest confident of the certaintie of the helpe of such a religious man ; I suspendit it last of all, and would not goe to vi- sile this worthie man without the presence of ane elder, whom I chose to be John Hodge, who accompanied mee to Athernie, and when wee came to Bennochie, it was reported to us, that he was depairted this life, which wes so ; and so wee were frus- trat altogether of our greatest hopes. (Signed) Jo. Hunttzr. m BEATH. 177 The number of families is 180, containing each, of individuals, on an average, somewhat more than 5 ; a fact, perhaps, rather uncom- mon ; and to be accounted for by early marriages, chiefly among the colliers, who earn higher wages than any other class of labourers. There are 4 houses at present in progress of building ; all the rest, amounting to 161, are inhabited. The increase of population is owing to the additional number of hands employed at the collieries, and to a system of feuing lately introduced. The annual average ofbirths for the last seven years, appearing from the parish records, was 15; of marriages, 5; and of deaths, 13. But, as the deaths of all who are interred in the churchyard are recorded, although some of them are from other parishes, and as some parents neglect to have the births of their children register- ed, the exact number of births and deaths cannot be ascertained. In general the people enjoy the advantages and comforts suited to their stations in life. In dress and the decoration of their per- sons, they keep pace with the times. They are, upon the whole, moral and religious. There have been, as there still are, several instances of longevity among them. During the last three years there have been 4 illegitimate births in the parish. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — In this parish, there is not much land that is not capable of being rendered arable ; and by far the greater part has been at one period under the plough. Of late years a good deal has been done in the way of reclaiming waste land, and improv- ing such as had been neglected by bad husbandry ; and the result has been a fair remuneration. Number of acres, standard imperial measure, in the parish, which are either cultivated or occasionally in tillage, .... 5270 * Number of acres which never have been cultivated, and which remain con- stantly waste, or in pasture, - - - - . 516 Number of acres that might, with a profitable application of capital, be ad- ded to the cultivated land of the parish, whether that land were afterwards to be kept in occasional tillage or in permanent pasture, - - 394 f Number of acres under wood, whether natural or planted, - . 530 -Produce. — The average gross amount of raw produce raised in the parish, as nearly as that can be ascertained, is as follows : Produce of all kind?, ..... L. 5479 Potatoes, turnips, cabbages, &c. .... 2040 * Although all this has been at one period in tillage, a considerable portion of it ha* been long in pasture, and, as such, is now of inferior quality. f If the spirit for improvement at present manifested by the tenantry does not relax, all th« improvable land will, in a few years, have bean under crop. FIFE. M 178 FIFESH1UE. Hay, ....... L. 1055 Flax, ....... 32 Ijand in pasture, rating it at L. 2, 10s. per cow or full-grown ox, graced, or that may be graied for the season, - - 2216 Gardens and orchards, - . - . - - 55 00 Annual thinning and periodical felling of woods, plantations, (most of which are young,) and copse, - - - - 150 Mines. — Amount of sales at the Kclty colliery from January 1834 to January 1835. The other two collieries have been at a stand for a year or two, ------ 2920 13 Total yearly value of raw produce raised, L. 13947 13 Rent of Land. — The average price of land may be stated at about L. 1 per Scotch acre. The value of different parts of the same farm differs very widely. Several farms have been for many years under pasture for black cattle, and pay fully as well as in til- lage. The state of farming is, upon the whole, rapidly improving, owing partly to the encouragement afforded by the landlords, and partly to a more judicious mode of husbandry, and greater industry on the part of the tenants. Paring and burning, draining, liming, and earlier sowing, are the more striking and beneficial improve- ments. The farm-buildings are, in several instances, pretty good, and suited to the value of the farms and to the district. Those on the property of the Earl of Moray have been lately erected. That nobleman has also improved the appearance and value of his lands by judicious plantations. And it were much to be wished, that some of the other proprietors, whose lands afford abundant capa- bility, would, in this respect, follow his Lordship's example, and that of the Lord Chief- Commissioner, by which means their own ad- vantage would be promoted, and the parish be no longer prover- bial for bleakness. The duration of leases is, in most cases, for nineteen years, which is considered to be favourable to the occu- pier. The productions of the parish are, oats, barley, wheat par- tially, peas, beans, potatoes, turnips, a little flax, and cultivated and meadow hay.* A day-labourer earns from Is. 6d. to 2s. a-day. Male farm-servants are hired at from L. 10 to L. 12 per annum ; and female servants receive from L. 5 to L. 6 per annum. V. — Parochial Economy. Means of Communication. — There are no markeUtownsin this pa- rish. The nearest are Dunfermline and Kinross, each distant about ■ From the results of experiments made, for several years past* by the writer of this account, he has reason to believe that carrots sown in our kitchen gardens, about the middle of May, are much less liable to the depredations of the worm, than those sown at an earlier period. It will be an additional advantage to sow them in the beds in which leeks were reared the preceding vear. 4 BEATII. 179 six miles from the centre of the parish. Blair- Adam Inn, in the parish of Cleish, is the post-office, nearly three miles from the manse. The great north road from Queensferry to Perth, one of the best in the kingdom, passes through the parish, a length of four miles. There are three public daily coaches, including the mail, travelling on it The bridges are in good repair, and the parish is all en* closed and subdivided, chiefly with good stone fences, called Gallo- way dikes. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church is the only place of pub- lie worship. Its situation is convenient for the population, but not so its size, affording accommodation to only 250 sitters* It is an old, cold, damp, fabric. In 1808, it underwent a repair, and stands greatly in need of another. If the heritors consulted their own in- terest, and the accommodation and comfort of the people, they would cause its foundation to be dug up.* In good weather the church is remarkably well attended. The average number of communicants is above 200, and the number is annually increasing. Of the population nearly 200, old and young, are Burgher Seceders, the only description of Dissenters in the pa- lish. Their number has greatly diminished within the last twenty years. The manse was built in 1801, and a small addition was made to it four years ago. The glebe consists of 8 acres, and may be worth from L. 16 to L. 20 yearly. The teinds are exhausted, and the stipend is the minimum. Education.— The parochial school is the only one in the parish. Its situation is central. The usual branches of education are taught in it For the last fourteen years, owing greatly to the su- perior merits of the teachers, Mr William Beatton, lately called to the parish of Kennoway, and his brother, who has succeeded him, it has been attended by an average of 100 scholars. The fees are, per quarter, for English reading, 2s. 6d. ; reading and writing, 3s. ; do. do. and arithmetic, 4s. ; Latin and Greek, 5s. The school- master's house and school-room were lately erected, and are good and commodious. The salary is the maximum: the fees may amount to L. 30 per annum. There are very few persons in the parish above six years of age who cannot read. In general, the people are alive to the benefits of education. There are, however, some exceptions, chiefly among the colliers. • Since the above account was given in, a handsome and excellent church has been erected, calculated to afford ample accommodation to the parishioners, and which re- flects (peat credit upon the liberality of the heritors. 180 FIFESHIRE. Some years ago, Francis Berry, a native of the parish, and who spent the greater part of his life in it, in the capacity of a small for- mer, (in consequence of the death of his only child, a student in divinity,) bequeathed a feu in land and houses, the fruit of honest industry, for educating poor children, natives of the parish. The property is subject to the liferent of his widow, an elderly woman. It is let in lease for L. 28, 10s. per annum. The kirk-session are appointed sole trustees. Poor. — The maintenance of the poor has long been a light burden. At present there are only 5 on the roll, three of whom receive each Is. a- week, and the other two, in more indigent circumstances, Is. 9d. each. Their wants are supplied out of the ordinary collec- tions, which amount to about L. 1 1 annually ; the interest of L. 100 due by promissory-note to the session, and the dues upon marriages and burials. The poor evince no unnecessary disposition to soli- cit parochial aid. Inns. — There are one inn and four public-houses in the parish, and their effects are notoriously injurious to the morals of the people. Fuel — The fuel used is coal, of which there is great abundance at a reasonable price. Miscellaneous Observations. The more striking variations between the present state of the parish and that which existed at the time of the last Statistical Ac- count, consist in an improved mode of farming, better farm-build- ings, plantations, collieries, roads, population, school, and number of resident heritors, which is smaller. The standard weights and measures are in use. There is still much room for improvement in the way of drain- ing, reclaiming waste land, and planting. What might be profit- ably done in this last respect, is sufficiently evinced in the exten- sive and thriving plantations on the estate of the Lord Chief- Com- missioner, a gentleman to whose taste, liberality, and public spirit, this district, generally, is highly indebted. Given in April 1833, Revised April 1836. PARISH OF DALGETY. PRESBYTERY OF DUNFERMLINE, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. ALEXANDER WATT, A.M. MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Extent, Boundaries. — This parish is situated on the northern coast of the Frith of Forth. Its southern boundary stretches about 4 miles along the wooded broken line of beach, that lies betwixt the village of Aberdour and the borough of Inverkeithing. It is near- ly of a triangular form, extending in length about 4 miles from south to north, and not exceeding in many places a mile in breadth. It is bounded by Inverkeithing on the west ; by Aberdour on the east and north ; and by a small part of the parish of Dunfermline on the north-west Topographical Appearances. — There is a gradual ascent from the southern to the northern extremity, which stands about 436 feet above the level of the sea. From some of the higher ground on the estates of Fordel and Cockairney, the views are very extensive. They command at one sweep the whole range of the opposite coast from Queensferry as far as the Isle of May. It may be said that we have two distinct climates in this small parish. In the lower division on the sea coast, which is well wood- ed, and in a state of good cultivation, the thermometer generally stands some degrees higher than in the upper district, which con- tains an extensive coal-field, and the soil of which is of a much in- ferior quality. In spring, the whole parish, like most of those along the sea-coast, is much exposed to the chilling influence of the pre- vailing east winds. The inhabitants, however, are generally very healthy, and there is no disease peculiar to them except some cases of asthma and rheumatism amongst the colliers, which are occa- sioned by the nature of their occupation. Hydrography. — There are no rivers in this parish. There is a lake, however, of considerable extent. It is about three-quarters of a mile in length, and a quarter of a mile in breadth. At the east end of it, stands the old mansion-house of Cockairnev, the re- 182 F1FESHII&E. sidence of Sir Robert Mowbray, Knight, one of the heritors of the parish. On the northern bank, is situated the old mansion-house of Otterston, whence the lake derives its name, which is at present occupied by Lady Torrens, widow of the late Sir Henry Torrens. The lake and all the lands of Otterston form part of the estate of Sir Robert Mowbray of Cockairney. The blending of hill and dale, of wood and water, in this spot, renders it a scene of no com- mon beauty. There is a picturesquely situated waterfall on the adjoining grounds of FordeL The stream which forms it winds its course for a considerable way through a darkly wooded glen, where it meets with the outlet of water from the great drainage level of the Fordel colliery, and then rushes over a broken rocky precipice of about fifty feet in height Near the termination of this glen there is a mineral well, a minute analysis of which is to be found in Professor Jameson's Philosophical Journal for the year 1829. Geology and Mineralogy. — The minerals known in this parish belong to the secondary series of rocks ; and, so far as they have yet been discovered, may be said to abound in sandstone, bitumi- nous shale, quartz, rock-limestone, and coal. The general dip of the strata is north-east, varying, in some places, from the disloca- tions of the minerals by dikes, which, according to their magni- tude, more or less derange and alter it Sandstone abounds all over the parish ; but it is of more value in the southern than in the northern division. About the centre of the parish there is a thick bed of exceedingly hard quartz rock. It does not ap- pear at the surface, except in two or three places, being generally concealed by a thick covering of earth. Limestone, which con- stitutes the basis of the coal formation, extends regularly through- out the parish, under the coal. It is found about 50 fathoms underneath the lower bed of coal, and from the basin shape of the minerals, the lime seldom or ever makes its appearance at the surface ; but it is to be found in considerable quantities, both to the east and west, in the adjoining parishes of Aberdour and In- verkeithing. Fordel coal-works. — Coal, the mineral of the greatest importance, abounds in considerable quantities in this parish. The extensive coal-works on the estate of Fordel, the property of Admiral Sir P. C. H. Durham, G. C. B. form the principal feature of this parish, and the great source of its trade and revenue. The coal on the lands of Fordel has been wrought for nearly 240 years. This has been a valuable property ; but its value is now much diminished, in con- DALGETV* 183 sequence of the great extent of coal which has been wrought out of it As Sir Philip Durham, however, has in lease the adjoining coal-fields on the estate of Cuttlehill, it is certain that coal will be conveyed through the parish for upwards of 150 years to come. And even when it is exhausted, the extensive minerals to the north, in the neighbouring parish, will, in all probability, be brought through this parish to the shipping port of St David's. From a recent inspection of the strata throughout this parish, and, parti- cularly, from a minute examination of that part of it connected with the mining operations, it is found that the coal-field is much in- tersected with dikes and dislocations, which very much elevate and depress the strata forming this extensive coal country. From the harbour of St David's, the southern boundary of the parish, as far north as the drainage level of the Fordel colliery ope- rations, — a distance of about two miles, — the strata appear some- what regular, dipping to the north-east. They cannot, however, be correctly ascertained in many places, as they have a conside- rable cover of earth upon them. From the latter point, northwards, they can be most accurately traced. The outlet of water from the drainage level of the Fordel col- liery is 120 feet above the level of the sea, and it is continued north- wards nearly three miles through the solid rock. During its course ten dikes are met with of various magnitudes ; in some places they do not alter the strata many feet ; in others, they are found 100 feet thick, and elevating the strata sixty fathoms. Their direction often varies as well as their angle of inclination from nearly a horizontal to a vertical position. The materials of which these dikes are com- posed are generally sandstone, more or less indurated with quartx and limestone. From the point at which coal is first found, the surface rises gently northwards, till it reaches the height of 436 feet above the level of the sea ; this forms the northern boundary, and the highest part of the parish. It is found as we proceed northwards, that the strata assumes a greater dip in some places, varying from 1 in 8 to 1 in 3. In very few instances, however, do these dikes deterio- rate the coal in quality, but the reverse; for as the miner ap- proaches these dikes, the coal becomes harder, and more difficult to work, and in many cases an extra expense is paid for labour. The coal mines in this parish were not wrought to any considerable extent until within the last thirty years, when the consumption of coal has been very much increased, particularly for steam naviga- 184 FIFESHIRE. tion. And as this coal-field produces the finest coal for that pur- pose, the working of it has been much more extensively carried on. The depth of the mining operations at the northern boundary of the parish is 300 feet from the surface, and that of the main drain- age level is only about 250 feet ; consequently machinery is required to raise the water from the mines, a distance of about 50 feet, in- stead of which, had the level been carried duly horizontal, the whole of the coal now drained by machinery would have been level free. And thus had due regard been paid at first to the drainage level, the expensive machinery now erected on the works would, in a great measure, have been unnecessary. The coal-field of this parish extends two miles north and south, and one mile east and west, and forms the basin or trough of the coal-fields in the neighbourhood. For, upon drawing a line in a north-eastern direction from the point at which coal is first found to the extremity of the parish, it appears that the coal and its ac- companying strata uniformly rise to the east as well as to the west of that line. To the east it rises rapidly, and throws out the crop of the upper coals before it goes out of the parish ; the under ones are found on the verge of the Aberdour parish. At every dike or dislocation of the strata northwards, the coals are thrown further east, until the same coals in quality, though not the same in num- ber, or in thickness, are found to extend into Lochgelly parish, and so on eastwards, throughout the whole of that coal country. To the westward of this line, the same takes place, but not so rapidly, and this forms the most interesting and valuable coal-field in the western district of Fife. The same dikes and coals can be traced with great regularity from the east of this, to the west of the parish of Dunfermline, with little or no variation in the line of bear- ing, although they are more or less depressed by the intersection of diagonal dikes changing the direction of the strata. In order more fully to shew the metals passed through in the progress of sinking for coal, we shall here annex a correct section of the strata as taken from actual measurement Section of a pit at Fordel Colliery. Fath. Feet. In. Surface sand and clay, 4 2 6 Dark-grey freestone, White freestone, 1 2 Soft: light freestone, Dark yellow da 2 3* Blae, Soft blae and bands, I 4 Blawlowan coal, Blue blae, 1 1 2 Grey freestone bands, Dark grey freestone, . 2 1 *k Light yellow freestone, Do. with bands, 4 3 Dark-yellow do. Yellow freestone, 1 3 5 Do. mixed with blae, Fath. Ft. In. 2 1 8 2 9 2 10 1 3 1 J0 1 2 <* 2 8 3 3* DALGETY. 185 Fath. Ft. In. Fath. Ft. In. Lighter mixed with blae, 1 ]0J Yellow freestone, . 12 9 Very hard freestone, .054} Blae, . • 046 Blae and bands, . .018 Coaltbief coal, . .058 Mynheer coal, • .040 Freestone post, . 149 Do. hard grey freestone, 2 4 Grey bands, . .030 Light do. . . 1 5 7£ White freestone, . 3 Blae, . . . 1 2 4£ Very bard do. . 5 Grey freestone, . 15 6 Coal, . . .013 Do. . . .025 Blae, . . .040 Very hard freestone, .118 White freestone, . 13 6 Softer do. . .027 Ironstone bands, . 005 Blae, . . .039 Freestone, . 247 Black blae, • .10 5 Blae and bands, . 10 2 Very hard do. bands, • 5 2 Main splint coal, . 4 9 Blae and freestone, . 2 3 7 • Dark-grey bands, . 2 8 Total depth, . , 49 2 Ofr There are thus only four workable seams of coal, named the Blawlowan, Coalthief, Mynheer, and Splint — The Blawlowan is a soft cubical coal, it is generally used in lime-works, burns slow- ly, and produces white ashes. — The Mynheer is an excellent splint coal, burns with little ashes, is used for steam-machinery, but it is best adapted for household purposes.—- The Coalthief is a strong cubical coal, free of all iron pyrites, burns clean, works large, and is principally used by distillers and manufacturers. — The Main Splint is a very superior coal to the other three. It burns free of ashes, leaves a small cinder, is very bituminous, works large, and has an exceedingly strong flame when burning, and from its durability and superior quality, is considered the best in Scotland for steam navi- gation and household purposes, for which immense shipments are made all over the continent. Having given a short account of the coal-6eld of this parish, and its connection with those of the adjoining parishes, we shall shortly state the quantity of coal still remaining to be wrought This, we are sorry to say, is reduced to a comparatively small extent, as may be easily conceived from the length of time during which it has been wrought There is, it is generally believed, coal to work on the Fordel estate for thirty years at a moderate rate, as there still remains one or two coal-fields untouched, but the mining appara- tus not being directed in that quarter, it may be some time before they are explored. I am also inclined to think that there are se- veral great coal seams throughout the parish, particularly in the southern division, and which may soon be examined, especially those lying in the direction of the strath, in front of Fordel House, where evident proofs of a coal formation have been traced. It may be sufficient at present to mention, that in the parishes of Aberdour, Dalgety, Inverkeithing, and Dunfermline, there are coal-fields 186 FIFESUIRE. which will last many centuries at the present extent of sales, which may be estimated at nearly 230,000 tons. The average annual sales from Fordel colliery may be estimated at nearly 70,000 tons. The mode by which the coals are conveyed to the shipping harbour is by a wooden railway laid with beech and fir, having wood-sleepers every two feet apart. The road is laid double, having one fir rail below, and a beech rail above. Wag- gons containing three tons are drawn by one and sometimes by two horses, to the shipping port of St David's, and emptied into the vessels by machines erected for that purpose. This waggon way is upheld at a very great expense ; but extensive operations have been going on for some time, preparing a new line of road for an iron railway, which, when finished, will be an immense saving annu- ally, independently of the greater facility and expedition with which shipments may then be made. The superior quality of the Fordel coal is now known over the whole of Europe, and being particular- larly adapted for steam navigation, it has gained an ascendency over most of the Scotch and English coal for that purpose. Besides being so well adapted for all household uses, it is also much in request by bakers, brewers, manufacturers; and large exports are made to the continent and to America, which is in a great measure to be attributed to the exertions of the spirited proprietor of the works, Admiral Sir Philip Durham, G. C. B. who has used every means, and has spared no expense, in proving the superior qualities of the Fordel coal, especially for the purpose of raising steam. In the present state of the coal trade in the river Forth, there is little encouragement to make any extensive improvements. It has undergone a complete change within the last twenty-five years. And this has been particularly the case since 1820, when a more exten- sive sale of English coal was introduced into the Scotch market In 1824, the prices revived a little, which gave a new stimulus to the coal proprietors, but at present they are again much reduced. The following are the prices at which coals are put on board ves- sels at the harbour of St David's from the Fordel colliery : Best splint great coal, 9s. per ton ; chew coal, 6s. 6d. ; mixed house- hold coal, 6s. 6d. ; small coal, 3s. lOd. And even at these very re- duced prices it is difficult to effect the ordinary sales ; and in many cases coals are sold at the cost price. Salt-works. — In connection with the colliery and railway for the exportation of coal at St David's, there are very extensive salt-works upon the best principles. There is a steam-engine for drawing the DALGETY. 187 salt water at flood tides into a large reservoir, which contains as much water as is necessary for a week's consumption. This com- pletely secures the deposition of all mud and sand, so that the water becomes quite pure before it is used for making salt There are large salt pans, which make annually about 30,000 bushels, the sales of which amount to about L. 1600. Harbours. — The harbour at St David's seems originally to have been very indifferently constructed, as appears from the remains of the old pier. Within these four years, the proprietor, Sir Philip Durham, has made great improvements, at an expense of nearly L» 2000, so that vessels of 460 to 500 tons burden can come in and load with safety, and command from seventeen to eighteen feet of water. These extensive additions were much wanted, without which it would have been impossible to have effected the present exten- sive sales. All that is now wanting is the finishing of the new railway to make Fordel colliery, with the harbour of St David's, one of the most complete coal- works in Scotland. The annual circulation of money at the Fordel and Cuttlehill collieries, and at the salt-works at St David's may be estimated at nearly L. 22,000. The number of men, women, and children who derive their support from the above works exceeds 800, or nearly two-thirds of the whole parish. When we consider the various advantages of which such works are pro- ductive to the parish, and to the neighbourhood, they reflect the highest honour on their benevolent proprietor, who for many years has received little emolument from them. The number of houses occupied by the families of work-people belonging to the colliery is about 130. The number of men employed is 100; unmar- ried men and boys, 186; women and girls, 120; making a total of 536, actually employed. This number is independent of those who are engaged in the shipping of coals, in the salt-works, and in driving waggons, which require upwards of 50 horses. These people are paid every fourteen days. Their wages are very good ; a collier, when the work is going on well, can earn about 3s. per day. They have likewise very comfortable houses and gardens, which are kept up at the expense of the proprietor. The only fossil remains found in the strata are some simple petrifac- tions of a species of fern now extinct. There are also some bi- valves, and other shells amongst the argillaceous schistus. In the upper part of the parish, there are frequently found trunks of trees, next to the strata beneath the moss, petrified into a soft sandstone ; 188 FIFESH1RE. the outer part of them is generally very perfect, and is covered with coaly matter. The soil in this parish is very various. In the southern parts it consists generally of a deep strong loam, mixed with clay. The sloping banks lying to the south are of a lighter and drier nature. Where the coal formation commences the soil is generally wet and stiff, and there are also a few mossy swamps covered with heath. II. — Civil History. Land-owners. — The whole lands in the parish belong to three proprietors, who are generally resident, viz. the Right Honour- able the Earl of Moray, who resides at Donibristle; Admiral Sir P. C. H. Durham, G. C. B. at Fordel House ; and Sir Ro- bert Mowbray, Knight, at Cockairney. There has lately been built on the grounds of the Earl of Moray, a dwelling-house, which is at present occupied by P. Anislie, Esq. who acts as his Lord- ship's Commissioner. It has been named St Col me House, be- ing situated nearly opposite the island of that name in the Frith of* Forth. III. — Population. In 1755, the population of the parish was stated to be 761. Since that period it has been nearly doubled. The principal cause of its increase is to be attributed to the extension of the Fordel coal-works, and to several small feus, which have been granted by the proprietor on his lands in the neighbourhood of the colliery. The population in the southern division of the parish has greatly diminished of late. The old village of Dalgety, along with the parish school, and some other houses which were situated near the old church, have all been removed, as the properties in that neighbourhood have gradually come into the possession of the Earl of Moray, and have been thrown into his Lordship's exten- sive enclosures. The number of individuals residing in villages is as follows : At St David's, a small village on the sea cost, . 142 Hill End, only a small part of which is in the parish, . 43 At Crossgates, . . . . . 176 At Fordol Square, . . . . . . 141 Rows of Collier houses, ..... 798 Population of the parish in 1801, - 890 1811, - 816 18-21, - 912 1831, - 1300 There has been no obituary kept in the parish for the last fifty years. DALGETY, 189 The average number of marriages for the last seven years is . 11 persons under 15 years of age, . . . 540 betwixt 15 and 30, . . . 357 30 and 50, . . .248 50 and 70, . 118 upwards of 70, ... 37 Total 1300 Number of unmarried men, bachelors, and widowers, upwards of 50 years of age, 1 1 females above 45, . . 13 The average number of children in each family may be stated at . 4 The number of insane, blind, and dumb, ... 4 Number of families in the parish, - 253 chiefly employed in agriculture, - • 41 in trade, manufactures, or handicraft, - 39 Character, fyc. of the People. — The people in general are very sober and industrious. Those of them who are not employed in the coal-works consist principally of labourers and farm-servants. The colliers who compose such a large proportion of the parishioners are, with a few exceptions, the most sober and civilized of that class of the community any where to be found. They are quite a dis- tinct class from the agricultural population. Their prejudices, their domestic habits, and even their style of dress are altogether pecu- liar. So completely have they kept themselves apart, and so much have intermarriages prevailed, that for centuries back the same family names have generally obtained amongst them. The ame- liorated condition of the Fordel colliers, when compared with that of many others, is principally to be traced to the effects of educa- tion. Before the parish school was removed to their immediate neighbourhood, where it has been for upwards of thirty years, it was their uniform practice to maintain by subscription a teacher amongst themselves. This fact may be of some importance to those pro- prietors, many of whose colliers are so far behind the other classes of the community, both as regards general education and moral improvement. IV. — Industry. Agriculture, — Agriculture is generally in a very improved state in this parish. Its situation affords the farmer many advantages. There is abundance of lime in the neighbourhood. Fuel is very moderate in price, and manure to any extent can be obtained from Leith by water carriage. As the soil, especially toward the northern parts of the parish, is naturally wet, draining has been much resort- ed to, and with the most beneficial effects. Such a complete change have some of the lands on the estate of Fordel undergone that a farm, which twenty years ago brought only a rental of L. 15, now 190 F1FESHIUE. lets for L. 240. This estate has also been much improved and sheltered by extensive thriving plantations. There are about 40 acres of moss and swampy ground in the northern division of the parish, a part of which is grazed during the summer months. The number of acres in the parish which are either cultivated or occasionally in tillage is about 1005. There are about 240 acres of wood. The average rent of land is from L. 2 to L. 3 per acre, and in the northern division from L. 1, 10s. to L. 2. Produce. — The average value of raw produce raised in the parish is the following : White crop, - - L. 4930 Pasture, - - - 1080 Hay, - - - 690 Potatoes, ... 1465 Turnips, - - 340 Salt- works, - - - 1600 Sales at Fordel colliery, - - 28000 Total yearly value of raw produce, - L. 380A6 V. — Parochial Economy. Market-Towns. — The nearest market-town is Inverkeithing. There are no villages in the parish except the small shipping port of St David's. Ecclesiastical State. — A very handsome parish church was erect- ed in the year 1830. The style of the building is Gothic It is seated to accommodate 500 individuals. It does great honour to the liberality and taste of the heritors, being one of the most hand- some small country churches in Scotland ; and furnishes a proof of the great improvement which has lately taken place in the style of ecclesiastical architecture. It is more conveniently situated for some of the parishioners than the old church, which stood close to the sea side, while the most populous part of the parish is about four miles distant The site of the new church is about a mile to the north of the former one, close to the public road, which lies be- twixt Aberdour and Inverkeithing. It is still, however, about three miles from the great body of the parishioners. There are a number of individuals really attached to the Esta- blishment, who are thus unwillingly necessitated to become dissen- ters, on account of the inconvenient distance at which they are placed from the parish church. The old church is a very ancient building. It was for many years in a great state of disrepair, and was never well adapted, from its uncentrical situation, to be a place of worship for the parish. It stands about two miles from Donibristle House, close to the sea DALGETV. 1JM shore. It was formerly a Chapel of Ease to the monastery on the Island of Inch Colme, when the seat of the Earl of Moray be- longed to the abbots of that monastery. On one of the small gal- leries is rudely emblazoned the heraldric arms of the Earl of Dun- fermline, a family now extinct Chancellor Seaton, who was creat- ed Earl of Dunfermline in 1605, lies interred in a part of the area of the church, along with some other individuals of distinction. A substantial and well-finished new manse and offices have also been built within the last five years. They are situated on the glebe, and are a few minutes walk from the new church. The glebe is 12 acres in extent, and lets for about L. 1, 12s. per acre. The teinds of the parish are exhausted ; their amount is about 15 chal- ders. There are no dissenting chapels in the parish, and those of the parishioners who do not belong to the parish church, attend a Burgher meeting-house either at Inverkeithing or at Crossgates. The latter place is very conveniently situated for the colliers, being only about a mile distant from most of them. The number of in- dividuals attending the Established Church is about 400. Education. — There are two schools in the parish. The paro- chial schoolmaster has the maximum salary and the legal accom- modation. The other school is supported entirely by the fees of the scholars, and a free school-room. The expense of education at the parish school is, 8s. for reading; writing, 10s. ; and arith- metic, 12s., — which are the only branches taught There are no persons in the parish from six years and upwards who cannot read. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The average number of persons upon the poor roll is from 25 to 30, and the sum distributed is from Is. to Is. 6d. per week. The annual disbursement is about L. 40. It does not appear that compulsory assessments have ever been intro- duced into this parish. The three heritors have been in the habit for a considerable period of assessing themselves to make up any deficiencies in the poors' funds. Besides the weekly collections, there is the interest of Lb 130 arising from legacies left by indivi- duals to the poor of the parish. Since the new church was open- ed, however, the weekly collections have been more than sufficient to meet all the demands upon the poor funds, though the number of paupers is rather upon the increase. The heritors had former- ly to contribute about L. 10 annually. At present the rare, though much-wished for state of things here obtains, viz. the voluntary Sabbath day offerings of the parishioners supporting all the poor, 192 FIFESHIRE. and the aged, and the infirm amongst them. This is principally to be assigned to the regularity of the attendance of the heritors , fa- milies, and of others, since a comfortable place of worship has been provided. The state of complete disrepair in which the old church remained for upwards of thirty years had the effect of alienating many individuals from the Establishment, who could easily obtain comfortable accommodation in the numerous dissenting chapels in the neighbourhood. And thus many who during life had week- ly contributed toward the support of a dissenting place of worship, and towards the maintenance of its poor, have themselves ultimate- ly become applicants for parochial relief. This has had the effect of greatly increasing the demand upon the heritors ; and had they not come forward and assessed themselves, and had not many cases of indigence been supplied by the private benevolence of the pro- prietor of the Fordel coal-works, this parish might long ere now have been subject to all the numerous evils which never fail to attend that self-increasing evil, a legal assessment, and from which, we trust, it is now in. the way of farther and farther re- ceding. And we are persuaded that in many country parishes this evil might have been prevented, had the non-resident heritors voluntarily contributed to the parish funds such a sum as might have been reasonably expected from them, had they been weekly in their places in the parish church. * Had this much to be depre- cated system ever been introduced into this parish, its principal cause must have been traced to the long period during which no suitable accommodation was provided for the people in their pa- rish church. Much evil results from want of due attention to the comfort of the parishioners in this respect. It not only increas- es the demand upon heritors to supply their diminished poors' funds, and may thus lead to the introduction of legal assessments, but it goes directly to foster those loose principles, and to induce those habits of idleness and dissipation which give rise to pauperism it- self. For an excuse is hereby furnished to the parishioners for withdrawing themselves from the salutary influence of the weekly lessons and ministrations of the gospel, which every enlightened mind will acknowledge are the most efficient of all means for pro- i * This statement is fully corroborated by an experiment made in one of the pa* rishes in East Lothian, where, by pursuing a plan somewhat similar to that which we have suggested, legal assessments were not only prevented, but actually abolished af- ter they had obtained a long and firm footing in the parish. — See an interesting work on this subject, entitled " Considerations addressed to the Heritors and Kirk- sessions of Scotland, 17 by the late Rev. W. Stark, Dirleton. DALGETY. 193 motkig industry, frugality, and prudence amongst our peasantry, and for cherishing that spirit of honest independence which will ever associate degradation with a state of pauperism. We cannot say that any disposition is evinced on the part of the people to re- frain from applying for parochial relief. A strict attention, how- ever, is paid to withholding assistance from those who have any pri- vate sources of charity from which supplies ought to be afforded them. Miscellaneous Observations. In a small parish like this, where there are only three proprie- tors, and where one-half of the parish. belongs to a single noble- man, few changes of any consequence have taken place within the last forty years. The effects of steam-navigation upon our popula- tion are very perceptible. In consequence of the increased faci- lities of communication with the metropolis, their original charac- ter has given place, in many respects, to the habits and tastes which more peculiarly distinguish those who are living in the immediate vicinity of a large town. Nothing would be of greater advantage to our coal population than a well-regulated savings bank. A want of prudence and foresight seems to be a very prominent feature in the character of colliers. However great may be their wages, they are sure to make their weekly expenditure keep pace with them. Any system, therefore, which would introduce habits of eco- nomy amongst them, might render our colliers the most indepen- dent and comfortable class of the labouring community. Revised June 1836. FIFE. n PARISH OF KINGLASSIE. PRESBYTERY OF KIRKALDY, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. J. M. CUNNYNGHAME, MINISTER. L — Topography and Natural History. Name. — While some have supposed that the village after which the parish is called, derives its appellation from a spring denominated St Glass's Well, others, with apparently greater reason, have traced the name to Gaelic words signifying the head of gray land. This idea seems to be corroborated by the large extent of inundated, marshy, and mixed surface which, al- though much reduced from its former size, still stretches itself to the immediate vicinity of the village. The preferable conjecture concerning the derivation of the name acquires additional support from the circumstance, that a locality, somewhat elevated above the channel, along which the water runs from the swamp alluded to, has received the appropriate designation of Finglassie 9 signify- ing the termination of the gray land, or mixed bog. Extent and Boundaries. — The parish of Kinglassie, some- what irregular in figure, is computed to be about 5 miles and 3 furlongs long, by the road leading through the village from west to east The breadth varies from 1 mile to 3£. The total surface comprises about 5800 Scots acres. It is bounded on the east by the parishes of Markinch and Dvsart ; on the south by the latter, but chiefly by that of Auchterderran, also stretching along the western limits to the north-west corner, which is touched by parts of Portmoak and Ballingry ; and its northern extremity is washed by the Leven, on the opposite side of which the parishes of Portmoak and Leslie meet From this point of junction, Port- moak takes a small jutting to the south bank of the Leven. Topographical Appearances. — Three ridges, of varied height, steepness, and width, run towards the east, where they assume a lower elevation. From the northern limits, a very considerable acclivity arises, which extends along the whole length of the pa- rish. The lands of Goatmilk, situated on this range, contain two KINGLASSIE. 195 proximate hills of no very diminutive size. A square tower, 52 feet from the base, was erected, in the year 1812, on the summit of one of those heights, and marks at a great distance the hill of Red- wells, whose southern banks slope towards the village of Kinglas- sie, in a declivity of about 160 feet The ground on the south of the village, forming the middle parallel ridge, rises into a height of considerable, though somewhat inferior altitude, on both sides of which the surface gradually subsides into gentle inclinations or nar- row planes, whose elevation above the level of the sea is about 200 feet Soil and Climate. — Considerable varietv characterizes both the substratum and the surface. Clay, loam, and gravel are often in- termingled. The greater proportion of soil is strong close-bot- tomed clay. The remainder is chiefly diversified by moss and sand. Although some localities seem peculiarly subjected to stagnant damps, or exposed to the severities of the weather, yet, upon the whole, the climate is decidedly wholesome and desirable. Hydrography. — The Leven, proceeding from the renowned loch of that name in the north-west vicinity, runs eastward, and forms, as has been already mentioned, the northern boundary of the pa- rish. Bennarty hill, in the contiguous neighbourhood, sends forth a stream which, 'acquiring accession from Bog Lochty, the marshy ground to which allusion has been made, is known by the name of Lochty. This rivulet, intersecting the village of Kinglassie, glides along the dale situated betwixt the northern and midland heights. The Orr, which takes its rise from the loch in Ballin- gry parish, bearing that designation, traverses the southern level. These small waters can furnish the angler with perch, pike, and eels. They empty themselves into the Leven at a very small distance beyond the eastern boundary of the parish. A diminutive streamlet called Sauchie, which pervades a few fields in the immediate vi- cinity of the village, speedily joins Lochty. There are many springs, both perennial and occasional. Mineralogy. — Although, at no very remote period, coal-works were in operation, yet during several preceding years that occupa- tion has been entirely suspended within the parish. There is rea- son to believe, however, that were coal pits less numerous in the neighbourhood, a copious supply of this fossil could be obtained. In various parts, ironstone, the constant companion of coal, is found. Limestone was lately wrought on a moderate scale. Whin- stone rock is very abundant: indeed, with rare exceptions, the whole 196 F1FESHIRE. soil overlays it. Freestone quarries have been opened. Red rotten rock prevails in one or two small localities. Zoology. — Deer are found in the parish. Pheasants are plenti- ful. The woodcock takes up his abode during the winter months. The fowl familiarly called the cock of the north is generally con- sidered as the forerunner of stormy weather. IL — Civil History. Land-owners, Sfc. — In a strictly literal sense, there are 15 pro- prietors, from whose lands the minister's stipend is levied. But as one estate is the joint property of the four family representatives of the antecedent owner, the number of heritors may be said to be 12. The principal of these, in point of valued and real rental, are Robert Ferguson of Raith, Esq. ; the elder son, a minor, of the deceased John Aytoun of Inchdairnie, Esq. ; Lieutenant-Ge- neral Balfour of Balbirnie ; and the Right Honourable the Earl of Rothes, patron. There are numerous feudal possessions, the more ancient of which generally pay to the superior the yearly ac- knowledgment of 7£d. per fall, or Lb 5 per acre ; while those of recent grant are held at the advanced rate of Is. per fall, or L. 8 per acre. The feus in the village, amounting to about 40, hold of General Balfour, who, by ancestral purchase, is proprietor of various lands, which belonged to William Aytoun Douglas, Esq. Eminent Men. — To those who are conversant with the his- torical circumstances connected with the origin of the Secession church, the name of the Rev. John Currie cannot be unknown. That devout man was inducted to the pastoral charge of this parish, on the 28th September 1705, and died on the 22d Sep- tember 1765, in the ninety-second year of his age, and within a few days of the completion of the sixtieth year of his minis- try. He was the intimate friend and epistolary correspondent of Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine, who were both grieved and astonished that they could not persuade him to act in accord, ance with those views of ecclesiastical discipline and economy which had led them and others to renounce subjection to the judi- catories of the national religious establishment His opinions con- cerning the popular prerogative in regard to the election of Chris- tian pastors are set forth in a treatise designated " Vox Populi vox Dei." — Whatever estimate may be formed of that production, or of other writings which emanated from his pen, it is undeniable that the venerable author was eminently characterized by the purity and simplicity of his manners, and by the pious and affectionate as- 4 K1NGI.ASSIE. 197 siduity which accompanied the discharge of his pastoral duties. During the last fifteen years of his life, his ministerial labours were lightened, and his tottering steps sustained by the faithful and un- wearied services of his son William, who had been ordained assist- ant and successor on the 13th March 1750. In less than five years the son, after a protracted illness, followed the father to the grave, in the forty-ninth year of his age. Antiquities. — A pillar of hewn stone, 4 feet 9 inches in height above the socket in which it is embossed, 1\ inches broad, and 1 1 inches thick, has, from time immemorial, stood upon the farm of Dogtown. It bears the remaining marks of some hieroglyphical emblems or ornamental sculpture in relief, which have been defa- ced by the " peltings of the pitiless storm," or the rude touch of de- structive man. Antiquarians have conjectured that this column was set up by the Danes, to commemorate the exploits of some il- lustrious warrior who had fallen on the spot, during an engage- ment consequent upon their hostile invasion of Fife, in the reign of Constantine II. ; while others have supposed that it was rear- ed by the Scots to perpetuate their successful resistance of the foreign foe, who had encamped on both sides of the Leven. We learn from the page of the historian, that those depredators hav- ing been prevented from uniting their forces, in consequence of the sudden and extensive swelling of the river, were speedily and effectually routed by the Scots. Goat-milk-hill constituted one of the links in the chain of Danish forts, which stretched from Fifeness to Stirling. While those positions were occupied by the invaders, a mill was erected on the Leven, which retains the name of Mill-danes. During the recent operations of levelling the chan- nel of that water, several heads of iron spears, a Roman sword, and battle-axe presented themselves. A dagger of antique appear- ance, 18 inches long, having a wooden handle, partially overlaid with brass, was lately found in a draw-well on the farm of west Finglassie, which was reopened after having remained shut, so far as can be ascertained, for centuries. Parochial Registers. — The most remote records of baptisms and sessional procedure bear the date of a. d. 1627. Those of mar- riage contracts commence twenty years subsequent to that period. Instead of classification having been always duly observed, there is an occasional commingling of matters belonging to these separate de- partments. Unless by those familiar with obsolete manuscripts, some of the ancient registers are not legible. For many years past, 198 FIFESHIRE. discipline proceedings, births, marriages, and poors' funds have had each their distinct and appropriate register. IIL— Population. The official report of Dr Webster, eighty years ago, states that the total number of inhabitants then amounted to 998. The Parlia- mentary census of 1821 represents the population at 1027; and that of 1831 at 958, of whom there are 488 males, and 470 fe- males. According to this last return, there are 224 families resi- dent under 198 roofs. Of those families, 66 are employed in agriculture; 153 in manufactures, trade, and handicraft; and 5 in other avocations. It may not be irrelevant to mention, that, during a course of pastoral visitation, which was made in the months of February and March of the present year, when a mi- nute numerical survey was taken, the total population was ascertain- ed to be 1050 souls. Of that number, 755 are above twelve years of age, and 295 have not yet reached that period. Resident Heritors. — The country seat of one of the principal heritors is usually occupied by himself and family during one-half of the year. With this exception, and that of a small proprietor, there are no residing heritors. The annual average of births during the last seven years has been about 26; deaths, 13; of marriages, 11. Character and Habits of the People. — Sobriety, industry, and respect for religion are qualities, which, with few exceptions, mark the great mass of the population. Considerable attention is paid to neatness of dress and cleanliness of personal appearance. And in such estimation is neatness of apparel held, that the want of rai- ment equal in quality to that of a next door neighbour is, in some instances, viewed as a valid apology for absence from church, not only when there exists no decided disinclination, but, on the contrary, a seeming anxiety to attend. While a commendable regard to per- sonal and domestic spruceness is often observable, yet some of those families and individuals occasionally discover a neglect of various essential branches of comfort and convenience. Now and then the stagnant puddle and the nauseous dunghill form a striking contrast to the interior aspect of the contiguous dwelling. — On old handsel Monday, there is a general cessation of professional labour; neighbourly visits are interchanged, and raffles are practised. During the three years preceding the 1st June last, the number of illegitimate births in the parish was 9. KINGLASSIE. 199 • IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — The parish contains about 34 farms, the largest of which amounts in whole to 377 Scots acres. No other ex- ceeds 234 Three of these are below 60 acres. Smaller portions of land are also occupied upon nineteen years leases. Besides, two farms, whose steadings are beyond its limits, stretch themselves into the parish. Such has been the encouragement given by considerate and liberal landlords to skilful and industrious tenants, that the quantity of ground now brought under the plough can scarcely be estimated below 5200 Scots acres. 356 acres are covered with thriving plantations. The remaining 244 are unarable, being either overlaid with rock, steep on the surface, or laid out in roads. Not- withstanding the difficulties which discourage improvements, a con- siderable deal of soil might, with a profitable application of capital, be added to the cultivated land, or to that which is already covered with wood. The prevailing trees are larch, spruce, fir, and ash. One considerable plantation abounds with excellent beech and oak. Rent — As variety characterises the soil, a diversity of rents like- wise obtains. The extreme rates at which land is let per Scots acre are, L. 1 and L. 3, 15s. It is a small proportion, however, which is leased at either of these sums; L. 1, 9s. 9d. per Scots acre may be considered as the average rent of arable ground. Pasturage for a cow generally costs L. 3, 10s., and that for a sheep L. 1, 5s. Grass parks usually bring about L. 2 per acre. Draining. — During the last twenty years nearly 300 acres have been reclaimed. The cultivators of the soil have of late been par- ticularly careful in drawing off that superabundance of moisture which is so inimical to the production of healthy and luxuriant crops. In practical attention to this department of rural economy, the late Mr Aytoun of Inchdairnie was very active, judicious, and successful. The depth of the close drains made under his direc- tion was determined by the nature of the soil which they were in- tended to improve. Some of those on strong clay are eight feet below the surface. Livestock, fyc. — Almost the whole cattle are of the pure Fife breed, of which the black horned are the most prevalent The number of calves annually reared may be estimated at 300. In regard to farm-steadings, material improvements have taken place. Towards their tenantry, landlords have in this and other respects manifested a judicious and benevolent regard. With very rare exceptions, the different farms have thrashing- 200 FIFESHIUE. mills attached ; three of these are propelled by water, and one by steam. This last, seven horse power, has been in operation two years. Iron ploughs are almost universally used* The mode of hus- bandry varies according to circumstances. Some farmers apportion their land in the following ratio : two-sevenths, oats ; one-seventh wheat and barley; one-seventh green crop and summer fellow; three-sevenths grass pastured, sometimes for three years. One boll is the usual quantity of oats and wheat allotted to the Scots acre, from which the return is often tenfold. Three firlots constitute the ordinary measure of barley sown on the acre, which not seldom issue in the production of ten bolls. The rearing of flax, which for a series of years had been very much given up, has of late become more frequent and remunerative. Three mills are employed in manufacturing this article. . Rate of Wages. — A male farm-servant who is married usually receives as his anual payment L. 11 or L. 12 in money, 6± bolls of meal, and about a Scots pint of milk daily, together with the use of a dwelling house and a small garden plot. The additional privilege of twenty-four falls of potatoe ground is, in most cases, enjoyed. Full-grown young men are often hired on nearly the same pecuniary terms as the former, and receive their victuals in their master's house. The ordinary wages of a domes- tic female servant are L. 5, 10s. Harvest reapers are almost al- ways engaged in the course of the preceding winter, and become bound to remain with their respective employers twenty-four law- ful days, or until the labours peculiar to autumn shall be complet- ed. The rate at which a man is hired for that season is commonly L. 2, 10s., and a woman L. 1, 10s. or L. 1, 15s. with lodging aud victuals. Shearers whose houses are at hand receive a little more money. The highest pay given to a male is L. 9» and to a female L. 2. A hay-cutter earns 2s. 6cL daily. The summer hire of an ordinary labourer is Is. 8d. ; women employed in field labour usu- ally gain 9d. Produce. — Grain of all kinds, ..... L. 14970 Potatoes, turnips, &c. - 4080 Hay, whether meadow or cultivated, .... 2500 Flax, . . . . . . 270 Land in pasture, rating it at L.3, 10s per cow or full-grown ox, graft- ed, or that may be grazed for the season ; — at L. 1, 5s. per ewe or full-grown sheep, pastured, or that may be pastured for the year, . 2032 10 Gardens and orchards, . • . . 180 Annual and periodical thinning of woods, plantations, and copse, . 536 Total yearly value of raw produce raised . . L. 24568 10 KINGLASSIE. 201 V. — Parochial Economy. Village and Means of Communication. — The only village in the parish is that of Kinglassie, whose present population is 375. Its inhabitants consist principally of weavers, and other handicraft tradesmen. About twenty-four looms are now in use, — several of which are plied by females. The comparatively small income arising from that occupation induced, of late years, a considerable proportion of men to exchange it for agricultural employments. There are 3 public-houses, and the same number of small gro- cery shops. Brewing of small-beer, ale, and porter is regularly carried on. Bread and butcher-meat are constantly supplied by professional tradesmen. Two fairs occur in the course of the year ;— one on the third Wednesday of May, old style; the other on the Thursday immediately preceding Michaelmas, old style. An agricultural association, formed upwards of ^twenty years ago, holds its annual meeting here in the month of August. It consists of about forty practical farmers ; and its objects are countenanced by the membership of several landed proprietors. Last season there were exhibited 110 head of cattle and 43 horses. The village lies about six miles to the northward of Kirkaldy, which is the post-town. Communication with that burgh is enjoy- ed by means of several individuals, whose business as carriers re- peatedly leads them thither in the course of the week. Easy ac- cess to metal has, in connection with other circumstances, produ- ced a very material improvement on the state of the principal roads. But although much «has been done in this respect, it must be con- fessed, that not a little remains unaccomplished. There are no toll- bars within the parochial precincts. The east end of the parish is intersected by the road leading from Kirkaldy to Cupar, on which coaches betwixt Edinburgh and Dundee run daily. It has lately been aleo traversed regularly by a coach betwixt the metropolis and Perth. There are about twelve small stone bridges. Ecclesiastical State. — The only place of public worship is the parish church. Situated within a mile of the south-west boundary, and distant several miles from a considerable proportion of the po- pulation, its locality subjects not a few to great inconvenience. But although some parishioners are so remote as nearly five miles ; yet as the village, where the church is placed, contains a third of the population, and as its immediate vicinity is interspersed with seve- ral agricultural hamlets, the ecclesiastical edifice may, upon the whole, be viewed as standing in the most eligible spot. The 202 FIFESHIRE. exterior of the fabric has a heavy appearance, beings nearly 90 feet long, and of very subordinate and disproportionate dimensions in height and breadth. The east gable, and part of the contigu- ous side walls are supposed to have stood for at least two centuries. The remainder was rebuilt in 1773, when the whole received a new roof. For many subsequent years, however, the church con- tinued with unplastered walls, and without any ceiling. About fif- teen years ago, the inside underwent such repairs as have render- ed it a very comfortable place of worship. There are sittings for nearly 350. The pews are allocated among the heritors accord- ing to their respective valued rents, and are occupied, without any pecuniary remuneration, by tenants, feuars, and other classes of persons. A distinct appropriation of a greater number of sittings for such parishioners as are not connected with landed proprietors by any peculiar tie would certainly be beneficial ; — for it cannot be denied, that, although no seat rents are exacted or paid, yet the fear of being viewed as unwelcome intruders, by those who have obtained a previous occupancy, may sometimes operate as a dis- couragement of regular attendance. Fully four-fifths of the peo- ple professedly belong to the Established Church. Of these about 350 are communicants. The dissenting or seceding portion of the population are generally connected either with the United Se- cession church, or with the religious denomination adhering to the Associate Synod of Original Seceders. A very limited number are of the Relief and Baptist persuasions. The manse, which is hard by the church, was built in 1774, and was repaired in 1818. The glebe contains a little more than 6 Scots acres. The stipend, augmented in 1823, is 15 ch al- ders of victual, half meal and half barley, payable according to the highest county fiars. The sum of L. 8, 6s. 8d. is paid under the name of communion element money. • The parochial register of 1682 acknowledges the receipt of four silver communion cups as the donation of Mr Melvill, formerly mi- nister of this parish. Those cups are still used in the celebration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Each bears the following inscription : — " Haec quatuor pocula ejusdem ponderis et mensu- rae ecclesiae de Kinglassie sacravit Mr Thomas Melvill non ita, pridem pastor ibidem." Education. — The parochial school is situated in the village. • The teinds of Kinglassie were, a. n. 1234, mortified by the Bishop of St An . drews, " Deo St Margaretc et monachis de Dunfermline," as the records of that abbacy bear. KINLGASSIE. 203 Besides the maximum salary, amounting to L. 34, 4s. 4£d., along with a dwelling-house and garden, the schoolmaster annually re- ceives six bolls of oats, the bequest of an ancient proprietor. This seminary is at present attended by about 100 scholars. The or- dinary branches of education, including English grammar and the elementary principles of general knowledge, are taught with dili- gence and ability. Means of instruction in mathematics and clas- sical learning are also furnished. The principles of revealed re- ligion are sedulously instilled. Forty are employed in arithmetic, 20 more are learning to write. The teacher may receive about L. 34 a-year of fees. * The village has also a small female school, in which knitting and sewing are taught for a very moderate sum. On the southern boundary, there is a school, which is pretty well attended. Its erection proceeded from the kindness of Mr Fer- guson of Raith, who has allotted to its teacher a free dwelling- house and garden, with a yearly pecuniary allowance. So commendably desirous are parents of furnishing their chil- dren with the means of education, that there is hardly an instance in which an individual beyond six years of age is unable to read more or less accurately. To the same praiseworthy feeling, is to be ascribed the comparatively small number among the youthful portion of the population, altogether unskilled in the arts of writ- ing and arithmetic Children are usually sent to school about five years of age ; although in several instances, distance of locality and badness of roads forbid that early initiation. But in these and other cases, some elementary training is for the most part practis- ed at home. A Sabbath school in the village is numerously attended, and judiciously conducted. Library. — Access to a small parochial library is obtainable at a very moderate rate ; and through the generosity of a benevolently disposed lady, the youth belonging to the village Sunday school are gratuitously furnished with the weekly perusal of interesting and instructive books. Poor and Parochial Funds. — Various individuals receive a fixed monthly aliment, others get only occasional aid, and several house • The schoolmaster lately retired from the charge of the school on account of his advanced age ; but is secured for life in the enjoyment of the legal salary, and of the house and garden. He is entitled to the trifling sums which arise from making up the Parliamentary census and registering voters for a Member of Parliament. The acting teacher, beside the school fees, receives from the heritors annually L. 20, and draws the fiars price of the six bolls of oats to which reference has been made. 204 F1FESH1RE. rents are annually paid, in whole or in part The first of these classes is composed at present of 12 families, more or less nu- merous, and requiring of course different degrees of pecuniary re- lief. Temporary supplies are afforded to others when visited with sickness, or otherwise deprived of the means of earning a liveli- hood. This description of beneficiaries generally comprises about 15 families. On these different objects of parochial charity, about L. 72 communibus annis are laid out in the course of the year. The funds from which the poor receive relief arise from church door collections, land, marriages, mortcloths, erection of tomb- stones, and interest on bank deposits. As the means of supply are very much strengthened by the second of these sources, the weekly contributions (not generally amounting to L. 13 per annum) are less liberal than in other circumstances they would be. Although the pa- rishioners are the reverse of wealthy, yet handsome sums have been collected at church for pious and benevolent purposes. The land- ed property, to which reference has been made, lies in the parish of Abernethy, Perthshire, and was purchased in the year 1726 for 6600 merks. What rent was paid at that period is not exactly as- certained ; but in terms of a tack granted in 1 762, it was fixed at 200 merks. It was subsequently raised to L. 36, and afterwards to L. 50, with the additional obligation of discharging public burdens to an amount somewhat exceeding L. 6. The immediately succeeding lease of the poors' farm, extending to nineteen years from Martinmas 1 835, stipulates that the tenant shall annually pay L. 1 00, and advance the various legal assessments due from the land, for which, on the production of discharges, he is entitled to discount out of the rent. As these imposts are considerable, and as the joint administrators for the poor incurred great expense in building a dwelling-house and stone fences, and in otherwise enhancing the value of the pro- perty, the pecuniary return has been much abridged. Beside emer- gencies, the regular annual drawbacks on the farm amount to about L. 10. The only marriage fee payable to the poors' fund is 2s. when the bride's residence is within the parish. Three parish mort- cloths are severally lent at 5s., 3s. 6d., and 2s. The united sa- laries of synod, presbytery, and session-clerks, precentor, and kirk- officer amount to L. 10, 10s. In several instances of known or suspected indigence, a strong aversion to receive parochial aid has been occasionally evinced, — while, in cases less urgent, a very different spirit has appeared. DUNBOG. 205 Miscellaneous Observations. Among the many improvements which have taken place since the last Statistical Account was drawn up, — the great accession made to the cultivated land, — the appropriation of unproductive wastes to valuable plantations, and the increased attention paid to draining, are deserving of high commendation. In consequence of the recent deepening and widening of the Leven water- course, the circumjacent soil has been rendered far less suc- culent, and more susceptible of melioration. Similar beneficial alterations are in progress on a part of the Lochty. Although there is no savings' bank in the parish, yet some individuals with laudable prudence and propriety, deposit a portion of their earn- ings in some of those excellent institutions which happily exist in the vicinity. June 1836. PARISH OF DUNBOG. PRESBYTERY OF. CUPAR, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. ADAM CAIRNS, D.D. MINISTER I. — Topography and Natural History. Name. — The name of the parish is variously written in the an-* cient records as Dinbug, Denbuig, Dunbog, Dunbolg, and Dun- boig. It is evidently of Celtic derivation, and may be translated " the bog of the hill" Like all Celtic names, it is descriptive of the general character of the district Within the memory of man, the low-lying part of the parish was an extensive marsh, which ran along the base of the highest hill in the north of Fife, anciently denominated Dunmore, or the great hill, though now known by the Saxon name Norman's Law. The Gaelic appellation, how- ever, is still given to the property to which the mountain belongs, and from this we infer that Dunbog is the original and correct name of the parish. Extent, Boundaries. — The parish of Dunbog is of irregular figure and diminutive extent It ranges from south-east to north-west, . its greatest length not exceeding 4 miles ; its ex- treme breadth being about 1£, and its least not more, perhaps, 206 FIFESHIRE. than half a mile. On the north it is* bounded by the parish of Flisk; on the east by a section of Abdie ; on the south by Mom- mail ; and on the west by Abdie. Topographical Appearances. — The parish consists of two ridges or prolongations of two chains of hills that intersect this portion of Fife ; and of the valley enclosed between them. The north- ern ridge is a continuation of Norman's -law. It is cultivated to the top, and produces every description of grain of excellent quality. From the farm-house of Higham, which is perched on the summit, it descends precipitously to the level carse land that borders the Tay from Newburgh to Birkhill, and which is gene- rally known by the name of the Barony. A narrow stripe of Dun- bog parish reaches the banks of the river, to the westward of Balinbriech Castle, and is called Higham Plouts. From any point of this northern elevation, the prospect that meets the view is of equal grandeur and beauty. The eye from this commanding po- sition takes in a vast extent of country, diversified with all the fea- tures of the most interesting scenery, on a scale of unusual mag- nitude. The rugged Grampians fill up the horizon to the north, towering above the intervening range of the Sidlaws, which form the southern boundary of Strathmore. To the westward, the eye follows the windings of the Tay, till it is lost behind a projecting shoulder of the hill of Kinnoul, and surveys almost with the same glance the valley of the Earn intersected by its shining river. Opposite, is spread out the Carse of Gowrie, smooth and level as a floor, and confessedly one of the most fertile districts of Great Britain ; and to the east appears the flourishing town of Dundee, and the Tay, now increased to an estuary, mingling its waters with those of the German Ocean. The southern ridge, again, is, at least in the parish of Dunbog, of greater altitude than the one to the north. Generally speak- ing, it is uncultivated and almost barren. Patches of it have in- deed, of late years, been brought under tillage by the use of bone manure ; but improvement in this way seems to be carried as far as nature will allow ; the prevailing character of the hill being rocky and sterile. The greatest, and perhaps the only, improve- ment of which these dreary heights are susceptible, is that which would be accomplished by planting them with wood ; and it is im- possible not to regret, and that deeply, that this very obvious and simple improvement had not been attended to long ago. The val- ley included between these hills is composed of excellent soil, pro- 3 DUN DOG. 207 during abundant crops of wheat, barley, oats. What was former* ly a noxious morass is now good and valuable land. The exact elevation of the hills above the level of the sea has not been as- certained with perfect accuracy, but the extreme height is comput- ed to be about 500 feet. The climate is mild and salubrious, and no better proof of this can be adduced than the robust health of the inhabitants, and the great old age to which many of them attain. Geology and Mineralogy. — The hills and the basin that lies be- tween them are composed of whinstone or trap rock. The dip of such parts as have been exposed to view is nearly vertical. On the very summit of the hill, rolled blocks of granite are met with, some of them of considerable size. In the valley, the whinstone is covered by a rich black mould of no great depth, and through which the rock pierces in numerous places, forming barren spots, or snobs, in the midst of the best fields. The greatest portion of the soil in the parish is of this sort, resting immediately on the rock, or on a bed of gravel interposed. We have indeed a few fields of a clay- ey texture, and towards the east the soil becomes of much sharper quality, though equally productive. From the nature of the subsoil, the ground is easily drained, and is therefore dry and early. A considerable part of the arable ground consists of the reclaimed bog. This great improvement was effected about thirty years ago by the united contributions of the proprietors through whose do- mains it ran. Previous to the execution of this measure, an exten- sive tract of ground was covered with brushwood, with large stag- nant pools of bog water ; and in the more favourable spaces, with a coarse and rank grass, which afforded a scanty nourishment to the few half-starved cattle that waded about in search of subsistence. It is now converted into fruitful corn-fields. The soil, however, is soft or mossy, and not well qualified for growing wheat The sub- soil is various. In some places, it is cold clay, in others a hard till, but generally it is composed of sand and gravel. In this mossy soil, there are still found pieces of oak trees, black as ebony, but other- wise in a state of excellent preservation, and which must in all pro- bability have lain there for many centuries. Zoology. — There is nothing remarkable in the zoology of this parish. It may perhaps be worthy of notice that a pair of starlings built their nest and brought out their young last summer in the shrubbery of Dunbog House* The young birds were taken from the nest, when nearly fledged, and are still alive in the neighbour- 208 FIFESHIRK. hood, amusing their captors with their mimic song. A few years ago, a fine specimen of the Strixjlammea, or white owl, was caught in this vicinity, and is now stuffed and in possession of the author. It is so very rare in this quarter, that no person could give it a name, or say they had ever seen such a bird before. The speci- men, however, though full-grown, is evidently a young bird ; and we have no doubt that the white owl, which is very common in many parts of England, and not by any means a stranger in Scot- land, had bred in the woods both of Dunbog and Aytori, when there was more shelter for it than there is now. A few roe -deer frequent the hills and plantations, and are known to breed hdre ; but they are so destructive to the young corns that they will not be permitted to increase to any extent Besides these, we have the usual sorts of game, but not in such abundance as to hurt the in- terests of the farmer. Botany. — There is very little wood in the parish. Did it pos- sess the benefit of a resident proprietor, this glaring defect would speedily be remedied. The greater portion of the parish belongs to Lord Dundas, who has of course little personal interest in or- namental improvement But it is impossible to look on the naked hills, overrun with gorse and bracken, without indulging a wish to see them clothed and beautified with forest trees. In their present state, they are comparatively worthless, but were they covered with wood, they would not only become of much greater value to the proprietors in the course of a few years, but they would afford shel- ter both to the flocks and subjacent fields, and sensibly ameliorate the climate. At no distant period, the valley of Dunbog was pretty well wooded ; but now little remains except within the pleasure ground of the old mansion-house. Even there, the trees are ra- pidly decaying, and a few years more will witness their total disap- pearance. The kinds that seem to thrive best are the plane, the ash, and the elm. II. — Civil History. The only historical notice of this parish that we are acquainted with, is contained in Sibbald's History of Fife, first published in 1682. In a book entitled " Reliquiae Divi Andreae," by Martine of Clermont, who appears" to have been secretary to Archbishop Sharpe, there are allusions to persons and places in the parish, which are of some use in illustrating its condition at that distant time. Family of Barclay of Collairney. — The most ancient and ho- nourable name connected with the history of Dunbog is that of the family of Barclay, who seem to have been proprietors DUNBOG. 209 of Collairney for many ages— it is presumed, for not less a pe- riod than 500 years. We find in a list of the Lords of the Re- galities within Fife in the reign of Charles IL, that Barclay of Collairney was heritable bailie of the regality of Lindores, while the other jurisdictions were in the hands of the Marquis of Tweeddale, Lords Balmerino and Anstruther, and Sir Tho- mas Hope of Craighall. The possession of this office implied the existence. of great personal influence or high rank, while it con- ferred civil authority of the most varied and extensive description. This once powerful family is now extinct ; their name is scarcely known. About forty years ago, the estate was purchased from the last of the Barclays, by the late Dr Francis Balfour of Fernie, whose son inherits it at the present moment The Castle of Col- lairney is now in ruins, though enough remains to attest its origi- nal magnitude. In the only tower that has survived the wreck of time, and the despoiling hand of modern improvement, there are two small rooms, the roofs of which are divided into numerous com- partments, in which are painted in vivid colours the armorial bear- ings of the old chivalry of Scotland. The mottos as well as the devices of a few are yet distinctly legible. But it cannot be ex- pected that they will remain long uneffaced, as no sufficient care can be now taken to preserve them from perishing. In the ap- pendix to Sibbald's history,- there is a list of those natives of Fife who had risen to distinction in literature or science. Among others he mentions " the famous William Barclay, (father of John,) Pro- fessor of the Laws at Angiers, who derives his pedigree from Bar- clay of Collairney in this shire." Estate of Dunbog.— The next place of consequence in the parish is the estate and mansion-house of Dunbog. This pro- perty formed in remote times a part of the extensive barony of Balinbriech, which belonged to the family of Rothes. It subse- quently passed into the hands of Lord Home. In the reign of James IV., Alexander Lord Home sold it to David Bethune of XMech, in whose family it remained till 1658, when it was sold to James Bethune of Balfour, an elder branch of the same house. After passing through several other hands, it was purchased in 1694 by Major Henry Balfour of Starr, who forfeited in the Re- bellion of 1715. It was restored, however, to his son, and finally disposed of in 1766, to Sir Lawrence Dundas, to whose descend- ant Lord Dundas it now belongs, and again forms a part of the barony of Balinbriech. The vulgar tradition of the country as- fife. o 210 FIFESHIRE. signs the building of the house to Cardinal Bethune of St Andrews. There is every reason to believe that it was erected by a Bethune of Balfour, of which house the celebrated Cardinal was a mem- ber. But as a decided proof that neither the Cardinal nor his uncle David Bethune, his predecessor in the archbishoprick, and who was also a son of one of the lairds of Balfour, had any thing to do with the erection of the mansion-house of Dunbog, it is suf- ficient to state, that the Cardinal was put to death in 1546, nearly a century before this property came into the possession of his fa- mily. Long before the time of which we now speak, the - monks of the abbacy of Balmerino had a small building or preceptory on the site of the present house of Dunbog. It was called the pre- ceptory of Gadvan, tenanted in general by two or three of the brotherhood, whose chief occupation we presume to have been the culture of some 24 acres of ground attached to their cell. A small portion of this land is comprehended in the glebe — but it is principally laid out in the garden and enclosures of Dunbog. Sib- bald mentions also, that the parish church of Dunbog was given by Alexander Cumin Earl of Buchan, to the abbacy of Aber- brothock, in the reign of King Alexander II. There was a con- siderable village here, in which a weekly market was held within the memory of man. But it has totally vanished before the rapid extension of the farming system. The parish is divided among three proprietors, — Lord Dundas, Balfour of Fernie, and Joseph Francis Murray of Ayton. Parochial Registers. — The parochial registers extend no far- ther back than the year 1666. The first entry is dated September 23d of that year. . From that period they have been kept with to- lerable accuracy. The records are not very full, but they are sometimes interesting, as illustrative of the manners of a former age, of the comprehensive charity and national usefulness of the Established Church. It is impossible to glance over them without a feeling of surprise, at the frequency and largeness of parochial contributions to a great variety of benevolent purposes. Not sa- tisfied with the comfortable maintenance of their own poor, — with relieving every unfortunate person that applied to them for a little aid,— rwith paying their proportion of the expense incurred by the education and support of the presbytery bursar, — we find the ses- sion sending collections to the most distant parts of Scotland, to assist in repairing the damage occasioned by fire,) at that time a very frequent disaster,) in alleviating the misery of the victims of such calamities, — in building or improving harbours, bridges, and public DUNBOG. 211 works of a like nature,— -and in ransoming those of our countrymen who had been carried into a terrible slavery by the Sallee rovers or Turkish corsairs. Towards the close of the seventeenth century we find such entries as the following : " Given out to ane indigent gentle- man 6 B. Given to ane dumb man 4 B. Given to ane poor sojer 1 B. A collection for ane Pollonian minister 4 B. Given to a ship- broken man 4 B. To ane indigent gentlewoman 10 R To a de«- posed minister's wife 6 B. To a distressed minister L. 1, 8s. To ane Episcopal minister called James Spark, who came from Ire- land, 12 B. To Mr John Constantine, a Neapolitan and Ca- puchin friar, who had renounced Poperie, as he said, 12 B. To a suppliant John Lauder, 12 B, having lost 25,000 merks in ane ship coming from France to Greenock." Of another sort, we have such entries as these : " 1671. Given to John Rule and John Cunninham, two men that had their houses burnt at Sligo, 12 sh. 1675, De- cember 25, a voluntary contribution for rebuilding of the town of Kelso, which was burnt down." Some years after a collection is made to assist in rebuilding Newburgh, which had been burnt down. The instances of relief granted to individual sufferers by fire are almost without number. Of a class still more interest- ing, we may venture to give a few specimens. " In 1 678, February 10, the minister did intimate a voluntar contribution this day eight days for the relief of some Montrose seamen taken by the Turks." Again, October 3d, 1680, " There was two acts read for a voluntar contribution, the one in favour of John Atchison, skipper in Pittenweem, his mate, Alexander Black, ten mariners and two passengers, taken by Turkish men of war, and carried up to Sallee and there ever since slaves. The other in favour of Robert Angus, skipper in Burntisland, who was taken by a Turkish man of war belonging to Algiers and was kept as a slave since/' — The Bar* bary corsairs seem to have been the terror and scourge of British sailors in the seventeenth century. A few years in advance we fall on the traces of a new enemy. " 1707, July 20, Given to George Hamilton, a man taken by the French pirates, and retaken by the Dutch, and who had five children, 1 Osh." Again " November 80, this day there was given to James Forbes and his wife, in their distress, they being robbed by the French pirates, 12 R" But it is curious and instructive to remark how effectually the church was made to promote the general interests of the country. For example, in 1677, September 16, the minister "read an order of the privy-council, for a contribution this day eight days, for help- 212 FIFESHIBE. ing the harbour of Eyemouth." Again, in 1682, " A voluntary con- tribution is ordered for building a stone bridge over the water of Ness, at Inverness." And again in the same year, we find three acts of the privy-council quoted, ordering collections in favour of " the harbour at Burntisland, to repair it ; in favour of Dumbarton, to erect a bridge across the water of Leven ; and in favour of my Lord Pitsligo, for repairing the harbour at ." There are many more of the same kind ; but the above will amply suffice to 6hew the many practical benefits the church has been the instru- ment of conferring on almost every town and sea-port of our na- tive land. It was the practice in the seventeenth century for par- ties intending to be married, to enter into a public contract, and to deposit with the kirk-session a sum of money in pledge of their sincerity and good behavour. The form observed is record- ed with amusing simplicity. As, for instance, " Contracted George Brewhouse and Helen Kinloch, and consigned their pledges ac- cording to order, that they should marry within the space of forty days, and carry themselves civillee till their marriage." It did happen occasionally that the pledges were forfeited for lack of the requisite civility, and sometimes too for other reasons, as, for instance, on the 28th of February 1675, there is given to the bursar " be Andro Law, 4 lbs. being his daughter's pledge, which was given because of her fail in not taking of William Buist in mar- riage, after being thrice proclaimed." The oldest register is lull of proclamations, read by order of the King and Council, which forcibly mark the unquiet aspect of the times, and the grow- ing jealousy of the government, as the eventful era of the Revolu- tion approached. We shall conclude this branch of our account, by extracting an entry of a peculiar interest: " 1678> May 18, a proclamation was read from the pulpit by the minister, ordaining the whole heritors within the parish to cause their tenants, cottars, servants, and all others on their grounds to compear at Cupar on Friday the 23d of May instant, to clear and vindicate themselves from the late murder of my Lord Archbishop of St Andrews." III. — Population. The population of this parish has gradually but regularly de- clined since the end of the last century. At that time the popu- lation was nearly 400. By the census of 1831, it amounted to no more than 195, and this year it has been reduced to 170 of all ages, which we sincerely hope will prove its minimum. This rapid decrease is to be attributed to the extinction of the village ; and DUNBOG. . 213 the absorption of the small farms. There is now only one farm where formerly there were three or four. That the depopulating system has been carried much too far is now painfully evident to every one connected with agriculture. The farmers not only experience a difficulty in procuring labourers to work the green crop, but they find it impossible to get them at any price, and must have recourse to some unusual means of obtaining an adequate sup- ply. The average number of births since my induction does not exceed 8 per annum ; of marriages not more than 4 ; of deaths about the same number. Number of persons under 1 5 years of age, 67 between 15 and 30, . 25 30 and 50, . 55 50 and 70, .12 upwards of 70, . 11 170 There are no heritors or families of independent fortune resident in the parish. There are 42 families altogether. There are 42 inhabited houses, besides 4 bothies. Habits and Character of the People. — The farmers are an en- lightened, active, and enterprising body of men, who embrace every opportunity of extending their knowledge of the important subjects connected with the cultivation of the soil, and eagerly adopt every suggestion that may conduce to the improvement of the rapidly ad- vancing science of husbandry. Perhaps no class of men is more free from prejudices, — more unaffectedly kind, — more sound and steady in their principles, — and full of solid and useful information, than that of the farmers of Fifeshire. Besides these, the only other class of people belonging to this parish is that of their dependents or ploughmen. Speaking generally, we would say of the married ploughmen, that they are a quiet, sober, and industrious race. Their lot is one of incessant toil, alleviated by few advantages. Their ordinary food consists of oatmeal and sweet milk, with po- tatoes and occasionally pork. While young they enjoy uninter- rupted health, and exhibit in their form all the appearances of ro- bust and sinewy vigour. But long before old age has arrived, most of them, from perpetual exposure to the weather, are crippled with violent rheumatism. But no class of men, we are persuaded, labours under more blighting evils than does that of out ploughmen. Their education, both religious and intellectual, is exceedingly neglected from their earliest youth. There may be' 214 FIFESH1RE. found a few bright exceptions to the prevailing character of the body ; but it is a melancholy truth that this interesting race of our people has been allowed to sink into a state of great ignorance and debasement One chief cause of this calamity, we do not hesitate to say, b the practice universal in Fife, of making the young un- married men live together in bothies. No sooner are boys capable of attending cattle in the fields, than they are sent from their fa* ther's house,— consigned to these wretched bothies, — and left in the midst of dangers to their own will. The results are grievous, though not more so than might be anticipated. In these hovels the wicked very speedily corrupt the good. The old ensnare the young; and the hardened profligate leaves no effort untried to seduce the scrupulous and timid to imitate his reckless exam- ple. Until this horrid system be abolished, it will be in vain to expect any happy alteration in (he character and condition of our ploughmen. Another grand cause of this flagrant evil is to be found in the fluctuating and wandering lives of the ploughmen themselves. The married men frequently, the unmarried always, flit at the end of one year's service. They thus acquire vagrant habits and uncontrollable minds. They are never long enough in one place to form useful connections, — to feel themselves influen- ced and benefited by the exertions of the minister, — or to receive any sufficient advantage to their children from the care and super- intendence of a parochial teacher. They thus virtually cut them- selves off from all the blessings of Christianity and civilization, and in a laud of light are literally roaming about in darkness. That an evil so virulent and so widely diffused as this can be soon oreasily re- medied, is not to be believed. But. were the masters and cler- gy to unite in a zealous endeavour to reclaim to better habits the labouring class of our people, they would, we have no doubt, do much good even to the present generation ; and, at all events, they would commence a wbrk of improvement, which another and a more fortunate age would carry on and complete. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — There are in the parish about 1820 acres impe- rial of arable land ; about 270 of hill pasture or waste ground ; and about 30 under wood. The average rent of the arable land is about L. 2 per acre ; but this varies in the majority of cases with the price of grain, as a considerable proportion of the rental is determined by the fiars of the county. The wages of unmar- ried ploughmen are L. 11 per annum and their board. Married men DUNBOG. 215 receive in money L. 9, a house, a bit of garden-ground, milk and meal, 9 bolls of potatoes, and their coals driven from the pit. Sheep and Cattle. — There is no particular species of sheep or cattle reared in the parish. The tenants buy in sheep, in the autumn, to put on the stubbles, and to feed off on turnip during the winter and following spring. The sheep are generally Cheviots, with a sprinkling of black-faced. This practice is universal, and is now carried to a great extent. By the use of bone-dust, turnips can now be raised, where previously cultivation was either very dif- ficult or altogether impossible. But where turnips can be thus raised, the eating them off with sheep thoroughly enriches the soil, and secures invariably an abundant after-crop. The cattle are very much mixed ; so much, indeed, that it would be no easy matter to say what breed predominates. For many years, the old Falkland breed of cattle fell into general disrepute. Short-horns were introduced; and in several instances, were and are still rais- ed in high perfection. The opinion was, that they fattened more easily than the native cattle, and at an earlier age, and therefore were a profitable stock to the farmer. This opinion, however, is beginning to be questioned. It is now thought by many that the old Fife breed have as many good qualities as the short-horns, and are a much less hazardous stock. That they feed to as great a weight as the short-horns after they are five years old is well known ; and eminent judges say, that, by proper attention and care, they may be brought to fatten at as early an age. There is, how- ever, great difficulty experienced in obtaining pure blood. The state of husbandry is very good, as good as any where in Scotland. A six-shift rotation* is pursued in this neighbourhood, viz. summer fallow or potatoes, wheat, green crop, barley, grass, and then oats. The great defect is the want of fences. The fields are all open and unenclosed. This is a serious hinderance in the way of improvement. The land requires rest, for it has been over- cropped ; the farmer is most anxious to reap the advantages pro- mised by sheep husbandry ; but neither of these objects can be at- tained until the land is properly enclosed. The leases universally extend to a period of nineteen years ; and under the system of farming which has prevailed up to the present time, a term of such duration was equally convenient for the land- lord and tenant But now that a great and decided improvement in the mode of farming has taken place, and is increasing rapidly in all the purely agricultural districts, it will be expedient and 216 F1FESH1RE. equitable to give a considerable extension to the period of a lease* It is on every account desirable that the tenant should enjoy at least three, or perhaps four, returns of his rotation. But if by al- lowing the fields to lie in grass for two or three years, he extend his rotation from five or six, to seven or eight years, he cannot re- ceive this advantage unless his lease be for twenty-four years^ .instead of nineteen. No sound objection, as far as we can judge, .can be offered to this proposed alteration on the part of landlords, — be- cause rents being now very generally paid according to the fiars, the landlords will always share in any rise that takes place in the value of farm produce, and because the land, under the new system of resting for three years out of eight, would always be kept in the highest order. The average amount of raw produce.— The gross amount of all descriptions of grain raised annually in the parish may be estimated at 8336 bolls, which will average - L.8336 Potatoes and turnips grown in the fields, at - 2765 Grass at fe - - - - - - - 606 Total, L. 11,707 The gross rental of the parish will average nearly L. 3000. V. — Parochial Economy. Newburgh is the nearest market and post-town, being distant about four miles. Ecclesiastical State. — The church is situated in the centre of the parish, and at a convenient distance from the remotest houses. It was built in 1 803, and is in excellent repair. It is seated for 200, allowing eighteen inches to a seat The sittings are all free. The manse was built in 1792. A considerable addition was made to it fourteen years ago. It is both comfortable and commodious. The glebe consists of about 5 acres imperial of good land. The stipend is 14 chal- ders of barley, bear, meal, and oats ; but nearly L. 70 of it is paid in money. There is not a dissenting family in the parish. The farm-servants, with very few exceptions, all belong to the Establish* ed church. They change every year, yet there is never above one or two individuals among them that are members of any other de- nomination, which may be received as a decided proof that the whole body of the agricultural population are still attached to the Establishment. The average number of communicants is 135, which number comprehends a good many from the adjoining parishes of Flisk and Abdie, who always attend on ordinances in the church of Dunbog* The annual amount of collections for the poor do not exceed LEI CHARS. 217 L, 12. We have contributed liberally to the schemes of the Gene- ral Assembly for education in the Highlands of Scotland, and for the propagation of the Gospel in India. Education. — There is only one school in the parish. The ordi- nary branches of instruction are taught The salary is the maximum. The fees are small, and do not produce above L. 15 per annum. There is no person in the parish unable to read and write, but very many who read and write very ill. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The poor roll is at present a heavy one. We have many aged persons, and two families of orphan children. There are 13 in the receipt of a weekly aliment* We very seldom give the allowance in money, but authorize the tenant under whom the paupers reside, to give as much meal and potatoes as will keep them with comfort Our annual outlay is nearly L. 30. Of this sum we have about L. 12 from church col- lections, — the rest is drawn from money belonging to the poor. Fuel. — The only fuel used in this neighbourhood is coal, which is driven from the mouth of the pit The nearest mines are those of Coul and Balbirnie, about nine miles distant The fuel from both is good, and the price is moderate. July 1836. PARISH OF LEUCHARS- PRESBYTERY OF ST ANDREWS, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. DAVID WATSON, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name. — The ancient name of the parish seems to have been Lough-yards, which is now changed to Leuchars. The low and level grounds, extending for miles to the east and west of the vil- lage, were under water for the greater part of the year, and might well be considered a loch before the lands were drained. The elevated ground in the immediate vicinity might be the yards at- tached to the village. According to some, Leuchars is a Celtic word, and signifies a rushy or marshy flat. Sibbald says, the name is " a Locro, Pictorum magnate ejusdem possessore.** Extent^ Boundaries. — This parish, from north-east to south-west, 218 FIFESHIRE. extends 9 miles ; its greatest breadth from north-west to south-east is 5 miles. It is bounded by the bay of St Andrews, on the east ; the river Eden, on the south ; by the parishes of Dairsie and Logie, on the west; by Forgan and Ferry-Port-on-Craig, on the north ; and is of a very irregular figure. Topographical Appearances. — The general aspect of the parish is that of an extensive flat rather bare of wood, for many square miles,-— not exceeding 15 feet in elevation above the level of the sea. As it verges westward, however, the ground rises gradually, till it reaches the top of the range of hills which separates it from Logie, when its elevation may be about 250 or 300 feet above the level of the sea* These hills are a branch of the terminating range of the Ochils, and are called Lucklaw, Airdit, and Craigfoodie. Of these, the summit of Airdit only is in this parish ; but the whole range, of four miles extent, forms a beautiful boundary and a shelter to the level ground on the south-east. The land is now well drain- ed both by deep and surface draining ; and the lighter land, at the east and north sides of the parish, is well enclosed for sheep hus- bandry, which has prevailed of late to a considerable extent, and is found a great improvement for such soils. The west division of the parish contains six farms. These are on elevated ground, inclining with a gentle slope, and are composed of soils consisting of clay, soft loam, and gravel. The soil in which gravel abounds, notwithstanding the thorough draining to which it has been subjected, retains much of its former spongy and wet cha- racter. The sea shore is jlat and sandy. The tide retires from the shore about half a-mile on ebbing. There is no alluvial soil deposited by the Eden ; but the sand banks are always on the increase. The bar of sand at its mouth is dangerous for shipping ; and, the noise with which the motion of the tide over it, is frequently accompanied, indicates a coming or retiring storm. Hydrography. — The river Eden, which forms the southern boun- dary for four or five miles, is navigable as far as the Guard bridge. Here is a small harbour, which, from its commodious situation, serves as the emporium of this part of the country. At spring-tides, ves- sels of considerable burden can make their way to it without diffi- culty. At the Guard bridge, a few salmon trouts are caught in au- tumn. Near the mouth of the river, are mussel beds of considerable value. These are let by the proprietors for a period of four or five years, to a tenant who pays every attention to their cultivation and LEUCHARS. 219 propagation. These mussel beds furnish bait to many fishers along the east coast of Scotland. The other streams are the Moultry, which traverses the parish in a direction from north to south, discharging itself into the Eden, and tlie Monzie burn, flowing from the west, and joining the Moul- try. On both of these streams are meal and barley mills. Otology and Mineralogy. — There is nothing remarkable as to the geology of the parish. The whole of the extensive flat known by the name of the Tents moor seems, from the appearance of its surface, to have been abandoned by the German Ocean at no very remote period. On advancing westward from the Tents moor to the Moultry, the character of the soil improves, till we find exten- sive beds of strong blue clay. In various parts of the Tents moor, frequent bores have been sunk to a considerable depth ; but by these nothing has been discovered but the same indurated sand by which this vast plain is so uniformly characterized. It is supposed that, a good way beneath the surface, a subordinate range of the prevailing rock of the high ground district to the north-west, which is whinstone, runs across the Tents moor in an eastern direction. This whinstone affords numerous excellent quarries, and is much esteemed both for the purposes of building and road-metalling. Lucklaw hill is composed of rocks of the trap formation. Augite greenstone, traversed by ill-defined veins of coarse calcareous spar, forms one prominent member in its composition, and felspar por- phyry another. This felspar porphyry is well exhibited by a cut which was made by the proprietor, on the face of the hill, many years ago, with a view to quarry it Quarrying operations are no longer conducted, though this rock, from its extreme solidity and durabi- lity, cannot fail to be esteemed of considerable importance in an economical point of view. Within a quarter of a mile of the Eden, on the farm of Brock- lay, is a stratum of new red sandstone, which, from the coarseness of its texture, and the imperfect consolidation of its component parts, is little used as a building material. It is of a brick colour, and bears the marks of a rapid deposition from water, with the ma- terials of each successive deposit distinctly traceable. Vegetable impressions have been discovered, associated with this rock. The specimens which -have been procured, we believe, are of the fern spe- cies ; but those that have been obtained are few. Deer's horns have been dug up in the Tents moor. Fossil re- mains of oaks of a large species have been found in the alluvial 220 PIFESHIRE. lands situated round the village. These were found to be in a very entire state, and useful for domestic purposes. Every variety of soil, from the richest loam and clay, to the poorest sand or moorish clay, is found in this parish ; but no marl, lime, or coal. This parish seems to have been cultivated from the' earliest times. Its productiveness is best evidenced by its affording teinds to the ministers of other parishes, even to the parish of Dull, in Perthshire. Wood. — In the north-east part of the parish, where the soil is ex- tremely light and sandy, the Scotch pines grow to a considerable size. This parish does not abound much in hard wood ; that which seems to thrive best, is the ash. Some fine old trees are found at Earlshall, Pitlethie, Pitcullo, and Airdit. II. — Civil History. The Earls of Southesk and the Bruces of Earlshall were the oldest proprietors of the greater part of the parish ; but their his- tory contains nothing so important as to merit a place in this work. The famous Alexander Henderson, who was minister of this pa- rish for more than twenty years, is so well known to the public, and his life and character so fully delineated in the late work of Dr Aiton, that any observations of ours upon the history of that re- markable individual, would be superfluous. Land-owners. — The present land-owners are, 1. Colonel Lindsay, who has just succeeded to his much lamented father, the Honour- able Robert Lindsay, who purchased the estate of Leuchars from Sir David Carnegie; 2. Lieutenant- Colonel Long, who purchased Earlshall from the late Sir Robert Bruce Henderson ; 3. A. B. Stewart, the late purchaser of Airdit; 4. Cheape of Pusk and Welfield ; 5. The Bank of Scotland ; 6. George Macgill of Kem- back, the proprietor of Lucklaw; 7. Russell of Hayston and Brocklay; 8. William Lawson of Pitlethie; 9. Mr Pitcairn of Pitcullo ; 10. Peter Walker of Muirhead. Four of the proprietors only are resident, and farm their own estates. Parochial Registers, — The earliest register extant of births and the session records commence with the year 1665. In the register of births, there is a hiatus of seven years, extending from 1699— 1705. The session minutes consist of three volumes, the first reaching from 1666-1737; the second from 1737 to 1762; the third from 1762 to the present year. No register of deaths pre- vious to 1766. Antiquities. — The chief object worthy of the attention of the ELEVATION #' 'A* ttttdaU jxtrt f f a*. J>urt#h, CKtwv*. .f LtUCHARS. with- tkr altered, arid defaced pttsl.t rettortd.. UL1i±lLlS <£ SS 3! J2 S» LEUCHARS. 221 antiquary is the church, a view of the elevation of the ancient part of which, together with a description of its architecture, we are en- abled to embody in these pages, through the kindness of John M'Kinlay, Esq. Bo-ness, who is well versed in the antiquities of this country. This church appears to have been built at three several periods. The eastern division forming the chancel consisted of a square building, havingasemicircular apsis towards the east, in which the altar was placed, and is built in the style usually called Saxon,- of which it is one of the most entire and interesting specimens to be found in Scotland. The second division was the original nave of the church, having an aisle projecting to the north. This portion of the building also is in the Saxon style, but later than the for* mer ; and the third division is comparatively modern, being pro- bably not more ancient than the time of the Reformation. The two last divisions have been greatly altered and modernized, and are fitted up as the parish church, and, although neat and comfortable enough, do not merit any particular description. The eastern portion consists of two parts. The apsis or semicir- cular recess to the east, for the reception of the altar, is narrower, and not quite so high as the body of the chancel. Externally, it is of two stages or storeys, the lower one consists of a range of ten semicircular arches, with zig-zag or chevron mouldings, resting on plain double pillars. Above those arches, there is a band or fillet, and resting upon this, is a range of nine smaller arches, supported by short pillars, each pair of which are separated by a small interven- ing pier. Each of the arches connecting the tops of those pillars consists of two rows of stones, the lower one ornamented with the zig-zag moulding, and the upper one with the billet moulding. The pillars of this upper arcade are placed over the centre of each of the lower arches. There are three windows in the upper tier, placed in* the intervals between the pillars; they are narrow and round topped, and widen internally. At some distance above the upper tier of arches, there is a range of corbels carved into gro- tesque heads, supporting the upper part of the wall, which projects a little. The roof appears, from marks on the gable of the other portion of the chancel, to have been a semicone of a pretty high pitch, — but this has been removed, together with two courses of stone off the walls, to make room for a belfry erected about half a century ago, in the degenerate style then in vogue ; and in order to support this mass of incongruity, a rude arch has been thrown across within, which partially blocks up two of the windows, and spoils the 222 FIFESH1RE. appearance of the groined ceiling. In the inside, the windows are decorated with pillars similar to the outside* The roof consists of a simple cross rib of three reeds, with two half arches meeting it in the centre, and groined between. Those arches spring from short pillars supported on projecting corbels, representing heads of ani- mals. A lofty arch opened from the apsis into the body of the chancel, and a similar one opened from thence into the nave. The sides of those arches are each formed of three slender pillars, the middle one projecting beyond the others. The arches connecting them above are ornamented with the zig-zag and fillet mouldings. This portion of the building has two windows to the south, and one to the north. They are ornamented on the inside with pillars, and rich mouldings from the soffits of the arches. The outside of this part of the building, like the apsis, consists of two tiers of arches, the lower rests upon four double and two single pillars on each front, and the tops of each alternate pillar connected by intersect- ing semicircular arches, so that the spaces between each two pil- lars have the form of Gothic arches. Over these arches, there is a band or fillet, on which is placed an upper range of pillars and arches similar to those on the apsis, but the pillars stand directly over those of the lower tier. Above this tier of arches, there is a range of corbels representing faces, supporting the upper part of the wall. The roof is high in the pitch, and the timbers are open to the view inside, the body of the chancel not having been arch- ed. Ancient gravestones form the pavement, and this portion of the building is now little else than a tomb. From the style of ar- chitecture, it Ls probable that this portion of the church was built about the year 1 100, when the Saxon style prevailed. At or about the period of the Reformation, the two windows on the south side of the body of the chancel were built up, and two square windows with a single stone mullion in each were substituted ; and one Qf the same in the apsis ; and although they are somewhat interesting, as showing the degraded style which succeeded the Gothic, it were desirable to have them removed, and the original appearance re- stored. The original nave is probably not much later in date than the chan- cel ; but as it only consists of plain dead walls with a single hatched fillet, there is not much from which its date can be ascertained. From the unbroken appearance of the side walls, there does not ap- pear to have been any windows. It was probably lighted by windows in the west gable, which is now removed. A wide and lofty arch LEUCHARS. 223 opens into the aisle, the walls of which were formerly only about half their present height, and a similar arch opens into the more modern part of the nave, forming together what is now used as the parish church. Where the parish school now stands, . there once was a chapel called St Bennet's, of which Sir Thomas Wemyss was chaplain at the Reformation. No vestige of it remains; but many human bones are found near the spot inclosed in stone coffins ; which, being by no means entire, point to a remote date. To the north of the village, there is a curious circular elevation where stood the castle of Leuchars. It has all the appearance of having been artifi- cially formed, with a moat around it, and a deep well in the centre. It occupies about an acre of ground. * There are three ruins of old mansions of a castellated form, kept in partial repair, — these are Earlshall, Pitcullo, and Airdit. Earls- hall is an interesting object. Its large, venerable hall, whose roof and walls are crowded with crests, inscriptions, &c is well worthy the attention of the antiquary, f The most interesting relic of antiquity that has been found in this parish is an earthen jar, which was discovered on Craigiehill, in the year 1808. This jar was found to contain nearly a hundred silver coins in perfect preservation. Unfortunately the jar itself was shiv- ered to pieces by the plough, by which it was thrown up. But most of the coins were secured by the proprietor, the late Hon. Robert Lindsay of Balcarres, where they remain. The coins are stamped with the heads of Roman emperors, such as Severus, An- toninus, Faustina, &c. III. — Population. There has been very liftle variation in the number of inhabit- ants in this parish from the earliest times till now, as is the case in most agricultural districts. The only change upon the popu- lation is that of locality. The Tents moor, which pf old used to be studded with turf built cottages, and gardens and crofts attached to them, is now, in a great measure, depopulated, from the extensive farms which h^ve been formed upon it. Many of the former inha- bitants of the moors shifted their quarters to the village, and other parts of the parish. * The castle was anciently a place of strength, and one of the strongholds of the Earls of Fife ; dismantled, however, by the English in the fourteenth century. f The dates inscribed in the hall show the building to have been founded \m 1546, and finished in 1017. 224 FIFESHIRE. No. of inhabitants residing in the village' of Leuchars in 1831, . 614 in Balmullo, another village belonging to this parish, 250 The yearly average of births for seven years ending with 1681 is, « 47 of deaths for 1831 is, ... 22 of marriages, . . . . . 16 In 1831, the average number of persons under I ft years of age, 689 betwixt 15 and 30, 475 30 and 50, . . 432 50 and 70, . . 214 upwards of 70, 59 Number of bachelors in 1831 upwards of 50 years of age, ... 6 old maids upwards of 45, ... . 25 In 1831 the number of hearths was, . . 412 of families, in which there are children, . . 209 of children, ....... 627 which makes an average of exactly 3 to each. Number of insane, 3 ; blind. 3; dumb, 1. Character and Habits of the People. — The inhabitants are late- ly much improved in point of cleanliness and dress. Their arti- cles of diet, which formerly consisted chiefly of potatoes and oat- meal, now embrace* a greater variety. Instead of the homely ban- nock, kneaded at his own hearth, you find the cottager enjoying his loaf from the baker, which he accompanies with beer, milk, or tear. Pork and rabbit during winter, fish and cockles during summer, constitute at once a rich and varied diet. By furnishing manure to the neighbouring farmers, the villagers obtain abundant crops of potatoes at an easy rate. They get a certain portion of land, in which they deposit their own sets, and cultivate and clean the land during the summer months, which tends much to promote their health and enjoyment. Indeed, our villagers are in possession of many privi- leges and comforts which are denied to the inhabitants of wealthier towns ; and, on the whole, they are a contented, industrious, intel- ligent, religious, and happy people. The demoralizing practice of smuggling, formerly so extensively prevalent on the shore, has, by the operation of the excise laws, been abolished for many years. During the last three years, there have been 9 illegitimate births in the parish. IV. — Industry. Agriculture, — In this parish agriculture is conducted in the most approved style. The deep soils undergo regular rotation by alter- nate husbandry. The five or six years' course is observed on the loams and deep clays ; the eight years' rotation suits the lighter or weaker soils ; by allowing the land to rest in pasture for two, three, or more years. On these, turnips are often flaked and eat off by sheep, which is found a prodigious improvement to the soil. Draining of all kinds is universally practised. By the large drain cut between the Tay and the Motiltry, of 5 miles extent, 20 (eel LEUCHARS. 225 « wide, and 12 or 14 feet deep, an immense extent of rich land has been gained. Numerous side cuts have been made into it. Tile or furrow draining is also practised successfully. The only incon- venience from this extensive draining is the great multiplication of the grey rat Inclosing by dikes of stone and lime has gone on with great spirit within these twenty years past, and greatly bene- fited the lighter soils. The introduction of the steam-engine into the thrashing-mills on two farms is found a great saving of horse power. The steadings are now universally in good condition, and on se-« vera] farms have very excellent accommodation for cattle. There is, however, still a want of cottars' houses for farm-servants, which obliges the farmer to crowd young ploughmen into bothies, which is unfavourable to their improvement in morals. It would perhaps remedy the evil, to distribute the young men among the families of those that are married, and lodge one or two of them with the tenant himself, that all may be under some superintendence, and be profitably employed at leisure hours. Indeed, the bothy system is universally reprobated. The farm roads that are not on the sta- tute labour books, are in the worst condition, especially in winter. This is a subject of loud complaint with those who pay so heavily for statute labour, and reap so little benefit from it No. of acres in the parish amounts altogether to abojit, . 9800 Scotch acres, under regular cultivation, and not in pasture are 6310 poor clay, and light land, often in pasture, . 3060 in plantations, 860 in roads, 70 Rent of Land. — There are 81 farms (beside, small feus) of every variety of soil and size; and 140 ploughs, averaging fifty acres for each plough. The average rent of good land is L. 2, 1 0s. per acre, or rather L. 1, with one-half boll of wheat, one-half boll barley, and one-half boll oats. Many acres are still valued at L 4 each. Poor soils are from L. 1, 10s. to 7s. 6d. per acre, the average value of the Tents moor. The long tract of bents is fit for nothing but har- bouring rabbits, a species of stock once in greater repute, but now nearly extirpated, on account of its diminished value, and its de- predations on the neighbouring crops. About a thousand acres of such links may be considered not worth cultivating. The valued rental is L. 10,541 Scots. The allowed real rental at last valua- tion of stipend was L. 13,660, and it is thought that if the farms were out of lease, they could not at present bring much beyond that sum. But it is difficult to ascertain the real rental, as there fife. p 22C FIPESHIRE. are nine proprietors who at present farm their own property, and the rents of the farms in lease vary every year, as they are paid by the Bars. The Clydesdale horse is most in use here, and the Teeswater breed of cattle, crossed with the Fife, is in greatest repute. We have every variety of sheep, — Leicester, Cheviot, and Highland. The last are fed with turnip in winter, for the butcher. The two first are kept for lambing in spring. Produce. — The average amount and value of gross produce > yearly raised in the parish, as nearly as can be ascertained, is as follows : Produce of grain from • »£©<> acres at L. 7 per acre, - L. 22000 potatoes and turnips at L. 7 per acre, - - 6000 hay at 7d per stone, ..... 4000 pasture land, good and bad, ... 5000 fisheries, &c. - ... 300 L. 37300 Little flax or hay is raised for the market. Manufactures. — Besides the employment of about 30 families as masons, carpenters, smiths, tailors, shoemakers in this parish, there are a great many engaged in weaving. Independent of the wea- vers who are employed in towelling and sheeting for home con- sumption, there are about two-thirds who work coarse linens, chief- ly Dowlas, Osnaburghs, and Silesias for the Cupar and Dundee manufacturers, who export them for America and the West In- dies. Many of our young females take to the loom during the winter months, but in summer they prefer out-door work. Since the introduction of machinery, hand-spinning has almost ceased to be a branch of industry. A spindle of yarn will occupy a woman three days and a-half, for which she will earn Is. ; a spindle of shirting yarn will yield double that sum. The number of looms altogether in this parish may be estimated at about 130. Our weavers are most industrious, working many of them ten hours, sometimes even more. Before the salutary change which the weav- ing interest has lately experienced, the gain per day at the loom, with the deduction of 4d. for expenses, did not exceed 8d. Now, however, provisions being moderate, their labour commands a fair remuneration. An extensive distillery was erected at Seggie, upon the river Eden, twenty-six years ago, and has, with the exception of this year, been all along in successful operation, distilling about 100 quar- ters of grain per day, during the cool season. Several scores of 4 LEUCHARS. 227 cattle were annually fed within the premises. It yielded constant employment to about 100 workmen, who received ample wages. The advantages of such an establishment ttj the farmers in the neighbourhood have been fully appreciated ; as a ready market was afforded them for the disposal of grain. A saw-mill, barley, lint, and two oatmeal-mills are in the parish. V. — Parochial Economy. Market-Toicns. — The market-towns of Cupar, St Andrews, and Dundee, situated at seven, six, and eight miles' distance respec- tively, with daily communication by post and carriers, afford every advantage to the parish for buying and selling. Villages. — The two villages, — Leuchars, with £14 inhabitants, and Balmullo, a straggling village on the Dundee public road, with 250 inhabitants, — are dry, well-aired, well-watered, and healthy vil- lages, with excellent turnpikes through them. Means of Communication. — The soil being dry, the roads throughout the parish are kept without difficulty in the best repair. There are fourteen miles of turnpike, and nearly ten of statute la- bour roads. Three four-horse coaches have continued to pass through the parish daily from Edinburgh to Aberdeen for many years, but their number is now reduced to two: Coaches run twice a-week by way of Leuchars between Dundee and St Andrews- Besides the Guard-bridge pier already mentioned, there is another at Seggie, which is chiefly for the convenience of the distillery. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church, situate in the village of Leuchars, is distant from the east end of the parish about four miles, and from the western extremity nearly six miles. A more centrical position for the bulk of the population would be about a mile farther to the westward. It is a commodious, well-light- ed, and comfortable building, accommodating 850 sitters. There are not more than a dozen free sittings in the church; Is. 3d. only is the average of each seat per annum. A deep gallery, holding 150 persons, erected out of the poor's funds, accommo- dates the householders at prices graduating from 2s. 6d. to 6d. each. As many more are also supplied with seats, at a small rent, by the principal heritors, after the tenants and their cottars are provided. The manse was built in 1806, and is still considered a respect- able and well-finished house, and pleasantly situated. The glebe, together with the garden, contains about 9 Scots acres of such land as would rent at about L. 4 per acre. The stipend al- located in 1820 amounts to 16 chalders, which, for the last four 228 FIFESHIRE years averages at L. 218 Sterling, with L. 8, 6s 8d for commu- nion elements. There is only one church of Original Seceders, stationed at Balmullo, with about 70 joined members, and a respectable minis- ter, whose stipend is of small and variable amount But to supply the deficiency, his supporters have built him a small manse and a few offices, and granted two acres for a cow's grass. The attendance at the Established Church throughout the year is steady and full. The number of persons attending church may be estimated at 600 generally. The 4 number of communicants average 700. Some are induced, from convenience, usually to at- tend the neighbouring parish churches. The number of dissen- ters throughout the parish is perhaps not more than 100. A society has been established for twelve years for promoting religious purposes at home and abroad, which has contributed about L. 40 annually. However, it is now fast declining. The collections throughout the year at the church door average L. 23, and have varied little in amount for the last twenty-five years. The fanners seem to prefer giving their charity to their cottars, with whom they are more immediately connected. The villagers assist their poorer neighbours in a similar way, without troubling the kirk-session, by rendering it the medium of com- munication. A mistaken idea prevails among many that the ses- sion funds are so rich as to require no addition to them. Education. — There are four schools; one parochial and three unendowed. Of the latter, one is for teaching sewing chiefly, and English reading, — is supported by the Balcarres family, and the fees of the scholars. The remaining two are supported by fees alone. The branches taught in the parish school are, English, Latin, Greek, arithmetic, practical mathematics, writing, gram- mar, and geography. At present there are no Latin or Greek scholars. The amount of fees in the parochial school is L 20 ; do. in the Balmullo school at present L. 40 nearly. The amount of fees in the other two varies much. The parish schoolmaster now enjoys the maximum salary; and interest of 2000 merks Scots, also a glebe of two acres, bequeathed by the Rev. A. Henderson. The children generally attend only two or three quarters in the year, and pay 6s., 7s. 6d., or at most 9s. per annum each, but often pay weekly. No person is known to be incapable of read- ing, and very few who cannot write after nine years of age. There LEUCHARS. 229 is also a flourishing Sabbath school, which has subsisted for twen- ty years. No additional school is needed. Literature. — A parish library was lately instituted by private subscription in Leuchars, cqijtaining sopie hundred volumes of va- rious useful and entertaining reading, calculated to promote men- tal and moral improvement. Poor. — The multiplication of paupers is owing to the growing impression, that heritors are bound to support the poor. Dilapida- tions are annually making on the lying capital, and are in the course of annihilating it The number now receiving aid regularly from the kirk-session is 30 persons ; occasionally, 36. The average number for a few years past is about 25. Average of aliment per week for each is Is. 3d. The annual amount of charitable contri- butions is L. 75; collections, L.23; land-rent, L.24; church seat rents, L. 12; interest, mortcloth, hearse, L. 11. Fairs. — Two fairs are held at Leuchars each year for the sale of cattle and small wares. But of late years they have been little frequented. Alehouses. — There are 6 alehouses in the village of Leuchars, and other 6 along the great roads of the parish. Fuel — Coal is brought from Newcastle and the Frith of Forth by sea ; also by land from the coal districts in the county. Wood is much used as a burning material by the villagers, who enjoy the valuable privilege of carrying home the debris from the plantation on Colonel Lindsay's estate* Advantage is often taken of the savings banks in the neighbour- ing towns. ' Miscellaneous Observations. Since last survey, the greatest change is the enlargement of our villages, and the depopulation of the country parts of the parish, which has not been attended with an improvement in the morals of the people in general September 1836. UNITED PARISHES OF IN VERKEITHING AND ROSYTH. PRESBYTERY OF DUNFERMLINE, SYNOD OF FIFE, THE REV. ANDREW ROBERTSON, MINISTER. L — Topography and Natural History,* Name. — The name is variously written ; formerly, it was Enderkey- den, Henderkeyden, Enderkeithen, and Innerkeithing ; at present, it is Inverkeitbing. It is said to be derived from the Gaelic, accord- ing to one etymology, signifying " the mouth of the Keith," the rivulet which at this place falls into the sea ; according to another, " the confluence of the slow misty water with the sea ;" according to a third, " the entrance of the water into the sea between little hills," — with which last, appearances best correspond, Rosyth, formerly Rosaith, is said to be also from the Gaelic, and to de- note a tongue of land extending into the water. The parishes were united in 1636. The deed of annexation be- ing lost, nothing certain is known about the terms of the union; but it is said that the incumbent was. to preach for two Sabbaths successively in Inverkeithing, but on every third Sabbath at Ro- .syth. Topographical Appearances. — This parish is of a very irregular figure. The Ferry hills form an indented, and somewhat circular pe- ninsula^upward of a mile in diameter, with a neck about 300 yards broad. From this neck of land, the parish extends west* ward upwards of three miles, (including the harbour of Bruce- haven, and a small portion of Limekilns,) and runs northward to Crossgates, 4£ miles, and eastward to Letham hill, about 1 mile. Its general figure, (exclusive of the Ferry hills,) resembles two arms stretched out nearly at right angles, embracing a part of the parish of Dunfermline, and nowhere much exceeding a mile in breadth. At one place, the parish of Dunfermline approaches with- in half a mile of the burgh. The Frith of Forth is the southern and * The scientific part of this account prepared by the Rev. Andrew Robertson, Junior. INVERKEITHING. 231 part of the eastern boundary of the parish ; it adjoins to Dalgety on the east ; and is next to Dunfermline on the north and west* This parish may be viewed as consisting, in the soutl^part, of a range of greenstone hills, not exceeding 300 feet above the level of the sea ; of a rising ground with a southerly exposure in the north part; and of a valley between, running east and west There are about six miles of sea coast ; a small portion sandy, an- other rocky and rather high ; the remainder intermingled mud and rock. The bay of St Margaret's Hope, the islet of Inch Garvie, and the rock Bimar, which last has often been the cause of ship- wreck, are within the parish. Meteorology. — More rain falls, a few miles inland, either to the north or south than here, — it being observed that the clouds, mov- ing towards the Frith before a westerly wind, divide about Stir- ling, and keep the higher range of country on both sides of the estuary, leaving the lower grounds near it comparatively free. Some- times the rain is so strongly electrical, that the common electrome- ter for rain will charge a coated -jar very smartly in a few minutes. Hydrography.- — The adjoining Frith has strong currents during the flowing and ebbing of the tides, with many eddies and counter- currents, particularly near the Ferry, where it is about a mile and a half only broad. Between Inch Garvie and the north side, the greatest depth is about 40 fathoms ; south of that rock it is not more than 22. Near Bimar, there is one point where it is said to be upwards of 50 ; but a mile farther up it does not exceed 11, with a bank in the middle on which there is still shoaler water. There is no submarine moss known to exist on the shores. of the parish, though frequently these are covered to a considerable depth, with the moss thrown into the water at Blair Drummond, and floated down with the ebbing tide. There is, however, a con- siderable concretion of the sea sand going on in several places, forming flat reefs, some of them covered with sea-weed, and not much softer than the sandstone rock. The water of the springs in this neighbourhood is generally im- pure, with a few exceptions, — carbonate of lime, and in the upper part of the parish, iron, being the characteristic contaminating sub- stances. The composition of one of them may be seen in Jame- son's Edinburgh Philosophical Journal for April 1829. There are none of these springs of note or considerable size, and most of them fail in dry weather. The temperature of such of them as have been tried is 47° or 48° F. Two burns or streamlets run through the parish, unite and fall into the harbour. 232 FIFESHIRE. Geology. — With the slight exceptions of a few hill tops and steep faces, almost the whole of the parish is in a high state of cultivation. In the southern part, the soil is a decomposed green- stone, light on the eminences, but very fertile. More in the in- terior, it is clayey or sandy, having chiefly sandstone for its sub- stratum, but still excellent in quality. On the higher grounds in the north of the parish, it consists of a ferruginous sand or clay, or of moss, very poor, and not susceptible 'of much improvement, the effect of labour and manure upon it being in a great measure destroyed by the first wet season. There is a good deal of al- luvial soil on the banks of the streamlets running through the pa- rish, and in some places near the sea, a few acres of deposits of sand or clay. From the state of cultivation in which the parish is, there are often, in the interior part of it, no exposures of the subjacent strata for spaces of a square mile together. There are, however, some very good sections along the east and south-west sides of it, where it is washed by the sea ; on the north-east, where it is bounded by a rivulet with steep banks ; and in several quarries. The stratified rocks are wholly of the coal formation of the secondary series, in many places broken through, distorted and overlaid by various modifications of trap rock, usually greenstone. In the north part of the parish coal exists, but it crops out about a mile north, of the town, and, in the greater part of the parish, the strata underly the coal, and consist of the mountain limestone, sandstone, slate-clay, clay-ironstone, bituminous shale, and a stratified whitish slate-clay or marl ; these being deeply buried in many places beneath the trap rocks, with alluvial matter, chiefly clay. The small islands and rocks in the Frith, which are in the parish, are wholly of greenstone. The stratified rocks, in the southern part of the parish particu- larly, bear the marks of having been acted on by a disturbing force producing disruption of the strata, and inclination of them in va- rious directions, this inclination often changing abruptly within very short distances. This disturbing force appears to have been inti- mately connected with the masses of trap rock which penetrate the strata in many places, and it has generally acted by depres- sing the strata, and causing them to dip all round towards the cen- tre of the mass of greenstone, in very few instances by upraising them, and giving them a dip away from it Few simple minerals are contained in the rocks of this neigh- 3 >x 1NVERKEITH1NG. 233 bourhood. Quartz crystals, some of them purple, steatite, sul- phate of bar ytes, felspar, and some zeolites, are found in the green- stone ; calcareous spar both in the greenstone and limestone ; and pyrites is abundant in the ironstone, slate-clay, greenstone and limestone. Galena* and flinty slate also exist, and boulders of chlo- rite and mica slate, sometimes of large size, are not uncommon, — though within these few years, four of the largest of these have been blasted to pieces for building materials, or for making drains. The greenstone rocks frequently assume' the columnar form. Zoology. — The most noted wild quadrupeds are the hare, badger, fox, otter, weasel, but all very scarce. Among the birds may be enu- merated the pheasant, partridge, sparrow-hawk, kite, a blue-look- ing hawk, the common and a white owl, raven, carrion-crow, rook, wood-pigeon, thrush and blackbird, both of which are much on the increase, fieldfare, redwing, stonechat, snow and common bunting, three species of linnet, whin-sparrow, reed-sparrow, several of the creepers, jay, magpie, blue and yellow wagtails, chaffinch, wren, &c; wood-cock, snipe; green, gray and golden plovers; curlew, whimbrel, brown dotterel, and several more of the scolopax tribe ; several species of gull, the black-headed tern, pied oys- ter catcher, several species of duck, the teal, widgeon, auks, the plane and hooked-beaked marrots, the cormorant, heron, wild goose, swan, solan-goose, and, though very rarely, a large species of Anas with a red mark of a horse-shoe form on the breast Most of these birds desert the place in summer and return in winter. Of amphibia and fishes, there are two species of seals, the porpoise, the finner, so named from its long dorsal fin, the bottle-nosed whale, a much larger species of whale, salmon, sea-trout, cod, cod- ling, podley, seathe, flounder, skate, herring, white-bait, &c The common cuttle is frequently thrown upon the beach, and oc- casionally that deformed fish the Lophius of a large size. A large Opah was thrown on shore on the 23d July 1835, but it was cut into several pieces, as the first step in the process of frying, before it was seen by any one who knew its. value. This exceed- ingly rare and most beautiful fish must be seen in the recent state, before any conception can be formed of its superb appearance. The spots, and green, gold, and silver lustre of the skin, contrast- ed with the bright red of the fins and tail, constitute a whole which * Vide for particulars, " Analysis of Galena, from Ca&tleland Hill, near Inver- keithing, by the Rer. A. Robertson, Junior," in Vol. vii of Edinburgh New Philo- sophical Journal. 234 FIFESHIRE. surpasses description. The skin of it was uncommonly thick and of a whitish texture ; the flesh resembled dark-coloured beet Some of the medusas abound in autumn. There are no shell-6sh of con- sequence. Botany. — The following rather rare plants have been gathered during the last five years in the parish, or within half a mile of its boundaries* and any doubtful ones verified by the highest authori- ty. The names are those of Hooker's British Flora. Salicornia herbacea Veronica scuteUata — — polita — — Bauzbaumii Fedia dentate — auricula - mixta Eriophorum angustifolium Eleocharis pauciflora Scirpus maritimus - sylvaticua Iris fetidissima Alopecurus agrestia Poa distans — -rigida Hordeum murinum Brachypodium sylvaticum Rotbollia incurvata Polypogon monspeliense Setaria viridis Catabrosa aquatica, dwarf single-flowered variety Festuca myurus rubra Triticu-u loliaceum Bromus rigidus — — — — arvensis Dipsacus sylvestris Parietaria officinalis Sagina maritima ■ apetala Primula veris ■ elatior Myosotis collina ■ — cespitosa sylvatica Salaola kali Chenopodium maritimum ■ album — — - urbicum - bonus Henricus Cicuta yiroea Heliosciadum inundatum Myrrhis odorata (Enanthe crocate Torilis nodosa Parnassia palustris Sambucus ebulus Drosera Anglica Allium vineale arenanum Galanthus nivalis Triglochin maritimum palustre Tulipa sylvestris Alisma ranunculoides Acer campestre Adoxa moschatellina Paris quadrifolia Sclcranthus annuus Chrysosplenium alternifolium Saxifraga granulate Silene Anglica noctiflora nutans Saponaria officinalis Arenaria rubra — maritima — trinervis Symphytum officinale tuberosum Viola hirta — - odorata 1 palustris Convolvulus sepium Cynoglossum officinale Erythrrca centaurium Solanum dulcamara - nigrum Hyoscyamus niger Campanula trachelium Anchusa semper-vireus Gentiana campestris Ligusticum scoticum Pirapinella saxifraga Spergula subulate Scdum telephium — — reflexum villosum Reseda lutea luteola Prunus domestica - insititia Tormentilla reptans Potentilla reptans Spirea filipendula Helianthemum vulgare Glaucium lutcura Thalictrum flavum majus — - minus Ranunculus sceleratus auncomus A tin os vulgaris INVEBKE1THING. 235 Mentha viridis piperita Marrubium vulgare Origanum vulgare Ballota nigra Stachys arvensis ambigua Linaria repens Coronopus Ruellii Sisymbrium sopbia Nasturtium sylvestre Lepidium latifulium — ^-^— . campestre — — — — ruderale Camelina sativa Thlaspi arvense Hesperis matronalis Barbarea precox Sinapis nigra alba . tenuifolia — muralis Geranium pyrenaicum — — — eolumbinum sanguineum Malva sylvestris moachata Lavatera arborea Ononis ramossissima Vicia lutea — Bobartii — sativa — lathyroides Oxytropis uralensis Astragalus glycyphyllus Ornithopus perpusillus Ervum tetraspermum Melilotus officinalis — — leucantha Trifolium scabrum striatum ornithopodioides Medicago sativa — - maculata Hypericum perforatum — — — pulchrum . hirautum _— quadrangulum Clcborium Intybus Carduus acanthoidea — — tenuiflorus mananus nutans Bidens cernua ■ tripartita Tragopoffon majus Artemisia absynthium GnaphaUnin dioicum ————— minimum germanicutn rectum sylvaticum uliginosum Aster tripolium Pyrethrum parthenium Matricaria chamomilk Antbemis arvensis — eotula Habenaria viridis Gymnadenia conopsea Malaxis paludosa Epipactis latifolia Euphorbia Lathyris — — — exigua — paralia — portlandica Arum maculatum Carex limosa, and other rare carices Myrica gale Atriplex angustifolia littoralis laciniata Cistopteris fragilis Aspidium lobatum Asplenium marinum — — - ruta-muraria — trichomanes -~ adiantum nigrum This is given as the only Scottish station of Verbena officinalis, but it has not been found for many years back. Uses, &fc. — Reseda luteola has sometimes been collected in cartloads, for the dyers ; Menyanthes trifoliata is given occasion- ally as a bitter, particularly to sick calves, and also Teucrium sco- rodonia. Nettles (Urtica dioica) and the Caltha palustris are used as an ingredient in rennet for curdling milk ; St John's wort (Hy- pericum perforatum and pulchrum) in an herb mixture for coughs ; and an infusion of black horehound (Ballota nigra,) for colds. This last, however, appears to be but a rough medicine. A per- son who took it, said that it made him very " sick and ill," though it cured him. The leaves of Tussihgo farfara have been smoked 236 PIFBSHIRE. by asthmatic people, instead of tobacco, it is said, with considerable benefit; and infusion of agrimony is a favourite beverage with some old persons, instead of tea.* From the high state of cultivation in which the parish is, it cannot well be ascertained what plants are attached to certain soils, excepting the well known distinctions of aquatic, bog, and rock plants. The rarer plants are usually found in the greenstone soil, but in general the plants do not affect soils so much as localities ; a plant being often abundant in one spot, while in another, under exactly similar circumstances, not a particle of it is to be seen. There are few plantations of trees, and these but of very small extent. When young these contain principally larch and fir, which, as they grow up, are thinned out to make room for the elm, oak, ash, and beech, planted along with them. The only trees appa- rently indigenous are a few alder and willow bushes on the banks of the streamlets. IL — Civil History. Burgh. — Inverkeithing isa Royal Burgh of a very ancient date. It has a charter from William the Lion, confirming another still older ; and James VI., by one dated 1598, recognizes the privileges be- stowed by former monarchs, and declares its rights of custom, &c to extend from the water of Leven on the east, to that of Devon on the west, and as farnorth as Kinross. Most of these have been sold or disposed of; but there are still retained the duties at the markets held at Kinross and Tulliebole, and the customs at North Ferry passage. Even Edinburgh at one time paid a trifling acknow- ledgment of superiority for some parts of the Calton-hill, but it was bought up or fell into desuetude. According to the first print* ed return of the treasurer under the new regulations of burghs, " the funds, property, and effects" of the burgh are valued at L. 7437, 10s. 5 T 8 gd* exclusive of the town-house, jail, and "other property," and the debts at L. 2029. The burgh affirirs are at present managed by a provost, two bailies, a dean of guild, a * This rustic practice, however, ia sometimes not unattended with danger. Once, upon inquiry being made what had become of a patch of hyoscyamus, which had disappeared just as the plants were about coming into flower, information was re- ceived that two persons of the common working class had taken the whole up, to make " excellent medicine.** Shortly after this, a farm- labourer was met carrying an immense sheaf of digitalis, who, upon being asked, from a humane motive, what he intended to do with it, replied, " to make fine herb* tea for the cold. 1 * He was of course informed of the risk of poisoning which he might incur by drinking the said tea. INVERKEITHING. 237 treasurer, and nine councillors. The constituency of the burgh for parliamentary elections is about 57 ; for the election of town-councillors, about 26. It sends a Member to Parliament along with Culross, Queensferry, Stirling, and Dunfermline. By a grant from Queen Mary and Henry Darnley, the ancient family of Henderson of Fordel, having a part of their estate within the parish, held the office of hereditary provost and sheriff; but this right was never exercised. In the ridings of the Scottish Parliament, the provost was entitled to ride next to the provost of Edinburgh. The Magistrates had the power of pit and gallows within their jurisdiction, that is, of inflicting the punishment of drowning or hanging, — in testimony of which, a rising ground fac- ing the town, still bears the name of the Gallow-bank, and there is still in it a Gallow-tower. The court of four burghs, authorized by James 1IL to draw up a set of mercantile regulations, had their sittings here ; and before the convention of burghs was appointed to be held at Edinburgh, Inverkeithing was the usual place of its meeting. The last assemblage of the Culdees took place in the church. Some battles have been fought here, the last in 1651, by Crom- well's troops against the Scots. There is a tradition that, in the reign of Alexander HI. the Jews proposed to establish a fortified commercial city on the Ferry hills, but the design somehow mis- gave. A document confirmatory of this is said to exist in one of the libraries or public offices in Edinburgh. St Margaret's Hope is so called, because it was the place where Margaret, who after- wards became Queen of Malcolm HI., landed during a storm in her flight from England. The adjacent ferry is also named from ' her, (Buchanan calls it Margarita Portus,) supposed to be from her frequently using it in her passage to or from the palace at Dunfermline. Ferry. — At this ferry, is a flourishing village inhabited by the boat- men, principally, and much resorted to in summer, as sea-bathing quarters. The piers are unrivalled, and there is an elegant and com- modious inn, lately built In old times, this ferry was subject to the Abbots of Dunfermline, who drew the fortieth penny of pas- sage money to repair their Quair, and also one-fourth to supply boats. The present superior of whom the ground of the village is feued, is the Marquis of Tweeddale. Of later years, the right of ferry belonged to neighbouring proprietors, the Earl of Rose- 238 FIFESHIRE. bery, Dundas of Dundas, &c to whom a rent was paid, but up- wards of twenty years ago, it was vested by act of Parliament in trustees. The rent, under this act, once amounted to L. 2300, but now it yields about L. 1500 only. The currents of the tide here are so peculiar, that, as was proved upon trial when an at- tempt was made about the beginning of the century to turn off the old boatmen, no sailor, unless brought up upon the passage, can navigate the boats without much delay and risk. At one time, a visionary project of a tunnel beneath the Frith a little way above the ferry, was entertained ; and more lately, another of a chain bridge across it, having Inch Garvie in the middle for an intermediate step. There is at the ferry a battery, at present dismantled, erected after the visit of Paul Jones. Eminent Men. — The settlement of the last incumbent of this parish is a conspicuous event in the history of the church. It took place in 1752, and occasioned the deposition of Mr Gillespie, mi- nister of Carnock, on account of his refusal to attend the meetings of presbytery held for that purpose. This was the origin of the Relief church. The parish has produced no eminent men, unless Admiral Greig, who rose to the chief command of the Russian navy, and died in 1 788, is to be accounted one. Land-owners. — The valued rent is L. 6866, 16s. lOd. Scots money, and the proprietors are rated as follows : Earl of Hopetoun, L. 2268 ; Sir Robert Preston's Heirs, L. 1947, 19s. 4d. ; Sir Philip C. H. Durham, G. C. B., L. 750, 16s. 8d.; Rev. John Kellock Cuninghame, L. 482, 19s. 4d. ; James Hunt, Esq. L. 425 ; John Newton, Esq. L. 392, 16s. lid.; Heritors of Ferry hills, (several) L. 246 ; John Cuninghame, Esq. L. 159, 14s. 9d. ; Marquis of Tweeddale, L. 86, 15s. Id; David Peat, Esq., L.63; Ferguson Sharp, Esq., L. 31, 12s. 6cL ; Captain Spittal's Disponees, L. 7 ; Andrew Tulloch's Heirs, L. 5, 2s. 3d. Parochial Registers* * — The minutes of session are regular and * There are some curious notices of old customs to be found in the old minutes. Money appears to have been often given from the poor's funds, to enable students to prosecute their studies, and there was a fine to the poor on baptisms and marriages, when these took place in the parties' own houses. The session also assumed the power of appointing who should sit in the vacant seats in the church, and it seems to have been acquiesced in. Persons are prohibited from receiving into their houses, or let- ting houses to those from another parish, who do not bring " Usttficates." and the civil powers are called upon to enforce this. Persons recusant are compelled to ap- pear before the kirk- session, and to submit to the discipline enjoined, under penalty of imprisonment by the magistrates, until they consent to do so. The exercise of discipline also appears to have been what would at present be ac- counted rigorous. During the first thirty years of last century, there are instances INVERKE1THING. 230 without blanks, from 1 676 to the present date. The register of baptisms and marriages also extends from 1676 to the present date, though from 1676 to 1698, in the same books with the ses- sion minutes, and intermixed with them as they occurred, and with the exception of a blank from 1711 to 1748, caused by the loss of a book, which, according to an entry in the session minutes about 1755, was taken to London as evidence in a law-suit about 1750, and never returned. There is a register of burials from 1702 to 1708, and for 1710, and of testimonials given and re- ceived from 1701 to 1711. Antiquities. — On the top of Letham hill, there is what is said to be the remains of a Druidical temple. To uninitiated eyes, it ap- pears to be a few blocks of greenstone, somewhat circularly arranged on the top of a greenstone hill, where such loose fragments of the rock below are to be expected. In the north part of the parish, there is a stone 10 feet high, 2£ broad, and 1 thick, with rude figures of men and horses cut upon it, but now much defaced, sup- posed to be a Danish monument Situated on a small rock, con- nected by a causeway with the main-land, stands the Castle of Ro- sy th, noticed in the novel of the Abbot. It is a ruinous square tower, forming the north-east angle of what must have been a pretty large square of buildings. Over the gateway is a mouldered armorial bearing, surmounted by a crown, and M. R. 1561. On the stone bars of the great windows of the hall, which are evidently much more recent than the original loop-holes, is " F # S" and M # N" of persons rebuked before the congregation for swearing, drunkenness, stealing, for not attending public worship, for being out of doors unnecessarily, or carrying water on the Sabbath, for ferrying people across on the Sabbath without an order from the minister, for abusive language or calling names, very frequently women for scolding, once, a man for cursing and striking his wife, and another for consulting a " wiz- ard." An offender, in addition to the usual censures and fine, is ordered to learn to read within a year, under penalty of censure, if he shall be found " deficient in learning." According to order of the Lord Ordinary, there is, in 1701, a guardian of morality appointed in the parish* to put the laws in execution against immorality and profaneness, and there appears to have been a strict system of espionage esta- blished in regard to these. In 1702, there is a named list of the communicants, chiefly females, amounting to seventy-eight in all, and a few years after, a named list of elders, amounting to nine- teen. During this period it is customary to mark in the minutes the name of any stranger who may have preached, and very often the subject of his sermon. Even on solemn occasions, decorum was evidently not very strictly observed in those days, as at every sacrament there is a regular entry of a sum of money paid to the town officers " for keeping off the thronge." Many irregular marriages are also recorded. About 1720, the parish seems to have been in a sad state so far as morality was concerned, and also in the years preceding 1745, both periods of great political ex- citement, Offenders during the time between these dates were also exceedingly re- fractory and contumacious, and there appear to be good grounds for concluding that the present generation and their fathers have improved very much upon their ances- tors in those days, at least in sobriety and decency of behaviour. 240 FIFRSHIRE. " Anno 1639." Upon the south side of the Castle near the door is this inscription : — IN DEV TYM DRAW YIS CORD YE BEL TO CLINK, QVHAIS MERY VOCE VARNIS TO 'MEAT AND DRINK, There appear to be the remains of a four gun battery on the side of the rock next the sea. This Castle is said by Sir Robert Sibbald to have been the seat of Stewart of Rosyth or Durisdeer, a descend- ant of James Stewart, brother to Walter, the great Steward of Scotland, and father of Robert II. There is a tradition that the mother of Oliver Cromwell was born in it, and that the Protector visited it when he commanded the army in Scotland. It is now the property of the Earl of Hopetoun. At the place of encampment of Cromwell's troops on the Ferry hills, swords and English coins have been, dug up, and cannon shot, almost consumed by rust, have been found near the field of battle. In the North Ferry, there was once a Roman Catholic chapel, found- ed by Robert L, which was a dependency of the Abbey of Dun- fermline, and subsisted till destroyed by the English in 1651. Its ruins still remain, and the burial ground is still in use. Between the ferries is Inch Garvie, on which Sir Archibald Dundas of that Ilk obtained from James IV. leave to build a castle, with import- ant privileges. It was anciently fortified, and used as a state pri- .son, and was repaired and mounted with cannon during the late war. At present, it is abandoned. Besides this building, there is on the west end of the rock, a ruined round tower or redoubt, and on the east end, what is said to be the remains of a battery, — ac- cording to tradition, both erected by Cromwell's soldiers. In the burgh there are still houses pointed out as the town residences of the Rosebery and Fordel families, and it is asserted that there was even here a palace of David I. An old tenement, named " the Inns," is said to have been the residence of Annabella Drummond queen of Robert II L By a charter from her husband, the magis- trates were to pay to her a hundred shillings a year at the feast of Pentecost She died here in 1403. The house is exempted from burgh jurisdiction, though in the middle of the town, and is said to contain, among other conveniences, a subterraneous passage to the sea. Numerous vaults and ruins are near it, and the founda- tions of the " chapel" were lately dug up. These are supposed to have belonged either to the Franciscans or Dominicans, both of whom had once monasteries in the place. When the late church was repaired in 1806, there was found a font made of fine sand- stone, which has been placed in the porch of the present church. INVERKEITHING. 241 Its form is hexagonal, the extreme breadth being a little more than three feet, and, with its pedestal, it is about four feet high. The bowl of it is a sort of hemisphere, two feet broad, and one deep, with a hole of about an inch diameter, pierced through the bottom* It had been carefully buried and surrounded with straw, ttje remains of which were still beside it, and it contained within the bowl of it a quantity of human bones, probably relics, and an ink-glass. The six angles of it are wrought into a kind of ornamental pillar, and on every one of the six faces, there is the bust of an angel with expanded wings, having on its breast, and supported by its hands, a shield of a triangular form with curved outlines. These shields contain ancient armorial bearings. By persons skilled in heraldry, these are said to be the arms of Scotland; those of David Bruce and Margaret Logie, his queen, or of Robert III. and Annabella Drummond, who were probably reigning when the font was made ; those of Gourlay of Kincraig ; those of Alderston, the heiress of which married the laird of Kincraig of that time being, or of a Stuart (Rosytb,) a Clerk, a Lindsay, &a — probably those of Lowis of Menar, or of Loren of Harwood, or of a Fowlis, •—the arms of Melville, old Lords of Melville in Fifeshire, or of Craigie of CraigiehalL The difficulty of fixing some of these more precisely arises from the bearings not being coloured or hatched to represent colouring. The communion cups, dated 1643, are of rather curious form, Deing narrow and deep, with a long stalk and foot like a wine glass. The workmanship is rude, and they have been made in three pieces, and roughly soldered together. What is remark- able, as shewing the state of the arts at the time, is, that there is a border round the foot, which appears to have been a ribband of metal, figured in a cress, or chased in a rolling machine, then turned round till the ends met, and the ring thus made rudely soldered to the foot of the cup, in the same manner as chased plate brass articles are done in the present day. The silver is whiter and brighter than the most of modern plate. Modern Buildings. — The town is beautifully situated on a ris- ing ground immediately above a small bay adjoining the Frith, with a south exposure. It consists of a main street, and a smaller one branching off it, besides some wynds. There have been many houses built or rebuilt within the last twenty years, so that the place has been considerably extended and improved. It contains a new church, replacing thatwhich was burnt in 1825, a new school-house, FIFE. Q 242 FIFESHIRE. and a grain stock-market, all of most handsome appearance, and a curious and rather lofty stone pillar at the cross ; also a town-house, and a Meeting-house belonging to the United Associate Synod. There is a building intended for a Lazarette between Inverkeithing and the Ferry, which, however, had been little used for a dozen of years past, and was sold last year by Government for a trifling sum, having a heavy feu-duty upon it, — the frigate Dartmouth, stationed in St Margaret's Hope, being now employed for the quarantine service in its stead. The buildings in this neighbourhood are of white sandstone or greenstone. Ill — Population. According to the return made to Dr Webster this was in 1755. By an accurate private list made in By the Government census 1755. 1694 1793, 2210 1801, 2228 1811, 2400 1821, 2512 1831, 3189 Of this last return, 1569 are males, and 1620 females. The number residing in the burgh is 2020, being 978 males, and 1042 females ; in the village of North Ferry, 434, being 203 males, and 231 females ; in that of Hillend, 279, being 146 males, and 133 females ; and in the country part of the parish, 458, be- ing 243 males, and 215 females. The increase in the number of parishioners between 1821 and 1831 is 677. This great increase may be partly accounted for by the establishment of a large distillery between these periods, but it arose principally from a large influx of labourers employed about 1831, to work in the greenstone quarries supplying materi- als for the extension of Leith pier, and the erection of the new bridge at Stirling. These quarries being abandoned upon the com- pletion of the works, the labourers and their families have gone elsewhere, and it is supposed that the population is not now so nu- merous as in 1831. The number of families was in 1831, 712, of inhabited houses 438, and of other houses, 12. The average number of a family nearly 4£. There are two persons only of independent fortune residing in the parish, and one of them is but a very small proprietor in it. There are no noblemen resident, and but one of the larger heri- tors. The proprietors of lands in the parish of more than L. 50 rental, are 11 in number. IV. — Industry. There are 25 occupiers of land, employing sixty-eight labourers INVBRKEITHING. 243 or servants, and there are -282 males engaged as retail-dealers, or in handicraft trades, either as masters or workmen. Agriculture. — From the number of heritors in the parish, and the accurate measurement of many of the lands being unknown, and also from the many subdivisions of lands, nothing approach- ing even to a good approximation of the number of acres in it could be obtained without actual admeasurement, or a very great degree of trouble in collecting information, often inaccurate. It may be stated, however, in general, that almost every piece of ground capable of cul- tivation is under the plough ; that there is but a very small propor- tion of wood, and that chiefly young ; and that there is no pasture ex- cepting a small quantity on the steepest acclivities of the hills. There are no commons. The lowest rent of land in the parish is L. 1, 5s. the highest approaches L. 4, per acre ; but as many of the rents are partly in grain, convertible at the flars' prices, they are of course variable. The average rent is nearer the higher than the low- er rate. From the vicinity to Edinburgh, the rate of labour, and the prices of raw produce and manufactures, are regulated by the prices there. The husbandry follows different systems of rota- tion. The crops raised are, wheat, barley, oats, beans and pease, potatoes, hay, turnips. Much waste land from moss has, of late years, been reclaimed in the upper part of the parish, and there has been a great deal of draining, some of it tile, but the most of the farmers prefer stones, as better, and also more economical. A good many sloop loads of manure are imported from Leith. The leases are almost, without exception, for nineteen years. Many of the farm buildings have lately been erected in the most com- modious style ; they are almost all good, and the fields are well enclosed with thorn hedges chiefly, though sometimes with stone walls. Quarries. — Greenstone for building, paving, and road-making, is quarried in several places, and often sent off by sea. A good many years ago, great quantities were shipped from the Ferry hills for paving the streets of London ; but the granite of Aberdeen is now preferred for that purpose. Sandstone is also quarried in two places, chiefly for exportation coastwise, and limestone in several, for home consumption, or sending to a distance by sea. These are wrought by the aid of gunpowder, wedges, and levers, — the work- men being particular in keeping a face upon the quarry. There are no mines. There are no coal-pits, though there are many closely adjoining in the neighbouring parishes. 244 FIFESHIRE. Fisheries. — The herring fishery in winter was once of great im- portance, but for several years back it has been all but annihilat- ed. There is a very trifling stake-net salmon fishery. Produce. — No estimate of the quantity of raw produce raised in the parish can be given, for the reasons mentioned above. Manufactures. — There is a large distillery in which whisky is made, both for the English and home markets, by Coffey's pa- tent steam apparatus. There are also two founderies in the parish, where large articles are cast, and steam-engines and other machi- nery made. There is a tan-work, a ship-building yard, a salt-work, a magnesia manufactory, and a brick-work, where very excellent fire-bricks are made, and also chimney cans of elegant patterns, a^pd other ornamental work, exactly resembling a fine freestone* A mill driven by steam has also been erected for crushing bones for agricultural purposes. These bones are chiefly imported from abroad, and are exported when ground down to supply the con- sumption of the east coast of Scotland, — little of them being used in the district There are two mills for making meal and flour, and a barley mill. A considerable number of the usual tradesmen reside in the parish, and also some weavers employed by the da- mask table cloth-manufacturers of Dunfermline. " The distillery employs about 80 men when in operation, the two founderies from 40 to 50, and there are a considerable number of carpenters in the building yard. The usual time of working is ten hours a day; the employments are healthy and the payment good. Navigation. — There are twenty vessels of from 20 to 100 tons burden belonging to the port, employed chiefly in the coasting trade. A considerable number of foreign and English vessels load coal here, and some occasionally bring bark, timber, and bones to be ground down for manure. V.— Parochial Economy. There is in this parish, the burgh of the same name, having, as before stated, a population of 2020. It has not much trade, the coal and stone shipped here being brought from the interior parts. The distillery is carried on by a company. The whisky made is chiefly sent to the London market Fire-bricks, and a lit- tle magnesia are also exported ; but there are no import or export merchants in the proper sense of the word. There are two villa- ges, North Ferry and Hillend. Means of Communication. — There is in the burgh a principal or assorting post-office, from which bags are daily dispatched INVERKEITHING. 245 to the neighbouring places and chief towns. At about a mile from the North Ferry the main road sends branches to Torryburn, Dunfermline, and Kirkaldy, respectively running nearly three, and two miles through the parish, — the great north road from which these strike off extending through it for six miles. There are two four-horse coaches, which run every lawful day from Edin- burgh through the burgh, one to Perth, and the other to Aberdeen, besides the mail daily. There are two two-horse coaches between Dunfermline and Edinburgh, which pass within a little distance of the burgh. There is also an easy communication from North Ferry by several steam-boats to Leith, Stirling, and intermedi- ate ports. The bridges in the parish are small, the streams be- ing of a trifling description. The fences on the sides of the pub- lic roads in several places are certainly not the best in the parish* There is an iron rail-road, made about twenty-five years ago, re- placing a wooden one of a much older date, used for conveying coals from Halbeath, and stone to be shipped at the harbour. The length of it is five miles, one of which is within the parish, and three upon the very boundary between it and that of Dun- fermline. The harbour is a pretty good one, and may be greatly improved and deepened by the removal of the mud. Vessels of 200 tons burden can load and sail from it at the spring-tides ; but it is generally frequented by smaller vessels. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church is situated in the middle of the burgh. The town population are all within five minutes walk of it, and the greater part of the country people within two miles ; about an hundred may be farther distant ; but none farther than three miles except the inhabitants of one family in a small cottage. It was built in 1826, replacing the one which was partly burnt the year before, and is in a good state of repair. No benefac- tions are on record. The church has a handsome appearance, commodious and elegant within, and ornamented with two rows of pillars running through it, having arches in the style of a Gothic cathedral. There is a very old steeple adjoining the west end of it, containing a large bell and a public clock. The building accommodates nearly a thousand persons. It has only one gallery, opposite the pulpit, which is allotted to the magistrates and eouncil, and four of the principal heritors ; but, by the erection of side galleries, which the heritors have pledged themselves to exe- cute when necessary, it would contain about three hundred more, —almost the amount of accommodation legally required for the 246 F1FESHIRE. whole population of the parish. Nearly the whole of the sittings are free. Two-thirds of them belong to the landward heritors, who give the use of them to their tenants and their servants, and many others. The other third belongs to the burgh, for the use of the inhabitants. An attempt was made to let those of the burgh, but so ill did it succeed, that, in the Treasurer's printed accounts for 1834, the sum received for seat rents, "is stated to be 7s." In the meantime, the people occupy these seats with- out ceremony. The manse was built in 1798, and has attached to it the usual legal accommodations, a barn, stable, byre, and wash- ing-house. The garden wall is six feet high, with a coping. There was no manse before that date, but only an allowance of L. 40 Scots paid for house rent. There was a small manse of a " but and a ben" in the parish of Rosyth, which was pulled down about thirty years ago, — and at that place there are still the ruinous walls of the church and a considerable space of burying-ground, around it. There are two glebes,— one for each of the united parish- es. They originally consisted of about 8 acres, but when excambed about twenty years ago, a greater quantity was given on account of the ground being inferior in quality, so that, including the grass ground, the glebe now amounts to 12£ acres, and might rent for about L. 40. The stipend has been thrice augmented since 1792 ; the last was. in 1823, and is now seventeen chalders, half meal, and half barley, convertible at the county fiars, with L. 10 money for communion elements. It is understood that the free teinds are nearly exhausted. There is a dissenting meeting-house in the town, belonging to the United Associate Synod. The stipend of the minister is L. 130, paid from the seat rents, together with a house, garden, and small grass park. The patronage of the parish is held by Lady Baird Preston, relict of General Sir Da- vid Baird, Baronet. The number of families belonging to the Establishment, according to the minister's visitation list, is about 400, containing about 1625 persons, — the usual proportion of whom attend public worship in the church. The communicants are ge- nerally about 400. The number of persons in connection with the dissenters residing within the parish is, according to a list of the late incumbent, about 1125. The ministers and the people, both of the Established and the Dissenting churches, maintain a friendly in- tercourse with each other, and show a good feeling and a Christian spirit The people in their general character are industrious and active, peaceable and contented, well affected, and much attached INVERKEiTHING. 247 to their ministers, and attend duly upon the public ordinances of religion. That are some Penny a-week Societies for mis- sionary and religious purposes ; and there are occasional collec- tions made at the church door for Highland Schools, the India Mission, and other similar objects. Education. — There is a parochial school, in which are taught English, writing, arithmetic, Latin, Greek, French, geography,, mathematics, &c. The teacher has the maximum salary ; there is a good dwelling-house, and an elegant adjacent school-house* The school fees may amount to about L. 70. There are six pri- vate schools, in which the ordinary branches of education are taught, and in which the teachers are supported by the school fees alone. One is a female school for the higher and ornamental branches of education. There is also a Sabbath day school, which meets both before and after public worship, and is supported by subscriptions and collections, and attended by numerous scholars. The expense of education is moderate, being per quarter 3s. for English ; 4s. for English and writing; 5s. for arithmetic ; 7s. for Latin ; and the same for French. The number of scholars attending all these schools is very nearly 400. Literature. — There are three libraries, — a subscription, a circu- lating, and a congregational one belonging to the dissenters, but none of them contain any great number of books. Poor and Parochial Funds* — The number of poor receiving pa- rochial aid belonging to the Established Church, was, during last year (1835) 43. The accounts of the current year cannot be made up, until the end of it. The allowances given them vary from 6d. to 2s. 6d. per week, proportioned according to their wants. The collections at the church door are upon an average, L. 20 annually, and the subscription or assessment upon the heri- tors for the year above-mentioned was L. 110, out of which there are L. 10 given to the dissenters in aid of their paupers. There are some small salaries paid to clerks, and church-officers. The heritors pay according to their valued rents. Prisons. — The jail is by no means secure, — several escapes have been made from it. Excepting a vagrant or rioter upon the streets, and that for a night, incarceration in this prison is a rare event. It is superintended by one of the town-officers. Fairs. — There are 5 fairs appointed to be held in this burgh, which were once well attended by dealers in horses, cattle, and merchant's goods ; but they are now merely nominal, no business 248 FIFESHIRE. being dote. There is, however, one upon the first week of Au- gust, which is frequented in the afternoon by numbers of people from the country districts. There being a horse and a foot race for small prizes given from the funds of the burgh, there is abund- ance of gingerbread and sweetmeats for sale, as well as drink, with many of which the people regale themselves and their friends in 'the public houses in the evening. Inns. — Including the back shops of grocers, there are 23 houses in the burgh where spirits may be bought in small quantities, and drunk upon the premises. Two of them only are inns for the reception and entertainment of travellers. In the North Ferry, there are 13 such places, including the great inn, and a secondary one, and in the rest of the parish there are three, making in all 30 ; but some of these are required to accommodate passengers at North Ferry, and travellers upon the public road from Edinburgh to Perth and Inverness. Fuel. — The fuel is coal of various kinds, procured from diffe- rent pits, and at the distance of from four to seven miles from the burgh. The price, including carriage, may be from 5s. to 9s, per ton, according to the quality and distance from the colliery. Miscellaneous Observations. Since the Statistical Account in 1793 was published, a remark- able difference has taken place in the parish. The state of agricul- ture has been greatly advanced, and the general appearance of the town much improved. It is rather against the interest of the burgh, that none of the great heritors reside within the parish. The place is favourable for carrying on manufactories of various kinds, hav- ing numerous facilities, — yet no person of capital and enterprise has ever engaged in trade or commerce upon a large and exten- sive scale. There used to be some years ago, strong political con- tests in the burgh, which frequently led the parties to the Court of Session, and when these regarded the election of a Member of Parliament, they were sometimes carried to the House of Commons* This arose from the very peculiar set of the burgh. The members of council continued in office during life and residence, and the minority could not be turned out, and their places filled up with more friendly adherents. * The struggle between the parties was thus kept up, and maintained with much activity and contentious- ness. It is recorded in the session books, in 1720, " that the kirk-session unanimously twice postponed, and finally omitted the celebration of the sacrament at that time," " on account of the great animositie and disagreement that is in the place." Several AUCHTERTOOL. 249 instances could be given at a latter period of the same political and contentious spirit Matters are now more quietly and peace- ably managed. The burgh and parliamentary elections excite no great interest among the inhabitants. November 1886. PARISH OF AUCHTERTOOL, PRESBYTERY OF KIRKALDY, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. DAVID GUILD, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name. — Auchter is said to be a Gaelic word, signifying a height, and Tool seems to be a corruption of Tiel, a rivulet which rises in the parish and runs through it ; hence Auchtertool signifies the higher grounds on the Tiel. It does not appear that its name has undergone any alteration from that originally given it Extent and Boundaries. — The parish is about 3 miles long, and about 1J wide on the average, comprising 4 square miles, equal to 2570 imperial acres. It is bounded on the north by the parish of Auchterderran ; on the north-west, by the parish of Beath ; on the south, by the parishes of Kinghorn, Burntisland, and Aberdotir ; on the east and north-east, it is at some points conterminous with the parishes of Kinghorn and Abbotshall. Topographical Appearances. — Its figure is irregular, but ap- proaches nearer to that of a parallelogram than any other regular figure. There is a range of hills at the west end of the parish, commonly called Cullalo hills; their acclivity on the south side is very steep, and the elevation of the highest above the level of the sea is 750 feet. In regard to each other, the difference of eleva- tion is inconsiderable. The climate is temperate and salubrious. The dryness of the soil throughout the most populous part of the parish, its moderate distance from the sea, and its elevation above it, must naturally contribute to its salubrity, and to the healthiness of its inhabitants. Hydrography. — There are springs by which the inhabitants of this parish are abundantly supplied with water ; some of these are 250 FIFESHIRE. intermittent ; but generally they are perennial. The former being produced by the excess of surface water, are commonly impure, and the water of course fit for few purposes; but the latter are sufficiently numerous and copious for the accommodation and comfort of the in- habitants. Some of these seem to flow from freestone, others from whinstone. There are no mineral springs in the parish. There is not a river; but there are several perennial streams of water, which run through the parish, one of which runs into Camilla-loch, situ- ated near the east end of the parish. The loch derives its name Camilla from the old house of Camilla, anciently called Hallyards, belonging to the family of the Skenes; but acquired the name of Camilla from the residence of one of the Countesses of Moray, whose name was Campbell. It contains perch, pike, and eels. Its surface extends to 18 acres ; its greatest depth is 22 feet The site of the loch is capable of much ornamental and not unprofitable im- provement. Its north side is bounded by a steep eminence cover- ed with furze, interspersed with spots of a rocky substance appear- ing through them, which nature seems to have intended for wood plantation, as it is fit for nothing else. There are grounds scatter- ed around it of the same description. These, covered with planta- tions, with the ruin of the ancient house of Hallyards, together with remaining traces of old baronial style, adjacent to the loch, would present to the eye a romantic and interesting aspect. There are two cascades, one of which is on the boundary of the south side of the parish. There is another contiguous to Camil- la loch, at the head of a deep narrow ravine, the sides of which are extremely steep, rising in nearly a perpendicular direction. They consist of rugged rocks interspersed with spots of soil, where some very rare plantsare to be found, and, accordingly, it is occasion- ally the resort of botanists. The streams of water which form these cascades are commonly small ; but after a heavy fall of rain, or ef- fectual thaw of snow, they swell to a considerable extent Geology and Mineralogy. — There are freestone, trap, or whin- stone, and limestone in the parish. The first is not in much repute, and is .seldom wrought The second is used chiefly for road metal, rarely for building. The last, which is on the property of Lord Moray, and of Captain Erskine Wemyss, is wrought by their tenants, and exclusively for their form purposes ; none has ever been wrought for sale. In the kinds of rocks mentioned no species of ore is found. There are various kinds of soil in the parish ; the loamy ; the clayey, partaking considerably of the nature of till; and the mossy. 51 AUCHTERTOOL. 2)& The first is the most productive ; some parts of the second, which have been drained and well cultivated, are little less fruitful ; but by far the greater part of this kind, remaining in its original wet and sour state, is much less productive. By far the greater part of the mossy is entire moss, and has never been cultivated: from its great depth, and the impracticability of draining, it seems in* capable of cultivation. The loamy soil lies chiefly on the south side of the parish, where the climate is best; the clayey and mossy on the north and west sides of the parish, where the climate is worse. The loamy soil varies from less than a foot to five feet deep. Its subsoil is what is commonly called rotten rock, which, when trenched and exposed to the varieties of weather, is soon converted into soil apparently of the same kind with the surface. Zoology, — There are few species of animals here which are not to be found in the parishes bounding the north and west sides of this. m The only species here not common to all other parishes, are a few grouse at the west end of the parish, and lapwings much more numerous. The heron, too, sometimes makes its appearance in winter. The live-stock consists almost wholly of horses and black-cattle. Of the former, few are purchased ; almost the whole of them are bred and reared by the farmers, for their farm pur- poses, rarely for sale ; and what are retained for farm-work are kept in high order, with full feeding and full work. Almost all the black-cattle in the parish are bred or reared in it ; few com- paratively are purchased for feeding ; but as most of the farmers cannot have bred on their farm as many as are required to be rear- ed for feeding and for sale, the deficiency is supplied by purchas- ing calves wherever they find them, in consequence of which the stock is invariably mixed ; but with regard to what is bred on the farms, the greatest care and judgment are exercised to obtain the best kind. The Fife breed is the kind generally preferred, and sought ; but if that breed exists pure, it is rarely if ever to be seen. There are many very good cows in Fife; but it is doubted whether there be a pure Fife cow in the county. But though what would be preferred may not be obtained, yet the care and skill in breed- ing the choicest kinds to be had, appears in the value to which the animals are brought One farmer has of late years preferred the Teeswater ; a kind not known to be bred or reared in the pa- rish before. They came to great value; some rising three years old have been sold at L. 20, when markets were low. There is only one farm in the parish, on which any sheep are 252 FIFESH1RB. grazed ; and it is within the last three years, that these have been introduced ; they are all of the Cheviot breed. About 860 are purchased annually, about the month of July, and sold again at different times, according as they advance to condition for the shambles, till the whole be sold off, to give place for a new lot at the usual time of purchasing. They have been found a profitable species of stock. On the farm alluded to, the number is on the increase, and though the parish be rather adapted to corn growing than grazing, yet the success of the experiment already made, is so decided, and so well known, that that species of stock is likely to become more numerous in the parish. Botany. — There is a great variety of plants, among which the rarer species are the Imperatoria ostruthium (at Camilla ruins ;) Gagea lutea, Petasites albus, Saxifraga wnbrosa, Viola odorata, ( Auchtertool Linn.) A few trees, scattered throughout the parish, are to be seen, but not the semblance of a plantation. However, as that species of improvement has lately advanced to the very boun- daries of thef parish, it is to be hoped that it will not stop there. There are many places within its bounds which invite the planter, encouraging him by holding out to view an improvement both pro- fitable and ornamental. There is little doubt that the capability of these grounds will in course draw the attention of the Noble pro- prietor, whose taste, like that of his noble ancestors, for both useful and ornamental improvements (particularly plantation) is so ap- parent in other parts of his extensive domains. II. — Civil History. Land-owners, — With the exception of three portions of land held in feu from Lord Moray, amounting to twenty acres or there- about, the Earl of Moray and Captain Erskine Wemyss are the only land-owners in the parish. Parochial Registers. — These extend as far back as 1670 ; but till within the last fifty or sixty years, they have been, very irregu- larly kept Modern Buildings. — There are none in the parish worthy of particular remark. The church and manse will be noticed under the head Ecclesiastical State. All the other houses in the parish are of no ancient date, and consist of farms, villagers and cottagers' houses, and a corn mill, which are all built with stone and lime. Till within the last forty or fifty years, there was but one house in the parish covered with blue slate ; the rest were generally covered with wheat straw, a few with tile, and one with gray slate. Most AUCHTKRTOOL. 253 of the houses that have been built recently are covered with blue slate or tile. The use of thatch is almost universally relinquished in the parish. III. — Population. Population in 1 80 1 , - 996 1811, - 501 1821, - 536 1631, - 527 The only apparent probable cause of the increase of popula- tion, is the progress of agricultural improvement. By that and the increased attention to the improvement of roads, a much greater number of labourers is necessary for the latter, and many more, both of males and females, are in demand for the former now, than in former times, whose labour is remunerated with ample wages ; and though the price of their labour does occasionally rise and fall somewhat, yet it is much more steady and uniform than that of the labour of operatives in manufactures. The demand for country labour too, scarcely ever varies, if it does not increase. But the same cannot be said of the labour of operatives in manufacturing towns. Formerly too, females were but little employed in agri- cultural work ; but, with the progress of improvement, the demand for their labour has increased so much that every farmer pre- fers for his cottager, the man who has daughters that will work in his field, for which they are liberally paid. Their labour consists in hoeing potatoes, in hoeing and hand-weeding turnips, and other drilled crops. In harvest they are employed in reaping, and of course receive reaper's wages. Nor are they without employment in winter. They are frequently employed at thrashing-mills, and in pulling and preparing turnips for cattle. It is obvious that, in this state of things, there is a tendency to induce the labouring classes of both sexes to resort to country villages and cottar-houses for residence, where employment is always to be had. The rate of wages, compared with the price of grain, is always high, and less fluctuating than in trade and manufactures ; accordingly the num- ber of village and cottar-houses has been increasing, and latterly with great rapidity. K umber of persons residing in two villages, - . .404 in the country, - - 128 The yearly average of marriages for the last 7 years, . 6 of births, - • 11 No registers of deaths. The average number of persons under 16 years of age, - - 176 between 15 and 30, - - 136 30 and 50, 124 60 and 70, - .69 upwards of 70, 27 3 254 FIFESHIRE. Proprietors of land of the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards, 2 Number of bachelors upwards of 50 years of age, - 7 of widowers 8 of widows, 12 of unmarried women upwards of 45 years of age, • 24 of families, . . J 25 Average numl>er of children in each family, - ' . 3£ Of families chiefly employed in agriculture, - 27 in trade, manufacture, and handicraft, - 32 Number of inhabited houses, - . 116 of houses uninhabited, 6 No Insane or fatuous. One blind, (the disease not natural, but contracted.) None deaf or dumb. Character, $*c. of the People. — The people are without any thing peculiar in their manners or customs, and enjoy, in a reasonable degree, the comforts suitable to their respective places in society, and are moral and religious, regular in their attendance on divine service, and in their observance of the ordinances of the gospel. During the last three years, there were 4 illegitimate births in the parish. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — According to the best information to which the writer of this Account has had access, the number of acres of standard imperial measure which are either cultivated, or occasionally in tillage, is ... 1660 Number of acres which never have been cultivated, and which remain constantly waste or in pasture, . .... 900 Number of acres that might, with a profitable application of capital, be added to the cultivated land of the parish, whether that land were afterwards to be kept in occasional tillage or in pasture, . . • 450 Rent of hand. — Average rent of arable land per imperial acre in the parish L. 1, 3s. ; average rent of grazing, rating it at L. 2, 6s. per cow or full-grown ox, grazed for the season, or ) 0s. per sheep, grazed for the year, is, per imperial acre, L. 1, 3s. The real rent of the parish is L. '2165. Husbandry. — The rotations generally adopted in the parish are as follows: viz. First rotation, 1. green crop; 2. wheat, barley, or oats, with grass seeds ; 3. hay ; • 4. oats. Second rotation, I. green crop; 2. wheat, barley, or oats, with grass seeds; 3. pasture ; 4. pasture ; 5. oats. . Rate of Labour. — Ploughmen for the year, L. 12, with victuals ; labourers for the day in summer, without victuals, Is. 8d. to 2s. 6d., in winter Is. 6d."to 2s.; women's wages in summer without vic- tuals 9d. per day, in winter 7d. In harvest, men with victuals generally 2s. per day ; women with victuals Is. 6d. per day, wrights and masons by the day, without victuals, in summer, 3s., in winter, 2s. to 2s. 6d. AUCHTERTOOL. 255 Prices. — The selling price, in common years, of the different kinds of grain grown in the parish may be rated as follows : Wheat, L. 2, 13s. lOd. ; barley, L. 1, 9s. lid.; oats, L. 1. 2s. 4d. per im- perial quarter. The average price of different articles of parochial produce re* quired for the purpose of domestic economy. — Oat-meal per im- perial stone, Is. 7£d. ; pot barley, 2d per imperial lb. ; cheese made of milk after the cream is taken from it, 4d. per imperial lb. ; ditto made with the cream in it, 6d. per imperial lb. ; eggs per dozen, 6d. ; hens each Is. 6d. ; chickens, 7d. each ; potatoes, Is. 6d. per bushel. Live^Stock. — Of late years, the farmer's attention has been turn- ed to the rearing and feeding of black-cattle, much more than in former times, when the price of grain was higher. They find that this branch of husbandry makes a better return in money, than the growing of grain at the low prices, during a currency of years past ; while it enriches the land, by increasing the quantity of ma- nure. Accordingly, the growing of turnips and potatoes is now much increased. Every farmer is desirous to have as much land in pas- ture, and green crop, as the nature and extent of his farm will, allow. Till within these last three or four years, little had been done in draining and reclaiming waste land. There is but one farm in the parish, on which either of these improvements has been carried to any considerable extent. On the farm alluded to, much has been done in both. The same improvements are becoming more general in the parish than formerly ; but the progress is slow. The reclaimed lands extend to 40 acres or thereby ; they consist chiefly of eminences formerly covered with furze, on some parts of which the soil was extremely thin. But the nature of the sub- soil renders it comparatively easy to add to its depth. The subsoil consists of what is commonly called rotten rock, which, when turned up by the plough, or any other implement, (though in pieces similar to that of road metal,) is soon reduced by the va- rieties of weather, and converted into fertile soil. Where the - plough may not be convenient and efficient, the pick and spade can be used with complete success ; and the labour, though more expensive, will still be profitable. In this way, the thin soil on the tops of knolls, in which some fields in the parish abound, might be deepened at a cost which the improvement would amply repay. The present manse garden was made of a piece of ground where the average depth of soil did not exceed two inches. It was 256 FIFESHIRE. trenched with the pick and the spade, planted with potatoes the subsequent spring, the crop of which repaid the outlay; and now it is excellent garden ground. On the farm alluded to, draining also has been carried to con- siderable extent, and is still progressing. Surface draining is the kind appropriate to the nature of the soil there, and also to the chief portion of land in the parish, where draining is necessary. On the north side of the parish it consists chiefly of clay or till, — on soine parts, with a thin surface of softer mould. Of course, the efficiency of the drains depends much on their closeness to one another. Till of late, that method of draining seems to have been little understood in the parish, as it has been resorted to only re- cently, and there remains great scope for the extension of that im- provement Leases. — The general duration of leases is nineteen years. In most if not in all cases, it would be advantageous both to proprie- tor and tenant, to have the leases extended a few years longer. It would give greater encouragement to the tenant to lay out capital on permanent improvement, by holding out to his view a more cer- rf tain prospect of remuneration for that outlay. The nature and condition of the farm, the nature and extent of the improvement it needs, and of which it is capable, ought to determine the length of the lease. Farm-Buildinffs and Inclosures. — With the exception of one, every farm in the parish is accommodated with buildings adequate to its value and extent, and in a good state of repair. The same cannot be said of farm inclosures. The parish is almost all inclosed, partly with stone dikes, and partly with thorn hedges. Part of the former is new and substan- tial, the rest is less sufficient As to the hedges, there is not an enclosure sufficiently fenced, where a hedge is the fence. This is owing to the very general inattention to the proper method of plant- ing and training, together with the no less frequent neglect of cleaning. Instead of the plants being assorted, and the weak planted apart from the strong, they are mixed together, and thus the former are hurt and kept down by the more vigorous growth of the latter. In training, too, instead of cutting only the lateral growth till the hedge has advanced to the height at which it is in- tended to remain, the top is cut as often as the sides ; and in this way the hedge is converted into a thicket of small twigs, without stamina sufficient to resist the force of cattle attempting to pene- trate through it Cleaning, too, is seldom sufficiently attended to ; AUCHTERTOOL. 257 and from these causes, together with the various accidents to which hedges are liable, there is not a field in the parish sufficiently in- closed where a hedge is the fence. In all cases, to mend a hedge is difficult ; but throughout this parish the hedges, in many parts, are so far gone, that to reclaim them effectually is impracticable. Quarries* — There are several whinstone quarries opened in the parish, for metal to the turnpike and other roads ; also a free- stone quarry, used sometimes for building village and other cottar houses. The stone is of inferior quality, and is never wrought for sale. There is a limestone quarry on Lord Moray's ground ; also one on Captain Erskine Wemyss's property, which the tenants are permitted to work for farm purposes exclusively; none is wrought for sale. Produce. — The average gross amount of raw produce raised in the parish, as nearly as can be ascertained, is exhibited under the following heads : Produce of grain of all kinds, whether cultivated for food of man, or domes- tic animals, ..... L. 4849 Of potatoes and turnips, * - - 2184 Of hay, both cultivated and meadow, ... I20O Of land in pasture, rating it at L. 2, 6s. for coir or full grown oi, or sheep at 10s. pastured for the year, - - - - 989 Of cottagers and villagers gardens, - - 40 Total yearly value, L. 9262 Manufactures. — The only thing in the parish that may be con- sidered as allied to manufactures, is an extensive brewery in the village of Auchtertool, which has been long in good repute for its ales, porter, and table-beer. It supplies private families, inns, and alehouses in various places, but the greater part of its ales are usually shipped at Kirkaldy for London. V. — Parochial Economy. Market-Totsm. — Kirkaldy is five miles distant from the centre of the parish, where an excellent grain stock-market is held every Saturday ; a cattle-market thrice a-year, and a weekly market for butter and cheese. Villages. — There are two villages in the parish, Auchtertool and Newbigging, the former containing a population of 329, the lat- ter of 75. Means of C irrmunication* — There is no post-office in the pa- rish, nor does any post-office runner pass within five miles of its boundaries, — an inconvenience very much felt However, there are other means of communication which the parish enjoys. 1. The turnpike road between Kirkaldy and Dunfermline runs rather FIFE. R 258 F1FESIIIRE. more than three miles through the parish, and through the most populous part of it — the two villages. About six years ago, a coach commenced running between Kirkaldy and Glasgow on that road, leaving Kirkaldy at half an hour past six o'clock in the morning in summer, at seven in winter, and returning in the afternoon about six o'clock. Ecclesiastical State. — The situation of the church, with reference to the boundaries of the parish, is central, but inconvenient for the greater part of the population. The villages, which contain by far the greater part of it,, are a mile distant from the church. In 1833) it was thoroughly repaired, and much improved. Its in- terior is finished in a plain, but neat style. It affords accommo- dation for 280 sitters, and the sittings are all free. The manse was built in 1812 in the cottage style, and of Gothic architecture. It is substantially built, handsomely finished, and affords sufficient accommodation. The plan was furnished by Mr Gillespie Graham, architect The glebe, including the site of the manse and the garden, con- tains six imperial acres or thereby, of good dry arable land. The money rent, together with the value of services performed by the tenant, is equal to L. 5, 5s. per imperial acre. There is no grass glebe. The stipend is the minimum, the funds are exhausted, and the sum of L. 81, 9s. is paid annually from the Exchequer, to make up the stipend to L. 150. The number of families attending the Established Church, 92 ; number of families attending the chapels of dissenters and seceders 28. The younger branches of two of these families attend the Established Church. Divine service at the Established Church is generally well attended* The average number of communi- cants there is 185. The average amount of church collections yearly for religious and charitable purposes, L. 12, 14s. Education. — There are 3 schools in the parish ; — the parochial school, a private school, and an infant school. The branches of instruction taught in the parochial school are, reading, English, writing, and arithmetic. Greek and Latin are very rarely requir- ed. The branches taught in the private school, are the same as in the parochial school. In the infant school, are taught reading English, writing, arithmetic, needle-work, and knitting. The salary of the parochial schoolmaster is L. 29, 186. lOd. The teacher of the private school receives a gratuity of L. 15 per an- num from Miss Boswell of Balmuto, at whose expense he is fur- AUCHTERTOOL. 259 nished with a school-room also. The infant school is taught by a female, and admits girls only between two and six years old. The teacher receives from Miss Boswell of Balmuto L. 20 per annum, together with a dwelling-house, small garden, and school-room. The parochial schoolmaster has the legal accommodations, dwel- ling house, school-room, and garden. The rates of school fees are, per quarter, reading English, 2s. ; reading English and writing, 2s. 6d. ; arithmetic and writing, 3s. Latin, 5s. The cost of books, stationery, &c. is commonly nearly equal to the fee. There are no young persons in the parish betwixt six and fifteen years of age who cannot read ; and none upwards of fifteen years of age who can neither read nor write. The people in general duly appreciate the benefits of education, and parents in particular feel deep interest in the education of their children. This appears in the average amount of children attending the three schools in the parish, 150. Literature*— There is a parish library in the village of Auch- tertool, established in March 1824. It was established and books purchased, with contributions from the families of Donibristle and Balmuto, and from the minister of the parish. The library, and all its concerns, are under the direction of such of these original contributors as choose to attend to it, whether one or more. The library is now furnished with 215 volumes, consisting of history, travels, voyages, and books on moral and religious subjects. Savings-Bank. — A savings-bank was established in the year 1827. The following is a tabular view of the sums invested yearly, com- pared with the sums annually withdrawn, the last seven years. Years* Deposited. WWidrawn. 1880, L.37 13 6 L. 78 8 9 1831, 56 8 10 39 13 6 183-2, 77 16 10 15 9 9 183.% 35 8 7 106 3 10 1884, 82 5 10 72 7 5 1835, 99 18 3 44 13 11 1886, 148 3 9b 10 7 Balance remaining in the bank at this time, L. 267, 17s. 7 • • • 15 8$ L.12 14 5( Government Bounty, . • • - 82 19 4 Total money, L. 45 13 9 J There was no communion element money in my predecessor's time. The want of this was considered, and allowed for in my Govern- 350 FIFRSH1RE. ment Bounty. The glebe now exceeds the measurement given by my predecessor, 1 acre. 3 roods, and 29 falls. This is owing to an excambion, in which the minister got quantity for quality. The glebe is now much more convenient for the minister than former- ly. He draws a rent for the grass in the church-yard. To return to the church itself, after this view of the temporali- ties of the benefice, it is said, I believe on good traditional autho- rity, to have been built about the fortieth year of David IL's reign. (1369.) His father Robert L had died 1329. Tradition says, that David and his Queen, narrowly escaping shipwreck on the " stormy frith," had found a landing on the shore, hard by St Monan's, and that, as an expression of gratitude for their delive- rance, they had caused to be erected a chapel to St Monan, the tute- lary saint of the place. By David's charter, dated Edinburgh, he grants to this chapel the lands of Easter Birney in Fife, and some lands in the sheriffdom of Edinburgh. James IIL gave it to the Black-friars. It had afterwards a convent at Cupar annexed to it, and both it and the convent were annexed by James V. to a con- vent at St Andrews. The condition which this well known fabric exhibited ten years ago had been its condition for ages. Situated at the west end of St Monan's, and separated from it by a small brook, and within fifty yards of what is shown as St Monan's Cell, it exhibited a beautiful specimen of Gothic archi- tecture, in the form of a cross, with a steeple of hewn stone in the centre, square so far, and terminating in aspire of eight sides. There remained no vestige of building from the steeple westward ; but to the north and the south of it, were to be seen the unroofed remains of a transept, or wings, at right angles to the body of the fabric The main part of the building, extending eastward from the spire, with vaulted roof, as well described by my predecessor, and in Sibbald, was used, as above-mentioned, as the parish church. How- ever interesting to the antiquarian, it was most uncomfortable as a place of worship ; damp, cold, its walls covered with green mould, and presenting altogether an aspect of chilling desolation. In 1772, the late incumbent, in respect of its uncomfortable and ruinous condition, raised a process for repairs before the Presby- tery, and obtained a decreet against the heritors for repairs, ex- tensive and substantial The heritors conceived that this was not an expense with which they otight to be burdened, forasmuch as the feuars of St Mo- 4 ABERCROMBIE. 351 nan's, by their charter as above quoted, were bound to uphold the fabric. The heritors accordingly had recourse upon the feuars — the latter resisted, and the matter came before the Court of Session. The feuars were found liable to uphold the building in terms of their charter. They did therefore apply a repair, but very partial, and by no means amounting to what had been decerned by the Presbytery, " and nothing more," says my predecessor in 1790, " has yet been done/' Down to 1825, it continued the uncomfortable decaying fabric above described. But a great deal has now been done. Early in February 1826, the present incumbent brought the state of the church before the Presbytery. A visitation in the usual form took place, the heri- tors being competently represented, and tradesmen attending, ac- cording to citation. Upon thorough inspection, the tradesmen for- mally condemned the church. The heritors* representatives crav- ing delay, the Presbytery did not immediately decern. Another meeting was appointed, against which the heritors engaged to have the opinion of Mr Burn, architect This gentleman being applied to, visited the church, and with strong professional enthusiasm, de- precated the idea of its being abandoned to ruin, and gave his de- cided opinion as to its capability of being repaired into a beautiful specimen of ecclesiastical architecture, and a place of worship sin- gularly well adapted for seeing and hearing. This report coinciding with the previous views of the heritors, and approved by the Pres- bytery, was immediately acted upon ; and after all the tedious forms connected with so great a work, we were, in June 1828, put into occupation of one of the most beautiful places of worship of which the country can boast There was a lofty communication opened under a splendid arch betwixt the main building and the area of the steeple. The side-wings to the north and south, forming the transept, were raised to the height of the principal building, and finished in the same style with the original roof. The pulpit was removed to the west end, immediately in front of a magnificent Go- thic window. There were opened four similar windows in the south wall, and two in the north, and we were provided with a commodi- ous vestry behind the church. The heritors abandoned the claim they had upon the feuars for upholding the fabric; but thought it reasonable that, as an in- demnification for the great sum laid out by them, (not less than L. 1780,) they should receive a moderate seat rent from the feuars. This arrangement (consented to by the feuars) still subsists, one 352 PIFESHIRE. of the most reasonable instances that can be conceived of seat rents drawn by heritors. It appears the more reasonable in the following views ; that the rents have been twice reduced ; that they are now only Is* a sitting; and that, besides the original sum of L. 1730, the heritors, upon two different occasions, 1829-1836, have come forward, and at an expense, 1st, of L. 40, and 2d, of L. 17, have ordered a strengthening of the roof by additional couples, for the removal of apprehensions, in regard to the safety of the building. This unfortunate state of matters, in regard to the church, makes it somewhat difficult to say, who are or are not members of the Established Church. We are in a transition state. Respect- able parishioners are still absenting themselves. But we are not aware of many having joined Dissenting congregations. There is no Seceding or Dissenting place of worship in the parish ; nor are there now, we should think, above twenty-five grown up per- sons in the bounds who acknowledge any dissenting minister as their adopted pastor. The church is seated for 528; deduct free sittings for the poor 36 ; preserved for heritors, their families, and their servants, farmers, their children and servants, the elders and minister's, and schoolmaster's seats, 200 ; there remain for letting, 292 ; an ample supply for the parishioners, and considerably ex- ceeding the number of applicants. The number of persons of all ages attending the Established Church, we cannot, in present circumstances, state with accuracy. But, without reference to our late alarms, we might say, towards 300. There should be many more, and we lament that there are not. Clerical means are used to augment the attendance, but we are apt to have offered as excuses, the difficulty of hearing, the want of decent clothing, the coldness of the church, especially in winter, — artificial heat, by means of stoves or otherwise, never having been introduced. The average number of communicants may be given at 210. It is low compared with the population. Many are absent at sea, when the sacrament is dispensed in summer, and when we have it in February, when the men are at home, it fells in with the throng of the winter herring-fishing. There is in the parish an Abercrombie and St Monan's Bible and Missionary Society of some years standing. But, from want of unanimity among the members as to the disposal of the funds, ABERCROMBIE. 353 it has greatly declined from its original efficiency, and seems verg- ing to total extinction. Education. — We have one parochial school. The average num- ber attending was given in at last examination at 51 boys and 35 girls = 86. The schoolmaster has the legal accommodations, and the maximum salary. His fees are, reading per quarter, 2s. ; writing 2s. 6d. arithmetic, 3s. ; Latin, 5s. ; no additional charge has hither- to been made for English grammar or geography. The fees may amount to L. 25, or L. 30 a year. The parochial schoolmaster, altogether proprio motu 9 carries on efficiently and acceptably a Sabbath evening schooL There is another school in St Monan's upon the teacher's own adventure. I do not understand his fees or the branches taught to be different from those of the parochial school. He is of the Established Church, his num- bers 67. There has been recently established in the parish by Lady Anstruther of Balcaskie, an infant school, which is also supported by her ladyship, and promises to be of great benefit to the place. None of the children at other schools in the pa- rish, cost less than 2s per quarter, none more than 5s. There is no quarter of the parish so distant from school, as to be a bar to attendance.- There are no additional schools required. But a sewing school might possibly be of advantage. From the irregular attendance of children at school the people here might be thought less alive to the benefits of. education than they really are. But they are so dependent upon the services of the children in some of the fishing departments, that they are constrained to keep them from school when they would be glad that they could attend it. Many parents, however, are culpably remiss in enforcing atten- dance. Friendly Societies. — Of friendly societies we have the following: The Sea-box Society, supposed to have been instituted about the time of the union of the Crowns. Its articles are fair and judicious, but too numerous and complicated for insertion, and it were diffi- cult to make a selection. There is one important improvement which the society have recently sanctioned. While they pronounce it necessary, that sea-faring people shall always constitute a clear majority of the members of the society; and while they find coun- tenance in this from the practice of the generality of friendly so- cieties, they resolve, "that, with the preference specified, persons, of whatever occupation, shall be alike eligible as to admission, and equally so, with regard to the benefits, as well as the offices and fife, z 354 FIFESHIRE. honours of the Sea- Box Society, conforming to their regulations/' &c. The society's funds are represented as in a flourishing state, and answering the end of the institution. There is also distinct from this, the Brotherly Society, insti- tuted July 1821. Savings Bank. — There are two sayings banks, one of a good many years standing; the other instituted December 1835. With regard to it, I have been informed that its deposits (in the National Bank, Anstruther,) amount to about L. 2 per week. There is also a female savings bank, reported to be doing well. The invest- ments in these banks are by the fishing and labouring classes. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The heritors and session have a re- gular meeting every half year about the middle of June and the middle of December, when they audit the treasurer's accounts, ad- just the poor's roll for the ensuing half year, and come to a deci- sion upon matters of parochial business. Our average, taken half yearly, from 1st January 1335, to 31st December 1836, gives us of pensioners 19, at 3s. 2d. nearly per month. . The session's yearly income from all sources, from 1st October 1835, to 30th September 1836, amounts to L. 39, Is. 9£d. ; * ses- sion's expenditure for the said year L. 9.1, 5s., leaving a deficit, supplied by the heritors in voluntary assessment, L. 52, 3s. 2£d. Prisons. — There are two prisons in St Monan's, under one roof, one on the upper floor of the town-house, the other on the ground floor. They are equally well secured ; the lower, by much the more dismal of the two. Prisoners are committed to the one or the other according to their pre-eminence in delinquency. The ma- gistrates imprison as sudden emergency calls for it ; but they do not impose fines, except with the formalities of a regularly con* stituted court So far as I have occasion to hear, imprisonment is a rare occurrence. Inns, Sfc. — As this place is no thoroughfare, there can hardly be • Sessional means of meeting expenditure. Collections at church door, exclusive of those at the sacrament, L. 8 18 U£ Rent for land belonging to the session, . . . 21 Rent for a house, . . . . . . 2 12 Interest of money, . . . . . 2 16 Collections at the sacrament twice in the year, including all the preach- ing days, . . . . . 2 17 6 L.38 4 5^ Add to the collections -Id. each Sabbath to beadle, . 17 4 L.39 1 94 ABERCROMBIE. 355 said to be in it one traveller's inn, where there is regular stabling or posting. But there are too many ale-houses, and their effect upon the morals of the people is highly unfavourable. . • Fuel. — Fuel is an expensive article here. Coal, exclusive of toll, may be stated at Is. 3d. the load of 22 stone ; Is. 4d. if toll be in- cluded ; a cart load of 4£ stone laid down at Abercrombie, with hire and toll included, would stand 8s. 5£d. It is a coal at four miles distance that is referred to, — Earlsferry. Sir Ralph An- struther has lately opened a coal in the neighbourhood at Is. a load of 22 stone. Miscellaneous Observations. There is one variation of rather an unpleasant kind betwixt the present state of the parish and people, and that which subsisted at the time of the last Statistical Account They are certainly less shy than formerly in applying for and receiving parochial aid. My predecessor says, " There are now upon the poor's list three persons and two orphans." At present there are nineteen. There are no indications of such an increase of poverty as can account for this difference. The truth is, that the spirit of independence, which shrunk from being troublesome in coming upon the fund, is now greatly broken down. It is natural to think that the fine edge of delicacy will be blunted as the number of receivers increase, to keep one another in countenance. Whatsoever is given, how- ever, is received thankfully, and it is so far consoling that pauperism has not been upon the increase these some years. It is, at the same time, a compensating fact, that our collections, though still extremely moderate, are very far beyond what they were forty years ago. Within these last twenty years, there has been a marked improve- ment in the style of the farm-houses and farm offices in the parish. It seems to be no unwarranted assertion, that the people are im- proving in general intelligence, and in their acquaintance with the truths of religion.* January 1837. * In stating the amount of stipend, the author has omitted the stipend from Bal- caskie. The following is the actual grain stipend : Qr. B. P. L. Qr. B. P. Abercrombie, . Barley, 32 3 1 1 Oats, 4 5 \\ Balcaskie, 28 7 3 28 7 3 PARISH OF DUNINO. PRESBYTERY OF ST ANDREWS AND SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. JAMES ROGER, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name and Etymology. — The parish of Dunino, pronounced by the inhabitants Dununie, is of more consideration for its antiquity, neighbourhood, and recent rapidity of improvement, than for its ex- tent, or value as a section of its county. The reporter to Sir John Sin- clair on this parish 6rst assumes that its name is Den-ino, which it is not ; and then proceeds to account for its derivation from words signifying " a village on a large and deep den." But there has not been, time out of mind, any thing which can be called a village in the parish : and the " den, so deep and large," is no- thing more than the beds which have been formed by two little streams, which after their union are able to turn a saw-mill. For fifty-four years after the commencement of the parochial register in 1643, the name of the parish is uniformly spelt Duynyno, Du- nynow, or Dunnonow, the first syllable always being Dun, till 1697, when it was first corrupted into " Dennino." The highest eminence in the parish is 1J furlong north of the church, scarcely 300 feet above the level of the sea, and on which tradition relates there was a nunnery ; and the foundation stones of it were removed, twenty-two years ago, during the present minister's incumbency. There is as much evidence that the parish received its name from the nunnery, as can generally be obtained in cases of this kind. The register of the priory of St Andrews, append- ed to the second volume of Mr Pinkerton's History, and drawn up about the year 1250, shows that the ancient names of places in this parish and neighbourhood are Gaelic. Martine of Clermont, Secretary to Archbishop Sharpe, in his " Remains of St Andrews,'* written in 1685, calls the parish of Dunino, " the Rectory of Dunnenaucht," or the hill of young women, evidently referring to the nunnery. The same author gives a copy of a charter granted by the Archbishop of St Andrews, so far back as October 4, 1479, DUNINO. 357 in which Dunino is called " Dynnenoch," precisely of the same import Situation and Extent — This parish, including Kingsmuir, ap- proaches to a square form, about 3 miles long, and as many broad. The church is 4 miles south-east of St Andrews, which town is si- tuated North Lat 56°. liK. 33"., and West Long. 2°. 50'. from the Observatory at Greenwich. Dunino parish is bounded by St An- drews and Cameron parishes on the north and west; by those of St Leonards and Kingsbarns, on the north-east and east ; by Crail parish, on the east and south ; and by Carnbee, on the south. It lies 13 miles east of Cupar, the county town ; the same distance south-east from Dundee ; and 37 miles north of Edinburgh. The highway from St Andrews to Anstruther, an extent of nine miles, bisects the parish, and forms the eastern angle of the peninsula, or provincially, the East Nook of Fife. Climate. — The effect of the proximity of Dunino to the sea- coast, added to the recent drainage of the ground, the application of calcareous and putrescent manures, the inclosing by stone fences in every part but Kingsmuir, the partial shading by plantation, — and the wind blowing two-thirds of the year from the south-west, and only one-third from the cold north-east, — has been of much advantage not onlv to the soil, but to the inhabitants. The writer of the for- mer Account mentions that, from thirty to forty years before his time, " scorbutic disorders" prevailed in the parish. These were obviously caused by want of sufficient lodging, clothes, and food* The writer of the former Account, adds, that, in his time, " rheu- matism and hysteric complaints were the chief disorders." An in- stance of rheumatism may no doubt here still occur as in other places ; but certainly the complaint is not general. Hysterical af- fections are here unknown : and intermittent fevers have vanished. Though the chalybeate fountains, eulogized in the former Account, and of which no trace remains, were still available, they would be held useless, from the general health of the present inhabitants. Geology, Mineralogy, and Hydrography. — The parish of Du- nino is situated on the north-east part of the great coal basin of Scotland, supposed to be 90 miles long, and 33 miles broad. It is. believed that a square mile of this space will answer the demand yearly. Coal began first to be used in Scotland, near Dunferm- line, in Fifeshire, about 1215. On every estate in the parish, are vestiges of coal- working at some former period ; and very frequent- ly at the surface, appears bituminous schistus or blaes, denoting 358 FIFESHIRE. the presence of this mineral. No coal is at present wrought in the parish, from a belief it would not pay the expense ; and no- thing is more difficult to calculate than the profits of coal-working. The strata unexpectedly may be disturbed by mounds of stone, or may wholly break off or dip beyond reach. Beside the upland path to the church from Bridge -end, there is a projection of disintegrated trap, provincially ratchel or rotten-stone ; across which, are some narrow vertical veins of felspar. Proceeding up Dunino burn- side southward, a few projections of red sandstone, in regular strata, appear. Farther upward, the bed of the burn becomes limestone, and in that proximity the coping of the ministers' out- field glebe under the surface is also limestone. Here also, a stra- tum of coal, 3 feet thick, has been discovered 32 feet under the surface, dipping considerably towards the north. The regulation as to finding coal in glebes gives little encouragement to the incum- bent. His operations may be suspended by the presbytery or any heritor, till, after paying expenses, he deposit his profits in some bank or other sure place, and have only the interest of his deposit for his pains. Some mineralogists assert that coal under limestone is not good, but under sandstone excellent. Now two-thirds of the rocks in this parish are sandstone, not of a large grit called con- glomerate, but small, and often very white, without tinge of ferru- ginous mixture. The exports from the sandstone quarries of Mylnefield, four miles west of Dundee, have brought to the pro- prietor large sums of money. The sandstone quarries of Dunino are as durable in the material, finer in the texture, and better coloured than, those of Mylnefield. Were these Dunino quarries placed within the county of Middlesex, near the great southern metropolis, their value would be incalculable. Some years ago, on the farm of Tosh, in this parish, on a search for marl, there was discovered a considerable quantity of steatites or soap-rock. Had this mass of steatites been preserved, it would have contributed to form a manufactory of porcelain. A mile east from the junction of the three rivulets alluded to above, as passing through the parish, and on the south bank of their united stream called the Kenly Burn, is a cavity containing excellent specimens of stalactites, or dropstone. Along the shore of the German Ocean, to which the Kenly surrenders its waters, is a mass of marble rock, that would suffice to build three of the largest cities in the empire. There may be seen " cochlea marina" and other shells imbedded in thp limestone rock. A small part of those marble rocks have been DUNINO. 359 burned into lime, to manure the adjacent fields. When the mar- ble 19 polished, it presents a beautifully striated appearance of yel- low and white, and might be made a lucrative article of com- merce. Except on the clay soils of Stravithy Mains and Kings- muir, where an ochreous mixture is sometimes found, the water in the rest of the parish passing through a sandy soil is excellent Our fountains in summer are not only cool, but, in their ordinary state, may be compared with those of the most celebrated purity -^-containing not more than three parts in a thousand of saline particles and vegetable matter. Over the fields of Dunino parish, may sometimes be found agates and chalcedonies, and fragments of light blue whinstone or trap, or of black whinstone or basalt ; but there is nothing to throw light on any of the two fashionable theories of geology. Ironstone or haematites is not uncommon in the parish. Recently, a person collected forty tons of that mine- ral from the side of the rivulet which turns Stravithy- mill, and .sent it cost free to Newcastle as ballast. Zoology. — We have all the usual domestic fowls and ordinary birds. Of the two species of Scottish deer, the stag and the roe, only a few of the last mentioned peaceful and timid kind occa- sionally visit .the parish ; and so do a few pheasants and foxes. The vast colonies of rabbits described in the former Statistical Ac- count are now nearly extirpated. It appears from an old charter, that, one hundred and fifty years ago, moorfowl abounded in Kingsmuir, but they have been expelled by the progress of agri- cultural improvement. An attempt was made, a few years ago, to rear a stock of goats of the Angora kind in this parish. They were fed with clover in summer, and with hay and tur- nips in winter, and were very prolific, the female generally having three kids at a birth. But they were so mischievous in their habits, and their milk in so little request in a healthy district like Dunino, and at a distance from a great town, that in five years they were disposed of as unprofitable. There is abundance of pigeons in the parish, of which the minister has annexed to his benefice the principal dovecot. Before 1617, any person at pleasure might erect a pigeon-house, and probably the minister's dovecot was constructed prior to that period. Af- terwards, by law, it was incompetent to build a pigeon-house, unless there was a qualification in the builder, of ten chalders of grain in heritage within two miles of the dovecot, or unless it was purchas- ed from a licensed proprietor. Had it not been for the penalty 3C0 FIFE9HIRE. of L. 1 1 Scotch, or 18s. 4d. Sterling, for the first offence of break- ing into a dovecot or shooting a pigeon, and double that sum for every subsequent offence, the race had been extinct Complaints have been made against the acts of Parliament supporting dove- cots; but it is with the complaints against pigeons as against crows, people think of the grain devoured, without reckoning on the benefit received. Pigeons pick up much grain that would be lost, may- destroy insects in the soil, and certainly feed on wild mustard seed that deteriorates the crop. Sixty-eight pairs, besides keeping up the stock, may furnish yearly an hundred pairs of young to be disposed of at 5d. or 6d. a pair ; and pigeon dung is a most valuable manure. It is sown in Persia with the hand over the corn-fields, to great advantage. For the last seven years, the minister of the parish has manured his garden with it not sparingly, but as co- piously as with the usual animal or vegetable dung; and not only what, is sown or planted prospers generally, but during that space, no instance has occurred of ihe insect touching the gooseberries. Amidst the modern improvements of conveying speedy intelligence by telegraph, by steam navigation and railroads, it is singular that the plan of letter- carrying by pigeons has not been attempted in Britain, so common at the present day in oriental countries. It is well known that a pigeon when young can easily be domesticated. Tne Turks of Aleppo, in Syria, carry on a correspondence with the city of Alexandria in Egypt, with our common domestic pigeons of bluish plumage. They are conveyed in cages to show them the route ; the letter is rolled up under their wing, and in an hour, barring accidents, the pigeon courier arrives at his home destina- tion, over a space which would require four days travel to a human express. From experiments made by the writer of these pages, he has reason to believe, that hares never go far from their native spot. The same observation applies to blackbirds, and perhaps to game of every kind. The redbreast, supposed by some to migrate dur- ing the warm months, lives in the minister's garden all the sum- mer over. II. — Civil History. All the Scottish historians assert, that, on the land-side of St Andrews, was a large district, Called " Cursus Apri," or the Boar's chace, and there is a considerable village, three miles east of that town, still called Boarhills. One of the old names of St Andrews, too, was Mucross, the promontory of the Boars. John Major re- 3 DUNINO. 361 lates, that the boar's chace was conferred by Alexander the Brave, about the year 1107, on some religious establishment in St An- drews; and Marline of Clermont describes this space as What would now amount to from eight to nine English miles long, and from six to seven miles broad. It may appear strange that this forest was permitted so near the gates of a city, the primacy of the kingdom. Dr Southey, in his Travels through Spain, men- tions a " Sierra de Busaco," a desert about Busaco, of four miles circuit, to preserve the solemnity of the enclosed religious esta- blishment; and Caesar, in his sixth book of the wars of Gaul, states, that, in Germany, it was usual to have a wilderness round every city, to avoid a sudden incursion of the enemy. Perhaps reasons more probable than either of the above might be assigned why this waste was allowed to remain so near St Andrews. The bishop of that diocese could cultivate no part of this ** Cursus Apri" before he had a grant of it from King Alexander, as, prior to this, it might be royal hunting ground ; and part of it that was cultivated, unde- niably, as appears from the chartulary of Aberbrothock, paid sti- . pend to the Culdees of Iona. Beside this, at the time of the grant, the diocese of St Andrews not only included many of the most fertile parts of Fife, Angus, and Mearns, East and West Lothian, and the Carse of Gowrie, but twenty-seven Scottish nobles held their lands as its vassals. The Bishop of St Andrews, who was but a Hferenter, might consider the agricultural improve- ment of the " Cursus Apri" as a matter of very inferior conse- quence. In 1244, OLe hundred and thirty-seven years after the royal grant, some agricultural stir had arisen in the " Cursus Apri," then held by the Archdeacon of St Andrews of his superior, the Bishop. This waste extended farther south than the parish of Dunino, and included it ; and the register of the priory of St An- drews, among other places in this vicinity within the " Boar's chace," mentions the following now belonging to this parish, namely, " In- dunnenochen," certainly Dunynach or Dunino. — " Balecately," now Balcaithly ; " Bale," now Bely ; " Pittendruch and Strath- fatha," now Pittendruch and Stravithy ; " Kinaldin," now Kinal- dy. Pittairthy, Kingsmuir, and Primrose, are of far later origin. Dunino had become a parish in 1458, according to Maitland's History, " when it was annexed by Bishop Kennedy to support a collegiate church in St Andrews." It must have, however, been afterwards disjoined from the college church, now called St Leo- nards ; yet there are still two farms belonging to that parish, and 362 FIFESHIUE. unconnected with any other part of it, on the north-east border of Dunino. The parish of Dunino was once much more extensive than at present. It contained the estate of Bonnyton adjoining on the north, and which lately rented at L. 530 a-year ; and it contained on the west* the farm of Brigton, containing 222 acres imperial, and worth now L. 300 annually. Of late years, it has been con- tended by Mr Hannah, proprietor of Kingsmuir, that his proper- ty, consisting of 844 acres Scotch, does not lie in Dunino parish, but in that of Crail. This theory has not the slightest founda- tion. Kingsmuir had originally belonged to the Earl of Fife, but was forfeited to the Crown. It was bestowed by James V. on a gentleman, for assisting to carry military stores to France, about the year 1540; and in 1600, there is an infeftment in favour of the same gentleman's family. Latterly, Kingsmuir became part of the town's revenue of Crail, and afterwards was purchased by the town's revenue of Leith. It became again the property of the Crown, and, posterior to the Restoration, was gifted by Charles II. to a follower of his fortunes, Colonel Borthwick, and who, in 1683, is stated, by the kirk-session register, as also proprietor of the estate of Dunino. In 1710, according to Sir Robert Sibbald, it was wholly waste. In 1727, according to the presbytery record, it contained but four families, the pastoral care of which people was then annexed by the presbytery to the parish of Dunino. This pastoral charge has since been twice repeated by the presbytery, the last time so recently as the year 1829. The poor in 'Kings* muir have been regularly supported by the parish of Dunino. The father and uncle of the present proprietor of Kingsmuir, in eleven of their leases, assert that Kingsmuir lies in Dunino parish ; and in a part of Kingsmuir sold by them to the then proprietor of Bal- caithly, it is declared thrice in the charter of conveyance, that Kingsmuir is situated in Dunino parish, and there is no opposite evidence whatever. The present proprietor of Kingsmuir's name is inserted in the baptismal register of Dunino. A few years ago, the heritors of Dunino raised an action before the Court of Ses- sion against the proprietor of Kingsmuir, to find the property, quoad temporalia 9 in the parish of Dunino, and both the Outer and Inner House decerned in favour of the heritors. At last, weary of the contest, both parties withdrew, each paying his own ex- penses. But neither the United College of St Andrews, who are patrons of Dunino parish, nor the minister of Dunino, had any DUN I NO. 363 hand in the withdrawal ; and they are determined to retain Kingsmuir as part of Dunino parish, which, in case of a new aug- mentation, has funds to benefit the church living, at least L. 60 a-year. Parochial Registers. — When the restoration of Presbyterian go- vernment was ratified by Parliament in 1641, parochial registers were recommended to be kept From April 30, 1643, in a re- gular series to the present period, there are eight volumes of pa- rochial records in tolerable preservation. There is a regist-er of deaths since the year 1752. For many years after 1643, near- ly the whole heritors and principal tacksmen were elders, — an ex- ample worthy of imitation at the present day. The office of the elders was no sinecure, nor were they shy of using their authority. It appears that they were not only the protectors of good morals, but assumed a civil and criminal jurisdiction. In 1660, two men and four women were convicted on their own confession, of " promiscuous dancing," that is, of dancing together at a mar- riage. They escaped with being " sharplie rebuked ;" but the poor piper John Moore, from the next parish of " Carnbie," who acted as minstrel on that occasion, was obliged " to put his hand to the pen," not to repeat the offence, " under a penalty toties quo- ties," which would now be equivalent to a couple of pounds Sterling. Moreover, on the following Sunday, "he was humbled on his knees before the pulpit in face of the congregation," in public penance for his conduct. In 1649, " Alexander Brune was put into the joggs from the second bell to the last bell before sermon on forenoone, and afterwards entered on the place of repentance for the sin of un- cleanness with Elpeth Berown." Though it be stated in the re- cord, that during the above period, the Presbytery on several oc- casions issued their pastoral admonitions against prevailing vices, yet delinquencies were frequently brought before the kirk-session, which would be deprecated in these latter and less zealous days. Weavers are sometimes cited for carrying home their webs to their customers on Sundays, and millers are cited for grinding corn, and reapers for cutting down corn on that holy day. In 1652, the kirk-session of Dunino not only acted as civil and criminal judges, but were patrons of the parish, and settled the minister. Thus, May 30th of that year, it is stated in the record, " that after the afternoon's exercise, the minister intimated out of the pulpit to the people, that the elders had nominate and chosen unanimously, Mr Alexander Edward, Regent in the Old Colledge, to be minister of 364 FIPESHIRE. their said parish ;" and, accordingly, on Wednesday, 18th October following, the presbytery did meet at the church, " for admission of Mr Alexander Edward to the function of the ministrie, and they did admit hira." Notwithstanding the active oppression of Arch- bishop Sharpe in Fifeshire for eighteen years, no county in Scot- land was more zealous for Presbyterianism against Episcopacy ; and during that period, according to Wodrow's history, the inhabitants of " Dunyno," for their opposition, were fined in a sum that would now be equal to L. 1200 Sterling. Eminent Men. — John of Fordun, author of the Scotichronicon, the oldest Scottish historian, is said to have resided for a consider- able time in this parish, — which is the more probable, that he was a native of St Andrew's diocese, of which Dunino formed a part. He spent much of his time in journeying. He travelled over the three kingdoms, in quest of information ; and his history may be called that of the world, as well as of Scotland. * John Winram, Subprior of St Andrews under the excellent and comely Lord James Stuart, eldest of the three illegitimate brothers of Mary Queen of Scots, — after the celibacy of the clergy had been done away by the establishment of the reformed faith — was married to the widow of the proprietor of Kinaldy, in this parish. Both Knox and Buchanan assert, that Mr Winram was appointed by Cardinal Beaton to preach a sermon in the church of St An- drews, on occasion of condemning to death the pious Mr Wishart. Knox gives notes of the sermon, and Beaton was offended at Winram treating a heretic more mildly than he thought a heretic deserved. Buchanan in his history, gives Winram an appropriate text, which he must have had from report, as it is not to be found in Scripture. Mr James Wood, who, according to the parish record, " as mi- nister of Dunonow, preached his valedictorie sermon, May 10, 1646," previous to his becoming minister of St Andrews, was one of the Commissioners who brought over from the continent, King Charles IL, at the era of the Restoration. Mr Wood is said to have been the brother of the proprietor of Stravithy. Lnnd-owners. — The heritors of the parish are as follows, in the orders of their valued rents : Mr Douglas of Dunino and Balcaithly; His reflections on the fair part of the creation, arising from the marriage of King David II. with Miss Logie, whose dispositions were the counterpart of ber beautiful face, and handsome person, are very unchivalrous, " feraina fax Satana, rosa fetens, dulce yenenum." DUNINO. 365 Mr Cleghom of Stravithy ; Mrs Mouat of Pittairthy ; Mr Purves of Kinaldy; Mr Hannah of Kingsmuir, and the Kirk-session of El ie on the south coast All those properties have come into the possession of the families of the present land-owners, within the last thirty-two years, save Pittairthy, Kingsmuir, and Primrose. It is said that Pittairthy, forfeited to the Crown, was sold by Royalty to the Earl of Glencairn, and has continued in a younger branch of that illustrious family till the present day. Kingsmuir has been at least eighty- one years in the family of Mr Hannah. Primrose was a section sold from Balcaithly, within the last forty-six years. Antiquities* — Until within the last few years, there were three war castles or fortalices in the parish. One was on the east of it, over- hanging the south bank of the Kertly, called the Castle of Draffan, supposed to have been built by the Danes, who often invaded the east coast of Fife, and slew one of the Scottish kings at Crail. The second was the Castle of Stravithy, a little west from the centre of the parish. It is described by Sir Robert Sibbald as entire, about a hundred and twenty-seven years ago ; it was a regu- lar fortalice, situated in a bog with ditch and drawbridge — and, accordiug to the son of a feuar who lived hard by, was surround- ed with ornamental walks and lofty trees, some of which trees at present remain. The bog has been drained, and the site of the castle been converted into corn-land. The third is the Castle of Pittairthy, built on a declivity towards the south part of the parish, and commanding a wide prospect of the German sea. Though it has long been unroofed and unrepaired, it may defy the assault of the elements for centuries to come. This structure appears to have been erected at two separate periods. The west or first built is a large square tower, the date of erection uncertain. Near the west top, was a keep or donjon, very common in those military abodes, with a strong iron grating across an opening in the wall, to serve for a window. The whole under part is vaulted, which probably served for cellars, kitchen, and bed-rooms. The upper part of the castle is perforated with holes, by which to an- noy the besiegers. The east or modern part, according to the inscription on it, was built in 1653, by Sir William Bruce of Kin- ross. It contained only a baronial hall, and two sleeping apart- ments, stone-paved. About one furlong and a third north of the church, on Dunino Law, from which it has been shown the parish probably derives its name, the ruins of a nunnery were dug up and removed in .the 366 FIFESHIRE. year 1815. The height of the walls is unknown, but the struc- ture consisted of unhewn stones, cemented with mortar, instead of lime. The internal space was formed into two divisions, and the door fronted the east. There are three stones nearly close to the west wall of the mi- nister's garden, which seem to have been part of a Druidical circle. This is rendered probable by several circumstances. There, the ris- ing sun may be seen ; and a few yards westward, is part of a sand* stone rock artificially tubulated, in which, tradition relates that the priests of the Druid faith collected dew on the first day of May or Bel-tien^ and sprinkling the people, pronounced a blessing on them from the God of Fire, that is the sun in the firmament, which they ignorantly worshipped. A short mile westward is a farm mention- ed in the register of the priory of St Andrews in the thirteenth cen- tury, still caMe&Pittan-druidhy the grave of the Druids, vulgarly Pittendrieeh. From the chartulary of Aberbrothock, it appears that, in 1242, Stravithy estate, in this parish, paid stipend to the Culdees at Iona, and afterwards to some disciples of the Romish faith, which appears to have continued at Dunino, notwithstanding the zeal of presbyteries, till near the Union. For within the last ten years, some copper coins of Charles I. and II., and William and Mary, were found in a grave in the churchyard, which money, it is sup- posed, bad been destined to pay the passage of the party interred, out of purgatory. Twenty years ago, two coins, one gold, and the other silver, struck in the reign of Philip IL of Spain, were dug up, the one in the parish, the other in the neighbourhood. Both of these coins had probably been brought by the vessels of the Armada that were stranded on the coast of Fife. They were sent to an eminent an- tiquary in Dundee; In spring 1836, in afield belonging to Balcaithly, in this parish, there was torn up by the plough an urn containing probably the reliques of some Roman chief. III. — Population. In 1793, the population, judging from the records of baptisms, was 383, same as in 1831. 1800, - - m .826 1805, .--. 320 1811, 140 males and 167 females, - - total, 307 1821, 151 do. 192 do. - - 342 1831, 183 do. 200 do. - - - 383 DUNINO. 367 The annual average of births, &a for 1834 and six years pre- ceding, was as follows :— Births, n» Marriages, 8f Deaths, - 3» There are 71 persons occupied in agriculture, and but 15 in retail trade and handicraft. There are 99 males above twenty ; 12 beyond seventy; and 1 nearly ninety. Within the last twenty years, 2 died above ninety. There are 78 families living in 74 houses, at very nearly 5 in a family. Two new houses are in the progress of building, and there is no uninhabited house. There are no blind or deaf in the parish ; and three, a man, woman, and child, in separate families, are insane. IV. — Industry. The parish of Dunino may be described as wholly agricultural. A corn-mill stands on the estate of Stravithy ; and it may be noti- ced, that the roof of the mill is supported by oak rafters that once covered Cardinal Beaton's proud castle at St Andrews. This corn-mill is of powerful operation, and skilfully manufactures into meal, at lOd. Sterling, a boll of oats of the old Scottish measure. Within seventy years, there were five corn-milk in the parish, one on every estate save Kingsmuir, to which all the farmers were bound for multure. These astrictions are now unknown. The extent of the different properties in the parish in Scotch acres, and the rent in the year 1836, may be found in the follow- ing tables : Acre*. • Plantations. Dunino and Balcaithly, - 1310 130 StraWthy, . - 700 130 Pittairthy, - 187 * None South Kinaldy, - - 175 10 Kingsmuir, ... 844 None Primrose, - - 36 Do. Glebe, - - - 23 Do. Total acres, 3275 270 Rent of the parish in 1836, in Sterling money : Dunino and Balcaithly - - - L. 1368 Stravithy, - - - - - 927 Pittairthy, 250 South Kinaldy, - - -•- -23700 Kingsmuir, - - - - - 300 Primrose, - - - - 17 Glebe, - - - - - - 28 L.3122 Real rent in 1793, according to Sir J. Sinclair's statistics, 1157 Increase in forty-three years, L.1965 As Kingsmuir lay waste in the seventh year of Charles II. when 368 FIFESHIRE. Cromwell's prior valuation was fixed as the standard of estimation, — deduct from L. 3122, the present rent of the parish, — the pre- sent rent of Kingsmuir, and the balance is L. 2822 ; so that the rent of Dunino parish has increased above fourteen times in 169 years, — the valued rent in Scotch money being L. 2334, 6s. 8d., orL. 194, 10s. 6j 8 2 d. Sterling. The plantations have increased since the former Account was drawn up, 210 acres; and, deducting 120 acres for ground still waste that may be cultivated, 2444 acres have been added to the cultivated soil. The value of live-stock on the farms, including horses, black-cat- tle, sheep, swine, and poultry in 1836, amounted to L. 5670 ; im- plements of husbandry, including eleven thrashing machines, L. 1800; total, L. 7470. Value of stock forty-three years ago, L. 2476 ; increase, L. 4994. Kind and value of the crop for the year 1836, as under : Wheat, - - - L.2I05 Barley, Oats, - Pease and beans, Potatoes, - Turnips, . Grass, ... Flax, 64 stones at Annual produce of crop in 1793, Increase in forty -three years, L.8676 It is stated in the former Statistical Account, that the soil is " adapted chiefly for oats and barley ;" but there is now raised more value of wheat than barley, and the quality is excellent. The fiars for wheat were first struck in 1649, as appears by the Sheriff- Court books of Fife ; and that year, the boll of wheat was so high- priced as L. 1, 0s. lfd. Sterling. The Chevalier barley, as well as the common kind, is in general use ; but though estimable for its great weight, it is costly, by requiring a rich soil, and hazardous in late seasons, requiring six weeks longer to mature, after sowing than ordinary barley. In 1643, by the Fife fiars, a boll of " bear" was 10s. Sterling. Several sorts of oats, as the Drummond and Tartar kind, are tried. The potato oats, from their speedy arrival at maturity, bid fair to be preferable. The boll of " aits and meall," by the Fife fiars in 1643, was 8s. 4d. Sterling. Flax is nearly discontinued in the parish, and will be so generally, when calcareous manures are introduced. Cotton, too, in many respects, supplies the use of flax at a much cheaper rate ; 18-23 2728 505 1229 765 2076 . 46 L. 11272 2596 DUNINO. 369 and where linen is wanted, fabrics of that kind from Ireland can be purchased at a far lower price by the farmer, than by home ma- nufacture. Every advantage which can be derived from good agri- cultural seeds is studied. The eleven thrashing-mills and other implements of husbandry are generally of the best construction. The breed of black-cattle, neat-limbed, horned, and of a dark colour, common at Dunino and over the county, and called the Fife breed, is celebrated. This race is known to have originated from the bounty of James VI. of Scotland. That monarch, on his accession to the English throne, had drawn largely on his for- mer neighbours at Falkland, to support his royal dignity ; and to remunerate them, he selected and sent down a race of excellent black-cattle, from the early cultivated region of south Britain, which have been improved for two centuries, in the luxuriant pas- tures of Fifeshire. At Dunino, cattle of the yellow or spotted Ayr- shire breed, may also be found ; but the Fife breed is most ap- proved for fast feeding in grass parks, during summer, and the cows of that race are distinguished as milkers. In the parish, about 190 sheep of the .Linton and Biggar or Northumberland breed, are fatted for the owners' tables, or sold to the butchers in the neighbourhood. Except in Kingsmuir, there are only two farms under L. 50 of rent, the rents of the other farms running from L. 100 to nearly Lb 600. On Kingsmuir, the rents of farms proceed in a regular gra- dation from L. 5 to L. 83. A domain like Kingsmuir, beginning to emerge into agricultural importance, may be well cultivated as at present by small tenants. A man and his family with twelve acres will raise far more corn and cattle in proportion, than he who rents ninety-six acres, because he must employ strangers to assist him. A tacksman on a large scale on the east part of Kingsmuir has recent- ly exhibited such proofs of enterprise, as to show, that if he and a few other similar tacksmen had the whole 844 acres in their hands, they would improve them, more quickly at least, than small te- nants. Seventy years have not elapsed since the best farmers here had but a thin partition between their bedrooms and bestial. Now, the principal tenantry either inhabit houses of two stories, or a handsome house of one storey ; in both cases, with a suitable es- tablishment of offices. Straw roofs for cottages are going into disuse, and slate or tile roofs are generally adopted. The great promoter of agricultural improvement in the parish fife. a a 370 FIFKSH1RE. of Dunino, was the public-spirited Sir William Areskine of Torry, predecessor and relative of Captain Areskine Wemyss, at present Member of Parliament for the county of Fife. About 1767, Sir William, as proprietor of the estate of Dunino, made the same fe- licitous attack on the asperities of the soil, as he had previously done on the rebels in America. In Sir Robert Sibbald's descrip- tion of Fife, which was published about 1710, he says, when you come to the east moors of Fifeshire, by which he meant Kingsmuir, the first place which attracts attention is the castle of Stravithy ; Dunino estate, Sir Robert Sibbald held unworthy of notice. At this period, the conterminous heritors had a right " to dig feal and divot" on Kingsmuir, and to " pasture their cattle ;" which usages were bought up, by granting them sections of land in recompense. The rest of the parish, like Kingsmuir, lay open and uninclosed, and the whole bestial of the forty- four farms, in addition to those of Kingsmuir, were in autumn sent forth, as at present in Iceland, for promiscuous pasture, — though the act of James VII. had ex- isted for ninety years, prohibiting such destructive practice. It was in this state of agricultural barbarity, that Sir William Ares- kine commenced his operations. He enclosed his whole estate with substantial stone fences five feet high; and ditches along side of them were superadded. He introduced wheat, potatoes, and turnips ; and these two latter crops were so scarce in the east of Fife, that at night they were plundered, like apples from an orchard. The horses were shod not only as formerly on the fore feet, but also on the hinder feet Metal plates were appended to the timber ploughs, as mould boards; the cart wheels of solid wood were abandoned ; recourse was had to the saddler, instead of the flax-dresser, for harness ; large stones which impeded agricultural operations were removed from the fields ; the crooked ridges were made straight ; and plantations were formed to shelter the higher grounds. For some years the tacksmen of Dunino were looked up to, as presenting to the public, experimental farms. Such an example was not lost The properties of Kinaldy, Pittairthy, Balcaithly, and the most of Stravithy, have been in- closed with stone fences, and in general substantially drained. The empire of bog-plants is on the wane, and the parish, de- scribed in the former Account as " wet and spongy," will soon, in every part, deserve the opposite character. The rents, as has been shown, are moderate ; the tenants are in good terms with DUNINO. 371 their landlords } and one tenant occupies the farm entered upon by his grandfather seventy years ago. The loss by corn-merchants is a theme on which some farmers dwell. Here, there is a persua- sion, that, without corn agents, farming would be at a stop. Ninety-one years ago, at the time of the last Rebellion, the scanty crops raised at Dunino could scarcely find market There was no wheat, and the oats were kept for support of the family ; the barley or rather bear was given, the one-half for rent, and the other half of the rent was paid by cattle. One-fourth of the bear was given in kind to the brewer in the parish, for beer to the family, and the other fourth was sold for cash either to him, or to some of the thirty- three brewers in St Andrews, to buy gin or brandy, which then and long after, were delivered in large quantities from con- traband ships on the coast. What clothes the family of the farmer required were manufactured by themselves. A great part of business was transacted bv barter. Plantations. — The plantations in the parish, wherever formed, are prosperous. Those beside the two streamlets consist of a va- riety of hard-wood trees. The other plantations are of larch or Scotch fir. Some parts of the plantations have of late been cut down ; but it is hoped they will soon be replaced by a new stock. Valued Rent. — The valued rent of Stravithy estate is somewhat larger than that of Dunino apart from Balcaithly, to which it is now united; so that in the 7th of Charles II., the property must have been superior. It fell in the rear by Sir William Areskine's improvements ; but the active skill of the present proprietor has well nigh raised it to its former pre-eminence, — though the soil be often less grateful than that of Dunino estate, which is sandy or alluvial, — whereas the other is in many places rather a stiff clay. The proprietor of Dunino deserves praise for the handsome ac- commodation he has afforded, and is still affording, to his tenantry, and the proprietor of Stravithy for his flourishing plantations, the drainage of his fields, and the handsome cottages he has erected, for the servants of his principal tacksman. The proprietor of Kinaldy, on the northern part of his estate, separatedjfrom this pa- rish only by a rivulet, has erected a splendid establishment of farm buildings. % V. — Parochial Economy. Dunino possesses good public roads, aud near markets. There 372 FIFESHIRE. is a turnpike road crossing the parish from St Andrews to An* struther, which are both sea-ports — and have both a weekly market for grain — the distance from four to five miles. Yearly, there are 15 horse and black-cattle fairs, within seven miles. We are sur- rounded by post-offices ; one is within three, another four, and an- other five miles. Other three post-offices are within seven miles. There is a curricle which plies thrice a week across the parish, from Anstruther to St Andrews. From St Andrews to Cupar, the county town, a distance of eleven miles, two coaches run weekly ; in a like space, they go twice to Dundee, the same distance as Cu- par. The fuel used in the parish is coal, which may be found sea- borne at either of the adjacent towns above-mentioned, or at the coal mines in the interior of the country, not more distant than those towns. Inns. — There are two inns in the parish, which are' sources of no intemperance. Ecclesiastical State. — The stipend of Dunino was augmented in 1709. About forty-two years ago, Dr Brown, then incumbent, received a considerable addition. The former and present mini- ster received also an augmentation, and the living, beside the sti- pend victual payable by the fiars, includes 63 old Scotch bolls, half oatmeal and half barley, at L. 85, Ids. Id. of surrendered teind, which, with a manse and offices erected about fifteen years ago, and 23 acres of glebe, may amount to L. 260 a year. The present incumbent, Mr Roger, is the eighth minister of the pa- rish since 1697, when Mr Knox, a relative of the great Re- former, John Knox, was inducted into office. The church of Dunino was built in 1826, and is a neat Gothic edifice, with an altaivwin- dow in the west gable. It contains thirty-two pews, designed for six sitters in each, but might hold seven, in all 224. The area in the church has been divided by the sheriff as under : — The patron, the United College of St Andrews, had the first choice, the minister next, and the heritors according to their valued rent. The parochial schoolmaster has a pew, and all the other pews are proportionally annexed to the estates, and divided among the far- mers and their dependents, excepting eight pews in front of the pulpit and adjoining, which are let by the kirk-session, and these form the sacred tables at the communion season. The number of communicants generally is from 130 to 160; but upwards of 200 have been known to communicate. The church is centri- DUNINO. 373 cally situated ; and there are but two or three families of Se- ceders. Poor's Funds. — The poor's revenue at Dunino requires no long recital. There is but a single pauper on the kirk-session fund, at 2s. a-month; but the heritors have, since autumn 1834, contribut- ed, according to their valued rent, L. 6, 4s. 5d. to support other four paupers, at 2s. or 3s. a-month each, as circumstances re- quire, with an additional boon out of this sum to buy coals. The kirk-session fund consists of the following items : a small sum for church seat-rent; a tax on the use of the mortcloth, and the pro- clamation of marriage banns; penalty on illegitimate births in certain cases (and two illegitimate births occur perhaps twice in three years;) the proceeds from collections at the church door, and from money deposited at interest, — forming a small total annually of about L. 9, 8s. 7d. From this little capital fall to be paid, be- sides the pauper, the session-clerk, precentor, kirk-officer, the sy- nod and presbytery clerk, and presbytery officer. Thus the pro- vision for the poor, and for the whole kirk-sessional business of the parish, does jiot exceed L. 15, 13s. a-year. Education.* — There has never been but one parochial school in * According to the parish register in the year 1648, a declaration was issued by the Presbytery of St Andrews, to be published in every parish within their bounds, and which was confirmed by the General Assembly, the tenor whereof follows : " That the woful ignorance, rudeness, stubbornness, incapacity seen among the common peo- ple, proceed from want of schools in landward, and not putting bairns to school where they are — therefore it is ordained that all possible means be used, that there be a school in every congregation, and that where there is one already, every one that hath children put them to school, if past seven years old — if the parents be poor, that the kirk-session take order for paying the schoolmaster either out of the poor's box, or by a quarterly collection— but if the parents be able, then let them be obliged both to send their bairns when the session gives order, and not to remove them till the Session be acquainted." In the spirit of this wise declaration, it is said in the regis- ter, that " Tuesday, 6th June 1643, the minister, with the heritors of the parish and elders of the session, did convene at the kirk : there was lent out of the box for ad- vancement to Mr James Richardsone, reader, for bypast service, 108 merks," (that is, L. 6, Sterling : ) •« As also it was ordained that Mr James should beginne his school on Moonday next, and that he should have a hundredth pound a year,'* (that is, L. 8, 6s. 8d. Sterling,) " and that the same should be payed to him at two terms in the yeir, viz. Whitsunday and Martinmasse." Whatever the school fees were, this was a handsome salary ; for, being twenty-four years before the seventh year of Charles II., when the valued rent taken by Cromwell was confirmed as the standard of va- luation, the L. 100 Scotch in the parish might be equal to L. 1400 Scotch now, or L. 1 16, 13s. 4d. After the act passed in the reign of William III. 1696, k< settling a school in every parish not already provided, by advice of the heritors and minister," leaving out the kirk-session, — Mr Dick was schoolmaster of Dunino for twenty years, from 1696 to 1718, whose salary was the maximum then allowed by law, or L. 1 1 2s. 2fd. Supposing his salary twelve times the present nominal amount, it would reach to L. 133, 6s., that is L. 16, 12s. 8d. more than Mr Richardsone's. In' addi- tion to this, provisions during Mr Dick's time were generally cheap, and his school fees enormous. Though in 1 6ij8, according to the Fife fiars register, the oatmeal a 37* FIFESHIRE. the parish, ll is centrically situated, and but a few yards from its ori- ginal ^ifo. The scale of fees, formed in 1805, has been continued to the present schoolmaster, who succeeded his brother, the author of " Anster Fair." His salary is the maximum; and this, with L.3, as session-clerk, dues on proclamation of banns of marriage, grant- ing certificates of character to those removing from the parish, and keeping the register of births — added to the school fees, and a neat new dwelling house and garden, may amount to L. 60 a year, There is nobody in the parish above seven years old, untaught to read ; and there are but few grown up persons who cannot also write. The desire of knowledge is ardent. There are several co- pies of the Bible in every house. Some new publications visit the parish ; and at present there are read in it weekly nine different newspapers. « November 1837. boll was 15s. Sterling, during the rest of his incumbency, the price of it ran from 3s. 4d. to Us. 8d. Sterling a boll; butcher meat sold at l£d. per pound; and a tailor wrought at 2d. a day. The parish register shows that the lowest quarter fee then was Is. 3d., which would have required the pay of more than seven and a half days of an ordinary tradesman, or 9s. 4£d at present, which in most cases would be equal to a prohibition of attending school. In 1805, two years after the new act in favour of parochial schoolmasters was framed, a schoolmaster of Dunino, a licentiate of the Scottish church, qualified not only to teach the ordinary branches of education, but French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, had the school fees raised to him, which had declined by the gradual influx of money into the kingdom. The quarter fee for English reading was made 2s. ; for writing, 3s. ; for arithmetic, 3s. 6d. ; and for La- tin, 4s. PARISH OF KENNOWAY. PRESBYTERY OF KIRKCALDY, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. DAVID BELL, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name, §c. — The village of Kennoway, which in all probability gave its name originally to the parish so called, is built along the top of a ridge which forms the head of a very sweet little glen, or den, as it is commonly called. Of this situation, the name Kenno- *way, as derived from the Gaelic language, is said to be exactly de- scriptive : Kean-nan-uiagh, signifying " the head of the den." ■ The parish of Kennoway is, in figure, nearly an oblong ; ex- tending about 3 miles from east to west ; and upwards of 2 from south to north. It is bounded on the south and west, by the parish of Markinch ; on the north, by that of Kettle ; and on the east, by that of Scoonie. Topographical Appearances. — In its general aspect, the parish of Kennoway is a sloping bank, ascending from south to north : having the surface abundantly and beautifully diversified, however, by irregular and gently rising heights, and corresponding declivi- ties. " The prospect from almost every part," as is accurately re- marked in the former Statistical Account of the parish, " is exten- sive and beautiful ; commanding a distinct view of the Island of May, of the Bass Rock, of Inchkeith, of the shipping on the Forth, of the coast south of the Forth, from Dunbar to the west of Edin- burgh, including the Lammermoor hills," and part of the Pentlands. " From the north part of the parish, which reaches the top of the bank, there is one of the most extensive views imaginable, taking in not only the fore-mentioned prospect to the south, but compre- hending almost all Fife, and a great part of the counties of Angus, Perth, and Stirling, and of the Grampian mountains." In the cot- house of Lalathan, situated on nearly the most elevated point of the ridge, is said to be the highest hearth-stone in the county. Meteorology. — The mean temperature of the atmosphere, taken at ten o'clock, a. m. for six successive years, is as under : — 376 FIFESHTRE. 1831, mean temperature 53°.6 1834, mem temperature, 56° 3 1832, 02.9 1835, 64*5 1833, 53.1 1836, 53.3 Climate. — The climate is, on the whole, far from being unpro- pitious. The atmosphere is, for the most part, mild and dry ; the harvests are earlier than the general average of the county ; and the healthiness of the situation has been long noted and abundant- ly experienced. Hydrography. — A few small rivulets or burns, some of which intersect the parish in different directions, while others form consi- derable portions of its boundaries, are the only water scenery of which it can boast. None of them are of any note : — but that which entering the parish on the north, near Balnkirk, and following a k circuitous course, till it meets another little stream on the south- east boundary, at the hamlet of Kennoway-burns, — whence thus aug- mented, it proceeds about a mile to the southward, to fall into the Leven, — is worthy of special mention. It is so, from this circum- stance, that, passing close to the village of Kennoway, its banks there are high, winding, and beautifully diversified ; in some places steep and rocky, jutting out into rugged points, which bring the opposite sides into near contact ; in other places, more sloping, and of course leaving a wider space between ; and everywhere, finely covered with wood. The channel of the stream at this place, with the enclosure formed by its elevated banks, receives the name of the den, which, though not on a large scale, is certainly a piece of scenery possessing many features of great beauty. Mineralogy.— The south part of the parish is incumbent upon freestone rock of a soft quality, which dips towards the south-east. Upon the high ground, on the north part of the parish, the soil is incumbent on a ridge of whinstone, which lies in the direction nearly east and west* The soil is of various qualities, and mostly all arable. On the south and east, it is principally light fertile land ; in the centre, it is loam and clay, upon a retentive subsoil ; and on the north, upon the rising ground, there is a small proportion of dry loam, incum- bent upon the whinstone rock. This whinstone, at various points, has been quarried and used for building ; but more commonly for road-metal. Freestone to a trifling extent is wrought in the den, also for the purposes of building ; but it is coarse and soft, and apt to moulder down, when exposed to the weather. There are some beds of red keel found in the den ; and they 4 KENNOWAY. 377 have been occasionally worked ; but, being only two inches thick, and not affording an adequate remuneration, nothing has been done in them for a number of years past . On the western boundary of the parish, there is a patch of peat- moss ; and towards the eastern boundary, beds of coal at various depths are found, some of which have been wrought, with scarcely any intermission, for nearly fifty years past. The line of dip of the strata lies in the form of a crescent Towards the east of the coal-field, it dips to the south-east, and towards the west, it ap- proaches to south-west. The dip of the strata is about one foot in twelve. Slips or fissures, generally running in a straight direc- tion from east to west, are found frequently to interrupt the seams of coal, throwing them up or down to a distance, varying from a few inches to eight feet The following journal shows the metals with their depths re- spectively, which have been gone through to reach the seams of coal at present wrought, lying upwards of fifty-four fathoms from the surface. Fath. Feet. In. Surface and clay, \ 5 Bands, 1 4 Freestone, 3 Bands. 3 Blaes with coal, 1 5 Dark atone. 1 Coal I. 6 Band*, 2 6 Coal II. 2 2 Bands, 2 4 Freestone, 3 r Coal III. 6 1 Black stone, 8 t Coal IV. 1 4 Bands. 1 6 Coal V. 5 White bands, 1 White freestone, 3 9 Blaes, 1 Dark freestone, 2 8 White freestone, 1 1 1 Bands, 4 1 Blaes with bands, 4 Dark blaes, 2 6 Bands, 1 1 4 Freestone, 1 4 Bands, 2 1 Blaes, 1 White freestone, 8 Fath. Feet. In. Coal VI. 1 4 Blaes, 1 2 Bands, 2 2 • Grey freestone, 2 Hard bands, 2 11 Dark blaes, 1 5 Bands, 6 Hard gray freestone, 3 10 White freestone, 9- 2 8 Black bands, 4 White bands, 3 5 Blue blaes, 3 5 Blaes and bands, 2 2 4 Blaes, 1 1 2 Bands, 5 3 Hard white bands, 3 Dark bands, 2 1 Soft blaes, 2 6 Dark bands, 1 2 White bands, 1 1 5 Gray bands. 1 9 Soft blaes with coal, 1 10 Freestone, 2 3 10 Bands, 2 5 Hard blaes, 1 6 C Coal VII. 4 2 1 Grey stone, ( Coal VIII. 9 1 IL — Civil History. Literary Production. — A rare and very curious work, u Com- prehending a Chronicle of the most remarkable events in Scot- land, particularly in Fife, from 1649 to 1671 , and containing va- 378 FIFESIIIRE. luable genealogical notices of almost every family of note in this part of the country/' has been generally ascribed to a Mr John Lamont, proprietor of Easter Newton in this parish. The work was first published in 1810, by the late Mr Constable, under the title of " The Chronicle of Fife." Another edition was printed at Edinburgh in 1830, under the title of " The Diary of Mr John Lamont of Newton." In the prefatory notice to this second edi- tion, doubts are expressed as to whether the author of the Diary " possessed the small property of Newton, in the parish of Ken- noway," as Mr Constable had stated, and as has generally been supposed : and we are sorry to say, as detracting from the little li- terary fame, to which the parish, through this channel, might be conceived to be entitled, that, on instituting an idquiry into the matter, by a careful perusal of the kirk-session records, and by re- ference to the inventory of the titles of Easter Newton, now the property of Miss Balfour of Kingsdale, the doubts that have been entertained are too well founded. * Land-owners. — The chief land-owners are, Mrs D. Bethune, of Balfour, who is proprietor of the lands of Kennoway and Trea- ton ; Miss Lundin, proprietor of Auchtermairnie and Gallowhill ; General Balfour of Balbirnie, proprietor of Lalathan and Dal- guinch ; Miss Balfour, proprietor of Kingsdale ; C. M. Christie, Esq. of Durie, proprietor of Drummaird ; Miss Wallace, proprie- tor of Newton Hall ; J. B. Fernie, Esq. proprietor of Kilmux ; Mrs Paston of Barnslee, proprietor of the lands of Brunton ; Mr * Through the kindness of Messrs Stevenson and Yule, W. S. Edinburgh, a friend to whom we applied was permitted to inspect the inventory of the titles of East- er Newton ; and we learn from him, that the first writ- in this inventory is a charter of Adjudication and Novodamus, by James Law of Brunton (the superior of Easter Newton ) of those lands, to John Lamont, skipper in Largo, who took infeftment thereon, and recorded the same in the general Record, 1st October and 26th Novem- ber 1695. This was evidently the first proprietor of Easter Newton of the name of Lamont, as the former owner of the lands was Euphemia Durie, widow of the Rev. Robert Mercer, minister of Kennoway. The next proprietor after the said John Lamont, in the course of the progress, is James Lamont, his eldest son. Now that John Lamont, who thus first became proprietor of Easter Newton in 1695, and was succeeded in the property by his son, James Lamont, could not be the author of a Diary which had commenced, if not earlier, at least in 1649, is evident from the particulars which follow. In the register of marriages and births of this parish, the marriage of John Lamont of Newton to Mary Lundin is recorded in 1697 ; and again the marriage of John Lamont of Newton Easter to Margaret Wat- son, is recorded in 1698; subsequently, the baptisms of eight children, the fruit of this second marriage, are recorded, the youngest named Robert being baptised on the 10th January 1715 ; and so late as in 1733, a silver communiou cup, as the in- scription on it bears, was presented to the parish of Scoonie, by Mr John Lamont of Newton. A comparison of the dates must satisfy every one that John Lamont, author of the Diary, conld not be the person of the same name who was proprietor of Easter New- ton in this parish. KENNOWAY. 379 Ballingall, proprietor of Balnkirk ; Patrick Wright, Esq. proprie- tor of Halfields ; George Forbes, Esq. proprietor of Balgrie ; John Lawson, Esq. of Carriston, &c. Parochial Register. — The date of the earliest entry in the pa- rochial register, is supposed to be in 1 634. The figures after anno at the top of the page have been removed through decay of the paper ; but an entry, about half way down the same page, bearing the date 1635, is perfectly distinct. After this, on a subsequent page, comes July 1638 ; and though the bbok in which these dates are found, is not in a state of very good preservation, yet the details of the transactions of the kirk-session, given with great minuteness, and often showing an extreme degree of vigilance and rigour in the exercise of authority, may be gathered from the last-mentioned date, with few, if any exceptions, continuously down to December 1675. From this time, however, to 1690, a period of about fif- teen years, there is an entire blank ; and the same thing'occurs be- tween 1755 and 1761. From this last date, up to the^ present time, the records are entire. What could have occasioned the blanks above referred to, it is impossible to say determinately : but the probability is, that the minutes had been originally kept, and that the books which con- tained them have been lost : for the volumes preserved are filled with minutes of transactions in regular succession, and the blanks occur in both cases between the conclusion of one volume and the commencement of another. Mansion-Houses. — The only mansion houses in the parish ^are those of Auchtermairnie, Kingsdale, and Newton Hall ; of which the two last-mentioned are modern buildings ; and the materials employed in their construction were brought from neighbouring parishes. * III. — Population. In the former Statistical Account of the parish, written in 1793, it is remarked, that the number of the people and houses seems to have been nearly the same for centuries ; and in regardjto the vil- lage of Kennoway, containing about one-half of the whole inhabi- tants, it is observed, that " very few houses were known to have been built on a new foundation." The population of the parish at that time, seems to have amounted to nearly 1300. Within the last forty years, however, the village and parish, re- taining nearly the same relative proportion in point of numbers, have made a very considerable increase of their population. In the 380 FIFESHIRK. village many new feus oh ninety-nine years leases have been obtain- ed and built on, principally along a new section of the line of road leading this way from Kirkcaldy to Cupar : — and in other parts of the parish, the number of dwelling-houses has been gradually en- larged, chiefly in the same way. The increase of population adverted to has been owing prin- cipally, it is presumed, to the gradually improving condition of this part of the country in general ; and may, perhaps, be in some measure assigned to the establishment and growing prosperity of several manufactories in the near neighbourhood. A number of individuals find constant work at Cameron Distillery, and the Haugh Spinning-mill, which are both in Markinch parish ; and the exten- sive manufacture of linens carried on, by wealthy individuals and companies, in most of the surrounding district, supplies the weavers, of whom there are a great many here, with regular employment. The amount of population at each census, taken at different pe- riods under the direction of Parliament, is as follows : In the year 1801, • 1466 1611, • 1517 1821, • 1649 1831, • 1721 • It is worthy of notice that, at the time of this last census, the number of males exceeded that of females by 9 ; there being of the former 865, and of the latter 856. Of the population residing in villages, there were at the same time in that of Kennoway, 862 ; in that of Star, 232 ; and in that of Baneton, 125 ; making in all 1219 ; and in the country there were 502. The average of baptisms for these last five years may be stated at 45 deaths, . . . . . .29 marriages, . .... . 14 The number of families in the parish at last census was, . 409 The average number of individuals in each family was, . . 4J Number of families chiefly employed in agriculture, . 110 trade, manufactures, or handicraft, 158 All others, ........ 141 Number of professional or other educated men is, 7 The number of proprietors of land of the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards, is 10, of whom only three are at present resident in the parish. • This number of 1721, ought to have been increased, we presume to think, by 234, the amount of population on the lands of Dalguinch, &c., in the west end of the parish, which are an annexation quoad $acra to Markinch. The census of popu- lation by order of Government is unquestionably a purely civil matter ; and, there- fore, the whole of the inhabitants of the pariah quoad civUia, ought to have been stated : —the more especially as the population on the lands of Duniface, in Maikinch pa- riah, which are an annexation quoad ttcrm to Kennoway, was also included in the Markinch lists. KENNOWAY. 381 Of fatuous individuals there are 4 ; of blind, 2 ; and of deaf and dumb, 7. Of the last mentioned class, 5 belong to the same fa- mily, viz. two sons and three daughters. The family, in all, con- sists of three son3 and four daughters, all of whom are of adult age. Illegitimate births in the course of the last three years, 13. Character of the People. — The people, in their general habits, are industrious, cleanly, and economical ; and their circumstan- ces are, for the most part, comfortable. In behaviour, the great bulk of them are worthy of commendation, as being sober, peace- able, decorous, and upright. Some few exceptions have, no doubt, always existed ; and these have of late years, it is to be fear- ed, been very considerably increased. Drunken brawls, and acts of wanton mischief, committed during the night by persons under the excitement of spirituous liquors, have, for a few years past, been frequent and outrageous beyond all former precedent in the history of the place ; and at this moment, a general movement is making by the respectable part of the community, to put an end, if pos- sible, to such things, by having the perpetrators of them uniform- ly prosecuted and punished ; — to take steps towards which, indivi- duals who have been aggrieved have hitherto felt a great reluct- ance. The grand remedy, if it could be applied, would be to lay a restriction on the improper use of ardent spirits. Drunkenness is certainly the prevailing vice amongst us ; and is the originator, or at least inciting cause, to almost every mischief. Imprisonment for violent assault under its influence has of late been in two in- stances inflicted. " A considerable proportion of the inhabitants of this parish, 19 says a discerningand impartial observer, who has lived long amongst them, the Rev. Dr Fraser, " appear to me to discover their own share of Scottish acuteness and intelligence. I have often seen evidence also of their readiness to assist each other ; particularly by personal service, in times of affliction." IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — The number of acres in the parish, standard im- perial measure, may be stated at 3750. Of these, 3470 are under the plough ; 30 have never been cultivated, remaining constantly waste or in pasture ; and 250 are under wood. Larch and Scotch firs are the kinds of trees that have generally been planted ; but enough of hard-wood of various kinds has been here and there in- terspersed, to prove by its healthy and vigorous growth that the soil is congenial to its produce. 382 FIFESHIRK. Rent of Land. — The rent of land varies from 15s. to L. 3. The average may amount to L. 1, 10s. per imperial acre. The ave- rage rent of grazing an ox or cow is about L. 3. Till of late, there were few or no sheep in the parish ; but Mr Robert Balliri- gall, an intelligent and enterprising farmer, who is tenant both of Wester Treaton and of Newton of Kingsdale, has, within these two years, introduced them, and has at present a flock of between 13 and 14 scores. Wages. — The wages of the best day-labourers, until about six months ago, when they were considerably raised, had continued for eight or ten years past, both in winter and summer, at Is. 4d. a day. Masons 1 and wrights' wages, during the same period, va- ried from 12s. to 14s. a week, in summer, and from 10s. to lis. in winter. The wages of farm-servants have continued, for a long time, very stationary. Married men of this description receive from L. 9 to L. 10 in money, 6£ bolls of meal, a pint of milk a day, as it comes from the cow, 8 bolls of potatoes, a free house and gar- den, and coals driven. Young or unmarried men receive from L. 9 to L. 1 1 in money ; and get their meals in the farm-house. When these latter are in a bothie, they receive 6£ bolls of meal, and a pint of sweet milk a day. Women employed in farm-work receive from 7d. to 8d. per day of nine hours. The cattle reared in the parish are generally the native breed of the county. The chief characteristics of the Fife breed are their being mostly all black, with white horns, rather long in the legs, long and straight in the back, with broad hooks ; their hav- ing a fine silky skin, and prominent eyes. They are generally kindly feeders ; and are much esteemed by the butcher for the excellent quality of the beef, as well as for the great quantity of tallow to the size of the carcase. The cows are for the most part profitable milkers; producing a great quantity of butter from the milk. Some attempts have been made to improve the Fife breed by crossing the cow with a Teeswater bull. The offspring of this cross are nearly as valuable at three years old, as the pure Fife breed is at four. They are more easily fattened, and when kept till five years old, they are as heavy as the pure Teeswater breed at the same age. The crops generally cultivated are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and turnip, with a small proportion of beans. The rotations corn- 3 KENNOWAY 383 monly observed vary according to the nature of the soil. Upon the stronger soils, the following are practised: Summer fallow, wheat, beans, barley, hay, oats. Summer fallow or potatoes, wheat, hay, pasture, oats. Summer fallow, wheat, barley, hay, oats. Upon the lighter soils, the following are in use : viz. turnips or potatoes, barley or wheat, hay, pasture, oats. Turnips or potatoes, barley or wheat, pasture, pasture, oats. The high prices during the late war gave a stimulus to the im- provement of the soil ; and at this day, the exertions of the tenan- try have by no means slackened. Although suffering much, as they have done for a number of years past, from the very low state of the market, yet it appears as if their utmost efforts have been used to raise an increased quantity of produce, so as to indemnify themselves for the depression of price. By the improvements that . have been thus introduced, the fertility of the soil has been much in- creased. It can safely be averred, that now a fourth more pro- duce is raised from the soil than was obtained twenty years ago. This has been chiefly brought about by improved rotations of crop- ping, by draining and liming, and by the use of artificial manures, such as ground bones and rape dust. The drainage of the soil, hitherto, has been accomplished in most cases by deep drains cut across the field at the top of the spring ; but a new system has now been put into practice, which, if properly executed upon that portion of the parish which lies on a retentive sub-soil, will very much increase its value, and render it fit to carry all kinds of green crops. This new system, which is called the frequent-drain system, has been borrowed from Mr Smith of Deanston. It is executed by cutting small drains up every six or every twelve ell furrow, as occasion requires, from two and a- half to three feet deep, with small spades used for the purpose. At the top, the drains are of the width of a common spade ; and at the bottom, the small spade is used to cut them out four inches wide ; and a scoop finishes the process, by clearing out the loose earth at the bottom. The drains are, after this, filled to within eighteen inches of the surface, with stones broken to the size of road-metal ; and these stones are then covered with a turf. After the field has been gone over with these drains, it is ploughed by a trenching skeleton plough, sixteen inches deep, — which opens the hard sub soil below, and allows the water to percolate to the drains, so that the land is rendered perfectly dry. 384 FIFE6HIRE. Farms are generally let on lease for a period of nineteen years. The farm-buildings, with few exceptions, are by no means commodious* In too many instances, the ^occupier is fettered for want of suffici- ent accommodation for his bestial. Most of the land in the parish is inclosed, but many of the fences are by no means substantial* A very excellent and commodious steading was built in 1832, by Miss Balfour on her farm of Newton of Kingsdale. It is built of freestone, and covered with slate. The thrashing-machine is pro- pelled by a high-pressure steam-engine of six horse power. There is another thrashing-machine propelled by steam power in the pa- rish, on the farm of Wester Treaton, the property of Mrs D. Be- thune of Balfour. The greatest improvement which has recently been made in the parish, in agricultural matters, was executed by the late Captain Lundin on his estate of Auchtermairnie. By cutting ditches and planting hedges, — by draining and liming, — by removing embank- ments and levelling, — by planting and transplanting trees, — by building steadings and making roads, he nearly doubled the value of his property in the course of sixteen years. The appearance, also, of his estate in this time, was improved, perhaps, more than any other part of the county of a similar extent. This gentleman, whose many virtues, both private and public, will render his memory long dear, died in the prime of life, after an illness of only a few days, in the month of November 1832. Coal Mine. — It has been mentioned, that, in the eastern part of the parish, coal at different depths is found, and that it has been wrought with little intermission, for nearly fifty years past. The seams which have hitherto been chiefly dug are those marked No. III. and IV. in the journal before given. These seams were lat- terly wrought on what is called the long-wall method. After leav- ing sufficient pillars at the pit-bottom, every inch of coal, with the interjacent bed of black stone, was cut out progressively forward, and the whole superincumbent strata allowed to crush towards the stone or rubbish taken from the coal, which was used for gobbing the excavation. This coal was laid dry by a day-level of 350 fa- thoms in length. The seams above-specified having been nearly wrought out, the proprietor of the mine, J. B. Fernie, Esq. of Kilmux, a gentleman of great enterprise, well known, especially, as an eminent agricul- turist, and to whom the writer of this account is indebted for the information he supplies, both in regard to coal and agricultural KKXXOWAY. 385 matters, — has lately sunk a pit to a depth of more than 54 fa- thoms, where coal, marked VII. and VIII. in the journal, is found to the thickness of 5 feet 2 inches, with an interjacent bed of grey- stone 9 inches thick. To draw the water from this pit, an engine of forty-seven horse power has been erected. The coal, which has now been wrought for several months, is found to be of good quality, and it is believed that the field is extensive. There are at present between 40 and 50 colliers employed. . Raw Produce. — The average gross amount of raw produce rais- ed in the parish may be stated as under : Produce of grain of all kinds, for food of man and beast, L. 9000 potatoes and turnips, . . J 000 hay cultivated, .... 700 land in pasture, .... 1200 mines and quarries, chiefly coal, . 2500 Total yearly value of raw produce, L. 14,400 Manufactures. — Besides two grind ing-mills for oats and barley in the parish, there is also a lint-mill for scutching flax, a plash- mill for washing yarn, and a spinning-mill for spinning tow. The three last-mentioned are on a very small scale, employing together not more than 18 or 20 hands. All the mills are driven by water. At the time when the former Statistical Account was written, it is remarked, that there was then, " a considerable quantity of coarse linen made in the parish, which was sold brown ; and some also of a better quality, which was bleached and sold at the sum- mer markets in the neighbourhood." This species of goods was commonly known by the name of Silesias^ and there were not a few individuals in this place who, in a small way, were engaged in the manufacture of them. The trade was for a long time brisk and profitable, but it entirely failed on the introduction of mill- spinning, through the consequent great reduction on the price of manufactured goods. There are still a great many weavers in the parish, not fewer than 300 male and female, connected with whom, at least 150 hands more, find employment as winders. But the business now is all transacted by agencies, on account of wealthy manufactur- ing companies or individuals in the surrounding district. There are none in this parish. The species x>{ goods now manufactured are dowlas sheetings of various widths, from three yards and under, Tweels, and a few diapers and Darlingtons. The quality varies from 700 to 1000 dowlas. The number of spindles woven in a year may be stated fife, b b 386 FIFESHIRE. at 68,000; and the average wage of each weaver at 7s. a week : — but a good and diligent worker will, without difficulty, make twice that sum. There are not fewer than 69 hands employed as shoemakers in the parish. The produce of their joint labour is of course much more than is requisite for meeting the wants of the neigh- bourhood ; and the surplus is, for the most part, carried to the ad- jacent market-towns, chiefly to Dundee, to supply the shoe- shops. A small proportion is also disposed of at the principal fairs in the neighbourhood. Reed Society. — The operative weavers of Kennoway, or at least the great majority of them, sensible of the advantages that might be derived from having the use of an extensive and proper assort- ment of reeds ; after having been, for a number of years, members of a society in the neighbourhood, instituted for promoting this object — about three years ago formed themselves into an associa- tion for the same purpose, denominated the " Kennoway Reed Society." The sole object of this society is to serve its members with reeds of any given order and breadth. It is open at all times for the admission of workmen properly qualified and recommend- ed, who are of good character, and living within two miles of the village of Kennoway. The entry-money is 3s. 6d. for one share, and a member may hold as many shares as he pleases. A certain rate is paid for the use of each reed, according to the description it is of, and according to the amount of spindles it is employed in the weaving of. This society is found to be of great benefit to its members. Of these, there are 122, holding in all 199 shares. The number of reeds which the society is possessed of, is 560 ; the average price of each of which, when new, might be 5s. V. — Parochial Economy. Market-Town. — There are no market-towns in the parish, but the access to Kirkcaldy and Cupar is easy, each being about nine miles distant ; the former in a south-westerly, and the latter in a north-easterly direction. The means of communication, in every part of the parish, are easy, the roads being in general good. Of these, there are about two miles of turnpike. Ecclesiastical State. — The situation of the parish church, in the village of Kennoway, renders it convenient for by far the greater part of the population ; there being in thpt village, and within the compass of about half a mile around it, upwards of 1 1 00 inhabi- KENNOWAY. 387 tants. The distance of the church from the most remote extre- mities of the parish is between two and three thiles. The age of the church must, from its structure, and the height to which the surrounding burying-ground has accumulated above its foundation, be very great ; but there are no means of ascer- taining the exact period at which it was built. The lintel of a door, which is supposed to be of the same date with an addition that had been made to the original edifice, has 1619 inscribed on it. The present state of repair of the church, however, notwith- standing its great age, is exceedingly good. Perhaps it is to be regretted, considering its size, as compared with the population, that it is so good ; and that such a sum as nearly L. 200 was ex- pended in putting it into its present comfortable state, so lately as in the summer of 1832. The number of sittings in it is 463 ; while the number of families belonging to the Establishment in the parish is 238 ; and that of individuals of all ages 1027. The number of names on the communion roll at present is 507, from which, if 28 be deducted for the old and infirm, who cannot attend church, there is left still the number 479. This exceeds the num- ber of sittings in the church by 16. There are no free sittings, An excellent and commodious new manse, with offices and gar- den wall, was built in 1833, on a new and very eligible site, about five minutes walk from the church. The glebe consists of about 7 acres, and may be valued at L. 20 yearly. The stipend, which was augmented in 1832, amounts to 16 chalders, with L. 10 for communion elements. There are two Seceding congregations fn the parish, the places of worship of which are both also in the village of Kennoway. An unpopular settlement about the middle of last century gave occasion to the erection of the elder of these two congregations, which is connected with the United Associate Secession Synod. The present minister of this congregation, who was ordained to his charge upwards of forty-two years ago, is the learned and pious Rev. Donald Fraser, D. D., well known as the biographer of the Erskines, two of the fathers of the Secession, and as the author of other popular works. In his congregation, by particulars which he kindly furnished for this, account, the number of members is 428; besides whom, there are of the young with a few other hear- ers about 290. It is to be noticed, however, that about one-third of the whole reside within the bounds of other parishes. The 388 . FIFESIIIUE. amount of stipend is L. 120, with a comfortable dwelling-house and garden. The other Seceding congregation in the parish, which is in connexion with the Original Burgher Synod, has been in existence since 1 800. The number of its members is under 200, of whom about one-half reside within the parish. This congregation is at present without a minister; but the stipend of the one who lately left them for another situation was L. 75, with a dwelling-house and small garden. There are, besides those attached to these two congregations of Seceders, a very few individuals within the parish, belonging to the Relief and Independent denominations. The proportion which the whole number of Seceders and Dissenters taken together, bears to the number of those attached to the Established Church, is very nearly as 19 to 23. Among all denominations, the places of worship are in general well attended. Societies for Religious Purposes. — A society, denominated the Kennoway Female Bible and Missionary Association, was formed here in 1814; and another, styled the Kennoway Bible and Mis- sionary Association, was instituted in 1819. Their annual pro- ceeds average together rather more than Lr30. All denomina- tions concur in these institutions. Education. — Besides the Parochial School, which is attended on an average by 120 scholars, and is most efficiently taught, there are two unendowed schools in the parish, one of which is a female one : — and the children in the village of Star, in the West end of the parish, enjoy the benefit of a school which is taught just beyond the boundary. There are thus very few who can be said to be inconveniently situated with respect to the means of education. The parochial teacher has the maximum salary, with the legal accommodations. The amount of his school fees may be between L. 30 and L. 40. The list of fees for the parochial school is as under : English reading, 2s. 6d. per quarter ; reading and writing, 3s. per do. ; arithmetic, 4s. ; Latin and other branches, 5s. Library. — The only circulating library in the parish, is a juve- nile one connected with the Sabbath schools. It contains about 400 volumes, which are mostly very small. Savings Hank. — A savings bank was instituted for the parish and its vicinity in September 1834; the business of which has ever since been conducted principally by the writer of this Ac- KENNOWAV. 389 count. The amount of sums under L. 10, deposited up till this date, is L. 420 ; and the number of depositors at present is S3. Since the bank was opened, sixteen sums of L. 10 each, amount- ing in all to L. 1 60, have been removed at various times ; and the most, if not the whole of them, lodged in other banks. The Na- tional Bank of Scotland, at whose office in Kirkcaldy the money belonging to our savings' bank collectively is lodged, jnost gene- rously allows L. 4 per cent, interest on it ; and the same rate is allowed to the depositors in the savings' bank individually ; the interest in this latter case being calculated for pounds only, omit- ting odd shillings ; and for months, omitting odd days. Equitable Deposit Society. — A society was begun in May 18-35, entitled the Kennoway Equitable Weekly Deposit Society, each member of which pays Is. weekly. When a sufficient sum has in this way been collected, four shares of L. 30 each are drawn by ballot, and those receiving them give security that they will pay 4 per cent, interest thereon, in addition to continuing their weekly payments, until such time as all the members shall have drawn their shares respectively. The sum collected from the commence- ment of the association to the 26th December 1836, amounted to L. 882, 18s. 2d. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The average number of persons receiving parochial aid is 22 ; and the sum allotted to each per calendar month varies from 2s. 6d. to 8s. 8d. The average an- nual amount of contributions, for the last five years, for the relief of the poor, has been L. 77 ; of which, L. 34 have been collected at the church door; L. 5 have come from mortcloth and marriage dues; and the remainder has been obtained by voluntary assess- ment of the heritors. For a considerable number of years past, a sum of between L. 30 and L. 40 has been raised in addition to the above, by ex- traordinary collections at the doors of the church and meeting- houses, and by donations from non-resident heritors, for the pur- pose of distributing about new-year time, amongst individuals and families of the poorer class, but who are not generally on the poor's roll, a quantity of coals and meal, and occasionally some Qther little necessary. By help of this fund also, for several years past, the spinning of flax has been obtained for some of the old people, who can find no other employment. Dressed flax is at present kindly supplied, as needed, by a mill-spinner in the neigh- bourhood, who allows 6d. per spindle for spinning it. To this 390 FIFESHIRB. the fund adds another 6d., so that the spinner receives Is. for her work, while the fund loses 6d. on each spindle. The sum earned in this way, by even a good spinner, is very small ; but whatever it may amount to, it is the fruit of labour, and it is prized as such. Fairs. — Two annual fairs are held in the village of Kennoway, the one in April, and the other in October. No business has for a long time been done at them. Inns and Alehouses. — There are no less than 13 houses in the parish licensed to sell spirituous liquors and ales. If so many can make profits by such a traffic, there is great reason to fear, that by far too much money is spent in them, and that an increase of intemperance must be the result The unnecessary multiplication of such places of resort is much to be deprecated ; for, besides affording facilities to those who are already addicted to drinking, it sets additional and powerful temptation to the worst of all vices, in the way of those who are sober and industrious. Fuel — Coal abounds in all the neighbourhood, and after what has been already said in regard to its being found of good quality, and wrought in the parish, it is scarcely necessary to add, that this is the fuel universally used. At Balgrie colliery, in the pa- rish, from which the great majority of the inhabitants are supplied, it is sold at present at 8s. 4d. per ton. January 1838. PARISH OF WEMYSS. PRESBYTERY OF KIRKCALDY, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV, JOHN M'LACHLAN, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name and Boundaries. — The name of this parish is of Gaelic origin, the word Weem or Wemyss signifying a cave, manifestly in allusion to the number of caves on the sea-shore. It is bound- ed by the parish of Dysart, on the west ; by Markinch, on the north and east ; and by the Frith of Forth, on the south. Its length from south-west to north-east is about 6 miles ; and its breadth about \\ : in whole, it contains about 9 square miles. WEMYSS. 391 Topographical Appearances. — The ground immediately above the sea-shore is, in some places, considerably elevated, and rises with a gentle slope to the north, and also to the west Along the sea-shore, there is a line of rocks which extends a good way into the sea, even at low water-mark. The whole beach is very rocky, and may well be designated iron bound. Climate. — The climate, upon the whole, may be said to be good. The air, as might be expected, is, during the winter months espe- cially, keen and bracing, and at all times the temperature of the atmosphere is sensibly felt to be colder than that of districts five or six miles up the country. Mineralogy. — This parish rests upon rocks which belong wholly to the coal formation. From the river Leven, even as far west as Wemyss Castle, the strata are composed of dark red sandstone of various degrees of hardness, colour, and durability; From Wemyss Castle, along the shore and western boundary, there are twelve workable seams of coal, of the aggregate thickness of 89 feet 5 inches. The rocks between these seams of coal are, shale, sandstone, slate clay, and argillaceous iron-stone, in bands and balls. These rocks alternate in beds of very various thick- ness. There is also a seam of yellow ochre, but not a particle of limestone ; neither is there any greenstone (or whin) belonging to the strata. The shore, however, is thickly strewed with bould- ers of it, and the soil when pierced to any depth abounds with them. The quantity of fossil organic remains belonging to the vege- table kingdom, is immense. Whole forests of fossil trees have been discovered in the beds of shale immediately above some of the coals, many of them of the most perfect form. The bodies of the trees are always composed of sandstone, (although found in shale,) while the bark, and sometimes the cellular tissue, round the pith, is composed of clear cherry coals ; and they are found in every variety of size, form, and position. And with regard to the soils, they are as various as the rocks on which they rest, being in some places only a few feet thick, and consisting of decom- posed sandstone, while in others they extend to a depth of from 30 to 40 feet, consisting of a strong matrix of dark-coloured clay, which is quite impervious to water. Wood. — The appearance of the parish within the last forty years has been greatly improved, in consequence of the great number of trees that have been planted in various quarters of it, and which 392 FIFESHIRE. are in a very thriving condition, and which shelter and benefit the crops. In the neighbourhood of Wemyss Castle, there is a num- ber of very old trees of various kinds, and which have grown to a large size, clearly showing that when trees are properly attended to, they will grow and prosper even near the sea-shore. II. — Civil History. Plan. — There is in the possession of the family of Wemyss an excellent map or survey of the whole of the parish. Land-owner. — The sole land-owner of the whole parish is Cap- tain James Erskine Wemyss, R. N., and Member of Parliament for the county of Fife. Eminent Men. — Under this article may be mentioned Sir Mi- chael Wemyss of Wemyss, who, along with Sir Michael Scott of Balweary, in the parish of Abbotshall, were sent as ambassadors to Norway by the Estates of the kingdom in the year 1290, on the death of King Alexander III. to bring home Princess Margaret, grand- daughter of the late King, and undoubted heiress of the crown of Scotland. They went to Norway as directed, but the Princess died at Orkney, on her passage to Scotland. There is in the Castle of Wemyss, as a memorial of this embassy, a large silver basin, which was given by the King of Norway to Sir Michael Wemyss, and which is now used to hold the water on baptismal occasions. The Rev. George Gillespie also was connected with this parish, and was ordained minister of it in April 26, 1618. He was the son of Mr John Gillespie, who was sometime minister of the gos- pel at Kirkcaldy. He was called by way of distinction, " The renowned Gillespie;" and was the first who was admitted by a presbytery in that period, without an acknowledgment of the bishops. He was one of the four ministers who were sent as com- missioners from the Church of Scotland to the Westminster As- sembly, in the year 1643. In that capacity we are told he distin- guished himself greatly, and showed that he was a man of great talent and learning, so much so, indeed, that few could equal, and none surpass him. On his return from Westminster, he was engaged in most of the public affairs of the church, until 1648, when he was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly. Dur- ing his whole life, he was most firmly attached to the great work of the Reformation, and continued so till his death. Parochial Registers. — The register of the records of Session commences 1645, and is regularly kept from 9th March 1692, WEMYSS. 393 down to the present time. From 26th August 1689 to 9th March 1692, there is a deficiency, the reason for which is thus noticed in one of the records : " The reason why the public regis- ter in this parish is lame for that period, is, that there was no settled minister after Mr Ker was deposed by the secret counsell in the foresaid month of August 1689 untill Mr Archibald Rid- del 1 was settled in October 169 J ;" and that during this inter- val, " the register was keeped by the Countess of Wemyss, and not delivered to the session :" It is farther added " that Mr Ker, student of Divinity and Professor in St Leonard's College, St Andrews, was admitted minister of Wemyss September 8, 1686, and de- posed 26th August 1689, for not reading the * proclamation and not praying publicly for King William and Queen Mary.' " The old- est register of baptisms begins in 1660, and that of contracts and marriages in 1662. With the exception already noticed, they are all regularly and accurately kept from their commencement. The number of the whole is fourteen volumes. Antiquities. — Under this article, we may notice the remains of two Popish Chapels, the one at Methil-mill ; and the other, a lit- tle beyond West Wemyss. There are also the ruins of an old castle, usually called Macduff's Castle, situated a little to the east of East Wemyss. It is said to have been built by Macduff, who was created Earl of Fife about the year 1057, and on whom King Malcolm Canmore bestowed some peculiar marks of regard. It must have been once a place of great strength, judging from the two square towers, and a part of the wall, that still remain. It is built on an eminence near the sea shore, having a very command- ing view ; and there are few strangers who come to this part of the country, without paying a visit to the old castle. The Castle of Wemyss, too, the seat of the family of Wemyss, deserves notice. It is a large and magnificent building. It is si- tuated a little to the east of West Wemyss, on a cliff between 30 and 40 feet above the level of the sea. Beyond West Wemyss, is the Chapel Garden, so denominated from the circumstance of a Roman Catholic Chapel having been built there, some of the re- mains of which, as already noticed, are still standing. Beside it, is the residence of Thomas Bywater, Esq. factor on the estate. The whole forms a most delightful romantic spot, the sight of which could not but amply compensate the admirer of the picturesque, even although he had gone a journey of twenty or thirty miles, for the sole purpose of visiting this terrestrial paradise. 394 FIFESHIRE. IIL — Population. In 1755 the population was 9041 1801, 3264 x 1811, . 9691 1821, . 4157 1831, . 5001 The increase may be attributed to various causes* The people, in general, marry at an earlier period than former- ly ; and this holds true in a very marked manner among the fish- ermen in Buckhaven. Besides, there is the large manufacturing establishment at Kirkland, under the firm of Neilson and Com- pany, and which has been long in a very thriving and flourishing condition, and which employs a great many hands. And in the coal department, which has also been extended, a good many houses have been lately built for the accommodation of the col* Hers, some of whom have come from other parts of the country. The average number of births and baptisms for the last seven years, . 125f marriages, ..... 36} Number of inhabited houses in the parish, .... 653 uninhabited houses, . • . . 6 houses now building, .... .8 families, ....... 1089 chiefly employed in agriculture, . . 84 in trade, manufactures, and handicraft, 762 families not comprised in the two preceding classes, 243 There is one family of independent fortune, — the family of Wemyss. Ages of all persons in this parish in June 1831 under 15, - 2022 betwixt 15 and 30, 1302 30 and 60, 1059 50 and 70, 488 upwards of 70, . 130 There were in (1831) 11 persons between 80 and 90, and since that time 2 have died upwards of 90. Unmarried men, bachelors, and widowers, above 50 years of age, . 63 women, including widows above 45 years of age, . 212 Average number of persons to each family, ..... 4f££ Number of illegitimate births in the course of the last three years, 10. There are 1 fatuous, 1 deaf, and 5 deaf and dumb persons, in the pa- rish : 3 of the deaf and dumb persons belong to one family, and are ail females. They are grown up, and, considering their imperfections, they are quick and intelligent The other two are also females, and belong to one family. They are both young, the one being about two, the other four years of age. Habits and Character of the People. — Of late years, a new acti- vity and a new stimulus pervade all classes of the people. And I 3 WEMYSS. 395 have great pleasure in being enabled to remark, that over the length and breadth of this large and populous parish, education and knowledge have spread themselves among all ranks and clas- ses. The people as a body have long been distinguished for their quietness and general good conduct ; and may justly be said to be an industrious, contented, decent, and church-going population. IV. — Industry. Rent of Land. — The rent of land varies from L. 1, 10s. to L. 4 per acre. Some farms are let wholly in money, some at a grain rent, and some partly grain and partly money, according to the fiars of the county. The grazing of a cow for the season is L. 3, 10s. ; and for two year olds and one year olds, in the same pro- portion. Real Rent — The real rent of this parish is L. 6000. Agriculture. — The number of Scots acres may be about 4000 Under tillage, . . . 2845J- Uncultivated, . . . 1154$, of which there are in wood . 500 acres, and the remaining . . 6544 acres are in links t roads, villages, &c. Mines.-*- There are four coal-pits in this parish, one ironstone pit, and one ochre pit The Wemyss coal-pit employs 140 men, 24 boys, and 42 girls. The yearly produce is about 40,000 tons. The selling price of the splint is 8s. 6d. per ton. This pit is sunk upon the main seam, which is 9 feet thick, and has been wrought to the depth of 100 yards below sea level, through the whole length of the parish, and has been working constantly for the last two centuries. The next working is the parrot or gas coal, which is wrought level free, no machinery being necessary. It employs about 20 men, and is sold for 10s. per ton. The other two pits are wrought exclusively for land sale ; they employ about 50 men, 20 boys, and 7 girls. The ironstone working em- ploys about 35 men and 3 girls. The ochre pit is but newly commenced. The whole number of people employed in mining and mining operations may amount to 300 men, (170 of whom are colliers,) 44 boys, and 52 girls. Their operations, however, require the employment of many other hands, such as smiths, wrights, masons, &c. They all receive their wages every two weeks, the payment of which is upwards of L. 400. There are several very powerful engines employed in this very extensive coal establishment. And it is but justice to add, that 396 FIFESUIRE all the recent improvements in mining machinery have been here very successfully and advantageously introduced and applied, and are all under the very active and efficient management and direc- tion of Mr David Landale, mining engineer. Fisheries. — This branch of industry deserves notice. The fish- ing station at Buckhaven is well known, and of late years has greatly increased. There are 170 men employed in this trade, and all belong to, and reside in Buckhaven. They have no fewer than 144 fishing boats of various dimensions. Generally about the beginning of July, they set out to the north, to Helmsdale, Fraserburgh, and Wick, the great herring- fishing stations, where they stay for about two months. It may well be said, that they are a most industrious and hard-working class of men, and are truly entitled, not only to protection, but to every countenance and encouragement. Value of boats and nets belonging to Buckhaven. Value of each Value of nets belonging boat. to each boat. Total value. First class, 60 boats, L. 75 L. J 10 L. 11,100 Second do. 44 do. 4l» 120 7,040 Third do. 40 do. 14 20 1,360 144 Value of nets and boats . L. 19,500 It will be seen by the above statement, that the value of the nets belonging to the second class of boats is greater than that of the first class, because three sets of nets are necessarv to the se- cond class, while only two are required for the first and third. Produce. — The following contains a pretty correct statement of the yearly raw produce of this parish. Scots acres. Grain of all kinds, including peas and beans, - 1545J - L. 10,545 Potatoes and turnips, - - - 416 - 3,161 Hay and pasture, .... 706$ - - 3,339 Flax, .38 - - 304 Gardens, - - - . - 20 - - 400 2725$ - L. 17,749 Fallow, lli,$ "T" Under cultivation, ... 2845J Thinning of woods, ...... 500 60 boats employed in the north herring fishery, ) A . _ _ A _ 44' do Frith of Forth do/ i " - 4o00 • About twenty years ago, the Frith of Forth herring fishing was very extensive, and paid well ; but of late years, it has fallen much off, and for two or three years back, it has been a total -failure. 4 WEMYSS. 397 40 boats employed throughout the year in fishing haddock, cod, and all other kinds of white fish caught in the Frith of Forth) - L. 4160 L. 26,909 Salt, 470 Coal and ironstone, - * - * 20,000 Total yearly value of raw produce, * - L. 47,379 Manufactures. — The principal manufacture is that of hand-loom weaving, in which both men and women are employed. In the large manufacturing establishment at Kirkland, under the firm of Neilson and Company, there are 109 persons engaged in flax- dressing ; 283 employed at the spinning-mill ; 48 in the bleaching department; and 241 in the cloth manufactory; in all, 681, in- cluding men and women, boys and girls. This large and exten- sive work is lighted with gas, and is, for plan, and order and re- gularity, a model for any similar erection. As far as the health and morals of the people are concerned, it is conducted in the best possible manner. It is not only the wish of the proprietors that the work people's children should be properly educated, but they are really and truly so, in all the common branches; and particular attention is also paid to their instruction in the great principles of Christianity, by a well-qualified and efficient teacher. And fewer applications for parochial relief have come from the people employed at this work, than from an; other quarter of the parish. The extensive works now noticed consume annually 1000 tons flax and hemp, from which is spun 280,000 spindles of flax, tow, and hemp yarns, two-thirds of which are made into canvas, sheet- ing, dowlas, ducks, sacking, and other fabrics ; and about one- third of the yarn is sold. The yearly amount of wages may be about L. 17,000. - There are four considerable manufacturers in East Wemyss, and one in Buckhaven, who, it is computed, consume annually 242,320 spindles, which are made into ducks, dowlas, and sheet- ing, amounting to 1,202,625 yards of cloth for the home and foreign market. Weavers' wages, including winding, may amount to L. 10,000 annually. East Wemyss was long distinguished for the manufacture of linen, which has, for some time past, been superseded by those above-mentioned . Salt. — Since the tax on salt was taken off, the number of saltpans has been greatly reduced. At Methil, where there were formerly 398 FIFKSHIRE. nine, there are now none ; and at West Wemyss, where there were formerly seven, there are only two, and at present one of them is not working. 6200 bushels may be about the annual average of salt made for the last three years, the average annual value of which may be about L. 470. This forms at once a very striking contrast to the quantity of salt made in this parish, previous to the abolition of the salt duties ;— for in 1818, 1819, and 1820, the annual average sales of salt made at west Wemyss and Methil, was 50,400 bushels. The salt made here is excellent, and obtains a ready market V. — Parochial Economy. Market-Towns. — There are no market-towns, properly so cal- led, in the parish. The nearest is Kirkcaldy, which is about six miles from the parish church. Villages* — There are seven villages, which are named as under : 1. East Wemyss, in which is the parish church ; 2. West Wemyss; 3. Buckhaven ; 4. Methil ; 5. Kirkland ; 6. West Coaltown ; 7. East Coaltown. The four first are built on the sea-shore, and are rather more than a mile from each other. West Wemyss is a burgh of barony, having for its management two bailies, one treasurer, and a number of councillors. Buckhaven is a large and extensive fishing station. Kirkland is an extensive manufac- turing establishment, under the firm of Neilson and Company; and East and West Coaltowns are inhabited by colliers, and who are all in the employ of Captain Wemyss. Means of Communication. — The turnpike road from Kirkcaldy to Cupar by Kennoway runs through the north part of the parish, and is very good. The other roads, which are kept in repair by means of the statute labour money, have been much improved of late, although they are not by any means so good as they should be. Although there is no post-office, yet we have every facility for communication, as there is a runner or post-boy from Kirkcaldy to Leven every morning, and again from Leven to Kirkcaldy in the afternoon. There are two carriers in Buckhaven, who go to Kirkcaldy every week, the one on Tuesday aad the other on Friday. There is also a carrier in East Wemyss, who goes to Kirkcaldy twice every week, Tuesday and Friday. And there is a woman, who goes every lawful day, carries parcels, and tran- sacts any business with which she may be intrusted. Harbours. — There is a good harbour at Methil. The p^er was i WEMYSS. 399 considerably injured a good many years ago, by a very violent storm. There is also a good harbour at West Wemyss, for the accommodation of vessels engaged in the coal trade. The erec- tion of a new pier and harbour to be set down at the west end of Buckhaven, was agitated some two or three years ago. Several engineers inspected the ground, and were employed in making a plan of the undertaking; but nothing has, as yet, been done. Could it be carried into effect, it would be of great utility to the fisher- men of Buckhaven ; and from the eligibility of the site, it could not fail to be a place of resort for boats and ships in distress. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church is in East Wemyss, and is as conveniently situated for the great body of the people as it could well be. It is an old building in the form of a cross. The date of its erection cannot be ascertained. It has undergone several repairs ; and, although the construction is bad, yet, upon the whole, it is a decent and comfortable place of worship. It has sittings for about 1000 persons. It is by far too small for the parish. From 900 to 1000 communicate annually. The people are very attentive to the ordinances of religion. The manse was built in 1791, and is a good and commodious bouse. The offices are also good, and there is a large garden. The glebe consists of 7 acres and 1 5 falls, Scots measure, and is as excellent land as any in the, parish. The stipend is 17 chalders, half meal and half barley, converted at the rate of the highest fiars in the county, with L. 10 for communion elements. There are some rocks and sea-weed or ware, that belong to the cure. Captain James Wemyss is sole heritor. The presentation is in the gift of the Town- Council of Edinburgh. There is a Dissenting meeting-house in connection with the United Associate Synod, situated on the links of Buckhaven, about two miles from the parish church. The clergyman's stipend is L. 1 10 per annum, with manse and garden. The present minis- ter is the Rev. Robert Pollock. The congregation is respectable, and divine service is well attended. The following persons have been ministers of this parish since the Revolution : Archibald Riddell, 1691 to 1697 ; Thomas Black, 1697 to 1698; James Grierson, 1698 to 1710; John Cleghorn, 1711 to 1744; Harry Spens, 1744 to 1780; William Greenfield, 1781 to 1784; George Gib, 1785 to 181 a The present incumbent was ordained mipister of Alva, presby- 400 FIFESHtltE. tery of Stirling, 22d April 1813, and translated to Wemyss, 4th February 1819. Catecliist — In 1705, the Earl of Cromarty, out of regard to the memory of Margaret, heiress and Countess of Wemyss, and Coun- tess of Cromarty, mortified a small sum of money for founding a salary to a catechist, for catechising and instructing the colliers and salters and others in the parish of Wemyss. The gift of pre- sentation is in the family of Wemyss ; and the presentee is tried and admitted by the minister and kirk-session. The present ca- techist is the second who has ever been appointed ; his salary is L. 50, 16s. 1 1 T 8 g d. a year. The following table contains the census of this parish taken in January and February 1836. Population. Communi- cants. — Sittings held of right. • 5?c 3 u = a it? * • • a o H • a* 1 c & •a c c w s A no 3 3 •C.S 5s.I SP'S 8 ■8 o . -a o i c « PC o .'2 Ha* > H 5 cxpresa gr itous grant 2 o Z^-c s D 1 >»3 E. Wemyss, 837 227 146 809 26 2 352 372 19 66 3 24? 40 Buckhaven, 1475 487 368 550 910 15 551 182 425 466 7£ 7 Methil, 508 166 114 298 178 32 86 123 76 68 18- Kirkland, 543! 146 96 216 316 11 191 84 142 166 14 11 W. Wemyss, 939 1 352 233 865 48 26 156 340 27 39 89 28 W. Coaltown, 299 1 102 61 297 2 77 145 2 9 46 22 E. Coaltown, 162 64 41 123 39 27 50 9 8 8 11 Country p. 452 5215 152 1696 112 1171 322 3480 130 1649 86 182 1 622 144 1440 59 75 67 2c 15 125 759 |*97 78 524 Education. — The parochial school is in East Wemyss. The teacher, who is a licentiate of the church, has the maximum salary, viz. L.34, 4s. 4£d., and L. 1, 15s. 7£d., for the want of the '^ quantity of garden ground. He is also session-clerk, the perquisites of which may average L. 20 a year. The school fees may amount to L. 25 per annum. All the common branches are taught here, as also Latin, French, and mathematics. There are six other schools in the parish, all unendowed, except the school at Kirkland, which is partially endowed, as the company, besides the school fees, give L. 30 a year by way of salary. Nearly 800 young per- sons are receiving instruction in various branches of education, at the different schools. And if there are any in the parish above fifteen years of age, or even above ten, who cannot read, the fault lies with the parents. There is an educational machinery in mo- tion that is not surpassed in any parish; and all the teachers, seven WEMYSS. 401 in number, are distinguished for their zeal, and efficiency, and di- ligence and success, and all, except one, belong to the Established Church. Under this head, we have to remark that the late Mr Archibald Cook, Kirkcaldy, who- died in the beginning of 1832, and who was a native of this parish, left property to a very considerable amount. His widow is liferented in the whole of it, which, after her decease, comes to this parish, and is to be applied solely to educational purposes. During the lifetime of Mrs Cook, the ministers of Dysart, Kirkcaldy, Abbotshall, Leslie, and Wemyss, act as trustees, and have already entered on their office. After her death, the trust devolves on the presbytery of Kirkcaldy. Libraries. — A subscription library was instituted in East Wemyss in 1817, and contains upwards of 300 volumes, consisting of di- vinity, history, voyages, travels, &c. exclusive of reviews and ma- gazines. There are, besides, three other libraries in the parish. There is one in Buckhaven, one in West Wemyss, and a trades- man's library was lately instituted in East Wemyss. Sabbath Schools, — There are Sabbath evening schools in all the villages, and the young people attending them are accommodated with books, chiefly religious, according to their age and capacity. Inns, — There is no want of inns or alehouses in the parish* Their increase has kept pace with the increase of the population. Men cannot be compelled to be religious; but such a tax can an9 ought to be put on strong liquor, as would necessarily oblige them to be sober and temperate. Friendly Societies. — There is in this parish the Generous So- ciety, which was instituted in 1793 for sick and aged members. Each member pays 3s. of entry money, and Is. a quarter, and is not entitled to receive any benefit till he has been six years a member, and paid his quarterly accounts for that period. A mem- ber when sick or unable to work at his lawful employment, receives 4s. a week for a limited time. Those on the superannuated list receive 2s. a week for life. This Society has been the means of doing much good to the members, and of preventing pauperism. There is an annual procession of its members. It is modelled or based upon the plan recommended by the Highland Society of Scotland. Its funds are in a flourishing condition, which is a strong evidence of the correctness of the principles on which it is founded. Savings Banks. — A savings bank was established in East Wemyss about thirty years ago. The yearly investment may be about L. 2 1 0, fife. c c • • • • • • 12 2 1 11 1 5 16 3 2 6 L. .13 7 10 88 1 2 120 14 101 9 34 o 402 FIFESHIRE. being 80 shares among 66 members, at L. 2, 12s. each. For the last three or four years, about L. 100 per annum have been with- drawn. The investments are made chiefly by the working-classes. The sum on hand is L. 1944. There is also a savings bank at West Wemyss ; one at Buckhaven ; and one lately established at West Coaltown. Poor*s Funds. — Captain Wemyss, the sole heritor of this parish, some years ago wisely agreed to give L. 40 a-year in aid of the funds, in order to avoid a legal assessment. His annual payments, however, have hitherto considerably exceeded that sum. In 1833 they amounted to . . . , L.60 O Amount of church collections, 44 19 4J proclamations, raortcloths, .... fines, . . . • burying-ground and seat rents, Of the above sum, there was paid for house rents and occasional charities, .... In monthly pensions, ..... L. 19 5 3} This sum was applied to the payment of salaries to synod clerk, presbytery clerk, session-clerk, kirk treasurer, and precentor, and incidental expenses. Number of poor on the roll, 40 ; average allowance to each, L.2, 10s. 8JJd. Miscellaneous Observations. The enlightened and liberal views that have taken place, in' all departments of industry, have extended themselves to the culti- vation of the soil ; and since the publication of the last Statistical Report of this parish, the most approved methods of agriculture have been introduced. The farmers are industrious, intelligent, and persevering, and possess a comprehensive knowledge of hus- bandry in all its departments. They have spared no expense, and grudged no labour, in order to draw forth, in rich abundance, the capabilities of the ground. They have, accordingly, attended to draining, which has been well and wisely denominated the basis and foundation of all agricultural improvement; and they are more and more impressed with the indispensable necessity of a proper and regular rotation of green cropping, in order that the land may be properly cleaned and prepared for a white or grain crop. There is, therefore, less fallow than formerly, and a greater quantity of potatoes are planted. More live-stock are kept and reared, and a greater quantity of turnips raised. More atten- tion is also paid to liming, which had been hitherto too much ne- WBMYSS. 403 glected, and which never fails to give a new stimulus to soils that had begun to lose their vegetative and productive powers. The great wish and study, in fact, just now is, to have as great a breadth of wheat sown down as possible, because this has been found, for a considerable time past, the best remunerating crop. Great care, however, must be taken not to carry this wish too far, because if it were, it could not fail to have an effect the very re- verse of what was intended. I have only farther to remark, that I know no obstacle or dis- couragement even to the still greater improvement of the farms in this parish, except one, and that is the great quantity of game that abounds, such as hares, and pheasants, and rabbits, &c. No doubt this great evil has been gradually diminishing for some years past ; but still there is plenty of room for farther improvement, which, it is hoped, will not be lost sight of. In every district where game is carefully preserved, and allowed to multiply and increase, no greater bar or obstacle to agricultural improvement can be named. N. B. — Since the above report was written, and given in up- wards of a year ago, I have to notice that a post-office has been ~ established in the village of East Wemyss. The new pier and harbour, to which allusion is made in the body of this report, in reference to Buckhaven, are in a state of great forwardness. The expense of this very important Undertaking is to be about L. 4200, of which the Board of Fisheries, with that liberality that has al- ways characterized their transactions, are to give about L. 3000, and the fishermen of Buckhaven are to implement the rest. The contractors are the Messrs Mathieson, builders, Glasgow, who, as far as they have gone, have executed the work in a most substantial and efficient manner. I have also to record, that on the 6th of June last, the founda- tion stone of a church, in connexion with the Establishment, was laid in the village of Methil, the expense of which is to be L. 1030. It is now far advanced ; so much so, that it will be open for public worship about the beginning of March. This new erection is to contain upwards of 800 sittings, and will accommodate the inhabi- tants of Methil, Kirkland, Methil-hill, Links of Buckhaven, and those of Inverleven, a remote and detached portion of the parish of Markinch, the whole including a population of upwards of 1700. The pier at Methil is also begun to be repaired, the expense of which is to be upwards of L. 1800. January 1838. PARISH OF BURNTISLAND. PRESBYTERY OP KIRKCALDY. SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. DAVID COUPER, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name. — The name of this parish was anciently Wester King- horn. Tradition accounts for its present name by saying, that the small island, which forms part of the west side of the harbour, was originally peopled by a colony of fishermen, whose dwelling was destroyed by fire. But the ancient name of the town was Bart- land or Bertiland, which has passed through various forms into Burntisland. The etymology is uncertain, but is probably to be found in the Gaelic. There is no doubt that the parish has de- rived its present name from the town. Extent, Boundaries. — The parish extends about 2 J miles from east to west, and about 2£ miles from north to south. Its whole extent may be about 5 square miles. It is bounded on the east by Kinghorn ; on the west, by Aberdour; on the north, by both these parishes ; and on the south, by the. Frith of Forth. Topographical Appearances,— The surface is very varied and uneven. The southern part of it presents a series of ridges of different elevations, running from east to west, and parallel to one another. The first is that which rises from the sea ; the next, that which is called the Schoolhill, and sometimes Mount Plea- sant Between these two, is situated the greater part of the town. The next is that on which the village of Kirktoun is situated. These three ridges are of very inconsiderable height; but the suc- ceeding one rises abruptly, about the middle, to an elevation of 625 feet above the level of the sea. The hill thus formed is called the Bin, and is about half a mile from the shore. It has two tops, which, being on the south side very bare and rugged, present a fine contrast to the cultivated fields below. To the northward of this ridge, the parish presents an interesting variety of hill and dale. The eminences are somewhat irregularly scattered, and BURNTISLAND. 405 vary considerably in appearance and elevation. The highest are, Orrock Hill and Dunearn Hill. The latter is the highest land in the parish, being 695 feet above the level of the sea. The view from it is uncommonly extensive and magnificent, embracing, it is said, portions of fourteen counties. % The town stands on a peninsula, which projects a considerable way into the Frith, and is very picturesque in its appearance. There are about three miles of coast, one-third of which is sandy, and two-thirds rocky. At the western boundary there is a small cave, to which at full tide there is no access. The climate is exceedingly salubrious, and epidemics are rare. Hydrography. — : There are few streams in the parish. The most interesting is Starly Burn, which flows off the large field of limestone belonging to the Carron Company, and, after a very short course, falls over a high rock into the sea. The cascade thus formed is at all times highly picturesque, and, seen through the luxuriant foliage which environs it in summer, is an object of uncommon beauty. The water is of a petrifying quality. It holds in solution the super-carbonate of lime, which, on coming into con- tact with the atmosphere, gives off its excess of carbonic acid, and is precipitated as the carbonate of lime. Many interesting spe- cimens of petrified moss and wood have been here procured. The water with which the town is supplied, is conveyed by leaden pipes from the high ground to the eastward. As it flows off lime, it is in some degree impregnated with that substance, and leaves a slight deposit on being boiled. It is hard, but clear and wholesome ; and there is, in general, an abundant supply. Tides, fyc. — Under this head it may be stated, that two hours before high-water the ebb-tide commences to run down inshore ; and that, vice versa, two hours before low-water, the flood-tide commences to run up in-shore. Sometimes before low-water, the tide is observed to flow for a short time, and then to ebb to a greater distance than the line at which the irregular flow com- menced. The reverse of this phenomenon is also observed to take place — the tide sometimes beginning to ebb before high- water, and, after receding a short space, to return to high-water mark. These irregularities are denominated leakies, and are al- ways connected with stormy weather. A minute account of them, as they occur in the Frith, between Queensferry and Alloa, may be found in Sibbald's History of Fife, in a communication from the Rev. Mr Wright, formerly minister at Alloa. 406 FIFESHIUE. Geology and Mineralogy. — This parish, in a geological point of view, is very interesting, not only as illustrating general geological principles, but also from the varied and beautiful displays it affords of the numerous Neptunian and Plutonian rocks of the coal formation, and of the fossil organic remains which it contains. Since the atten- tion of naturalists was first directed to the natural history of this dis- trict, by the observations of Professor Jameson, read to the Wernerian Society, few parts of Scotland have k been more visited by native and foreign geologists, and the Professor himself still pays us an annual visit with his class of Natural History. We regret that the limited nature of this work prevents us from communicating more than the following observations. The. southern part of this parish may be regarded as a centre from which the strata radiate in opposite directions, thus af- fording an example of the qua-qua versal dip. Supposing the spectator to look southward, he will have on his. left Kinghorn and Inchkeith, consisting of strata of the coal formation, dipping to the east. In front, he will have the country between Newhaven and the Pentland range, where the strata dip south ; while on the right, the strata cross the Frith in the direction of Inchcolm, the dip being westerly. Behind the dip is to the north. Hence it would seem as if this part of the country had originally been flat, and been upheaved by some great subterranean force, whose cen- tre of action has been somewhere, near Burntisland. The rocks belong to the coal formation, and are principally lime- stone, sandstone, ironstone, slate-clay, bituminous shale, green- stone, basalt, trap tuffa, &c. At the boundary between Kinghorn and Burntisland, there are beds of sandstone and limestone, which are cut across by greenstone and trap tuffa. Here also occur masses of sandstone, limestone, and slate-clay, imbedded in tufe- ceous rock. Coal has also been ascertained to exist. At Whinnyhall quarries in the south-east part of the parish, the strata have been laid open to a considerable extent In the lowest quarry, or that nearest the sea, they occur in the following order: — the lowest is limestone, then slate-clay, felspar, slate-clay, and bituminous shale of a dark shade of colour, ironstone, sand- stone, alluvium. The dip is eastward. In the next quarry to the north, the same strata occur, exhibiting a beautiful bend or wave* The felspar is here seen bursting through the coal formation, af- fording a very good specimen of a slip or fault. Another example BURNTISLAND. 407 occurs at the third quarry to the north, on the side of the road leading to Kirkcaldy. Between these quarries and the Lochies, is a mass of greenstone with slate-clay, very much hardened, and re- sembling porcelain jasper. The strata of sandstone, shale, and limestone, contain fossil remains of ferns, also specimens of the fossil genera Stigmaria, Sigillaria, Lepidodendron, Lepidophyllum, Lepidostrobus and Ly- copodites. In the bituminous shale and limestone, teeth, bones, scales, and coprolite, of fishes, also entire fossilized fishes occur. Professor Jameson pointed out these remains to his pupils many years ago during his geological excursions. Lately, on opening up a new bed of coal limestone, in the limestone quarries of Burdie House, on the south side of the Forth, so long celebrated for their fossil plants, remains of fishes were discovered. In our Burntisland quarries several of the Burdie House fossil fishes have been met with, besides others unknown there, such as the Pygopteris Jame- soni, and the P. elegans of Agassiz.* The first ridge, mentioned in the account of the topographical appearances as rising from the sea, consists of greenstone dipping to the north. Sandstone occupies the hollow in which the town stands. The second ridge is also of greenstone, and the hollow beyond is filled with sandstone. The third ridge consists of the same material with the two already mentioned ; and in the flat track to the northward, are found sandstone, slate-clay, bituminous shale, and limestone. The Bin, which is the highest part of the succeeding ridge, consists of trap tuffa, and appears to have risen through limestone, sandstone, clay-ironstone, slate-clay, and bitu- minous shale. The minerals found here are natrolite, zeolite, amethyst, chalcedony, agates, &c. The eminences to the north- ward consist of greenstone, basalt, trap tuffa, &c Basalt oc- curs in abundance at Dunearn Hill, along the north side of which, it assumes very distinctly the columnar form. On the summit is a small loch which never dries. This has been supposed to be the crater of an extinct volcano ; and, indeed, throughout the district traces of igneous action are of frequent occurrence. On Orrock hill, there is a beautiful display of basaltic columns. The west side of this hill is bare and steep, and is covered at the bottom ■ In the College Museum of Edinburgh, there is a collection of the Burntisland ibssil fishes. We are particular in mentioning this circumstance, because the lime* stone quarries that afforded the fossil fishes are now do longer worked, and it is only rarely that specimens are to be picked amongst the rubbish in the old quarries. 408 FIFESHIRE. with debris. The north side of Dunearn Hill presents the same appearances on a grander scale. We may now briefly trace the line of coast. The eastern part presents a succession of small sandhills, onwards to the Links. The chief part of these is a fine smooth plain, which is said to have extended at one time to a small rock, now about half a mile from the shore. In this quarter, the sea has obviously made great encroach- ments. The current sweeping round the rock already mentioned, has gradually gained on the land, and worn away the softer por- tions of the opposite rocks at Lamberlaws. From the Links to the harbour, is the ridge of greenstone formerly noticed. Along half of this space, the rocks are very rugged and precipitous, and at high water are covered in some places to the depth of 12 or 14 feet From the harbour westward, along the rest of the peninsula, the coast presents limestone alternating with sandstone, and is very rugged from the large quantities of debris. The same rocks pre- dominate along the remainder of the coast. At Starly-burn, the rocks are incrusted with deposits of calc tuff and calc sinter, from springs which come through the large beds of limestone, in the south-west part of the parish. The veins of calcareous spar, so abundant in amygdaloidal and trap rocks, have been filled up with similar deposits, crystallization taking place after the deposi- tion. Fossils of the vegetable kind are found, but not in great abun- dance, at the quarries at Newbigging, and at the old sandstone quarries near the coast, at the eastern boundary of the parish* Charred wood occurs in the masses of trap tuffa, scattered along the eastern shore. The chief alluvial deposits are, loam, gravel, sand, clay, and moss. The soil between the town and the Bin is mostly a rich deep loam of great fertility, and is probably as good land as can be found in the county. To the northward, the soil is lighter; but, being for the most part well cultivated, yields good crops. A strip of mossy ground runs along the northern boundary of the parish. Quarries. — Besides the quarries already noticed, there is one of excellent sandstone or freestone at Grange. At Newbigging, the limestone rock has been extensively excavated. The western quarry extends from the front of the rock backwards above a hundred yards. The roof is sandstone, — to support which, masses of limestone four feet square are left standing. The roams between these supports are BURNTISLAND. _ 409 36 feet square. Id July 1831, a great part of this quarry was flooded, and eight rooms are still under water. A large proportion of the limestone is now got from a mine to the eastward, which com- municates with the surface by a tunnel, 500 yards in length, 3 in width, and 2£ in height. In cutting this tunnel, great obstructions were met with, the ground being much troubled with dikes and off- cuts. Masses of greenstone, limestone, freestone, clay, and blaes, (black and gray) were found intermingled in a state of great con- fusion. The whole bed of limestone is very much intersected with dikes. Zoology. — In addition to hares, rabbits, and other common ani- mals, deer, badgers, and otters, are occasionally seen. About eighty species of birds, including land and sea-birds, are natives or visitors of the parish, but none is peculiar to it, nor are there any very rare. The golden-crested wren, the bullfinch, the gold- finch, the jay, the fieldfare, the pheasant, with most of the com- mon small birds, are found in the district. It has been remarked, that, since the gre$t snow-storm of 1822, goldfinches have been much less numerous than they previously were. In June 1834, a brown-coloured crow was seen in the parish, and attempts were made, but without success, to obtain possession of it. The more common species of fish are found off the coast. For several seasons, the herring, which formerly was very abundant, has almost totally deserted the Frith. Oysters and lobsters are found, with abundance of cockles, spout-fish, and sand-eels, which form part of the food of the poorer classes during summer. Great num- bers, especially of the young, may then be seen digging at low water for these kinds of fish, in the extensive sand-beds to the east of Burntisland. Botany. — The following is a list of the plants most worthy of notice ; some of them are understood to be very rare :— Primula elatior, . . Starly-burn. Hyoscyamus niger, . . Waste ground east of Starly-burn. Solanum dulcamara, . Roadside leading to Aberdour plentiful. Cochlearia danica, . West pier, Burntisland. Orobancbe major, . . Bank to tbe north of the town. Ballota nigra, . . Lanes near the church. Abundant. Marrubium vulgare, . Waste places. Thlaspi arvense, . . Field south side of road. Starly-burn. Lepidium campestre, . Do* Sedum telephiuin, . . Rocky banks by the sea. reflexum, . Grange quarry. Galeopsis ladanuxn, . Cornfield, south-east of Bin. Plentiful. Anchusa scinpervirens, . Near west toll-bar, by side of a foot. path. Borago officinalis, . Lane to the east of the churchy Coronopus Ruellii, . Wayside near manse. Very abundant. 410 FIFESHIUE. Salvia verbenaca, . Bank facing the harbour. Cakile maritima, . East of the town. Giaux maritimum, . Do. SalsokkaH, Do. Geranium sanguineum, Hills east from Burntisland. Erythraem oentaurea, Do. Parietaria muralis, . Opposite the harbour. Euphorbia exigu?, • Cornfields. Reseda lutea et luteola, • Between Burntisland and Pettycur. Brassica campestris, . Near Starly-burn. Aster Tripolium, • . Salt-marsh, west of Burntisland. Inula helenium, . Hills east of do. Chrysanthemum segetum, . Cornfields. Sparganium nalans, . Dunearn Hill. simplex, • . Do. Eleocharis fluitnns, . Do. Litorella lacustris, ■ Do. Diantbus deltoides, . . Do. Mercurialis annua, . Waste ground near the church. Veronica anagallis, . Ditches. Phleum arenarium, . Between Burntisland and Pettycur. Poarigida, . . Old walls. Carex extensa, . Starly-burn. curta, . . Do. Eupatoria cannabinum, Do. Asplenium marinum, . Do. Blysmus rufus, . Do. Cynoglossutn officinale, Pastures near the sea. Rumex maritimus, . Sea shore. The following also occur, but we are not in possession of their localities : — Triticum loliaceum, . . Sinapis alba, Erythrea littoral is, . Sol id ago virgaurea, Sium angustifolium, . . Trifolium acabrum, Gentiana campettris, . Tragopogon majus, (or pnrtenae,) Origanum vulgare, . Zostera marina. In the parish, generally, there is a great deficiency of wood. Within the last two or three years, some attention has been paid to the remedying of this defect ; but there is still ample scope for improvement. The soil appears most congenial to hard -wood, oak, ash, elm, &c. It may be mentioned that there grew last summer in the manse garden, a Scots thistle, which produced 713 heads, exclusive of about thirty which were scarcely developed. * « * With regard to the department of Natural History, it may not be out of place to record here the suggestion so often urged by Professor Jameson, and also by an intelligent friend, that, in connection with every parochial school, it would be very desirable to have a parochial museum. A certain knowledge k of natural history, would of course, be requisite in the parish teacher ; the scholars and others might be en- couraged to collect specimens ; and in almost every parish, there would surely be found some individuals who would take an interest in the matter, and bear part of the expenses, which would be very trifling. The scheme, if carried into effect, would lead to a very complete knowledge of the Natural History of the country. To those who have not reflected on the subject, it is almost incredible what an interesting col- lection might be formed out of the productions of a single parish. N BURNTISLAND. 411 II. — Civil History. The Town-council records are the chief source of information regarding the history and antiquities of the parish. The Session records are also of some use in this respect Some of the follow- ing details are derived from the Report on the Municipal Corpo- rations of Scotland. Historical Notices. — It has been conjectured that Agricola's army encamped on Dunearn Hill, on the summit of which is a flat piece of ground, surrounded with an immense number of loose stones, called, according to the former account, Agricola's camp or garrison. It is certain that that General explored the north coast of the Frith of Forth, directing his attention particularly to the harbours. " Portus classe exploravit trans Bodotriam," says Tacitus, in the 22d chapter of his Life of Agricola. He could scarcely fail to be struck with the natural superiority of the har- bour at this point, and may be reasonably conjectured to have landed here* Prior to 1541, the town of Burntisland belonged to the Abbey of Dunfermline. It was then exchanged by James V. for some lands in the neighbourhood, and was proclaimed a royal burgh in 1568. Before the Union, it seems to have been a place of considerable importance. About 1656, Kinghorn, Kirkcaldy, Dysart, Wemyss, Leven, Ely, St Monance, Pittenweem, Anstruther, Crail, St An- drews, and South Queensferry were all counted as members of the head port of Burntisland ; and the tonnage of the whole was esti- mated at 1291 tons, divided over 46 vessels. About that period, and previously, there seems to have been considerable intercourse between this port and Holland. In May 1601, the General Assembly met at Burntisland. On this occasion, James VI. renewed his vows as a Covenanter. Hav- ing confessed the errors that had hitherto characterized his go- vernment, he vowed, with uplifted hand, that he would adhere to the religion presently professed in the realm of Scotland, that he would oppose the efforts of its adversaries, and be more faithful than he had hitherto been, in performing all the duties of a good and Christian King. The members of Assembly also vowed, at his request, that they would be more faithful in the discharge of their respective duties ; and, that the people might be aware of the good understanding between him and the church, the mutual vow was ordered to be intimated from the pulpits on the following Sab- bath. At this Assembly, the King also suggested the propriety 412 FIFESH1RE. of revising the common translation of the Scriptures, and the me- trical version of the Psalms. According to Spotswood, the speech which he made on the occasion " bred not little admiration' in the whole assembly." " But ravished as they were," says Dr M'Crie, " and proud as they might be of having for a King so great a di- vine and linguist and poet, the Assembly did not think fit to gra- tify his Majesty by naming him on the committee; but recom-^ mended the translation of the Bible to such of their own number as were best acquainted with the original languages, and the cor- rection of the psalmody to Pont."* The inhabitants of Burntisland were zealous Covenanters. In 1638, many of them signified their adherence to the National Co- venant, as the kirk-session records testify, " with tearis of great joy." The minister, " Mr Johne Mitchelsone," being of a dif- ferent mind, was left for a time to preach to empty walls — * c 13 May — 20 May — 27 May — 3 Junii — 10 Junii — no actionis, be- cause the people goes from the kirke and will not heir the minis- ter, seing he will (not) covenant with the people of God." In February 1639, he was deposed for contumacy with regard to the Covenant, and for disowning the proceedings of the celebrated Assembly that was held at Glasgow. It is said that the town capitulated to Cromwell on condition of his repairing the streets and the harbour. The quays, as they at present stand, were accordingly built by him ; and up to the date of last Account, no repairs had been added to those which he ef- fected on the streets. Some years ago, the old pavement was broken up, and the main street macadamized In 1715, the town was occupied by the Earl of Mar's troops, who found the harbour very advantageous for the reception of foreign stores. Land-owners. — The chief land-owners are, Mrs Aytoun of Inch- dairnie ; the Carron Company ; the Heirs of the late Alexander Greenhill, Esq.; J. G. Drinkwater Bethune, Esq. of Orrock; James Bogie, Esq. ; The Earl of Morton; Messrs Young; the Heirs of Captain Beatson ; and Mrs Pillans of Rossend. Eminent Characters. — Mrs Somerville, whose works have raised her to a very high place among modern writers in Natural Philo- sophy, spent part of her youth in this parish. Craigholm, towards the east end of the links, is the summer residence of the Rev. Dr Chalmers. • Life of Melville, Vol. ii. 173—175. BURNTISLAND. 413 Parochial Registers. — The session records commence at March 1602. They consist of eight volumes, and have for the most part been regularly kept Blanks occur from 1670 to 1672; from 1686 to 1693; from 1711 to 1719; and from 1748 to 1769. From 1786 there is a series of fragments on to 1821; after which period, the record has been regularly kept * The register of births, baptisms, and marriages commences at 1672, and is con- tinued more or less perfectly to the present time. As in the session records, there are some considerable blanks. At va- rious periods, a record of deaths has been kept, but it is very scanty.f Antiquities. — The town was at one time forti6ed. On the south- east side of the harbour, part of the walls of a fort is still standing; and till within a few years back, traces of the ancient fortification were discernible on the small eminence in the north side of the town. At Lamberlaws, on a knoll projecting into the sea, are the traces of an encampment ascribed to Cromwell ; in consequence of which, the name of Oliver's knoll has sometimes been given to the locality. In the same situation, there appears to have stood at one time a gallows for the execution of criminals under the feu- dal system. In allusion to this circumstance, the locality is some- times called Gallows Knoll. On an eminence overhanging the harbour stands Rossend Cas- tle, erected, it would seem, at some period in the fifteenth century, by Dury of that Ilk. Sibbald, in his History of Fife, states, that " in the chartulary of Dun ferm ling, (to which abbacy this town, castle, and harbour belonged,) there is a grant by George Durio, • Since 1616, there appear to have been sixteen ministers of the parish, the aver- age duration of their ministry being nearly fourteen years. One of them, " Mr Harie Malcome," officiated only one Sabbath as minister. The record, after giving an account of his admission on June 17th 1663, has the following entry : " Sunday the 21 of June, our minister, Mr Harie Malcome, preached before and after noone, &c He went awaye on Monday in the morning yrafter to his father's, and came never back againe to us, for his father presentlie dieing where he was there he stayed and sucsidet to his father's church." f Some of the entries are of a Striking character : " Janr. 1737, perished in a storm near Andrew Watt, late Provest of this burgh, and with bim in the ship also perished his eldest son Andrew, his second son, William, his fourth son, David. Also perished with them Andrew Boog, son to George Boog, late Bailie in this burgh. Also perished with them James Sinclair, mariner in this town, also other four youths."—" 1 739, May 1 0th, being Thursday about three o'clock in the morning, perished in the water within the harbour, (the sea being in) within twenty or thirty yards of the Iron-crag towards the south-west of it, John A it ken, David Laverock, and Gouvlie, all belonging to Kinghorn, their fathers still living there, and Andrew Thomson, carpenter, at present living here (!) All four young men, below thirty years of age the eldest. An awful Providence !" 414 FIFESHIRK. commendater of Dunfermling, and Archdeacon of St Andrews, to Robert Dune of that Ilk, of our lands of Nether Grange of King- horn Wester, called Le Mains ; together with the keeping of the place or fort of the same ; * and for the preserving and custody thereof, we dispone heritably our lands of Grefland and Cuninger- land, now called Brunt- Island, within our shire of Kinghorn, rega- lity of Dunfermling, and sheriffdom of Fife ;' dated anno 1538." After the Reformation, according to the same authority, the cas- tle was given first to Kirkcaldy of Grange, then to Sir Robert Melville of Carnie. Since that period, it is understood to have passed through the hands of many different proprietors. It served as head quarters to the detachment of the Covenanters' troops that was raised in this part of the country. In modern times, con- siderable additions have been made to it It is surrounded by plantations and garden ground ; and forms a fine object in the foreground of the rich and extensive view commanded by the en- virons of the town. At the village of Kirktoun, are the ruins of the original parish church, surrounded by a small burying-ground. The date of its erection is unknown ; but it bears the marks of great antiquity. On a small eminence at Stenhouse, in the north-west part of the parish, stand the ruins of a small fort or castle, called Knockda- vie. It belonged anciently to an individual of the name of Dou- glas, of whom some notice is taken in " The Judgments of God on Persecutors," appended to some of the old editions of the Scots Worthies. At Balbee, a mile and a half eastward, there existed a structure somewhat similar. It was taken down about sixty or seventy years ago, and portions of the fine hewn freestone of which it was built may still be seen in some of the walls in the neighbourhood. Near the same place, a barrow or tumulus was opened fifty years ago, when some square stones were found, ar- ranged in the form of a coffin, but containing no particular relics. There appears to have been a number of tumuli in the same neigh- bourhood. IIL — Population. Population in 1811, (seamen included,) 2000 1821, 2180 1881, 2399 BURNTISLAND. 415 The following abstract of the population was drawn up by Mr Davidson, the burgh schoolmaster, in 1831 :— o 9** 8 8 5 © © lO CO © 1^ 2? S s s a o a, a •** 3 £ Ages of males. 4 e >o © 8 3i S s c* 5 • 3 S a 6 B a a a a a ! a ca "8 2 o u fa 1 1 o £ 86 1 o o fa 2 r £ fa fa ** 863 [Burntisland, 116121 107 86128 87 57 45 24 7 Kirktoun, 16; 17 10 6, 15 12 11 2 2 91 Country, Total males, 22 24 l 17 12 35 178 24 19 10 7 1 2 173 1127 154161 134 104 122 117 69 54 25 9 Ages females. 1 | 1 Burntisland. 101 128 107 as 162 117 113 84 75 33 7 [010 Kirktoun, 22 15 10 4 11 14 8 7 7 1 9£ Country, 18 17 22 11 30 23 18 3 6 5 163 1272 2399 Total females, Il4l|l70 1 , 1 139 273 98203 154 139 ( 94 88 39! 7 6416 Male and fern. '295331 202381 276 256163142 Exclusive of seamen not constantly resident, the whole population was found to be - - - - " 2366 Of which number there resided in the town, - - 1842 In the village of Kirktoun, - - - 189 And in the landward part of the parish, - - 335 The number of families was ... - 537 males above 20, ... - 574 under 20, - - - 553 houses - - - 295 Of which 2 were building, and 24 uninhabited. Illegitimate births in the course of the last three years, . . 6 From temporary causes, the population seems to have been somewhat greater when the census was taken, than it would other- wise have been. There has since been a considerable decrease. According to a census taken four years after by the writer, the number of families was found to be 500, giving a population of about 2100. This decrease must chiefly be attributed to the great failure in the herring fishery during the last five years. Employ- ment having thus become scarcer, many have been compelled to seek for it elsewhere. It has also happened, that several families, not dependent on trade, have removed from the parish since the Government census was taken, while others in similar circumstan- ces have not come in to occupy their place. The average number of births for the last seven years may be stated at 65 proclamations, - - 13 deaths, - - - 34 Twelve of the heritors are proprietors of land of the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards. Of these only three are resident, viz. the Messrs Young, who occupy the elegant residences of Col- linswell, Grange, and Newbigging. 416 FIPESHIRE. There are four fatuous persons in the parish, one insane, and one or two blind. The chief game is golf, — the links, though not very extensive, being well adapted for it. A golf club has been in existence up- wards of forty years. IV. — Industry. There are about 2900 imperial acres in the parish, of which from 400 to 500 are in pasture, and nearly 90 are covered with wood. From the extent of rocky surface, thertf is a considerable proportion of waste land, but none that could profitably be added to what is already in cultivation. Some of it, however, might be advantageously planted. There is no land in the parish in undi- vided common. Rent of Land. — The value of arable land varies from L. 1, 10s. up to L. 7 per acre ; the average rent may be nearly L. 3. The rent of grazing is estimated at L. 3 for an ox or cow, and at 15s. foe a sheep. Rate of Wages. — Farm-servants receive from 9s. to 12s. per week ; and the different kinds of country artisans from 15s. to L. 1. Husbandry. — The following is the rotation of crops adopted in the southern and more fertile part of the parish : — green crop, succeeded by wheat, barley, or oats ; and then green crop of a different kind from what has been two years before. The rota- tion in the more northern parts is as follows : — green crop, bar- ley or oats, and sometimes wheat ; sown grass, one, two, or three years; then oats. The system of husbandry may be regarded as carried in some parts of the parish to great perfection. Within a* few years, some waste land has been reclaimed, and great improve- ments have been effected by liming and draining. The farm- steadings are, for the most part, in excellent order ; but there is in some quarters, a great want of fences, and on this account there is little or no pasture in the most fertile district of the parish. The usual period of a lease is nineteen years. The cattle are ge- nerally of the Fife breed, and the sheep of the Cheviot breed. Produce. — It is difficult to ascertain the gross produce of the parish ; but the real rental being about L. 4800, should give an average of about L. 14,000. Corn-Mills. — Of these there are two, both in the neighbour- hood of the town. One of them is driven by the sea, and can work on an average about fourteen hours per day. Distillery. — There is an extensive distillery at Grange, about half a-mile to the northward of the town ; 11,000. quarters of malt, BURNTISLAND. 417 the quantity which it annually consumes, yield 185,000 gallons of proof spirits, the duty on which amounts of itself to about L. 36,000 ; or nearly L. 100 per day. About 700 head of cattle are annually fed in connection with this distillery, which at L. 15, 10s. per head, will produce L. 10,850. The proprietors of this work employ re- gularly about 100 men and 50 horses. Notwithstanding the na- ture of their employment, the men, in general, are sober and steady. Herring fishery and curing, — The herring fishery commenced about 1793, and from that period till about 1805, was carried on only in the Frith during the winter season. The curers then be- gan to send boats during summer to the northern fishing stations, and for many years the trade was very prosperous. At its mpst flourishing period, as many as 500 vessels might be seen at once in the harbour, all either connected directly with the fishery, or em- ployed in the exportation of herrings. The trade has now greatly declined, there having been no winter fishing for the last five years. At present, there are eight curing establishments which send out to the northern fishery between 70 and 80 boats, most of which belong to other ports in the Frith. The greater part of them go to Wick, the rest to Fraserburgh and Rosehearty. The middle of July is the time at which they usually set out, and they return in about two months. Each boat carries five men, so that during two months in the year, Burntisland employs in this way about 400 men. A number more are employed in the sloops which, to the number of 8 or 10, ply during the same period between this port and the fishing stations, carrying out barrels and salt, and bringing home the herrings that have been taken. From 200 to 250 cranes, (a crane being equal to a barrel,) are considered to be the com- plement of each boat For some years, there have been annually cured from 16,000 to 18,000 barrels, which, at L. 1, the average price per barrel, will give the same number of pounds. About 36 hands, including apprentices, are constantly employed as coopers; and about 60 females are occasionally employed in the curing of the herrings. The occupation is cold and disagreeable ; but even this cannot warrant a pernicious practice that has long prevailed, of giving daily to those engaged in it, and some of these are young females, a considerable quantity of undiluted spirits. Whale fishing Company. — This company commenced operations in 1830, and from that period have annually sent out two vessels, one of 377 tons, and the other of 311, — each of which carries 50 men. Last season, both returned clean ; but from 1830 to 1835, fife. d d 418 FIFESHIRE. their cargoes produced 1112 tons of oil, and 56 tons of bones. During that period, the wages and oil money paid to the crews of both vessels amounted to upwards of L. 14,400 Sterling; and up- wards of L. 1300 was paid for labourage, landing cargoes, prepar- ing the oil, and cleaning the bone. Twelve oilmen and coopers are employed in the work, and from twelve to fifteen women in cleaning the bone. The late Sir John Leslie, in a report on the subject, gives the following account of the method devised and carried into effect bv Mr Farnie, for destroying the fetid vapours emitted dur- ing the manufacture of the oil. " The boiler is very large, and completely covered by a circle of thick plank, except a small open- ing on the more accessible side, to receive the contents of the casks, and a narrow vent in another part, which allows a current of air to mingle with the vapour, and sweep over the surface of the heated oil. ' All the steaming products are made to enter into a re- verberatory furnace, and pass upwards through two successive branders, charged with coke or coal, that burn with an intense white heat. On the same level with the branders, are three small air-holes, having each a separate flue for inciting occasionally the ardour of inflammation, and while the ebullition advances, the blubber lying at the bottom of the pan is constantly turned round by an agitator, like the stirrer of a large still, only driven by the action of a crank fixed near the side of the boiler. After the boil- ing is finished, and the oil has been moderately cooled, it is drawn by means of a syphon into a tank, and the refuse thrown into a covered vault ; every operation being performed under the same close roof." Sir John states that he regards the operations intro- duced by this company " as an invaluable practical invention," and expresses his belief that it will " be speedily adopted in the ma- ritime parts of the empire, and thus become a real national bles- sing. Skip-Building. — In the building and repairing of vessels, 30 men are at present employed ; at former periods, there have been as many as 100. The largest vessel ever built here was one of 443 tons. V. — Parochial Economy. MarhtUTovm. — The nearest market-town is Kirkcaldy, six miles distant. The only village in the parish is Kirktoun. Burgh. — The town-council consists of 21, while only 31 bur- gesses are qualified to be elected ; but this is one of the burghs the number of whose councillors it is proposed to reduce. It unites BURNTISLAND. 419 with Kirkcaldy, Dysart, and Kinghorn, in returning a Member to Parliament. The number of voters is 4& Within the parliamentary boundaries, there are 66 persons whose rents in property or tenantry amount to L. 10 per annum and upwards, and of these 35 are bur- gesses. Within the same boundaries, there are 53 persons whose rents amount to L. 5, and are under L. 10; and of these 9 are burgesses. Besides the guildry, amounting to 82, inclusive of 7 non-resident, there are 6 incorporated trades, viz. hammermen, tailors, weavers, fleshers, shoemakers, bakers. All these corpora- tions, together with a rather wealthy institution called the Prime- Guild Society, which consists of ship-owners and others connect- ed with the sea-faring line, are possessed of seats in the parish church ; and it must be added, that some of these bodies wring out as high seat rents as possible from the pockets of the parishioners. A number of seats are also possessed by the town. Means of Communication. — There is a regular post-office, the revenue of which amounted, some years ago, to about L. 300; but, from the decay of trade, is now understood to fall short of that sum. The communication with Edinburgh, by means of the post, is twice- a-day. There are about five miles of turnpike road, but no public carriages travel regularly through any part of the parish. The Dundee and Perth coaches come occasionally this way, when the weather is too severe to admit of the passengers embarking at Pettycur. This being one of the stations of the Fife and Mid- Lothian ferries, there is regular communication by steam with Newhaven ; but great complaints are made of the extravagance of the fares, which are 2s. in the cabin, and Is. 6d. steerage, — very high rates, it must be allowed, for a distance short of six miles. In addition to the steam-vessels, there are large sailing-boats which ply at tide-time every lawful day, and are principally employed in carrying goods, &c Harbour, fyc — The opinion anciently entertained of the excel- lence of the harbour may be learned from the name " Portus gra- fted or " Portus salutis" by which it is designated in some of the charters of the burgh. It is still reckoned the best in the frith, being easily entered, as well as very capacious and secure ; and at full tide of great depth. Its latitude is 56° & 2n shore on the island of Juan Fernan- dez. He remained here, in entire solitude, four years and four months, when he was brought to England by Captain Woods Rogers. LARGO. 437 De Foe found him about Wapping, and out of his story constructed Robinson Crusoe, the most entertaining and popular of all adven- tures. Alexander brought home the gun, sea-chest, and cap which he had with him on the desolate island, returned to sea after nine months, and was never heard of again. The late Sir John Leslie was born in this parish in 1 766, of respec- table parents.* He discovered an early predilection for mathematical and physical science, having with little aid qualified himself, in his thirteenth year, for the senior mathematic class in the University of St Andrews. In 1784, he entered as a student of Divinity at Edinburgh, but soon gave up all thoughts of the church as a pro- fession, and devoted an interval of several years to private teach- ing, travelling and writing for periodical publications of the day. Becoming well known by his differential thermometer, completed in 1794, by his essay on Heat, published in 1804, and by other works published in Nicolson's Journal, and the Transactions of the Royal Society of London, he was elected Professor of Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh, in 1805; in 1809, Professor of Natural Philosophy; and in 1820, Corresponding Member of the Institute of France. He contributed largely to the new edition of the Encyclo- paedia Britannica ; and in that, was published his last and best pro- duction, " The Progress of Mathematical Science in the eighteenth century." In 1832, he was created a Knight of the Guelphic Order, and in the November of that year he died, leaving the impress of his vigorous and original genius, whatever may be thought of his theories and reasonings, on his admirable instruments and experi- mental labours. Land-ovmers. — The chief land-owners in this parish are : General James Durham of Largo, valued rent, L. 8463 18 Captain Erskine Wemyss of Lundin, . . Lieutenant- Colonel Briggs of Strathearly, James Wyld, Rsq. of GiUton, • Captain Ker of Greenside and Baloomo, Andrew Pitcairn, Esq. of Pratis, Alexander Youngson, Esq. of West Gilston, Lady Baird of Preston field, . Dundas Blair, Esq. of Teuchats, David Millie, Esq, of Balhousie, Real rent about Of these, five have residences in, and two bordering on, the parish. The handsomest house is that of Largo, built in 1750, very spa- cious, and commanding a rich and extensive prospect. * A biography of Sir John Leslie, by one of his colleagues in the University of Edinburgh, appeared in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Vol. zxiii. • 2237 7 8 • 419 14 8 • 480 7 2 • 811 12 9 • 801 10 10 • 152 15 2 • 184 10 3 • 101 It 6 • 160 2 Sum, L.7813 10 L.8500 438 F1FRSHIRB. Antiquties. — A circular tower of the old house, inhabited by Sir Andrew Wood, and said to have been, previously to his time, a jointure house of the Scottish queens, still remains. General Dur- ham has lately put on it a monumental stone, with an inscription from Sir Andrew's charter.* On the banks of the Kiel, a small stream, are the ruins of the Castle of Balcruvie, once possessed by the noble family of Crawford. In the centre of Lundin House, which is a modern erection, rises a square tower of great antiquity. The property of Lundin, which once embraced nearly the whole parish, was held by individuals of the name of Lundin, so early as the reign of David I. One of King William the Lion's sons, Ro- bert, married the heiress, and in 1670, John Drummond, second son of the Earl of Perth, married the then heiress Sophia, after which the property remained in the united families of Perth and Lundin, now represented by Lady Willoughby D'Eresby, for a number of years subsequent to the attainder of the Earl of Perth in 1745, when it was disposed of; and it is now in possession of Cap- tain Erskine Wemyss of Wemyss Castle, in right of his mother, daughter of the late Sir William Erskine, Bart-f- To the south and east of Lundin House tire erected three un- wrought stones of a triangular form, measuring six yards above, and, as it is thought, as much below ground, the solid contents of each being 270 feet They bear no traces of any figure or in- scription. By some, they are conjectured to be of Roman origin ; by others, to be the gravestones of Danish chiefs, who fought here and were conquered by Banquo and Macbeth ; and by others, perhaps, with most probability, to be Druidical remains. Ancient sepulchres are found near them. They are of red sandstone. Two pieces of the same species of stone, evidently belonging to each other, were found some years ago, a mile apart, on the south of Largo estate. They are now joined, and present the appearance of a carved cross, of which the transverse pieces are equal, sur- rounded by a carved circle, touching the extremities of each. Such stones are said to be extremely rare, one only being known 9 He bcs also erected this summer, on a handsome stage, an iron 82 pounder, belong- ing to the Royal George, which was wrecked in 1782. This gun, which was recover- ed in 1 836, and presented to the General by the Board of Ordnance, is peculiarly in- teresting, as Admiral Sir Philip Durham, his brother, a native of the parish, and a distinguished officer, Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, now, and at the time when the gun was recovered, was a lieutenant, and on board of the Royal George, at the time of the wreck, and one of 70 who, out of 1200 persons, were rescued from that fatal calamity. f The only descendants of the family of Lundin, bearing the name, are the Lun- dtns of Auchtermairnie, in the parish of Kennoway. 3 LARGO. 439 in Britain, and a few in Denmark. On a rising ground to the north, called Nome's Law, several antiquities in silver were dis- covered, together with a number of small silver Roman coins, bearing the stamp of the earlier emperors. They are now in the possession of General Durham. On the property of Balhousie, about forty years ago, were found, deposited eighteen inches be- neath the surface, three earthen vases containing ashes, and near them some rude stone coffins, and the bones of a child. III. — Population. The population amounted in ] 755, to 1896 1801, . 1867 1811, . 1973 1821, . 2301 1831, . 2J67 Males, .... 1210 Females, . . . 1357 Males above twenty years of age, . 606 The population formerly employed in sea pursuits, salt-works, and collieries, in the south, has no doubt been diminished ; but the deficiency is far more than counterbalanced by the greater number of hands employed in the cultivation of the land, in manufactures, and in collieries in the north. Of the whole, there may be considered as residing in Tillages, . 1761 in the country, 806 It is to be regretted, that, from the registration of births not be- ing compulsory, no accurate account of them can be furnished. Average of deaths for the last seven years, 46} of marriages, . . 19 Number of families, . 590 children in a family, . 4 inhabited houses, . . 479 uninhabited, .... 3 families employed in agriculture, . 159 manufactures of all kinds, 343 all others, . . .97 Number of insane persons kept in an asylum, 4 ; of fatuous, 4 ; of blind, 3, and 2 children nearly so ; of deaf and dumb, 3, one of whom is educating at the Edin- burgh institution. The proprietors of land of L. 50 and upwards are the heritors formerly mentioned, three of whom are resident. There is nothing peculiar in the language or manners of the in- habitants. It argues well for their prudence and management, that with wages, as frequently happens, not exceeding 6s. or 7s. a-week, they are able to clothe, educate, and feed their families, pay their house rent, and defray other necessary expenses. Their general character, with exceptions which are found almost solely in the villages, may be considered as moral and becoming. Their kindness to each other in distress, it is always gratifying to witness ; 440 PIFESHIRE. and their attendance at religious meetings, besides the ordinary Sabbath services, is a favourable evidence of their religious cha- racter. IV. — Industry. The number of acres in the parish in cultivation is, • 5935 of pasturage lands, . 290 of planting, . • 505 In general, the plantations consist of Scotch fir, larch, oak, elm, plane, ash, and beech. They thrive well, particularly the oak, if allowed sufficient room. On the north side of the parish, which is higher and of less value, the plantations, though mixed with va- rious sorts of hard-wood, are chiefly Scotch fir and larch ; the latter is rapid in its growth, and found to be very useful for many country purposes. The plantations are under good management, and regularly thinned, but the produce is small. • Rent. — The average rent of land may be reckoned at L. 2 per acre ; the rate of grazing an ox depends on his weight and size, — at three years old, and weighing 40 superficial stones, he may be grazed for L.2, 15s.; a milk cow, L.8; and a full-grown Leices- ter sheep, 14s. Live-Stock. — The cattle generally bred are what is termed the Fife breed, but it is not considered pure. Of late, some farmers have bred from short-horned or Teeswater bulls, which is reckon- ed a great improvement, as the stock both milk well and feed well. No sheep are bred except for private use, and these are of the Leicester kind. Horses are reared chiefly for draught Some of a superior kind have been bred lately from Yorkshire coaching horses, and have brought high prices for gentlemen's carriages. A considerable number of hogs are bred and fattened. They are of a smaller kind than formerly, being a cross of the Chinese, which are easily fattened, and meet with a ready market. Husbandry.. — There is little waste land in the parish, all having undergone some degree of improvement, although in some places much remains to be done. Increased attention is now given to drain* ing; and considerable sums have been laid out on it, to great advan- tage. Furrow or surface drains are becoming frequent, and are high- ly approved. It is usual for the landlord to be at the expense of opening and filling them, whilst the tenant defrays the remainder. The general duration of leases is nineteen years. For the first fifteen, the tenant, though taken bound not to deteriorate the land by over-cropping, is otherwise unrestricted ; for the last four, he is tied down to a certain management and rotation, according to 4 LARGO. 441 the nature of the ground, and particularly, to leave a proportion of it in grass, green crop, and fellow. The term of lease may be long enough in ordinary cases, but not sufficient to reimburse the tenant when great improvements have been accomplished at his expense. The farm-buildings are now generally commodious and suitable. Much has been done for their improvement, within twenty years. The farm-house ordinarily consists of two storeys, covered with tile or slate, and has the office-houses behind it, for the most part in the form of a square. There is only a small proportion of unenclosed ground in the parish, although some of the fences are very insufficient, and not well taken care of. More attention is now paid to them, and the ditches are occasionally scoured, and the hedges dressed and cleaned annually. No obstacles of mate- rial consequence oppose the agricultural improvement of the pa- rish, except the low prices of produce for some years, which have barely enabled the tenant to pay his rent and his current expenses of cultivation. Fishery. — Some years ago, a salmon stake-net fishery was com* menced in Largo Bay. The rent paid to the proprietors of the diffe- rent stations was one-fourteenth of the gross produce. The annual amount of the fish sold, on an average of five years, was only L. 130, and from the expense of erecting and keeping the nets, nearly half of the capital Employed was lost. The undertaking has been resumed, and is now more prosperously carried on. Manufacture** — There are two manufactures in the parish ; one water-mill for cleaning, and the other water and steam-mill for spin- ning flax ; the first employing 4, the second employing 85 hands. They work six days in the week, twelve hours per diem, and nine on Saturday. They afford a fair remuneration, $nd are not con- sidered as particularly prejudicial either to health or morals. Skipping. — Three small vessels only belong to the port of the parish. The trade carried on in old times, in coal, salt, iron, sandstone, &c. with Campvere and Rotterdam, and more recent- ly in wood with Norway, being altogether at an end. V. — Parochial Economy. Market-Tovms, Sfc. — Leven and Colinsburgh, each three miles distant from the Kirkton of Largo, may be considered as the market-towns of the parish, for although it has several bakers and brewers, it has never regularly supplied itself with butcher- meat. The several villages contain a population as follows, — Kirk- 442 ' FIFBSHIRE. ton, 413; Lower Largo, including Temple and Drummochy, 567 ; Lundin Mill, 453; Backmuir of Gilston and Woodside, 316. Means of Compiunication, — Numerous means of communica- tion are enjoyed by the parish. A daily post arrives and departs. The turnpike road passing through it exceeds eight miles. There is a daily coach from Cupar to Largo, except in the depth of winter ; ' and at all seasons, one by Largo from Anstruther to Edinburgh, three times a week ; and one also as frequently from St Andrews to Largo. A steam-boat plies twice a day in summer and once in winter between Largo and Newhaven. The harbour, formed by the influx of the Kiel into the Frith of Forth, is not in good order. Were it repaired, which might be done without much outlay, it would be one of the best on this side of the Forth, and were a low water or chain pier to be constructed, and a more level road made between this port and Cupar, not only would the neighbourhood be benefited, and the county town obtain a shipping port within ten miles, but the near- est and most direct communication would be opened between the capital and the north-east of Scotland, and a place of shelter af- forded to vessels in storms, by which much property and life might be saved. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church is situated most conve- niently for the majority of the population, but at a distance of four or five milesfrom one-fifth of it. It was built in 1817; and in 1826, there was taken into the new building, an aisle belonging to the old, by which the spire is supported, bearing date 1623. It affords accom- modation for upwards of 800, and there are no free sittings except 50, eight for the hospitalers, and the remainder for official persons. There are considerable benefactions in the management of the session. The interest of L. 100, left by Mrs Wood, for the bene- fit of orphans ; the interest of L. 600, left by the late Mr Kettle, writer in Edinburgh, one-half for the education of four poor child- ren, to the parochial teacher, and one-half to as many persons as it will reach, none receiving less than L. 2, who have fallen from their former means, but are not on the poor's roll ; and the inte- rest of L. 500, to respectable widows, named Jameson, who have, and only as long as they have, children under sixteen years of age. This fund, from the want of applicants corresponding to the de- scription,' now exceeds L. 1100. No individual can receive more than L. 5 per annum. The manse was built in 1770. A large addition, with a com- LARGO. 443 plete set of new offices; was made to it in 18*23, and another ad- dition this summer, so that now there is none better in the county. The glebe and garden make up 5 acres, worth L. 20. For many years, L. J 1 per annum has been paid to the minister in lieu of foggage. The stipend, exclusive of L. 10 for communion ele- ments, has been, since the augmentation for crop 1830, 136 bolls of meal, and 136 barley, commuted at the fiar prices, and amount- ing, for the last six years respectively, to L.281, L.228, 1*215, L.212, L. 219, and for crop 1836, to L. 292. There are two dissenting chapels, one belonging to the Relief, and the other to the Baptist persuasion, both situated at Lower Largo. Their ministers are paid by voluntary contribution. The number of families connected with the Establishment is 350 — with Dissenters of all classes, 200 ; and there are not a few individuals unconnected with any religious persuasion. Divine service at the Establishment is generally well attended, and, there is reason to think, would be much better attended, were it not that more seats are given to tenants, or let out to others, than they or their fami- lies can occupy,- and thus such as would fill vacant seats cannot obtain them, — an evil which here, and in many other places, calls loudly for redress. The number of communicants on the roll is 760. The number present in summer is about 600 ; and in win- ter, 500. There were Societies for religious and charitable purposes, but it is found more expedient to have regular collections, several times a-year. The average amount collected for the last three years has been L. 30 per annum. Education. — There is one parochial school, the teacher of which has the maximum salary, L. 34, 2s. 4d., more than the legal ac- commodations, and fees amounting to L. 20. Of three other schools, two have gratuitous salaries of L. 5 each from the heri- tors ; and the fees of each will amount to nearly L. 40 per annum. The branches generally taught are, reading, writing, arithmetic, mensuration, and occasionally Latin, book-keeping, and naviga- tion. The expense, of course, varies, according to the branches taught ; the lowest being 4d., the medium Is., and the highest 7s. a month. The people are alive to the benefits of educa- tion ; and there are few children of six years who have not been sent to school; and few above fifteen who cannot read. And though the distances from school are two and even three miles, this does not prevent attendance. Additional schools are not re- 444 FIFESH1RE. quired except for this distance, which makes one in the north-west district very desirable ; but a more liberal remuneration would be a great boon to the unendowed teachers, who often suffer from non- payment of fees. Library. — A subscription library has been established for a num- ber of years, containing about 500 volumes. It has been less pa- tronized of late than formerly, probably because there is a much greater number of periodical publications circulating at a small ex- pense. Woois Hospital — There is only one charitable institution, — Wood's Hospital. John Wood, a cadet of Sir Andrew's family, by deed of mortification, dated 7th July 1659, bequeathed L. 68,418 Scotch, to build and endow an hospital within the parish, for the maintenance of thirteen indigent and enfeebled persons of the name of Wood, besides a gardener, a porter, and a chaplain, with L 17 a year. He appointed the Earl of Wemyss, the lairds of Largo, Lundin, and Balfour, together with the minister, and rema- nent members of the kirk-session, as patrons. The hospital was built in 1667, at an expense, Lamont says, of 9000 merks. This hospital was found in a state of great decay in 1830, and the pa- trons erected a new one, which is not only a commodious, but a very handsome and ornamental building, after a design by Mr James Leslie, civil-engineer. It cost in all L. 2000. It is fitted up for sixteen inmates, each having a sitting and a sleeping apart- ment. In the centre is a large hall, where they are convened to prayers, morning and evening ; above which, is a room for the meet- ings of the patrons. The annual allowance to each hospitaler is L. 15 paid monthly, and vegetables. The funds arise from the interest of L. 2000, and a farm, the rent of which averages Li 280. Societies. — There were two Friendly Societies, but they were lately dissolved, having been found, like many in the neighbour- hood, to be calculated on too low a' principle. Savings Bank.— A savings bank, gratuitously managed by the parochial teacher, has been in active operation since 1815. The average of the whole deposits is about L. 1200, and about L. 250 is annually invested and withdrawn. The investments are made by servants, labourers, weavers, and mechanics. Poor and Parochial Funds.— -The average number of persons receiving parochial aid, and regularly on the poor list, is 40, and their average allowance Is. a week. The annual amount of col- lections af the church door for five years has been L. 37, L. 46, L. 35, L. 36, and L. 31, and of mortcloths L. 3 per annum. The LARGO. 446 latter fund has been falling off, in consequence of a subscription mortcloth being most frequently employed. It used to be L. 8. Voluntary contributions are the only other source of income for the poor, and these, from the unwonted number of insane and fa- tuous persons of late, have been very high, amounting for three years, in 1835 to L. 100; in 1836, to L. 250; in 1837, to L. 100. Nevertheless, the heritors most wisely refrain from resorting to pa- rochial assessment It is desirable that this forbearance were met by a more general disposition, on the part of the people, to contri- bute to the funds of the poor, and also by a greater reluctance to resort to the aid of these funds. There are many in need, by whom relief will not be sought as a favour ; by the majority, it is consi- dered and claimed as a right Inns and Ale-houses. — There are 4 inns and 16 licensed ale-houses in the parish. The latter are much more numerous than necessary, and unquestionably hare a pernicious influence on the morals of many of the people. At the same time, it may be doubted if their being compelled to observe the regulations imposed on them by law more strictly, would prove beneficial, unless it were possible to pre- vent a most detrimental practice beginning here, and prevalent elsewhere, viz. their selling spirits, which are used not on the pre- mises, but in private houses. Fuel. — Scarcely any fuel except coal is consumed. It is obtain- ed, in the parish, of an inferior sort at 6s. ; and from Wemyss and Largo ward, at 10s. per ton, inclusive of driving. Miscellaneous Observations. There can be no doubt that the general condition of the parish has been improved since the date of the last Statistical Account Much has been done for it in every department of agriculture, and the common comforts of life are more extensively diffused. The ga- therings at tent-preachings, which used to amount to 3000 and 4000 at every Sacrament, are how entirely unknown. Beggars, with whom the parish was wont to be infested, are now, by the ex- ertions of a new system of police, scarcely ever seen. Religious animosities, which were carried to a disgraceful height, have great- ly subsided. And withal, whilst it must be wished that family wor- ship were more cultivated, the " honouring of all men" more practis- ed, and their mental resources more employed by the body of the population, still they may be viewed as distinguished by shrewd* ness, and industry, and intelligence, and will no doubt participate in the progressive changes and improvements of the age. November 1887. PARISH OF BALLINGRY. PRESBYTERY OF KIRKCALDY, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. JAMES GREIG, MINISTER. L — Topography and Natural History. Origin of the Name* — Ballingry is said to signify the village of the cross, and to be compounded of the Gaelic word Bal, a village, and the initials inscribed on crosses in the fields, J. N. R. J. Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judceorwn, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Extent and Boundaries. — The parish is irregular. It is about 4 miles in length, and 2 in breadth. It is bounded on the east by the parishes of Kinglassie and Auchterderran ; on the south by Auchterderran and Beath ; on the west by Cleish ; on the north by Portmoak. Soil. — The soil on the northern division of this parish is good ; some of it dry and fit for any crop ; on the south part it is of a cold bottom, but well adapted for pasturage, in which a great part of the land has been lying for many years. Wood. — About 57 acres were planted, more than twenty years ago, with a variety of forest trees, on the south front of Binarty, the only hill in the parish, which is now a very thriving plantation, and a great ornament of the country. The larch soon rises above the other trees. Including the above, there are about 127 acres in planting on the estate of Lochore. A large ash tree on it was struck by the lightning, in August 1831, which shattered a thick branch, and rent the bark down to the earth. There are plan* tations on other properties in this parish. II. — Civil History. Antiquities. — No vestige remains of the Roman Camp said to have been in this parish. Near its site is now the steading of the Chapel Farm. Parochial Registers. — These commence in 1669, and contain registers of marriages, births, and deaths. Land-oioners. — The chief land- owners in the parish are, The Earl of Minto, Lord Dundas, Sir Walter and Lady Scott, Sir BALMNGRY. 447 John Malcolm, Messrs William Briggs, William Gilmour, George Greig, Andrew Rutherford, and Robert Henderson. HI. — Population. In 1755 the numbers were rated at, . , 464 When the last Account of the parish was drawn up, 220 >> By the census of 1831, the males were . 209 females 183 Total, . 392 Perhaps 20 workmen engaged at two buildings in this parish in 1831, should be deducted, 20 The number at present, . ... 372 IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — There is little more than a fourth in tillage. Number of acres, standard imperial measure, in the parish, which arc either culti- vated or occasionally in tillage, ... 2837$ Number of acres which never have been cultivated, and which remain con- stantly waste, or in pasture, .... 19271 Number of acres that might, with a profitable application of capital, be culti- vated, - - - - - - 197 Number of acres under wood, .... 234£ All the acres, except 500 imperial, are Scotch measure. Rental. — The rental of the parish is L. 4160, 18s. 6d. The leases are generally for nineteen years. Wages. — An able young man, as a farm-servant, will get from L. 11 to L. 12 a-year, and his victuals. Day-labourers earn Is. 8d. a day in summer, and Is. 6d. in winter. Produce. — Produce of grain of all kinds, whether cultivated for food of man or the domestic animals, ...... L. 2903 5 Of potatoes and turnips, - . - - - 220 16 Of hay, whether meadow or cultivated, - - ' - 770 15 Of flax, - . - 1 15 Annual thinnings of wood, - - - - - -3000 Total yearly value of raw produce raised, - L. 3926 1 1 Value of coal raised, - - - L. 9183 6 8 Draining. — The bottom of Lochore Loch, after it was drained, yielded very abundant crops for some time, but the drain is not suf- ficiently wide to carry off the water in heavy rains, which overflow the lands, and damage the grain occasionally. The cut for the water of Leven is very sufficient, and passes through a part of this pa- rish. The trustees of a minor are improving his estate by clear- ing some parts of it of stones, by draining, by planting barren spots, and building good steadings. A proprietor has been, and is still carrying on great improvements in draining his lands. It is hoped that some will follow his example. Crops raised and time of Sowing. — Oats is the grain most ge- nerally sown here ; barley is also sown, and it is accounted the most profitable crop. There is also some wheat, and pease and 448 FIFESHIRE. beans sown. Oats are sown in March or beginning of April, and early oats in the first of May ; barley is sown in April. The most approved rotation is one crop of oats, then a green crop,, and the third a crop of oats or barley, with grass seeds. The next crop is hay, and then pasture for some time. The different estates in the parish are bound thirle to Inchgaw mill. Coal and Limestone. — In this parish two good coals are now working, which have an extensive sale. The limestone here is not good, and none of it is wrought at present Lime is brought here from a distance of some mrles. V. — Parochial Economy. Ecclesiastical State. — In 1831, a commodious church was built, sufficient for the inhabitants. The number of families attending the Established Church is 53, and that of Dissenters 16. The stipend was decerned by the Court in 1 810, to be nine chalders of victual, half meal and half barley, and such a further quantity of victual as shall be equal to L. 45, lis. 4 T 8 fl d. Sterling; but the full amount has not been drawn, as a process 13 still pending about the valuation of an estate in the parish. The amount of stipend converted into money is L. 209, 14s. lOd. The glebe extends to &l acres. Education. — A school and a house for the teacher, who has the maximum salary, was built in 1825. His school fees may amount to L. 7 Sterling yearly ; and he has besides L. 2, 2s., and two bolls of oatmeal in lieu of garden ground. Poor Funds. ��� The poor sustained a loss by exchanging their land for what was not so good as what they had. Their land is feued at L. 21 Sterling yearly. The collections at the church doors may average about L. 7 Sterling a-year. The number on the roll has been nine for some years, who receive from 3s. to 7s. a-month. A late proprietor left a legacy of L. 100 Sterling to the poor's fund. There is an infirm woman, who is very reluctant to be put on the roll, although she needs assistance. This is a singular case. Inns. — There are two houses in which malt and spirituous liquors are sold by legal license, but in one of themltone is given to such as are intoxicated. This laudable example is worthy of the imitation of all engaged in the sale of ardent spirits. Were it universally followed, society would derive the greatest benefit from it. The inhabitants are generally sober and industrious. December 1837. PARISH OF ST ANDREWS. PRESBYTERY OF ST ANDREWS, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. R. HALDANE, D. D. 1 MTVTICTI? n Q THE REV. GEORGE BUIST,D.D. / MINISTER& I. — Topography and Natural History. Name. — Prior to the period of the introduction of Christ- ianity into Scotland, the district of the country by which St An- drews is surrounded wore the aspect of a forest, in which a few patches of cultivated ground seem to have been interspersed. In this forest, the hog or swine in its wild state abounded ; and from this circumstance, it was denominated by the Picts, who at that period occupied the east coast of Scotland, Mucros, muc in their language, which was the Celtic or Gaelic, signifying a sow or boar, and ros, a peninsula or promontory. The correctness of this deri- vation is confirmed by the fact, that near the eastern extremity of the parish, the village of Boarhills still retains the original name of the district, but translated into the modern language. The Picts at this period were a rude people, and their religious opinions and observances were regulated by the Druids. The early Scottish historians inform us, that, towards the close of the fourth cen- tury of the Christian era, a Greek monk named Regulus, from , the province of Achaia, was directed in a vision to leave his native country in a ship, attended by a number of religious devotees, and carrying along with him certain of the bones or relics of the apostle Andrew. With this mandate he complied ; and, after a long and dangerous navigation, he and his associates were shipwrecked near the spot where the city of St Andrews now stands, with the loss of every thing but their lives and the sacred relics. The appear* ance of men so different in their aspect from what they had been accustomed to witness, arrested the attention of the native inha- bitants of the district, and information of the event was communi- cated to the sovereign of the country, then resident at Abernethy, his capital, in the vicinity of the junction of the Earne and Tay. The curiosity of the monarch was aroused at the intelligence, and. FIFE. f f •150 FIFESH1RE. he resolved to visit the strangers in person. He was fascinated with their appearance, and conversation, and doctrine. He was induced by them to abandon his idolatrous notions, and to become a convert to the Christian faith ; and many of his subjects, impres- sed with the same sentiments, followed his example. To manifest his gratitude to his new spiritual guides, he put them in possession of a proper place of residence, with an extensive territorial domain ; and he erected for them a chapel and tower, which some writers imagine are the same which still subsist in a good state of preser- vation in the immediate vicinity of the ruins of the cathedral, and which still bear the name of the Grecian saint. To commemorate the happy change which their arrival and preaching had been the means of introducing, the King changed the name of their place of residence from Mucros to Kilremonth, which means the cell or chapel of the King on the mount, according to some of the ancient authorities ; and afterwards to Kilrule, the cell or chapel of Regulus or Rule. This last name was retained so long as the government of the Picts was recognized ; but when their territo- ries were subjugated by the Scots under Kenneth IL that prince, who recognized the apostle Andrew as his patron saint, altered the name of the place where his relics were deposited to St Andrews, the name which it still retains. The Pictish designation, however, is still adhered to by the Highlanders of Scotland, who employ the Gaelic language. Extent. — The parish of St Andrews is about 10 miles in length, but the medium breadth is not quite 2 miles, the area compre- hending a space of between 17 and 18 square miles. Boundaries. — It is bounded on the north by the Eden, which separates it from the parish of Leuchars, till it reach the German Ocean ; and by the ocean, from that point to its eastern extremity ; on the east, by the stream denominated Kenloway or Kenly, which separates it from the parishes of Kingsbarns and St Leonards ; and by the parishes of Dunino, Cameron, Ceres, and Kemback, on the south and west. Topographical Appearances. — No part of the parish rises to a great elevation, the hills of East and West Balrymonth, which are the highest in the eastern division, being, the former, 360, and the latter, 375 feet above the level of the sea, as ascertained by accurate barometrical measurements ; and the hill of Clatto, in the western division, rises to the elevation of 548 feet The low and jlat lands in the parish extend to from 600 to 800 acres, more than ST ANDREWS. 451 the half of which are in a regular course of tillage, and the remain- der form the links or downs, which extend from the estuary of the Eden to the vicinity of the city, and which, while they are highly useful as a place of recreation for the citizens, afford also pasture for sheep. A few years ago, there were several caves among the rocks over- hanging the sea in the vicinity of the castle. Their dimensions were but small, and they bore strong marks of being, partly at least, artificial. But in consequence of the encroachments of the watery element on this part of the coast, they have now almost entirely disappeared. About a mile to the east of the city, in the cliffs which bound the ocean, there is a natural cave of considerable di- mensions, which is usually denominated Kinkell cave. It penetrates from seventy to eighty feet inwards, with a breadth in the centre of about twenty-five feet, and a height on the west side of ten or eleven feet ; but the roof, which seems to consist of a single stone form- ing throughout a perfect plane, dips so much towards the east as to terminate in the floor, forming with it an acute angle. Part of the floor and the west side, where there is a constant dropping of water from the roof, are covered with plants, which continue to grow to nearly forty feet from the entrance, which is much more contracted than the cave itself. This cave is easily accessible, and it is frequently visited, especially during the summer months, by the citizens and their visitants. The sea-coast of this parish is about six miles in extent, of which two to the north and east of the city are low, consisting of sand- hills of little elevation, which form the eastern boundaries of the links; and the remaining four are elevated from 50 to 100 feet, in some places perpendicular, and presenting only the sandstone rock ; but in others, where layers of clay and other loose materials alter- nate with the rock, the declivity is less abrupt, and the surface pre- sents a covering of grass, with a variety of other native plants and stunted shrubs interspersed. In this line of coast, there are several in- sulated rocks of considerable dimensions, as the Maiden Rock, which is skirted by the sea, and which rises, like an irregular piece of masonry, to a height of about forty feet, from a base of about the same extent, and from six to twelve feet in thickness. The rock and spindle at Kinkell are striking objects, and will be afterwards al- luded to ; and the Buddo Rock, in the vicinity of Boarhills, is also calculated to arrest the attention. Meteorology. — The following table, which was constructed with 452 FIFESHIRE. much care and accuracy by the late much lamented Dr Jackson, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of St Andrews, from observations of the thermometer for eight years, at 10 a. m. and 10 p. m. daily, at a station elevated about seventy-eight feet above the mean level of the sea, and with a northern exposure, will afford a correct view of the mean temperature of the several months of the year at St Andrews, in Latitude 56° W 30" north, and Lon- gitude 2° 47' 30" west Jan. . Feb. . March, April, May, . June, . July, . August, Sept . Oct. . Nov. . Dec. . 1821. 37°.851 39 .875 40.987 47 .041 52 .740 Mean an. temp. 1822. 1823. 1824. 1825. 39\974 35°.632 40°.839 30°.072 40 .99434 .56440 .28439 .500 43 .45639 .91939 .74141 .750 46 .52543 .87646 .34147 .68348 .126 47 .60352 .09751 .56251 .16149 .471 1826. 34°.845 41 .982 42 .346 52.892 57 .86358 .681 57 .36660 .331 61 .174 58 .60858 .34856 .70557 .64560 .508 56 .71652 .27658 .67055 .07758 .216 49 .25548 .58546 621 47 .281 50 .438 42 .66544 .46345 .98040 .98939 .467 40 .153| 37 .61938 .36938 .39539 .419 ( i 47 .571 1827. 1828. Mean of 8 years. 36°.70740 < 40 44 35.531 40.734 46 .05846 51 .58553 58 .64253 .75854 .46757 .32364 .06357 .78059 64 .766 56 .267 60 .67960 62 .29558 .43760 56 .62057 48 .47346 50247 .71247 .918 50 .40352 .48450 39.845 40 .817 49.887 43 .61246 42.662 44 .871 .562 .269 .342 .028 .837 .596 .712 .244 .172 .896 .253 48 .57450 .357 37°.099 39.099 41 .650 46.499 51 .175 57.326 60.182 59 .157 55.761 49.409 42 .927 40.209 48.374 The last number in the table, viz. 48°.374, is the mean annual temperature taken as the mean of the mean monthly temperature for the above eight years. The climate of the parish is dry and healthy. The swamps and morasses which existed at a former period, in the low grounds, have been thoroughly drained. The situation of the city is particular- ly salubrious, the soil being dry, and elevated from 60 to 70 feet above the level of the sea. The south-west is the prevailing wind for the year ; but in April and May the east wind generally pre- dominates. It is then, as over the greater part of the east coast of the kingdom, peculiarly piercing and chilly, and is regarded as injurious to persons of a delicate constitution. From a report in manuscript drawn up in 1827 by one of the physicians established in the city, the following excerpts will afford an idea of the state of the city, so far as the health of its citizens is concerned : " The great width of the streets, and the extensive gardens interspersed, afford the fullest ventilation ; and, except in some of the narrow closes, there is no obstacle to the admission of pure air into the houses of the inhabitants. There are no com- mon sewers for the reception of rain water in the streets, the whole 3 ST ANDREWS. 453 being conducted in open gutters. I notice this, as several authors of topographical sketches reckon the stagnation of the putrid water in these sewers as the cause of unhealthiness in many large cities. We . have no table of the ages to which the inhabitants live, but I am persuaded that the average of years is greater than in most other towns. In 1814, there were alive, within twenty doors of each other, not fewer than six persons, the youngest of whom was above ninety. Epidemic diseases are scarcely known 'in the city. Dur- ing a residence of nearly twenty years, I have not known typhus fever epidemic within it, though it has prevailed in the neighbour- ing districts. In 1810, it was very prevalent in the parish, parti- cularly in the western division, where, in one small village, I had at one time nearly 70 patients, while in the city there were few or none. The same took place in 1818, when St Andrews seemed to be the only place in the united kingdom which was not visited by that epidemic. Intermittent^ are rare, but I have seen several cases ; all, however, from a distance. The exanthemata have been occasionally prevalent, but seldom have proved very fatal. In 1816, there were about 120 cases of well-marked scarlet fever, of which only 8 or 9 died ; and, though measles and hooping-cough prevail- ed the same year, the number of deaths that year was not beyond the average. In 1826, measles were very prevalent, and the mor- tality was much greater, the number of deaths being nearly 40 above the usual average. Measles bad not appeared in St An- drews during the preceding nine years, and a great number of chil- dren were affected, many of whom fell victims to the secondary symptoms. Inflammatory complaints, especially of the chest, are of frequent occurrence, but do not appear to be more severe than in other parts of Scotland. Rheumatism, in the- acute form, is a frequent complaint I think that the number of cases of haemop- tysis and of phthisis is smaller than in the neighbouring districts, owing, perhaps, to the want of manufactures. Catarrh is a fre- quent complaint, and I have often seen it contagious. The amuse- ment of golf, which is general with all ranks, is the best prophy- lactic in preventing dyspepsia and hypochondriasis, which occa- sionally occur." The following table contains a statement of the amount of the rain which fell at St Andrews in 1835 and 1836, as ascertained by Dr Jackson's rain-gage, elevated 6§ feet above the level of the ground : 454 FIFESHIRE. 1835. 1836. January, 0.53 2.27 February, 2.48 1.23 March, 1.80 4.45 April, - - 1.215 2.17 May, 1.655 0.64 June, 1.10 1.60 July, 1.88 4.48 August, ai2 2.07 September, 4.19 3.60 October, 1.99 3.28 November, 3.05 5.78 December, 1.77 2.43 Total in inches, 24.28 34.00 Hydrography. — Springs are to be found in the various districts of the parish ; but with the exception of one nearly a mile to the east of the city, at the foot of the rocky eminence which skirts the ocean, and another on the lands of Bonytoun, both of which are impregnated with iron, they have nothing remarkable in their appearance or properties. The temperature of a well, at the depth of 21 feet below the surface of the ground, in the immediate vicinity of St Salvator's College, was carefully examined by Dr Jackson, during the years 1821, 1822, and 1823, when its medium was found to be 46°.951, Fahrenheit, while th$ medium tempera- ture of the air for the same years was 47°.265. Two small streams have their origin in the parish, and fall into the sea, the one on the south-east, and the other on the north-west of the city. The course of the larger does not exceed five miles ; it passes through., the harbour, after having previously communi- cated motion to the machinery of several corn-mills. The other stream is much smaller, and is not applied to any useful purpose. The Eden, which forms the northern boundary of the parish for about four miles, and which enters the German Ocean a mile and a-half to the north of the city, has altogether a course of about twenty-five miles. And the course of the Kenly, which forms another of the parish boundaries, is from six to eight miles. The tide flows up the Eden about four miles, when its farther progress, except at high spring tides, is prevented by Nydie mill-dam, which forms the boundary of the parish in that direction. For nearly the half of this distance, it has a considerable estuary, which is co- vered by the sea at high water, and is then navigable for vessels of an hundred or an hundred and twenty tons. But when the tide retires, the greater part of it presents a surface of soft mud and sand. As the course of the river through it is winding, and as there is also a bar at the entrance from the sea, the assistance ST ANDREWS. 455 of a pilot becomes necessary for its safe navigation.. Towards its centre it contains extensive beds of cockles and mussels. The former are collected and disposed of as a wholesome article of diet, and the latter are sometimes applied to this use, but they are chiefly employed as bait by the fishermen, not only of St An** drews, but of most of the fishing stations within the range of twenty or thirty miles. There are no lakes nor cascades within the limits of the parish. Geology** — The geology and mineralogy of the parish are possessed of considerable interest, in consequence of the ex- tent of rocky coast by which it is bounded on the north. The prevailing strata are sandstone, containing thin seams of coal, and strata of slate clay, with courses of clay ironstone ; thus in- dicating that the whole group belongs to the carboniferous se- ries. That they form the lowest members of that series, is, how- ever, no less certain, both from the character of the strata on which they rest, which do not belong to the coal formation at all, and from their deficiency in carboniferous matter. The sandstone is of a grayish-yellow colour. The general dip of its strata, where their bearings are most uniform, is towards the south. But in these places, especially those that lie to the east- ward of the town, from the agency of causes concerning which there are differences of opinion, all uniformity of dip and direction has either been originally prevented, or subsequently destroyed. The most curious convolutions and tortuous windings among the strata are everywhere to be observed ; while in some places, on the other hand, all traces of stratification vanish. So variable al- so is the state of adhesion among the particles of the rock, that in one place a mass will be found quite friable, and in another, not an hundred yards distant, another mass almost as hard as flint. In this sandstone, globular and botryoidal masses of iron pyrites are of frequent occurrence, and those vegetable organic remains which are usually met with in analogous strata are in some places abun- dant. The sandstone strata are very frequently separated by strata of slate clay, in which the vegetable impressions proper to that rock, when associated as here, are of occasional occurrence. And what gives the slate clay a certain degree of economic interest, are the courses and thin beds of clay ironstone which it usually con- • For the information contained in this section, the writer of this article is indebt- ed to the Rev. John Macvicar, A. M. late Lecturer on Natural History in the United College of St Andrews. 456 FIFKSHIRE. tains, and which, at a time when the iron trade was more profit- able than it is now, were sometimes collected and sent off to the Carron Ironworks. At the place to the north-west of the town named the Witch- lake, the phenomena now described may be observed. But it is chiefly on the coast to the eastward that geological phenomena of interest are displayed. Of these, the constant varying direc- tion of the strata and character of the rock are very remarkable. But what seems most worthy of notice in this place is a curious mass of trap tuff, about a mile and a half from St Andrews, of which the remains constitute the rock weH known by the name of the Rock and Spindle. Besides this mass, other portions of trap, as might be expected, occur in various quarters of the parish, but as they present nothing peculiar in their character, it were needless to describe them minutely. That the Rock and Spindle, however, is possessed of no small interest, will be perceived from the following account of it extracted from a paper on the mine- ralogy of the neighbourhood of St Andrews, by the Rev. Dr Flem- ing, and found in the second volume of the memoirs of the Wer- nerian Society. " The most curious circumstance which attract- ed my notice in examining this bed of tuff, was the rock which is well known in the neighbourhood of St Andrews, by the name of the Rock and Spindle. This rock is about 40 feet in height. Towards the base there is a spherical concretion of basalt in the form of five or six-sided pyramids meeting at the apex, giving to the mass a stellate appearance. The mass is likewise divided not in concentric layers. The basalt contains crystals of augite with olivine and glassy felspar. This concretion of basalt is surround- ed with the tuff, into which it gradually passes, and must have been completely enveloped in it previous to its partial wasting away by the action of the sea, and of the atmosphere. It may be mention- ed in this place, that the regular basaltic columns at Ely, are a portion of a spherical concretion contained in trap tuff. Here the concretion is only about ten feet in diameter ; at Ely it is seve- ral hundred feet." P. 153. This statement and explanation of Dr Fleming, it is proper to add, is by a later observer, Mr R. H. Cunningham, held to be incorrect : that geologist maintaining that the basalt of the Rock and Spindle is not a contemporaneous con- cretion of basalt, but part of a vein, and of after formation to the tuffa. Zoology. — Of the animals which formerly existed in this parish, and which have now disappeared, the wild hog or boar was the ST ANDREWS. 457 most remarkable. These were so abundant, at a remote period, in the district, that their name, as has been already remarked, was incorporated with its designation. At present there appears to be nothing connected with the zoology of the parish of a pe- culiar character, the animals, both wild and domestic, resembling those which are to be found in the other districts of the country. Within these few years, the small insect denominated the Ameri- can bug has been very injurious to the apple trees in the city and its vicinity, and no remedy that has hitherto been employed has proved effectual for securing its destruction. The Eden, between the Guard Bridge and the sea, is during the winter season the resort of a great variety of water-birds ; and during the recess of the tide, a great many species of marine ani- mals are to be found among the rocks on the shore. After cer- tain storms also, not a few species of shells are cast on the west sands. But the bottom of the bay is generally sandy, and rather unproductive of organic forms. On comparing the number of spe- cies which it yields with those of the Frith of Forth, it may be said that it affords an illustration of the remark, that organized beings are much more abundant in estuaries than in bays. The species of shell-fish which are of importance here, in an economical point of view, are the cockle and mussel, which abound in the estuary of the Eden, and the lobster and crab, which are found on the rocky shore between the city and the eastern extre- mity of the parish. Botany. — But few rare plants flourish in this district, and none of them seem to be deserving of particular notice. The close plantations which exist in the parish are in general of the Scotch fir, and are on the poorest of the soils, but they are of no great ex- tent In the vicinity of some of the landed proprietor's houses, the oak, the elm, the beech, the plane, the larch, and some other spe- cies of trees have been introduced. The ash is more generally diffused over the district than any other species of tree, its timber being very useful for the construction of agricultural implements. The landward part of the parish is not remarkable for its bota- nical riches ; but on the cliffs and banks which stretch towards the east on the sea shore, several of the rarer flowering plants and many interesting species of mosses and lichens occur. The rocks be- tween high and low water-mark are also covered with sea-weeds, and furnish many species. But here again it may be remarked, that from the very friable nature of the sandstone, of which many of these rocks are composed, the marine botany of the parish is pre- 458 FIFESHIRE. vented from rivalling either that on the southern side of Fifeness, or on the northern shore at Aberbrothwick. II. — Civil History. Of the parish at large no ancient nor modern history has been traced. The city being the seat of the Archbishop and metropo- litan of the kingdom, and of the earliest of its universities, is fre- quently referred to in the annals of Scottish history. No detail- ed account, however, of any of its institutions appears to have been drawn up prior to the days of Martine, who was secretary to two of the archbishops previous to the Revolution, and who has exhi- bited in his work entitled Reliquiae Divi Andrea, a mass of valu- able information, relative to the religious establishments of the city. This production remained in manuscript for more than a century, and it was at last printed in a handsome manner at St Andrew's in 1797, by the University printer. About ten years af- terwards, the Rev. Mr Grierson, minister of the parish of Cock- pen, published his Delineations of St Andrews, in which he exhi- bited a particular account of every thing remarkable in the history and present state of the city and ruins, the University, and other interesting objects of this ancient ecclesiastical capital of Scotland. And in 1822, he published a second edition of his work with consi- derable corrections and additions. This production furnishes a com- prehensive view of the ancient and modern state of the city, and of its institutions, and is a useful manual both to the citizens, and to occasional visitants. A short account of the city and its institu- tions has also appeared in Chambers's Gazetteer of Scotland. Historical Events. — The principal historical events in which the city and parish of St Andrews are concerned, will be found in the ac- counts of the institutions to which they refer. In addition to these, it may here be stated, that after Ed ward. L had subjugated Scotland, he summoned the members of the Scottish ParliamenttomeethimatSt Andrews, where he compelled them to swear allegiance to him. And that a few years afterwards, they again assembled at this city, and recognized the claims of Robert Bruce to the Scottish throne. When Edward III., with his victorious forces, overrun and sub- dued the greater part of Scotland, he placed a garrison in St An- drews ; but after his return to England, many of his new conquests were wrested from him. Among others, the city and Castle of St Andrews were besieged and taken after a short resistance, and the fortifications of the latter were in a great measure destroyed. — In 1401, the unfortunate Duke of Rothsay was imprisoned in the ST ANDREWS. 459 Castle of St Andrews, by his uncle, the Duke of Albany, the- Re- gent of the kingdom, previous to his removal to Falkland, where he was starved to death. — A few years afterwards John Resby and Paul Craw, were committed to the flames at St Andrews, for pro- pagating what was then held to be heretical doctrine. — In 1471, the Bishop of St Andrews was invested by the Pope with archie- piscopal dignity, and this his successors in office, whether of the Romish or of the Protestant faith, afterwards retained. — After the tenets of the Reformation had begun to be disseminated in Scot- land, several individuals were tried at St Andrews, as supporters of the new opinions, and condemned to the flames. Among these were Patrick Hamilton, Abbot of Fearn, and nephew to the Ear] of Arran ; and George Wishart, son of the proprietor of Pittarrow, in the Mearns, whose cruel and untimely deaths were greatly la- mented by the community at large. The celebrated George Bu- chanan avoided a similar fate, by escaping from imprisonment in the Castle of St Andrews. — These events were followed by the murder of Cardinal Beaton in 1546, and the subsequent siege, sur- render, and partial demolition of the castle, which had been garri- soned by the conspirators. Two of what, it is supposed, were cannon balls, employed at that siege, were some years ago found by some young men among the rocks in the immediate vicinity of the castle. They are now in the custody of the Professor of Chemistry, and were covered when found, with a calcareous incrustation. The one of them had undergone a considerable alteration, being soft on the surface, and resembling a carburet of iron, while the other re- tained its original hardness. — In June 1583, James VI. escaped from the influence of the noblemen who had placed him under per- sonal restraint at Ruthven, by entering the Castle of St Andrews, where he was soon joined by a number of his well-affected subjects. This prince frequently visited St Andrews while he remained in Scotland ; and when, after his accession to the English throne, he returned to it in 1617, St Andrews was by no means overlooked. Here he had directed the prelates, and a number of the influential clergy, to meet him, that he might unfold to them his views, rela- tive to subsequentecclesiastical arrangements. — In 1645, the Scot- tish Parliament held its meetings in St Andrews, and among other proceedings condemned to death Sir Robert Spottiswood, son of the archbishop of that name, and three other gentlemen who had sup- ported the royal cause, and had been taken prisoners at the battle of Philiphaugh, and who were afterwards executed in the princi- pal street of the city.— In May 1 679, James Sharp, Archbishop of 460 FIFESHIRE. St Andrews, who had been a zealous supporter of the measures of the Court, against the opponents of Episcopacy, was murdered at Magus Muir, near the western extremity of the parish, by a party of the Covenanters, who had assembled not for this purpose, but for the avowed object of waylaying and destroying the Sheriff-sub- stitute of the county of Fife, who, instigated by the Archbishop, had been a violent persecutor of the Presbyterians, who resided within the limits of his jurisdiction. The murderers escaped, but in the month of November following, five of the insurgents, who had been taken prisoners at the battle of Bothwell Bridge, were executed, and their bodies were hung in chains, at the spot where the murder had taken place. A stone was afterwards erected in the immediate vicinity, with an inscription commemorative of their fate, which is still visited by many who feel an interest in the events. Maps, fyc. — No map or survey of the parish has been discovered by the writer of this article, nor any letters, papers, or documents tendingto illustrate the history, biography, orantiquities of the parish, with the exception of the productions already alluded to, and the documents in the possession of the city functionaries, the colleges, and the church and commissary courts. Many of these are highly interesting to the antiquarian ; but any detail of their contents, that might be satisfactory or useful, would swell out this article far beyond all reasonable limits. Eminent Men. — Many eminent characters have been connected with this parish by birth, residence, or burial Previous to the establishment of the Reformation in Scotland, many of the bishops, archbishops, and priors of St Andrews were distinguished by their abilities, and by their influence in the counsels of the nation. And many of the individuals connected with the university were possessed of great learning and of high talents. Towards the middle of the tenth century, Constantine IIL King of Scotland, after a long reign, in which he had ultimately experienced many reverses in his wars with the English, wearied of his high rank and eminence, retired from the world, and took up his residence among the-Culdees of St Andrews, A. D. 950, becoming the prior or abbot of the order ; an office which he exercised during the remainder of his life. The prelates who occupied the important see of St Andrews were in general connected with the first families of the kingdom. They were distinguished by their talents, as well as by their edu- cation. To them the city was indebted for its most remarkable edifices and institutions, such as the erection of its cathedral, its ST ANDREWS. 461 priory, and its castle, and the establishment of the university and its colleges. A considerable number of them left behind them specimens of their literary talents. Thus Turgot, who is styled by Martine, the tutelary saint of Archangel, and who was Bishop of St Andrews about the commencement of the twelfth century, composed in Latin a variety of historical works, chiefly referring to the affairs of Scotland. Of one of these, viz. his Chronicle of Scottish Affairs, Fordun's Scoto-Chronicon forms the continuation; and whoever is anxious to ascertain the titles of the literary pro- ductions of the other prelates, may have his curiosity gratified by consulting Dempster's Ecclesiastical History of the Scottish na- tion, where he will find them detailed under their respective names. In the same production, he will find an enumeration of the writings of such of the priors of St Andrews, professors of the university, and other individuals connected with the ecclesiastical establish- ments, as turned their attention to literary pursuits. Of these the most celebrated as literary characters were Andrew Wyntown, one of the canons of the Augustinian Monastery toward the close of the fourteenth century, and the author of a poetical chronicle of Scotland, composed not in the Latin language, which was the usual vehicle of the period, but in the vernacular language of the country ; and which existed in manuscript only until 1795, when it was printed ; and John Major, Principal of St Salvator's College towards the middle of the sixteenth century, whose history of his country, in six books, though written in a rude style, and though it embraces many erroneous and fabulous state- ments, displays at the same time much boldness of spirit This writer freely censures the usurpations of the Roman hierarchy, together with the indolence and sensuality that were, at that pe- riod, so generally prevalent among the members of the ecclesiasti- cal orders. His theological works, which were voluminous, parti- cularly his Decisiones Sententiarum, were held in high estimation by the theologians of the age. After the Reformation, the splendour of the religious establish- ments at St Andrews was greatly curtailed, — a large portion of their revenues having been alienated to different purposes. The succeeding prelates were in consequence of a less influential cha- racter, and less distinguished by their family connections. But in general, they were men of respectable talents. The most dis- tinguished among them as a writer was Spottiswood, the historian of the Church of Scotland. Of the members of the university who distinguished themselves between the Reformation and the 462 FIFESHIRE. Revolution, were the celebrated George Buchanan, who was for several years Principal of St Leonard's College ; Andrew Melville, Principal of St Mary's College, the zealous and steady champion of Presbyterianism, whose life, opinions, and exertions in the cause of religion, have been so ably detailed by Dr M'Crie ; Samuel Rutherford, Professor of Divinity and Principal of St Mary's Col- lege, who was one of the members of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, during the civil wars, and whose religious publica- tions are still popular in Scotland. — James Wood, Professor of Divinity, the author of several controversial works, which display much acuteness ; Robert Blair, one of the ministers of the city, and one of the leading members of the church during the troubles of the times ; and James Gregory, Professor of Mathematics, the celebrated inventor of the Gregorian telescope. Since the era of the Revolution, among the learned men who have contributed to support the lustre of the university, we meet with the names of Thomas Halyburton, Professor of Divinity, and author of several popular and controversial works ; Prin- cipal Hadow, who distinguished himself in the controversy rela- tive to the work entitled " The Marrow of Modern Divinity ;" Principal Tullideph, who left behind him a valuable paraphrase and notes on the New Testament, which remain still in ma- nuscript ; Professor Wilkie, the author of the Epigoniad ; Principal Watson, the historian of Philip II. ; Professor Ba- ron, the author of Lectures on Belles Lettres and Logic, and some other productions; Dr Wilson, the author of a valuable Hebrew Grammar ; Dr James Playfair, the author of the ela- borate systems of chronology and geography which bear his name ; Dr George Hill, who for many years was the leading member of the General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland, and whose valuable Lectures on Divinity were published after his death; Dr Adam Ferguson, the historian of the Roman republic, who spent the close of his life in the city that was endeared to him by his early associations ; and Dr Andrew Bell, the founder of the Madras or national system of education, who was a native of the city, and who has left behind him most substantial proofs of the regard which he felt for its welfare and prosperity. Had the limits allotted to this article permitted, this section of it might have been materially enlarged, by additional names, and by a train of illustrative remarks. Heritors. — The Heritors of the parish form a numerous body. Those of the Priory alone are nearly 100 in number ; and in the re- ST ANDREWS. 463 maining part of the parish they amount to nearly 60. Three of them, viz. John Whyte Melville, Esq. ; James Home Rigg, Esq. ; and the United College, have each a valued rent exceeding L. 1200 Scots. Mrs Cheape of Strathtyrum ; Alexander Meldrum, Esq. of Kincaple ; GeneraLRamsayof Kinkell ; and John A. Thom- son of Charleton, have each a valued rent between L. 600 and L. 1200. The valuation of nine other heritors exceeds L. 300 each, and of twenty- four the valuation is from L. 100 to L. 300. Parochial Registers. — The oldest volume of the kirk-sessionrecords commences with the year 1559, and comprehends the transactions of that body down to the year 1600. It presents many curious and in- teresting details relative to the administration of church discipline, and other parochial arrangements, at that early period of the history of the Reformed Church. The volume containing the proceedings from 1600 to 1638 has been lost, but from the latter of these dates, down to the present time, the minutes have been preserved. The existing register of births and baptisms begins with the year 1626, and has been continued to the present time, with the excep- tion of the entries from 1738 to 1742, which have been lost The register of contracts, proclamations, and marriages, begins with the year 1770, and that of deaths with 1740, and both have been continued to the present day. The keeper of these records, how- ever, states, that they are defective to a very considerable extent, as, notwithstanding all the means that are employed by him to en- sure the registration of the births, many of the parents neglect this part of their duty. And when the dead are buried in other cemeteries, there is no return of the interment made to him, and no entry in his books. It is much to be regretted that the keepers of the ecclesiastical records in Scotland have been so negligent, that in many of the parishes they are not to be found of an older date than a century, or a century and a-half. It is probable that many of the volumes of these records, which are supposed to be lost or destroyed, might still be recovered, were the ministers of the parishes to institute a diligent inquiry respecting them. A number of years ago, the writer of this article discovered, in the course of an investigation, the minutes of the Diocaesan Synod of St Andrews, commen- cing with the year 1611, and containing the proceedings of that court for above twenty years, which he was enabled to place in the custody of the clerk of the synod of Fife. And within these few years, he accidentally discovered the volume containing the proceedings of the presbytery of St Andrews from October 1586 •164 FIFESHIRE. to December 1605. This is a highly interesting record, as it fur- nishes many details relative to the proceedings of Andrew Melville and his associates, that are not to be found in any printed work. This volume does not appear to have been in the hands of the presbytery clerks for more than a century. During the first six years of the period which it embraces, the presbytery of St An- drews comprehended also the parishes which now form the pres- bytery of Cupar, the first erection of the latter presbytery not tak- ing place until October 1592. This volume has not yet been put into the hands of the presbytery clerk, but it is hoped that this will ere long be effected ; and if this expectation should not be re- alized, a transcript of it which has been made will be lodged with the other records. Antiquities. — The Chapel and Tower of St Regulus are understood to be the most ancient relics of ecclesiastical architecture that ex- ist at St Andrews. The date of their erection cannot be correct- ly ascertained ; but the most ancient of our Scottish historians speak of them as existing in their times, and, indeed, as having already ex- isted for several centuries at the period when they wrote. Some contend that they were erected as early as the close of the fourth century of the Christian era, by the Pictish king in whose terri- tories they were situated, at the suggestion of St Regulus, by whom he had been converted to the belief of Christianity. And their appearance seems fully to warrant the conclusion, that they must have been erected prior to the introduction of the Saxon or Gothic architecture. The tower, whose sides form a square of about 20 feet each, and which is 108 in elevation, appears to have formed the centre of the erection. Its appendages were two wings, one to the east and the other to the west, the correspond- ing sides of the tower having at the bottom large doors or open- ings, by which the three divisions might, according to choice, form but one apartment. But even in this extended state, the dimen- sions of the church or chapel must have been but small, as its whole length would not much exceed 70 feet, while its breadth would vary from 14 to 20 feet The walls of the apartment or chapel on the east of the tower have been put in a good state of repair ; but the west wing has long been entirely destroyed. Yet from the traces of the roof on the side of the tower, and from what is understood to have been a representation of the fabric on the seals of the ancient charters connected with the priory, many of which still exist, the existence of the west wing at some former pe- riod seems to be incontrovertibly established. * The chapel and ST ANDREWS. • 465 tower, which remain, are in good preservation, and, with a little at- tention, may be kept in that state for many centuries to come. The tower was covered, about fifty years ago, with a flat leaden roof, and a small staircase of stone was then also constructed with- in it, so that there is now access to the summit, from which there is an extensive and beautiful prospect when the weather is favour- able. The Cathedral, which was by far the most extensive of the reli- gious erections at St Andrews, is situated in the vicinity of St Re- gulus 9 tower. It was constructed in the form of a Latin cross, — the extreme length of the nave or principal part of the building being about 370 feet, and the breadth 72 feet, the thickness of the walls included, and the transept being in length 180 feet The foundation of the building was laid in the year 1159, during the reign of Malcolm IV: who was present at the ceremony, but it was not finished until the reign of Robert Bruce, who was present at its consecration in 1318. About 160 years, consequently, elapsed between the dates of the two events. Fifty years after ifc> conse- cration, a considerable part of the edifice was accidentally burnt, and after its reparation, the succeeding priors kept it in a proper state of repair, and some of them contributed materially both to its internal and its external decoration. At the period of the Refor- mation, the animosity subsisting between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants in Scotland was strong, and had led to an open warfare. The celebrated John Knox, the zealous supporter and champion of Protestantism, had for some time been resident at St Andrews, and his public ministrations in this city and in the neigh- bouring towns had been attended by vast multitudes, who adhered to his views ; and having expressed in his discourses the notion, that the destruction of the religious edifices might be one of the most effectual means of eradicating Popery, the heated multitude eager- ly imbibed the idea, and proceeded without delay to put it into execution. The religious edifices in St Andrews were accordingly assailed, and in a very few hours, what had been the labour of ages, was involved in ruin. When the cathedral was entire, it had six spires or turrets, — two at each of the extremities of the nave, one at the southern extremity of the transept, and one in the centre at the intersection of the nave and transept The two turrets at the eastern extremity and one of the two at the western extremity still subsist, and rise to an elevation of about 100 feet ; the other three have long been destroyed, — a small part of the pillars, on which the FIFE. G or o 466 FIFESHIRE. central turret was erected, now alone remaining. But a small por- tion of the exterior wall of this once magnificent fabric is now in existence. The area within continued to be covered with a mass of rubbish until within these few years, when the Honourable the Barons of his Majesty's Exchequer directed it to be removed, and certain repairs to be executed, to promote the preservation of the ruins. The plan of the interior may now in consequence be tra- ced with considerable accuracy. Several flat tombstones with de- vices and inscriptions have been exposed, and what apparently must have been a well, about forty feet deep, though now without water. Nothing, however, of any material value was disclosed by the operation. In the vicinity of the cathedral, were the various buildings con- nected with the Priory or Augustine Monastery, which was found- ed during the reign of Alexander L, near the commencement of the twelfth century, by Robert, Bishop of St Andrews, and which ultimately accommodated no less than thirty-four conventual bre- thren, besides the necessary domestics. Martine states, that, at the period when his Reliquiae were composed, or about 150 years ago, some of these buildings were still entire ; and that of others considerable remains still existed. In the interval, however, which has elapsed since that period, a great change has taken place. Most of them have now entirely disappeared, the materials of which they were composed having been removed, and applied to various purposes* And as nearly the whole of the areas has been convert- ed into garden ground, even the site of several of them can now scarcely be ascertained. The original erections connected with this establishment appear to have been comparatively of a very limited description ; and as its wealth and its resources increased, the extent of its buildings was enlarged. At the commencement of the fifteenth century, they were so arranged as to form two courts, and James Bisset, the prior at that period, is represented as having paved both. In the days of Martine, so far as a judg- ment may be formed from his description, the plan of the buildings must have been very irregular. According to Boethius, this mo- nastery was excelled by none in Europe, either in respect to the extent of its accommodations, or to the beauty of its architecture. A considerable portion of what is denominated the abbey wall, which surrounded and enclosed the whole, is still in existence ; it appears to have been nearly half a mile in extent, about 4 feet in thickness, and 20 feet in height It had originally sixteen towers ST ANDREWS. 467 or turrets, interspersed at irregular distances,. projecting outward several feet, and rising a few feet higher than the general level of the wall. It was erected by John Hepburn, the prior, soon after the commencement of the sixteenth century. There were three gates by which the enclosure might be entered, which, from their remains, appear to have been handsome ; that, in particular, which is at the eastern extremity of the South Street of the city. The burying-ground for the city and parish was originally in the immediate vicinity of the parish church, but as the space al- lotted for the purpose was confined, and in the heart of the city, it was with great propriety, soon after the Reformation, transferred to the vicinity of the cathedral, where it still continues. Many of the monuments which are to be found in this cemetery possess con* siderable interest ; but none of them are of a date so old as the era of the Reformation. The Castle of St Andrews is situated about 250 yards to the north-west of the cathedral, on an eminence immediately overhang- ing the sea. It was first erected about the beginning of the thir- teenth century, by the bishop of that period, as a place of residence for himself and his successors in office. After standing nearly a century and a half, it fell into the hands of the English, and was subsequently besieged, taken, and demolished by the Scottish forces. It lay in ruins for half a century, during which period the bishop resided within the monastery, and it was rebuilt by Bishop Trail near the close of the fourteenth century It- is affirmed that James III., King of Scotland, was born in it in 1460. After the murder of Cardinal Beaton, and the subsequent siege, it was dis- mantled to a considerable extent ; but the injury was in a great measure repaired, a few years afterwards, by Archbishop Hamil- ton, and it was occasionally occupied by succeeding archbishops until the period of the civil wars, when it became uninhabitable ; and the priory having been annexed to the archbishoprick in 1633, the prelates who held the see after the Restoration, resided within the monastery in the building denominated the New Inns. The castle, when entire, formed a quadrangle, with a court in the inte- rior of considerable dimensions. But, with the exception of a part of the south wall, including a handsome square tower, and a few other fragments, it is entirely in t ruins. The sea, within these few years, has made considerable encroachments on the east wing; and the northern division will probably ere long share the same fate. In addition to the monastery of the Augustines, which was rich- 468 FIFESHlRfi. ly endowed, there were at St Andrews two convents for friars of the mendicant orders. The one of these belonged to the Gray Friars, denominated also Franciscans or Minorites, and was situat- ed immediately without the west port of the North Street of the city. It was founded by Bishop Kennedy about the middle of the fifteenth century, and it became the noviciate of the order in Scotland : it was demolished at the Reformation ; and the ruins and grounds connect- ed with them were conveyed by a charter from Queen Mary to the provost and magistrates of the city for the benefit of the commu- nity, and are still in their possession. A handsome street or row, consisting of houses of considerable magnitude, and erected accord- ing to a regular plan,' has been projected by the magistrates and council, to occupy the grounds of this monastery. Several of the houses have already been erected, and several more are to be erect- ed next season. This street, when finished, will tend materially to the embellishment of the city, and it will form a very convenient line of communication between the North and Market Streets. It has been proposed that this street should be continued in a south- erly direction, so as to meet the south or principal street of the city; and although the arrangements for this purpose have not yet been effected, it is highly probable that, in a few years, this part of the plan will also be put into' execution. It has been named Bell Street, in memory of the founder of the Madras College; and if it be continued southward, that beautiful erection will form its southern termination. The other convent, which was situated on the south side of the South Street, belonged to the Black or Pre* dicant Friars, denominated also Dominicans. It was founded by Bishop Wishart in 1274. It was demolished at the Reformation, with the exception of the chapel, the dimensions of which are very limited, but the architecture is in a rich Gothic style. A part of the arched stone roof has given way ; but Dr Bell, in his trust-deed re- lative to the Madras College, within whose grounds it is now situat- ed, has made provision for its being kept in a proper state of repair. The Kirkheuch or Kirkhill, was a collegiate church, having at- tached to it a provost and ten prebendaries. It appears to have belonged originally to the Culdees, who at an early period were held in so high estimation, that Constantine III., after resigning his crown, became abbot of the order. Its first site appears to have been a rock, a little beyond the entrance of the present har- bour ; but the encroachments' of the sea having rendered it neces- 3 ST ANDREWS. 469 sary to abandon this position, it was removed to the elevated ground west from the harbour, where a small fragment of its ruins may still be traced. Fordun states, that it was erected by Cons tan tine II. soon after the middle of the ninth century ; but others contend that it was founded by the Macduffs, Earls of Fife. It was suppressed at the Reformation, and its revenues were appropriated to various purposes. At the general assumption of the rents of the church benefices in Scotland in 1561, for the purpose of establishing a fund for the support of the ministry and of the Queen's household, the following statement of the benefices of St Andrews was drawn up and pre- sented to the proper functionaries ; the modern value is annexed : 1. The rental of the Archbishoprick. Wheat, dO chalders 9 bolls, == 1967 Imperial bushels. Bear, 41 do 10 do =3909 do Oats, 67 do do =6292 do Money, L.2904, 7s. 2d. Soots, = L.242, Os. 7d. Sterling 2. The rental of the Priory. Wheat, 38 chalders 1 boll, = 4900 Imperial bushels. Bear, 132 do 7 do = 12437 do Oats, 151 do 10 do =-14239 do Beans, 8 do 7 do = 221 do Meal, 114 do 3 do = 2283 cwt. 84 lbs. Money, L.2237, 18s. Id. Scots « L. 186, 10s. Sterling. 3. The rental of the Provostry of Kirkheuch. Bear, 3 chalders 9 bolls, = 334 Imperial bushels. Oats, 1 do 6 do = 129 do Meal, 9 do 11 do = 193 cwt. 84 lbs. Money, L. 176, 14s. 8d. Scots, = L.14, 14s. 6U Sterling. 4. The Archdeanery of St Andrews, let in tack for L. 600. 5. Of the vicarage of St Andrews no rental of that date has been discovered ; but in the year 1656, the minister of the recent- ly erected parish of Cameron, to whom the vicarage of St Andrews had been assigned by act of Parliament as a stipend, raised an ac- tion in the Commissary Court against the whole of the landed pro- prietors of the original parish of St Andrews, for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of the vicarage teind. He obtained in consequence a sentence in his favour, and the following statement exhibits the amount of the several articles comprehended in the decree, with the value affixed to each in Scottish money, vie. Scotch money. Total amount, 498 lambs, . each L.1 10 L.747 131 stones of wool, 8 1046 56 calves, . 2 13 4 149 6 8 90 stones of cheese, 2 13 4 240 86 stones of butter, 5 6 8 458 13 4 484 fools, 6 13 4 323 6 8 470 FIFESHIRE. Scotch money. Total amount. 264 Gryces, L.0 Id 4 L.176 321 Gaislings, . 13 4 214 89( stones of lint, • 5 447 10 824 stones of hemp, .300 24710 L.4061 6 8 The vicarage teind was afterwards subjected to a process of va- luation, and instead of the large sum above-specified, amounting to L. 337, 12s. 2d. Sterling, it was fixed at L. 20, 14s. 5d. Ster- ling, only, which the minister of Cameron continues to receive. The Trinity or Parochial Church of the city was originally erect- ted by Bishop Turgot, about the beginning of the twelfth century. Prior to the Reformation, it had a large establishment of chaplains and chorists, who officiated in the several chapels which were within its precincts. From a charter dated 1475, it appears that they then amounted to thirty of the former denomination and fifteen of the latter. They were supported, partly at least, by small annual payments due to them from the different tenements within the city. At the Reformation they were suppressed, and their revenues were transferred by a gift from Queen Mary to the common . funds of the city. This church became the Archbishop's cathedral after the Reformation, the large cathedral being then demolished. It was thoroughly repaired in 1 798, . the expense being defrayed by the city, the heritors of the parish, and the Crown, in place of the Archbishop. It now consists of a nave 136 feet long by 57 broad, and an aisle 44£ feet by 28J within the walls. It is seated so as to accommodate 2200 hearers. In the aisle, is a fine monument, erected to the memory of Archbishop Sharp, a few years after his murder. The ancient tower and spire of the church still remain, but a fine old bell, which had hung in it for centuries, and whose inscription bore that it had been cast by order of David Lear- mounth, Provost of the city, in honour of the Holy Trinity, in the year 1108, was inconsiderately removed, to make way for others of 8 more modern date. Some centuries ago, the city was fortified ; and more than once the citizens were subjected to the hardships and privations of a siege. Scarcely a vestige, however, of the city walls now remain, the port or gate excepted at the western extremity of the South Street, which has a handsome appearance, and is kept in a good state of repair. The city arms, indeed, above the centre of the arch, are nearly effaced, in consequence of the wasting of the stone by the weather, and would require to be renewed. The Town-House is very inconveniently situated in the centre ST ANDREWS. 471 of the Market Street, in the vicinity of the spot where the cross for- merly stood* A few years ago, having fallen into disrepair, a con- venient piece of ground was purchased for the purpose of a new erection ; but as the city funds were deemed to be inadequate for the undertaking, the old fabric was repaired and enlarged, and it is now sufficiently commodious for the purposes for which it is re- quired* Modern Buildings. — Handsome Chapels^ for the use of the Epis- copalians, and for those who are connected with the United Asso- ciate Synod, have been erected within these few years. The flour mills belonging to the Incorporation of Bakers have been lately re- built at considerable expense. A spinning-mill has been in opera- tion since 1823, its machinery being moved by steam. Thirty years ago, there was a manufactory of sail-cloth of a superior quality, but it was afterwards abandoned, and has not been revived. III. — Population. No enumeration of the population of the pariah has been discovered of an older date than that of Dr Webster in 1755, when the amount was 4590 in 1793, it amounted to 3950 1801, . 4203 1811, . . 4311 1821, . * 4899 1831, . 5621 Of the last of these dates, 2520 were males, and 3101 females. The feuing of a considerable portion of ground at the village of Strathkinness, for the purposes of erecting houses, has contributed materially to the increase of population in the country district of the parish. The city has also considerably enlarged its bounda- ries, by modern erections at its south-east and north-west extremi- ties, and by the filling up of a number of blanks in the streets and lanes. The number of families who resort to St Andrews for the purpose of education, or as a place where they may enjoy agree- able society and the necessaries of life at a moderate expense, has also "materially increased. The population in the city in 1831 was ... 3767 villages, - - 819 country, - - - 1035 The yearly average of births for the last seven years, - 88} deaths, - - 87f marriages, - - - - 47} In 1836, there were individuals in the parish, - - 5725 , Of these there were under seven years of age, - • 927 twelve years of age, - - 1558 Illegitimate births in the course of the last three years, 28. No individual of noble rank resides within the parish. There are about 40 families resident in the city, whose income arises from their private resources, and not from any official or professional 472 PIFKSHIRE. employment ; and in the country there are 8 families of indepen- dent fortune. The number of proprietors of land of the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards is from 35 to 40. The number of families in the parish is - - 1296 inhabited houses, ... 868 uninhabited or building, do. - - 14 There seems to be no peculiarity in the strength, size, complex- ion, or other personal qualities of the inhabitants, to distinguish them from their neighbours. The number of insane and fatuous persons is 13, of blind 5, of deaf and dumb 4. The language which is generally employed by the labouring classes, is the Fifan dialect. Among the higher classes, the English language is spoken. There is no popular custom that can be said to be peculiar to the district ; but there is a game of skill, which has for centuries formed a favourite amusement at St Andrews, viz. the game of golf. For the prosecution of this amusement, a considerable range of ground is requisite, with a short herbage. Both these requisites, the links or downs to the north-west of the city supply. And the inequalities of surface which the course presents, instead of being regarded as disadvantageous, tends mate- rially to increase the interest of the game, and to promote the de- velopement of the skill of the several competitors. The course for this game is divided into a number of stages from 2Q0 to 500 yards distant from each other. At the termination of each, a hole, about five inches in diameter and several inches deep, is formed, and the object of the competitors is to drive the ball they employ from station to station, landing it ultimately in the holes, with the fewest number of strokes. For this purpose, clubs of a variety of shapes are employed, according to the nature of the position in which the ball may be found after the several strokes. Nearly eighty years ago, a number of gentlemen in St Andrews and its vicinity formed themselves into an association for the purpose of promoting the cultivation of this very interesting and healthy amusement. This club has now a muster roll of from 300 to 400 members. King William IV., who, before his accession to the Crown, was Duke of St Andrews, has signified his acceptance of the office of patron of the club, and has lately sent a splendid gold medal, to be competed for annually, and to be held for the year by the winner. The majority of the people appear, on the whole, to enjoy in a reasonable degree the comforts and advantages of society. But there are many individuals and families who have both the ability and the inclination to exert themselves, but who, in consequence ST ANDREWS. 473 of existing circumstances, cannot obtain an adequate remuneration for their labour. Many females who formerly had their depend- ence on the produce of the spinning-wheel, have, in consequence of the very extensive introduction of spinning machinery, and the low rate of wages for spinning, been thrown in a great measure idle. The very reduced remuneration, also, which, for a number of years, the manufacturers received for the produce of their la- bours, has reduced many of them who have families to a state bordering upon destitution. In such circumstances, it can scarce- ly be regarded as matter of surprise, that many are far from be- ing content with their situation, and that they are anxious for changes by which their condition may be improved. The bulk of the parishioners are characterized by their regard for the interests of morality, and by their attachment to the cause of religion. And if there are individuals of an opposite character, their number does not seem to exceed the average of individuals of a corresponding description in other districts of the country. Poaching in game is practised to a limited extent Smuggling was formerly carried on on an extensive scale ; but for many years past, the severity of the laws against this species of traffic, and the strictness of the precautions which are employed to guard against its prevalence, have almost completely put an end to the demora- lizing practice. Pawnbroking is unknown in this district of the country. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — The number of standard imperial acres in the parish, which are either cultivated or are occasionally in tillage, is about 9844. ; The number of acres which have never been cultivated, and which are waste, or in pasture, is about 544. The number of acres, that, with a profitable application of capital, might be added to the cultivated land, is very considerable, — the high prices which were obtained for grain from 1804 to 1814, having induced the cultivator to bring into tillage almost every acre that was fit for the plough. The lands that were at one period in a state of commonty, were all divided, many years ago, among the conter- minous proprietors, according to the extent of their several claims* The number of acres under wood, all of which have been planted, is 345. The plantations seem in general to be under judicious management. Rent — The average rent of arable land in the parish is L. 1, 17s. 6d. per imperial acre. No grazing of sheep or cattle per capita prevails in this district 474 FIFESHIRE. Rate of Wages. — Farm-labourers when hired by the year re- ceive from L. 10 to L. 12 Sterling, with 6£ bolls of oatmeal, each 140 imperial pounds in weight, and Is. weekly for milk. The foreman, as he is denominated, who has a species of authority over the other farm-servants, and who is in some measure responsible for the proper execution of the farming operations, receives from L. 2 to L. 10 more than the others. Female servants hired by the year receive from L. 5 to L. 7. Labourers engaged by the day, receive in summer from Is. 4d. to Is. 6d., and in winter, from Is. 2d. to Is. 4d. daily, the labourers furnishing their own victuals. Married farm-servants are, in many instances, allowed the use of a cow, and when this is the case, they receive only about L. 7 of wages. They have in addition to their meal, however, an allow- ance of ground on the farm, sufficient for sowing a peck of lintseed, and for planting from 1 cwt to 2 cwt. of potatoes. The black- smith in general charges the farmer for each article furnished by him, but a practice has been lately introduced, of allowing him at the rate of L. 2 Sterling annually, for each pair of horses employed on the farm. For this allowance, he furnishes shoes for the horses, and keeps the various agricultural implements in a proper state of repair. Live-Stock. — In former times, a breed of cattle was very gene- rally reared in the county, denominated the Fife breed. This is still to be found in the district, and some of the agriculturists are of opinion, that it is better adapted to the soil and climate than any other variety of the species. A number of other varieties, however, have been introduced, so that the breed of cattle now to be found in the district is of a mongrel description. But few sheep were for many years reared or pastured in the parish ; of late, they have become more abundant, and are either of the High- land or Cheviot breeds. The character of the husbandry of the district is good, and does not appear to be susceptible of many al- terations, that would prove useful and profitable. About "65 acres of ground contiguous to the estuary of the Eden, which formed a part of that estuary, or were apt to be over- flowed at stream tides, have at two different periods been secured by expensive embankments, and the acquisitions are now in a state of productive tillage. Apian was, at one period, under con- sideration, of securing a much larger extent of the estuary, but the proprietors interested in the undertaking were doubtful whether the new acquisition would have remunerated them for the expense 4 ST ANDREWS. 475 that would have been incurred, and the scheme was in consequence abandoned. The agriculturists in the district seem to be fully aware of the advantages attendant on draining, and considerable sums have been expended by them for securing its object, wherever it was required. Irrigation has never been practised in the dis- trict. Leases, fyc— Nineteen years is the usual term of endurance of leases. This is regarded as a proper period both for the landlord and tenant The lands, however, which are in the vicinity of the city, and which are let in small allotments chiefly to the citizens, have generally a shorter term of lease, varying from nine to thirteen years. The farm-buildings in general correspond with the size of the farms, and are kept in a proper state of repair. Almost the whole of the parish is better adapted for tillage than for pas- ture, and a large proportion of it is in consequence unenclosed. And even where fences have been erected, they are in many cases of a slight and a defective quality. No remarkable improve- ments in agriculture have lately been introduced into the district, either by the agriculturists at large, or by any particular individu- al, and no obstacles to improvement seem at present to exist. Quarries and Mines. — Quarries of excellent free or sandstone, well adapted for building operations, are wrought at Nydie Hill, and at Strathkinness, near the western extremity of the parish. The stones of most of the buildings in St Andrews and its vici- nity have been supplied from this source; and the materials which they furnish are held in so high estimation, that they are conveyed to considerable distances^ sometimes even beyond the limits of the county. From Nydie Hill quarry, blocks of a very large size may be readily obtained. Quarries of whinstone have also been opened in different places, chiefly for the purpose of procuring materials for the public roads, and the streets of the city. No mines are at present wrought, but it is understood that eoal, though of an inferior quality, might be procured at Denhead, near the south-west extremity of the parish. Fisheries. — A salmon-fishery has long been established in the Eden, as far as the tide extends, but the produce is inconsiderable both in extent and value. The town-council of the city have, for a number of years, disposed of their right to take salmon on the east and west sands, and stake-nets have in consequence been erected ; but their success has failed to realize the expectations of the tacksmen, and their erections are liable to be demolished by 476 " FIFESHIBE. the heavy seas, brought into the bay, by an easterly or north-east- erly gale. The rent yielded is about L. 7 Sterling. A number of families in the city gain their livelihood from the open sea fish- ery. They have several fishing boats, by which they provide for the home market during ten months of the year; and during the other two months, the bulk of them are usually employed at the herring fishery 011 the coast of Caithness. The produce of their labour, while they are at home, is not entirely consumed within the city, but a part of it is regularly transmitted to Cupar, the county town, and a part of it is appropriated to the supply of the vicinity. The principal varieties of fish which they produce in the market, are the haddock, cod, ling, skate, halibut, and flound- er. When the wind blows fresh from the east or north-east, there is in general so heavy a surf along the coast, that the boats cannot venture beyond the limits of the harbour. Hence the citizens are frequently, for many days together, without any supplies from their own fishermen, and have then to rely on supplies from the fishing stations on the south coast of the county. During the stormy season, the fishing apparatus which is left in the sea, is ex- posed to injury, nay even, in many cases, to utter destruction, and the vicissitudes of the weather are then so sudden that the fisher- men themselves are often unexpectedly exposed to the greatest danger. Produce. — The average amount and value of raw produce raised yearly in the parish is nearly as follows : 28,000 bolls of grain of all kinds, 78,000 stones of hay at 7d. per stone, Potatoes, turnip, &c. Flax, Ac. - - - Land in pasture, Gardens and orchards, Thinning and felling of timber, Fisheries, L. 20, quarries, L. 68, Miscellaneous produce, Total yearly ralue, L. 46,625 Manufactures. — No large manufacturing establishment exists in the parish. The labour of the tradesmen is chiefly required for articles of home consumption. The weaving of linen is carried on to a considerable extent, indeed, in detached premises ; but this is dependent not on the resources of manufacturers resident in the lo- cality, but on the capital of the Kirkland establishment near Le- ven ; or on the commercial enterprise of Dundee. The manufac- ture of golf balls has long been carried on here, to a considerable extent. Above 10,000 are made annually. A good workman can L. 81,500 2,187 8,350 1,500 2,200 600 100 88 100 ^*£.*£'. MrA-stM 'JT ,%a*. 1$ ST ANDREWS. v 477 make from 50 to 60 a-week. Nearly one-half of the product is re- quired for the use of the cultivators of the amusement in St An- drews. A market for the remainder is found in other places. Some have been sent as far as Calcutta and Madras. When trade is flourishing, the several branches afford a fair remuneration to such as are employed in them ; but there have been times of de- pression, when even with the strictest economy, the craftsmen could scarcely secure, from the fruits of their industry, the neces- saries of life for themselves and their families ; and when it was necessary for the more favoured classes to come forward to their assistance. Navigation. — There is but one sea port in the parish, viz. that of St Andrews. The number of vessels at present connected with the port is fourteen. They are all of a small size, as the harbour does not admit vessels of a large burden. Their whole amount of tonnage does not exceed 680 tons register of old measure. The only foreign vessels which visit the harbour are from Norway or the Baltic, freighted with timber. But these, when they exceed 100 tons in burden, or draw more than 14 feet of water, are under the necessity of discharging a part of their cargo before they can attempt to enter the harbour; and even this can be done with safety, only at stream-tides. The estuary of the Eden, when the tide is nearly full, is navigable to about two miles from its entrance. And an extensive distillery being situated on its margin at this dis- tance from the sea, vessels may frequently be seen navigating the estuary, loaded with coals and grain for its use, and conveying its produce to a distant market. V. — Parochial Economy. City. — According to Martine, Robert, Bishop of St Andrews, ob- tained for the city the liberties of a burgh royal, by consent of David L about the year 1 140. Malcolm IV., the grandson and successor of David, confirmed this erection, and the original charter granted by this monarch is still preserved in the city charter chest. It is in Latin, written in a neat small hand, on a slip of parchment, some- what smaller in dimensions than a common playing card. It is ex- pressed so briefly, that it consists only of fifty-two words, exclusive of the names and designations of five witnesses. A facsimile of this charter is here presented. Prior to the Reformation, the city must have been much more important and populous, than it afterwards became. But no docu- ment has been discovered, by which the amount of its inhabitants at that period can be ascertained. 478 FIFESH[RE. The city functionaries consist of a provost, four bailies, a dean of guild, and a treasurer ; and the town-council consists of these office-bearers, and twenty-two councillors. Before the passing of the late Burgh Reform Bill, the dean of guild ranked next to the pro- vost, and presided at the meetings of the council in his absence ; but since that period, the bailies have acquired the precedency. The latter hold courts from time to time, in which matters of liti- gation with citizens are determined, and in which also delinquen- cies are investigated, and a judgment on them pronounced. The council have under their management the revenues of the city, which amount to above L. 1300 Sterling a-year, but there is a debt affecting them, which amounts to nearly L. 5000. In addition to this they have since 1831, in consequence of a clause of Dr Bell's trust-deed, been invested with the disbursement of the interest of L. 9798, 13s. 4d. of 3 per cent government annuities, destined for the purpose of promoting the moral and religious improvement of the community, and for such other useful and permanent works connected with the city, as might be judged most eligible ; under the superintendence, however, and with the approbation of the Lord Lieutenant of the county of Fife, and the Trustees of the Ma- dras College. Markets,$fc. — St Andrews is the only market-town in the parish. It has three fairs annually, besides a weekly market for the sale of grain, which is held on Monday, and a market twice a-week, viz. Wednesday and Saturday, for butter, poultry, eggs, vegetables, &c There is a post-office in the city, which has a daily commu- nication with Dundee and Edinburgh. The length of the turn- pike roads in the parish is about twenty miles, and of the roads sup- ported by the statute labour, six to eight miles. The bridges are kept in a good state of repair. The only one deserving of particu- lar notice is the Guard or Gair Bridge, which affords a passage across the Eden, at the point where the roads from Dundee and Cupar to St Andrews meet It was constructed four centuries ago, by Bishop Wardlaw, the founder of the University. It consists of six arches, and the only inconvenience attending it is its narrow- ness, which is such as not to admit of two carriages passing each other. There are no canals nor railroads in the parish. Harbour. — The harbour is merely what is denominated a tide- harbour ; it is dry at low water, with the exception of a small stream, which runs through it There is in- general a sand bar at its mouth, which prevents large vessels from finding admittance. To remedy as far as possible this inconvenience, a flood-gate has been ST ANDREWS. 479 constructed near the centre of the harbour, for the purpose of re- taining the water in the upper division, till the tide has retired, when it is opened, and the water escapes in a torrent, carrying along with it a portion of the sand which may have accumulated at the bar. But even with this auxiliary the harbour is still defective, and it does not appear to be susceptible of any material additional improvement, unless at an expense far beyond what the funds of the city can afford. Ecclesiastical State.— -The parish church is in a central situation, being nearly at an equal distance between the two extremities of the parish. But there is a population of nearly 1000 individuals in the western division, who are situated between two and a-half and five miles from the parish church, and for whose accommodation, it would be highly desirable to have a church and a minister.* And in the eastern division, there is a population of nearly 200, most of whom are four miles from the parish church, while they are not more than the half of that distance from the church of Kingsbarns. The parish church, which was originally erected about the com* mencement of the twelfth century, obtained a thorough repair in 1798, and is at present in a good condition. It is seated for about 2200. There are, however, no free sittings, the whole having been divided by the Sheriff of the county, under the sanction of the Court of Session, between the city and the landed proprietors. A considerable proportion of the city's allotment was disposed of to the several corporate bodies within its limits, for the accom- modation of the members of these corporations and their families. And the remainder was let every third year, by the city function- aries, to such of the inhabitants as required church accommoda- tion, and the revenue thus obtained was added to the city funds. Several of the corporate trades have lately sold their allotments of the seating, which now belong to private individuals. The size and form of the church render it very unfavourable both for the speaker and for many of the hearers. It has been ascertained that there are nearly 500 sittings so situate, that the occupants cannot distinctly hear what is uttered in the pulpit by any ordinary speaker, and that in many of them they cannot even see the offi- ciating minister. Hence, these pews are in general but thinly oc- cupied, and many of them stand almost perpetually empty. A * A handsome preaching station, which serves also for a school-house, has lately been erected in the village of Strathkinness, which is central for this district of the parish. 480 FIFESHIRE. plan has been suggested of secluding a number of them from the church by partitions, which would greatly improve it, with but lit- tle detriment to any individual. And it has been also suggested, that further curtailments should be made upon the church, and that, to meet the wants of the population, an additional church should be erected within the city, which might either be supplied by the ministers alternately, or by one of them officiating regularly to the new congregation. It seems to be not improbable, that this suggestion may ere long be realized, as urgent applications are frequently made for church accommodation, by persons who are anxious to obtain it, but who are in general under the necessity of waiting for a considerable period, before they can secure it in an eligible situation* And numbers, who have been unable to obtain such accommodation, have been induced to apply for it, either in the church of St Leonards or in the dissenting chapels, where it could be obtained. No manse has been erected for the use of either of the minis- ters. It seems to be understood, however, that the first minister would be found entitled to a manse and offices, were he to apply for them in a regular form. He already possesses a glebe, con- sisting of four acres, in the immediate vicinity of the city, which is let to a tenant for a rent of L. 23 a year ; and connected with it he has a small garden. The stipend of the first minister amounts to 22 chalders from the teinds of the parish, and he enjoys, besides, the half of the emoluments of the archdeaconry, which add to it about 6£ chalders. He has also an allowance of L. 20 Sterling for communion elements. The second charge was established in 1589. The incumbent has no manse nor glebe. His stipend consisted, until within these few years, of L. 72, 4s. 5£d. from the city funds, and the half of the archdeaconry, which amounts to about 107 bolls of grain, and L. 3 Sterling. He is also entitled to the teind of the fish caught by the fishermen within the city. But those who follow this profession are in general so much op- pressed with poverty, that for the last twenty-years he has not exacted from them one farthing. It was decided by the commis- sioners of teinds, after an expensive litigation, that he has no claim on the teinds of the parish, so that when the late parliamentary grant (5th Geo. IV. ch. 72.) was made in favours of the small livings in Scotland, he found it advisable to make the necessary application for the benefit of that endowment, and the income of the office had an addition made to it of L. 33, 10s. 5d., to raise it to the minimum rate, including an allowance for a manse and ST ANDREWS. 481 glebe ; and L. 8, 6s. 8d. were assigned to him annually for com- munion elements. No chapel of ease nor Government church exists at present in the parish, and no missionary nor catechist was employed within its precincts until 1834, when an experienced licentiate of the Church of Scotland was engaged to act as a preacher, to conduct public worship at one or other of the villages of Strathkinness, feoarhills, or Kincaple, on the Sundays, and also to act as a catechist, in the city and villages, both on Sundays and ordinary week days. His salary of L. 52, 12s. a-year, was afforded him the first year by the first minister ; and since that period, the latter has contributed the half only of the salary, and certain of the heritors and parishioners the remainder. There are four Dissenting chapels in the parish, three of which are in the city, and one at the village of Strathkinness, one of the former being Episcopalian. The ministers of these chapels de- rive their incomes from the seat rents, and from the collections which are made at their doors, when the several congregations as- semble for public worship. It is understood that they vary in amount from L. 70 to L. 100 Sterling a year. Between an eighth and a ninth part of the population of the parish are dissenters from the Established Church of Scotland, and have connected them- selves with these chapels. The remaining part of the population, the few excepted who have no religious profession, adhere to the Established Church. One family of Roman Catholics only re- sides in the parish ; the father is in the preventive service, and was stationed here only about a year and a half ago. There are two other individuals of that persuasion in the parish, and the whole are natives of Ireland. Divine service, both in the parish church and in the chapels, is generally well attended. The average num- ber of communicants at the dispensation of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in the parish church for the last ten or twelve years is about 2030. But from an investigation which took place in 1836, it appeared that there were 2490 individuals in the parish who were in communion with the establishment, although, in con- sequence of age and infirmities, the great distance of many of them from the church, and the necessity of having a proper person to watch over many of the families on the communion Sabbath* near- ly a fifth of the whole were absent when that service was perform- ed. It was at the same time ascertained, that the number of the parishioners who were in communion with the various denomina« fife. h h 482 FIFESHIRE. tions of Dissenters amounted to 344, while the whole number of Dissenters was 697. Of this number 328 were in connection with the United Associate Synod, 150 with the Original Burghers, 108 with the Episcopalians, and 111 with the Independents* A Bible Society and a Missionary Society have been established in the city for many years. The annual amount of their contri- butions is about L. 30, and the annual average of church collec- tions for religious purposes is nearly to the same amount Education. — Prior to the year 1834, there were in the parish seventeen schools, but strictly speaking no parochial school exist- ed among the number, its place being supplied by the burgh school, so that the heritors of the parish were not burdened with the payment of a schoolmaster's salary. Two of the schools in the city, viz. the English and grammar schools, had hitherto been supported in part by endowment from the common funds of the city. And two of the schools in the country districts have each a small house, garden, and salary attached to them, and one of them viz. that of Strathkinness, has, in addition to these, six acres of arable ground, which were allotted to it many years ago, on the division of a commonty among the conterminous heritors. The others were dependent entirely on the school-fees. In some of them, the reading of English was the only branch taught, in others there were combined with it writing and arithmetic In the gram- mar-school, the master confined himself to the teaching of Latin and Greek, The school fees varied considerably in the different schools. In some, they were as low as 2s. a quarter. In the burgh English school, the highest charge did not exceed LI a year; and in the grammar-school it was fixed at L. 2, 2s. The Madras College. — In May 1831, the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell, one of the prebendaries of Westminster, the deviser of the Madras or national system of education, and a native of St An- drews, transferred into the joint names of the provost of the city of St Andrews, the two ministers of the parish, and the Professor of Greek in the University, two several sums of L. 60,000, three per cent, reduced annuities, and L. 60,000 three per cent consols, for purposes connected with education, to be afterwards more ful- ly detailed. And about two months afterwards, he and the said parties as trustees, executed a declaration of trusts, relative to the appropriation of the said sums, in which it is narrated, that as the progress of the Madras System of Education had been but slow and imperfect in his native country of Scotland, he, the munifi- ST ANDREWS, 483 cent donor, entertained the idea that the greatest boon he could confer upon it was to adopt measures for the more effectual diffu- sion of the said system within its limits ; and that, for promoting this object, one-twelfth share of the sums so transferred, after set- ting apart a specified sum to defray all expenses, should be trans- ferred by the trustees to the provost, magistrates, and town-coun- cil of each of the five cities or towns, viz. Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leith, Aberdeen, and Inverness, on the condition that it should be held by them and their successors in office for ever, and that the annual produce thereof should be employed in founding and maintaining schools in each of the said towns, for the instruction of children in the ordinary branches of education, upon the sys- tem of mutual instruction and moral discipline exemplified in the Madras school. That a twelfth share should be transferred to the trustees of the Royal Naval School, established for the education of children of officers in the navy, on the same condition and for the same purpose. That another twelfth share should be trans- ferred to the provost, magistrates, and town-council of St An- drews, so as to become a permanent fund for the moral and reli- gious improvement of the city; and for such other useful and per- manent works within the city as might be judged most eligible. And that the remaining five shares should continue to be vested in the four said trustees and their sucoessors in office, substituting, however, the Sheriff-Depute of Fife for the Professor of Greek after the death of the present incumbent, for the purpose of erecting a college on a small field previously purchased by Dr Bell within the city, with appropriate houses for masters, monitors, and ser- vants, and with gardens, shrubbery, and play-ground, to be desig- nated the Madras College of St Andrews. It was further provid- ed, that the trustees should not expend more than the half of the sum which remained in their hands in the erection of the neces- sary buildings, and that the annual income of the remainder should be applied to the maintenance of the said college, and to the es- tablishment of eight bursaries in the United College, to be held by such only as had previously been educated at the Madras Col- lege for the space of three years. The Lord Lieutenant of the county of Fife, the Lord Justice- Clerk of Scotland, and the Reve- rend the Episcopal Bishop of Edinburgh are nominated patrons and visitors of the College, and have intimated their acceptance of the nomination ; and the trustees for their own exoneration have ob- tained the consent of three gentlemen residing in the neighbourhood, 484 FIFKSHIRE. viz. Sir Ralph Anstruther, of Balcaskie, Baronet; David Mony- penny, Esq. of Pitmillie ; and David Wemyss, Esq. of Denbrae, to undertake the task of auditing their accounts. With this new seminary, the English and grammar schools of the city are now incorporated, with the salaries attached to them; and the nomination of the masters is vested in the trustees, after a proper trial and examination of the candidates, the patrons hav- ing a veto in the nomination. The trustees are directed also to exact from the children educated in the said college, such fees only, as it shall appear to them that the parents of such children are able to pay without much inconvenience ; and that those chil- dren whose parents are unable to pay any such fees shall be edu- cated gratis. They are directed also to inspect and to examine the said college every three months, that they may ascertain the progress of the scholars ; and to have a public examination of them annually. The buildings devoted to the purposes of tuition in the-Madras College are now completed. They form a quadrangle, with a court within, which is surrounded by a handsome corridor, from which the class-rooms enter. The style of the building is that which prevailed in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The plan, devised by William Burn, Esq. architect, Edinburgh, is such as might have been expected from his taste and talents ; and the execution of the work is highly creditable to the skill of our native artisans who were employed in the erection. Between this quadrangle and the street, there is an extensive area covered with gravel, where the pupils of the institution enjoy air and exer- cise ; and close to the street, and as remote from each other as the extent of the ground would admit, two commodious dwelling- houses, harmonizing in their architecture with the principal build- ing, have been erected for the use of the English and classical masters, who are thus furnished with the means of receiving each a considerable number of boarders. When the buildings were in a sufficient state of forwardness, the trustees proceeded, with the sanction of the patrons, to model the institution, so as most effectually, in their apprehension, to meet the object of the founder and the benefit of. the community, and to put the whole into operation. It now (January 1838) comprehends teachers of the following branches: — 1. Of English and of English grammar, who is furnished with an assistant ; 2. of Greek and Latin, who has also an assistant ; 3. of arithmetic ; ST ANDREWS. 485 4. of mathematics and geography ; 5. of writing ; 6. of drawing ; 7. of the French, German, and Italian languages ; and, 8. of church music. The pupils connected with the English department are accom- modated in two large apartments, in the south division of the quadrangle. The classical teacher, with his pupils, occupies an elegant and spacious apartment in the northern division, while the teachers of arithmetic and writing occupy, respectively, the east and west divisions. In the trustees' room, there is a handsome marble bust of the founder, executed by Mr Joseph, London, which is re- garded as exhibiting a very accurate likeness of the original at the period when it passed through the hands of the artist About 150 children of the most indigent of the citizens are selected by the trustees to receive a gratuitous education. Those who can afford to pay for the education of their families have, for the or- dinary branches, a selection of two rates of fees, the one being double the amount of the other, — the same masters, however, su- perintending the whole. The higher rate is 2s. a quarter for English reading ; 2s. 6d. for reading and writing ; and 3s. for read- ing, writing, arithmetic, and English grammar. The fees in the other departments, viz. to the classical teacher, to the teacher of modern languages, drawing, and mathematics, are each 7s. 6d. a quarter, while the music master has only Is. a quarter from each of his pupils. In addition to their respective fees, the teachers of arithmetic, writing, and the modern languages have each an allowance of L. 50 a year from the funds of the college, and the music, master L. 25. The English master has a salary of L. 25 annually from the funds Of the city, and the classical mas- ter has L. 50 annually from the same source. The trustees have been most fortunate' in the selection of teach- ers for this new institution ; and the. beneficial consequences that were anticipated from it have been amply realized. St Andrews has long been regarded as a most eligible place for education in all its departments ; and the erection of the Madras College has contributed materially to increase its attractiveness. The follow- ing detail exhibits a statement of the number of pupils attending the several classes in May 1836, viz. — The English classes, 629; writing do. 447 ; drawing do. 30 ; arithmetic do. 360 ; mathema- tical do. 40 ; geography do. 43 ; Latin do. 95 ; Greek do. 50 ; church music do. 80. The total number of pupils attending the institution at this date was, on a careful scrutiny, found to be 798. 486 FIFB8HIEB. Dr Bell, the munificent benefactor of his country, and of his native city in particular, did not live to see his benevolent purposes carried into full operation. He died at Cheltenham in January 1832, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, leaving the bulk of the residue of his fortune for the same valuable object, namely, the education of the young in Scotland, on the principles laid down in the printed manual, which details the particulars of his excellent system* Two Boarding Schools for young ladies, where day-scholars are also admitted from the families resident in the city, have long been established at St Andrews. In these, all the usual branches of education that are required for females in the higher ranks of life may be attained. Two other schools conducted by females at present exist ; and the number of pupils attending the whole of these seminaries is about 65. In addition to the Madras College, there are two schools in the city conducted by males, the number of whose scholars is 52 ; and in the schools established in the country districts of the parish, 220 young persons receive their education. The Sunday schools in the parish are attended by seve- ral hundreds. The people seem to be, in general, fully alive to the benefits resulting from a good education ; and as schools have been long established in the different districts of the parish, all have had the means within their reach of securing it for their children. There is, in consequence, scarcely an individual in the parish above the age often years, who cannot read, and but few who cannot also write. These details relative to the institutions connected with the elementary branches of education, naturally lead to a survey of the establishments with which St Andrews has been furnished for the acquisition of higher attainments in literature and science. The University of St Andrews. — This university was establish- ed in 1411, by Henry Wardlaw, Bishop of St Andrews. Prior to this period, the young men in Scotland, who aimed at the attain- ment of a more liberal education than the seminaries of the coun- try afforded, were under the necessity of repairing to foreign uni- versities and colleges. And as their removal thither was frequent- ly attended with much risk and inconvenience, the discerning part of the community were sensible of the advantages which the coun- try would derive from the establishment of an institution within its limits, where the higher branches of education, in science, phi- losophy, and theology, might be attained. Wardlaw, the eccle- siastical metropolitan of the kingdom, was one of the individuals ST ANDREWS. 487 who entertained these sentiments ; and having ascertained that his Sovereign James I., at that period a prisoner in England, heartily approved of such an establishment, he determined, with the co- operation of some of the most enlightened of the ecclesiastics of his diocese, to erect an university at St Andrews. And the sanc- tion of the Pope being at that period regarded as necessary to le- galize such an establishment, he applied to Benedict XIIL, who was recognized by the Scottish nation as the duly constituted head of the Church, who readily approved of the measure, and who sent him a bull, sanctioning and confirming the new erection. By this charter, the bishop of the diocese was recognized as the chan- cellor of the university, authority being conveyed to him to confer degrees in theology, laws, medicine, and the arts. The funds at- tached to the institution were at first extremely limited ; but the individuals who were appointed to superintend the different de- partments of study, and who in general enjoyed endowments from other sources, were enthusiastic in the cause ; and although they received but little remuneration for their labours, they persevered in their efforts, and attracted to their prelections multitudes of young men from the several districts of the kingdom. At the head of the institution a rector was placed, of whom, by the charter of erection, it was required, as a necessary qualification, that he should be a graduate in one of the faculties, and that he should be in- vested with holy orders. St Salvator's College. — James Kennedy, the successor of Ward- law in the discharge of the Episcopal functions at St Andrews, judging the scale of the original institution of the university to be too limited for the great concourse of students, prepared the way for its farther extension and improvement, by the erection of the College of St Salvator in 1455, with which he incorporated for an endowment the rectorial tithes of the parishes of Cults, Kem- back, Denino, and Kilmany, the three principal masters of the college, being constituted rectors of the three first enumerated parishes ; and the fruits of the last being reserved as a common fund, for the use and maintenance of all the founded persons, who were thirteen in number, together with their attendants and ser- vants. This erection was also sanctioned with the Pope's autho- rity, who bestowed on it the privilege of conferring degrees in the- ology and the arts. St Leonard?* College. — In the year 1512, John Hepburn, Prior of the Augustinian Monastery at St Andrews, made an additional 488 FIFESHIRE. increase to the extent of the university, by the erection of St Leonard's College, which he endowed with the revenues of the hospital at St Andrews, which had formerly been appropriated to the reception of pilgrims, who repaired to this city for the pious purpose of viewing the relics of its tutelary saint Twenty-five persons were to be supported by this new foundation, viz. a prin- cipal, four chaplains, two of them being regents, and twenty scho- lars. This erection was soon afterwards confirmed by the arch- bishop, and by the monarch of thfe country, James IV. St Mary's College. — At the period of the erection of St Leon- ard's College, the buildings which had been appropriated to the use of the university after its first establishment, and which were denominated the Pedagogy, having fallen into great disrepair, and the slenderness of the funds connected with this part of the insti- tution having rendered it a matter of difficulty to procure the ser- vices of men properly qualified for conducting the education of the students, the archbishop, with the consent and concurrence of the prior and convent, formed the design of repairing or of rebuilding them, and of erecting them into a college with a suitable endow- ment ; but for reasons which have not been ascertained, the inten- tion was not then carried into execution. In 1537, however, James Beaton, the archbishop, resolved to prosecute the plan which had been devised by his predecessor in office, and obtained the sanction of the Pope for the erection of a college on the site of the pedagogy, to be denominated St Mary's College. He was proceeding in the execution of the work, when its farther progress was arrested by his death. Cardinal Beaton, his successor in of- fice, continued the work, which, however, was far from being com- plete at the period of his murder. Archbishop Hamilton, who succeeded him, greatly enlarged the plan of the new erection, and completed the work. He assumed to himself also the title of founder of the college, to which, however, he continued the desig- nation which had been assigned to it by his predecessors. He in- tended it to be on a much larger scale than either of the other two colleges connected with the University, and that there should be maintained within its precincts a principal, eight professors, and twenty-four bursars in theology and philosophy, besides menial at- tendants. And for the maintenance of the establishment, he ap- propriated the tithes of the parishes of Tannadice, Tynningham, Laurencekirk, Pert, Tarvet, and Craig. This erection was also ST ANDREWS 489 sanctioned by the Pope, who conferred on it the privilege of con- ferring degrees in the several faculties. From the monarchs of the country, the University and its col- leges experienced all due encouragement. They confirmed their several charters of erection, and they exempted the individuals connected with them, whether masters or students, together with their revenues, from all services and taxations, which might af- fect the other subjects who were resident within the kingdom. Soon after the Reformation, it* was deemed to be expedient, that the University and its colleges should be modelled -anew, so as that they might be accommodated to the change which had taken place in the religious establishment of the country ; and by an enactment of the Legislature in 1579, what is usually known by the name of Buchanan's Reformation, because the celebrated George Buchanan was one of the commissioners employed in drawing up the plan of the new arrangements, was carried into effect By the provisions of this act, the colleges of St Salvator and St Leonard were to be restricted to the teaching of philoso- phy, and St Mary's was to be a seminary for theology only. In process' of time, however, it was found, that the alterations which had thus been effected, had given rise to uncertainty on the part of the professors, relative to the sciences which they were required to teach, and to a consequent negligence in the discharge of their professional duties. To remedy this evil, a fresh enactment of the Legislature in 1621, ratified the first foundations of the three col- leges in all their heads, articles, and clauses, so far as was consist- ent with the state of the reformed religious establishment, and ordained the different members of the colleges to conform them- selves to the regulations therein specified, with the exception only, that the masters of St Mary's College should confine themselves to the teaching of divinity, as directed by the former Act of Par- liament. The three colleges, thus restored to their original foundations, continued to subsist until the year 1747, when, in consequence of the inadequacy of the provision for the principals and professors of the two philosophy colleges, an union of them, which had for some time been contemplated, was carried into effect by art act of the British Parliament ratifying the measure, and embracing a de- tail of the regulations by which the future arrangements of the United" College'of St Salvator and St Leonard's were to be con- ducted. By this statute, the number of the endowments was con-. 490 FIFESH1RE. siderably curtailed* Instead of two principals and ten professors which formed the previous establishment of the two colleges, the United College was to have but oue principal and eight profes- sors. No change in the constitution of the colleges has taken place since that period, and the United College has now a principal, who superintends the whole establishment, but who has hitherto been required to take no active share in conducting any of the particular departments of literature or science ; and Professors of Greek, Humanity or Latin, of Logic and Rhetoric, of Moral Philo- sophy, of Natural Philosophy, of Civil History, and of Medicine; the Professor of Moral Philosophy having also a class for political eco- nomy, and the Professor of Medicine a class for chemistry and chemical pharmacy. A few years ago, the college resolved to al- low a salary of L. 26, 5s. annually from their revenue to a lectur- er on natural history. A gentleman well qualified for the under- taking was selected for the office, and for several seasons fulfilled its duties with much credit to himself, and advantage to his pupils. But it was found, in the issue, that the number of students who were disposed to avail themselves of this new institution, was too limited to afford an adequate remuneration, and the labours of the lecturer were in consequence discontinued* In St Mary's Col- , lege, there is a principal, who is also Primarius Professor of Theo- logy, and who is actively employed in conducting the department of systematic theology, a Professor of Divinity, who confines him* self chiefly to biblical criticism, and Professors of Ecclesiastical History, and the Oriental Languages. The Senates Academicus of the University is composed of the principals and professors of the colleges, and the rector of the University presides at its meetings. By it alone, degrees are con- ferred, the other faculties only exercising the privilege of recom- mending to its notice such individuals as they may deem qualified for receiving the distinction. This aggregate body superintends the arrangements connected with the University library ; it nomi- nates the Chancellor of the University when a vacancy occurs, and it possesses and exercises the right of electing the Professor of Medicine, the librarian and the arch beadle. An appeal to it is com- petent in certain cases, it is understood, from a judgment pro- nounced by either of the colleges. The Rector of the university is elected annually on the first Monday of March, at a meeting of the comitia of the whole uni- ST ANDREWS. 491 versity, comprehending the principals, professors, and students, by four delegates of their number denominated intrants, who repre- sent the four nations or bodies, viz. the Fifani, Albani, Lothiani, and Angusiani, into which the members of the comitia are arrang- ed, and who are supposed to form their decision in conformity to the general sentiment entertained by their constituents. By the existing regulations, the only individuals who are eligible to the of- fice of rector are the principals of the two colleges, and the pro- fessors of divinity and ecclesiastical history. From time to time, royal visitations of the university and its col- leges, were found requisite to correct abuses, where they had been introduced, to see that the rules of the several institutions were properly observed, and to establish such alterations in the regula- tions as might be deemed necessary for the advancement of lite- rature, and for the welfare of the several corporations. This prac- tice having been discontinued for more than a century, his Ma- jesty George IV. in 18126, issued a commission to certain noble- men and gentlemen to visit the several universities in Scotland, to take a particular account of the existing state of these institu- tions, to report their proceedings to his Majesty, and to suggest such rules, ordinances, and improvements, as they might judge to be expedient for their future regulation and prosperity. This ar- duous task, the commissioners ably and faithfully performed ; and their report, which is voluminous and interesting, was presented to his Majesty several years ago. But although several attempts have been made to found upon it a legislative enactment, such a mea- sure has hitherto been found to be attended with difficulties of no ordinary magnitude, and none of the suggestions of the commis- sioners have yet received the necessary sanction for establishing their introduction and enforcement The endowments of the colleges having been greatly curtailed within the last half century, by the augmentations of the stipends of those parishes, of the tithes of which they were titulars, their revenues, after affording an inadequate salary to the several incum- bents, and other necessary disbursements, were found to be total- ly inadequate for the purpose of preserving the college buildings in a proper state of repair. They were in consequence, a few years ago, in a very dilapidated state, and a considerable part of them must have been allowed to fall into ruin* In consequence, however, of the intervention of Lord Melville, the Chancellor of the University, strengthened by the concurrence of the royal com- 492 FIFE8H1UK. missioners, the Lords of the Treasury were directed by his late Majesty, George IV., to issue an order for the appropriation of the sum that might be deemed requisite, for re-establishing such of the buildings as were capable of being repaired, and of rebuild- ing such as were hastening towards irremediable decay. St Mary's College has in consequence been repaired agreeably to a design by Mr Reid, the King's Architect in Edinburgh, and has now an appropriate academical appearance. An elegant plan was also formed by the same gentleman, for the erection of a new set of buildings for the United College. A considerable part of the work was in consequence executed, and its continuance and com- pletion, it was expected, would ere long have been carried into exe- cution ; but the farther progress of the undertaking has been delay- ed, and farther advances from the Treasury have, it is understood, been refused, .on the ground, that the sum set apart for the re-esta- blishment of the University buildings, has already been expended. It may be proper to add, that the University Library, whose apartments were completely filled with a store of books, amounting to upwards of 30,000 volumes, was at the same time greatly enlarged. The front of the old part of this building toward the street, was then renewed, or retouched, so as to harmonize with the new part of the erection, and it exhibits a line of handsome shields, extending from the one extremity to the other, on which are emblazoned the arms of the several Chancellors of the University, from its first erection down to the present times. The elegant Gothic Chapel and Tower of St Salvator's College, erected by Bishop Kennedy, still remain, though somewhat muti- lated and altered, both internally and externally, The fine arched roof of the former was removed, considerably more than half a cen- tury ago, on an apprehension of insecurity, for which there appears to have been but little foundation. Its rich antique windows have been supplanted by others of a far less appropriate aspect, and the beautiful monument of its founder, with which the chapel was adorned, was seriously injured by the carelessness and unskilfulness of the workmen, who were employed in carrying these alterations into execution. About the same period, the parish church of St Leonard's having fallen into disrepair, the congregation removed to this chapel, which was properly fitted up for their accommodation, and it still continues to be employed for this purpose. There are many other interesting particidars relative to the University and its colleges, which might have been detailed, but 3 9T ANDREWS. 493 which the limits prescribed to this article render it necessary for the writer to omit Literature. — A parochial library was established in St Andrews ' a few years ago. The publications which have been introduced into it, are almost exclusively of a religious character. The num- ber of the volumes now amounts to 260 ; and one shilling a-year only is exacted from those who avail themselves of the advantages which it affords. About fifteen years ago, a number of the gentle- men residing in the city and neighbourhood entered into an asso- ciation for the purpose of establishing a library which might em- brace the most popular productions connected with general litera- ture. They have now a library of considerable value, compre- hending nearly 1200 volumes, and which is annually on the in- crease/ The books are given out to subscribers only, who pay an annual subscription of 8s., and who are at present about 100 in number. A Mechanics Library was established some years ago, and it seemed at first to meet with considerable encourage- ment, but of late it has not prospered. No school of arts, nor any scientific, literary, or antiquarian society, has been established within the parish, the society being too limited for affording the necessary support, for any considerable length of time, to such in- stitutions. Charitable and other Institutions. — A few years ago, several friendly societies existed in the city, but they have one by oqe been abandoned. They appeared, while they were in operation, to be highly beneficial in their tendency, and to be conducive to the formation of industrious habits. They were evidently founded, however, on erroneous calculations, and held out much more flattering promises of advantage to the contributors than they were able to realize. It is to be apprehended also, that where they engaged to afford a weekly allowance to a contributor when he was in distress, and when he was unable to attend to his ordi- nary duties, there were individuals who occasionally counterfeited sickness, or who continued much longer on the sick list than was just and equitable, that they might receive the stipulated allow- ance. The detection of a few cases of this description, combined with the necessity which existed of remodelling the whole plan of their arrangements, so as to enable the managers to fulfil their engagements, has had the tendency to render them unpopular, and to lead to their dissolution. This is much to be lamented, 494 PIFESHIRK. as while they are calculated to cherish industrious habits, (hej foster also the natural desire of independence. A Savings Bank was established in the city in 1816. During the first nine years, the amount of the deposits, after deducting the sums withdrawn, was annually on the increase. During the fol- lowing three years, there was a considerable decrease, but since that period, the increase has again been steady, and the amount in March 1837 is about L. 1100 Sterling. The number of the de- positors is at present nearly 200, and the average amount of the deposits is about L. 6. The deposits are almost exclusively made by persons belonging to the labouring classes* They are lodged in the Bank of Scotland's branch at St Andrews ; and that establishment has from the commencement, with the view of encouraging the savings bank, allowed one per cent more of interest to its deposits than to ordinary depositors, so that the rate of interest to savings bank deposits has never been below 3 per cent The writer of this article has had the sole charge of the savings bank, for eighteen years past He sets apart for it an hour every Monday, though in general the half of that time would be quite sufficient Poor and Funds far their support under the management of the Kirk-session. — The average number of persons receiving parochial aid, during the last seven years, was 103 per annum/and their al- lowances varied from 6d. to 2s. 6d. weekly, according* to their exi- gencies. The funds for their support were, average collections at the church doors, L. 218, 4s. 2d. ; rent and feu-duties of lands, L. 73, 16s. 7d. ; interest of a debt due by the city, L. 40 ; col- lected by Saturday's box, L. 44; 4s. ; rent of a legacy, L. 5 ; total annual average, L. 381, 4s. 9d. ; total average expenditure, L.417, 0s.4£d. The poor's funds have for many years been burdened with a heavy expense in supporting and confining indigent lunatics. The kirk-session has, in consequence, found it requisite to apply, though at distant periods, to the heritors, citizens, tenantry, &c for volun- tary contributions to enable them to meet this expenditure, and hitherto they have contributed liberally for this object There is now unquestionably less delicacy among the poor relative to appli- cation for parochial relief than in former times, and there are many who account it no degradation to receive an allowance from this source. But there are also individuals who can only be compelled by the most urgent necessity to have recourse to parochial relief. 4 ST ANDREWS. 495 Prisons. — There is a prisoji in the city, in which the average number confined during the year is about 20, for theft, drunk- enness, and riotous behaviour. It is strong and well secured. Particular attention is paid in it to the health, diet, and lodging of the prisoners. Its superintendence is vested in the magistrates, who have a jailor acting under their direction. Fairs. — Three fairs are held in the city annually, on days which are still regulated by the old style of computation, viz. the second Thursday of April, the 1st day of August, and the 80th Novem- ber. The first of the three was what Martine denominates, " the renouned faire of St Andrews, called the Senzie Mercat, held and kept for fifteen dayes, and beginning the second week after Easter, whereunto resorted merchants from most of the then trading kingdomes in Europe ; trade in this kingdome being then in its infancie." At that period, according to tradition, from 200 to 300 vessels might have been seen in the bay and harbour of St Andrews, conveying to it the produce of foreign countries. The fair is now confined to a single day, and the business transacted in it is to a very limited amount. The fair in August has of late been much frequented by the farm-servants of the eastern districts of the county, many of them in the market-place forming engage- ments with new masters. The third fair is held on St Andrew's day old style, and is usually but thinly attended. Inns, fyc. — The number of inns, alehouses, &c within the parish is 48, viz. 39 in the city, and 9 in the country districts. This is unquestionably a much greater number than the exigencies of the population require; and it were much to be wished that some ef- fectual expedient were adopted, not here only, but throughout the country at large, for checking an evil which has so demoralizing an influence. Fuel. — The fuel which is employed in the city is coal, chiefly conveyed by sea from Newcastle, or the ports in the Forth where that commodity is shipped. A part of the supply is also brought by land carriage from Largoward, which is seven miles distant, and from Drumcarro, which is still nearer. In the country dis- tricts there is a greater dependence on the home supply, though it is not confined to this alone.' The present expense of sea coal is much greater than usual, being for Newcastle coal from 18s. to L. 1, Is. a ton, according to quality, at the harbour, while the coal from the Forth varies from 15s. to 18s. Those who are in the possession of horses and carriages, find it advantageous to procure 496 . FIFESHIRE. coals directly from the pit ; but where it is requisite to pay hire and tolls, a family can be nearly as cheaply supplied by sea-borne coal. Miscellaneous Observations. Since the publication of the Statistical Account of the parish, by the late Dr Adamson, in 1794, considerable alterations and im- provements have taken place. Portions of the waste and unculti- vated lands have been brought into a state of tillage. The mode of farming has been also materially altered for the better ; a much greater quantity of grain being now raised, than under the former system of agriculture. But the expense attendant on farming ope- rations, and the rent of land, have also materially increased, though for a number of years the latter has been on the decline ; so that the farmer of the present day does not derive from his skill and capital so high a remuneration as he then enjoyed. Tracts of soil, too, whose culture would not have afforded a remuneration for the expense attendant upon it, have been planted by the proprie- tors ; and the young plantations, while, in process of time, they will prove a source of revenue, will tend also materially to the em- bellishment of the country. Strathkinness, which then consisted of but a few straggling houses, now forms a village with a popu- lation little short of 500 inhabitants. Within the city, great im- provements are also visible. The pavement of the streets and lanes, which was then in a very bad condition, has been everywhere amended, though there is still a great deficiency of smooth pave- ment at the sides. Until within these twenty years, the streets were not lighted during the winter, but this defect has since been supplied ; first, by oil, and ultimately, by gas : a joint stock com- pany having, during the course of the season, 1835, established the manufacture of that commodity for the supply of the city. Many of the houses which were old and ruinous have been pulled down, and have been replaced by others of a more commodious and ornamental description ; and a number of the blank spaces which presented themselves in the streets and lanes have been filled up with appropriate buildings. Regarded as a bathing- station, the city has been furnished with a handsome erection in the immediate vicinity of the castle, and overhanging the sea, con- taining suitable accommodation for hot and cold baths, .which may be obtained at a moderate expense. The sea-beach, in the vicini- ty of the city, is well-adapted for bathing, but it is still destitute of what many would regard as a very appropriate convenience, ST LEONARDS. 497 for such a locality, viz., one or two bathing-machines, which it is supposed would amply remunerate the proprietor for the expense incurred by their introduction. The Typographical art was cultivated at St Andrews previous to the era of the Reformation ; but the works which, about that pe- riod, were printed in the city are now very rare, and are only to be found in some of the most valuable libraries. Among these, the Complaynt of Scotland, printed in 1548, and Archbishop Hamil- ton's Catechism, printed in 1552, have attracted considerable at- tention. When the city fell into a state of decay, after the de- struction of the principal ecclesiastical edifices, and the alienation of the revenues, by which they were supported, the art of printing appears to have been discontinued. An attempt to revive it within the precincts of the University was made in 1796 by Mr Morison of Perth, who was appointed to the office of university printer, when, with several other productions, accurate editions of certain of the Latin classics were printed, under the superintendence of Dr John Hunter, then Professor of Humanity. But although the editor was a gentleman of distinguished talents and celebrity, it was found that the expense of the establishment more than counterbalanced the profit, and Mr Morison was induced to resign the appointment, and to withdraw his press. A branch of the Bank of Scotland was established in the city nearly half a century ago, and has been continued to the present day without any rival ; the limited extent of the commercial ar- rangements of the city and its vicinity requiring no additional supply. December 1837, revised February 1838. PARISH OF ST LEONARDS. PRESBYTERY OF ST ANDREWS, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. J. HUNTER, LL.D. MINISTER.* I. — Topography and Natural History. Name. — This parish derives its name from one of the Saints of the Roman Calendar, who, in the earlier part of his life, was one of the noblemen who frequented the Court of Clovis I. King * Drawn up by the Rev. Dr George Buist, one of the Ministers of St Andrews. FIFE. I i 498 PIFESHIRE. of the Franks, who afterwards retired from that court to a forest in the Limousin, where he constructed an oratory, and acquired high celebrity as a preacher. His fame is said to have been greatly increased by the miraculous endowments he exhibited, and by the sanctity of his life. After his death he was canonized, and many religious edifices were dedicated to him, not in France only but also in Britain. He died soon after the middle of the sixth century of the Christian era. It is uncertain at what period the territory which at present constitutes the parish of St Leonards was originally erected into a parish. From the erection of St Leonard's College in 1512, its parochial status can be distinctly traced, but prior to that pe- riod, it is not so decidedly fixed. There are circumstances which seem to render it probable that it is not of a more ancient date. When, according to tradition, the Greek monk Regulus and his as- sociates who had sailed from Greece, carrying along with them certain of the bones or relics of the apostle Andrew, were wreck- ed at the spot where the city of St Andrews now stands, they were successful in prevailing upon the monarch of the country and the bulk of his subjects, to abandon their idolatrous notions and prac- tices, and to embrace Christianity. The precious relics, which had been preserved at the period of the shipwreck, were carefully kept, and in the superstitious times which followed, multitudes flocked, not only from the various districts of the kingdom, but also from foreign lands, to inspect and admire them, and to expe- rience the influence of their supposed miraculous powers. The multitude of these devotees was, at certain periods, so great, that they could not be conveniently accommodated, in the buildings which had been erected for the use of the existing religious insti- tutions of the place, and they were often in consequence subject- ed to very considerable inconvenience. To remedy this evil, it was judged to be expedient, that a house should be erected of suf- ficient dimensions for their accommodation, in the vicinity of the apartment where the relics were deposited. And as many of the devotees were in indigent circumstances, and the idea, in these ages, was very generally prevalent, that such pilgrimages were highly meritorious, and ought to meet with all due encouragement from the ecclesiastical bodies, ample funds were set apart for their maintenance, for such a period as might be deemed proper for them to remain in the place. This house of entertainment for poor pilgrims was denominated an hospital, and it was dedicated ST LEONARDS. 499 to St Leonard. Like most of the religious institutions of the times, it had a church or chapel attached to it, which is fre- quently alluded to in the records of the University prior to the erection of St Leonard's College, as one of the places where that body held its meetings," at a period when the apartments appropriated for its accommodation were very circumscribed. In process of time, the desire for pilgrimages cooled, and the veneration for ancient relics decayed. The hospital of St Leo- nard's became, in consequence, less and less frequented, and this desertion increased at last to such an extent, that it was obvious that its revenues ought to be appropriated to some more beneficial purpose. An experiment was accordingly made, to convert it into an hospital or nunnery for the reception of females consider- ably advanced in years, who might there devote themselves to the performance of religious duties ; but it failed to realize the expec- tations which had been formed of its utility, its inmates having exhibited but few indications of a regard either for morality or piety. The prior and convent of the Augustine monastery, with- in whose precincts the hospital was situated, and from whose re- venues it had derived its endowments, came at last in 1512 to the resolution of converting it into a college connected with the Uni- versity, to consist, according to the charter of erection, of a princi- pal, four chaplains, twenty scholars, who were to be instructed in grammar, music, and the other liberal arts, and six other scholars who had previously acquired a knowledge of the arts, and who, under the superintendency of the principal, were to devote their attention to the study of theology. Two of the chaplains were to be regents or professors in the college, and one of them was to be invested with the cure of souls, and was to act as a sacrist, or a parish minister. For the maintenance of this institution, the whole of the endowments of the ancient hospital were appropriated. These consisted of three farms, upper and lower Kenloway and Fawside, and 63 £ acres of the lands of Rathelpy, in the immedi- ate vicinity of the city of St Andrews ; together with the feu-du- ties of that part of the suburbs denominated Argyle, which had been erected on part of these lands, and of the tenements situated between the Priors or Eastburn Wynd, and the Augustine monas- tery. Of the three farms, one, viz. Fawside, was situated in the parish of Crail, now of Kingsbarns, and the other two, together with the lands and tenements alluded to, with the farm of Pikie, which has been since mortified to the city of Glasgow, form the 600 FIFESH1RB. parish of St Leonards. The teinds parsonage and vicarage of these lands had not been conveyed to the ancient hospital, but they were now incorporated with the revenues of the college ; and this circumstance, when combined with the fact, that one of the four chaplains of the college was to be invested with the cure of souls, would seem to imply, that St Leonards now for the first time acquired the name and character of a parish. The parish thus constituted had its sacrist or curate, who was one of the chap- lains of St Leonards College, till the period of the Reformation. When that event took place, many of the parish ministers in Scot- land continued to adhere to the Popish tenets, and being in con- sequence ejected, their parishes became destitute of pastors. The expedient to which the church and the constituted authorities had recourse, to supply this^deficiency, was to place two or three con- tiguous parishes under the charge of one minister, till a more ample supply should be obtained. The parishioners of St Leo- nards being thus situated, were placed under the charge of the minister of St Andrews; and this arrangement continued to sub- sist for about thirty years, when Mr Robert Wilkie, minister of St Andrews, having, by advice of the General Assembly, been appointed Principal of St Leonards College, and minister of the parish of St Leonards, he was inducted into these offices, and his successors in the office of principal have, with little variation, been ever since ministers also of St Leonards. A part of the parish of St Leonards lies in the immediate vi- cinity of the city, and consists of several detached allotments, sur- rounded by the town parish ; and the remainder, consisting of the two Kenloways or Kenlies, and Pikie, are most inconveniently si- tuated, being from four to five miles distant from the parish church. This latter division of the parish, which is by far the most exten- sive, though least populous, is bounded by the parishes' of St An- drews on the north, and Kingsbarns, Crail, and Denino on the east, south, and west respectively. To the natural history of the parish it were unnecessary to ad- vert, as the remarks which might be made would be merely a re- petition of the statements exhibited relative to the Natural History of the parish of St Andrews, with which it is so closely connected. The same remark is applicable to the great bulk of the other particulars which the " heads of inquiry" embrace. II. — Civil History. Land-owners. — The Principal and Masters of the United Col- ST LEONARDS. 501 leges of St Salvator and St Leonards are the chief land-owners in this parish. The only other heritor is the city of Glasgow, which receives the rents of the lands of Pikie, in consequence of a 250 plantations, - - 360 grass parks, - - 370 Plantations. — Since the last Statistical Account, there has been a great increase to the plantations on the estates of St Fort and Tay field. There is still, however, a considerable extent of rocky and hilly ground that might be planted with great advantage. The trees are chiefly of the fir tribe — but the soil is well adapted' for the growth of such hard wood as the oak, ash, chestnut and beech. There are several old trees at St Fort and Newton. In regard to size, there are none deserving of notice, with the exception of three yews in the garden at Kirkton, which probably are not to be equalled by any in Scotland. The management in regard to thinning and pruning is excellent. Rent of Land. — The annual rent of land in the parish is from L. 1 to L. 3 per acre* Some near the Tay, from its local ad- vantages, is let at L. 4 per Scotch acre. The general average is about Lb 1, 15s. The rent of grazing is L. 2, 10s. per ox or cow, and 10s. per ewe. Rate of Wages.— Labourers earn from Is. 6d. to Is. 8d. per day, and have almost constant employment Masons, carpenters, and other handicraft receive from 14s. to 18s. per week. The wages of ploughmen, paid partly in money and grain, vary from L. 20 to L. 28 per annum, — a number of the farm-servants being allowed to keep cows. The prices of all produce are regulated by the Dundee, Cupar, and St Andrews markets, where it is sold. In general, they are not so high as those obtained at Kirkcaldy, where there is a stock market, although the grain grown in the north of Fife is of excellent quality. Husbandry. — The tenants in this parish are distinguished by their intelligence, enterprise, and skill. They readily and spirited- ly avail themselves of any improvements that may be introduced into the methods of cultivating the land, or of improving the breed i 510 FIFESHIRE. of cattle. The system of husbandry pursued is the rotation of five and six years.* The breeds of cattle most encouraged are the Fife, Angus, Ayrshire, and Teeswater. For the last of these the pasture is not considered to be very suitable. The sheep are of the Leicester and Cheviot breeds. The general duration of leases is nineteen years, and from the respectability of the farmers, it may be inferred that these are fa- vourable to the occupier. The state of the farm-buildings is in general excellent. Some of the steadings have been rebuilt, improved, and enlarged within these few years. A number of inclosures, chiefly of stone and lime walls, have been made of late years by Mr Berry of Tay- field, upon whose property there are also several fields enclosed by hedge and ditch. On the estate of St Fort, there are also a number of enclosures. But there is still a considerable deficiency in this respect throughout the parish. Quarries.— The quarries in the parish are all whinstone. . They are wrought for building houses and enclosures. The freestone is brought either from Angus, or from the quarries on the south of the river Eden, a distance of about nine miles. The lime is also brought by sea, or carted from the lime hills at a still greater dis- tance than the freestone. Fisheries. — There are several salmon fisheries in the parish. They are carried on by net and coble,— a mode of fishing which is found to be very ineffectual in estuaries, so that the rents are of small amount, probably not exceeding L. 150 yearly. About the year 1797, stake-nets were introduced into the Frith, when in one season 7000 salmon were caught with a single net, a quantity nearly equal to a fourth part of the previous produce of the whole Frith and river. This immediately alarmed the proprietors of fisheries in the upper parts of the Tay, who had previously enjoyed a monopoly of the trade, and they accordingly brought an action before the Supreme Court, to have the new mode of fishing put down. This they accomplished after a litigation which lasted till the year 1812, when it was decided that the use of stake-nets in friths and estuaries fell under the prohibition of certain Scotch statutes. It is much to be regretted that a question involving so * The sheep husbandry has been carried on to considerable advantage by some of the formers for improving their light lands, particularly on the forms of Kirkton and Newton. FORGAN. 511 deeply the interests of those concerned should have been determin- ed not according to the merits of the particular mode of fishing, (as was distinctly admitted both in the Court of Session and in the House of Lords,) but according to the construction put upon certain statutory words in the interpretation of the ancient laws regarding fisheries. In these circumstances, it is remarkable, that hitherto no united efforts have been made by the proprietors along the estuary of the Tay, (in conjunction with others similarly situ- ated,) to bring their case in reference to their fisheries before the Legislature, and so to have it ascertained — not what was the law at a remote period, when the subject was little attended to, and but imperfectly understood, but what ought to be the law for carry- ing on these fisheries in a way that would at once secure the rights of private parties, and confer the largest amount of benefit on the public From the evidence that was given before a Committee of the House of Commons, in the years 1824 and 1825, it appears that chiefly in the months of August, September, and October, the salmon ascend the frith for the purpose of spawning in the river, and that they keep the deep water of the mid channel as they pass through the estuary. They descend in the months of February, March, and April, when the kelts or spent fish with the fry keep in deep water ; the clean fish roaming at large through- out the shallow and deep water. The salmon that are caught are either sent to Dundee, or pack- ed in ice, and exported by the Dundee steam ships to the London market. It may be remarked, that, about thirty years ago, a large shoal of herrings made its appearance, in the winter season, opposite to Newport, which employed a number of boats and other vessels during its continuance ; but there has not been any shoal known in the Tay since that time. Produce. — The average yearly value of raw produce raised in the parish after deduction for seed, &c is nearly as follows : Produce of grain, . . L. 10,360 Potatoes and turnips, . . 8,900 Hay, 680 Pasture, . 1,250 Thinning and felling of woods, • 200 Fisheries, . . 150 L. 16,490 Manufactures. — There is some weaving in the parish, chiefly of the fabric suited to the Dundee manufacture of coarse linen, &c The number of individuals thus employed does not exceed 20. 512 FIFESHIRE. V. — Parochial Economy. The nearest maket-town is Dundee, which is only separated from the parish by the Tay. Cupar, which is also a market-town, is distant about eleven miles. Both of them are frequented by the farmers, weekly, for the sale of produce. The parish enjoys the benefit of a ready communication with other parts of the country both by land and water carriage. There is a post-office at Newport, and there are two daily coaches com- municating with Edinburgh, besides a daily mail-coach lately es- tablished. Roads. — The principal turnpike road betwixt Edinburgh and the north-east of Scotland, by the ferry at Newport, runs through the parish for about two miles and a half. The other roads are, 1. the old turnpike to Woodhaven, the length of which within the parish is about three miles ; 2. another turnpike road, which joins it about one mile and a half from Woodhaven, leading by Kil- many to New Inn, length within the parish two miles and a half. 3. the turnpike road from Cupar to Ferry-port-on- Craig, length about a mile ; 4. a turnpike road made a few years ago betwixt Ferry-port-on- Craig and Newport, length in parish one mile and a half ; and, 5. a road of communication betwixt Newport and Woodhaven, length one mile. There are also two parish or sta- tute labour roads connecting the principal or turnpike roads. These are maintained in good order, particularly the great road which in- tersects the parish into nearly equal parts, and which is always in the best condition. Ferries. — Till the year 1822, there had been, from time imme- morial, two public ferries in the parish communicating with Dundee across the Tay, viz. one at Woodhaven, and another at New- port, about a mile farther east. These ferries were supplied by sail boats of a small and inconvenient description. About the year 1790, a new turnpike road was made to the ferry of Woodhaven, which, therefore, became for some time the principal ferry, and commanded the greatest resort of passengers, &c But about the year 1806, by the exertions of the late Mr Berry and his son, the present proprietor of Tayfield, another turnpike road was made communicating with that betwixt Wood- haven and Cupar, at a point distant about four miles from New- port In consequence of this and of the communication with Dundee by Newport being shorter and more convenient, the thoroughfare began gradually to change, so as at length to make FORGAN. 513 Newport the principal place of resort for those travelling to the north-east. In the year 1607, the attention of the counties of Fife and Forfar was directed to the risk and inconvenience connected with the Ferry across the Tay. At that period, there were 25 boats on the passage, manned by upwards of 100 men and boys. But these boats and crews were .found to be alike unsuitable for the safety and accommodation of the public ; and as upon investigation it was found that the ferry produced a revenue adequate, not only for the maintenance of a better system, but for providing funds for the erection of suitable piers and landing-places adapted to all states of the tide, an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1819, constituting the Justices of the Peace and Commissioners of Sup- ply in the two counties of Fife and Forfar, with some official per- sons, trustees for erection of piers, and otherwise improving and regulating the ferry. Soon after this act had been obtained, the trustees were induced to direct their attention to the advantage of substituting a steam-boat in place of the numerous sail-boats by which the ferry had been previously maintained, and, after care- fill inquiries, they decided upon making the experiment with a double or twin steam-boat, such as had been in use on the American rivers, and also at Hamburgh, and on the Mersey, near Liverpool. A vessel of this description was accordingly built un- der their direction, at an expense of betwixt L. 4000 and L. 5000, and placed on the ferry about the end of the year 1821. This vessel was made to ply alternately from Dundee to Woodhaven and Newport, but, as this place was found to be very inconvenient for passengers, it was resolved, in July 1822, that the boat should call at Newport only. In consequence of this arrangement, a great advantage immediately arose to the public, and the intercourse rapidly increased ; but as the trustees were bound to maintain a separate ferry at Woodhaven, a new Act of Parliament was ap- plied for and obtained in 1822, by which the trustees were autho- rized to substitute one landing-place, and to erect piers at New- port and Dundee, for the purposes of the ferry. Very complete ferry, harbours were accordingly erected at these places, and an additional double or twin steam-boat was procured. So that from having been, as it was at the date of the last Statistical Account of the parish, one of the worst and most dangerous, it now ranks among the safest, most expeditious, and convenient ferries in the kingdom. Besides the steam-boat, which during the day affords fife. K k 514 FIFESHIRE. a passage hourly from each side, there are kept a large sail-boat and a pinnace and yawl, with crews at each station ready for the accommodation of the public, wjien required. About two years ago, the trustees found it expedient to let the ferry for five years, and it is now maintained by the lessees, who have since placed upon it a single steam-boat of sixty horse power, which is a greater steam force than those formerly in use. The lessees, besides main- taining the ferry in terms of the regulations of the trustees, are bound to pay a rent of L. 2200 a year, out of which, interest at 3 per cent, is paid on the large debt of L. 40,000 incurred in the ferry improvements. The remainder of the rent goes towards the extinction of the debt For the year ending 31st December 1834, being the year pre- vious to that on which the ferry was let, the following is an ab- stract of the number of passengers, cattle, horses, &c, which were conveyed across the ferry : — Passenger*, 86,607 Four-wheeled carriages, . 268 Gigs, ... 578 Horses, . 8,794 Carts, . . 3,727 Cattle, . 4^96 Sheep and lambs, . 11,911 Carts of goods, . . 2,798 Barrels bulk of goods, 3,375 The following is the state of the revenue for each month of the same year : — January, L. 324 12 4 February, 315 8 March, . . 350 12 11 April, 383 8 9 May, . 418 16 11 June, . . 470 July, . L.481 15 9 August, 520 9 2 September, . 448 5 October, 442 9 November, . 364 6 4 December, . 324 1 3 Making a total amount of L. 4844, 5s. 6d. It may be important to observe, in regard to the above state- ment, as illustrating the beneficial results of affording good accom- modation to the public, that since the improvements of a steam- boat and low-water piers were introduced, the number of passen- gers has been increased by about 20,000, and the amount of re- venue has been very nearly doubled* Harbours. — The harbours of Woodhaven and Newport are the private properties of Mr Stewart of St Fort, and Mr Berry of Tayfield. They can accommodate vessels of from 100 to 150 tons burden, and are kept in good order. They answer the pur- poses of exporting the produce of the neighbouring country, and of importing lime, coal, and other necessaries. The ferry harbour at Newport, which is the property of the ferry trustees, is a splen- did erection. It is 350 feet long, and 60 wide, with a carriage- way on each side, and with a depth of five feet water at low water FORGAN. 515 of spring tides. This work was designed by the late Sir Thomas Telford. Ecclesiastical State. — The church is situated in a most beautiful and sequestered spot— -but being at the south-east extremity of the parish, it is very inconvenient for the population in general, and particularly for those resident in the villages along the banks of the Tay, from whom it is distant from three to four miles. The date of its erection is not known. It formed one of the priory kirks belonging to St Andrews, and was built, according to tra- dition, in its present site, for the special accommodation of a wealthy lady resident in the adjoining mansion-house of Kirkton, who contributed largely of her substance for that purpose. It receiv- ed a thorough repair in the year 1770, and was reseated at the com- mencement of the present century. It is seated for about 350, so that the extent of church accommodation is greatly under what is required for the population. During the last year, the heritors have contemplated the erection of a new church in a more central situation. And although some difficulty has been experienced in determining the site that would prove most advantageous for the parishioners, it is to be hoped, that this inestimable boon will not be long withheld, as it is at present impossible for the aged, the infirm, and the young to enjoy the benefits of religious instruction in the parish church. There is a meeting house near Newport in connection with the Independents. The number of families belonging to it is about 10, and the clergyman is an individual who is highly respected for his personal piety, and his anxious endeavours to benefit the neigh- bourhood in which he resides. The manse, which is in good condition, was built in 1808. The stipend is 15 chalders and 6 bolls of meal and barley in equal proportions. The glebe contains upwards of 9 acres. Education* — There are two schools in the parish. The paro- chial teacher's salary is the maximum, and the branches taught are, English, writing, arithmetic, geography, practical mathema- tics, Latin, and French. The number of scholars is about 120, and the fees, varying from 2s. 6d. to 5s. per quarter, amount to L. 24 per annum. A new school-house was erected by the heritors, about ten years ago, in a central part of the parish, in consequence of which the attendance has greatly increased. And an excellent dwelling- 516 FIFESHIRE. house for the schoolmaster, with a suitable garden attached to it, has this year been built adjoining the school-house. The other school is kept by two females, and is attended by about 30 very young children, who are instructed in some of the elementary branches of education. Poor. — The average number of regular paupers is from 4 to 6, who receive a weekly allowance of Is., Is. 6d., or 2s. There are from 12 to 15 more, who obtain occasional relief in money, and regular supplies of meal and coals. The church-door col- lections have hitherto been sufficient for defraying these expenses. But, for several years, a heavy charge has been incurred for the support of two lunatics, who are boarded in the Dundee asylum. There is also a fatuous young man, for whose maintenance a year- ly allowance is given from the session funds. Inns. — There are two inns and four ale-houses in the parish. Fuel — The only fuel used is coal, which is brought chiefly by sea, although tenants and cottars cart it occasionally from the Fife coal hills, about ten miles distant The prices of that which is sea-borne is from 4s. to 5s. per bushel. Miscellaneous Observations. The more striking differences betwixt the present state of the parish and that which existed at the time when the last Statisti- cal Account was published, consist in the improvements that have been made in agriculture, which have been such as greatly to in- crease the produce, and to improve the appearance of the lands ; in the improved state of the roads, some of which, particularly the present great road to Newport, were at that time nearly impas- sable ; in the important changes that have taken place in regard to the Dundee Ferry ; in the large increase that has been made to the village of Newport ; in the reclaiming and cultivation of much waste land ; and in the plantations that have been made on the estates of St Fort and Tayfield. By the number and excellent condition of the roads, and the ready means of communicating with other parts of the county, every obstacle to the farther improvement of the district has been removed ; and from the character of the present proprietors and tenants, there can be no doubt that these advantages will be made available for advancing the prosperity of the parish, and promot- ing the welfare of its inhabitants. January 1838. PARISH OF CERES. PRESBYTERY OF CUPAR, AND SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. JOSEPH CRICHTON, MINISTER.* I. — Topography and Natural History. The parish of Ceres contains five separate villages, two of which are of considerable extent The most extensive of these is Ceres, from which the parish takes its name. The second largest village is named Craigrothie ; and the third, Chance Inn. Coaltown was once a thriving village, inhabited by colliers. Name* — The name is to be found in ancient records written Siris, Cyres, Cyrus, Cires and Ceres. Extent and Boundaries. — The greatest length of this parish is about 8 statute miles. The breadth varies from half a mile to 4 miles. The river Eden runs along the north-west part of the pa- rish for a short way. The parishes of Kemback, St Andrews, and Cameron, bound Ceres towards the east ; Kilconquhar and Largo towards the south; Scoonie, Kettle, and Cults towards the west; and Cupar towards the north. The boundaries between Cupar and Ceres are of a most irregular kind, and the very natives are, at some places, puzzled to tell whether they are standing in their own parish. Climate, Diseases, Sfc. — The climate is mild, and exceedingly healthful. The fogs that blow from the German Ocean are here removed or modified, and the sickly of St Andrews often make a salutary sojourn in some part of Ceres, where the east wind is felt as a pleasant breeze. The people are, on the whole, a healthy race. There are one or two persons at present in the parish, above nine- ty years of age ; and in Craigrothie, where there are not many more than 200 inhabitants, there died lately three women, all of whom were above ninety. Hydrography. — The beautiful and useful river Eden runs along the north-west of the parish, for the space of a mile and a half. * Drawn up by the Rev. George Cook, late Assistant to Mr Crichton. 518 F1FESHIRE. It once abounded with excellent trout, but their numbers are now greatly diminished; and, whether from the manufactures established on different parts of the river, or from the num- bers who go forth to fish with the natural flies, you must either adopt their cruel mode of fishing, or content yourself with an empty basket There are several streams within the parish. Three of them are from the east ; one from the south, and one from the west, unite near the village of Ceres, and form what is called Ceres burn. It passes through the village, and runs a mile and a half, north-east through the parish, and then enters the beautiful den of Dara, and shortly afterwards joins the Eden. Ceres burn, though at times an apparently harmless and insignificant rivulet, occasionally becomes a great and dangerous water. The sudden- ness of its swelling adds much to the danger. It has already wash- ed away one good stone bridge, * and has threatened its successor. There were once a good many trout in Ceres burn, but there are now very few. Every part of the parish is well supplied with springs or rivulets of excellent water. Several springs are impregnated with the quality of the soil out of which they arise. There is a mineral spring on the mains of Kirklands, the property of Mr Cricbton. It possesses valuable medicinal qualities; and, being highly impregnated with carbonic acid gas, acts as a grateful sti- mulant. Geology, Soil, <$*£• — The soil is of great variety. Along the banks of the Eden, in the north-west part of the parish, it is light and sandy, and chiefly lies upon a freestone rock. The greater part of the parish is a deep cold earth, lying upon whinstone rock; limestone rock, or tilly clay. In the neighbourhood of the village of Ceres, the soil is a free earth, lying upon gravel. The mosses and moors, which are mentioned in the former Statistical Account, are in great part rendered arable. Along the north side of the parish, there is abundance of freestone rock. Whinstone rock abounds on the south side. There are several quarries, which are very valuable either for the purposes of building or supplying the roads with metal. There is a quarry at Pitscottie, to which many of the feuars in Ceres have free access in building their houses. There are quarries also at Kinninmonth and Craigrothie, which are very valuable for the purposes of building. On the farm of Newbigging of Craighall, there is a range of basaltic rock or pil- There is a very old and narrow bridge over this water. It stands adjacent to the present, and may likely outlive it, as it outlived its predecessor. Archbishop Sharp* crossed this old bridge in his last and fatal journey from Edinburgh to St Andrews, or rather to Magask moor. CERES. 519 lars, extending for half a mile from north to south. In many places columns of immense size have been precipitated from the top of the cliff to a great distance. Mineralogy. — This parish abounds in minerals. Both coal and limestone are found, and regularly worked in several of the adjoining parishes, t. e. Cults, Largo, and St Andrews ; and along the whole southmost part of this parish, there are appearances both of ooal and limestone. There is no coal worked now ; but this has arisen from the expense of the working, and not from the want of coals. The Teasses coals can be traced over a considerable distance of coun- try. A line might be traced from Teasses, by Hall Teasses, Newbigging, Craighall, and Craighall to Coaltown. About Hall- Teasses, the coal is described as very fine, and as gradually becom- ing blind and deprived of its bitumen. There are numerous old pits between Hall-Teasses and New Guilston. At Craighall Castle, the coal is separated from the limestone by a mass of trap, which has the effect of tilting the coals and adjoining strata upon edge. This tilting up of the strata into an almost vertical position, has brought into notice no less than seventeen seams of coal within a space of 500 yards. There are, in like manner, seventeen seams of coal as near the limestone at Pittenweem. They resemble the above, and are named the Ceres coals ; and their individual names and thickness, along with the interposing strata, may give an in- teresting view of the curious alternations that take place in the formation of coal. Rock: Coal*. Vardi. Feet. Feet. Inchet. Now 1. Luncart Coal, 4 3 2. Shale and Soft Sandstone, 20 3. Make-him-rich Coal, 3 4. Shale. ) m 5. Two-foot Coal, f Wrought as one seam, i 2 2 6. Sandstone and Shale, 60 7. The Thick Coal, average thickness, 16 8. Sandstone and Shale, 12 9. Four-foot Coal, 5 10. Metals, very hard, 6 11. Six-foot Coal, 6 12. Metals passable, 10 13. The Little Splint, 2 6 14. Metals, 13 15. Bowanton Coal, 3 16. Hardstone, 8 17. Donaldson Coal, _ 1 6 18. Hard Sandstone, 14 19. North Coal, 3 20. Sandstone and Shale, 8 21. Little Coal, 2 6 22. Sandstone and Shale, 5 23. The Five-foot Coal,— 2 inches of stone in it, 4 6 520i PIFESHIRE. Rocks. Coals. Yards. Feet, Feet. Inches. 24. Sandstone and Shale, . . 2 25. The Four foot Coal, . . 4 26. Met ds passable, . 18 27. The Whin Coal,— 2 inches of whin in it, 4 2a Metals, ... 20 29. The Hum or Foul Parrot Coal, . 3 30. Metals passable, . 70 31. The Black Coal, . . 2 6 32. Metals, „ - . 34. Balefield Coal, . . 2 6 The line of coals above-mentioned bears in a direction pa- rallel to the limestone. There are nineteen seams of these coals. Towards Coaltown they gradually flatten and occupy a greater surface of country. Beyond Kinninmont the coals are broken up, and some of them driven aside by the eruption of the trap hill of Ladedda. The thick coal and other five of the seams are tossed up to the top of the hill of Drumcarro, where they are regularly wrought. The south slope of Ladedda-hill has many marks of old pits upon it, proving that the coals pass along there. The limestone which runs parallel with the line of coal is wrought re- gularly at present, in four different quarries. There is the Tequ- liats quarry ; there are two on Teasses property, and one at La- dedda. 1. The Tequliats lime is wrought by tirring. It is of a spark- ling gray colour, and crystalline. It is 1 1 feet 6 inches thick, and in three beds. Organic remains are exceedingly rare in this quarry. The strata above the limestone are 2 feet 6 inches of skint, then 18 feet of shale — containing a good deal of pyrites, which sometimes also occurs in the limestone. Above the shale are 5 feet of sandstone, and 4 feet of alluvium. This limestone fol- lows the coal, all the way to Craighall, where it has been wrought About six men are generally employed in*this quarry. They reckon the dip to be 1 fathom in 4 to S. E. 2. There is the Woodtop quarry or Teasses middle limestone. . It is compact, and of a bluish gray colour, contains corallines and encrinites, and is less dark than the former limestone. The strata above it are 4 feet 6 inches of inferior limestone or sklut, in which are numerous fissures filled with beautiful incrustations of calcareous spar ; and where the fissures are large, stalactites, and stalagmites of a dazzling whiteness are formed. Above the sklut, there are 20 feet of shale, and 1 foot of alluvium. This limestone is also wrought by tirring. It is 10 feet thick, and in four beds. It dips about 1 fathom in 4. It has been worked for about thirty years, and from ten to fifteen men are employed in it. It is used for laying on CERES. 521 land, or for building, and is shipped in considerable quantities from the adjoining ports* 3* There is the Teasses white limestone quarry. The lime- stone is 10 feet 6 inches thick, and divided into five beds. Its colour is whitish gray, and there would thus seem to be a regu- lar progress in changing the colour from Tequliats quarry. This white limestone is very compact and difficult to work, — organic re- mains very scarce. The dip is 1 fathom in 5 to S. E. The strata above it are 5 feet of inferior limestone, containing a large portion of argillaceous matter, 14 feet of shale, 7 feet of sandstone, and 20 feet of ferruginous basalt, disposed in irregular columns or blocks. This limestone is wrought under ground. The pillars are about 6 feet, and 10 feet between them. It was previously wrought by tirring, but has been worked under ground for thirty- two years. Eight men are generally employed. They enjoy excel- lent health. Indeed, there is something wholesome in the air un- der ground ; and more than one martyr to hooping cough have been sent by their physician, to keep company with the workmen, for greater part of a day, in the hope of curing them. The result was generally favourable. About 4000 bolls of this limestone are turned out in the year, — it is used for purifying gas, for bleach- ing and plastering, as well as for land. There is a great similarity between the three limestones already mentioned. They are all about one thickness ; their structure and fracture resemble each other ; the strata above them are si- milar, and the organic remains are the same ; and in all proba- bility, they are the same bed of limestone, thrown up successively by faults, passing parallel to their line of bearing. The Teuchats limestone appears at Craighall, and has been worked there ; and bearing west a little, it trends round in a semicircular form to Ceres toll-bar, where it is lost sight of. There is a thin coal found under it. The limestone here dips north. It was attempted to be wrought, by mining it under the trap hill. They had not, how : ever, proceeded many yards, when the limestone was found to be broken in masses, and full of fissures filled with ferruginous de- composed trap, and so much altered as to be unfit for use. The roof, though composed of firm shale, could not be supported, from the shattered state of the limestone left as pillars. The mining became dangerous, and was consequently abandoned. 4. The limestone is also wrought at Ladedda ; it gets flat here, or assumes the basin form. It is seen on the north side of Ladedda Hill, 522 PIFESHIRE. dipping towards it This limestone is 1 1 feet thick, of a whitish gray colour, and compact structure. It is supposed to extend to the trap at the foot of Duncarro Hill. The strata above consist of two feet of inferior limestone termed sklut. It is unlike the other skluts, and is entirely composed of organic remains, united by a calcareous cement, the prevailing fossil being the encrinite, found in all positions, dislocated and studded all over, giving it the ap- pearance of a conglomerate. There are also found in this sklut the shells of the Producta in great abundance, a few Terebratula, some fish teeth and scales. Above this sklut are 14 feet of shale, 4 feet of schistose sandstone ; 2 feet 6 inches of shale ; 15 inches of coal ; 2 feet of brown inferior limestone ; 8 yards of various strata, hitherto unascertained ; then coal 2 feet 4 inches thick ; 4 yards of various strata, then another coal 2 feet 6 inches thick, then a different kind, u e. the 6 foot coal inclined at a high angle, and then the 10 foot coal, almost all vertical. The limestone is wrought by tirring in Ladedda quarry, and from eight to ten men are employed in the work. It is impossible, in a work of the pre- sent nature, to give a full account of the lime and coal which abound in the parish of Ceres ; but it will be apparent, from what has been already written, that there is here a very extensive field either for theorists or practical speculators ; and if the demand for coal continues to increase, it will likely be found to be neither a bold nor a very profitless speculation to re-open some of the coal-works that have been allowed here to get into disuse. Those who wish to study the subject fully are referred to a valuable article in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture for June 1836, written by Mr David Landale. I have borrowed liberally from his article. No coal or limestone, has hitherto been discovered on the north side of Ceres water. There is at Baltullo mill, near Ceres, a seam of the " wrighfs black coal," which is used for marking. The seam is from 18 inches to 2 feet thick. The dip is nearly the same as that of the limestone on the south side. Some of this black coal was sent to America, and L. 7 was received for one ton of it. The proprietor of the ground does not wish it to be wrought, and has closed up the quarry. II. — Civil History. Ceres appears to have been made up, in past generations, of a number of distinct baronies. In the parochial registers, of date 1631, there is particular mention of the various deacons who be- CERES. 523 longed to the several baronies of the parish. These baronies were five or six in number* Ceres is a burgh of barony, holding of the Hopes of Craighall, and the feuars are bound to attend the head courts; but it has no charter. Hopes are now entertained of its receiving the privileges of a burgh. Craigrothie, which is adjacent to Struthers, seems to have long enjoyed these privileges. Its inhabitants still elect their bailie and councillors ; and two cases are on record, where individuals were sent to them for judgment, and disposed of according to their pleasure. The Earl of Crawford patronized this council, and left an important case to its decision.* Land-owners. — The present land-owners are, The Earl of Glasgow; Mr Wilson, Craigrothie; Captain Wemyss, Wemyss Hall ; Sir George Campbell, Edenwood ; Major Christie, Findas ; Captain Ker, Greenside ; Captain Stark, Teasses ; Sir Alexander Hope, Craighall;. Messrs Thorns, Rumgay; Mr Thomson, Newbig- ging; Mr Lumsden, Callange; Mr Speirs, Kinninmont; Mr Ped- die, Bankhead ; Lady Baird, East Pitscottie ; Baldinnie is divided into seven shares ; General Bethune of Blebo ; Mr Barclay of Magus ; and Mr Normand of Baltullo. The original proprietors of Craighall and Struthers seem to have possessed great part of the parish ; and many valuable pro- perties are still held in feu from the Hopes of Craighall. These feus, in former times, were equal to*the full value of the rent of the property ; but at present, from the rise in the value of land, they are equal to about one-sixth of the rent which is paid by the far- mer to the feuar. Parochial Registers. — The records of the kirk-session are in pre- servation, from the year 1620 ; and from that date to the present, they have been kept regularly. Under date 1638, we find an account of the Confession of Faith, which was agreed to in 1 560, and imme- diately after it, a solemn declaration or covenant, in which the no- bility and gentry bind themselves to stand by the confession, and to withstand the many attempts which were then made against their religion. This declaration is signed at the kirk of Ceres, " the last day of Apryll 1638," by " Lindesay," " Hy. Ja. Hope," and " Jo. Scott/' the minister, elders, and heads of families. In 1667, William Rowe, minister of Ceres, had been deposed, be- cause he would not conform to Episcopacy ; and we find, in the re- cords of that date, an edict by " Lord St Andrews," appointing Alexander Leslie to be minister in the room of Mr Rowe. * In a case of horsestealing, sentence of banishment was passed and executed. 524 FIFESHIRE. Antiquities. — There is a great variety of antiquities in this pa- rish. There are three very fine ruins. The ruins of Craighall stand about half a mile south-east of Ceres, upon the north bank of a lovely den. The den is sequestered and deep, and of consi- derable extent, and well wooded. The ruins still have an ap- pearance of grandeur, and serve to indicate what had been the magnificence of the mansion. Craighall was formerly the seat of Sir Thomas Hope, King's Advocate, (from whom the principal fa- milies in Scotland of the name of Hope are descended,) and it con- tinued to be the residence of Sir Thomas's heirs till the beginning of the last century, when it was sold to another branch of the fa- mily, who succeeded to be Earls of Hopetoun. It is now the pro- perty of Sir Alexander Hope, brother to the late John, Earl of Hopetoun. There are also the ruins of Struthers, or, as it is called in some old papers, Auchter-uther-Struther. This was formerly the seat of the Earls of Crawford, and it stands about two miles south-west from the village of Ceres. Man has been less merciful to this place than " time ;" and there now exist very scanty remains of the once splendid house, and warlike towers and battlements. The park around the house, which is enclosed with a stone wall, contains about 200 acres of ground. The venerable beeches of a very large size, which are mentioned in th& last Statistical Account, have died, or been cut down. There is a fine tower of freestone, well hewn and nicely jointed. The tower is about 24 feet square, and about 50 or 60 feet high. It stands upon an eminence, commands a fine prospect, and is seen at a great distance in different directions. It is formed by one lofty vault on the top of another. Upon the top of the uppermost, which is surrounded with a battlement, there is an apartment covered with slate. It stands about a mile and a half west from the village of Ceres. It was the dwelling place of the family in 1662, for in April 29 we find this notice, " The Lady Scotstaret, younger, married to the Laird of Erdlee, surnamed Preston. The marriage feast stood at Tarvet." Remarkable Events. — On Wednesday, the 5th day of October 1785, Sig. Vincentius Lunardi, a Florentine, having ascended at Edinburgh, in an air balloon, at three o'clock afternoon, descended a mile to the eastward of Ceres, at twenty minutes past four p. m. This was the first aerial voyage made in Scotland, and the daring adventurer, in performing it, passed over about twenty miles of sea, CERES. 525 and about twelve of land. The house is still standing in which be was received on his descent. Eminent Persons. — Lindsay of Pitscottie, author of an enter- taining history of Scotland, was a native of the parish of Ceres, and proprietor of a small estate in it. Thomas Buchanan, rector of Ceres, who lived immediately after the Reformation, was a man of considerable abilities, and of great influence in the church. Mr Thomas Haliburton, minister of Ceres, and afterwards Pro- fessor of Divinity at St Andrews, was esteemed both as a divine and as a scholar, and wrote several pious and learned treatises. Modern Buildings. — Since the date of the last Statistical Ac- count, there have been built two uncommonly good mansion-houses on the properties of Teasses and Eden wood. The one on the for- mer property is built so as to command a splendid view of the Frith of Forth. III. — Population. In 1 755, the population was 2540 1793, - - 2.520 1811, - - 2407 1821, - - 2840 1&31, - - 2762 Number of families in the parish, - 606 chiefly employed in agriculture, - - - 1R3 trade, manufactures, or handicraft, 281 Since 1831, there has been a great increase in the number of the people; and, from the accounts of their establishments, which were lately given in by the several manufacturers in the parish, we are authorized to say, that the population must now be about 3000 at least. In 1793, 138 looms are said to have been employed in the parish. From 700 to 900 of the inhabitants are now employed in weaving and winding. From 170 to 200 are employed regularly in the mills; and, with the exception of about 30, who are employ- ed in the lime-works, the greater part which remains of the work- ing population is agricultural. The town of Cupar is so near to Ceres, that there are few shopkeepers or venders of any commodi- ties in the latter place. • Character and Habits of the People. — The people are univer- sally industrious, and in general they cultivate the sister virtues of temperance and frugality. Considerable attention to neat- ness and cleanliness also may be discovered among them. Dr Ar- not, author of the former account, mentions, that among the wo- men, the cloak and bonnet had become substitutes for the plaid ; and among the men, that the bonnet was supplanted by the hat. 526 FIFESH1RE. It is singular enough, that the plaid and bonnet should ndw be both regaining their former estimation. There exists also among the people a considerable deal of information, and a general desire for knowledge. A subscription and circulating library was commenced by them in 18*28. It consists now of 500 volumes, in which there is varied as well as much useful reading. There are 100 subscrib- ers to this library. During the last three years, there were 3 illegitimate births in the parish. IV. — Industry. Agriculture, — The valued rent of the parish is L. 8248, Is. Id. Scotch. There are 8000 acres of land in the parish. Of these, about four-tenths are in tillage, five-tenths in grass, and one-tenth in plant- ing and moor. There is little of moor land. The average rent per acre is L. I, 10s. The farm-houses, and the enclosures on the farms, are, in general, good. The produce does not exceed greatly the double of the rent, which is paid from the land. The gross pro- duce cannot be much under 30,000 bolls of corn, and 15,000 do. potatoes. Dr Arnot, in his time, makes 12,000 of corn and 2000 of potatoes ! But in a parish where so many have their patch of corn, and their planting of potatoes, in addition to their live-stock, it is impossible to form a correct estimate of the real produce. About ninety years ago, there were 20 flocks of sheep kept in the parish. Now there is not one ; but there is a great number of cattle fed for the market. The last Statistical Account states 90 to be the number of ploughs. They are now 130 at least A quantity of pork also is sent from this to London. The rent of a cottage is L. 2. It is to be regretted, however, that the cottar system does not prevail to any extent here. The farms vary in extent from 40 to 365 Scotch acres. The farmers have adopted, with great success, the various improvements that have been lately suggested in the system of agriculture, and the land is everywhere in a high state of cultivation. Draining has been car- ried on to a very great extent ; and as there are either quarries or plenty of stones in the neighbourhood, the drains are almost all regularly built. The fields are well enclosed, and in general with stone fences. There is one thrashing-mill, which is driven by steam, three thrashing-mills, and one mill for making butter, driven by water. There is also one windmill, which thrashes corn, and makes meal, and saws wood. It was erected on the property of Greenstde, by the present proprietor, and serves admirably for the CERES. 527 three purposes above-mentioned. It is the only one, I believe, in the county of Fife. A great quantity of lime has been laid out on the several farms in the parish. The farmers, as a body of men, are of an enterprising and industrious spirit ; and, as they have lime and stones near at hand, and other necessaries for im- proving land, they have not been slow to avail themselves of these means. The quantity of water which abounds in the parish, and often overflows the land, is the great obstacle to improvement in agriculture. On one farm, during the late wet season, about 1000 cart-loads of surface were carried off half an acre of land. The leases are, in general, of nineteen years' duration. Manufactures. — Since the date of the last Statistical Account three spinning-mills have' been built in the parish, and a bleach- field establishment has been erected at Duraden. In 1827, two mills were built on the grounds of Easter Pitscottie. The ma- chinery is propelled partly by water, and partly by steam. The steam, in general, is only required in summer, occasionally when the water is light. The milk belong to Messrs William and James Yool, manufacturers, Ceres. There is accommodation for the fa- milies of the workers in the buildings at these mills ; and they con- tain altogether upwards of 150 individuals. There is a teacher and a small library attached to the mills. The other spinning-mill, which belongs to Mr David Yool, was erected at Tarvit in 1799. The machinery at this mill goes partly by water, and partly by steam ; and the power is applied also to the turning of a saw-mill. The three spinning-mills are occupied in preparing and spinning flax, tow, and yarns. The raw material is obtained from Dundee : and the yarns are sent partly to the Dundee market, and partly to manufacturers in Fife. 150 men, women, and young people are em- ployed. The bleachfield establishment was erected in 1825 by some manufacturers in Ceres. It has received the name of St Ann's Bleaching Company, from a well of that name in the vicinity. The number of hands employed varies from 35 to 40. The sup- ply of brown raw material for it, is chiefly obtained from the mills already mentioned. Previous to the erection of this bleachfield, little was manufactured by the weavers in Ceres except " Brown Silesias ;*' now the yarns are all cleaned and bleached, and the people are employed in weaving dowlas and sheeting. From 700 to 900 are engaged in this employment ; and from L. 50,000 to L. 60,000 Sterling worth of dowlas and sheeting are annually ma- nufactured in the parish. To any one who reads this statement 528 FIFKSHIRE. of the manufacture, it will be evident that the various works are most profitably arranged. The mills supply the bleach field, and the bleach field supplies the weavers : and while there is a saving, in this manner, as to the carriage of the various articles, there is also an encouragement to the manufacture of the place. There is every likelihood that the manufacture of this flourishing place will, in a few years, become more extended ; and there are, at pre- sent, some proposals of erecting another mill on a very extensive plan. V. — Parochial Economy. Markets. — There is a weekly market in Cupar, the county (own, distant only two miles and a- half. But this widely extended parish has an easy access to markets in several \ laces : and some of the formers find it convenient to send their produce to Largo, some to St Andrews, and a very few to Dundee. There are two annual markets or fairs held in the village of Ceres, — one on the 24th June, and the other on the 20th day of October ; and both of them are most numerously resorted to, as excellent wool, and corn, and horse, and cattle- markets. Means of Communication. — A turnpike road runs from east to west through the whole length of the parish. There is also a road which runs from north to south, through the breadth of the parish. In summer, a daily-coach runs though Ceres, and joins the steam- boat which leaves Largo for Edinburgh. A messenger, paid by the inhabitants of Ceres, carries letters or papers daily to Cupar, the post-town. There are regular carriers from Ceres to all the neighbouring towns. Ecclesiastical State. — Ceres parish is a rectory, which, before the Reformation, belonged to the Provostry of Kirkheugh, a re- ligious house at St Andrews. A considerable part of the east end of the parish formerly belonged to the parish of St Andrews, and about the year 1620, was annexed to Ceres, quoad sacra tantum, (as it was long thought;) but the present incumbent discovered that there was no such reservation, and it is now annexed, quoad sacra et civilia. Ceres originally belonged to St Andrews pres- bytery. In the old church of Ceres, there was an aisle on the south, which belonged to the family of Craighall, and which, be- fore the Reformation, was a chapel dedicated to St Ninian. The schoolmaster of Ceres uniformly receives a presentation to the chaplainry. There used to be a salary of L. 3 Scots paid to him ; but the houses in Cupar from which this salary was paid cannot CERES. 529 now be discovered. The present church was built in 1806. It stands on a height, where formerly stood the old church and cha- pel : it was situated on the outskirts of the old town, but since the new town or Bridge-end was built, it may be said to be in the cen- tre of the village. It is seated for 1100, but actually holds 1300, and the seats are very advantageously disposed both for hearers and speaker. These seats all belong to the heritors of the parish, and there is no rent charged for the use of them* Seats are appropriated for the proprietors and farmers, and the remainder are free and open to the people, and, except on very bad days, they are well filled. There are two meetings in the church, winter and summer. The average number of com- municants is 1000. The right of patronage, by a grant from the Crown, was vested in the Crawford family. The stipend, by a decreet of the Court of Teinds, was fixed at 16 chalders victual, half meal, half barley. The manse was built in 1 788, and has had little alteration or repair since that time. The glebe consists of 7 acres of excellent land. There are also two meeting-houses in the village of Ceres, one for the Associate Congregation of Antiburgher Seceders, which was built in 1744, the other for the Presbytery of Relief. To each of these are attached a settled clergyman and regular con- gregation. A brotherly feeling and Christian spirit pervades the greater number of the members of these three congregations ; and you will occasionally find them in each others place of wor- ship. There are about 86 families in this parish attached to the Re- lief Church, and about the same number to the Secession. Education. — There are one parochial, one Secession school, and three contribution schools, besides the schools at Pitscottieand Tar- vit Mills. There are also two female schools, besides one or two small private schools. By a contract entered into, anno 1631, between Sir Thomas Hope, advocate to Charles L, on the one part, and Lord Lindsay, patron of the parish, the heritors thereof, the minister, and kirk-session on the other part ; Sir Thomas Hope,in consequence of mortifying 100 merks Scotch yearly, for the benefit of the school- master, was to have the right of presenting the schoolmaster. The right of trial and admission was to be vested in the minister and session. In this state the matter still continues. The schoolmaster receives the value of this mortification in addition to his salary, which is the maximum. The average number of scbo- fife. l 1 630 FIFESHIHE. lars who attend at this parish school is 150. The fees may amount to L. 65 per annum. In October 1836, the scholars entered the new school-house, which had been built by the heritors for their additional accommo- dation, and which would easily contain 200 scholars and upwards. It is a very handsome building, and far surpasses the common structure of school-houses. The exterior is elegantly Bnished, and the interior is in harmony with the outward appearance. This attention to the comfort and health of the young is an act of true mercy, for which the parents cannot be too thankful. The heri- tors propose to build a dwelling-house for the teacher. One of the other schools is held in the village of Craigrothie. A school and school-house were built by subscription in 1806; and ground was given by the proprietor of Craigrothie, who still contributes to the support of the teacher. Excepting this contri- bution, the fees are the only support of this teacher. From 60 to 70 scholars attend him. There is a Sunday evening school, which is attached to this school, as well as to the parochial one, and each of them have got libraries for the use of those who attend. Their is also another Sunday school in Ceres, which possesses a library for the use of the young. About 50 or 60 girls attend one of the female schools, which is kept in the village of Ceres. Societies. — In 1795, a Friendly Society was established in the village of Ceres. It now consists of 200 members, and it possesses a capital of L. 600, which is laid out on heritable security at 5 per cent. The sum of 4s. 6d. is annually contributed by each of the members, — and this small contribution entitles them to receive 4s. a week, if for a time they should be confined to bed ; or 2s. if they are merely unable to work. To those who are superannuated, and have no hope of returning to work, Is. 6d. a week is given. This society has been the means of enabling many to enjoy vari- ous comforts during sickness. In 1765, a branch of the Grand Mason Lodge of Scotland was established in Ceres. Its members are numerous, and 60 of then* have joined themselves into a Friendly Society. They contribute 6s. annually, and during the time of sickness they receive 3s. 6d. a week. There is also in Craigrothie a Friendly Society, which was formed in 1825. The number of its members at present is 60. The object of this So- ciety is to give aid to members when in sickness, and to widows, when the funds can afford. The funds are at present in so flour- ishing a state, that the society gives 15s. a year to widows. CERES. 531 Poor and Parochial Funds. — Besides the usual funds for the poor which arise from collections at the church, and from dues on mar- riages, &c. there is the rent of three acres which were left to the ses- sion, and also the interest of L. 460, which was left by the late Miss Halkerston of Carskardo. Originally, this sum was L. 500, but the necessary expenses on legacies have reduced it to L. 460. It is lent out at 4 per cent There is no regular assessment But the heritors, every year, make a voluntary assessment, so as to meet all deficiencies in the other sources. The church collection may amount to L. 60 per annum. There is a great deal of money expended for the good of the poor in a private way, by benevolent individuals who reside in the parish. This private charity falls, of course, very heavily on the few heritors who reside in the parish, and to whom frequent applications are made. A certain quantity of coals and meal is annually distributed among the poor, at the private expense of some of the heritors. The average number of poor on the roll is 50, and the yearly expen- diture is about L. 120. Fuel — There is an abundant supply of good Scotch coal in the neighbourhood ; and in common seasons coal is the cheapest fuel. Inns. — The number of inns may be about 25. Their corrupt- ing influence has not hitherto been very general. November 1837. PARISH OF KILMANY. PRESBYTERY OF CUPAR, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. HENRY D. COOK, MINISTER, L— Topography and Natural History. Situation and Boundaries.— The parish of Kilmany is situate in the north-east district of the presbytery of Cupar, in the county of Fife. It is bounded on the east by Forgan ; on the south by Logie; on the west by Dairsie, Cupar, and Moonzie ; and on the north by Creech and Balmerino. The small village in which the church is placed lies at nearly equal distance from Cupar, the county town, and Newport, which is now the principal ferry to Dun- dee, and the north, from Edinburgh and the south of Scotland. The distance from each of these places is nearly five miles. The parish constitutes a part of that rich and fertile valley which commences at the low grounds of Forgan and Leuchars, on the east, and runs (through the north of Fife) to the west, by RathiW .let, Letham, and the new inn on the left hand ; and to Newburgh by Denbog, on the right. Name. — The origin of the name is Celtic; some supposing that it means the Church of the Monks, although there are no remains of such a building. Others think, that it signifies the church in the valley, — which is characteristic of its situation. Extent — The length of Kilmany, from east to west, is 6 miles ; and through the whole of it runs the high road from Newport to Edin- burgh by Luthrie and Melville Gates, &c It is narrow towards the east, but it gradually widens to the west The greatest breadth be- twixt Hazleton walls, and the south boundary of Myre-Cairnie, is four miles. The shape of the parish resembles that of a bottle, the manse and church being placed at the neck of it The hills by which the valley is formed are branches of the Ochils. Their shape is peculiar, and almost uniform. From the east, they gra- dually ascend to a considerable height, and suddenly fall towards the west. This is not only the case with the large range which se- • parates Kilmany from the Tay ; but also with the smaller ridges which at different places divide the parish. The principal range K1LMANY. 533 is extensive, and at some places rises more than 400 feet above the level of the sea. It terminates at Newton, three miles to the east of Kilmany ; the southern branch of the Ochils, which' forms this valley, lies in Logie parish; and extends towards Leuchars. Goales den is the only fissure of any importance in the parish. It 4s a beautiful and romantic spot, qnd I daresay would afford ample materials for the speculations of the geologist It is a deep cut in Kilmany hill, looking towards the south, through which a small rivulet flows from the higher grounds, and by which, during the course of ages, it was probably formed. It is almost dry in sum- mer; but in winter after storms, it sends down a considerable quantity of water to the Motray. It was planted with great taste by the late proprietor, Mr Thomson, and beautiful walks were made through it ; but these, since his lamented death, have been permitted in a great degree, to go out of order. Hydrography. — The valley itself presents some striking features. The lower part of it has been under water to a considerable length and depth. This is evident from the height of the sandy hillocks scattered through the lands of East Kinnear, and from the nature and formation of the mound, upon which the village and church of Kilmany are built. From the elevation of these, above the bot- tom of the valley, the water must have stood 20 feet above the channel of the ^fotray. From the nature of the sand deposited, it is probable that the east part of the valley formed an extensive lake. The grains of it are soft and small, and do not resemble the hard sharp sand which is found upon the sea shore. The upper part of the valley has also been under water, but rather as a marsh than deep standing water. The shape of the different hillocks and mounds shows that the lake has been gradually formed ; the sides of them rise with a gentle slop, and, generally speaking, the tops of them are smooth. There must have been some barrier to the east of Kinnear, which prevented the Motray having free ac- cess to the ocean ; but the precise place where it was cannot now be ascertained. How it was removed, is equally uncertain ; the height of the water, accumulated for ages, probably forced a pas- sage for itself to the sea, and left the valley a morass, which it continued to be for ages. It is not above fifty years since a great part of it was drained, and converted into excellent arable land. There is a vague tradition that there was once a passage boat upon this lake to Cruvie and Straiton, and in confirmation of this, it is stated that a small anchor was found when the meadows were first ploughed. 534 F1FESHIRE. The Motray takes its rise from the different sides of Norman's Law; from east of these, a small stream proceeds, and they unite before they enter the parish at Starr. Its course is through the lowlands of Starr, Murdo-Cairnie, and Mountquhanie ; it bounds the back fields of Rathillet and Newbigging, where it is not seen from the public road ; it again appears flowing through Kilmany- den, crosses the high road at the mill, and continues its course to the Eden by Kilmany church and the two Kinnears. In summer, it is a small stream not ten feet broad, and one deep ; but in win- ter, it often assumes a threatening appearance* It then not only fills but overflows its banks, and affords to the Eden a great mass of water. It turns in this parish three corn mills, one thrashing mill and one saw mill. There is another small stream, which has its source to the east of Rathillet school. Its name is Cluthie or Colluthie. It joins the Motray below the church. Its whole course is little more than a mile. The water of it is pure and excellent, and it does not become dry during the hottest summers. It is the boundary betwixt Kilmany and the estate of Forret, in Logie parish There are two other small burns, one of which passes through Lochma- lonie and Rathillet, and the other, which is the south boundary of the parish below Myre-Cairnie, does not fell into the Motray. The parish, from these streams, is admirably adapted for grazing. Climate. — The climate of Kilmany, from its situation, is mild and pleasant. The heat in summer, in the morning, and fore- noon, is sometimes oppressive ; but not often so ; and by the af- ternoon, the wind goes round to the east, and gives us a cooling breeze from the German Ocean. The coldin winter isseldom intense ; but the one, from the commencement of January 1838, is an excep- tion from this remark. The thermometer on the evening of the 14th of February stood at 6 of Fahrenheit. It must have been lower than this, during the night ; and at nine next morning, it was at 9. I have kept the thermometer regularly for the last seven years : — but during that period there has been no cold so intense as that which I have now mentioned. To give a fair idea of the pres- sure, and the temperature of the atmosphere, I send an average of the one, and the other, for the months of 1835 and 1836. It is accurately drawn up by my friend, Mr M'Gillivray, parochial teach- er, from a record of the weather, daily and regularly kept by my- self. The barometer is marked at nine morning and eleven at night, the thermometer at nine morning, twelve at noon, and eleven at night K1LMANY. 535 Greatest cold during the preceding twenty-four hours is taken from a self-regulating thermometer at nine morning. 1835. Barometer. Morn. Even. Gt. C- January, February, March, April, . May, ♦ June, . July, August, September, October, November, December, 1836. January, February, March, April, . May, . June, July, . August, September, October, I November, December, 30.0^ ;29.(% 30.1^ '29.9ft 30.14 30.04 30.0^ 29.6ft 29.7^ •29.9ft *Q.\ft 49.8 29.84 29.7 29.8^ 30.4& 29.5ft •29.9 30.0ft 29.9ft *-7ft 2&7ft 30.04 29.6ft 30.1ft 29.9ft 30.1ft 30.0ft *>.0ft 29.6ft 29.8 •29.9ft 30.1ft 29.9ft 29.8ft 29.4ft 29.8ft 30.4ft •29.6 •29.9ft 30.0ft 29.9ft 29.8 29.6 297ft 81 36 3i 86 41 45 49 53 44 39 36 824 32 31 33 35 39 47 45£ 46 41 88 83 334 Thermometer. Morn. Noon. ] Even. 854 40 41 464 51 57 60 6O4 684 45 41 37 374 854 39 48 61 56 564 56 504 454 88 884 40 44 46 6lf 554 61 644 66 59 51 45 40 39 40 444 48 60 62* 614 61 57 504 41 404 86 874 364 394 42 474 51 54 464 41 39 35 35 344 86 37 444 49 474 48 44 42 87 37 In 1835, the greatest cold was during the night of January 18th. The thermometer stood at 18. The greatest heat was, on August 18th, 76. Greatest cold, 1836, November the 9th, 22±. The greatest heat, August 11th, 74. The greatest height of barome- ter 1835, was 20, January 3d being 30.8 T V» the lowest October 26, 2&7. In 1836 barometer highest, May 14th, 30.6|, lowest, October 13th 28.7 T V The weather is often cold and ungenial in March, April, and the beginning of May, the wind being in an east or south-east direction. Our highest winds in spring and autumn are from the south-west The willow trees all lie from that direction — but our greatest falls of rain and snow are invari- ably from the east or south-east Since 1827 until March last, the roads in winter have not been completely blocked up ; and when they were difficult to pass, this arose more from the snow being drifted than from any serious fall. The harvest has commenced, in this valley, since 1821, as follows. 1821, August 80, 1826, July 22, 1881, Augt. 8, 1822, do. 12, 1827, August 23, 1832, do. 21, 1828, Sept. 16, 1828, do 14, 1833, do. 20, 1824, Augt. 25, 1829, do 29, 1834, do. 12, 1825, do. 22, 1830, Sept. 3, 1835, do. 28, 1836, 29, 1887, September 7» 536 PERTHSHIRE* ' The earliest harvest for the last seventeen years beiug 22d of July 1826, and the latest September 16th 182a This statement is the best practical account of the climate of Kilmany and its neighbourhood. Geology and Mineralogy. — On these subjects, it is enough here to. state, that the principal range of hills to the north of Kilmany is composed of trap or whinstone. There are various kinds of this rock. There is a dark blue species on Kinnear and East Kilmany, which is hard, and brittle, and with difficulty stands the operations of the hammer. It is in a solid body, and must be separated from the pa** rent mass by gunpowder. There is another species of this rock on West Kilmany. It is equally hard, its colour is lighter blue, and its grain considerably coarser and more tenacious. It is difficult to work ; but, by hard labour, it can be cut into any size and form, for building. It appears in the quarry in great blocks, — separated from one another, by a thin coating of a substance like yellow ochre. Judging from an imperfect examination, the quarry behind Mount- quhanie, is of the same description. On the top and face of the hills, when it has been long exposed to the weather, it assumes the aspect of rotten rock. On the lower range of hills, such as are behind West Kilmany farm house, it is not in solid masses, which need to be blown ; but can be separated into comparatively small pieces, by the com- mon pick or lever. From this species of trap, some of the roads in the neighbourhood are repaired. At Hill-Cairnie and Myre-Cair- nie, at the south-west of the parish, the hills assume a different appearance, although they are of the trap species. The rocks, of which they are composed, are equally hard with the trap, on the north range ; but the colour, instead of a dark blue, consists of a dirty white, mixed with red ; they are well adapted for coarse build- ing, for dikes, and drains, and for metal to the roads. When properly chosen and shaped, they look tolerably well for buildings of higher pretensions. The whole of Mr Russell of Hill-Caimie's steading, which is the most substantial in the parish, with the ex- ception of the corner stones, lintels, and skews, is built of this stone. There are various other kinds of the trap family scattered amongst the hills. Zoology, fyc. — In addition to those birds which are common throughout the country, the pheasant has been partially introdu- ced amongst us ; but, from the want of cover, they are by no means numerous, and, from the same cause, will not become so. The parish is visited by the common and larger snipe ; and occa- KILMANY. 537 sionally during winter, by the woodcock. Immense flocks of wild geese traverse the air and the fields in spring and autumn ; and in winter, when the weather is mild ; but from the open nature of the country, few of them fall by the gun of the sportsman. Wild ducks were at one time common ; but they have, in a great degree) retired before the agricultural improvements which have taken place. A few of them are still occasionally seen about Kilmany mill-dam, and upon the Motray. The same may be said of the water hen, or common gallinule. The heron is seen ; but does not build in the parish. The yellow wagtail is also rare. The ringdove produces in abundance, and for some years past has become a nuisance to the former. In winter, they fly in flocks, and during a storm, attack every thing green which appears above the snow. They are particularly severe upon the turnip crops. Many acres of this valuable root are annually severely damaged by this destructive bird. Means should be employed by proprie- tors and tenants to diminish their numbers. The lapwing ap- pears in March and April, and the corncrake's voice is heard dur- ing the summer, from May to October. Both these birds disap- pear before the winter. During a storm, or rather at the approach of it, various species of gulls are seen in flocks on the fields, mixing with the common crow. They appear upon these occasions to feed on the worms turned up by the plough, and to devour what- ever grain or seeds come in their way. The Motray was once famous as a fishing stream. Its course was not direct, nor its waters equally shallow, as they now are ; but at every turn, there were excellent pools or crannies, where the finny race could harbour, feed, and grow to maturity. By the improvements in agriculture, its character, in this respect, is in a great degree lost It now assumes the aspect of a large even drain. As such, it has answered the excellent purposes for which it was cast. It has converted a large tract of marshy ground into rich and productive fields ; but it has removed those corners and holes, where trout, pike, and minnows delight to dwell. The angler is now seldom seen on its banks ; and when he does appear, his labour and patience receive a very poor reward. There are no very rare species of animals found in this neigh- bourhood. The roe-deer was for a long time banished from this part of the country, but of late has again made its appearance. A much larger species of deer, at one period, must have existed in this parish, and neighbourhood. This is evident from some fossil 538 FIFESHIRE. remains which were some years ago ploughed up in Hill- Cairn ie Myre. One skeleton of the deer species was found with immense horns, both in point of height and breadth. It is now in the pos- session of Professor Fleming of Aberdeen. This must either have been a distinct species from any which we now meet with ; or the roe-deer, enjoying perfect liberty, abundance of meat, and extent of country, and, freed from the presence and persecution of man, must then have reached a size of which, in the present day, we have no conception. The badger is seldom seen ; and I was not aware that the otter was ever seen here, until last year. Woods. — Along with the writer of the last Statistical Account, we have to lament the want of woods and plantations. With these judiciously scattered through the parish, and on the hill-tops, Kil- many would present a scene which the man of taste would delight to contemplate. But, by most of the heritors, little has been done to make it one of the most beautiful parishes in Scotland. From this censure, David Gillespie, Esq., and John A. Thomson, Esq. and Captain Pearson, are excepted. Mountquhanie, under the fostering hands of Mr Gillespie, has become a splendid residence. The woods planted by him, on the neighbouring hills, to the north- west and south, are yearly adding to the charms of his estate. The state of Kilmany, in this respect, was equally improved by the cor- rect taste of the late Mr Thomson. The hills which separate Kilmany from the Tay were planted by him, and are now clothed with trees. Walks were cut through them, from which the Tay, the Carse of Gowrie, and the Angus hills are seen. Myre-Cair- nie-hill, and the top of the ridge, which runs from it towards the east, are completely covered with wood, affording a striking object to the eye, and shelter, and climate to the soil. Whilst on these properties, the plantations have been increased,— on other estates, they have been considerably diminished. The beautiful hill of Rathillet, which was covered with fine dark fir trees, is now bare almost to its summit. A part of it has been again planted with larch, but many years must elapse before it regains its late splen- did and romantic appearance. The plantations on the top of East Kinnear are now being cut. However much their removal will add to the arable acres of the farm, it does not improve its external appearance. It has given to this estate, when viewed from the south, a cold and bleak aspect, which it did not formerly possess. The old wood of the parish is about the mansion houses of Mount- quhanie, Lochmalonie, and Rathillet, &c ; and some fine trees KILMANY. 639 are about the village and church of Kilmany. The wood prin- cipally planted is the larch, the Scotch fir, the plane, the beech, and the ash, with a few oaks interspersed. They all, from their rapid growth, appear to be congenial to the soil and climate. The oldest tree is supposed to be a plane, which. is still vigorous, at Hill-Cairnie. II. — Civil History. Eminent Men — Halkerstones of Rathillet. — The individual con- nected with the parish who holds the greatest place in the history of his country, is the famous but unfortunate David Hackston, or Hal- kerstone of Rathillet. It is not known whether he was born at his fa- mily seat ; the records of the kirk-session do not go back so far. He appears to have been a man of talent, energy, and courage, and a friend of civil and religious liberty. He had great influence over the party with whom he acted. He was connected with the men who killed Archbishop Sharp on Magus Muir, although he was not actu- ally concerned in the murder ; for which crime he was condemned, and executed at Edinburgh in the cruellest and most barbarous manner. Hi3 descendants possessed a considerable share of his talents and courage. One of them was engaged on the Whig side in the Rebellion of 1715; and long after this affair was ended, rode a fine horse, which he himself took from the enemy. An- other of them, was sheriff of the county. The last male branch of the family was Mr Helenus Halkerston, a man well known in his day, for his talents and eccentricity. He sold the estate of Rathillet to a Mr Sweet, upon particular conditions, about the year 1772 or 1773. Since the death of Miss Halkerston of Car- phin, which took place thirty years ago, this respectable family is extinct, at least in this part of the country. Clergymen. — Since the Revolution, this parish has been blessed with several eminent clergymen. Mr Alexander Pitcairn, Mr Brown, and Mr Smibert, who held the benefice in succession, from February 23d 1697, to April 4th 1759, appear from the minutes which were kept by them to have been able and intelligent men, and they died ministers of Kilmany. Mr Joseph M'Cormick succeeded Mr Smibert in April 17th 1760, and continued in the parish only for a few months ; he left it in the follow- ing November. He afterwards published the Life of Principal Carstairs of Edinburgh, and died Principal of the United College of St Andrews. ' Mr William Gibb was then ordained ministernn September 24th 1761. This gentleman, for some cause not stated ! 640 FIFESH1RE. in the minutes of session, was not popular as a minister, principally, I believe, from non-residence in the parish. A number of parish- ioners seceded from the church, and built the meeting-house at Rathillet, which continues to this day. He was soon presented to the church of Uphall, by the Earl of Buchan, and was succeeded in May the 10th 1764, by Mr John Adamson. He was most popu- lar, not more from the eloquence of his preaching than the excel- lence of his private character, and the kindness of his heart. Mr Adamson was called to a much wider field of usefulness, to the second charge of St Andrews, in October 1772. He died in 1808, first minister of that city, and Professor of Civil History in the United College. He was succeeded by Mr Andrew Hutton, from Cults, an amiable man, a conscientious minister, and a con- siderable antiquary, who died at Kilmany 1792. He was succeed- ed by my late brother, Mr John Cook, of whose talents and ac- quirements, and virtues, it would be indelicate for me, who loved and revered him from my infancy, to speak. He left the parish in 1802, for the Hebrew Chair at St Andrews, and died in 1824, after having filled the divinity chair of St Mary's from 1808. He published in 1821 his " Inquiry into the Books of the New Tes- tament," which contains the substance of a very small part of his course of lectures on theology. He was succeeded in May 13th 1803) by even then the brilliant and accomplished Mr Thomas Chalmers, and now the well-known and justly celebrated Professor of Divinity in Edinburgh. This distinguished clergyman, who was beloved and admired by all classes of the community, and whose name is still dear to every one who sat under his ministry, discharged the duties of this sequestered parish until July 1815. His first works were written and published while he was minister of Kilmany. The present incumbent has enjoyed this benefice, since September 28th 1815. It would be unfair, in this place, to pass in silence the late Rev. John Tindal, Minister at Rathillet By nature, he was a man of a sound and vigorous mind, and of the most amiable and generous dispositions. He assiduously cultivated the talents with which he was gifted, and had acquired a great store of varied and extensive information. He died in September 15th 1836. Land-owners. — The landed proprietors, according to their va- lued rent, are the following gentlemen : — David Gillespie, Esq. of Kirkton and Mountquhanie, the principal heritor ; John A. Thomson, Esq. of Charleton and Kilmany, &c ; Charles Kinnear, Esq. of Kinnear and Kinloch ; Robert Russell, Esq. of Hill-Cairnie : KILMANY. 541 David Carswells, Esq. of Rathillet ; Captain Hugh Pearson, R. N.of Myre-Cairnie ; James Horsburgh, of Lochroalonie ; Henry Wed- derburn, Esq. of Birkhill, &c. and W. Kinnear ; Henry Inglis, Esq* of Newington ; Mrs Robertson of Ballendean and Newbig- ging ; and John Inglis, Esq. of Colluthie. Only a few acres of Mr Inglis' property are in Kilmany parish. Parochial Registers.— The parochial registers I examined with great care in November 1828, and I then made the following mi- nute with regard to them : Kilmany, November 16th 1828, " I have examined with considerable care the records of the session of Kilmany, and I have found them wonderfully complete, notwith- standing their present miserable condition. They have been ori- ginally bound up as a volume ; but at this date they consist of se- parate sheets and leaves. When they were put into my posses- sion, they were in great disorder, and it required nearly a week's labour to put them into their present condition. A considerable part of them are consumed with damp and bad care. The mark- ing of the pages is gone ; and I am afraid, that, in their present wasted state, they will not keep together for many years. The paper is so much consumed, that they cannot be bound into a vo- lume. All that I can do to preserve them after being arranged is to enclose them in a portfolio. They commence 1st of Novem- ber 1696, and they go down to 1729; the month at which they close, is worn off. In the records there is a blank from October 31st 1697 to June 1st 1701 ; also a leaf of distribution of kirk- session 1728. I have observed in these early records of the kirk- session no other blank. I have put the registers of births toge- ther at the end. They consist of three fragments. The first of the register of births begins May 5th 1706, and is very accurate, although a good deal decayed, until August 18th 1710. The se- cond portion of the register of births commences November 18th J711, (leaving a blank from August 1710,) and continues regular although much wasted at the bottoms of the pages, until October 12th 1718. Third portion of the registers of births commences No- vember 18th 1721, (leaving a blank from October 1718,) and it goes down to 1727* This is in far worse condition than the other two. It is so much wasted that I could not ascertain the particular month in 1717, when it closes. The records which I have exa- mined and described begin, as before stated, November 1696, and come down to 1729." This volume of minutes of session has been long in bad condition. So far back as when Mr Adamson 542 FIFESHIRfi. was elected minister in 1764, it is stated, that the session-clerk produced " an old illegible book of minutes, about the year 1669 -70,* &c a book in which were contained a register of baptisms, &c from November 1696 to December 1729, inclusive, and minute of discipline, collections, distributions of the same dates ;" another book, containing a register of baptisms, &c. from January 1730, to the present time, and minutes of collections and distributions from January 1730 to December 1728, inclusive, and discipline by itself, from January 1749 to the present time ; another book containing only minutes of collections and distributions from Ja- nuary 1749 to the present time." These are all in existence. They were most accurately kept by Mr Adamson. They have been continued to the present day, except minutes of discipline. Since Mr Adamson's time, until very lately, this part of the pa- rish registers has been completely neglected. No entry has been made with regard to any meetings which have taken place betwixt the heritors and kirk-session. Little is known of the ecclesiastical state of the parish before 1697. From a monument lately turned up in the church-yard, it appears that a Master James Thomson was minister of Kilmany for forty-two years previous to 1646. He died in that year aged seventy- eight ; and it adds, and " that of his beloved wife, Besse Smith, with whom he lived forty-one years, Deo Lavs, amen." No tradi- tion remains in the parish with regard to this reverend gentleman. In Limond's Diary, a Mr George Thomson is mentionedasminister of Kilmany, and dying there about 1655. But whoever were the ministers of Kilmany previous to 1697, it is evident from a minute of session, May 7th 1707, that the sacrament of the Lord's supper for a long time had not been regularly dispensed. These are the words of it: " Being Wednesday the session met, and considering that this congregation has long wanted the benefit of the sacrament of the Lord's supper, the minister (Mr Brown) did intimate to them his design of celebrating that solemn ordi- nance ; and the session considering what may be the most proper season for it, did condescend upon the last Sabbath of June next ; and farther considering that the communion tables were all broken and gone to ruin, the session recommends it to the minister and elders in the town of Kilmany to agree with James Miles, wright, to buy timber, and make up the said tables, and to mend some parts of * I never saw the old illegible book of minutes about the year 1699-70. The earliest which was put in my possession was 1st of November 1696. 3 KILMANY. 543 the pulpit that is decayed, and to do other things needful about the church. And the session farther recommends to the minis- ter, to write to the provost of the Old College, either to furnish the communion elements, or allow a fund to buy them, being, it is said, that the Old College was in use and wont so to do, and being proprietors of the tithes of the parish, are obliged to allow a fund for, or else provide elements for, the use of the parish/ 9 Upon this solemn occasion, " Elizabeth Forrester, Lady Mountwhanie, spouse to James Crawford of Mountwhanie, did provide the pul- pit with a covering, together with a good silk fringe, and other things belonging thereto ; as also she did give as much fine linen as served for the use of the table cloaths at the Sacrament. The session, out of gratitude to the said lady, did order the recording of this in the minutes." It is stated in the minutes of June the 8th, " the provost of the Old College declines to allow a fund, or afford communion elements. The session recommends to the mi- nister to take advice what means must be used to obtain a fund for this purpose in time coming." June 22d, the session met, in- . timation was made this day, that the fast day before the sacra- ment was to be on Wednesday next The sacrament was dis- pensed on the 29th of June. The session met on the 2d of July ; " the minister reported that he had taken advice what method must be used for obtaining a fund for providing the communion elements, and that the advice was, that there was no other way but to raise a process before the Session Lords, now Commissioners for Plan tation of Kirks and Valuation of Teinds, and that he was resolved, when a fair opportunity offered, to take that method, both with respect to his stipend and the communion elements. The session, considering that the minister's stipend, being but a scrimp enough maintenance, could not allow of paying the elements out of it, they unanimously agreed to pay them out of the collections, gathered at the sacrament, until a fund shall be otherwise provided." In July 6th 1714, the session met, and the minister represented to them that he had at last, after a long depending process, obtained a decreet of modification and locality of his stipend ; wherein a fund is provided for communion elements, which he pays out of the same, and so the poor's box will be no longer burdened with the payment of communion elements. In the minutes, there is nothing particularly interesting to the general reader. In November 8th 1704, the session gave to Daniel Guines, as encouragement for setting up a printing-house 544 FIPESHIRE. in Dundee, 14s. In May 5th 1709, a collection was ordered for those whose houses were burnt in Edinburgh. "In October 23d 1747, the session met, and the minister represented that the rebels having been in his house several times during the late rebeUion, and carried off some of his effects, he had put in places he thought they would not suspect, some papers of value in his custody, particu- larly a bill of seventeen pounds sterling, belonging to the kirk-ses- sion, and that he could not recover the said bill." As this bill was afterwards renewed by the person who owed it, the kirk-session lost nothing by this depredation of the rebels. The Lawries of Hill Cairnie are the oldest residenters in the pa- rish. They have lived upon the same farm for lid years, and, from 1720 to 1834, they were members of ttye kirk-session. The first, Mr David Lawrie, was admitted into the session of Kilmany in 1720. His son, Mr David Lawrie, was elected an elder in 1766 ; and his son, Mr David Lawrie, (who died 1834,) in May the 5th 1814. Antiquities. — Kilmany is not remarkable for the number of its antiquities ; and there are no traditions with regard to those which exist A considerable number of stone coffins have been dug up behind the farm-house of Starr. A few earthen vessels with bones were found on the farm of Drumnod, and one of the same descrip- tion at Kilmany. Some of these were of the rudest construction, and others of them displayed more refinement of taste, and more elegance of workmanship. Those found at Drumnod were in the possession of Dr Fleming of Aberdeen, when he was minister of Flisk ; and Mr Edte, Kilmany, had a part of the urn found on his farm, for many years. Coins have been occasionally picked up at Myre- Cairnie and Hill- Cairnie, of different sizes and value. These I never saw, and there are none of them, as far as I know, in the possession of any individual in the parish. Modern Buildings. — The house of Mountquhanie, built by the late Mr Gillespie, is an elegant modern structure, on a fine com* manding situation looking to the south. The policy around it is kept in excellent order, and the whole appearance of the grounds about it is improving in beauty every year. The other houses of resident heritors are neat and commodious, and suited to their circumstan- ces, to the extent of their families, or to their individual tastes. III. — Population. The population of Kilmany has been decreasing for many years. This arises from the enlargement of the farms, from the want of 4 KILMANY. 545 ground for feuing, and from the introduction of machinery for bodi- ly and manual labour. In the last Statistical Account it is stated, there are now living in the parish 396 males and 473 females. When the census was taken in 1821, the population was 751,345 males and 406 females. In 1831 it had fallen to 707, 334 males and 373 females, and since that date it is as low as 685 or 690. From the time when the last Statistical Account was written, thrash- ing-mills have been universally introduced, and have led to a consi- derable diminution of the population ; and individuals with large fa- milies naturally retire from a parish, where there are no manufacto- ries, to towns and places where they can obtain employment for their children. The average of births for the last seven years has been 15, of marriages 3 ; of deaths it is not so easy to speak accurately, as some die in the parish who are buried elsewhere, and many of the dead from other parishes are buried in Kilmany churchyard. This will appear evident from the following statement : There have been buried at Kilmany, for the last seven years, 106; of this number only 45 have died in the parish. Those who died here, and were buried elsewhere, are not recorded in our register. I should think that twelve is a fair average of those who have died in the parish for the last seven years. The average number of persons under 15 years, - . 240 betwixt 15 and 20, - - 203 80 and 50, - 159 * 50 and 70, - - 68 70 and upwards, - 14 There are no noblemen in Kilmany parish. Number of proprietors of land of yearly value, L. 50 and upwards, - 9 The number of unmarried men, bachelors, and widowers, above 50, 11 Unmarried women upwards of 45, .... 21 Number of families, ..... 137 of .inhabited houses, .... 127 of uninhabited, ..... 5 IUegitimate children for the last three and a-half years. 9 The inhabitants, from the profession which they follow, and from their temperate habits, are healthy and strong, and many of them reach to very advanced age. Since 1830, there have died eleven individuals, whose united ages amounted to 924 years ; the average age of each, 84*. From an early period, Kilmany has been an agricultural parish, and its population possessed of much natural talent* great industry, and pious and amiable dispositions. Every clergyman who has la- boured amongst them, has had good reason to bear testimony to their piety and correct conduct, and has received from them, many fifb. m m 546 FIFESHIRE. marks of affection and esteem. This amiable feature in their character, has hitherto been general. IV. — Industry. The number of males employed in agriculture is 120. They may be thus divided : proprietors farming their estates or part of them, 5; tenants, 12; cottars or agricultural married servants, 37; unmarried do., 66 ; total, 120. The industry of the parish in other respects may be estimated from the following statement: day labourers, 1 8 ; weavers, 10 ; wrights, 2 masters, workmen and apprentices, 11 ; sawyers, 5 ; smiths, 6 masters, workmen and ap- prentices, 4; publican, 1 ; toll-keeper, 1 ; tailors, 2 masters, ap- prentice 1 ; masons, 3; gardeners, 2 masters, workmen and ap- prentices, 4 ; grocers in a small way, 2 ; millers, 3, assistants, &c. 3 ; beadle, 1 ; shoemakers, 3 masters, workmen and apprentices, 6; ministers, 1 Established, 1 Secession; parochial schoolmas- ter 1, schoolmistresses, 2; butler, gamekeeper, &c 5; retired, 3; total, 101. There is no large manufactory in the parish. The weavers are employed at home work, and when this cannot be obtained, they are supplied with- Osnaburgh, or other cloth, by the merchants of Dundee and Cupar ; or by their agents in the country. In ad- dition to the number who weave, mentioned above, there are seve- ral females who occupy themselves in this manner, during the win- ter. In summer, they generally give up this work when the farm- ers need their assistance. The only branch of industry, except agriculture, which is carried on to any extent, is a saw-mill, which was some years ago erected by Mr Thomson of Charleton. It has been occupied, ever since it was built, by Mr William Malcolm, wright During the course of the year, it is by him actively employed, and cuts down a consi- derable quantity of wood. Its power is not sufficiently strong for large trees, but it is admirably adapted for cutting paling, for pre- paring wood for sheep flakes, and for converting inferior timber into staves for herring barrels. Many thousands of these are an- nually sent from this mill to Leith, and other places on the Forth where herrings are cured. Agriculture. — The whole of this parish is arable, with the ex- ception of the hill tops, which are planted. The number of cul- tivated acres is about 3550 Scotch, or by imperial measure, 4477. There is no land which continues waste, or in a state of natural pasture. There is no undivided common. The number of acres KILMANY. 547 planted is not above 150 acres Scotch, or 190 imperial measure. The trees which are planted are the Scotch fir, the larch, the beech, with an intermixture of a few ash, plane, and oak. Rent. — The average rent of the arable land is about L.2, 5s. to L.2, 10s* per acre; that of grazing is at the rate of L. 3 per ox, or cow, and of 12s. per ewe, or full-grown sheep for the season. Wages, — The wages of married farm-servants are from L. 9 to L. 12, with house and garden, 6 J bolls of oatmeal, 9 bolls of po- tatoes per annum, and 1 pint of sweet milk daily ; of unmarried servants living in bothies, L. 10 to L. 1 1, with the same allowance of oatmeal and milk ; and potatoes for supper. Fuel and bed- clothes are afforded by their masters. In winter the rate of com- mon labourers is from 8s. to 9s. per^week; in summer from 9s. to lis. Artisans vary from 10s. to 16s. per week. Women for agricultural work 8d. without meat; do. for washing, Is. with meat, but the hours are long. Grain. — Varieties of seed used, and the quantity sown per Scotch acre : Wheat* — White do. now principally Hunter's; little red do. ; quantity sown per Scotch acre, 4 bushels. Barley Eng- lish.— Chevalier do. much used, and approved of; the only objec- tion against it, is its being ten days later of ripening than other varieties; quantity sown per acre from 5 to 6 bushels. Oats. — Po- tatoe do. early Angus, common, and lately introduced, and much esteemed Hopetoun do. Quantity of seed per acre from 6 to 8 bushels. Potatoes. — The Devonshire red, and the Perthshire red, the most popular in the London market. There were fewer failures in the crop of Devonshire red, in this neighbourhood, than of any other variety. A few blue Dons are planted, more of Glasgow buffs, and almost no white species. When raised, they are for home consumption. Quantity used for seed per acre, from 3 to 4 bolls. Turnips. — For early use, white globe and red, for standing dur- ing the winter and spring, green top yellow, Aberdeenshire yellow, hybrid, and a few Swedes. Quantity used for seed per acre, 2 to 2£ lbs. Grass. — Annual and perennial rye-grass, 1 to 2 bushels per acre ; red clover from 10 to 12 lbs. per do. Some farmers sow along with it 2 lbs. of white. When laid down for pasture 4 lbs. of red, with 5 to 6 lbs. of white clover. Live-Stock. — The breeds of sheep which are raised, or bought in to feed, are the Leicester, Cheviot, and Highland kinds. There are about 1000 of the above varieties annually fed for the butcher upon turnips. The breed of cattle is the original Fife one, or as 548 FIFESHIRE. near it, as can now be obtained. Some years ago, the Teeswater, or short-horned breed, was introduced, and some very fine cattle were raised from it They were profitable to the breeder, from his being able to sell them fat, a year sooner, than the Fife and Angus kinds. But they are too fine, and delicate for our climate, and pasture. They have a tendency to degenerate, unless they are kept up at a great expense, or the breed renewed from wanner and richer soils. The original breed of the county, if equally at- tended to, although kept to a greater age, affords a richer article to the butcher, and is nearly, if not altogether, as profitable to the farmer. A cross betwixt the Teeswater and the Fife breed is generally considered an advantageous one. The stock thus rais- ed, if placed in favourable circumstances, acquire a greater weight than the pure Fife breed, and, although more delicate, are sooner ready for the market. There are about 200 cattle of various kinds raised in the parish annually, and the most of them are sold fat, about three years of age. There are few horses raised for the market. Those bred for agricultural purposes are strong and hand* some. Rotation of Crops. — On the best soils the following five shift is common : 1. Fallow or green crop ; 2. wheat ; 3. barley sown down with grass seeds ; 4. grass cut, or pastured ; 5. oats. This is a severe rotation, and has a tendency in the course- of years to wear out the best of land. It can be justified only from the want of en- closures, which prevents the farmer from adopting, as he would wish to do, the stock husbandry. This is gradually giving way to the six shift, which, in every agricultural point of view, is supe- rior to it, although at first less profitable. 1. Fallow, or green crop ; 2. wheat ; 3. pease or beans, or turnips manured with bones, and eaten off with sheep ; 4. barley with grass seeds ; 5. grass cut, or pastured ; 6. oats. This rotation would be much improv- ed, by allowing the land to lie in pasture for two or three years after barley, and would be unquestionably so, if the farms were properly enclosed. There is little land in the parish which can- not bear this last course. Where it does exist, barley is substituted for wheat ; then, white and green crops alternately, and pasture for several years. Great improvements have been made within the last forty years, in ploughing and draining ; and they are still proceeding. Furrow draining, which promises such happy results, has been introduced, and will in a short time be carried to a great extent. The subsoil KILMANY. 549 plough has also been set to work. These united will improve the wet and retentive lands. They will free them from extra moisture, give them depth of soil, and prepare them for the reception of lime and manure. Another great improvement which has been introduced within the last few years is the application of bones for fertilizing the soil* This manure is admirably adapted for high dry fields. The leases extend to the period of nineteen years, and the nature and conditions of them are generally considered fair for proprie- tor and tenant, — perhaps an extension of them to twenty-four years would be still more advantageous to both parties. The farm houses and steadings are, in a majority of cas.es, good, and, by the liberality of the proprietors, are improving every year. Rathillet mill presents an obstacle for improving one part of the parish. Its dam-dike prevents a proper level from being carried through the low lands of West Rathillet, and Mountquhanie, and Stair. The fields lying along this part of the Motray, which from their situation, should be the most productive in the parish, are almost always damp, and do not bear the crops of which they are capable. They are also exposed to be occasionally flooded. Were this ob- stacle removed, and the lands properly drained, the difference be- twixt the crops, which are now, and which would be raised upon these fields, would amply remunerate the heritors interested, in a very few years. All such obstacles are removed in the eastern part of the parish, and the consequence is, that the banks of the Motray, which were once marshy and of little value, are now dry, and pro- duce excellent crops of grain and the best of pasture. What are called the Greens and the Haughs of Kilmany, were also occasion- ally overflowed with water. This was corrected some years ago, by giving the Motray a new and a wider course, betwixt the mill and the church of Kilmany. Produce. — The average gross amount of raw produce raised in the parish, in as far as it can be ascertained, is as follows: Produce of all kinds of grain cultivated for food of man or the domestic animals, .... 13,800 of potatoes turnips, &c. cultivated in the fields for food, - 3^800 of hay almost all cultivated, - - 1400 of land in pasture rating it at L. 3 per cow or full-grown ox, grazed, or that may be grazed for the'.season, at 12s. per ewe, or full grown sheep pastured or may be pastured for the year, 1200 of annual thinning and periodical felling of woods, plantations, &c 40 Total yearly value of raw produce raised, - L. 20,24Q Farms, and the nature of their soil and capabilities. — East Kin- 550 F1FESHIRE. near has various soils. In the lower parts, it is sandy, with some moss along the banks of Motray. The higher fields are not composed of a deep but of a sharp light soil. The best lands of Kinnear are not so strong as to resist extreme drought It suffered much from this cause in 1826. It is naturally adapted for sheep, and cattle, more than a continued rotation of culmi- ferous and leguminous crops. It has been most judiciously and completely divided into parks, and enclosed with substantial whin- stone dikes. This improvement has added greatly to the produce of the farm. By the assistance of these parks, and by grazing, excellent crops have been lately raised upon inferior land ; and first-rate cattle and sheep have been brought to the market The next farm to the west is Little Kinnear, the property of Henry Wedderburn, Esq. of Birkhill. It is a small one, but valuable from its soil, its climate, and situation. It requires only to be enclosed, to become a first-rate farm for its size. The up- per land, although thin, lies upon a whinstone bottom. To the west of Little Kinnear,lies the estate of Kilmany, belonging to John A. Thomson, Esq. of Charleton. It is divided into three farms ; — East and West Kilmany ; — and Muir Craig, on the top of the hill, which separates Kilmany from Balmerino and the Tay. The two first farms have always been considered excellent ones, and capable of raising all kinds of crops. They are more adapt* ed for wheat, than either of the Kinnears. Their soil is various. Upon the Motray it is a deep rich loam. In wet seasons, this part of it raises great quantities of straw ; but the quantity and the quality of the grain do not correspond with the bulk of fod- der. This was particularly the case in 1817 ; but in drier seasons it produces heavy crops of straw and corn. Another part of it is a fine sharp soil lying on trap, which yields an excellent boll, for the quantity of fodder, which is in some seasons deficient There is another part of it, moorish, and of little value to the farmer. This is the tract of land lying betwixt the manse and glebe, and the east march of Rathillet This part of the property, by the subsoil plough, furrow draining, and, above all things, by enclosures, may be much improved, and, in the course of time, may become, if not fertile, at least a convenient piece of ground to the tenant The Muir Craigs is a hill farm, and, as its name denotes, there is in it a considerable quantity of indifferent land ; but of late years, it has been much improved, and is in the way of being still better KILMANY. 551 cultivated. The value of the whole of this estate would be much enhanced, if it was as completely inclosed as East Kinnear. . To the west of Kilmany is the estate of Rathillet, which was long in the possession of the Halkerstones ; but, for the last sixty years, has been the property of the grandfather, and father of the present laird, David Carswell, Esq, It is one of the largest, and, upon the whole, one of the best farms in the parish. It was well enclosed by a Mr Sweet, who purchased it from Mr Halkerston, with hedge-rows interspersed with ash trees, and in this respect it took the lead, in substantial improvements, of the rest of the pa- rish, by nearly half a century. The soil, generally speaking, is not so well adapted for wheat as Kilmany, and of the other farms which are still to be mentioned ; but for barley, and for raising cat- tle, it has few equals in this or in the neighbouring districts. To the north of Rathillet, is Newbigging, part of the property of Mrs Robert- son of Ballendean ; it contains some good and some indifferent land. The estate of Mountquhanie, belonging to David Gillespie, Esq. of Kirkton, originally containing the farms of Stirton, Mount- quhanie, and Drumnod, lies to the north-west of Rathillet. Of these, the soil of Stirton is the poorest. It is thin' cold land, with a retentive subsoil. It is not enclosed. Little, for many years, was done upon this farm. The proprietor took it into his own hands some years ago. He drove lime to it, and in some degree drained it With these improvements, it was lately let to an active tenant, who will employ skill and capital to increase its productive powers. Mountquhanie and Drumnod contain excellent sharp land, (a part of it upon whinstoue bottom,) and are highly cultivated. To the south of Mountquhanie, are the farms of Starr and of the Cairnies, Murdoch and New Cairnie. These by purchase were add- ed to the Mountquhanie estate by the late Mr Gillespie. They con- tain some of the best land in the parish. They are fit to raise every species of crop, and equally adapted for the feeding of cattle. To the west of Murdoch Cairnie is the estate of Newington, belong- ing to Henry Inglis, Esq. Only part of Mr Inglis' property is in Kilmany'; the rest of it, is in the adjoining parish of Moonzie. It originally formed part of the Cairnie estate, and is distinguished for a rich deep soil. Lochmalonie, the estate of James Horsburgh, Esq. lies to the south of Rathillet, and is bounded by it on the north and west. The soil of Lochmalonie is various. About the mansion-house, and farm-steading, it is excellent. The higher grounds to the south, are of inferior quality. It is cold with a re- 552 FIFESHIRE. tentive subsoil. This part of the property was much improved, by its late amiable, judicious, and justly esteemed proprietor, Major Horsburgh. He trenched a considerable part of it; and one field, where he was disappointed of the beneficial effects which he ex- pected, he covered with clay, which he found under the surface, which succeeded for beyond his most sanguine hopes. The only other estates within the parish, and which form its south- west boundary, are Hill Cairnie, the property of Robert Russell, Esq. and Myre Cairnie, belonging to Captain Pearson, R. N. Both of these farms are cultivated by Mr Russell. They contain some very strong land. Hill Cairnie is known in the neighbourhood for its deep red clay. It has also a considerable extent of meadow ground, which is composed of sand, moss, and marl. This is all drained, and contributes liberally to the barn-yard, or to the feeding byres. Both these farms lie near the town of Cupar, and from it receive a great quantity of dung, in addition to what is pro- duced upon themselves. They are thus highly cultivated and fertile. From these observations, it is evident that Kilmany is a most productive parish. From the well known excellence of its soil, from the greater part of it being completely watered by the Mo- tray, and its other small streams, from the excellence of the roads which run through it, and from its nearness to good markets, — the farms which compose it, have been long in great request by the agriculturist There are many offerers of skill, and of capital, for every farm which comes into the market. On this account all the farms are rented at their full value, and some of them above it If times were becoming worse than they now are, the rent promis- ed for them could not be paid, without entrenching upon the ca- pital of the tenants. Such a state of things would be deeply to be deplored, not more for the sake of this industrious, and in every way respectable class of men, than for the agricultural prosperity and the general good of the country. The valued rent of Kilmany is L. 5327, 9s. 9d. Scots money ; real rent from L. 8000 to L. 9000 Sterling. V. — Parochial Economy. Market-Town — Means of Communication. — What is called the village of Kilmany consists of the cottars' houses of the two farms of the same name, with those of the wright, smith, shoemaker, weaver, and beadle ; and of a few more families. The market-town is Cupar, which is distant from the centre of the parish betwixt four KILMANY. 553 and five miles* Although the roads are excellent, it enjoys few means of communication with the neighbouring towns and vil- lages. There is no post nearer than Cupar or Newport, which is found in many cases to be very inconvenient, and no carrier passes this way to Dundee and Cupar. A great part of the ne- cessaries of life must be sent for, to one or other of these places, which entails upon the inhabitants additional labour and expense. The parish is abundantly supplied with excellent bread, three or four times a-week, by carts from Cupar, Newport, and Leuchars. The length of the turnpike-road running through the valley is six miles. Originally there was a considerable deal of posting upon it, from Newport to Edinburgh, as this is the best and nearest line of road betwixt these places. But all the public coaches go round by Cupar, and since the starting of these conveyances, few post-chaises are seen in this district. There are eleven small bridges in the parish, eight of them are over the Motray, and all of them in good order. Ecclesiastical State* — The church is situated upon the beautiful rising ground, upon which the small village is placed. It com- mands a fine view of the surrounding country. The Motray runs below it, .and washes the bank upon which it is built It is not particularly well situated for the accommodation of the parish; as the most extensive and populous parts of it lie at a considerable distance from the church. This cannot now be avoided. As the parish is not extensive, the people in good weather can easily attend divine worship, from its most distant points. If they are unwilling to come so far, there are other churches connected with the Establishment nearer them, to which they can easily go. The great- est distance from the parish church, is about four and a-half miles. It was built in 1768. It is of the plainest construction. The original expense of it, was under L. 150. From some repairs which it lately received, it is far from being uncomfortable. It can accommodate from 300 to 340 individuals. As the parish has diminished in population since it was erected, it is more than sufficiently large for the congregation. The greatest part of the area is divided amongst the different heritors, and is occupied by them, or by their tenants and servants ; but the communion tables and the east gallery are free sittings, as nothing has been charged for them for many years. These were erected originally at the expense of the kirk-session, and were let out for the benefit of the poor. 554 FIFESHIRE. The manse was built for Dr Chalmers in 1810. By his advice, the site of it was removed from the village to its present situa- tion on the glebe. It is now about 400 paces to the west of the church. This change for many reasons was a desirable one. The old site with the garden, and small park below the church, do not now belong to the minister. They were exchanged in 1820, for land lying contiguous to the principal part of the glebe. The manse now stands by itself, in a fine park of ten acres, with an excellent approach to it, which the late site completely wanted. The manse and offices are in good repair, and are in every way suitable to the accommodation of the minister. The garden is sur- rounded with an excellent wall, five and a half feet high to the south, nine and a half to the east, north, and west ; it was built in 1820. The heritors allowed for this purpose L. 45 ; the present incumbent, for his own con veniency, gave an additional L. 10. It is now well stocked with fruit trees, although the soil is not very favourable for their growth ; and with an abundance of gooseberry, and currant bushes. The ground about the manse was laid out with great taste by Dr Chalmers. It remains very much in the state in which he left it The glebe consists of nearly 10 acres Scotch measure, and is enclosed with a beech and thorn hedge. The soil is unequal; but a great part of it is good and sharp ; and, under proper management, is productive. It would let over bead at L. 3 to L. 3, 10s. per acre. The stipend during the greatest part of Dr Chalmers 9 incumbency, and of mine, was, wheat, 8 bolls; barley, 92 bolls, 1 firlot 1 peck, Of lippies ; oatmeal, 48 bolls, 1 firlot, 1 peck, Of lippies ; oats, 40 bolls, with L> 8, 6s. 8d. of communion elements. In 1832 the stipend was augmented by the Court of Teinds, as follows: wheat, 8 bolls; barley, 116 bolls; oatmeal 1 16, with L. 8, 6s. 8d. as communion elements. The whole teinds of the parish, except what the minister receives as stipend, belong to the United College of St Andrews, and every augmentation which is granted is taken from the revenues of that most respectable body. This is a state of things which is in every way to be regretted, and the college has unquestionably a just claim upon Government, for the loss which by various aug- mentations, they have sustained. The Principal and Professors of the said college are patrons of the parish. There has been a dissenting chapel in the parish since 1762. The clergyman, I believe, is paid by the collections, and the seat- rents ; his salary is about L. 100. He has, in addition, a good KILMANY. 555 house, and an excellent garden. As the congregation is compos- ed of the Dissenters of various parishes in the neighbourhood, I do not know the number which attends this chapel. The number of heads of families attending the Established Church is about 80 ; of communicants, 266 to 275. Education* — There are three schools in the parish ; the paro- chial one, at Rathillet, the centre of the parish ; and two private ones, taught by females, at Hazleton of Mountquhanie, and at Kilmany. The two last are supported by the liberality of Mrs Gillespie of Kirkton, and Mrs Thomson of Charleton. Each teacher has a house, school-room, and garden, and L. 10 of sa- lary ; the rest of their living is composed of school -fees, which may amount to betwixt L. 5 and L. 10 per annum. These schools have been of great use in teaching the younger children, who are not table to go so far as the parish school ; and still more so, for giving to the girls in the parish and neighbourhood a knowledge of knitting, needle-work, and other branches of female education* In the parochial school, the ordinary branches of education are at present most ably taught by Mr William M'Gillivray. In addition to these, if required, he is prepared to teach practical mathematics, geography, and Latin. The fees are fixed by the heritors and minister, as follows : for English reading, 2s. per quarter; do. with writing per quarter, 2s. 6d; these, with arithmetic, ds. 6cL per quarter ; these, with English gram- mar and geography, 5s. per quarter ; without geography, 4s. : and for the whole, with Latin, 10s. per quarter. The school- master, like most of his brethren in country parishes, receives only three quarters per annum. He is at present ill accommodated, having only the legal allowance of two rooms ; and these are small and low in the ceiling ; but I have no doubt that this will be cor- rected by the liberality of the heritors, when a new school-room is built He has an excellent garden ; and as session and heritor's clerk, he has a salary of L.3, 10s., the emoluments of which office, from marriages, births, and funerals may be, on an average, L. 2 more per annum. His school-fees may amount to L. 18 or L.20 per annum. All the children are sent to school, and there is al- most no person who cannot read; and a great part of the lower classes, can also write and keep accounts. From the central situa- tion of the school, all the children in the parish can attend it, who have reached the age of seven years. There is no need of additional schools. 1 556 FIFESHIRE. Poor and Parochial Funds* — The poor of this parish are few in number, and are supported at a very trifling expense. There still exists amongst them that noble spirit, which spurns at public as- sistance, when, by their own exertions and economy, they can pro- vide for themselves. We have, at present, cases amongst us where individuals have reached the utmost verge of human life ; with means bordering upon poverty, and by many, would be considered actually so, resolutely refusing the scanty supply which is given to those who are upon the kirk -session roll. The number who were assisted by the kirk-session last year were 14, of whom five only were regularly on the roll ; the rest got occasional assistance. The whole sum given to the above poor, from January 1837 to January 1838, was L.23, Us. 5d. In addition to this 15s. 6d. was given to a medical gentleman for advice; and perhaps L. 3 are still due to the schoolmaster, for poor scholars. In addition to this sum, David Gillespie, Esq. of Kirkton, gave me liberty last year, to give coals to every person in the parish, who I thought stood in need of them ; and I was particularly requested by him, not to diminish the ordinary supply afforded to the poor, in consequence of his do- nation. Several families, who were in distress from accidental cir- cumstances, were thus supplied with coals, who never received a farthing from the kirk-session. Call the average, L. 30 ; and this sum cannot be said to be extravagant, upon a rental of L. 8000 to L. 9000 per annum, although the heritors paid every farthing of it. But this they do not 1*1, The kirk-session has an heritable bond belonging to it of L. 200 ; the interest of which, although now re- duced, goes for the support of the poor, and the other expenses of the kirk-session, which amount annually to L. 8, 7s. ; 2 10s. To KILMANY. 557 make up auy such deficiency, the heritors were accustomed to as- sess themselves voluntarily, according to their valued rents. All that was required of them was a sum of L. 30 to L. 35 every al- ternate year. They thus kept the capital of the kirk-session en- tire, and ready to be advanced upon any emergency. But on a late occasion, a majority of heritors agreed not to contribute as they had hitherto done, until the legacy left to the kirk-session by Mr Gillespie was expended. The tendency of such proceeding, if carried farther, is to bring on a legal assessment, which will de- stroy here, as elsewhere, that independent and noble spirit, which spurns at parochial relief. The present incumbent, at least, has done all in his power to prevent this state of things. Inns. — There is now only one public-house in the parish. Fuel — The principal article used for fuel is coal. There is no pit of this valuable mineral nearer than twelve miles. By land carriage, it is brought from Teasses in Ceres parish, from Drum- carro in Cameron, from Kilmux, and from Orr's Bridge. It is imported in considerable quantities into Balmerino, from various places on the Forth, and from Newcastle. On the hill, a double cart containing six loads, costs from 7s. 6d. to 9s. 6d. ; carriage of ditto, with tolls 8s. lOd. At Balmerino, English coal costs about 15s. to 17s., Scotch coal from 12s. 6d. to 17s., carriage 4s. for a double cart. In winter the price is even higher at Balmerino than what is stated. June 1838. PARISH OF CULTS. PRE8BYTERY OF CUPAR, SYNOD OP FIFE. THE REV. THOMAS J. CRAWFORD, A. M. MINISTER. L — Topography and Natural History. Situation, Boundaries, and Extent. — This parish is situated in the heart of the county of Fife. In form, it is nearly oblong, and in superficial extent about 3£ square miles, being 2£ miles long from north to south, and 1£ broad from east to west It is bounded on the west, by the parishes of Kettle and Collessie; on the north, by Collessie, Monimail, and Cupar ; on the east, by Ceres; and on the south by Ceres and Kettle. Name. — The ancient name of this parish was Qttilts or Quilques. This word is alleged, in the former Statistical Account, to be of Celtic origin, signifying a " nook" or " corner" and is suppos- ed to be descriptive of the situation of the parish, which recedes towards the south-east from the large strath or valley of the Eden. Topographical Appearances. — There is nothing very remarkable to be noted under this head. The surface is flat or slightly de- clining towards the north, but hilly towards the south and east. The eastern district is richly wooded, — the western somewhat bare and uninteresting. Of the hills may be mentioned the Walton hill, which rises at the south-east extremity of the parish, — and the Pitlessie or Cults' lime hills, which adjoin it on the south. On these, there are many points from which the fine scenery of the neighbourhood, the beautiful valley of Stratheden, and " mine own blue Lomonds," (as Sir D. Wilkie, in a letter to a former clergymen of Cults, enthusiastically calls them,) may be seen to the greatest advantage. Soil. — There is great variety in the quality of the soil. From the northern boundary to the high road, the soil is a light brown- ish sand, arid and unproductive, apt to be overrun, if left long cults. 559 under grass, with bent, broom and furze. Farther southwards 'to the ascent of the lime hills, a soft black loam prevails, varying from 10 to 20 inches in depth* On the sides and tops of the hills, there is a strong clay, of excellent quality, capable of producing the finest crops. Climate. — The climate is dry, mild, and salubrious. There are no peculiar diseases incident to the locality. Agues, which were prevalent sixty years ago, have now, owing to the improved cultivation of the country, entirely disappeared, and fevers have of late years been neither so frequent nor so severe as in some of the surrounding parishes. The highest winds are from the south- west; the greatest storms of rain and snow from the east Hydrography. — The river Eden divides part of this parish from that of Collessie on the north, and traverses the other part The breadth of the river is about thirty-four feet Its bed is level, its course winding, and its current consequently slow and noiseless. From the western to the eastern extremity of the parish, it has a fall of about thirteen feet It drives six mills, and in these is made available in the summer season to the extent of not less than twenty horse power. The Eden is joined by the Ballomill burn, which, flowing southwards, divides Cults from Collessie on the west This stream, though only about fifteen feet in width, is, during the summer months, of nearly equal power with the Eden itself. Besides these, there are various streamlets of inconsiderable size. One of them drives two thrashing-mills. Geology. — The parish of Cults presents a very interesting field of observation to the geologist. Its geognostic appearances are, for the most part, connected with the carboniferous or great in- dependent coal formation. The rocks consist of sandstone, lime- stone, shale, coal, and trap, and constitute the northern outcrop of the coal metals. We shall begin our brief description with the lowest of the sedimentary deposits, and consider the others in their relative order of superposition, — a method which will conduct us gradually from the northern to the southern extremity of the parish. The rock which prevails throughout the lower district is a yel- low sandstone, sections of which may be observed along the banks of the Eden, and at the quarries of Hospital Mill and Bogle Hill. It may likewise be observed cropping out on the Walton Hill, a little to the east of the burying-place of the Crawfurd family, and 560 FIFESH1RE. reaching an elevation of about 200 feet above the level of the val* ley. The deposit may therefore be considered as of enormous" thickness. Some of its beds assume a brecciated or conglomerated aspect, containing nodules of quartz, and rounded portions of the primitive rocks ; also innumerable quantities of clay nodules, which are soft, unctuous, of a bluish yellow colour, and generally of a globular or semispherical form. In this portion of the deposit, the scales, teeth, and bones of fossil fish are abundant Some of the scales found at Hospital Mill quarry, measure nearly three inches in length and two inches in breadth. These interesting relics all belong, according to Dr Anderson (Edinburgh New Philosophical Jour- nal, January 1838,) to the Gyrokpis giganteus of M. Agassiz ; And the discovery of them in this deposit has led him to regard it as belonging to the old red sandstone formation, of which it constitutes the upper member. It is undoubtedly a continuation of the Dura Den, Drumdryan, Wemyss' Hall, and Cupar Muir sandstones, in which several new genera of fossil fishes, as well as insects, have been discovered and described by Dr Anderson in the paper referred to. The direction of this deposit is to the south-east, its dip is at an angle which varies from 7° to 12°, and its range is westerly. The mountain limestone is the next rock which occurs in the order of superposition. This rock crops out at a considerable elevation above the valley, and like the former ranges in a wester- ly direction, dipping towards the south-east at an angle of about 10°. It may, therefore, although the junction of the two cannot be observed, be considered as lying perfectly conformable with the yellow sandstone. The main bed is about 14 feet thick, very hard and crystalline in its texture, and of a dark bluish colour. It ex- tends about a mile and a half in length, in the course of which se- veral dislocations occur, which are termed rums by the workmen. These portions of the rock differ considerably from the rest, and almost approach the character of a conglomerate, which, along with the arch-like appearance of the rums, clearly indicates the nature of the cause by which they have been occasioned, as well as the close proximity of the trap beneath. Besides this main bed of limestone, there are other three, one of which is two, another eight, and the third six feet in thickness. The organic remains in this depositare encri- nites of several species, orthocerates, terebratuke, products spiri- ferce, corallines, madrepores, and small microscopic shells. It yields CULTS. 561 about 90 per cent of carbonate of lime, and is much esteemed both for agricultural and architectural purposes. Several alternating beds of coal, shale, and sandstone repose upon the limestone strata. One of the beds of coal is twelve inches thick,. and may be considered as the lowest of the whole series, of which the coal-field in the county is composed. From the quarry it may be traced westwards to Front-brae, where it may be seen cropping out along the road which leads to Coal- town. Here the whole series have been thrown down several hun- dred feet, underlying the Burnturk coal metals, and again emerg- ing at Forthar limework in the parish of Kettle. The other beds of coal vary from a few inches to about a foot in thickness, and are not considered of sufficient value to be wrought One of the beds of shale which overlies the main lime bed is composed almost entirely. of shells of the genus Mytilvs, the pre- vailing species being the M, Crassus. These shells appear as fresh and entire as if they were still reposing on the muddy bed of the primitive ocean, in which they were produced. Not only are the external figure and internal texture preserved, but even the colour and original shelly matter seem to have sustained but little alteration. One cannot look on these interesting relics with- out a feeling of admiration of the wonderful methods devised by Providence, for preserving so entire bodies of so fragile a kind, and out of their remains once deposited on the bottom of the sea, forming the rocks and soil, which now minister to the wants and comforts of man. Of the sandstones reposing on the lime beds, the thickest, which is about 16 feet, abounds in organic remains. These, however, are wholly vegetable, being the stems and branches of arundinaceotu plants. Not a trace of animal matter can be detected in any part of this deposit, while in the inferior bed of sandstone before no- ticed, the organic remains are exclusively animal ; a fact, we be- lieve, first observed by Dr Anderson, and serving as the basis of his proposed arrangement of the different sandstones found in Stratheden. The whole of these alternating beds of coal, shale, sandstone and mountain limestone, have been elevated to the height of about 600 feet above the level of the sea, and now constitute what are called the Cults or Pitlessie Hills, being apparently a continuation of the Lomond range. The whole series of rocks in this parish are capped with masses of overlying trap, consisting partly of amygdaloid^ and partly of pife. n n 562 FIFESHIRE. greenstone. This rock has obviously burst through the stratified deposits, and towards it, as a central nucleus, they all incline. Botany. — I have been favoured by a proprietor in the neigh- bourhood* with a very complete view of the botany of the parish of Cults. A brief account of the more notable plants, which .have been observed by him, is all that can be here given. The Chara vulgaris grows in one of the rills on the farm of Priestfield ; the Agrostisalba, var. stolonifera, abounds on the lime- hills, — as also the Briza media and Avenajlavescens ; and the Aira aquatica in Pitrachnie den. The Scabiosa arvensis, the smooth va- riety, a plant which, Sir James Smith says, has not yet been found in England, grows in Cults. The Galium cinercum grows close to the mill-dam opposite the Priory garden. The Potamogeton pw- sillxcm, which does not seem to be found near Edinburgh, grows abundantly in the old bed of the Eden near Pitlessie Bridge. The white-flowered Campanula rotundifolia has been found in several places. The Viola lutea is common on the hills. The Sohnum dulcamara, supposed by Hooker to be rare in Scotland, grows in many places on the banks of the Eden ; while Cicuta virosa, the most virulent of our poisons, has been found near Cult mill. The Trighchin palustre grows on the lime-hills, and the white-flowering Epilobium montanum in the woods near Crawfurd Priory. The Scdum Telephium grows freely on the banks of the Eden, and the S. villosum is not uncommon in marshy places on the hills. The Cerastium aquaticum grows near Pitlessie mill. The Agrimonia Eupatoria, a plant much used in making British teas, is found in Pitrachnie den ; and the Prunus spinosa grows in considerable quantities among the rocks. As might be expect- ed, there is a great variety of the genus Rosa : R. spinosissima and tomentosa are very common ; J3. scabriuscula abounds on the whole range of hills on the south of Stratheden ; the R. rubiginosa is not uncommon ; the R. arvensis is frequently to be met with, as also the R. canina 9 now so much recommended for rose stocks. The Geum rivale and the Comarum palustre are to be found in the rills and marshes. The Papaver Rhceas, so common on the coast, but rare in the interior of Fife, grows near Cult mill ; and the Nuphar lutea near Pitlessie Bridge. Ranunculus sceleratus 9 and R. hirsutus, var. 0, are found on the banks of the river Eden, while a beautiful variety of the R. crew with a single flower abounds * James Heriot, Esq. of Ramomie. CULTS. 563 in Pitrachnie den. The Caltha radicans is by no means uncom- mon on the hills. The Galeopsis Ladanum, var. ft Smith, which he had never seen, is found ; and also the beautiful G. versicolor, called bee-nettle, from a resemblance to that insect. (The day- nettle, by which the reapers are so severely stung, is the Galeopsis, including more than one species of it, and not the dead-nettle, or JLamium, as stated by Dr Jamieson in his Scottish Dictionary. The severity of the wound is caused by a poisonous liquid contained in the plant.) The dark variety of Euphrasia officinalis is found on Hospital Mill farm. The Thlaspi arvense grows in the southern part of the parish, on the farm of Skelpie ; the Cardamine hirsuta on the banks of the Eden; the Nasturtium officinale \v\ the ditches; and the Barbarea officinalis near Pitlessie. The Sinapis alba oc- curs occasionally ; the other two sorts are very common. The beautiful Geranium protease is found in several places, as also the 6. dissectum. The Malva moschata, not uncommon in the county, grows near Crawford Priory. The Spartium scoparium and Ulex europeus, from the extent of ground they occupy, (there having been till very recently a fox cover of seventy acres on the farm of Skelpie) would lead one to doubt the truth of the statement, that they are of foreign origin, and were introduced by the Scottish kings, who had their hunting seat at the neighbouring palace of Falk- land. The Anthyllis vulneraria grows on the hills, as also the Orobus tuberosus, the roots of which have been recommended as a substitute for coffee. The beautiful Ornithopus perpusillus has been found near Clushford bridge ; the Lotus major near the lime- hills ; Hypericum quadrangvlum and H. pulchrum, the latter very common in the marshes, as also the Leontodonpalustre. The pa- rish is rich in the genus Hieracium ; the H. murorum is found in the rocks and walls, the H. sylvaticum in the woods, and the H. palustre on the lime hills. Cichorium Intybus is found occasional- ly. The Cnicus eriophorus is found near Crawford Priory gar- den, and in other places. The Gnaphalium dioicwn is by no means uncommon. The Inula Helenium grows near the farm of Bunzeon. The Centaurea scabiosa, not uncommon in the east of Fife, does not seem to have reached farther west than the eastern part of the lime-hills. The Orcfiis bifolia and O. maseula are not rare on the hills. Pitlessie Mill dam affords the Sparganium sim- plex with leaves from 6 to 8 feet long, very different in appearance from the diminutive plant of the same species of 1 or 2 inches, 564 FIFESHIRE. growing on the borders of Liodores Loch. The Abius glutinosa grows wild on the banks of the Eden* The Betula alba, var. £, or weeping birch, is found apparently wild near Bunzeon. There are many sorts of willows in the parish, but the only sorts proba- bly that are in a wild state are the beautiful species, Salix pentan- dra, 5. malifolia, S. repots, & aquatica, and S. caprea. There are many fine trees of S. alba, and some good specimens of other kinds. There are no uncommon ferns ; the Aspidium Oreopteris, and A. Filixfemina are found ; also Asplenium Trichomanes, and Blechnum bareale ; Ophioglossum vulgatum ; this rare plant is found near the lime quarries ; Equisetum arvense and E. palustre are found in the marshy grounds. IL — Civil History. Early Notices of the Parish — These are very scanty. In the taxed roll of the Archbishoprick of St Andrews, drawn up in the year 1547, Cults is included under the title of Rectoria de Qwilts. (See Martin's Reliquiae Divi Andreae). A still more early no- tice of it is found in the charters of the College of St Salvador, in the University of St Andrews. In the first foundation charter of that College, dated 1455, there is contained a disposition and mor- tification for its behoof, by Bishop James Kennedy, of the teinds of the parishes of Qwilts, Kemback, Dunninow, Forteviot, and Kilmany, together with some chaplainries, all formerly belonging to the see. — In the second foundation charter of St Salvador's, dated at the Castle of St Andrews, 5th April 1458, it is ordained that the College shall consist of a Doctor in Theology, who was to be Provost or Principal, a Licentiate of Theology, a Bachelor in Theology, four Masters of Arts, and six poor scholars to be taught the speculative sciences. The Doctor in Theology being Princi- pal, has by this charter the rectory of Qwilts assigned to him as his endowment, — the Licentiate, or second master has the rectory of Kemback, and the Bachelor, or third master, the rectory of Denino, — the teinds of the other benefices being assigned to the Masters of Arts and poor scholars. Prior to the Reformation, the Principal of St Salvador's continued to be ex officio rector of Cults, serving the cure by a Vicar or Curate. On the establishment of the Re- formed Church of Scotland, the surplus or unappropriated teinds of the parish were still allotted to him as Titular. And in this ca- pacity, the principal of the then United Colleges of St Salvador and St Leonard opposed the augumentation of stipend sued for by the ministers of Cults, and granted to him in 1756. The pa- 1 CULTS* 565 tronage of Cults and of the other parishes above-mentioned is still vested in the Professors of the United College. Antiquities.—" The Walton-hill," says Mr Wilkie in the for- mer Statistical Account, " has many fossa and ramparts cut along its side, which are supposed to be the remains of a Roman camp, pitched by Agricola, who, when invading Scotland, encamped one part of his army here, and the other at Newtyle in Angus/' The truth of this supposition is very doubtful. The Romans usually encamped in the plain, not like the Danes and Britons on the hill or hill-side. Mr Wilkie adds, " that many urns and bones have been dug up on and near this hill." Of what description these urns were he omits to mention. Probably they were of the same kind with those Celtic urns of rudely moulded earthenware, which have been, at a more recent period, found in great numbers, on the adjoining lands of Edenwood, in the parish of Ceres. Urns exactly similar to these last have been discovered near Maiden Castle, in Collessie, and are described in the New Statistical Ac- count of that parish. Parochial Registers* — These parish records commence in the year 1693, and are continued downwards with little interruption to the present day. Prior to 1748, however, the entries are made in a very confused and slovenly manner, — the notices of births, marriages, and deaths being huddled together with the minutes of the kirk-session, and the accounts of the collections and disburse- ments for the poor. The older minutes of the Session exhibit some curious traits of the characters and manners of the times to which they refer. From the account of the collections, it ap- pears that these were sometimes made in former times, not only for the maintenance of the poor, and for missionary purposes, but for the repairing of roads, bridges, and harbours. And it more than once occurs that the recusant members of the congregation, who fail to give their mite to these occasional contributions, have their names reported to a subsequent meeting of the kirk-session and recorded in the minute. Eminent Men. — This parish has the honour of being the birth- place of Sir David Wilkie, the celebrated painter, who was born in the manse on the 18th of November 1785. His father, the Rev. David Wilkie, for thirty-eight years minister of Cults, was of a respectable family in Mid- Lothian, and was nephew to the famous Dr Wilkie,- Professor of Logic in the University of St Andrews, and author of the " Epigoniad" His mother, Miss Isa- 666 F1FESHIRE. bel Lister, was the daughter of Mr James Lister, a most respec- table elder in the parish, and a man of singular sagacity and na- tural talents. The young painter shewed at an early period of life a strong predilection for that art, in which he has now acquir- ed so high and so well merited celebrity. Even the taunts of his brothers and companions did not deter him from embracing every opportunity, when yet on the very verge of infancy, of exhi- biting his natural tastes and prepossessions. And all the aversion, at first shewn by both his father and grandfather, to his following, what they conceived to be an idle and unprofitable pursuit, only served to verify the adage of Horace, " Naturam expelles furca, tamen usque recurret." His father's successor in the ministry has informed me, that when he first came to Cults, he found the walls of the nursery completely covered with eyes, noses, hands, and other parts of the human body, boldly executed, not with crayon, but with the charred end of a stick, — but that subsequently, on his return after a temporary absence, while the manse was undergo- ing repairs, he was shocked to find these interesting memorials obliterated, by the painter's brush no doubt, but by a very different one from that, which the young Artist was destined afterwards to make use of I Some of Wilkie's earliest perform- ances still exist, in the shape of portraits, which are admirable likenesses, and valued of course very highly by their fortunate possessors. The oldest of his unproductive paintings that I have heard of, is an exquisite representation pf a poor family, the father sitting in tattered clothes, smoking a pipe by the fire- side, and his daughter, a buxom girl, bringing water from the well in an earthen vessel. It is now in the possession of a widow lady in St Andrews. In one person's possession, there are, among se- veral others of Wilkie's earlier efforts, two very exquisite likenesses of his brother's children, painted long before he reached the acm£ of his feme, — and a domestic scene, his father and mother at fa- mily worship, painted in his youth, and not unworthy of being com- pared with his recent treatment of a kindred subject, " The Cottar's Saturday Night" A report and belief is very gene- ral that the " Saracen's head," a sign board in the village of Pitlessie, was painted by Wilkie. This we have reason to know is a mistake. There is, however, in the possession of Robert Meth- ven, Esq. procurator fiscal for the County of Fife, a sign-board re- presenting a boy watering a horse, which was really painted by Wilkie when a mere boy for a small alehouse in the parish of Kettle* CULTS. 567 " Pitlessie Fair"* which. was his first regular effort as an ar- tist, is now in the possession of a proprietor in an adjoining parish, Charles Kinnear, Esq. of Kinloch. It is a fine picture, contain- ing upwards of 150 figures graphically delineated and admirably grouped, including portraits of Wilkie himself, his father, brothers and sisters, and of many other characters well known in the pa- rish and neighbourhood, during the painter's earlier years. This picture is by competent judges considered equal in merit to some of the most admired productions of its distinguished artist, although, having never been engraved, it is less generally known. To mention or characterize any of his more recent performan- ces, would be quite superfluous. These are well known, and have been justly appreciated. As an artist he may be well accounted the boast not merely of a parish, or of a county, or even of a king- dom, — but of the art in general, wherever it is cultivated ; while in private life, as is well known, there is no man morejustly esteemed for his simple and unaffected manners, and his amiable and friend- ly disposition. — Sir David Wilkie was appointed by King George IV. Limner to his Majesty for Scotland, and in 1836 he received the honour of knighthood from King William IV. The Rev. David Wilkie, father of this celebrated artist, merits a special notice in this place, as the author of a valuable " Trea- tise on the Theory of Interest and Annuities ; with an illustration of the widow's scheme in the Church of Scotland :" as also Dr Thomas Gillespie, the present learned and able Professor of Hu- manity in the University of St Andrews, who succeeded Mr Wilkie in the ministry of the parish of Cults, and held that office for fifteen years. Dr Gillespie, besides numerous other literary productions, has published a volume of beautiful sermons on " The Seasons contemplated in the Spirit of the Gospel." Land-owners and Rental. — There are three land-owners in this parish, none of them permanently resident, viz. The Right Ho- nourable the Earl of Glasgow, George Heggie, Esq. of Pitlessie, and George Hope, Esq. of Upper Rankeillor and Hospital Mill. The valued rent of the parish is as follows : The Earl of Glasgow, L. 1442 Scots. George Heggie, Esq. - 490 George Hope, Esq. - 137 6 8 Total valued rental, L.2069 6 8 * In the eighth vol. of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, there is an admirable series of poetical sketches, entitled " Sketches of Village Character," the subjects of which were in a great measure furnished from the parish of Cults . No. iv. of these sketches is professedly and accurately descriptive of some of the principal features of Wilkie's « Pitlessie Fair.* 568 FIFESJilRE. The real rental of the parish (including feu-duties, and the rent of lime- quarries) may be stated at L. 3000 Sterling. Mansion Houses. — Crawford Castle and Priory is the only mo- dern mansion which merits particular notice under this head. It is a magnificent castellated building in the Gothic style of architecture. It was erected in 1812-13, by the late proprietor, Lady Mary Lindsay Crawford. The old seat of the Earls of Crawford and Lindsay was Struthers House, now in ruins, in the adjacent parish of Ceres. The old mansion house of Bunzeon, on the estate of that name, was formerly the seat of the Braces of Bunzeon. Since the junction of this property with the Crawford estate, it has been converted into a farm-house. Bruce of Bunzeon represented the burgh of Cupar in the Scottish Parliament of 1703, before the Union. Monuments. — There are no ancient monuments of any note in the church-yard of Cults. On the Walton hill, there is the mau- soleum of the Crawford family, a handsome Grecian building, erected by the father of the late Earl. And Sir David Wilkie has adorned the interior of the church with a noble piece of sculpture to the memory of his parents. It is executed by Chantrey in the best style of that distinguished sculptor. The medallion liknesses which it presents of Mr and Mrs Wilkie, from portraits by Sir David, are considered very striking. HI. — Population. The following is a statement of the population of Cults at various periods downwards since 1751 : Number of inhabitants according to Session records in the year 1751, 464 Number as returned to Dr Webster in - - 1755, 449 Number according to last Statistical Account in - - - 1791, 534 Number by Government census in - - - - 1001, 699 1811, 766 1821, 853 in 1831, males 435, females 468, total 903 Number in January 1838, 914 Increase since 1751, 450 since 1791, 380 This progressive increase in the population is to be ascribed to the steadily advancing prosperity of trade and manufactures. Of the 914 present inhabitants of this parish, 516 reside in the village of Pitlessie, and 398 in the country. The yearly average for the last seven years of births U 20 marriages, 0.57 deaths. 16.14 Of the 914 inhabitants of this parish there are under 15 years of age, 322 betwixt 15 and 30, 254 % 30 and 50, 163 50 and 70, 136 upwards of 70, 39 CULTS. 569 The number of families is at present ... - . 204 By census 1831, the number of families is - - . 211 The number of unmarried men, bachelors, or widowers upwards of 60 years ofage* - . 24 unmarried women upwards of 45, 36 inhabited houses, by census 1831, - - 174 Since that period, there have been ten additional dwelling-houses built, and nearly as many of the former houses converted into loom-shops. There are seven dwelling-houses at present uninha- bited or building* There are three proprietors of land of the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards ; one of them, the Earl of Glasgow, is occasionally resident. Character and Habits of the People. — There is nothing remark- able in the character or habits of the people to distinguish them from those of the surrounding district* They are for the most part healthy and vigorous ; and, on the whole, enjoy, in a reason- able measure, the comforts and advantages of society. Thirty-five years ago, smuggling prevailed to a great extent in the village of Pitlessie. It has since been entirely abandoned. IV. — Industry. Employments of Male Adults. — The Government census of 1831 gives the following return of the occupations of the males upwards of twenty years old : Number employed in agriculture, as farmers, cottars, and farm-servants, . 48 manufactures, - - - -49 retail trade and handicraft, - 08 Merchants, professional persons, and other educated men, - .4 Labourers employed in mines, rqads, Ac. - .... 37 1 By the same census it appears that in 1831 there were Families chiefly employed in agriculture, ... .39 in trade, manufactures, and handicraft, . 161 Other families not included in these classes, • - - 21 Male servants upwards of twenty years old, - ... 4 Female servants of all ages, .... - 18 Agricultural State. — The number of standard imperial acres in the parish is nearly 2250 ; of which there are, Under cultivation, 1900 Constantly waste or in pasture, (but all capable of being rendered arable,) - 1-10 Under wood, (Scotch firs, larches, spruces, and hard-wood,) - .115 Roads, fences, water, and quarries, about 60 Houses and gardens, ... . 35 There is no part of Ihe land in a state of undivided common. Husbandry. — The system of husbandry adopted varies according to the qualities of the different soils. A rotation of five years is ge- nerally observed. The farm-buildings are, with a few exceptions, good and commodious. A great part of the land in this parish stands in much need of draining and enclosures. Rent of Land. — The rent of land varies, according to the qua- 570 F1FESHIRE. lity of the soil, from 10s. to L. 3, 5s. per imperial acre. The average rent may be stated at L. 1, 5s. The duration of leases is usually nineteen years, and the rents are paid partly in fixed sums of money, and partly according to the fiars* prices of the county. Rate of Grazing. — The average rate of grazing is L. 2, 10s, for an ox or cow, and 7s. for a ewe or full-grown sheep. Live-Stock. — The cattle reared or fed in this parish are chiefly of the Fifeshire breed, to the improvement of which the farmers are most attentive. Few sheep are pastured, and these for the most part are of the black-faced and Cheviot breeds. - Rate of Wage*. — The wages of a ploughman (all perquisites in- cluded) vary from L. 16 to L. 26. Female house-servants receive from L. 4, 10s. to L. 6, 10s. per annum. The wages of male day- labourers are from 8s. to 10s. per week ; of female day-labourers from 4s. to 5s. per week. A mason's wages per day are 2s. 3d. ; a carpenter's are 2s. Lime-Quarries. — There are extensive lime-quarries in this pa- rish, along the brow of the Pitlessie or Cults hill. The main stratum of limestone, which is 14 feet in thickness, is of a bluish colour, and when burnt affords an abundant supply of white lime of the finest quality. About 13 feet above it, there is another stratum, 2 feet in thickness, of a darker blue colour, which, when burnt, yields a bluish lime. Both of these strata are regularly quarried to a great extent, the open face of the rock being about a mile and a half in length. Farther down the hill, about 120 yards to the north, another stratum may be observed cropping out in several places. This consists of what is called boulder limestone, and is 8 feet 6 inches in thickness. It ha3 been quarried at the eastern and west- ern extremities of the parish for road metal, but never, so far as 1 can ascertain, for supplying lime-shells. About the same distance (120 yards) up the hill, to the south- wards of the main quarry, is seen the outcrop of a fourth stratum, 6 feet in thickness, of superior quality to the lowest bed, but infe- rior to the two middle ones. It has been sometimes quarried, but not regularly. These different beds of limestone are separated from one another by strata of coal, shale, sandstone, and a kind of bastard limestone, which the miners call " sklut." The limestone is obtained for the most part by " tirring/' or removing the superincumbent strata. Mining is permitted by the terms of the leases, where the tirring would exceed 30 feet. And CULTS. 571 some of the under-ground quarries extend 120 yards inwards from the face of the rock. The quantity of lime sold annually exceeds 25,000 bolls, three of which bolls are equivalent to 16 cwt. About one-third of this quantity is shipped at Newburgh for Dundee and Perth, whence it is conveyed to Dunkeld, Crieff, Methven, Cupar Angus, and many other places in Forfarshire and Perthshire. The lime is of excellent quality, averaging upwards of ninety per cent and some of it being entirely pure. The demand for it is great, and con- stantly increasing, insomuch that a far greater quantity might be disposed of annually, were it not for the difficulty that has been recently felt in procuring, at a reasonable distance, an adequate supply of coals for burning it The rent paid annually by the tacksman is regulated by the extent of rock quarried, and ave- rages L. 365. The price of the lime when sold at the hill is 4 2s* 8d. per boll. The expense of tirring (or mining) and burning the lime, averages lOd. per boll ; the expense of shipping a one horse cart-load (of three bolls) at Newburgh, including carriage, tolls, and shore- dues, is 4s., or Is. 4d. per boll ; the number of workmen (mostly belonging to the parish) engaged at the quarries is 43 ; and their wages per week are from 9s. to 10s. Besides these workmen, the lime-quarries of Cults afford em- ployment to a number of carters in conveying coals to the kilns, and lime to the port of Newburgh. In the summer season, there are upwards of a hundred carters from the parishes of Cults, Ce- res, Collessie, Largo, Kennoway, Cupar, Kettle, and Cameron, regularly engaged in this occupation. The greater proportion of these are tenants of small farms, which, but for the carting of coal and lime, would not afford sufficient work for their horses. The coals for burning the lime are brought principally from Teasses, in the parish of Ceres, a small quantity from Burnturk, in Kettle, and from Kilmux, in Leven parish. Coal Mines, — There were coal mines wrought, about fifty years ago, on the southern declivity of the Cults hill. These, however, have ever since been neglected, it being doubtful whether they could be wrought to any advantage. There are several beds of coal reposing on the lime strata. One of these is 12 inches in thickness, and the coal is obtained from it in the process of tir- ring for the limestone. I have just learned, while engaged with this Statistical Account, that a bed of parrot coal has been dis L. 6100 6000 9000 760 180 140 3333 6 8 36 13 4 572 FIFE8HIRE. covered, from 1 to 2 feet in thickness, cropping out between the two uppermost of the four strata of limestone. Of what extent this seam of coal may be, has not yet been ascertained. Sandstone Quarries. — There are a number of freestone quarries in different parts of the parish. The supply of stones is abund- ant, and easily obtained, and the quality of them is, in some cases, much esteemed. Amount of Raw Produce* — The average gross amount of raw produce raised annually in this parish is as under : Grain of all kinds, 3400 quarters, with the straw, Potatoes and turnips, 6000 tons, Hay, 1200 tons, 000 acres, laid down in pasture at L. 1 , 5s. per acre, Produce of gardens, Thinning and felling of plantations, 25,000 bolls of lime at 2s. 8 all now smoothed down into the short, and to modern ears less dissonant, epithet of Naughton. The Picts, according to the best authorities, had sole possession of the whole of this district of the fife. o o 578 FIFESHIRE. county, for a period of at least a thousand years ; and no wonder that, in the course of that time, their language should have given names to every locality within their dominions, many traces of which are still to be found in this immediate neighbourhood. Boundaries and Extent. — The parish stretches along the south bank of the estuary of Tay, from near the mansion-house of Birkhill, on the west, to the Wormit Bay on the east From these two points, it ranges in a semicircular form towards the small stream of Motray, which constitutes its boundary on the south* Its length along the Tay from east to west, is about 3£ miles, and its breadth from north to south about 2£ miles. It is bounded on the north by the Frith of Tay ; on the west, by the parish of Flisk ; on the south by Kilmany ; on the east by Forgan or St Fillans. Within this area there are contained about 8 square miles. Topographical Appearances. — Two hilly ridges traverse the parish from east to west, and run nearly parallel to each other. The Scurr Hill and Coultry Hill form the loftiest points of their respective ridges ; the former, which rises in the northern divi- sion of the parish, attains an elevation of about 400 feet above the level of the Tay ; and the latter, which occupies the southern division, is about 500. The manse and church are beautifully si- tuated within the intervening valley, which at this point is very narrow, but gradually stretches out to considerable dimensions in its progress eastward. About the centre of the southern ridge, there is a considerable extent of high table-land in which the vil- lage of Galdry is placed ; the ground slopes gently down on the south towards the valley of Kilmany, and is terminated on the east by the ravine of Wormit- Den, which here separates the parish from Forgan : the hamlets of Coultry and Corbie Hill lie towards the western extremity. The northern ridge declines more rapidly towards the Tay, the shores of which, along the whole boundary, are extremely bold and rocky, rising in some places into precipi- tous mural cliffs. The villages of Kirkton and Balmerino are both situated on the western slope of the Scurr Hill ; and a little to the south lie the ruins of the Abbey, where the ground gradu- ally declines towards the banks of the Tay. The house of Naugh- ton is built on the southern acclivity of a small isolated ridge, which rises abruptly a little to the east of the church, in the centre of the valley, on the summit of which the ruins, of an old castle are still to be seen. A beautiful picturesque dell lies immediate- BALMERINO. 579 ly beneath, from the bottom of which the rock springs perpendi- cularly to the height of ninety or one hundred feet, and which is overhung by the walls of the building ; presenting no mean idea of the strength of a place that must have frequently been put to proof by the rude assailants of a former age. The parish is well wooded, every spot almost, which is less adapted for tillage, being covered with thriving plantations, and without which, many of the grounds, from their elevated situation, would suffer much by their exposure to the easterly gales. Climate. — Few places in Fife can boast of a healthier climate. The soil is generally dry, resting immediately, over the greater part, on whinstone rock ; and there is neither bog nor marsh to interfere with its general salubrity. Ancient history, as well as modern experience, attests its superiority in this respect Martin takes notice of the fact in his history of the See of St Andrews. " Magdalene, Queen of James V. being," he says, " a tender Lady, the physicians choosed this place (St Andrews), and the Abacie of Balmerinoch, as having the best aers of any places in the king- dome for her residence and abode." In subsequent generation?, dames of meaner degree have been no less indebted to the excel- lence of its " aers," as the following well authenticated facts clearly prove. The writer of the former Statistical account says, " The wholesomeness of the climate appears also from the fruit- fulness of the females. The present incumbent has often, in the course of ten years, had an opportunity of baptizing twins ; and there are two families in the parish at present one of whom has had thrice twins, and the other had five sons at two births." I may be permitted to add, that that individual, during his incum- bency, baptized, in the parish, three times trines. Few parishes of equal extent contain a greater number of very old people. There are at present 35 individuals bordering on or upwards of eighty years. One woman is in her ninety-fifth year, and another died last year in her hundredth. From March 1836 to March 1 837 six individuals died, whose united ages amount- ed to five hundred and twelve, giving an average of eighty five-years to each. The last incumbent died in March 1836, in his ninety- first year. Hydrography. — The Tay, as already noticed, washes the' north- ern boundary of the parish, and, possessing a considerable pro- portipn of saline matter, affords, everywhere along the coast, excel- lent opportunities of bathing to the inhabitants. The estuary is 580 FIFESHIRE. here about four miles broad, but, as high sand-banks stretch out- ward for nearly a mile, vessels of limited burden only can approach the harbour. No river or stream of any consequence passes through the parish, but there are various springs from which a co- pious flow of water continually issues, which, along with that col- lected from the drainage of the land, affords power enough for three thrashing and one corn-mill. The springs have obviously served, in other days, a more dignified and important end than the practical and economical one to which they are now applied. This appears from the names by which some of them are still de- signated, viz. the Lady Well, Prior Well, St John's Well, &a Geology.* — The rocks in this parish belong exclusively to the sandstone and trap families. Of the former there are two va- rieties, both of which belong to the old red sandstone formations. One of these is the gray sandstone, which is considered by Dr Anderson (Edin. Phil. Journal, July 1837,) as the lowest member of the series, and which, from the organic remains imbedded in it, he regards as the same with the beds that traverse the Sidlaws, Strathmore, and the upper part of Strathearn. These remains are exclusively vegetable, being the culms, leaves, and fruit of the or- der Gramineae, and which are found in great abundance in one of the softer beds of the deposit that emerges a little to the west of Wormit Bay. From this point, where it may be traced across the frith to Invergowrie bay, the sandstone ranges westward through the parish, cropping out at Demmons, and various other places on the estate of BirkhilL It is an extremely compact and dura- ble rock, and is admirably adapted for building operations. The bed in which the organic remains are found, is friable and soft, and seems to abound more in aluminous than silicious matter. The mica is also very abundant in this part of the deposit The other variety of sandstone is of a reddish colour. It crops out immediately at the harbour, and ranges westward to Birkhill, where it may be observed on the beach beneath the mansion-house. It contains a considerable quantity of quartzy nodules, and por- tions of other primitive rocks. A scale — only one — has been found in it, similar to those which occur so abundantly in the Park- hill and Clashbennie beds, also at Dura and Drumdryan, and from this circumstance, it may fairly be regarded as a continuation of these interesting rocks. The bed at the harbour is coarse * For this geological description I have been indebted to the Rev. Dr Anderson of Newburgh . BALMER1N0. 581 grained, compact, and hard, and at one time was much sought after for oven floors. The trap or whinstone consists of several varieties, namely, amygda- loid, trap tuffa, compact felspar, clinkstone, and claystone porphyry. Interesting sections of each may be seen along the shore, from the harbour towards Wormit Bay. The amygdaloid is generally coarse and tuffaceous, but gradually passes, in many places, into a finer va- riety, which may be considered as approaching to the characters of a greenstone. The numerous cavities contained in the coarse kind are lined with white amethyst, flesh-red calcareous spar, white felspar, calcedony, agate, green earth, and common quartz. In these nodular masses, the calcedony appears to have been first deposited and the quartz last. The Scurr Hill is well known to the lapidaries and other collectors of these beautiful minerals, and no part of the island, perhaps, affords in such abundance, as well as such rare and choice specimens of the several varieties of agates. The compact felspar becomes porphyritic, is of a deep flesh-red colour, and susceptible of a fine polish. The whole of these rocks, as may be seen at Wormit Bay and Birkhill, are in- timately associated with the stratified deposits, and afford the stu- dent in geology an interesting view of the manner in which the igneous matter has been injected amongst the sedimentary beds ; as well as the induration and disruptions among the latter, that have resulted from the intrusion of the former. The sandstone is, in many instances, by the intrusion of the trap, split up into thin laminae, varying from an inch to a quarter of an inch in thickness; it is sometimes tossed into a vertical position ; and in other cases, as at Birkhill beach, the two rocks are so blended and mixed up with each other, as to render it difficult to distinguish them, or to separate the amorphous from the stratified portions. Boulders of primitive rocks are to be found in every locality along the shore, as well as on the highest ridges. One of huge dimensions, which lay a little to the north of the manse, excited no small degree of attention, as well as speculation, among the peo- ple, as to the means by which it had been placed, bridge-like, across a stream there. It measured about twelve feet in length by nine in breadth, and was of great thickness. . By the last in- cumbent, who was fonder of practical agricultural improvements than of plausible and ingenious speculations, it was unceremonious- ly committed to the blasting influences of gunpowder, when, after being blown into an hundred fragments, it afforded employment 582 FIFESHIltE. of many days hard work before it could be carted away to the en- closures on the grass glebe. It was a primitive hornblend, or greenstone rock, and must have been transported from beyond " the far distant Grampians" by the. agency of floods, of which we have now happily no experience. Soil — The soil is in general thin, of a black loamy quality where it rests immediately upon the whinstone ; and is fit for carrying crops of every description. This is generally the character of the fields which range along the southern and northern divisions of the parish. Much of the intervening valley consists of either a light and gravelly soil, or of a strong plastic till, but, through the operations of an enterprising tenantry, it has been rendered com* pletely fertile. Botany.— The plants which occur in this parish are such as are common to the general flora of the Ochils, and, as it can boast of neither lake nor marsh, few aquatics are found within it Along the shore, the following are to be met with : Scirpus maritimus, Agrostis vulgaris, Hordewn maritimum, Triticum loliaceum, Glaux maritima, Rumex maritima, Statice Armeria, Alisma plantago, Cochlearia Anglica, Artemisia maritima. Throughout the other districts of the parish the following occur abundantly : Fedia olitoria, Iris pseudacorus, Briza media, Parietaria officinalis, Primula vulgaris, elatior and veris, Agrimonia eupatoria, Geum rivale, Bartsia odontites, Geranium sylvaticum, Malva sylvestris, Scrophularia nodosa, Euphorbia paralia, Silene inflata, Lychnis Flos-cuculi and dioica, Tussilago petasites, Tulipa sylvestris, once abundant at the Abbey, but now very rare. II.— Civil History. Under this head, few particulars can be gleaned, from any au- thentic sources, of sufficient importance to be communicated to the public The history of the Monastery, which will be noticed in its proper place, is connected with the earliest transactions that are to be found in the records of the parish ; and as there are no chartered towns in it, or corporations of any kind, nothing of a civic or burghal description requires to J>e stated. Eminent Men. — Among the list of eminent men, however, its annals can justly boast of two, if public notoriety or a tragical end entitle any to that distinction. One of these was the ce- lebrated Lord Balmerino, who suffered for his share in the re- bellion of 1745, and whose history is too well known to need repetition here. The family estate was in this parish, and pas- BALMERINO. 583 sed, after its forfeiture to the Crown, into the hands of the York- Building Company, from whom it was purchased by the family of Moray, and is now in the possession of Francis Stuart, Esq., ne- phew of the present Earl. The other individual alluded to is Andrew Gullan, who was also a native of this parish, and was hanged on Magus Muir as an accessory to the murder of Archbi- shop Sharpe, being convicted of the crime " of holding Halker- stone of Rathillet's mare," while the principal conspirators were engaged in that bloody deed. A name of less questionable distinction than either of the above remains to be noticed, — Mr Peter Hay, son. of the laird of Meg- ginsh, and who became proprietor of Naughton about the begin- ning of the seventeenth century. This gentleman was author of a work entitled " The First Blast of the Trumpet," printed in 1627, and which is well known to have had considerable influence on the stirring events of that reforming age. It excited the spe- cial displeasure of Archbishop Spottiswood, as appears from the records of the synod of St Andrews, in which the following allu- sion to it occurs : " The Synod haldin at St Androis, 2d October 1627, my Lord Archbishop desyred that the purpose concerning Mr Peter 'Hay of Naughton his buik, suld not be mentioned in the Publict Synod, and declaired that his Lordship would not be present if the sam war spoken of."* Parliamentary Constituency. — The number of persons who are qualified to vote for a Member of Parliament, in consequence of the Magna Charta of 1832, amounts to 22. Land-owners. — The principal proprietors in the parish are, Mrs Bethune Morison of Naughton ; Henry Scrimgeour Wedderburn, Esq. of Wedderburn and Birkhill ; and Francis Stuart, Esq. of Balmerino. There are five additional heritors, whose properties are comparatively small. Two of the principal, and three of the small, heritors reside in the parish. Parochial Registers. — The earliest records of the session, in- cluding births and marriages, date from 1652, and have been to- lerably well kept. Antiquities. — The ruins of the Abbey of Balmerino constitute the chief object of attraction under this head. The site of the building has been admirably chosen, 'as a place at once of beauty, comfort, and convenience, standing on an eminence in the imme- diate vicinity of the Tay, and commanding a full view of that * The Synod of Fife, printed for the Abbotsford Club, 1637. 584 FIFE8HIRE. noble estuary, as far up as its junction with the Earn. It is situ- ated on the south bank of the Frith, about twelve miles from its mouth, and overlooks, towards the north, the rich and fertile Carse of Gowrie, where the eye is presented with a wide range of pleas- ing and impressive scenery, with the lofty peaks of the Grampians towering majestically above the whole ; forming such a richly di- versified and striking panorama, as may vie with those of greater celebrity. This monastery was founded by Alexander IL in the year 1229, at the suggestion of his mother, Emergarde, widow of King William the Lyon, in consequence of the beauty of the situation, and the benefit she had derived to her health by her occasional visits to the district It belonged to the order of the Cistertians, whose earliest settlement in this country was at Melros, and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and St Edward the Confessor. The dress of the Cistertians was a white cassock, whence they were called " Monachi albi" with a narrow scapulary, over which they wore a black gown when they went abroad, and a white one when they went to the church. The rules of the order were those of St Benedict, which, in regard to food and other necessaries for the table, enjoined the utmost plainness and abstinence, in % the shape, of everything that approached to luxury. Flesh was allowed only to the sick. They might use the common herbs of the country, but pepper and the foreign spices were forbidden. It was direct- ed that their monasteries should be situated in the most retired and solitary places : and that the monks were to live by the labour of their hands, in cultivating the earth, and keeping cattle. When any of them went abroad, they were obliged always to go two to- gether, to guard and witness each others conduct, and to prompt each other to good thoughts. They all slept in the same dormi- tory, which was a long room, not divided into separate cells ; and each monk had a bed to himself, furnished with a mat, blanket, coverlet, and pillow, which was prescribed to be only a foot and a half long. The superior ecclesiastics took considerable paius to cultivate and promote learning, so that from the strictness of the rules, and the works that resulted from their labours, the Cister- tian order soon acquired celebrity, and speedily came to have monasteries in every country in Europe, all of which had the pri- vilege of being independent of the bishop within whose diocese they were situated * * AnnaJes Cistertiensis. Monastic Annals of Tiviotdale, by the Rev. J. Mor- ton, B. D. BALMEUINO. 585 The Abbey of Balmerino seems to have been richly endowed, vhen we consider the abstemious habits and severe rules enjoined upon the order. Queen Emergarde bestowed upon it the lands of Cultrach, Balmurynach and Ardin, which she bought from Sir Adam de Stawell for 1000 merks Sterling ; # and she left 200 merks, to be bestowed by her executors in purchasing from Lau- rence de Abernithy, a full resignation of his interest in the lands of Cultrach, Balnedan, Balnedart, Corteby and Balmurynach. King Alexander granted the foundation charter on 3d February 1239, f and added to the lands bestowed by his mother, the church and lands of Lochmure (?) in Angus, and Petgornoc and Drum- dol in Fife. David de Lindesay gives it an annuity out of his mill of Kirkhuet, which was confirmed by King Alexander II. in 1233. The preceptory of Gadvan, near Denbog, in Fife, with the house and lands, belonged also to this abbey ; and two or three monks of their order constantly resided in that place. J Balmerino, in the course of the thirteenth, or early in the fourteenth century, received several benefactions from persons of the family of Kynner, of lands in the territories of Kynner and Cotholoc ; a fishing in Tay from Sir David de Berkeley of Brechin ; the quarry of Nydin from Hugh de Nydin ; and numerous small burgage possessions in Perth, Dundee, Crail, and Anstruther. In the year 1561, at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, the revenues of this abbey were, in money L. 704, 2s. 10|d.; wheat, 4 chalders; oats, 1 chalder, 14 bolls, 1 firlot, 3 J pecks; meal, 15 chalders, 12 bolls, 2 firlots ; bear 21 chalders, 12 bolls, 3 firlots, l£peck; total 43 chalders, 6 bolls, 3 firlots, 1 peck; and 763 poultry. The monks of Balmerino did not always adhere rigidly to the rules of their order. With the progress of their wealth, and the benefactions which were from time to time bestowed upon them, they became gradually more and more relaxed in their habits, till they came, according to the Franciscan of Buchanan, to share in all the corruptions of the times. In 1533,§ a special commission was appointed to visit and reform the monasteries thoughout Scot- land. The faults which particularly called forth this animadver- sion, were infringements of the rule which forbade the brethren to possess any private property, but to have all things in common. * Anno 1225, Chart ul. of Balmerinocb, Advocates' Library. f Ibid. $ Keith's Scottish Bishops, edited by Dr Russell, 1824. § Harleian MSS. 2363. Monastic Annals of Tiviotdale. 586 FIFESHIRE. It was found that many of the monks, especially in the abbeys of Metros, Newbattle, and Balmerino had not only portions and pen- sions allowed them for their food and clothing, but that each monk had also a garden appropriated to his own particular use and pleasure. The visitor, therefore, in his visitation roll specified these things as illicit indulgences, which he enjoined them forthwith to relinquish. With this the monks did not comply, and after a convocation of them had been held at Edinburgh, it was agreed that they might retain their private gardens, provided no monk had a larger one han another, and that a common way was made through all the gardens by opening a passage from one to another, the produc- tions of the whole being made a common stock, and applied to the use of the convent. The garden ground of this monastery seems to have been immediately around the building, as is still in- dicated by the name, viz. the orchard and over-yards, by the rich- ness of the soil, its black loamy character, and the abundance of oyster shells contained in it, and must have comprised an extent of many acres. The abbey was demolished by the Lords of the Congregation on their way from St Andrews in 1 558.* The last abbot was Sir John Hay, probably of the family of Naughton. He was master of requests in the reign of Queen Mary -f- in 1561. After the Re- formation, the abbey was erected into a temporal lordship, in fa- vour of Sir James Elphinston of Barnton, created Lord Balmeri- noch, 20th February 1604, whose rise to power, and subsequent condemnation and disgrace, are matters of public history. The building is now a complete ruin, a small portion of the walls and a few pillars being all that remains to indicate the an- cient magnificence of the monastery. One arched room, indeed, and a cell or dormitory, is still pretty entire ; but to what part of the erection these belonged, it is impossible to conjecture. The pil- lars are clustered, and the corbals or capitals from which the arches spring, and some of the key-stones, bear marks of the elegance with which they have been originally finished ; on many of which the likeness of fruit, flowers, and religious emblems, as well as more grotesque figures, may still be traced. A drawing of the building as it stands may be seen in Swan's Views in Fife, now in the progress of publication. The old Castle of Naughton, already alluded to, is equally now • Lcsly, &c. t Sibbald's File, Ed. 1803. BALMERINO. 587 " the shadow of a shade," — all that remains of it being a few fragments of the lower parts of the side walls. This place is said to have been built by Robertus de Lundon, a natural son of King William. Soon after, Naughton was acquired by John de Haya, the third son of William de Haya, the first of the family of Enrol.* The Hays are mentioned as Lairds of Naughton about King Alexander IIL's reign, f In 1494, Sir Patrick Crichton got the lands in marriage with Janet, the daughter and heiress of Sir James de la Hay. J From the Crichtons, Mr Peter Hay,§ a son of the Laird of Megginsh purchased the lands in the beginning of the seventeenth century. In the year 1737, the estate was brought to a judicial sale by the creditors of Robert Hay of Naughton, and pur- chased by William Morison, Esq. the great grandfather of the present proprietor, Mrs Bethune Morison. Here, according to SibbaW, there was an establishment of Culdees in connection with that of St Andrews. Three churches are particularly mentioned in " Extracts from the Large Regis- ter :" one at Forteviot, one at Monechata, or Moonzie, and one at' Doldanha or Nauchton. These buildings, it appears, were all of wood ; and, of course, conjecture as to the site of the erection here would be vain. Monechata is supposed by Dr Jamieson, in his history of the Culdees, to be Monikie in Forfarshire ; but if Dol- danha be an allowable transition into Nauchton, there can be no reasonable objection upon this ground, to the change of Monechata, into Moonzie, which, along with Forteviot, was ever afterwards at- tached to the see of St Andrews, when the Culdee establishments gave way to the monastic institutions. There is a field in the parish called the Battle-law, where the Scots, itis said, attacked the Danes after their retreat from Luncarty, again defeated, and forced them to flee with precipitation, on board their ships, then lying in the mouth of Tay. Near this field, have been found stone-coffins, bones, and pieces of broken swords. At the farm of Peashills, about a mile north-east of the above-named field, were found some years ago two pieces of gold, of the value of L. 14 Sterling. One piece was in the form of a ball, and appeared to have been the knob usually attached to the hilt of a sword ; the other, which is in the possession of Mrs Mori- son of Naughton, has evidently been an ornament of some kind * Wood's Peerage. t Sibbald's Fife, 1 808. % Writs of the frmily of Naughton. § The author of " The first Blast of the Trumpet,* already referred to. 588 FIFESHIRE. or other ; but whether it adorned the helmet, the breast-plate, or the sword handle, antiquaries have not yet fully agreed. Modern Buildings. — There is little to be noticed in this re- spect. Birkhill, the seat of Henry S. Wedderburn of Wed- derburn and Birkhill, is a very elegant and commodious mansion, beautifully situated amongst extensive plantations, on the banks of the Tay. Naughton House was erected in the end of the last century, and has since received many alterations and improve- ments. The church and manse were built, — the first in 181 1 and the other in 1816; the former is rather small for the increasing wants of the parish ; the latter, with an excellent set of offices, is suitable and commodious. They are all built of stone found in the parish. HI. — Population. The population of the parish has been steadily on the increase for many years past, owing to feuing, and to its vicinity to Dun- dee, where employment can easily be procured in the manufac- turing of linen, &c. The population in 1755 amounted to 565 1491 . 703 1821 - 9«5 1831 - 1055 1837 - 1070 The yearly average of births for the last seven years is 27, of mar- riages 6. There is no register of deaths kept The average num- ber of persons, their ages, employments, and families is as under : In 1831 the number under 15 years of age was, - - 430 betwixt 1 5 and 30 - - - 236 30 and 50 - - 221 50 and 70 - - 138 above 70 - .30 Number cf families at present* • - - 215 bouses, - - 213 Average number of children, - 3 Number of communicants, ... 458 male heads of families, - - 1 48 Dissenters, about - - 80 inhabitants in villages, ... 550 The number of endividuals employed in weaving is about 150. The rest are chiefly engaged in agriculture. There are in the parish 5 grocers, 3 wrights, 4 shoemakers, 3 blacksmiths, 3 tailors, 1 medical practitioner, and 5 publicans. Character of the People. — The inhabitants are justly entitled to be regarded as honest, industrious, sober, and extremely exem- plary in their attendance upon the ordinances of religion. They are strongly attached to the Established Church, and less than or- dinarily given to the following of divisive courses. BALMERINO. 589 During the last three years, there have been three illegitimate births in the parish ; and a long time has elapsed since any suffer- ed, either for theft or disturbance of the public peace. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Economy. In cultivation there are 2694 imperial acres. In wood 467 Unarable, roads, &c. 1 85 Total, 3346 Rent of Land. — The valued rent of the parish amounts to L. 4085, 10s. Scots. The real rent is about L. 4800 Sterling. The average rent of arable land is about L. 1, 16s. per imperial acre. Rate of wages. — A ploughman's wages averages from L. 10 to L. 12, with 6£ bolls of oatmeal per annum and a pint Scots of sweet milk per day ; female house-servants have from L. 5 to L. 6 per annum ; labourers Is. 6d. ; and female-field labourers 8d. per day ; masons and wrights have from 16s. to 18s. a week ; a good weaver labouring twelve hours per day will average about 2s. Produce. — The amount of produce may be estimated as follows : Value of all kinds of grain, L. 8500 potatoes, - 1200 cattle, - J 440 L. 11,140 The produce of the salmon-fishings, which used to be immense, has not for some years past paid rent and wages, exclusive of material. Cattle are sold off fat, rising three years old, and bring from L. 10 to L. 15 a-head. Turnips and hay are consumed by the stock, except in very rare instances. About 105 cattle are yearly fatten- ed for the butcher, and as many calves reared. There are in the parish 14 thrashing-machines, three of which are driven by water power, 47 ploughs, and 98 horses for agricultural purposes. Husbandry. — The method of cropping varies according to the nature of the soil. On the strongest soils, a rotation of six years is adopted, viz. fallow a potatoes, wheat, green-crop, (turnip or pease), barley, grass, and oats. On the lighter soils, the rotation is, potatoes, wheat, barley, grass (to lie two years) and oats : and on the lightest, green crop (turnip eaten off with sheep), barley, grass (to lie two or three years) and oats. The farmers gene- rally take grass parks for their young stock, to supply the want of pasture at home. Fishings. — The salmon-fishery, once so productive here, is 590 FIPESHIRE. dow very inconsiderable, being confined exclusively to the toot-net method of capturing the fish. The net employed is from 50 to 80 yards long, and differs little from the common seine or sweep net. Instead of being constantly kept jn motion, as the latter is, it is attached to a boat at anchor, and only hauled when the toots- man, who watches, in the boat, observes a fish strike the net. It is totally unsuited to estuary fishing. The number of boats connected with the fisheries in this pa- rish amount to 7, and they keep employed 14 men during the open season. The fisheries belong to Mr Wedderburn of Birkhill, Mrs B. Morison of Naughton, and Mr Stuart of Balmerino, and are rented at about L. 50 per annum. The spirling fishery was once productive here also ; but for se- veral years back, it has not been pursued, as the spirlings seem to have abandoned this part, (probably on account of the increase of the sand-banks) and are only to be found at some of the rapids farther up. The inhabitants of this district deeply lament the suppression of the stake-net mode of fishing, which was abolished by a deci- sion of the Court of Session in 1812, upon a complaint of the up- per heritors, and affirmed by the House of Lords upon appeal in 1816. This decision was founded upon certain old acts of the Scottish Parliament, which were directed against a particular kind of river fishing, termed weir, yair 9 or cruive. There is an infinite variety of such engines in use ; but there is one peculiarity com- mon to them all, viz. that they prevent the ascent of the fish ex- cept by a particular channel, in which a trap for detaining them is inserted. This mode of fishing, practised at a very early pe- riod, is noticed by the most ancient writers, and is the subject of legislation in our earliest statutes. It is obvious that fixed en- gines of this description, when employed without restraint, would have the effect of shutting up the river, preventing the ascent of the fish, and destroying the fry. In consequence, the use of such engines in rivers was forbidden, except where they had existed for a long course of time. Even in those cases, the engines were pla- ced under certain restraints, which seem to have been considered sufficient for protectingtthe spawners, and young fish. This mode of fishing, efficient in rivers, cannot, it is obvious from its nature, be applied with similar success in estuaries and the open sea. Ac- cordingly, there has been little fishing, until of late years, except in the rivers, — so little, indeed, that the salmon has been vulgarly re- BALMERINO. 591 garded as a river-fish. The seals and grampuses have remained in undisturbed possession of the salt water fishing. In the year 1 797, the stake-net was introduced in the Solway Frith (where it is at present legal !) and in the Frith of Tay. This engine was constructed by driving strong stakes in a row, from the shore towards low water mark, and nearly- at right angles to the tide. On these stakes, were stretched nets with open meshes, three inches from knot to knot, or twelve inches round. Thus a wall of open netting was constructed, sufficient to intercept the large fish, but through which the water, and all small fishes, could pass freely. In this wall of netting, were placed courts or labyrinths. The salmon, influenced in their movements by the tide, met this netted wall, and, seeking along for an opening through which to pass, entered these courts, where they were detained and taken out at low water. By means of these nets, great quantities of salmon, of the first quality, were caught, and exported in boxes packed with ice to the London market. The proprietors of the river fisheries now got alarmed for their monopoly, and, taking advantage of the antiquated statutes referred to above, some of them passed by the Scottish legislature more than four hundred years ago, and long before it was ever dreamt of that salmon-fishing could be successfully carried on in the friths or seas, applied for an interdict, and ultimately succeeded in prohibiting the use of such fixed ma- chinery : the courts having held, that, as these statutes had never been repealed, any infringement of their provisions must be held illegal. The effect of this decision has been greatly to deteriorate the estuary fishery ; while the proprietors of the river fishings en- joy a monopoly price in the market In framing these regulations, the object of the Scottish Legis- lature must have been to protect the public interests and prevent injury to the fishery generally ; and this is the only ground upon which they can yet be defended. Experience, however, has prov- ed that this defence of them cannot be maintained. At the early period when these regulations were framed, little was known re- garding the salmon ; but from what is now known of its habits and history, it is perfectly well ascertained, that* while in the friths and in the sea, (where alone stake-nets can be used,) none but fish in the best condition are caught ; in the rivers, salmon of inferior quality, and often in a foul and unwholesome state, are taken ; — that it is in the rivers, and in these alone, that any injury can be done to the spawn, or salmon fry, by the heavy ground ropes which 592 FIFESHIttE. are drawn across the spawn-beds; — that the stake-nets do not interrupt or interfere with the river fishings, as it has been proved that the quantity caught in the river, since the stake-nets were abolished, does not exceed the quantity caught when these were in use ; — that, in short, the effect of the prohibition has been to secure a monopoly price to the river-fishers, while the myriads of salmon which escape from the rivers and find their way to the sea, and which might become a valuable article of commerce, and be made available as a rich and nutritious article of food to the pub- lic, at a moderate price, are totally lost, or only abandoned as a prey to the monsters of the deep. The extent of the loss in the Tay generally, in consequence of the suppression of these nets, has been estimated at from 200 to 300 tons, or frota 20,000 to 80,000 head of salmon annually. The whole estuary does not now produce . above 3000 fish. (Evidence before a Committee of the House of Commons, 1827.) In this parish alone the loss may be estimated in rent at L. 1000 to L. 1200 annually to the different proprietors ; and about L. 1000 in the shape of wages. Other evils also have resulted.* The aged females and others have been deprived of an excellent and healthy employment in the working of nets, while a hardy and expert race of seamen were regularly trained through means of their connection with the fishery. Let us hope that an enlightened and paternal legislature, under whose revision the fishery laws are again to be brought, will speedily remove the present oppressive restrictions upon this lucrative branch of in- dustry, by which not individual proprietors alone, but the com- munity at large, must be so extensively benefited, and in the de- cision of which question they have so deep an interest. Manufactures. — Since the destruction of the stake-net fishery, many of the individuals employed in that amphibious kind of oc- cupation have betaken themselves entirely to the trade of weavers. None of them, however, have as yet risen to the dignity and profes- sional importance of manufacturers, but derive their webs, at se- cond hand, from those of this class in Dundee. About 150 men and women are engaged at the loom with materials supplied from this quarter. The linens which they weave are called Dowlas and Osnaburg, and, as has been elsewhere stated, an expert weav- er will earn about 2s. per day. Some of the young men thus em- ployed in the winter months, are engaged in the Greenland whale- BALMERINO. 593 fishery during the season of that now hazardous and precarious employment V.— Parochial Economy. Markets, Means of Communication* — The nearest market-town is Cupar, distant about seven miles. The nearest post-office is Newport, and is distant about four and a half miles from the manse. There are no turnpike roads in the parish ; but the statute labour roads are in good condition, and the means of communication with other places are various, and of easy access. There is a passage* boat which sails from Balmerino pier to Dundee once a week, or oftener if required. Considering the population of the parish, this department of our statistics is rather meagre in its details. There is neither baker, brewer, nor butcher within its bounds. The navigation or shipping interest is upon an equally limited scale. Only the passage-boat, which is a joint-stock concern, be- longs to the parish. Many vessels with coals, however, discharge their cargoes during the season. About fifty years ago, accord- ing to the last Statistical Account, this harbour was the chief place on the south side of Tay for shipping grain ; now not a single boll is shipped here, if we except such parcels of wheat as the far- mers in the immediate neighbourhood send by the passage-boat to the Dundee bakers. The Messrs Rintoul, however, carry on a considerable trade in potatoes, which are sent up to the London market. In some seasons, upwards of 6500 bolls have been ship- ped from this port by these gentlemen, besides what has been ex- ported by them from other places. Ecclesiastical State. — The church is situated about the centre of the parish, and is seated for about 400. It was finished in 1811. It is a plain building without any ornament, but conside- rably deficient in point of accommodation for the parishioners. The heritors, however, have it in contemplation to enlarge its dimen- sions. The manse was built in 1816, and is one of the most commo- dious in the presbytery. The glebe consists of about eight acres, and the grass glebe as much, including the site of the manse, &c. and both are of inferior quality. The stipend is 16 chalders, half meal, half barley, and 7 bolls of wheat, with L> 8, 6s. 8d. for com- munion elements. The collections, exclusive of extra, average about L. 18 per annum. The number of families attending the Established Church is 195 ; of Dissenting or Seceding families, 20. List of Ministers of Balmerino from the Reformation. — Mr Ar- fife. p p 594 FIFESHIRE. chibald Keith, admitted 1560; Mr Patrick Auchinleck was mi- nister in 1571 ; Mr Thomas Douglas, admitted 1580; Mr Wal- ter Greig, admitted assistant and successor to Mr Douglas, died 1672; Mr Andrew Bruce, admitted 1673; Mr James Gairos or Gairdner, admitted 1676, translated to Carnbee 1678; Mr George Hay, admitted 1678; Mr John Auchterlony, admit- ted , outed 1689; Mr Andrew Bowie, admitted 1690, trans- lated to Ceres 1692; vacant from 1692 to 1696; Mr James Hay, admitted 1696 ; Mr Kerr, admitted assistant and suc- cessor to Mr Hay 1st May 1722, died December 1741; Mr Thomas Stark, admitted 27th May 1742, died 5th March 1772 ; Mr John Stark, admitted 22d April 1773, demitted 30th October 1781 ; Mr Andrew Thomson, ordained September 5th 1782, died 6th March 1 836 ; Mr John Thomson, appointed assistant and successor to his father in 1824. Poor and Parochial Funds* — The poor of the parish are sup- ported by the collections made at the church, and by the libera- lity of the heritors and inhabitants. Those upon the roll get from 3s. to 6s. a month ; others get occasional relief at the new year and sacrament, in money, coals, or meal, according to circumstan- ces ; and the resident proprietors of Naughton and Birkhill distri- bute, during winter, coals and meal to the most necessitous. The proprietor of Balmerino has given, for some years back, L. 10 to the poor on his own estate. The heritors also assess themselves to the amount of L. 20 per annum, for the maintenance of two idiots. The number of persons receiving parochial aid is 12 or there- by. The average annual amount of church collections for the poor is L. 18. Education. — There are two schools in the parish — the paro- chial school, and one taught by a female. There are in winter generally from 120 to 130 scholars attending the former, and about 40 at the latter. The salary of the parish school is the maximum, and the feesamount to from L. 25 to L. 30 per annum. The branches taught in it are, English reading, writing, arithmetic, mathema- tics, geography, &c : — Greek and Latin are not much required. The teacher is eminently qualified for his situation, being pos- sessed not only of all the requisite information in no ordinary de- gree, but peculiarly fitted for communicating it to his pupils. A decided improvement has taken place, as well in the amount as in the standard of education, since his appointment to this parish ; FLISK. * 595 and it is pleasant to find that his labours are duly appreciated by the inhabitants at large. Fuel. — This article of domestic economy consists entirely of coal 9 and is chiefly imported from Newcastle and the Frith of Forth. The farmers who have the command of carriages supply themselves occasionally and their servants from the coal-pits in the southern parts of the country ; from the nearest of which the parish is distant about twelve miles. English coal is obtained at the shore, at the rate of from 4s. 6d. to 5s. 9d. per boll of six cwt. according to quality ; and the Scotch at about 6s. per boll of 8 cwt The price of the best coal at the nearest pit, which is Drum- carro, is Is. lOd. per load of 4 cwt. Miscellaneous Observations. The improvements in husbandry and agriculture are abundantly manifest in the district, since" the date of last Account Many wastes have been reclaimed, marshes have been drained, and thriving plantations are everywhere rising up for shelter and protection. The systems of wedge draining and subsoil ploughing are being adopted. Turnips are extensively sown ; and the practice of eating them off with sheep, in suitable situations, is general. The roads through the parish have also been much improved, and are, in general, kept in excellent repair. Many of the farm-stead- ings are newly erected, and some of them may vie with any in the country, either in extent of accommodation, or in neatness and ele- gance of structure. 22rf February 183a PARISH OF FLISK. PRESBYTERY OF CUPAR, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. GEORGE MARSHALL, MINISTER.* Topography and Natural History. Name. — Flisk appears to have been the ancient, as well as mo- dern name of the parish. It is possibly connected with the word * Drawn up by the lief. Robert Traill, A. M. Assistant pro tempore to the Rev. Mr Marshall* 596 FIFESHIRE. Fleasg, signifying in the Irish language wet or moists— a descrip- tion applicable to the former state of the soil. Extent and Boundaries. — The parish, situated on the southern bank of the Tay, some miles below Newburgh, stretches along the margin of the river, which is here nearly a straight line, 4} miles ; but its average length is not more than 4 miles. Its breadth varies considerably. For fully more than a mile, commencing at the eastern extremity, it does not exceed half a mile in breadth ; then suddenly widening, it is for 2 miles about three-quarters of a mile broad ; and at the eastern extremity, it extends to If mile from the river, — presenting a surface of 3^ or 4 square miles. Its general fi- gure may be easily conceived from the preceding account of its extent, the straight margin of the river being considered as the line on which the successive oblongs of which it may be conceived to consist, are laid off. It is bounded on the north by the Tay ; on the east by Balmerino ; on the south by Creieh, a detached part of Abdie and Dunbog ; and on the west by Dunbog. Topographical Appearances.— Along the river, the ground for about a quarter of a mile in breadth is nearly level, or has but a gentle ascent ; then it rises rapidly, and to a considerable height, forming part of that hilly range which runs along the south side of the Tay, including within the limits of the parish, Lyndemus (about 750 feet in height, and properly constituting the first rise on Nor- man's Law,) Logie Law, and Glenduckie Hill. To the south of Glenduckie Hill, it sinks again into a valley ; and it is there, it stretches to the distance of If mile from the river. At each extremity of the parish, the bank of the Tay is mark- ed by a rapid slope of about 100 feet, and chiefly covered with na- tural grass. The slope of the central portion is more gradual, and on it cultivation is carried to the edge of the river. Meteorology. — The winds, probably guided by the hills, fre- quently take the direction of the river, and sometimes drive along with furious violence. Those from the north and east are often piercing ; but the air is pure and salubrious, and a good share of health seems enjoyed by the inhabitants. Formerly, when the lower grounds were marshy, ague prevailed in the spring ; but now that the soil is comparatively dry, the disease has disappeared. Hydrography. — The Tay, as already noticed, flows so as to form the northern boundary of the parish. At the western extremity of the parish, and nearly three miles below Newburgh, this noble river, at high-water, according to R. and A. Stevenson's survey in FLISK. 597 1833, is 1^ mile in breadth. At Flisk-point, three miles far- ther down, and just below the church, it is 2 miles broad ; and at the eastern extremity, 2£. At low-water, extensive sand-banks are left dry on the Perthshire side ; and the fresh-water current, which here keeps by this side of the estuary, then confines itself to a channel of about one-third of a mile. The b^ach is clayey, and it is fenced with a bed of shingle left by the tide. Several dikes have been projected into the river, that the intermediate spaces might silt up ; but hitherto without effect. There are many excellent springs in the parish. In several, in different localities, Fahrenheit's thermometer stood at 43° on the 15th of May ; and at 46°, 47° on the 30th of June 1837. Geology and Mineralogy.— -The upper series of rocks consists chiefly of secondary trap. It is cut by a vein of clinkstone por- phyry. Old red sandstone appears by the river, under Flisk Wood. The greenstone dike, known by the name of the Flisk-dike, passes through Olenduckie Hill, in its course from Newburgh to Norman's Law. Agates and also pieces of bloodstone are found in consider* able numbers. Jbiluvium covers the rocky substratum between the river and the hilly range. A submarine forest of ten miles in length, and similar to those of Skaill in Orkney, of Lincolnshire, and of Mount's Bay in Corn- wall, lies along the margin of the Tay, stretching from Flisk -point under the manse, about three miles upwards and seven down the river. It is covered at full tide with four or five feet of water. It consists of a bed of peat-moss, and has no alluvial stratum su- perinduced. Many stumps of trees with their roots attached, and manifestly in the place and position in which they originally grew, have been observed. It rests on a bed of gray coloured clay, whose surface, with slight variations, is horizontal, and on a level with low water-mark. It seems pretty certain that this moss must be at least ten feet below its original level. In explanation of the phenomenon Dr Fleming, in his paper on the subject in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for 1822, supposes the former exist- ence of a lake in this locality — that it gradually filled up, and be- came covered with vegetable matter, till it sufficed for the growth of trees — that the seaward barrier was then removed — and that, the moisture now freely escaping, subsidence in consequence took place, and reduced it to its present level. Soils. — The soil is, in general, a clayey loam. On the lower 598 FIFESHIRE. grounds by the river, and especially on the three middle farms, the intermixture of clay is considerable, forming a fertile, though hard soil, from eight to twelve inches in depth. In some places, the loam disappears, and gravel and clay beds present themselves, chiefly close by the margin of the river. Towards the west, the soil is sharp and more friable. The subsoil is chiefly clay and till, and in some places sand. On the higher grounds, the loam is purer, varies from one to three feet in depth, and lies on rock, clay, and till, and here and there on patches of moor-band. On the south of Glenduckie Hill, it is good black, easy loam, reco- vered from wet and marshy ground ; and the soil removed in mak- ing drains and water-courses has been conveyed higher up the hill, and forms about twenty acres of arable land, where the rock was chiefly visible before. The more level portions of the parish, whether on the lower or more elevated ground, were formerly very wet ; and the hollows were marshes at no very distant date. Innumerable drains and large ditches have now, however, rendered the soil comparatively dry. Boulders were once thickly spread, but are now removed. Some idea of their number, and of the labour of clearing the ground, may be formed from the fact, that three men and two pair of horses were employed on one " balk,'* on Flisk-mill farm, for a fortnight, and that 500 cart-loads of stones were drawn from two and a- half acres. Many of the boulders contain from four to six, eight, or twelve feet of solid matter ; and others, which required to be broken by gunpowder before they could be removed, must have been much larger. One lying by the river near Flisk-point, and said by marvel-loving tradition to have been hurled by a giant from the opposite side of the Tay, and aimed at the church, contains about 150 feet; and another, higher up the river, and now partly broken and partly sunk into the soil, must have been, at least, of equal dimensions. They are generally of the primitive rocks, granite, gneiss, mica-slate, and quartz, though sbme are conglomerate, and others compact felspar. Zoology* — The common salmon and the spirling, or Salmo eper- lanus, frequent the river. The seal is an unwelcome visitor. The porpoise may be seen playing its gambols, when the tide is up ; and the grampus, also, sometimes makes its appearance. Flocks of wild geese frequent the river and the hill-sides, for some months after harvest FLISK. 599 Botany. — The common culinary vegetables are, colewort, cab- bage, onions, leeks, carrots, peas, beans, potatoes, and turnips. The grains grown are wheat, barley, and oats. Peas and beans are also sown in the field. Plantations. — The plantations are neither numerous nor exten- sive. The oldest is Flisk Wood, which is mentioned in the earliest accounts, and fills up the north-eastern corner of the parish, be- tween the Tay and Corbie-burn, extending at present over ninety- one acres. The largest is that on and around the summit of Glen- duckie-Hill, covering 113 acres. The plantations altogether amount to 264 acres ; and, with the exception of eighty acres of oak in Flisk Wood, they consist chiefly of larch and Scotch fir, and are from twenty to forty years old. II. — Civil History. This parish cannot boast of any historical events of importance, or of any occurrences worthy of note. Eminent Character. — The greater part, if not the whole of the parish, became the property of the Noble house of Rothes, in the reign of Robert the Bruce, by the marriage of Sir Andrew de Lesley with Mary, one of the three daughters and co-heiresses of Sir Alexander Abernethy of Abernethy ; and the Castle of Ballin- breich was, for several centuries, their principal residence. In 1320, Sir Andrew signed the letter to the Pope, asserting the independency of Scotland. His descendant, Norman Lesley, son of George Earl of Rothes, was the principal actor in the mur- der of Cardinal Beaton, on the 29th May 1546. The following year, he surrendered the Castle of St Andrews to the French, and went into the service of their king. He gained great reputation in an engagement between that monarch and the Emperor, near Cambray, in 1554. He enjoyed his honour but a short time, for, being wounded, he died fifteen days afterwards. Andrew, fourth Earl of Rothes, was buried within the old church. The grave is about the centre of the present burying-ground. John, sixth Earl of Rothes, was promoted in 1667 to the office of High Chancellor ; and was created Duke of Rothes, Marquis of Bal- lenbreich, &c in 1680. He died the following year ; and his body was conveyed, first from St Giles's Edinburgh (whither it had been privately carried) to Holyrood House, and afterwards to Leslie in Fife, (where his Grace had built a mansion,) with the greatest conceivable funereal pomp. Sir James Balfour, Rector of this parish in 1561, was appointed 1 600 FIFESHIRE. Lord President of the Court of Session, the Court then consist- ing of churchmen as well as laymen : he is unhappily stigmatised by Robertson as the most corrupt man of his age. The Rev. John Wemyss, who was admitted to the parish in 1590, became Principal of St Leonard's College, St Andrews, in 1592. The Rev. John Fleming, D. D. author of the " Philosophy of Zoology," and of the " History of British Animals," and now Professor of Natural .Philosophy in King's College, Aberdeen, held this incumbency from 1811 to 1882, Land-owners* — The chief land-owners, with the extent of their properties, are as follows: — Lord Dundas, now (1888) created Earl of Orkney, 1808 acres ; Joseph Murray, Esq. of Ayton, 460 acres; John Whyte Melville, Esq. of Mount Melville, 218 acres. The preceding includes, with the exception of 20 or 30 acres, the whole property of the parish. Parochial Registers. — The register of baptisms and marriages, combining also the accounts of disbursements, and the minutes of session, commence 6th May 1697 ; and that of deaths and burials 1st March 1775. They seem in general to have been kept with care and regularity ; the only marked omission being in that of the session minutes from 1799 to 1822. It appears from these re- cords, that the session, till at least nearly the middle of last cen- tury, often held meetings for prayer ; and administered discipline by private or public rebukes for profaneness, desecration of the Sabbath, drunkenness, quarrelling, and intemperate or opprobrious language, as well as for violations of the seventh commandment. The following extracts are also worthy of insertion, as shewing, inter alia, the interest taken by the church, both in the welfare of individuals and in public objects. The sums are given in old Scotch money, 1701, May 18. This day read from the pulpit, the Acts of Assembly and Parliament against profaneness, and the Act of As- sembly anent family worship by elders and deacons. 1702, January 4, Given for Gullet bridge, there having been a general collection appointed for that effect, L. 1. — 1702, January 4, (and at many other dates,) given to the presbytery bursar, L.4, 10s. — 1703, March 2, given for repairing St Leonard's College, (St Andrews,) L. 1, 16s. — 1704, September 24, given for the redeeming a man from slavery in Algeirs, L. 2. — 1729, July 4, for building a church and to be a fund for a minister's stipend in the north of Scotland ; the place is Enzie (presbytery of Fordyce,) L. 5. — 1729, December 6,forEnstar ( Anstruther) harbor, L.2. — 1730, December 5, Given to David Fermer's daughter to buy a Bible, L. 1, 4s. — 1750, FLISK. 601 November 18, There was collected this day, in obedience to the Assembly's order, for building a church at Breslaw, in the province , of Silesia, L. 10, 3s. lOd. Antiquities. — The Castle of Ballinbreich lies in ruins near the western extremity of the parish, overhanging the river, and em- bosomed in a small plantation of trees. It is built of red sand* stone, 150 feet long, and 70 broad, and without date, arms or in- scription. Formerly, a garden lay to the south of the castle ; an orchard to the east of the oak avenue ; and fish ponds, and a swan pond in the plantations to the west of it It was long the resi- dence of the Earls of Rothes. But, first deserted, then sold to an- other lord, it has been suffered to go into decay. Nothing re- mains but bare or fallen walls, the ponds have been dried up, the garden destroyed, and many of the trees cut down. The plough has converted the didce into the utile. Besides the few acres of trees surrounding the ruins, two chestnuts which formed part of the straight avenue leading to the castle, are still allowed to keep their station near the farm-house of Ballinbreich. Close by the castle to the east, and within the remaining plan- tation, is Chapel-hill, where the foundations of a sacred edifice are still to be traced. In Flisk Wood, at the opposite extremity of the parish, are low ruins, most probably those of a place of worship, and consisting of the apparent remains of the edifice, and of an enclosing wall. In enumerating the parishes, churches, and chapels in the deanery of Fife, in the eleventh year of King William, Sir Robert Sibbald mentions " Flisk cum capella." Which of the two noticed above formed this capella, cannot now be ascertained. Silver coins of Edward III. were turned up a few years ago, on the farm of East Flisk. They were given to Dr Fleming, and consisted of sixpences, shillings, and half-crown pieces. About the same time, on the hill side, and on the farms of East Flisk and Belhelvie, several rude stone coffins were discovered, with urns in them containing burnt bones. The urns were a mixture of clay and rotten rock, baked in the sun ; and most of them fell to pieces on being exposed to the air. Burnt bones were also discovered in a cairn of stones on the top of Whirly Kip> (or rather, perhaps, WhhJaw cap,) a conical rising ground on Fliskmill farm, between Lyndemus and Pittachop. On Fliskmill Hill, are a few stones placed as the arms of a chair, and called St Muggin's Seat ; St Muggin being probably a cor- 602 FIFESHIRE. ruption of St Magridin. Tradition is silent regarding the occa- sions when this was made the place of the saint's meditations ; but it was well chosen, from the noble and extensive view it commands of streams, and hills, and vales, for eliciting thought, and giving the freshness and sublimity of nature to the imaginings of the soul within. Modern Buildings. — Not having any resident proprietors, we have unfortunately little to state, on this subject. There is not a single mansion-house. We have but to notice the parish church. In 1790, the old building after standing, it is said, for 500 years, was pulled down, and the present small but neat edifice erected near the site of the former. III. — Population. The population at different periods has been as follows : — In 1755, according to Dr Webster 318 1792, stated in last Statistical Account, 331 1801, according to the census, 300 1811, do. do. 318 1821, do. do. 301 1831, do. do. 286 1836, private register, - 245 1837, do. do. - 256 From this table, it appears that the [population has diminished. The principal cause seems to have been, that neither proprietors nor tenants, some time ago, were sufficiently careful to repair or re- build the cottages. Several have, in consequence, been pulled down, in different parts of the parish. The evil of so small a cot- tage population, on so great an extent of cultivated land, is now se- verely felt And the wish at present is, on the part of the farmers at least, to have the number of cottages increased. The yearly average of births for the last seven years is 10$ deaths, - - . . ]a marriages, - - . . ]& The vast disproportion between the numbers of births and deaths must be owing to the fact, that the relative number of farm-ser- vants (who, of course, are chosen in the healthy and vigorous period of life) is great. The average number of persons under 15 years of age, - - 100 betwixt 15 and 30, ... 65 30 and 50, - - . 60 50 and 70, - - • 30 upwards of 70, - ... 3 The number of proprietors of land of the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards, - 3 Number of unmarried men, bachelors, and widowers, upwards of 50 years of age, 5 women upwards of 45, - - - - 1 1 Number of families, - - 55 Average number of resident children in each family, 2 Number of inhabited houses, ---.-- 55 FLISK. 603 Number of fatuous 2 ; and of blind 1. The last was' occasioned by the small-pox. The language spoken is the English. The migratory habits of much of our agricultural population are by no means favourable to their moral and religious character, and prevent a permanent character from attaching to a parish like this, where so many belong to this class. With this qualification, it may be said that the people are respectable, cleanly in their ha- bits, and enjoy in a reasonable degree the comforts and advantages of society. The ordinary food of the peasants is oatmeal and potatoes, broth and bacon, the cottars keeping one or two pigs in the year. Wheaten bread is also used. IV. — Industry. The number of males employed in agriculture is 59, including 7 farmers, 7 cottars, and 45 farm-servants. The number employed in manufactures is 12, all weavers, except 2, employed in making potato-flour. There are 2 smiths, 1 mason, 1 forester, 7 day- labourers, and 1 or 2 who often employ themselves in fishing. The men connected with the salmon stations, during the fishing season, do not in general belong to the parish. Male servants, above 20 years old, 26 under 20, - 19 Female servants, 18 Total, 63 Agriculture. — The number of acres under cultivation is 2120 in natural pasture, - 134 under wood, 264 Total, 2518 The greater part of the unreclaimed portion is on the face of Lyndemus and Fliskmill Hill. Patches of it might be cultivated, but it is more convenient for pasturage as it is. Eight acres, now ap- propriated and in wood, (on the farm of Logie,) once formed part of a common which stretched into the adjoining part of Abdie. Rent of Land. — The average rent of arable land is L. 1, 8s. per imperial acre. It is, in general, partly a money and partly a grain rent, paid according to the fiar prices, limited, however, in some cases, by a maximum, or by both a maximum and minimum. Rate of Wages. — Farm-servants, in bothies, receive L. 10 ; 8 cwt. (6£ bolls Scotch,) oatmeal ; 4 pints (1 pint Scotch) milk, and potatoes for supper, for one-half of the year. Those married have L. 8, house, garden of 300 square yards ; milk and meal as 604 FIFESHIRE. above ; and three cart load of potatoes or three lippies bounds t. e. about 300 square yards. The foreman has the same, except L. 12 instead of L. 8, and a " cow-keep," instead of an allowance of milk. Day-labourers have Is. 6d. without victuals, but 2d. less in winter, and 2d. more in summer. Women receive 8d. without victuals. Reapers receive L. 1, 10s. with victuals, for the harvest; binders have 10s. more. The harvest-home being now discontinued, each receives Is. in lieu at the end of the harvest Threaving, which, however, is not much practised, is at the rate of 3d. for twenty- four sheaves of oats or barley ; and 4d. for twenty-eight of wheat. The price of an iron plough is L. 3, 12s. ; of a harrow, L. 1, 6s. ; of a double horse cart, L. 12 ; of a set of horse shoes, 3s. 4d. A mason receives 2s. 6 These, or species resembling these more than the Stigmariae. Euphorbia, ) Lepidodendra, numerous. Ulodendra, frequent. Calamites, numerous gigantic specimens. Equiseta, exceedingly plentiful. Sphenopdteres, do. do. Cyliopteres, very beautiful and rare varieties. Meuropteres, do. do. do. Sphenophylla, plentiful. Lycopodites, do. Carpothylites, several have been discovered. Cannophyllites, exceedingly abundant. Graminie, do. do. Many other species occur, and all in excellent preservation, owing to the ferruginous indurated nature of the rocks. They are easily freed from the matrix, and are every way worthy of the at- tention of the fossil collector. The only ore worthy of notice is that of iron. It occurs im- bedded in the shale and slate-clay in the form of thin bands and septaria. This ore is an argillaceous carbonate of iron, yielding from 30 to 60 per cent, of iron. The septaria are in general the purest, though sometimes containing carbonate of lime, iron py- rites, coprolites, and other impurities. It has never been mined, but is frequently gathered by the shore, as washed out from the dis- integrated strata, and sells at from 9s. to 12s. for 24 cwt. It is car- ried to Newcastle at little expense, in ballast bottomed vessels. Immediately on the confines of the parish, at Pittenweem, iron ore is quarried from the shale to a considerable extent during low water. The rocks which compose the district being wholly sedimentary, the parish presents no field for the mineralogist. The simple in- gredients of sandstone, shale, fire-clay and coal are too well known to require individual descriptions. 616 FIFESHIRE. The superficial accumulations are confined exclusively to dilu- vial clay with boulders, river silt, and peat-moss. The first of these entirely overlies the true rock measures, from one end of the parish to the. other. It varies from six to fourteen feet in thick- ness, is of a yellowish or blue tenacious clay, with boulders of all sizes, from that of a pebble to blocks of several tons weight These consist chiefly of primitive greenstone, basalt, granite, syenite, porphjry, gneiss, and other primordial rocks. They must owe their origin to some very general and potent agency, as none of these rocks occur in situ within a distance of eighty or ninety miles. The transporting power seems to have been of long duration, and to have flowed from the west north-west, or nearly so. On the south of the Dreel, this clay, from southern exposure and long cultivation, has been superficially reduced to a fine loam, capable of bearing a system of cropping. To the north, it is still to a certain degree cold and retentive ; but from the system of draining pursued, and carefhl rotation, it bids fair to rival the southern division in fertility. Silt occurs along the valley of the Dreel, from where it enters the parish to its junction with Carnbee Burn. Beyond this, the united streams have cut for themselves a deep glen or gill, till their waters fall into the Frith. Before the erosion of this glen, the valley must have formed a lake or swamp, into which debris, &c was washed, which, in conjunction with the growth and decay of aquatic plants, would form the present silt So soon as the drainage glen was sufficiently deep, the waters disappearing would leave something similar to what we now find, until rendered thoroughly and permanently useful by human industry. This silt is, in some places, of great depth, is exceedingly fertile, and might with advantage be carted to the barer districts as a compost During land-floods, the Dreel, which rises in the high lands of Carnbee, still brings down a very considerable quantity of mud, which, if any recipient hollow lay in its way, would still form ex- tensive beds of silt. In the north-west parts of the parish, and immediately west of Grangemuir House, a peat-moss existed, which is now planted or converted into arable land. This deposit occupies the head of the valley or swamp, the very place most favourable to the produc- tion of those plants whose continual increase and decay went to its formation. Fourteen years ago, when draining and digging this moss for use, the inhabitants of the district frequently discovered ANSTRUTHER WESTER. 6 17 » trunks of trees, horns, and other organic remains, peculiar to such deposits. Af; in *#.— There are no mines of any description in the parish, though coals have been worked a few hundred yards from the boun- daries, at Waterriggs and Balcaskie. During summer 1838, borings for coal were made by Lord William K. Douglas ; but thin seams only were passed through. These trials seem to have been made too far to the eastward, as the workable seams of the St Monance basin must crop out considerably farther west If coals shall ever be discovered in this parish, it must be between Grangemuir and Balcaskie, and subjacent to the two Kellie seams now in process of working. There are no quarries in the parish of any note. Stones for common purposes are quarried by the sea shore ; — those for finer purposes being brought from a distance. A considerable quantity of ironstone is. to be found along the shores of the burgh, which the magistrates let for Is. per ton ; and it is afterwards quarried and collected and shipped for Newcastle. Copper ore is also found on the shore nearly opposite the manse. There are appearances of coal in the parish at different places ; and the name given to some acres lying north-east from the glebe, viz. the Cowpits or coal-pits, seem to indicate that that mineral had formerly been wrought here. Last winter, many of the inha- bitants got liberty from the magistrates to dig coal at the sea shore, below flood-mark, and supplied themselves with many cart- loads. " A narrow stripe of flat land above the shore has evidently been, at a remote period, covered by the sea, as it is composed entirely of sea sand and shells, with a very thin covering of vegetable mould ; and the ocean is again fast approaching to its ancient boundary, every succeeding storm making new encroachments upon the land, in tlefiance of all that has been done by man to guard it against the restless and resistless element. A circum- stance worthy of remark is, that the sea is advancing upon a lower level, the smooth bed of shells and sand over which its waters for- merly rolled, being now [elevated some feet above its surface. This may be observed in the face of every break alongst the coast here ; and the writer does not know how the fact can be reconciled with the modern theory, that the channel of the German Ocean is gradually filling up, and its waters consequently rising and over* spreading tracts of land on some parts of its shores." 618 FIFESHIRE. Botany. — The study of the plants peculiar to any of these soils is rendered difficult by the universality of cultivation. The banks and waste parts of the Dreel valley seem favourable to the follow- ing : — Veronica ckamadrys, Tanacetvm vulgare (extremely abun- dant,) Geranium, several species, Lotus comiculatus, Alchemilla vulgaris, Galium verum. Primula vulgaris, Achillea millefolium, Myosotis palustris, (abundant,) &c At the Billowness are found, Campanula rotundifolia, HeliarUhemum vulgare, Thymus serpyUum, Silene injlata, Tormentilla erecta 9 Anagallis arvensis, &c Rare plants are also discovered by the shore, but this is perhaps more owing to marine influence than peculiarity of soil. Zoology* — The animals which delight in peculiar soils are not numerous or well-marked, except in the case of the silt before- mentioned. There, perhaps, more than in any place of Scotland, do water-rats of great size abound. They seem innumerable. In going along the banks of the stream, where the silt occurs, one's attention is arrested at almost every step by a large rat plunging into the water from among the rank grass, and swimming along with wonderful rapidity, until it disappears in one of the holes with which the banks are thickly perforated. A strong coincidence to this occurs in the case of Mugdrum Island in the Tay, which is wholly composed of silt. It was so infested with rats, that all plans failed of keeping them down, till Dutch cats were imported, which was found efficient. " Migratory Birds. — The woodcock, fieldfare, and curlew, visit the coast regularly in the winter, and the Bohemian jay is some- times seen in the neighbourhood ; as are also wild geese, when the higher grounds are covered with snow. The swallow, cuckoo, water- wagtail, and plover, make their appearance in summer. The early arrival of the woodcock and Bohemian jay, indicates the se- verity of the winter on the continent ; while the cuckoo's visit is a sure mark that fine weather may be soon expected."* II. — Civil History. Land-owners, — The chief land-owners are, Lord William Douglas of Dunino ; Robert Bruce, Esq. of Grangemuir ; Sir Windham C. Anstruther of Anstruther and Carmichael, Bart. ; Matthew F. Conolly, Esq. ; the Sea-Box Society ; and the Burgh. All are resident except Robert Bruce, Esq. and Sir W. C. An- struther. Lord William Douglas has a handsome modern house at Grangemuir, built originally by the late Mr Bruce, and. greatly * Last Statistical Account. ANSTRUTHER WESTER. 619 enlarged since it came into his Lordship's possession. The grounds, about it have lately been laid out anew with much taste. The place altogether is one of the most elegant in the country, and might form a suitable residence to any gentleman or nobleman in the king - dom. The town-hall, in which the magistrates and council hold their meetings, deserves also to be mentioned as a large and hand-* some room. Session Records. — The earliest entry in the session records, as possessed by the present schoolmaster, is in 1651. One or two short extracts from them may be interesting. It would appear from some items mentioned at this time (1651,) that the town had had a rather unceremonious visit from the " Inglis." Under the date of 16th September 1651, it is said, " paid for ane — to hold ye sand-glass ye ould being plundered by ye ' Inglis.' " And again, on the 7th October following, it is said, " paid to Matt Thomson for drying ye ould bybell, which was cast in ye sea be ye * Inglis/ yn ye towne was plundered." " 5th September 1689.— The whilk day Mr Thomas Auchinleck, minister of Anstruther Wester, was discharged by the Lords of yr* Majesty's Privy- Council from exercising the office of the mi- nistry in this congregation, for not reading the proclamation, and for not praying for King William and Queen Mary; and the church was declared vacant by ahe sent from the presbytery of Saint Andrews and Cupar to that effect. " 8th September 1689. — Mr John Law, a Presbyterian minister, preached in the kirk, and intimated the proclamation. " 15th April 1691. — Mr Hardie preached, — finding no objec- tions against seventeen elders, admitted them. " May 1, 1700. — " The session appoints aney three elders to clear accounts with the schoolmaster, and pay what is due to him by the session against Witsunday next ; and likeways informe him, that they have no design to keep any schoolmaster nor precentor, both upon account of the indisposition of the minister and the poverty of the place." And on the 29th of the same month it is said, — ** This day Mr David Ballingall, schoolmaster, precentor* and session-clerk, did.dimit" The schoolmaster's salary at this time stated at L. 16, 13s. 0d. Scots money. " February 1, 1701. — Mr William Hardie, minister of Crail, preached. Collected for Andrew Simson, skipper in Dysert, and his company, who are slaves in Algiers, L. 16, 00, 00. Antiquities—" At the west end of the town there is a large 620 FIFESH1RE. mound called the Chester-Hill, in the middle of which is a fine well Two or three years ago, in digging on the side of this mound a foundation for a house, two skeletons were found in the most perfect preservation, at a small distance from each other. They were inclosed in a kind of coffin, consisting of a large stone at each end and side." * In the church there' is the half of a stone coffin, — the other half is on the Island of May. It is reported to be the coffin of St Adrian, who had a monastery on the isle just mentioned, and is said to have been killed during an incursion of the Danes. There is no certainty, however, that the tradition is correct HI. — Population. The number of the inhabitants of the parish does not seem to be so great as it was in ancient times. Like most of the other towns on the east coast of Fife, the burgh, since the Union, has fallen greatly into decay, and the population appears also to have decreased, in consequence of the losses sustained in the civil wars during the reign of Charles I. The people, in general, were zea- lous Covenanters ; and many of them fell in the battle of Kilsyth. Besides the disaster in the temporary failures of their fishing, An- struther sharedthe fate of its neighbours about the year 1670, by an inundation of the sea, which destroyed or choked up the har- bour, washed away the bulwarks, and rendered many of the houses unsafe to dwell in. An inundation of a similar kind happened about the end of the seventeenth century, when nearly a third of the town seems to have been swept away. A long street, called the Fore Street, was totally destroyed. Scarce a vestige of it re- mains. The rock on which the town-house once stood is covered by the sea every spring tide, when it also washes the street where the principal houses of the burgh were situated. By these means the town has been greatly reduced, and the baptisms, which about 200 years ago, as appears from the session records, were from twenty to thirty a year, are at present very few in number. Now, however, the scale seems to have turned; and not from any outward circumstances, but from the natural tendency of the population to increase, a slow but gradual advance in numbers is taking place. The population in time of first Statistical Account, - 370 1811, 405 1881, .... 480 * Last Statistical Account. 4 ANSTRtJTHER WESTER. 621 Males, - - - - - -191 Females, ...... 239 Number of families, ..... 105 Of these employed in agriculture, 21 in trade and manufactures, - 28 Other families, •-•-.. S6 Males above twenty years, - - - 97 Of these there are land occupiers having servants, 3 Do. having no servants, .... 2 Labourers, ..... 20 Tradesmen (all weavers,) .... 8 Retail and handicraft, 84 Clergy, clerks, professional educated men and capitalists, 5 Labourers not agricultural, - . 7 All other males of twenty years, 18 Female servants, - - . . ]8 Average of births about - . 5 or 6 marriages, . - . 4 No register of deaths is kept. Occupations of the Traders and Handicraftsmen. — Blacksmith, 1 ; slater, 1 ; masons, 6 ; carpenters, 8 ; sawyers, 4 ; linen-dra- per, 1 ; fish-dealer, 1 ; millers, 2 ; inn-keeper, I ; shoemakers, 6 ; shop-keepers, 3 ; weavers, 8. Inhabited houses, 62 ; building, 1 ; houses uninhabited, 3. Lord William K. Douglas, brother of the present Marquis of Queensberry, is the oqly person of noble rank residing in the pa- rish ; but almost all the other heritors have land to the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards. The number of families being 105, we have, making allowance for those who have no children or are unmarried, about four as the average number of children in each family. Character^ $c. of the People* — The inhabitants of the town and parish resemble very much in character those of the other villages on the east coast. Judging from the session records of former pe- riods, there must be a great improvement in point of morals. We may not witness the same appearance of zeal which entitled their forefathers to the appellation of the " Whigs of Fife ;" but it would be wrong not to admit that much attention is paid to out- ward propriety of conduct, and that a regular and becoming at- tendance is given to the ordinances of religion. Habits of clean- liness are on the increase* Altogether, the people enjoy, in a rea- sonable degree, the comforts and advantages of society ; and are, or, at least, before new notions were put into their heads, were, con* tented with their situation and circumstances. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — The parish contains only about 600 acres. Al- most the whole of it is arable. Near the sea, the soil is either a 622 FIFESHIRE. black loam or a light sand mined with shells, both of which, though shallow, are very fertile. In the higher grounds, there is some light soil, but the greater part of it is a deep clay, which yields considerable crops in favourable weather. About 25 acres are co- vered with wood. Rent of Land. — In the landward part of the parish, the rent varies from L. 2 to L. 3 per acre ; but the Burgh acres, or those lying near the town, are let at a much higher rate. Some of them have been held on lease for seven years at L. 8 per Scotch acre, so that the lessee of an acre, alongst with a house and yard at L. % is duly qualified to be a registered elector. On these lands, five imperial quarters of barley have been raised from half an acre ; and upon one acre, there have been produced ten tons of carrots, which are worth about L. 3, 10s. per ton. The average rent may be L. 3, 10s. per acre. Rent of grazing a cow or ox per annum, L. 3. Wages. — Wages of farm-servants for the year, when boarded in the house, L. 1 1. If they happen to be married men, the same wages are given, together with a house, six bolls and a half of oat- meal, a Scotch pint of milk per day, in addition to which they have half a boll of potatoes planted. Day labourers receive in summer Is. 6d. per day, in harvest more, and in winter Is. 2d. or Is. 4d. Female servants have L. 6 a year, with board. Leases, fyc. — The general duration of leases is nineteen years, — a term which seems to be considered as one of the most ad- vantageous both for landlord and tenant The houses of the far- mers and the steadings are all that could be wished. The com- mon breed of cattle reared in the neighbourhood is the Fife. Fisheries. — The fish frequenting this part of the coast are cod, ling, turbot, halibut, haddocks, skate, flounders, lobsters, crabs, herrings, and occasionally mackarel. Many thousands of dog-fish are at times driven on shore by storms, and carried away for ma- nure. In the former Statistical Account of the parish, it is men- tioned, that lobsters were the only fish sent from this neighbour- - hood to the London market. Now, however, great quantities of salted cod are sent thither ; also smoked, or, as they are called, Finnan haddocks, together with abundance of fresh fish, are daily, in their seasons, transported to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cupar, &c. from the adjoining towns of Cellardyke, Easter Anstru- ther, and Pittenweem, as will be more particularly mentioned in 4ie accounts of these parishes. Last year, a greater quantity of ANSTRUTHER WESTER. 623 -herrings were taken on this coast than at any other fishing station in Scotland. Anstruther Wester has no direct share in this profitable traffic ; the harbour readmitting ships of any burden, and being incon- venient even for boats. So that none now belong to it except two or three of small dimensions, kept for the summer amusement of their owners. There are no fishermen in this parish, and although one of the fish-curers, who carries on a pretty extensive trade, re- sides and is a burgess in the burgh, yet his curing and drying houses are situated in Anstruther Easter. While 011 this subject, a fish-pond here may be mentioned as a curiosity. It is of considerable length and breadth, and 14 feet in depth, and was dug out of the solid rock a few years ago, at no little trouble and expense, by the late Captain James Black, R. N. in the garden of his marine villa. The pond communicates with the sea by means of a small passage bored through the rock, so that its water rises and falls with the tide. It is stocked with cod, turbot, and flounders; a few lobsters and crabs were also in- troduced, but these carried on such a cruel and incessant warfare against their more defenceless neighbours in the pond, that the captain was obliged to exterminate them. The fish are very tame, and flock toward the person who feeds them, like poultry in a barn- yard. Of course, they are too great favourites to be caught for gracing the table ; but they may be useful in giving us more in- sight into the nature and habits of the finny tribe. Produce. — It is difficult to get any accurate knowledge of the amount of raw produce raised in the parish, but as nearly as that can be ascertained, it may be as follows : Produce of grain of all kinds, whether cultivated for food of man or of the domestic animals, about ....... L. 2000 Of potatoes, turnips, cabbages, carrots, and other plants cultivated in the fields for food, ........ 1690 Of hay, . . . . . . . 900 Which, with some other miscellaneous produce, may amount in all to about 4000 V. — Parochial Economy. Burgh. — Anstruther Wester is a royal burgh, and, before the time of the Reform Bill, used to join with Pittenweem, Anstruther Easter, Kilrenny, and Crail, in sending a Member to Parliament. Originally it was erected into a burgh of barony in 1554, but holds its charter of incorporation, as a royal burgh, from James VI. in 1587, It is governed by a chief magistrate, two bailies, town-clerk, treasurer, and eleven councillors, and has a revenue of about L. 70 per annum, which arises chiefly from land. There are also five or 624 FIFESHIRE. six acres of town's common, which is occupied in summer as pas- turage for horses and cows belonging to the inhabitants, at the rate of Is. 8d. of grass-mail for each beast per night Owing to the smallness of the population, it is one of those burghs which have not, as yet, been affected by the late Reform Bill* The municipal authorities still continue to be appointed according to the old system, under which, notwithstanding all its alleged cor- ruption and abuse, the corporation lands have been preserved entire ; not an acre having been alienated since the issuing of the royal grant in its favour, upwards of 250 years ago. The population of the burgh is almost co-extensive with that of the parish. There cannot be above thirty or forty people in the country. At one time, a considerable trade appears to have flou- rished in Anstruther Wester. But from the causes already alluded to, it has entirely disappeared. No vessels or even fishing-boats belong to the place, — the only business of any kind carried on being that which is necessary to supply the wants of the limited population. No regular police is required ; there are, however, twelve constables who may be called out on any emergency. For- tunately, their services are seldom needed. In the former Statis- tical Account, it is stated, that since the battle of Kilsyth the people have a strong aversion to a military life, — that, in the course of twenty-one years, only one instance of a person enlisting had occurred — that there had not been a suspicion of murder for fifty years — that one instance of suicide had taken place about the year 1744 — and that no person had been tried before a criminal court since 1732. The writer is unable to say whether the same state of things continues ; but he has reason to believe, that, notwith- standing the altered circumstances of the country, instances similar to the foregoing are still extremely rare. Market-Town. — The burgh itself is not a market-town, but a weekly market is held every Saturday in Anstruther Easter, which is united to it by a handsome bridge over the Dreel Burn. Means of Communication. — The post-office is also placed in Anstruther Easter. Letters arrive and depart daily, though, from the frequent changes which have lately taken place, the hours are very uncertain. The length of the turnpike roads in the parish is only about half a mile, alongst which the Balcarres coach to Edin- burgh runs thrice a week, returning on the alternate days. An omnibus also leaves every morning for Largo, aud returns on. the arrival of the steam-boat from Newhaven. Carriers travel regu- ANSTRUTHER WESTER. 625 larly to Edinburgh, and to all the neighbouring towns of any con- sequence in Fife, such as Cupar, St Andrews. In summer there is much communication carried on by steam-boats. • Those to and from Dundee, Aberdeen, and Montrose, pass and repass daily to Newhaven, so that a journey, which, less than thirty years ago, oc- cupied a Whole day, or sometimes two or three, and could only be accomplished at a great expense, is now performed in two hours and a half, and for a very trifling sum. The fences are commonly dry stone dikes, or, as they are called, Galloway dikes. In some places, we find hedges ; but no great attention seems to be paid to either. Ecclesiastical State*— The church is very conveniently situated for the greater part of the population, being built in the burgh, where the bulk of the people reside. It may be nearly two miles from the north-west corner of the parish, but there is no in- habited house so remote as that There does not appear to be any record as to the period when it was built ; but, from the style of its architecture, it must have existed a considerable time previous to the Reformation. It was new roofed in 1761, and has been fre- quently repaired at considerable expense by the heritors. At pre- sent, it is in tolerable order. From its situation almost on the sea shore, and on the bank of the Dreel, it is liable to be damp and cold in winter ; a stove, however, has just been erected in it, which will add much to its comfort. The number of seats is fully beyond that required by law, and they afford accommodation for all the parishioners who are able to attend public worship. Part of them belong to the kirk-session. These are let at sixpence a sitting, but even that small rent is very seldom demanded. The last time it was so, was during the prevalence of cholera, and the proceeds were handed over to the Board of Health. Almost all of the he- ritors give seats to their tenants and others. A very commodious manse, and what offices were considered necessary, were built for the late incumbent in 1835. The extent of the glebe is four acres, including fences. It was lately let at L. 26 per annurfi ; and, con- sidering its situation and the rent of the land around it, may still be worth that sum. There is no grass glebe, nor any allowance in lieu of it The late incumbent, conceiving that he had a right to one, was at a very considerable expense in endeavouring to esta- blish his claim ; but failed before the Court of Session. All along, however, he had the impression that his cause was just, and that, if fife. h r 626 F1FESHIRE. he had carried it by appeal to the House of Lords, he would have been successful. The stipend consists, 1st, of the whole teinds of the parish, viz, 63 bolls, 3 firlots, 3£ lippies of bear ; 20 bolls of oats ; 26 bolls, 3 firlots, 2 pecks, 1£ lippie of oatmeal ; 3 firlots, 1 peck, ^ lippie of beans ; and L. 18, 16s. of money, which, on the average of the last five years, and deducting L. 8, 6s. 8d. for communion elements, amounts to L. 103, 13s. lid.; 2rf, an allowance granted by Ex- chequer of L. 24, Is. 1 Od. ; 3d, the sum of L. 16, 13s. 4d* paid out of the Bishops' rents. This last sum, however, was lately withdrawn by Her Majesty's Commissioners of Woods and Fo- rests ; but in place of it the late incumbent had just obtained, un- der the small Stipend Act, an addition equal in amount from the Exchequer. With regard also to the sum paid out of the Bishop's rents, his legal advisers were of opinion that it ought not, at any time, to have been taken into account in allocating his stipend, and that Her Majesty's Commissioners of Woods and Forests were exceeding their powers in depriving him of it, he having himself enjoyed it for upwards of thirty years, and his predecessors, at all events, since the date of the Union. " But," he adds in his com- munication to the Commissioners of Religious Instruction pathe- tically, and considering what has since occurred almost propheti- cally, " it may be prudent for a man at my time of life, with such a stipend and a family to provide for, to suffer patiently, rather than attempt going to law with Her Majesty's Commissioners of Woods and Forests." It is possible that his successor may feel himself justified in trying the question. The number of Dissenters in the parish is just 15, in addition to 4 Episcopalians. Almost all the families, and almost all the indivi- duals are connected with the Establishment ; and, in proportion to the population, divine service at the church is generally well attend- ed. The number of communicants borders upon 200. A Bible and Missionary Society exists in the parish. Average amount of con- tributions for religious and charitable purposes L. 6. There was lately a collection, amounting to L. 2, for Church Extension, and L. 7, Is. 6d. for the Colonial Churches. These, perhaps, are fully the average of what might be expected in any one year. Education. — The parochial school is the only one in the parish. In it the branches taught are, reading, writing, arithmetic, geo- graphy, Latin, French, algebra, pure and practical mathematics. The schoolmaster has the maximum salary of L. 34, 4s. 4d. In d ANSTRUTHER WESTER. 627 1833, when answers were returned to the Lord Advocate's queries on the subject of education, the average of fees for the four pre- ceding years was L. 74, 16s. 9d., and in addition the teacher en- joys L. 4, being the interest of L. 100 left for the behoof of the school. It may be doubted, whether the average of the fees is quite so high at present. The schoolmaster, who was only lately elected, has not furnished me with the means of ascertaining, and perhaps could not very well tell ; but I should think, that it could not be greatly reduced. The general expense of education should, I think, be from 10s. to L. 1, 5s. per annum, according to the age or attainments of the children. There do not appear to be any of the young betwixt six and fifteen years of age who cannot read or write, or who are not learning to do so, neither are there any of those upwards of fifteen who cannot read. Two do so very imper- fectly. There are about twenty-five grown up people, most aged females, who have not been taught to write. The people, in ge- neral, are fully alive to the benefits of education ; and even the very poorest will make considerable exertions to procure it for their children. A bursary connected with the United College of St Andrews, was endowed by the late Bailie William Thomson, a former chief magistrate of the burgh, in favour of some young man belonging to the parish. The value of the land mortified by the benevolent donor was about L. 700 ; but it was reduced to L. 500 by an un- fortunate law-suit The magistrates and minister are patrons. The endowment may occasionally be of use to young men of me- rit; but it may also encourage some to become students before they are qualified to profit by the education which a college imparts. The following short account of an association which exists among the parochial schoolmasters in the East of Fife, may be of sufficient importance to be noticed in the Statistical Account. — The association was begun in 1818, under the designation of " The East of Fife Educational Society." At present, it em- braces, as members, all the schoolmasters along the coast from Elie to Kingsbarns. They meet once a-month at each others houses in rotation, and regular minutes are kept of the proceed- ings. The object of the association is for the mutual improve- ment of the members, in matters connected with education. They are in possession of a small and select library, consisting of works on education, science, &c and they have also a set of chemical and other apparatus, both of which are receiving additions from 628 FIFESUIRE. time to time. At each meeting of the society, a subject is appoint- ed for discussion at next meeting. An essay is occasionally read, though the stated production of one is not imperative on the mem- bers. They are, however, expected to bring before the meet- ing any information or suggestion connected with the profession, which they may have acquired by reading or observation ; and to give an account of the schools which they may have visited, plans of teaching, and improvements they may have observed. Such communications lead to many an interesting and useful conversa- tion, — keep the members alive to the improvements that are going on in education,— stimulate their diligence, and prevent them from falling behind the time, in the art of communicating instruction. At these meetings, the " brethren" really meet as brothers, and an unbroken course of good feeling is kept up amongst them. I believe the East of Fife Educational Society is unique in its kind ; but it might not, perhaps, be unworthy the consideration of the schoolmasters in other parts of the country, whether something of the same kind ought not to be originated among them. Charitable Institutions. — Two friendly societies are in existence, called the Mortcloth and Benefit Society, and the Sea Box. The former has existed since 1670, but was re-established in 1819. Its members pay Is* 6d. quarterly, or 6s. a year. In case of sickness, any of the members is entitled to 5s. weekly for nine weeks duringthe year, and no longer. When a member dies, each of the survivors is bound to pay 6d. to the treasurer, who gives the amount to the widow or nearest relation of the deceased, as funeral money ; and each widow is entitled to an annual pension of L. 2, 12s., paid quarterly or yearly, as she may require. The writer is uncertain whether the Sea Box is a separate society, or whether it is con- nected with that of Anstruther Easter. Both of them, however, are useful in supplying the wants of their members, and in keeping up a spirit of independence, by preventing them from sinking down to the grade of paupers. Poor and Parochial Funds.— -The number of the poor on the roll is six; but there are others who receive occasional relief. None get more than 10s. per month, and none less than 4s. The average may thus be about 7s. The sum collected yearly at the church door amounts to about L. 9. This, howeyer, is exclusive of what is collected upon sacramental and other extraordinary oc- casions, which is applied to the occasional relief of individuals in indigent circumstances, who either do not require or do not choose ANSTRUTHER WESTER. 629 i to be put on the list of regular weekly pensioners* Besides the collections, however, the session are in possession of considerable funds derived from the rent of land bequeathed for the behoof of the poor, which enables them easily to meet all the demands made upon their charity. Several tons of coal are also yearly distribut- ed among the indigent The late incumbent, who had great sensibility, was particularly attentive to the poor; and I have been informed that intimation has sometimes been made from the pulpit, that, if any were in want, they had nothing to do but apply to the session for relief. It seems to be the general opinion in this quarter, that there is now less disposition among the poor to refrain from seeking parochial relief. The spirit of inde- pendence appears to be wearing out apace, and many, so far from considering it a degradation to A be pensioners on the poor funds, think that they have a right to them, and cannot get enough. There are, however, some honourable exceptions to the remark. Fuel — The fuel commonly used is coal — either obtained in the neighbourhood, or brought by sea from Newcastle. Scotch coal may cost 6s. or 7s. a ton at the pit mouth — and English from 15s. 6d. to 17s. when delivered from the ship. To those who can afford the inlay, the latter will be found the cheap- est and the most comfortable. . But Scotch coal is commonly preferred for the kitchen. Fairs, Inns, Sfc. — No fair is held in the burgh ; but there is one inn, — quite enough for the population, and the effects of which are said to be very pernicious. Miscellaneous Observations. The burgh of Anstruther Wester has undergone considerable improvements within the last few years. Across the burn which separates it from Anstruther Easter, a bridge was erected at the mutual expense of the two burghs in 1831. Before that period, the only communication betwixt them for carriages was by a ford, at all times inconvenient, and sometimes impassable. Besides this, there* may also be noticed, the widening of the main street at the West Port, from 13 to 30 feet — its Macadamization, — and the formation of a neat footway or pavement, at an expense of L. 450, contributed equally by the burgh and county. The town is also now supplied with water, the streets lighted, and common sewers and other con- veniences constructed, whereby the public thoroughfares and lanes are kept in a clean and orderly state. A new manse and offices for the clergyman, and a handsome school and dwelling-house for 1 630 F1FESHIRE. the schoolmaster, hare likewise been lately erected. The landward part of the parish has in like manner partaken of the general im- provement. Notwithstanding the late depression in all kinds of pro- duce, agriculture is carried on with spirit, and not without profit to the farmer. At the date of the last account, the rent of land vari- ed from L. ), Is. to L. 1, 10s. per acre : now it is from L. 2 to L. 3» 10s. Great attention is paid to the breeding and feeding of cattle : and this is sometimes found to be one of the most profitable modes in which the^ former can employ his capital. Draining, too, is carried on to a considerable extent ; and although the parish is small and not naturally very fertile, the produce of the land bears a full proportion to the surrounding district. In some respects, too, the morals have undergone a change for the better. Hard drinking, which was formerly so common, is nevei; heard of in any family, having the least pretensions to gentility, and it is to be hoped that the example of their superiors will not J>e without effect on the lower orders, among whom it is still too generally practised. The writer cannot conclude without adverting to the circum- stance which has imposed on him the task of drawing up the fore- going account, — the death of his much esteemed and lamented friend, Dr Carstairs, late minister of the parish. In him, his family, the church, and society at large, have lost a very valuable mem- ber. All the duties, whether of his public or his private sta- tion, he discharged with exemplary fidelity and zeal ; and it has seldom been our lot to see any one more deeply or sincerely re- gretted. He will long live in the memory of all that shared in his friendship, or with whom he was in any way connected. November 183a PARISH OF CREICH. PRESBYTERY OF CUPAR, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. ALEXANDER LAWSON, MINISTER. L — Topography and Natural History. Name. — The name of the parish has been written in these dif- ferent ways, Oreiffh, Creich, Creche, Crich, and Criech ; but in the Session records, is almost invariably written Creich. The parish very probably received this appellation from the farm of Creich, in the centre of which the old church and the burying-ground are situated, and where the manse also was at one time placed* The word is generally thought to be derived from the Gaelic word Craigich, signifying rocky or craggy ground, — a description appli- cable to the appearance of the parish, especially of the grounds of -the farm of Creich. Extent and Boundaries. — The parish is of an irregular figure^ It extends in length from north to south about 3 miles, and varies from 1 mile to nearly 2 miles in breadth, the greatest breadth being in the middle, and the least in the north. It is bounded on the north by the parish of Flisk ; on the south, by the parishes of Moonzie and Monimail ; on the east, by those of Kilma- ny and Balmerino; and on the west, by those of Abdie and Dunbog. Topographical Appearances. — The parish presents great inequali- ties of surface. It consists of hills, which are part of the Ochil range, of various sizes and forms, the highest not appearing to ex- ceed 550 feet above the level of the sea. Of these, some are cul- tivated to the top, others are partly covered with thriving planta- tions, which add much to the beauty of the surrounding country ; while several still exhibit a rocky and rugged aspect, and produce little else than heath and furze. Were these last tastefully and judiciously planted with varieties of wood, the ground, which now generally affords but a scanty supply of pasture, would be more profitably occupied, the climate would be improved, and few places would, display more varied and beautiful scenery. The sides of most of the hills and the lower grounds are fertile ana well cul- 632 FIFESHIRE. tivatecL The soil of the former is a thin sharp gravelly loam, that of the latter is deeper, and is in some places moss, in others clay, but in general a black loam. Small streams run through the intervening valleys, and, uniting near to the village of Luthrie, form the Motray, a rivulet which, continuing its course through the parishes of Kilmany and Leu- chars, falls into the Eden at the inner bridge. From the summit of the Black Craig, and also from that of the Green Craig, both of which hills are near to the ruins of the old church, may be had one of the most extensive and delighful views in Scotland, comprehending the estuary of the Tay, the Carse of Gowrie, so famed for its richness and beauty, and the Sidlaw and Grampian mountains on the north ; the town of Dundee, and the fertile country onwards to the neighbourhood of Arbroath on the north-east; and on the west, part of Strathearn, the finely va- ried hills about Perth, with Benledi, Benlawers, &c. in the distance. Climate. — The climate is dry and healthful. In the lower parts of the parish, it is mild and pleasant, but on the higher grounds, it is rather cold and bracing. As a proof of its salubrity, there are many instances of longevity among the inhabitants. The late minister, Dr Greenlaw, who had almost completed the sixtieth year of his in- cumbency when he died, lived to the age of ninety-four, and he con- tinued so vigorous as to visit his parish during the last year of his life. His wife attained nearly the same advanced age. Geology. — I am indebted to my friend, Dr Fleming of King's College, Aberdeen, for the following account of the geology of the parish. The rocks of this parish may be considered as con- stituting a portion of the trap formation of the Ochils, a hilly ridge extending from the neighbourhood of Stirling to Ferry- port-on- Craig, at the mouth of the Tay. The parish may be viewed, on the great scale, as consisting of a bed of amygdaloid, which stretches in an easterly direction, dipping towards the south at an angle seldom exceeding twenty degrees. The basis of the amygdaloid is in general a claystone, sometimes a compact felspar, and, in a few instances, greenstone. It contains, in its cells, cal- careous spar, quartz, chlorite and agate ; the last mineral, under the name of pebble, is collected for sale by several individuals of the parish, and specimens of great size and beauty have frequent- ly been obtained. Subordinate to the amygdaloid occur lengthen- ed masses of other rocks, some of which may be regarded, as ra- ther uncommon ; in particular, there is a bed of clinkstone tra- CRE1CH. 633 versing the northern extremity of the parish, of great value for many practical purpose*. It occurs in columnar concretions, usu- ally termed basaltic pillars, in consequence of which it is easily quarried. It is readily dressed to any given form, splits easily iu a direction across the columns, emits a striking ringing sound, especially when in thin slabs, and is of a uniformly dark colour. It resists the action of the weather, constituting an extremely dur- able building material. Where it has suffered by atmospheric in- fluence it exhibits a laminar or stratified structure, a circumstance from which it is natural to conclude that it is a sedimentary rock* When used as road metal it is easily broken, being somewhat brit- tle, though it resists the bruising effects of wheels, and is thus va- luable on account of its durability. It forms the hills of Craigen- crune, Blackcraig, Greencraig, Craigsimmy, Craiglug, Lochy-hill, and the Blackcraig of Carphin, — the same bed extending west- ward through the parishes of Abdie and Flisk,. constituting the heights of Norman's Law and Xrlenduckie. In consequence of this rock decomposing slowly, its soil is scanty, and does not ap- pear so favourable to vegetation as that which is produced by the amygdaloid in which it is imbedded. Occupying a similar position in the amygdaloid masses of com- pact felspar, may be observed a considerable portion of one of these rocks, as exposed to view at the north-west side of Lochyhill, con- stituting a range of columns apparently underlying the clinkstone of which the hill in general is composed. The rock is more or less porphyritic, and, when injured by atmospheric influence, it splits in various directions, forming irregular angular blocks. At the north side of the Blackcraig of Carphin, there is a bed of gray sandstone, which may be traced a few hundred yards at the base of the hill, and apparently imbedded in the amygdaloid, and in the immediate vicinity of the clinkstone. A quarry was opened in this rock a few years ago, and building materials of considerable value were ob- tained. The sandstone occurs in thick beds, with interposed layers of slate clay, and the whole, according to the present section, co- vered with slate clay or camstone. It is similar in its relations and character to a sandstone which occurs at Birkhill, about two miles to the eastward, and is considered as the equivalent of the Kin- goody stone, so extensively quarried to the westward of Dundee, and on the north side of the estuary of the Tay. The amygda- loid is traversed by numerous small veins of calcareous spar, quartz, agate and jasper. Veins, however, of a greater size, and such as 634 FIFESHIBE. are denominated dikes, may be observed, though not in abun- dance. One vein of compact felspar, in the direction of the dip, may be observed at the Broomhill. It is quarried for road metal, being greatly superior in durability to the amygdaloid with which it is surrounded. Another mass of felspar traversing the amygda- loid in a south-easterly direction, on the Sheep walk hill.of Carphin, may be observed. The greenstone dike, which has been denominated the great Flisk vein, and which may be traced from the neighbourhood of Newburgh on the west, enters this parish at Carphin wood. After having traversed the clinkstone of Norman's Law, it passes on in an easterly direction through the amygdaloid, until it is lost in the neighbourhood of the new church of Creich, though it appears to be related to the greenstone of Drumnod, &a to the eastward. In consequence of the dip of the strata being to the south, the steep sides of the hills in the parish face the north. From the great inequality of the composition of the amygdaloid, it has resist- ed in a very unequal manner the decomposing influence of the at- mosphere, and hence the surface of the parish is exceedingly un- even. The harder rocks occupy the eminences, and exhibit an irregular outline, while the prevailing softer amygdaloid gives to the hills composed of it a more rounded and even surface. The rock cover or tirring is in general derived from a decom- position of the rocks, though, in a few instances, it is diluvium. Gravelly diluvium occurs, though in no great quantity, at Luth- rie. Clay diluvium forms the subsoil to the west of Balyarrow mire. By the partial filling of a valley, and interrupting the pro- gress of the natural drainage, this diluvium has formed by its de- position the barrier of a lake. IL — Civil History. Eminent Individuals — Alexander Henderson. — The Rev. Alex- ander Henderson, who acted so prominent a part in favour of Pres- byterianism, during the reigns of James the Sixth and Charles the First, was a native of this'parish. He was born in 1582 or 1583, as appears from his monumental inscription in the Greyfriars Church- yard, Edinburgh. His birth is not inserted in any of the registers of the parish, in possession of the kirk-session, as none of them ex- tends farther t back than 1668. In a minute of session, however, of date 5th October 1702, it is mentioned, inter alia, that " There was a bond of 2000 merks secured upon the lands of Creich, which Mr Alexander Henderson, late minister of Luchars, and afterwards CREICH. ' 635 of Edinburgh, had mortify d for the encuragement of a schoolmaster in the parish. The said Mr Alexander being born in the toun of Luthrie." After having been educated at the University of St Andrews, where he acquired considerable literary reputation, and where he became a Professor and also Questor of the Faculty of Arts, he was presented by Archbishop Gladstanes, about the year 1612, to the church and parish of Leuchars, of which he continued the minister for many years. Though at the period of his induction he was attached to Episcopacy, he soon embraced and steadily maintained Presbyterian principles. From his great talents, learning, piety, prudence, and integrity, he obtained a leading part in the management of ecclesiastical af- fairs, and was elected Moderator of the General Assembly on three different trying occasions, as being the best qualified for the office. In the memorable Assembly at Glasgow, in 1638, he was Moderator when Episcopacy was abjured, and Presbyterianism re- stored to its original purity. Presbyteries were then directed by that Court to erect a school in every landward parish, and the plan of the parish school, which combines education with religious instruction, and which has been productive of the most important advantages to Scotland, is said to have been devised by Hender- son. He was ever desirous to promote education, and, as a proof of the encouragement he gave to it, he was made a burgess of Dundee, in 1632, for his good services to the schools in that town ; and he bequeathed not only 2000 merks for the maintenance of a school in this parish, but also mortified a house, garden, croft, two acres of land, and L. 4, 10s. 6d. Sterling for the benefit of a school- master in the parish of Leuchars. At the Glasgow Assembly it was agreed to translate him from Leuchars to Edinburgh. When one of the ministers of that city, being a great encourager of learn- ing, he had the honour of being chosen the first Rector of the Edinburgh University, in January 1640, and of being annually re- elected Rector till the time of his death. He had, moreover, the merit of being the first in proposing, and of having a considerable share in framing, our Confession of Faith, our Larger and Short- er Catechisms, our Directory of Church Government and Wor- ship, and also of improving the metrical version of the Psalms* which is still used in our Churches. In all matters of public im- portance he was consulted by the most influential statesmen ; and even King Charles I., who had a great respect for his character, 636 FIFESH1RE. and a high opinion of his learning and abilities, knowing his desire to hare Presbyterianism established throughout the British domi- nions, entered into a correspondence with him regarding the com- parative merits of Episcopal and Presbyterian modes of church government, but was not induced to agree to the abolition of Epis- copacy in England. Henderson was a man of amiable dispositions, naturally averse to violence, and desirous to unite the friends of true religion ; and he was possessed of a sound discriminating judgment, which, while it led him to endeavour to prevent those ruinous excesses to which " some fiery spirits" of his own party would have carried them, led him also, where necessary, to adopt strong measures in order to remove grievances, and to accomplish a reformation. He was an enlightened, able, and temperate defender of Pros* byterianism, and so continued to the last moment'of his life.* His death, which took place in 1646, was deeply regretted as a great loss to the Church and to the kingdom. Principal Baillie pro- nounced a high eulogium on his character in the General Assem- bly of 1647 : and the Presbyterians, in general, honoured his me- mory by every expression of their esteem and regard.-f- Family of Bethune of Creich. — The first proprietor of Creich of the name of Bethune was David, second son of John Bethune, Laird of Balfour, and of Marjory Boswell, daughter of the Laird of Balmuto. He was highly esteemed by King James IV., who created him Great Treasurer of Scotland, and Keeper of the Pa- lace of Falkland. " He conquest and acquired the lands of Creich from the Littles or Liddels, in 1502." He was married to Duddingston, daughter to the Laird of Sandford in Fife. Janet, their elder daughter, from whom many of the chief nobility and gentry in Scotland are descended, was married, first, to Sir Ro- bert Livingston of East Wemyss, and after his death to James, the first Earl of Arran of the Hamiltons, and nephew to King James III. Of the issue of this latter marriage was James, Earl of Arran, who was also Duke of Chatelherault, and Regent of the kingdom. Mary, the younger daughter, was married to Lord Lyle. — Sir John Bethune, the second proprietor of Creich, suc- ceeded his father, and was married to Janet Hay, daughter of John Hay, provost of Dundee, and niece of the Laird of Naugh- * See Acts of General Assembly, 7th August 1648. J For a full and impartial account of this eminent individual, see Dr Alton's " Life and Times of Alexander Henderson." CREICH. 637 ton, by whom be had four sons and seven daughters** Janet, their eldest daughter, who was married, first, to the Laird of Cranstoun, second, to the Laird of Craigmillar, and third, to Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, Senior, to the last of whom she had four daughters — is celebrated in the Lay of the Last Minstrel for her bold and adventurous spirit, her great influence, and for the popular belief of her mysterious endowments. A copy of a letter of her's to the Queen Regent Mary of Guise is published in the Miscellany of the Maitland Club. All the other daughters of Sir John Bethune were respectably married. His eldest son, David, who inherited the estate of Creich, having died a bachelor in 1539, was succeeded by his brother, Robert, the fourth pro- prietor of the name of Bethune. He was page to Queen Mary, and accompanied her to France, where she was married to the Dauphin. On her return to Scotland in 1561, he was made Master of the Household, Heritable Steward of Fife, and Keeper of the Palace of Falkland. He married a French lady, Joanna Renwall or Gryssoner, a maid of honour to the Queen, by whom he had two sons and eight daughters. Mary,f their eldest daugh- ter, is well known as having been one of the Queen's four Maries, and is celebrated by Buchanan in his Vodeniiniana : Ad Mariana Betonam, pridie Regalium Reginam aorte ductara. Regno animus tibi dignus erat, tibi regis virtus ; Et poterant formam aceptra decere tuam. Fortuna erubuit sua munera sola deesse, Quae tibi nunc plena dat cumulata manu. Cumque tibi immunem dederit livoris hooorem, Non satis est tar dam visa luisse moram, Ni Regina, orbis longe dignissima sceptro, Gauderet regno lata subesse tuo. Mr Macdonald of the Register- House has printed a copy of her contract of marriage with Alexander Ogilvie of the Boyne, in the Miscellany of the Maitland Club, VoL 1st. It is remarkable for its being subscribed not only by Queen Mary and Henry Darn- ley as parties, but by the Earls of Huntly, Argyll, Bothwell, Mur- ray, Angus, and Atholl, as cautioners for the bridegroom, by Ogilvie himself as Boyne, and by Mary Bethune, many personages who are represented in history as having been generally hostile to one ano- ther. — David Bethune, the eldest son of Robert, succeeded him • " It is observed and reported as a truth," says Martine, " that the race and people of Balfour were always black, and not beautiful and fair, but that ever after the Laird of Creich married this Janet Hay, the Bethunes of Creich have ever been yel- low-haired for the most part, and of beautifulcountenances." — Martin's Genealogi- cal Coll. MS. Adv. Lib. t There is an original Portrait of this Mary Bethune in full-court dress, in Bal- four House, in Fife. 638 FIFESHIRE. as fifth proprietor of Criefch, and married Euphan P. B. Leslie, daughter of the Earl of Rothes, by whom he had an only child, a female, but, being desirous that the estate of Creich should conti- nue to be possessed only by those of the name of BethUne, he dis- poned it to his brother, James, parson of Roxburgh, who became in consequence the sixth proprietor.* He married, first, Helen Leslie, heiress of Kinnaird, and after her death, Margaret Wemyss, eldest daughter of David Wemyss of that ilk, from whom it is said the Earls of Wemyss are descended. Their eld- est son and grandson succeeded to the property as the seventh and eighth proprietors. The latter was married to Lady Margaret Cunninghame, daughter of the Earl of Glencairn : but she hav- ing no family, and his brother William having no male children, he disponed the whole estate of Creich,^ being about 80 chalders of victual, to James Bethune, then fiar of Balfour, under the bur- den of 80,000 or 90,000 merks, reserving to himself the liferent of the most part, and to his Lady the liferent of 32 chalders of vic- tual. Lamont, in his Diary of Fife, mentions that this Laird of Creich, soon after disponing the property, died at his dwelling- house at Denbough, on 4th March 1660, and was interred at Creich church. Family ofSeton of 'Parbroath. — The first proprietor of Par- broath of the name of Seton was John, fourth son of the famous Alexander Seton, Governor of Berwick. He became proprietor of the lands of Parbroath by marrying Elizabeth Ramsay, heiress thereof. Their son, Alexander, was father of Sir Gilbert Seton of Parbroath, from whom the lineal succession continued till the reign of James VI. Family of Baillie. — The Baillies of this parish were descended from the first of the family of Baillie of Carphin, in the upper ward of Lanarkshire. He was second son of Sir William Baillie of Lamington, and of the eldest daughter and heiress of the cele- brated Sir William Wallace, the brave defender of Scotland.;): The descent of Baillie of Lamington has been traced as far back as to John Baliol, father of John Baliol, King of Scotland. The name was changed from Baliol to Baillie.§ * u At this time the fortune of Creich tailzied to the second son of the House of Balfour, failing heirs male of Mr James Bethune.*' See Martin's Gen. Col. MSS. f The barony of Creich comprehended the lands of Dunbog, Contrahills, and Creich. See Registrum Mag. SigilH Ixxxix. 123, X See Nisbet's Heraldry, Vol. ii App. p. 137. Nisbet, in his Heraldry, informs us that the barony of Luthrie and Kinsliffe previously belonged to Kinlocb of Kinloch in Collessie parish. $ See Parish of Gladsmuir. CREICH. 639 From the session records, it appears that the family of Baillie were in possession of Balmeadowside and Parbroath in 1668. They subsequently purchased the estate of Luthrie, which at that time comprehended the present lands of Luthrie, East Luthrie, and Carphin. After having for some time retained possession of all these different estates, they sold Parbroath to John, the second Earl of Hopetoun, grandfather of George William Hope, Esq. M. P. the present proprietor. In 1780, they sold Balmeadowside to D. Wallace, Esq., and East Luthrie to Thomas Tod, Esq. The eldest son of the former, and the only son of the latter, now inherit the respective properties. Carphin was sold to Miss Halkerston of Rathillet, great grand-aunt to C. B. Raitt, Esq. the present pro- prietor. The late Colonel Alexander Baillie of Luthrie, who was pa- tron of the parish, and Barrack- Master-General of Scotland, died without issue in 18)4, and his widow, Mrs Euphan Hamilton or Baillie, who was daughter and heiress of Mrs Bethia Hamilton of Wisbaw, continued in possession of the present estate of Luthrie till the 17th September 1823, when she died. A handsome mar- ble monument is erected to their memory in the new church. The estate of Luthrie was, soon after the death of Mrs Baillie, sold to Charles Hill, Esq. whose eldest son is now the proprietor. Land-owners, and the names of their properties in the parish, with their valued rents, are as follows : Land-owners. Properties. Valued Rent Scots. Andrew Wallace, . Balmeadowside, • L.475 5 5 Charles Hill, Esq. . Luthrie, - - - 447 9 4 Charles B. Raitt, Esq. . Carphin, including W. Kinsleitb, 482 4 11 George William Hope of Rankeil- > lour, M. P. • • ) Parbroath, David Gillespie, Esq. of Kirkton, Creich, ... George Tod, Esq. . E. Luthrie, John Miller, Esq. • E. Kinsleith, James Nairne of Clermont, Esq. W. S. Skilmerrie, Brunton feus, Total valued rent of the parish, L. 2668 Ministers of the parish from the Reformation in 1560, to the present time, (see Baxter's Catalogue of Ministers in Synod of Fife.) Mr Thomas Drummond 1563. James Cavie, reader, 1567. Mr Robert Patersun 1567. Mr Andrew Bennet, admitted February 1583-4. Mr John Killoch, vicar, admitted August 1585. Mr Thomas Baxter admitted 1590. Mr Alexander Strachan, 1604, banished by King James 1606. Mr David Kinnear, 1617. Mr Andrew Bennet, admitted 1617, conformed to presbytery 423 7 11 358 306 19 1 179 31 18 4 19 640 FIFESHIRE. 1638, died 165L Vacant from 1651 to 1664. Mr John Alex- ander, translated from Cults, December 1654, conformed to Epis- copacy 1662. Mr James Seaton admitted, outed 1689 ; vacant from 1689 to 1698. Mr John Law admitted December 169% died, June 9th 1694. Mr David Pitcairn, admitted August 27th 1695, transported to Forres 1700* Mr James Henry, admitted 1702, transported to Kinghorn 1717. Mr James Bruce, ordained 10th March 171 9* died 1746. Mr Francis Adams, ordained December 1747, died August 1754. Dr Greenlaw, ordained May 8th 1755, died 1815 ; present incumbent, ordained September 1815. Parochial Registers. — The date of the earliest entry is 1668. Marriages -and baptisms appear, with a few exceptions, to have been recorded withr regularity from 1668 to the present time, and births have frequently, but not always, been inserted. For many years past, births have been always entered along with the bap* tisms. There is a register of burials, along with baptisms and mar* riages, from 1st October 1783, to 1st October 1794, after which time the registering of burials was discontinued, seemingly in con- sequence of the Government tax on births, marriages, and burials, ceasing at that time by act of Parliament to be uplifted. A regis- ter of those who die in the parish has been regularly kept once 1817. The registers of births, marriages, and deaths, have, for the last twenty years, been kept according to a plan recommended by the presbytery to the different parishes within their bounds. They are annually inspected by the committee of presbytery appointed for the examination of the schools, and have uniformly btfen com- mended for their distinctness and accuracy. Antiquities.— 'Ancient Circles of Stones. — In the spring of the year 1816, while some workmen were employed in trenching a piece of ground a little to the south-west of the manse, they came to a number of stones, about eight or ten inches below the surface, placed in a regular form. The part of the coun- try in which these regularly arranged stones were situated, is very uneven. Three ridges of hills, extending in different di- rections, terminate on the west in Norman's Law, the most ele- vated ground in the north of Fife. On the south side of the most northern of these ridges, and about midway between the top of one of the hills and a small rivulet which flows along the strath, there is a lateral shelf, upon which these stones were discovered. This northern ridge extends in a direction from east to west. From the workmen frequently meeting with stones of all sixes CREICH. 641 in the course of trenching, unfortunately the regular arrangement of those above-mentioned was not attended to, until two carved stone9 were cast up, with the figures upon each very entire. This circumstance naturally led to an examination of all the stones, to a consideration of the manner in which they were originally placed, and to an attention to those which yet remained untouched. Upon examination, no other figured stone appeared ; but, what was re- markable, many of those taken up were sandstone, while the hill on which they were placed, and all the hills in the neighbourhood, are whinstone rock. Those which remained untouched were set on end, and so arranged as to form two arches of concentric circles. So far as could be judged at the time of discovery, the whole erect stones, which were, in general, from a foot and a half to two feet and a half high, were so placed as to make up two figures of a circular, or, perhaps, more nearly of an elliptical form, the one contained within the other. In the centre was a cylindrical stone pillar of the same height with the rest, and near to it were the car- ved stones. It is to be regretted that most of the stones were taken up be- fore their number, their regular arrangement, and individual po- sition, were ascertained? This good effect, however, resulted from the discovery of this structure, that it induced some workmen, who were soon after ploughing a field about five or six hundred yards due east of the place above described, to conclude, when their ploughs repeatedly struck against some stones, that they had come to something similar to what had been so recently discovered at bo short a distance, and to pay particular attention to preserve every stone in its original position. They accordingly proceeded to remove all the earth with the greatest care, and their expecta- tions of finding another curiosity were soon completely realized. Upon acquainting the present incumbent with the circumstance, be went and carefully examined the situation of this structure : at- tended to its form and arrangement ; then took the dimensions of its different circles, and the stones of which they were composed. Its situation, like that of the former, was a lateral flat on the south side of the same ridge of hills, and also at an equal distance from the summit and the stream below. In the centre was placed, in an upright position, a cylindrical sandstone, one foot two inches high, and having the diameter of its base one foot. Around this stone, as a centre, at the distance of three feet, were sixteen other stones, placed also in an up- fife. s s 642 FIFESHIRK. right position, and in the form of a circle. The stones of which it was composed were of various sizes, from fifteen to twenty inches in height ; from eight to eighteen in breadth, and from four to nine in thickness. Due south of the centre, and between it and the inner circle, there were placed in a horizontal position, two stones containing hieroglyphics in alto relievo, very entire. The remaining space between the centre and the circle was laid with pavement. At the distance of seven feet and a half from the same central pillar, there was another circle of stones, thirty-two in number, placed in an upright position, and very much resembling those of the inner circle. The stones in both circles were placed close together. Between the circles there was neither pavement nor stone of any description. Neither were perfect circles, the diameter of one, from north to south, being fifteen feet one inch, while its diameter from east to west was only fourteen feet nine inches ; in the same manner, the diameter of the other, from east to west, was five feet ten inches, while from north to south it was six feet one inch. It is curious to observe, that many of the stones here found, like those discovered the year before, were sandstone, while none of the same kind can be got nearer than a quarry at Cupar moor, which is seven miles distant. At the distance of a few yards on the south, there were also discovered under ground two curious whinstones ; one resembles in shape the frustum of a cone, with a small projection at the greater end, through which is a round hole. From this, at the distance of nine inches, and also near the base, is a slit two and a half inches in length, and extending inwards about an inch and a half ; on the side directly opposite to this slit, part of the stone is broken off. The perpendicular height of the frustum is seven inches, the diameter of the small end is seven and a half inches, and the diameter of the greater end is eleven. At the top or small end of the stone, there is an excavation, around which is a margin of rather more than half an inch in breadth. From this cavity, which is five inches in depth, and capable of containing a quart, there is a round hole reaching to the bottom of the stone. The other stone is much broken. Its shape appears to have originally much resembled that of the former. Its present per- pendicular height is seven inches, the diameter of the greater end is eleven, and that of the small end nine. Like the former, it has a hole in the side near to the base, and reaching about three CREICH. 643 inches inwards. It has also a cavity at the top, and a perforation extending from the cavity to the bottom. The perforation in this stone is four inches in depth, exactly double the depth of the per- foration on the other. The above described monument was allowed to remain for ten days in its original form for public inspection, but as some people, from a love of mischief, or from an expectation of Ending hidden treasure, were beginning to lift and injure some of the stones, and as no method of preserving them in safety in their original situation lould be easily adopted, it was considered necessary to remove them. They were taken up in presence of a concourse of people who had assembled to gratify their curiosity, when underneath one of the carved stones, were found burned human bones and charcoal. George Tod, Esq. of Luthrie, on whose property these ancient circles were discovered, with much civility presented them to the present incumbent, and they are now placed precisely in their original form in a wood behind the manse, a good subject for the examination of the antiquary. Figures of them are given in the Edinburgh Magazine, December 1817. It has been supposed by some, that these ancient circles were small Druidical temples or rather oratories for families, that the excavated stones were meant for containing holy water, which the Druids, as well as the Greeks, the Jews, and other ancient nations were accustomed to use, and that the burned bones were the remains of the sacrifices here offered. It has been supposed by others, with seemingly greater probability, among whom is Huddleston, the learned Editor of Toland's History of the Druids, that these are sepulchral monuments, and that the hieroglyphics on the stones are sepulchral inscriptions — that one of these, which is the figure of a spade, is an emblem of mortality, and as such is still seen on tombstones ; that the figure of a pair of shoes, and of a shield turn- ed upside down, may naturally signify that the owner has no far- ther use for them, and may remind one of the reversing of arms at a soldier's funeral ; that the circular figures may represent rings, which have often been found in sepulchral monuments ; that the circular figure with perforated knobs may represent an antique vase with guttce lachrymales ; that the cross inscribed in a circle may represent the wheel of some ancient carriage, while the figure to the left may represent the body of the machine disjoined from it, as if no more required. The stones found near to the above structure may have been entirely unconnected with it* • See Edinburgh Magazine, December 1817, and April 1818. 644 FIFESHIRE. Ancient Fort. — On the Greencraig, a little to the eastward of the manse, are two concentric circles of rough stones, at no great distance from each other, which extend round the hill, near to its summit, except on the north side, where it is precipitous* Some have supposed that they are the remains of an ancient camp of the Danes, which had two lines of circumvallation ; that when the Danes invaded the country for plunder, they here depo- sited their spoils, until they found it necessary, from being attack- ed by the natives, to remove their pillage to their boats in the Tay. Others have supposed that they are the remains of a fort erected by the natives, for the purpose of defending themselves and their property against the predatory incursions of the Danes or other enemies* An ancient quern was lately found here by some workmen when employed in trenching, and was kindly presented to the present incumbent by Mr Mitchell, tenant of the farm on which it was discovered. Urns, fyc. — Besides the two jars mentioned in the former Sta- tistical Account, as having been found in a rising ground near to the manse, two urns were discovered many years ago a little to the west of the present house of Parbroath, and two stone coffins a little to the east of it. Urns have also been found on the lands of Balmea- dowside. All these were deposited on knolls, and contained human bones ; but nothing worthy of notice is remembered regarding them.* Creich Castle, the ancient residence of the Bethunes,is now a ruin. It is 47 feet in length, by 39 in breadth, and three stories high, with a court-yard on the west. Within this court-yard the present farm-house is situate. The castle has been a place of very con- Since the above was written there was discovered, on the 8th of February 1899, when digging a grave within the old church of Creicb, a few inches under the pave- ment, a grave-stone, 6 feet 7 inches in length, 2 feet 8 inches in breadth, and 4 inches in thickness. On the top of the stone are carved two figures,— one of a man in a complete coat of mail, and another of a lady in a long embroidered robe. Above the figures are canopies of tabernacle work, finely designed. Upon two shields are emblazoned the arms of the families of Barclay and Douglas. This stone was found lying partly within and partly in front of a niche, on the top of which are the Barclay arms. On the outer edge of the stone, which is bevelled, is the following inscription, in old English characters. Two of the words, which are a little defaced, are omitted: HIC JACET DAVID BEBCLAY DE DNS DE QUI OBIIT DIE ME SIS ANNO DIY. M mo .CCCC. HIC JACET HELENA DE DOUGLAS UXOR PREDICT Y QUI OBIIT XXIX DIE MESIft JANUARII ANNO DIY. M°CCCCXXI. The figures, although not in relief, are executed with great freedom and artist- like skill, and the lettering of the inscription is done with a correctness and beauty that could scarcely be equalled at ihe present time. From there being hollows cut in the stone for the races and hands, it appears that these bad been inserted in metal. There was a French copper coin, much defaced, found a few inches under the old grave-stone. CREICH. 045 siderable strength. It was defended on the south-east by a mo- rass, which has lately been drained* and on the other sides by strong outworks, part of which has been taken down. It bears no date to mark its age. The proprietor, a few years ago, very ju- diciously upheld its ruined walls by a repair, clothed them with ivy, and near to them planted some trees for shelter and ornament. It is said that, at a short distance from the castle and a little to the north of the church, formerly stood a brewery, to which was at- tached a ploughgate of land, denominated Pitfigies. The old Parish Churchy where divine service was performed so late as the 9th December 1832, is surrounded by the burying-ground and in the immediate vicinity of the castle. In the interior of oneof the walls are two niches, on the top of one of which is a coat of arms, which appears to be that of the Barclays of Collairnie, who were, at a very early period, proprietors of Kinsleith, in this parish, and who sold that portion called Easter Kinsleith, in 1727, to James Miller, Esq. the great grandfather of the present proprietor. Ancient House ofParbroath. — Of this house or castle, which be- longed to the family of Seton, nothing now remains to mark the site save* part of an arch surrounded by a few old trees, which has been carefully preserved by desire of the late Earl of Hopetoun. It stands near to the place where the road between the Forth and Tay fer- ries crosses the road from Cupar to Newburgh. The house is said to have been surrounded by a moat, over which there was a draw-bridge, and the park in which they were situated is still called the Castlefield. There is a tradition that one of the late farm-build- ings at Parbroath, which was long used as a barn, had at one time been a chapel, and that at it, and at the church of Creich, divine service was performed on alternate Sabbaths. In confirmation of a chapel having been here, it may be stated, that, a few years ago, when the foundation of a wall was dug up close by the site of the old barn, some graves were discovered, which probably formed part of the burying-ground connected with the chapel. It is not unlikely that this chapel may have been the capella belonging to the parish of Creich, mentioned by Sibbald in his History of Fife. III. — Population. The population in 1755 was 375 1 791 306, of these were 134 males, 1 72 females.- 1811 394 1821 403 1831 419, of these were 193 males, 2?6 females. 1838 425 646 FIFESH1RE. It is stated in the last Statistical Account, that the diminution of one-fifth of the population which had taken place in the thirty- five years preceding 1790, was probably owing to one Tillage be- ing allowed to go to decay, to the union of farms, and the use of two horse ploughs. Since that time, several additional houses have been built in the other villages, and some are occupied by numerous families, which may account for the increase. There is often a very considerable difference between the po- pulation of one year and that of another, arising from the changes of farm-servants and others, some of whom have numerous families. The number of the population residing in villages is - 296 the country* - - 187 The average annual of births for the last ten years is 13} deaths, ... 6§ marriage proclamations, - - 6^ This last is the average of all who are proclaimed in the pa- rish, whether at the time of a proclamation both parties are resi- dent or only one. The total number of illegitimate births for the last ten yearsis 3. There are eight proprietors of land in the parish of the yearly value of more than L. 50. Of these, four are resident, and farm their own properties. In 1838. In 1831. Number of families, . . 94 85 Inhabited houses, . . . 79 74 Uninhabited houses, ... 32 Number of families chiefly employed in agriculture 45 38 in trade, manufactures, Ac* 43 43 "all others, . ..66 There is no insane person in the parish, but there is one who may be considered fatuous. Prevailing Amusements. — The favourite amusement in this pa- rish is curling. Many of the landed proprietors, almost the whole tenantry in the neighbourhood, and others of different professions, resort to the ice on Balyarrow, and enjoy this innocent, healthful, and invigorating exercise. The Balyarrow Curling Club is said to be the oldest in the north of Fife. Character and Habits of the People. — They are industrious, peaceable, and orderly in their habits. They enjoy in a rea- sonable degree the advantages of society, and are civil and ob- liging. They live comfortably without extravagance, and are contented with their situation. In their food and in their man- * There are in the parish, including masters, journeymen, and apprentices, 7 wrights, 2 sawyers, 3 masons, 1 blacksmith, 1 saddler, 1 f shoemakers, 5 tailors, 2 bakers, 2 brewers, 2 grocers. CftBlCH. 647 ner of dress, there is no peculiarity. On the Sabbath, the; ap- pear in church in their best attire, which is neat, respectable, and becoming. They show a regard for religious institutions and in- struction ; and may, in general, be considered an intelligent, moral, and religious people. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — From answers to my inquiries by the different proprietors and tenants, I am enabled to state that the number of standard imperial acres in the parish is 2324; that of these 1603 are cultivated ; that 276 remain constantly waste or in pasture ; that scarcely any could with a profitable application of capital be added to the cultivated land ; that 4 1 acres are occupied by roads, houses, farm-steadings, barn-yards, church-yard, and burying- ground ; and that the remaining 204 are under plantation. Woods. — The trees are chiefly Scotch, larch, and spruce firs, in the larger plantations intermixed with several kinds of hard- wood. In one of smaller extent, and in some belts and clumps of planting, they are chiefly hard-wood ; and in the grounds about Luthrie House there are some fine old elms, planes, and horse- chestnuts, &c. A few years ago a plantation of Scotch fir of fifteen imperial acres, on the north-east extremity of the farm of Creich, and last year about nine acres of a plantation on Luthrie, were cut down and sold, — the trees having come to full maturity at the age of seventy years. The ground, on which they grew has been trenched, and is now bearing excellent crops. Rent, — Many of the proprietors farm their own properties ; but a fair average rent of the arable land in the parish is considered by good judges to be L. 2, 2s. per Scots acre, or L. 1, 13s. 3£d. per imperial acre, and of the uncultivated ground to be 53. per Scots acre, or about 4s. per imperial acre. According to this es- timate, the rent of the parish is L. 3056, 14s. 2d. The average rent of grazing is at the rate of L. 3 for an ox r L. 3, 10s. for a cow ; 12s. for a ewe or full-grown sheep for the year ; and L. 5 for a mare and foal. Rate of Wages. — Unmarried ploughmen receive each from L. 10 to L. 12 in money, and six bolls and half of oatmeal, Dutch weight, annually, and a Scotch pint of milk daily, as it comes from the cow. They are lodged in bothies. Married ploughmen receive each annually about L. 10, JOs., the same quantity of nteal and milk, a free house and garden, the driving of their coals, and about 27 falls of ground for planting potatoes. This small por«- 648 FIFESHIRE. tion of ground generally produces as many potatoes as afford a suf- ficient supply for the family, and enable them to feed a pig. The foreman or principal servant receives in addition to the above from L. 1 to L, 3, and all the milk of a cow, instead of a pint of milk per day. Men employed as day-labourers receive each gene- rally Is. 6d. per day in summer, and Is. 4d* in winter. Women when employed in the fields get each 8d. per day of nine hours work, but when taking up potatoes they receive Is. per day and their dinner. Female domestic servants receive about L. 6 per annum. Shear- ers are paid for cutting and binding, wheat 4£d. a threave, and for barley and oats 3Jd. a threave. When the crops of grain are cut by the acre, the sum given per acre is 12s. Masons receive ge- nerally from 2s. 6d. to 2s. 8d. per day of ten hours without vic- tuals. The rate of mason work is, for Galloway dikes from 7s. 6d. to 6s. 6d. per rood of 36 square yards ; for close dry stone dikes 10s. 6d. ; for stone and lime dikes, from 16s. to L. 1; for ruble building, from L. 1, 8s. to L. 1, 12s. Smiths usually contract to do the work of the farmer by the pair of horses at L. 2 annually. This includes their shoeing, and keeping ploughs, harrows, grapes, and forks in good repair* Carpenters receive from Is. lOd. to 2s. per day of ten hours and their victuals, or from 2s. 4 in ancient Celtic, an island* — hence the Celto-Pictish name Markinch or " Island of the Forest"t Within the insular limits we have thus described, are included the knoll or eminence on which the church stands, towards the south ; and Markinch hill, towards the north ; — the two being con- nected by a sloping ridge, along the summit and sides of which, the primitive habitations were necessarily constructed ; but since the 9 There has lately been published a well executed map of the parish by Mr James Frazer, land-surveyor in Markinch. f The more ancient orthography is Me rklnch. In West Goth. Msrke signifies a limit or boundary — the Anglo-Saxon, Mearc, the same)— thus, Mearc~fond> confi- niutn, fines terras— but both, we apprehend, are derived from Mark, sylva, as the ra • dical word — forests in ancient times often forming the principal boundaries between different countries and states, and their minor territorial subdivisions. This is one of the few words, which, with little variation in sound or orthography, are found jn most languages, ancient and modern. West. Goth. Mark, Marke, lylva, nota, limes. Pin. Merki; Ang. Sax. Mearc; I si. Mark, Mork; Ger. Marck; Engl. Mark; Belg. Mark; Welsh, Marc; Armor. Marc; Fr. Marque; Sp. and Ital. Marca* Pers. Mars. 656 PIPESHIRE. drainage of the marshy ground in the neighbourhood, the village •has extended itself on all sides, and now contains a population of 1300 inhabitants. Being neither a royal burgh, however, nor burgh of barony, its annually chosen magistracy is but a nominal thing ; while want of funds, and much more of the authority neces- sary to levy an assessment, has hitherto prevented the adoption of those measures of internal police and embellishment, which are really indispensable to the health and comfort of a crowded and increasing population. Extent — The extent of the parish is about 6 miles in length by 5 in breadth. Its superficial area may be estimated at 10,200 im- perial acres. Topographical Appearances. — The general aspect of the country is varied and picturesque. From the Lomond Hills, as a back- ground on the north, it slopes gently toward the^south and east The parish is intersected by four fertile valleys, watered by as many streams, which unite towards the eastern extremity. The valleys are separated by corresponding ridges of low hills ; each chain rising gradually above the other in the direction of the sum* mit level. Nor are thriving and extensive plantations wanting to heighten the natural beauties of the landscape,— and the varied succession of hill and dale. The proportion of wood is conside- rable, and being principally of the ornamental kind, and in the vi- cinity of gentlemen's seats and villas, it is so disposed as to pro* duce the most favourable effect Geology. — In this department we shall confine ourselves to a plain statement of facts, abstaining as much as possible from spe- culative conclusions, and avoiding all reference to conflicting theo- ries. We first notice the remarkable range of low hills, composed of fine sand and water-worn stones, skirting the northern side of the valley of the Leven. These hills vary in height, generally ac- cording to their distance from the course of the stream, or lowest level. Those of them that are isolated and detached, form an acute angle with the axis of the valley ; that is, supposing the valley of the Leven to run in a south-easterly direction, the emi- nences in question extend lengthways, almost due east and west The southern slope will be found to be in almost all instances very gradual, while the declivity towards the north is as invariably bold and abrupt Hence, if our observations are correct, we think MARKINCH. 657 the conclusion obvious, that these elevations have been generated by the action of a tidal wave, ascending in the direction of Loch Leven, and having a lateral action diverging from the Frith of Forth, as the central line of direction of the great tidal stream. Hazarding the opinion, that these hills were formed by the action of an ebbing and flowing current, we find undeniable proofs of marine agency in the marl beds which lie within a few feet of the surface, at the distance of less than a mile from the parish church. These beds vary in thickness from 3 to 4 feet, and consist en- tirely of marine shells, among which the Mytilus, Buccinum, and Cardium aculeatum predominate. In connection with this fact, we have to notice the incredible numbers of water worn-boulders, of all sizes and dimensions, found upon and near the surface, or imbedded in the diluvial clay of which the subsoil is composed. These rolled masses comprehend most varieties of the primitive rocks, among which, basalt, greenstone, and porphyry predomi- nate. Granite, gneiss, and micaceous schist are next in the order of abundance. None of these rocks are found in situ for many miles, and then only in a westerly direction. The clay in which these boulders are imbedded, is nearly, if not altogether, devoid of organic remains, while their appearance clearly betrays long exposure to the action of a powerful current. Whence, and in what manner, these boulders were brought into their present po- sition, and in such incredible numbers, it is difficult to conjecture ; unless we may suppose that they hav& been transported thither by a powerful current flowing from the westward, continuous in duration, rather than of the nature of a sudden and transient erup- tion. This conjecture derives countenance from the fact, that the boulders are imbedded in the clay at various depths, and that those of them that belong to the trap family, differ very materially in their character, from the great trap vein or dike by which the parish is intersected from east to west, and which in of the por- phyritic kind, spotted with nodules of sulphuret of iron, and with micaceous laminae. This remarkable dike is traceable from the Leven, about a mile south of the village, intersecting the Balgo- nie coal-field, in a straight line to Kingsdale, near Kennoway, where it is protruded. At the point where it crosses the Balbir- nie coal basin, near Plasterer's Inn, it is said to form a solid compact mass, 30 feet in thickness. In approaching the trap, the coal is thrown up in a remarkable manner, till at last it is cut off altogether. A bore carried down to the depth of 100 yards fifb. t t 658 FIFESH1RE. on the south side of the dike, traversed successive beds of clay, sand, and gravel, but no indications of coal or of rock of any kind were discovered. The trap is projected through the great bed of sandstone, on which the whole of this part of the country reposes. Sandstone. — The consistency of this rock varies from a minute breccia to the utmost degree of fineness and hardness ; the colour from a deep yellow to the purest white. The colouring matter is derived from iron in a state of chromate, with which the superin- cumbent soil is strongly impregnated. The dip of the sandstone beds seems to depend almost entirely on accidental circumstances. The strata are found in ail positions from the horizontal to the vertical. In* many instances, it is found in what the quarrymen term lunearts, that is, in solid cone-shaped masses of immense di- mensions, unstratified, and without cleavage in any direction. In this state, on being broken up, the surfaces often present a blis- tered or sintry appearance. But this is peculiar to the fine-grain- ed and harder qualities of the sandstone. The coarser sort is re- gularly stratified in layers of uniform thickness, easily separated by means of the wedge and lever. It is in this kind that organic re- mains are almost exclusively found. These remains consist of cacti, and trunks of trees protruded perpendicularly ; the roots re- posing sometimes on the coal beds below, but for the most part without trace of branches or leaves. Impressions, however, of the ' bark, branches, and leaves of trees are not unfrequent on the sur- face of the strata. / Organic Remains. — With regard to fossils, we may state that vegetable remains are found in the greatest abundance and va- riety in the softer bituminous and harder shales, and in the slate clays. They comprehend principally impressions of the leaves and stems of plants, and are common, we believe, to the whole coal- field on the eastern shores of Fife. Mineralogy. — Besides the concrete and stratified rocks already briefly enumerated, the department of mineralogy supplies speci- mens of rock crystal containing various extraneous substances. Crystals of quartz of great beauty are occasionally found in the sandstone and trap rocks ; to these may be added, though more rarely, nodules of agate, carnelian, chalcedony, and jasper.* Ironstone. — Ironstone is found in the parish in great abundance* • For more minute details on the Geology and Mineralogy of this part of the country, the reader is referred to Mr Landale's excellent Prise Essay on the Geolo- gy of the East Coast of Fife. Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, Vol. xi. 1837. MARKINCH. 659 Soon after the publication of the last Statistical Report, a company from Newcastle, projected an iron-work on the Balgonie estate. Much expense was incurred, and the scheme had a sufficient trial, but ultimately proved unsuccessful, and the enterprising indivi- duals engaged in it suffered considerable loss. It has long since been abandoned. The stone, however, containing in some por- tions as much as 80 per cent ore, has frequently been exported to the Tyne for smelting. At present the working of it inter- feres with a seam of coal, and is entirely suspended. Balbirnie Coal. — The coal so denominated lies on both banks of the Leven, principally on the estate of Balbirnie, but partly in the lands of Rothes and Coull, in one continuous seam. A por- tion of the field belonging to the Earl of Rothes has at different times been leased to the proprietor of Balbirnie, who possesses pecu- liar advantages for working it, as the greater portion of the coal that is level free, and also more than half the under level, are in the Bal- birnie estate. This coal was wrought at a very remote period, but not extensively, previously to the year 1730, — when the nature of the field was more accurately ascertained by means of bores,— proceeding from the old wastes in the direction of the river, from whence a mine carried across the metals, rendered the field level free to a very considerable extent. In fact, no other means of drainage seems to have been resorted to for a period of forty years, during which time upwards of 365,000 tons of coals are computed to have been raised and sold. The Balbirnie coal is now drained by means of water-engines on the Leven ; that on Coull by a steam-engine. The field is somewhat irregular in shape, but approaches most nearly the figure of an ellipse or horse-shoe. It is what is called a Trough Coal. The dip of the Balbirnie seams is very irregu- lar. On the east side it is sometimes 45°, on the west 12°. The seams are three in number, and in thickness as follows : — Is*, Up- per coal, a soft cherry, 1 foot 6 inches ; 2elow the coal for what is called a sump or well, so that there are no shafts 30 fathoms deep. Cuts are carried right and left from the bottom of the shaft to the upper and under seams, the depth being 25 fathoms, or 50 yards, as noted above. This engine stands on the lowest part of the seam, the coal rising on either side of it. The whole field is thus rendered accessible to the miner, if we except about twenty acres of the lower seam, which can only be drained by an addi- tion of power to the water-engine, and by sinking the shaft seven fathoms deeper. Various bores have been made with a view to the discovery of new seams of coal, but without success. One in par- ticular, from the pavement of the main coal, near the centre of the coal-field, was carried down to the depth of 67 feet 4 inches, till interrupted by a bed of stone, so hard, that in a whole week only six inches were bored through, and the attempt was, there- fore, relinquished. The average price of Balbirnie coal may be stated at 8s. per ton ; but the price varies according to the quality. The colliers, in addition to their daily earnings, are allowed a free house and garden. Coals for their own use are charged to them at the hewing rate. The following table will give a compa- rative view of the rate of wages for the years specified. We pre- mise that a single collier is reckoned to hew at an average ten loads per diem. 1770 to 1780 to 1790 to 1800 to 1810 to 1620 to 1830 to Tears, 1779. 1789. 1799. 1809. 1819. 1829. 1839. Price per load, . 2d. 2^d. 2}d. 3}d. 3}d. 3}d. 3]d. Wages per diem, Is. 8d. 2s. Id. 2s. 3Jd. 2s. lid. 3s. 1 id. 3s. I (d. 3s. lid. MARKINCH. 66 1 Dislocations arid Obstructions. — The trap dike by which the Balbirnie coal-field is intersected, has already been noticed under the section of Geology, as well as its effects in throwing up and cut- ting off the coal seams. A similar vein of trap cuts off the coal to the north of Coull engine. Occasional hitches are met with in all parts of the field, raising or depressing the strata, but without offer- ing any very serious obstacles to the operations of the miner. The upper coal being only 18 inches in thickness, and the diffi- culty of sufficiently enlarging the galleries, from the nature of the strata in immediate contact with it, being very considerable, the men suffer severely from a confined and hampered position, and from bad air, so that their general health and appearance are there- by, in process of time, sensibly affected. Asthma and consump- tion are the complaints to which they are most liable, and at the age of thirty many of them look old men. Formerly, when en- gaged on the main seam, many reached the ages of sixty, seventy, and eighty. Now, what with the thin seams, bad air, and an un- guarded use of ardent spirits, it is rare to find an old man among them. Balgonie Coal, the property of James Balfour, Esq. of Wbit- tingham, has been worked for centuries. In the old valuation of the county in the year 1517, Coaltoun is mentioned as one of " the pertinents" of Balgonie. The waste may be traced for several miles along the line of bearing, and the coals have been exhausted in the same direction to a depth of 14 fathoms, as far as the free level admitted. In 1731, a water engine was erected, which drain- ed the coal to the depth of 30 fathoms, but in succeeding years, this engine was overpowered by the increased accumulation of water from hitches, and the tacksman to whom the field had been leased substituted a windmill farther on the crop. Operations were car- ried on in this way till the year 1743, when it was found impos- sible any longer to compete in the market with the Balbirnie coals, and the working was consequently relinquished. This sus- pension continued for more than forty years, till at last, in 1785, more powerful engines were erected, and the coal throughout the whole field rendered accessible to the former depth of 30 fathoms, but still only reaching to the 9 feet or upper seam. This coal is presently worked at Thornton, near the bridge of Orr, by steam power. The Balgonie is known to be a continuation of the Dy- sart coal. The strata dip towards the south-east, and consequent- ly crop out in north-westerly direction, at an angle of from 2$° to 662 FIFESHIRE. 21°, or a rise of I in 2£ or 3; but the angle varies at different points ; in the Geld at Thornton, for instance, the rise is only 7£° or about 1 in 8. There are two seams of coal along the whole line of bearing ; the depth on the level is from 25 to 35 fathoms to the first, or what is commonly called the 9 feet seam, which consists of Ft In. 1. Splint coal, 2 2. White Daulk stone, 6 Hard at first, but falls when exposed to weather. 3 Spar coal, - 1 3 4. Same as second 4 5. Head coal, -34 6. Stone as second - 8 1 . lWflM ,. 7. Bottom coal, - 4 4 J not wrou S bt - 12 5 Deduct 2, 4, 6 stone, 1 6 Thickness of coal, Feet 10 1 1 But a material alteration takes place in the thickness of the Balgonie upper seam after crossing the hitch at Thornton. On the south or Dysart side of that point the total thickness increases to 13 feet 10 inches as follows: Ft. In. 1. Splint coal, 2 2. Daulk stone, 6 3. Spar coal, 1 3 4. Stone, 4 5. Head coal, 3 10 6. Mid stone, 8 7. Bottom coal, 5 2 8. Ground stone, 8] 9. Ground coal, 1 7! Feet 16 Deduct stone, Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8, 2 2 l Roof Pavement Thickness of coal, Feet 1 3 10 The second seam, commonly called the seven feet coal, lies 10 fathoms below the nine feet coalabove-mentioned, or to a depth of 35 to 45 fathoms on the level. It consists of Ft. In. 1. Head coal, 1 2 2- Head stone, 6 3. Bottom coal, 1 10 4. Stone, 10 5. Road coal, - 1 6. Stone, - 6 7. Rough coal, I 2 Feet 7 Deduct stone, Nos. 2, 4, 6, 1 10 Thickness of coal, Feet 5 2 The common mode of working the coal at Thornton is what i*> MARK1NCII. 663 technically termed " stoop and througher." The working rooms are 13 feet wide, and the pillars 15 feet; the width of the rooms contracting on nearing the crop, or where the roof is insecure. The average number of colliers employed may be stated at 30* They are paid at the rate of 2£d. per load of 20 stones Dutch, for large coal, which sells at Is. per load. The small coal costs l|d. per load for hewing, and sells at 6d. The sale was originally con- fined to the country demand, but latterly the manufactories on the Leven and Orr waters, and in Kirkaldy, have drawn their supplies from hence. With more powerful engines for drawing off the water, the coal seams on Balgonie may be regarded as inexhaust- ible, as they dip to the east, and are never found to rise to the sur- face in a direction opposite to the line of bearing. II. — Civil History. Antiquities. — Markinch HilL — This remarkable hill, on the southern slope of which the village is partly built, is an object alike interesting to the geologist and the antiquary. It is com- posed of a fine sand, intermixed with water-worn stones, and rises to the height of about 100 feet above the level ground in the vi- cinity, extending in a continuous ridge from east to west about 300 yards. At either extremity it sinks abruptly, and is flanked by two smaller eminences, that to the west terminating in the marshy ground along the line of Balbirnie Park wall, while that on the east is separated from Dalginch Law by a deep and narrow ravine, through which Balbirnie burn flows. The southern slope of the hill is sufficiently gradual, but on the northern side it is naturally precipitous, and has been rendered more so by the labours of art. The whole of this side of the hill from the base upwards is cut into terraces, which seem to have been continued round its extre- mities. On that towards the east, indeed, they may be still dis- tinctly traced, but towards the west they are obliterated, the hill having been cut down, partly to allow a passage for the road, and partly for the purpose of obtaining sand and gravel. These ter- races, six in number, are of an average breadth of 20 feet, and rise each above the other in regular gradation from 10 to 12 feet. They overlook a level field of about twelve acres, which, before being drained, must have formed an impassable morass. There is no very definite tradition why or when these terraces were formed. The most probable conclusion is, that they are the work of the Roman invaders, who, under Agricola, overran this part of the country, covering it with entrenchments and fortifications, as a 664 FIFESHIBE. basis for more distant operations. For advancing this opinion ia preference to any other, our reasons are briefly these : — l«f, In a military point of view, and according to the modes of warfare then in use, the position is one of the strongest which the whole coun- try affords. The natural advantages of its situation, indeed, must have rendered it nearly impregnable with but a handful of defen- ders, while, as a fortified camp, it was capable of receiving several le- gions. 2<%, It forms one of a chain of similar fastnesses, most advantageously situated for commanding the surrounding couutry, for mutual support, and for keeping up a direct communication with the coast and with the interior. Qa\ The extent of the works above described, the great amount of labour and industry required for their completion, and, above all, their form and regularity, so little in unison with the rude and desultory habits of the aborigi- nal inhabitants, and so unsuited to their savage modes of warfare ; while in all these respects they very exactly characterize the en- terprise and skill of their invaders, and their superior advancement in the art of defensive warfare. Maiden Castle. — At the eastern extremity of the parish, and in the immediate vicinity of the village of Kennoway, are to be seen the vestiges of ancient fortifications, running along a narrow but somewhat elevated ridge of sand-hills, commanding the surround- ing plain. In the case of an invasion from seaward this would na- turally have been regarded as the first defensible position, being scarcely two miles from the mouth of the Leven, and forming the key to the interior of the country towards the north and west. Whether the Scots, Romans, or Danes were its first occupants it is now impossible to determine. That it has been the scene of some bloody conflict is evident from the number of stone-coffins containing human bones, that have been dug up in the immediate neighbourhood. Farther westward, in the direction of Markinch, weapons of war, peculiar to the Romans, have from time to time been found. The highest point of the ridge in question rises to the height of perhaps 80 feet above the small stream which runs at the foot of it On this knoll, the Pretorium or citadel, known by the name of the Maiden Castle, has stood. Its form has been that of a square, and it measures about 30 paces across. Accord- ing to Boethius, this was a castle of Macduff, Thane of Fife. His description of it is sufficiently precise, and is valuable as the only plausible record concerning a spot, that has once evidently been of gome importance. " Supersunt inter Divi Kenethi templum et MARKINCH. 665 Levenam amnem, eadem in regione, arcis septemvallis olim septae totidemque fossis uti nunc est videre, vestigia ; ubi bujus clarissi- mi viri post eum vita functum posteritas longa secula habitavit."* Dalginch, which lies to the east of the village of Markinch, at the distance of a quarter of a mile, is the reputed site of another of Macduff's castles. Its more modern name is Brunton,f and a subterraneous opening from the present house, but which has long been closed, is said, in popular tradition, to communicate with the Maiden Castle above-mentioned, which is distant in a straight line between two and three miles. The supposition is too absurd to admit of being reasoned upon. However, that, at a comparatively recent period, Dalginch was a place of considerable note, will ap- pear by the following extract from the Ancient Digest of Scottish Laws, known by the name of Regiam Maje&tatem, ascribed, we believe, to the usurper Macbeth. " Ad quae loca tenentur Warranti venire." c.xx* " Hsec sunt loca ad quae warranti debent venire ut res calumnia- tas legitime warrantereat In Gowrie, apud Sconam. In Star- month, apud Cluny, &c. In Fife, apud Dalginche. Haec sunt loca capitalia Scotia comitatatium per totum regnum/'j: Family Seats. — The most ancient residence of note in the pa- rish is the Castle of Balfour or Bal-orr, so designated from its si- tuation near the confluence of the Orr and the Leven. It was originally the seat of the family of Balfour, who thence derive their name, — one of the most ancient and respectable in Fife. About the year 1360, John de Bethune, described as " familiaris regis Roberti," married the daughter and heiress of Sir Michael de Balfour of that Ilk, and with her obtained the estate of Balfour. The Bethunes are undoubtedly of French extraction, and are re- puted to derive their name from Bethune, a considerable town in French Flanders. They came into England with William the Conqueror. One of them was the companion of Richard Cceur * Both. Hist. Lib. x. fol. 206. t Now called Barnslee, the seat of Mrs Colonel Paston. X In the edition of the Regiam Majeataiem y anno 1606, the following note is in- scribed in the margin :— -«* N. B. Terra? de Dalginche pertinebant olim Jacobo Cock- burn, tempore Jacobi II. Regis, nunc dicuntur terra de Bruntoun, et per Wardlaw dominum de Torrie possidentis et sunt contigue terris de Markinche."-— How long Dalginche continued a principal seat of justice we have no means of ascertaining ; probably as long as the Thanes of Fife maintained an independent jurisdiction. Markinche must have been a place of some note as late as 1296, in which year it was ▼kited by Edward I. in his progress from St Andrews to Stirling, as we learn from the Diary of his expedition, (CotL Coll. in old French, quoted apud Tytler, Hist, of Scotland, VoL I) his first stage being Markinch, and his next Dunfermline. 666 ' F1FESHIRE. de Lion during his return from the Holy Land, and was made prisoner along with him by the Duke of Austria* Duchesne in his " Histoire de la Maison de Bethune," derives the Scotch branch from a certain Jacobin de Bethune, who, he says, came to Scotland about 1448; but there are authentic documents to prove that the family were settled in this country as far back as 1165. Those of them whose names are most distinguished in history are James Beaton, Archbishop, first of Glasgow, and afterwards of St Andrews, and Chancellor of the kingdom. St Mary's or New College, founded in 1537, remains a monument of this prelate's munificence and zeal for learning. He died in 1538, and was suc- ceeded by his nephew, David Beaton, Cardinal, Legatus a latere, and Chancellor, assassinated by Norman Lesley and his associates, May 3d 1546. A nephew of the Cardinal, James Beaton, was elevated to the see of Glasgow. Our limits do not permit us to enter at greater length into the annals of this ancient and honour- able house. It may not, however, be deemed superfluous to re- mark, that the estate of Balfour has been transmitted, in the di- rect line of hereditary succession, for the space of 480 years, and in the direct male line for upwards of four centuries. Westward from Balfour, and on a steep bank overhanging ibe Leven, stands the ancient baronial Castle of Balgonie. The most ancient part of this venerable structure consists of a donjon or keep, 80 feet in height, and 45 feet by 36 over walls. The basement story, dimly lighted by a single narrow slit in the massive thickness of the walls, seems to have served as a prison. It is vaulted, as well as the storey above. The summit is surrounded by slightly projecting battlements, with circular tourelles at the angles. The roof is flat, and paved with square slabs of freestone. On the ter- race thus formed, and several feet within the external battlements, on three of the sides is erected a lodge of an oblong form, with chimnies and sloping roof, serving probably in former times as a corps de garde for the garrison. Along the bank, looking north- ward, the first Earl of Leven erected a house of three stories, communicating with the tower, and a wing fronting east was ad- ded by one of his successors, but, from the unusual solidity of the substructions, and from the range of cellars which they compre- hend, in structure evidently far from modern, it is to be conjectur- ed, that buildings equal in extent originally occupied the site of the present edifice, constituting, as now, two sides of a qua- drangle ; the other two sides being formed by a strong wall of ma- MARKINCH. 667 sonry. The space thus enclosed forms an oblong area of 108 feet by 65. The main entrance into the court is by an arched gateway, flanked on each side by towers, which bear marks of hav- ing been at one time provided with battlements and machieoulis. Over the arch are the remains of a chamber, communicating with the tower by a narrow passage conducted in the thickness of the wall The castle has once been surrounded on three sides by a deep fosse, and a strong rampart of earth. On the side of the river no defence was needed other than the inaccessible nature of its position. With all these stern appliances and means to pro- voke assault and to resist aggression, history records no tale of siege sustained, nor doughty feats of arms performed under its walls, or within the fair and ample domain by which it is surround- ed, — nor are its precincts stained by aYiy of those deeds of blood or torture which throw an interesting gloom over so many similar monuments of feudal times. The earliest proprietors of Balgony, of whom there is any record, are the Sibbalds. It afterwards pass- ed by intermarriage to a cadet of the family of Lundin. In the reign of Charles I. the lands of Balgonie were purchased by Ge- neral Alexander Leslie, who was created [Earl of Leven by that hapless monarch, with succession to heirs-general of his body, lawfully begotten. Owing to the failure of male heirs in the per-, son of Alexander, third Earl of Leven, the title and estates de- volved to his sister, Lady Catherine Leslie, who was married to the second son of the then Earl of Melville, and became Countess of Leven in her own right By the death of his elder brother, the Lord Raith, her husband succeeded to his paternal title and inheritance, thus uniting the two earldoms in one family. In 1823, the beau- tiful and extensive estate of Balgonie was purchased for the sum of L. 104,000, by James Balfour, Esq. of Whittingham, brother of the late General Balfour of Balbirnie, who, it is understood, de- signs to rebuild the castle, at present fast hastening to decay, on a scale answerable to his ample fortune, and the ancient grandeur of the pile. The principal seat of the Balfours was the castle of that name, as already mentioned. They reckon their descent from the time of King Duncan, and their names appear as sheriffs of Fife, and as present at successive Parliaments, down to the reign of Robert II. The ancestor of the Balbirnie branch was a cadet of Balfour of that Ilk ; who, having married a daughter of Thomas Sibbald of Balgonie, obtained with ber a grant of the lands of Dovan, in 668 PIFESHIRE. the reign of Robert III. One of his descendants having obtained a charter of the lands of Lalethan from Lundin of that Ilk in 1576, was designed of Lalethan, and afterwards of Balbirnie, acquired by purchase from a family of the same name. Balbirnie House, now the property of John Balfour, Esq., is situated about a mile to the west of the parish church. The house is an elegant modern structure, erected by the late General Bal- four. The principal entrance, which is on the south front, is by a handsome portico, formed by columns of the Ionic order, with corresponding pilasters. The whole materials were drawn from freestone quarries on the estate. The house is pleasantly situated in a romantic hollow, sheltered from every wind that blows by those detached and gently undulating eminences, which form so remar- kable a feature in the scenery of the vale of Leven. These heights, clothed with some of the finest trees in the country, are rendered accessible on all sides by means of walks and alleys, so contrived, as to command at every turn varied and picturesque views of the surrounding country, from the Lomondsto the shores of the Frith of Forth, and the coast beyond. The shrubberies around the house, and along a small brook which meanders through the grounds on the east, are laid out with exquisite taste and effect, and contain, in great variety and profusion, such plants and shrubs, native and exotic, as are hardy enough to withstand the rigors of the winter. The park, including garden and shrubberies, extends over a sur- face of 200 acres. As a complete and elegant residence, Balbirnie is surpassed by few north of the Tweed. The only other residence in the parish which deserves particu- lar mention on account of its antiquity is Kirkforthar, the seat of George Johnstone Lindsay, Esq. a cadet of the noble and ancient family of Crawfurd. Kirkforthar formed part of the Lord Lind- say's ancient estate of Struthers, and became a separate branch in the following manner : David, Lord Lindsay of Byres, espoused the cause of King James III. in opposition to the views of his son, James IV., who was stirred up by the confederated nobles to be- come their leader in a foul and unnatural rebellion. Lord Lind- say commanded the father's adherents. The two hostile armies having met at Sauchieburn, a battle took place, which issued in the defeat and death of the unfortunate James III. Immediately after, Lord Lindsay was arraigned of high treason. Although he was an excellent soldier, and had great experience in the service of foreign states, yet he was but little gifted with court phraseology, 3 MARK1NCH. 669 or versed in judicial procedure, and in his defence made a cutting and sarcastic speech, which drew down upofi him the displeasure of the king and of his judges. But Patrick Lindsay, his brother- german, who was bred a lawyer, on hearing his brother's speech, and witnessing its effects, craved permission to plead his cause, which he did with so much address, that Lord Lindsay was acquit- ted. The old Baron, touched with a piece of service so seasonable and important, immediately exclaimed, " Well spoke, Pat ; for your pyot tongue tak' ye the mains of Kirkforthar." * Besides the above, several families of note once made part of the parish aristocracy, but are now extinct, and scarce a vestige of their dwellings remains. HI. — Population. The population of the parish has increased at a rapid rate during the last century. Within the last seventy years it has considerably more than doubled. As population and means of subsistence are intimately connected, this great local increase may be attributed, in a great measure, to the introduction of new branches of pro- ductive industry, which, by supplying regular employment, both retained the native population, and attracted influx from less fa- voured districts — emigration even of individuals being very rare. Yean, . 1755, 1790, 1801, 1821, 1888, Population, 2188. 2790. 3130. 4661. 5996. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — The number of acres under cultivation amounts to about 8500, 350 of which are let in small lots varying from 1 to 10 acres, and on leases varying from one to seven years. The remainder is let in about forty-three farms of various sizes. There are about 400 acres in feus or small holdings in perpetuity, for an an* nual payment, varying from a merely nominal acknowledgment to L. 16 per imperial acre. These feus are chiefly in the villages, and extend from a few poles to several acres each. There are about 800 acres under plantations, and a moss, the only one in the parish from which peats are dug for fuel, may contain 100 more. The quantity of land held by proprietors of bleachfields and of * Lindsay or Lindessay was originally an Anglo-Saxon earldom in the county of Lincoln ; and one of the great divisions of that county bears the name of Lindsay to this day. The son of the Earl of Lindsay, after the fatal field of Hastings, accom- panied Edward Atbeling into Scotland to the court of Malcolm Canmore. The two principal branches or stems of this once potent family were represented — the one by the Earls of Crawford, the other by Lord Lindsay of the Byres, until the reign of Charles I. when the whole honours of the family were Tested in the person of John tenth Lord Lindsay of the Byres, fourteenth Earl of Crawford, and first Earl of Lind- say. The family of Kirkforthar, bear the arms of Lord Lindsay of the Byres, Earl of Lindsay, and of Mure, Lord of Abercorn. 670 FIFESHIRE. other public works, may extend to 100 acres ; the remainder, say 300 acres, may be regarded as taken up by roads, water-courses, &c. In order to insure greater accuracy in this important branch of statistical inquiry, we have divided the parish into three sec- tions, each of which will be found to differ from the other in va- rious respects : — 1st That part which lies on the north bank of the Leven, em- bracing the highest cultivated land in the parish. In this quarter the soil consists of loam, gravel, or clay, resting upon a porous subsoil of sand and gravel ; here drainage is for the most part easy, so that the land is in general dry and fertile. . 2d. District lying between the Leven and the Orr. Soil, wet loam, sand and clay, upon a retentive subsoil, consisting of blue till, patches of sand, silt and stones. QcL District between the Orr and the boundary of the parish to the south and east. Soil, a thin wet loam, clay and sand, part moorish. Subsoil retentive stiff clay or till. In some parts of the second and third districts the subsoil is par- tially impregnated with iron immediately below the soil, forming a pan or crust nearly impervious to water. Where this is the case, the soil must be considered decidedly bad ; indeed, where it exists in any considerable degree, heath is the natural production. These soils also contain boulders in extraordinary quantities, principally trap, some of which are several tons in weight. In many fields of the same districts, and within fourteen inches of the surface, a suffi- cient quantity of these boulders can be obtained for filling drains at so small an interval as nine feet asunder. Drainage. — The prevailing mode of draining is that of furrow- drains from two and a half to three feet deep, filled with stones turned out in working the soil. When the materials are found in this way properly broken, built and packed in the drain, this me- thod will be found both economical and efficient, when the drains are on a hard bottom. Tiles are preferable where the bottom is soft or where stones are not plentiful, and where the water con- tains ochre or deposits a sediment. Products of tike Soil. — The system generally adopted is that of raising grain and rearing and feeding cattle of the Fifeshire breed. Rotation of crops from four to seven years : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Fallow or potatoes. Wheat or barley. Grass. Oats. ^ *>«•*• toS **•*• Do. Do. Barley. Grass. Oats. T>o. Oats. Grass. Do. Dp. Oats. MARKINCH. 671 The first year's grass is often cut for hay. It is then sometimes pastured for one or more years, according to the promise of grass or the wants of the farmer. Supposing the lands in the parish divided into ten equal parts, the proportions of the various kinds of crop maybe estimated as under : Fallow or green crop, 2. Wheat, 1. Barley, 1. Grass, 3. Oats, 3. Pease, beans, or flax are but little cultivated. The above esti- mate is exclusive of the space allotted to roads, fences, water- courses, and pleasure grounds. Manures. — Bone manure is used in dry land ; rape cake has been tried successfully in clay and wet lands. The principal ex- traneous stimulant applied is lime, from Forthar, Chapel, Pitles- sie, or Inverteil lime-works. Besides the farm-yard manure, a considerable quantity is obtained from the neighbouring villages. Amount of Produce. — Adhering, to the sectional divisions al- ready referred to, the following estimate is offered of the average produce per Scotch acre : First district, wheat, 3| quarters ; bar- ley, 4£ do. ; oats, 5£ do. Second district, wheat, 4 quarters ; barley, 3J do. ; oats, h\ do. Third district. In the western part of this district, little wheat is sown ; the same is the case with re- gard to barley. Oats may be estimated at 5 J quarters per acre. Leases. — The usual endurance of leases is for nineteen years. Farms are let by private offers, — a mode which, while it obviates the injurious tendency of public competition, enables the landlord to exercise his judgment in the selection of the tenant, with a just regard to the interests of both. A fixed sum of money is now al- most universally substituted for the antiquated, though perhaps more equitable, mode of rent in kind. Bent and Value of Land. — In consequence of the increased de- mand for all sorts of agricultural produce on the breaking out of the French Revolution, the rentals of many estates were doubled. At the close of the war, however, the value of farms fell from 15 to 20 per cent Since the practice of furrow-draining was intro- duced, wet-bottomed lands, such as we have described above, have risen considerably in value. Wages. — Men-servants are hired by the year from Martinmas to Martinmas. Married men receive of wages L. 1 1 Sterling in money; 6 \ bolls oatmeal; coals, carriage free; and from one Scotch pint of milk to two imperial quarts daily. They are also allowed a free house, with eight falls of garden ground, besides 672 FIFESHIRE, twenty-four falls for planting potatoes. Unmarried men receive L. 12 Sterling per annum, lodgings, potatoes for six or seven months, with meal and milk as above. Female servants get from L. 5 to L. 6, 10s. with board and washing. Manufactures. — Local facilities for the establishment of all those branches of productive industry which require the aid of ma- chinery, are peculiar and numerous. The most remote part of the parish is but an inconsiderable distance from the coast. It is traversed by excellent roads in all directions, rendering communi- cation with the great manufacturing town of Dundee, through the shipping ports of Newburgh and Newport, on the one hand, and with Edinburgh, by Kirkaldy and Pettycur on the other, neither difficult nor expensive. The water power supplied by two consi- derable streams, the Leven and the Orr, is unlimited and inexhaust- ible. Coals are abundant and cheap, and excellent stone for building is found in all directions, and at a trifling depth below the surface; while seven populous villages furnish an abundance of hands for all those operations where manual labour is required. At the period of Dr Thomson's statistical return, there existed in the parish no machinery save what was used in corn and flax mills, of which there are at present in use of the former, 1, and of the lat- ter, 4. Since that time a class of public works has sprung up, which have been greatly beneficial to the industrious classes. The following statement is made up from the proprietors' returns, which have been obligingly furnished. Paper-Mills. — Rothes Paper-MiU was erected in 1806 by Mr • William Keith, and worked as a two-vat mill. Some years after, it became the property of Mr David Lindsay, who enlarged it con- siderably, and latterly erected a paper machine. In 1836, it was purchased by Messrs R. Tullis and Co. Brown and gray wrap- ping-papers are the sorts now manufactured here, for which about 25cwU of flax waste, coarse bagging, or ropes, are used daily. Em- ployment is here afforded ta about 20 men and 10 women. Auchmuty Paper- Mill was erected by Robert Tullis and Co.> as a four vat mill, and began working in May 1810. The vats are now all thrown aside, the paper being made by a Fourdrinier machine, such as is generally used. Above a ton of fine rags is consumed here daily in making cartridge, coloured, printing, and writing papers. There are upwards of. 50 women employed in sorting and cutting the rags, who are paid at the rate of 10d. per MARK1NCH. 673 da^ of ten hours. About the same number of men are required to attend the machinery, and manage the different processes, or engaged as wrights, carters, labourers, &c The wages of these latter vary from Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per day. The hands at the Rothes Mill are remunerated at the same rate. The annual amount of excise duty paid by the two mills is about L.6500 Sterling, and, as the duty is l£d. on each pound of paper, this gives a total of 1,040,000 lbs., or 465 tons of paper manufactured annually. Balbirnie Paper-Mill was erected in the year 1816, by the late Mr Alexander Grieve, and was continued with two vats and one engine, until 1884, when J. Grieve and Co. introduced a machine and four engines. The papers made here are principally for the London market, and consist chiefly of two kinds, the one very strong, such as is principally used by grocers ; and the other very thin and transparent, for the use of drapers and silk-mercers. The raw materials employed are, damaged yarn, flax waste, bag- ging and ropes, of which, when making light papers, 24 cwt, and when making heavy papers, 87 cwt are consumed daily. The quantity of paper manufactured yearly averages. 44,000 reams, weighing about 560,000 lbs., or 250 tons, and contributing to the public revenue the sum of L. 8500 per annum. The number of hands employed on the works are 30, of whom 16 are men, and 14 women ; the former earn from Is. 6d. to 2s. 8d«, and the lat- ter from lOd. to Is. Id. per day Woollen Manufactory — Balbirnie Bridge Factory^ established by Mr Drysdale, 1 885. The stuffs manufactured here are plaid- nigs, blankets, and shawls. The wool employed is chiefly of Bri- tish growth. The carding and spinning processes are carried on, on the premises, by means of two roving-machines and two double sets of jennies of 144 and 168 spindles respectively. There are 10 power-looms and 4 band-looms employed, producing 3, 7, 8, 9, and 10 qrs. widths. The average daily consumption of raw material is 8 stones of 24 lbs. each. The hands employed are 27, of whom 10 are men, 11 boys, and the remainder women and girls. The men earn from 10s. to 16s. per week, and the others from 8s. 6d. to 6s. The power-loom weavers, 6 boys and 4 girls, earn as much as Is. each per day of twelve hours. The articles manufactured are principally for the Glasgow market The wholesale prices are, of blankets, from 7s. to 17s. each, and of plaidings, from lOd. to Is. 3d. per yard. fife. u u 674 FIFESHIRE. Linen Manufactory. — Previous to the year 1810, the brown . linen manufactory of this parish was limited to some 50 or 60 operatives, who sold their Silesias and window-blind Hollands to the merchants at Auchtermuchty and Kettle, from whom the yarns were generally purchased. The yarns chiefly used were hand-spun, the produce of Scotland and Ireland, with some Ger- man yarns imported from Hamburgh ; but in a few years this branch of the linen trade very much declined, and was at last at- most entirely relinquished. About the year 1804, the manufac- ture of Dowlas, sheetings, and various kinds of towellings, was in- troduced from bleached, mill, and spun flax, and tow yarns, and this branch of the trade has continued to increase, till it now em* ploys from 800 to 900 individuals, including winders, warpers, weavers, and tappers. The hands thus employed do not all be- long to Markinch. The work is given out to be performed at their own homes, and many of them reside in the adjoining pa- rishes. During the summer months, nearly a third part of the weavers go to out-door work, and return to the loom when winter sets in. Steady workmen, at the present rates, will earn at Dowlas weaving aboOt 7s.; at sheetings, 8s.; and at towellings, 9s. per week. The winders are chiefly old and infirm persons, or married females who have time to* spare from their domestic duties ; they earn from Is. to 4s. ; warpers and tappers, 10s. per week. The whole of this branch is in the hands of Mr Robert Inglis. Flax Spinning-Mill. — Balgonie mills, the property of Messrs Baxter and Stewart, for spinning flax and tow. The works com- mand the entire use of the Leven, and the machinery is driven by two water-wheels of fifty-five horse-power. 1. For flax spin- ning, dry or long staple, there are twenty frames, containing 1000 spindles, with a full system of screw-gill preparation to corre- spond. The size of the yarn spun is from 1 J to 3 pounds per spindle, or, in other words, from 30 to 16 lea yarn. 2. For flax spinning, wet or broken staple, there are eighteen frames, contain- ing 1170 spindles, with full system of circular-gill preparation for the same. The size of the yarn spun is from 12 ounces to half a pound per spindle, or from 30 to 60 lea yarn. 3. For tow spin- ning, there are three systems of spinning, each with suitable preparation, including twelve 6 feet carding engines, viz. five frames, 296 spindles, for spinning yarn from 2 to 3 pounds per spindle. MARKINCH. 675 Or 24 to 16 lea ; ten frames, 400 spindles, for spinning yarn from 8J to 6 pounds per spindle, 14 to 8 lea; four frames, 160 spindles, for spinning yarn from 10 pounds to 24 pounds per spindle, 5 to 2 lea. The principal buildings of which the mills are composed form three sides of a rectangle, 160 feet by 140. Two of the sides are occupied by machinery, and the third is occupied by three spacious warehouses, with heckling rooms above. There is a large store warehouse detached, capable of holding 200 tons of flax, as well as large conveniences in the way of stabling, smithy, and gas-work. There are about 265 individuals employed at the mills, of whom about 95 are full grown men, 120 women, and 46 of both sexes under seventeen years of age. The wages paid each fortnight are about L.200, averaging say 12s. per week for each man, and 5s. per week for each woman and for the younger hands. The quantity of flax manufactured in the year 1838 was 475 tons, of* which 340 tons was Baltic flax, 65 tons Archangel, and the remaining 70 tons Dutch, French, and Irish. Besides the tows from these flaxes, about 100 tons of imported tow were used. The total cost of the whole material was above L.25,000. The yarns spun are, with the exception of the heavier tow yarns, either sold in the district adjoining, or exported to France. The heavier tow yarns are manufactured by the proprietors into can- vas, sacking, &c. chiefly for the lx>ndon market. This branch of the business is carried on in Dundee, and at present employs from 60 to 100 looms ; but arrangements are at present making for transfer- ring it to Balgonie ; and when this is effected, it will cause an ad- dition to the number of persons already employed of about 100 men, and 50 women and children. The village of Miltown, adjoining the mills, has, since the en* largement and extension of the works in 1836-37, nearly doubled its population. The present population is 580. The houses are, in general, neat, substantial, and fully beyond the average of the country as to comfort. The rent of a house of two rooms, with a few falls.of garden ground and a pig-stye, is from L.2 to L.2, 10s. per annum. Hough Spinning-Mill was ecected in the year 1794, for the purpose of spinning chiefly canvas yarns from flax and tow, which was carried on by various companies up to 1832, when the pre- sent proprietor sold all the old machinery, and introduced a com- plete set of new, for spinning fine yarns adapted for home made li- nens. Half the machinery works upon the long staple, and half upon 676 FIFESHIRE. the short staple principle. An addition was made to the work in 1835, and the mill now contains upwards of 2000 spindles, capable of turning off about 600 spindles of yarns per day. The machinery is propelled by two water-wheels of about 40 horse-power. The mill consumes from 25 to 30 tons of flax per mouth, consisting chiefly of the finer qualities imported from Holland, Belgium, and France, and also from Archangel, Riga, and St Petersburg. The yarns are for the most part wove in the county of Fife, into almost all descriptions of family linens. Haugh Bleachfield* — In 1836, there was added to the mills a bleachfield, capable of bleaching about two tons of linen yarn daily. The work-people employed at the mill and bleachfield are in num- ber 183, of whom two-thirds are females from fourteen years of age and upwards, earning from 4s. 6d. to 7s. 6d. per week. The men earn from 9s. to L.1 weekly. Most of the hands are accommo- dated with dwelling-houses on the premises. Upwards of twenty families are thus accommodated, besides a good many board- ers ; the whole may be estimated at an average- of 280 to 320 souls. Their moral and religious character is generally good, and their attendance at church very respectable, both in point of numbers and of outward deportment. Lochty Bleachfield, on the water of Lochty, in the vicinity of the new and thriving village of Thornton, is the property of David Landale, Esq. Kirkaldy. About two tons and a-half of linen yarn are bleached at this field per day, the greater part of which is ma- nufactured into cloth in the county ; but part is exported to France, and some sent to Ireland. At this field the residuum of the chlorine stills is converted by the usual process into carbonate of soda, and mixed with potash, as a detergent for the yarns. From 80 to 100 hands, mostly women, are employed at this bleachfield. The women are paid 5s. 6d., and the men 10s. to 12s. per week. Balgonie Bleachfield, the property of Messrs William Russell and Co. was established in 1824, for bleaching linen yarns. About 480 tons of flax and tow yarns are bleached here annually. The num- ber of hands employed is 70, who are paid at the same rate as at the other bleachfields. The machinery is worked by water-power supplied by the Leven, on the banks of which the works are si- tuated. . Rothes Bleachfield) the. property of Mr D. Donaldson, was erected in 1800. The quantity of yarn bleached on an average MARS1NCH. 677 is as follows : From December to March, inclusive, 292 tons ; from April to November, inclusive, 390 tons. The number of hands employed is — of men, 30; women and girls, 80. The men earn from 10s. to lis. per week; women and girls, 3s. 6d., 4s. 6d., 5s. 6d., according to age and capability. ^ Besides the above public works, there is a very extensive grain distillery at Cameron Bridge ; and there has lately been establish- ed at Thornton a vitriol manufactory, for supplying with that ar- ticle the surrounding districts, which, previous to this erection, were subjected to the expense of carriage from Glasgow. The works at Thornton are a branch of a Glasgow firm extensively en* gaged in the vitriol manufacture. V. — Parochial Economy. Ecclesiastical State. — According to Sn entry in the " Great Re- gister Book" of the Priory of St Andrews, the church of Markinch was given to the Culdees by Malduinus, the son of Gillander, se- venth Bishop of that See, who flourished in the early part of the tenth century. " Malduinus Episcopus St Andreae dedit eis eccle- siam de Markinch cum tota terra." It seems to be a fact suffi- ciently well authenticated, both by records and histories of the pe- riod, that the first Bishops were themselves Culdees, and elected from among the general body of pastors by a majority of votes. But as the influence of these holy men became gradually under- mined by the emissaries of Rome, and the insidious abettors of Pa- pal domination, they were stript, one by one, of their privileges and possessions, and finally ceased to exist as a distinct and influential body in the church. At what time they ceased to hold possession of the cure and lands of Markinch, we have no means of ascertain- ing very precisely ; but, by a deed of Eugenius, son of Hugo, a second son of Gillemichael M'Duff, fourth Earl of Fife, .we find it was mortified to the Priory of St Andrews, towards the close of the twelfth century. This deed was confirmed by a charter of King William. From this period the patronage of the parish con- tinued vested in the Priory of St Andrews, till, on the suppression of religious houses at the Reformation, it was resumed by the Crown. The names of the earliest incumbents after the downfal of Popery are not preserved, — the session records reaching no far • ther back than the month of July 1626, at which period they be- gan to be kept with an exactness and detail long since discontinued, exhibiting an interesting picture of the manners and opinions of the time, and shewing with what vigilance and vigour the discipline of 678 FIFESH1RE. the church was carried into effect, and its government maintained throughout the most trying and stormy periods of its history. From these records it appears, that collections for the poor were regularly made on Sundays, and on occasions of baptisms and mar* riages. The sums thus collected were statedly distributed to the regular poor on the roll, while incidental cases of want or of more urgent distress were liberally relieved on the application of the ne- cessitous. The names of the principal proprietors in the parish appear as the collectors and the distributors of the poor's funds, as patrolling in turn the streets of the village during the hours of Divine service, delating offences against social order and good mo* rals, and enforcing the salutary discipline of the church* against graver delinquencies. Among other respectable members of the kirk-session up to the Reformation, we find the names of Sir Da-* vid Achmuttie of that Ilk, and of the Lairds of Balbirnie, Bandon, Bruntoun, Coul, Carristoun,and Kirkforthar, — names related to the first families in the kingdom, and who disdained not to exert the in- fluence which their rank and wealth conferred in promoting the in- terests of religion and morality. In addition to the usual immorali- ties cognizable by the session, and which were then punished by fine and by rebuke in the face of the congregation, we find not a few delated for pursuing their ordinary avocations on the Sabbath, for absenting themselves from church and from the administration of ordinances, for slandering neighbours, for profane swearing, for drunkenness, and frequenting houses of public entertainment dur- ing the hours of Divine service. In 1643, Mr Frederick Carmi- chael is admitted minister of the parish, the " ministrie of the Presbyterie" having met at the kirk of Markinch for that effect. His predecessor would seem to have been deposed as " ane enemie to ye .Covenant," notwithstanding the testimony borne in face of the kirk-session by the Laird of Bruntoun in his behalf, that " he was als honest a minister, als faithful a minister, and als conscien- tious a minister as any minister in Fyffe." It appears, however, that the great majority of the elders and people were heartily en- gaged on the side of the common cause. Numbers of the pa- rishioners flocked to the national standard, with arms in their hands, while contributions in money were not wanting to attest the gene- * Besides the objects for which the liberality of the congregation was appealed to, as stated in the text, it appears from the records that collections were occasionally made for suffering churches abroad ; and at home, for building bridges, and for similar pub- lic improvements locally distant, and which nothing but enlarged views of national utility could have prompted at a time when money was so sparingly held} and the means of acquiring it so few and unproductive in this inland parish. MARKINCH. 679 ral zeal for the cause of the kirk and the Covenant. Several in- stances occur in which " the sessioun thought it meit yt the volun- tarie contribution should be carried to ye armie by ye minister, and to be delyvered ther." That the incumbent during these years was a zealous promoter of the popular cause is manifest from the above extract, if, indeed, he was not one of the council of mini- sters appointed to attend the General in the field ; for not only do the weekly entries show that his pulpit was at frequent intervals supplied by one of his brethren of the Presbytery, but we also find such intimations as the following : — " The qlk day our awin mi- nister taught (Ps. xxxiv. 19,) being returned for ane space from the armie," and again, " 13th July 1645, Our awin minister re- turned from England." We refer to one other entry to show that the victims of war were not forgotten by such of their brethren as tarried at home ; for under the date of August 24th, 1645, we find it noted, that a messenger was dispatched by the session " to Montrose, his ligure, to try if any prisoneris of this paroche be thaire." Nor were demonstrations of piety, of which the times fur- nished such signal examples, wanting to second the efforts of a ge- nerous patriotism. The adverse vicissitudes of those troublous times are duly marked by days of public humiliation and fasting, for which the reasons are recorded at length, while the successes of the national leaders are as duly celebrated by public acts of ^thanksgiving. Days of thanksgiving were ordained " for ye vie-, tone obtained be our armie at York against Prince Rupert his armie," — for " the victorie our armie obtained at Newcastle," — for " the happie victorie obtained be Leivtenant Generall David Lesslie, against James Graham, sometyme Earle of Mon- tros, and his rebellis, at Philip Haugh, neir Jedburgh, upon ye 13th of September 1645." In this manner the principal events in this most eventful period of Scottish history are noticed up to the Restoration. Such was the political education of our fathers. Their guides and instructors were their ministers and elders, the former, for the most part, men of large minds, as well as of an ardent piety; deeply versed in the principles of civil not less than of ecclesiasti- cal polity; while the latter, were, by their birth, education, and mo- ral worth, entitled to the respect and esteem of those over whom they were called to rule, of whom moreover, they were the local and legitimate protectors. The principles and the proceedings of those days have been sometimes wittily ridiculed, and sometimes gravely denounced as hostile to monarchy, and subversive of liberty of con- 680 FIFESHIBE. science ; nor have they wanted able vindicators. But discussion were here out of place. Suffice it to remark, that so fixed and firm was the attachment of our forefathers to the revered institution of monarchy in the State, and presbyterial order in the Church, that neither the example, nor the caresses, nor the menaces of the " English sectaries" availed to repress, much less to vanquish them. A system grounded on principles so holy, and aiming at results so salutary, — a system so deeply rooted in the habits and affections of a whole people, — none but the most licentious monarch, and the most unprincipled administration that ever swayed the destinies of the British empire, would have wished, or ventured to assail. After the re-establishment of Episcopacy the altered state of matters is lamentably manifest. The meetings of session are no longer stated and regular, — no fasts are ordained but those which precede the communion — no days of thanksgiving set apart, but the 29th of May " for his Majestie's happie returne." Yet the Sabbath-day ministrations never seem to have suffered any serious interruption during the long and troubled night of Episcopal domination ; nor is the most distant allusion made in the Minutes of Session to any change of form, under the new order of things, unless the follow- ing may be so interpreted : " 30th November 1662, reading befor and after sermones did begin again." In the course of the suc- ceeding year, the names of those elders who were landed proprie- tors are no longer found, as present at, or concurring in, the deli* berations of the session; they devolved on meaner men those duties which the arbitrary temper of the times rendered it dange- rous for them any longer to discharge.* The aets of their succes- sors are no longer bowed to with deference and submission-; threats are held out of making " applicatione to my Lord St Andrews for purchasing of a warrand" in " mitigatione" of the required " satis- factione." " My Lord St Andrews, through his commissary, en- joins the " mitigatione" prayed. But our limits do not permit to enter more minutely into details. If similar instances of arbitrary interference served to weaken the bonds of discipline, and to lessen the respect due to the immediate pastors and rulers of the church, they served to prepare the minds of all good men and true patriots for welcoming the glorious dawn of civil and religious liberty usher- ed in by the Revolution of 1688. After the Revolution-settlement, when civil and religious liberty * The fines imposed on parishioners of Markinch for nonconformity at this period amounted to L. 5000. See Wodrow's History, author's preface. MARKINCH. 681 Were placed on a secure basis, the church, if not a faultless, at ' least exhibited a fair and well-proportioned institution, as efficient an instrument for publishing the Gospel, and instructing the peo- ple, -divested of religious pageantry and superfluous appendages as latter ages have witnessed. From that happier period, the pa- rish seems to have enjoyed a succession of not only sound, but able ministers — all of them faithful, and some of them eminently successful in their day. The patronage, which is vested in the Crown, was exercised judiciously, chiefly by means of the Earls of Leven, who till lately held the rank of principal heritor, and long diffused a salutary influence over the parish. No unpopular settle- ment, I believe, ever took place, and those who advocate the advan- tage of such management, will no doubt be anxious to ascertain the result- Now, though every minister in his day has had sufficient rea- son to deplore the limited success of his ministry, it is due to truth to make the statement I now do, that, after twenty years connec- tion with the parish, I have found among its ancient families, as compared with new-comers, transplanted from fields placed under a different system of spiritual husbandry, an order, decency, and moral bearing, obviously superior, even where much might be lacking as to the full standard of wished-for piety. This general statement admits many exceptions on the one side and on the other ; but enough remains to warrant the assertion, that a sound Christian agency is the best calculated to induce moral order, and did, in fact, in this place, largely prove its adequacy to that effect- As to literary distinction, few of the pastors referred to had leisure, or inclination, it is presumed, to enter the lists with com- petitors for fame. One or two of them were deemed fit to be transferred to St Andrews, to occupy in that University the place of principal. Another, who furnished the former Statistical report, published an agricultural survey of the county, about the time of his translation to a city charge ; of the rest, nothing remains be- yond a few sermons, mostly of an occasional and ephemeral sort Their works, however, we doubt not, will bear a last-day review without shame, as they are without pretension. Owing to the rapid increase of population, the parish field soon became unmanageable for a single labourer, especially as secular business increases on the hands of the Established clergy in pro- portion to the census. Household ministrations necessarily became rare, and the effects of one visit had vanished before another could 682 FIFESHIRE. be given to confirm the impression. Church accommodation, too, was unrighteously straitened ; for a place of worship built for a popu- lation of 2000 or 3000, left many among 5000 or 6000 unprovided for. Neither had there been any Dissenting place of worship erected here, previous to 1834, owing, no doubt, to the popular settlements that had so long prevailed. In that year, a chapel in connection with the United Secession body, and seated for 380, was opened, though so placed as to afford little aid for unaccommodated parishioners in the remote villages ; for it was put down in close neighbourhood to the parish church, while several considera- ble villages, at from two to four miles distance, were overlooked. It was then, however, the Church Extension scheme came into action, and here it was speedily and efficiently applied, first at Thornton, a village four miles off, with more than 500 inhabitants ; and next at Milton of Balgonie, having nearly 600 indwellers, be- sides a populous district lying beyond it The church at Thorn- ton is seated for upwards of 400, and that at Milton for 650 ; while a new erection at Methill, on the border of Weymss parish, has supplied accommodation for a large village of 400 inhabitants- situated on the coast, and more than six miles distant from the church at Markinch. In the latter village, Inverleven, a small Dissenting chapel had long existed, and nearly one-half the inha- bitants, who adhered to the Established Church, were obliged to cross the Leven to attend public worship at the church of Scoonie, the minister of which, indeed, had taken the virtual charge of them for many years. The church at Thornton was built by general subscription, that of Milton solely by the heritors and people of the district to be benefited by the erection ;* and it is due to the respectable heritors of the parish to record their liberality on that occasion, in grateful terms. Both churches have now ordained pastors ; and seats being furnished at a low rate, Sabbath privileges are accessible to all. But after these erections have so greatly relieved the pres- sure on the parish minister, a body of about 3500 remain, among which to exert his still inadequate pastoral superintendence, though he has done what he could to remedy the deficiency, by calling a qualified assistant to aid him in the work. It were much to be de- sired that his unendowed fellow-labourers in the new parishes were on an equal footing as to stipendiary compensation.^ * In both is included the aid given in such cases by the Church Extension Com- mittee in Edinburgh, •j- The Rev. Mr Murray, the first minister of Milton, was after six months, trans* .MARKIKCH. 683 The present stipend, augmented in 1822, is 18 chalders, half barley, half meal, paid at the rates of the county Bars, the fluctua- tion of which is very considerable, ranging betwixt the highest and the lowest in the proportion of one to five-eighths, within the period of the writer's incumbency* The glebe contains nearly 9 acres, which may be valued at L.32 per annum. The manse is of very ancient construction, by much the oldest in the presbytery. It has undergone repairs and alterations so numerous, as greatly to affect its apparent identity. The site has been long regarded by incumbents as very insalubrious, and more has been expended to obviate dilapidation, than would have built a wholesome and com- modious dwelling. The church is in excellent repair. According to a census taken in 1836, the whole population of Markinch amounted to 5328, or 1189 families. Of these, 159 families are Dissenters from the Established Church; 51 families are of a mixed composition ; 30 of them having one Dissenting member; and 14 having two in each ; the rest three or more ; 25 of the first class (159) reside in the far off village of Inverleven. Making these deductions, there remain within the bounds of the civil parish about 1079 families, exclusive of those of a mixed pro* fession, in connection with the Established Church, or owning no other connection. Since last census, the population has increased, but without materially affecting the above proportions. No marve] that the clast of non-attenders at any place of worship should have increased, when church accommodation, till recently, was so dis- proportionate, and more especially, that, to supply the public works, strangers, not always of settled principles, or church going habits, are often attracted to the parish. Education. — This has always been a prominent object in our parochial system. No other country has ever exhibited so close an alliance betwixt religion and education, or shewn a parish church and parish school in such harmonious and undivided neigh- bourhood. Of this conjunction, the beneficial effects have been incalculably great, both as to intellectual improvement and intel- ligent piety. The earliest records of the kirk-session evince the attention paid to means of education ; for, besides the parochial school, we find order taken to have the remoter localities supplied. Thus, in 1702, the following entry was made : " The minister hav- ing acquainted the session, that he had found, on his going throw lated to the parish of Dunbog, and was succeeded by the Rev. Mr M'Ewan, the pre- sent incumbent. The first minister of Thornton, the Rev. Mr A damson, is still there. Id both churches the seats are well let and occupied. A 684 FIFESHIRK. that part of the parish, that the people of Coltoun stand in great need of an' English school for teaching their children, — the ses- sion, taking the case to their consideration, not only what is repre- sented, but further, that there is a dangerous water betwixt this and Coltoun ; and that many poor things of that toun must be lost entirely as to instruction, if there be not a school there, and that parents who have substance of the world, and are obliged to send their children abroad out of the paroch, will be hereby en- couraged to keep them at home, and that the doing of this is ane necessary and Christian duty, and for the special benefit of that corner of the paroch, and not in the least lyable to any reasonable exception, did unanimously agree that there be a school in Col- toun, and offered to the minister their ready concurrence with his project to that effect"* Equal interest, however, was not shown by the people at all times in availing themselves of school-training, for on the " 20 Martii 1643," this minute occurs : " The said day, George Ro- bertson did give over his office of ye school and ye kirk, and ye session, and yat because his deutie was small and ewil payed," &c* Probably, George Robertson might have set down the people's in- difference to his own remissness or want of skill. In the present day, at least, the desire for good education pervades all classes in the parish, nor are the means for accomplishing it sparingly en- joyed, — nine schools, besides the parish one, being inactive opera- tion. Of these nine, two only, on the Balgonie estate, have any shadow of endowment ; the one at Balgonie Square, enjoying an annual allowance of L. 10, with dwelling-house annexed, the other, at Thornton, having L. 5 simply. These sums had been allowed by the former proprietor, and are continued by the present, with a becoming liberality. Another school, at Balbirnie coal-hill, merely provides the teacher with a house. Of the rest, none have any other means of support for the teacher, save school- fees, — a very precarious and inadequate source of remuneration for a class of men whose meritorious labours are of so much importance to the com- munity. A female school in the village derives pecuniary aid from the private subscription of a few ladies connected with the place, chiefly of the Balgonie, Balbirnie, and Barnslee families. The parish school may be held up as a model, so admirably is it conducted by Mr Duncan Stewart. Previous to his appoint- ment six years ago, little could have been said in favour of its ma- nagement ; but it is now efficient in the highest degree, and, in point ■ This school has continued to the present time. MARKINCH. 685 of system, will bear a comparison with seminaries of the first class. After this, it need not be said that it is well attended. Indeed, want of room is the chief impediment it labours under, and though the heritors have already done much in the way of affording ac- commodation, more is needed for the due working of the im- portant institution. When Dr Thomson gave his Statistical Re- port, the salary of the schoolmaster was L. 10, the dwelling-house also being old and incommodious. Mr Stewart's salary is L. 34, 4s. 4Jd.; school-fees, L.70; other emoluments, L. 17, 10s. ; total income per annum, L. 121, 14s. 4Jd. The dwelling-house is of late erection, and affords accommodation considerably beyond the statutory amount, though by no means beyond the station of the occupants. Besides week-day means of instruction, the Sabbath school sys- tem is diligently worked under the efficient direction of the assist- ant minister, aided by a number of gratuitous teachers, who de- vote a portion of the Sabbath to this excellent purpose. Oral in- struction is aided by the gratuitous use of a small, but gradually increasing collection of appropriate books, which convey to many houses, ill-provided with such furniture, means of information and materials for thought, on subjects of momentous importance. The Dissenting chapel has also its collection of books in useful circu- lation. Benefit Societies. — There are several Associations that belong to this department, the strength and resources of which are shewn in the subjoined table : Name. No. of Members. State of Funds. . Entry. Quart. Payt. Friendly Society, 224 - L. 1000 0*0 L. 2 6 L.0 1 6 Brotherly do. 107 - 800 Apron do. 160 - 400 Equitable do. 180 never exceeds 80 weekly payment, 10 The last is of recent origin, and for the time, the most popular, as requiring a moderate payment of Is. weekly, till the collective sum amounts to L. 30 ; each in his turn, which is determined by lot, is put in possession of that sum, continuing the weekly contribution, nevertheless, till his payments shall have replaced the amount drawn, with interest. Thus, each has his contributions realized to him, and a mutual accommodation results to the whole. The object of the other three Societies is to make provision for widows and superannuated members, and to help when disabled by sickness or incidental casualty. The widow's allowance from the Friendly Society is L. 1, 4s. per annum ; sick members receive for a 686 FIFESHIRE. time 49., and, if permanent aid is required, 2s. per week. Some of the others allow less. There is, however, less alacrity now than in time past among young men to enrol themselves in these Societies, and as their suc- cess and stability depend on new accessions to supply the vacancies made by death, there is reason to apprehend a less permanent exist- ence to some of them than their benevolent projectors contemplated. There has not been shewn any strong disposition to make use of savings banks, nor has any branch of those institutions been here established, though, doubtless, an investment in them would possess many advantages in the way of encouraging economy and counteracting improvidence. A branch of the Commercial Bank, Edinburgh, has been recently introduced, which will afford new facilities to the business part of the community. Poor and Parochial Funds. — Though this class must have increas- ed with an increasing population, yet it has done so by no means in the same ratio* In 1621, the ordinary poor were 21 ; in 1645, 23 ; the intermediate years exhibiting little fluctuation. At present, and for the last twenty years, the ordinary poor average 50 on the roll for stated supply. In few cases, is full maintenance afforded, the weekly pension being chiefly given to persons disabled by sickness or age from industrial employments, and wanting relations in a condition to relieve them fully, though, with a little assistance, well disposed to contribute to the utmost of their power. The rate of allowance varies with the circumstances of the individual's case, there being as many under Is. 6d. per week, as there are above that moderate sum. A heavy charge, however, occasional- ly occurs by having whole families devolved on parish support, either by the death of parents, or by their desertion. Cases in the latter predicament have, of late, become more frequent, and will necessarily multiply in proportion as moral principle is undermined, by the insidious fallacies of opinion, which of late have been in- dustriously propagated on the questions of property and the mar- riage contract Besides the ordinary poor, occasional relief is administered, to a considerable extent, to persons not claiming regular supply, though incidentally requiring assistance. It is always an object to keep this class distinct from the others, as far as the principle of public charity will allow. In general, there is no indisposition to receive eleemosynary aid, though far less among recent settlers, than the ancient residents. When cases of lunacy occur among the work- ing classes, the parish, for the most part, is called on to, defray the MARKINCH. 687 expense of thehr admission into a publie asylum. At present, there is one individual so maintained at Perth. In general, recovery is by no means hopeless, when the case is not too long neglected. To meet these charges, the permanent funds of the parish are very inadequate. These funds comprise church door-collections, dues on marriages and mortclotbs, and interest on money in bank deposit. The first named class of revenue is variable, and it is to be regretted that the younger portion of church-goers are less ex- emplary in the Sabbath offering than their fathers. Injurious opinions, indeed, are by some inculcated, to the effect that such contributions, going only to exonerate the proprietors of the soil, who are legally bound to support the poor, form an act of gratuitous generosity on the part of the unlanded community, as if charity were the business of a class, and not the general concern of a virtuous community. . Other causes operating unfavourably on church-door collections might be mentioned, did the nature of this report allow more than general views. It must, moreover, be taken into the account in stating an average, that the quoad sacra parishes, having their own collections, must cause a diminution at the parish church. By the terms of their constitution, they are allowed to apply their collec- tions for their own objects, provided they collect twice annually for the parish funds. It is a remarkable fact, that, in one of those new erections, that at Thornton, not a single pauper has claimed to be relieved. Since these disjunctions took place, the average col- lection at the parish church is under L.1. Thrice annually, (at two sacramental occasions, and first Sabbath of the year,) extraordinary collections are made, •* the proceeds of which are distributed in addition to the ordinary supplies, and chiefly to persons not on the stated roll. Collections for objects not elee- mosynary are also occasionally made, averaging from L.30 to L. 40 per annum. These include the General Assembly's Schemes, books for Sabbath school library, &c. The return for mortcloths has of late years greatly declined, the right of the kirk-session to exact a fee being occasionally disput- ed, and not by Dissenters alone, though it was first challenged on that side. The payment is undoubtedly legal, but can rarely be en- forced without violating the decencies due to interment of the dead. There is a deposit fund of L. 400 belonging to the parish, the in* terest of which only is at the disposal of the kirk-session. A Female Society for aged women in destitute circumstances lays out about • These are always liberal. 688 FIFKSHIRE. L.50 annually, and is so conducted as to prove an excellent auxili- ary to the kirk-session. The principal ladies connected with the parish patronize it It must not be omitted, that a great deal of private charity is unobtrusively distributed by the families of the principal heritors, whether resident or otherwise. It is pleasant also to state, that among the humbler classes, many instances occur of an habitual, though little noticed readiness to communicate of their little to a neighbour having less. The finest charities of life are thus produced. The two great coal proprietors, Mr Balfour of Whittingham and Balgonie, and Mr Balfour of Balbirriie, make liberal donations of coals each winter. The former not being resident, places his coal bounty at the disposal of the kirk-session, and never reduces the list of expectants made up by the elders. The Barnslee family also do much in the way of private distribution to the deserving poor. In the eastern part of the parish, the family of Balfour has been long distinguished in this respect. With all these accessories, the parish funds present a large de- ficit, which the heritors have hitherto met by voluntary assess- ment. This is gradually becoming more onerous, and the kirk* session experience augmenting difficulties in their management. Indeed, in so far as relieving the poor ceases to be regarded as a branch of charity, and passes into the predicament of ^n abso- lute legal claim, it becomes the more difficult for a kirk-session to administer beneficially. Their position is pressed on the one side by applicants, on the other by heritors, who have to provide for deficiencies. In this conflict, their moral influence is exposed to damage, and as it perishes, their usefulness suffers in propor- tion. Yet the substitution of a machinery divested of all church associations, and worked by legal power only, destroys one of the healthiest agencies ever introduced into the parochial economy. Miscellaneous Observations. On minor branches of parish statistics, it is not necessary to dilate. It may be mentioned that the public health is under the care of three active and well-qualified medical practitioners; whereas, long after Dr Thomson wrote his Report, not one was resident in the parish. These three reside in the village of Mark- inch. There is nothing that requires special notice in the de- partment of disease ; here, as in other parts of the island, cases of pulmonary consumption forming the largest class. The mortality of the last forty years shows an average of 69, the MARKINCH. 689 greatest amount (in 1834) being 130; the lowest (in 1802) 53. Several instances of a longevity exceeding ninety years have occur- red during the last twenty years; and one, a few months ago, who had gone beyond ninety-six. The ardour of politics had carried him, two years before, to a polling-place six miles from his habi- tation. As to the general morals of the community, it were indelicate to go into specialities of detail. Crime, as the term is usually un- derstood, is exceedingly unfrequent. Petty breaches of the peace occasionally occur, but will become rare, as the cause of temper- ance gains ground, — and happily it does gain on the opposite vice, — solicited as that vice is by a too promiscuous system of licensing public-houses, the number of which is still excessive, and ought to be reduced. The class of immorality that most falls under the cognizance of the kirk-session has sensibly diminished ; and, upon the whole, the community has an improved moral aspect. This is much aided by the excellent regulations maintained at the lead* ing public works, whose proprietors insist on moral conduct as an indispensable condition of being retained in their employment. Several of them, too, have provided libraries for the use of their work people, which operates in many ways in producing a benefi- cial result. And, in proportion as the popular mind is well-in- formed, it will cease to lend a facile ear to the propagators of opi- nions subversive of virtuous order and religious obligation. The parochial system, not less than other institutions of the land, has of late years been exposed to unsparing aggression, and nothing less than its ruin will satisfy assailants. We wish its downfall, averted, in the persuasion that it is a righteous instrument for pro- moting an host of objects, each of which, we cannot help thinking,, is worth more than the most exaggerated cost of the whole ! ADDENDUM. List of Heritors* — * James Balfour of Balgonie ; John Balfour of Balbirnie ; Drinkwater Bethune of Balfour ; * J. E. Wemyss of Wemyss Castle ; * Earl of Rothes ; Mrs Col. Paston of Barns-, lee ; * United College of St Andrews ; G. J. Lindsay of Kirk- forthar ; John Landale of Man ; *J. Johnston of Little Lun ; John, Lawson of Carieston ; George Greig of Little Balcurvie; * Ward- law Ramsay of Balcurvie ; * C. M. Christie of Durie ; J. Simpson, * Tbosc marked with an asterisk * are non-resident. FIFE. XX 690 FfFESHIRE. of Durie Vale ; * D. Millie of Cameron Bridge ; A. Mitcbel of Coul ; J. Balfour of Asbgrove ; * G. Ballingall of Carieston Easter. . June 1840. PARISH OF CARNOCK. PRESBYTERY OF DUNFERMLINE, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. WILLIAM GILSTON, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name — In the former Account of the parish, it is stated, that the words cair or cairn, and knock, (of which Carnock is supposed to be a compound,) signify " a village, or collection of houses adjoining to a small hill." Another etymology has been given, which makes the name signify " a cairn, or barrows on a hill," and this, probably, is the true derivation. Extent and Boundaries. — This parish lies very compact, being about 3 miles from east to west, and about the same from north to south, though narrowing considerably in the latter direction. Its whole extent is about 9 square miles, or 2260 square acres. It is bounded on the extreme west by the parish of Culross, in the county of Perth ; on the north-west, by the parish of Saline ; on the north-east and east, by that of Dunfermline; and on the south and south-west, by that of Torryburn. Topographical Appearances, — The surface is pleasingly undu- lating and varied ; and being well wooded, presents, from several points of view, landscapes of considerable beauty and richness. There is no eminence deserving of the name of a mountain ; but the Camp's Bank and Carneil Hill, which form a continu- ous range of rising ground, are of considerable elevation, and command extensive views of the Frith of Forth and the adjacent Country, from Stirling on the west, to Edinburgh on the east. Luscar Knolls, or Knows, also the Clune of Newbigging, and part of the Clune farm, which lie further north, and are somewhat more elevated, command rich and varied prospects ; and from most of them are seen in the distance, the Ochils,^ Benlcmo r.d, CARNOCK. 691 and other western mountains, together with the Pentland hills, and the rising grounds to the east. Hydrography. — There are but few streams in the parish, and all of them unimportant, except as watering the localities through which they flow. They run from east to west, and after joining other rivulets, fall into the Frith of Forth, beyond the bounds of the parish. From external appearances, there seem to be a few mineral springs, chiefly of the chalybeate kind ; but they are little attended to. Of other springs, there are several, which are all perennial, and which furnish an abundant supply of excellent water for the use of the inhabitants. Under this head, also, should perhaps be mentioned the Ink Craig, in the neighbourhood of the village of Carnock, which is so called from its producing a liquid resembling ink. " A chemical analysis," says the former Account of the parish, " was made of this liquid by the ingenious Dr Black, when it was found to contain a mixture of coal, flinty earth, and clay." Its appearance to the eye is simply that of water oozing through a black substance resembling coal, with which it has be- come impregnated. The liquid forms a very tolerable ink, and taight, for ordinary purposes, be used as such. Geology and Mineralogy. — The rocks of this parish^are chief- ly sandstone, limestone, and different varieties of trap. The strata dip in all directions ; but in the north side of the parish, the dip is generally to the north-west, north, or north-east; while in the south, the dip is to the south and south-west. Sandstone is the most extensively diffused of all the rocks, being met with in almost every part of the parish ; and in one part, where it pre- sents a continuous bed of many acres extent, and of great thick- ness, lying so near the surface as to be entirely exposed, or only partially covered with a thin coating of moss and heath. In some places, the freestone beds seem to have been raised by an under- movement ; and hence the rock is frequently, found in a shivered state, and sometimes forming knolls above the more compact beds below. • Trap or whinstone, also, is of frequent occurrence, and many of the elevations of the parish are formed of it. Where the masses are exposed, they are usually found to rest upon sandstone or lime- stone. Different varieties of it are met with ; but nowhere does it assume the columnar form. Greenstone is not uncommon. Carniel Hill presents us with loose sand and freestone raised to a considerable elevation, as if by some under-movement, and with 692 F1FESHIRE. masses of trap overlying these like a cap. On the top of the hill, there is a hollow of some depth, which is always more or less filled with water, and which, without a stretch of imagination, may be supposed to have been the aperture through which the igneous matter forced itself. Indeed, the appearance of the trap, as seen distinctly overcapping the sandstone, and forming preci- pitous masses on one side of the hill, strongly countenances the idea of its having partially upheaved, and at last forced its way, when in a liquid state, through the strata on which it now rests. In the neighbourhood of the village of Carnock, there is a bed of white indurated clay, apparently of considerable depth and ex- tent, which is usually denominated cawm, and is much sought after for domestic purposes. It dips towards the south, and lies im- mediately under a stratum of rich soil and clay of considerable depth. The layers are very regular and compact ; but the joints are numerous, and extend in all directions, so that no piece of any great magnitude is ever dug out* This stone receives a fine polish ; and being so soft as to be turned on an ordinary lathe, it is frequently manufactured into small articles. The bed seems gradually to pass into the strata of slaty and shaly substances that lie to the east of it. It is not found in any other part of the pa- rish, nor, so far as we can learn, in any great quantity in any of the neighbouring parishes ; and hence, as it is in some request, it is carried to considerable distances for sale* Ironstone is frequently met with in the parish, especially on the lands of Pitdinnies and Blair. The quality is considered rich, particularly of that which is found on the Pitdinnies ; but on nei- ther estate has the ore been wrought. Coal is diffused generally throughout the parish, and was at no distant period wrought in five different places. The only mine at present in operation, is on the estate of Blair, in the west of the parish. It has been wrought for a long time past, but with greater spirit of late years than formerly. It consists of four dif- ferent seams of coal. The uppermost, a three feet seam, is a blind coal, used by brewers and maltsters. The others are house- coal of different qualities, and are 6, 4, and 2£ feet in thickness respectively. Part of all these seams have been wrought, and are at present working. The produce, which is about 2000 tons an- nually, is almost wholly used in home consumption. The entire depth of the pit, which is at present wrought, is twenty-three fa* thorns. A dike cuts one of the seams near to the pit, causing a CARNOCK. 693 considerable derangement in the strata, and changing altogether the quality of the coal. The coals were, till of late, drawn up by a horse gin ; but a small engine, upon the high pressure principle, which was set up for keeping the pit clear of water, now draws up the coals also. The coal in other parts of the parish, though, not wrought, is not exhausted. On the north- east, most of the upper seams, branching off from Lord Elgin's coal-works, in the parish of Dun- fermline, and cropping out in Carnock, have been wrought out. The lower seams, hoover, have not, it is understood, been yet touched. Limestone was formerly quarried in considerable quantities on the lands of Luscar ; but though it still exists there and in some other spots, none is at present wrought in any part of the parish. In the neighbourhood of the places where it is known to exist, there sometimes is found what the workmen call bastard limestone, or a mixture of whin and limestone. Freestone is quarried in several places. The principal quarry, however, in the parish, is on the estate of Carnock, where the rock is of great extent and considerable thickness, and may be wrought without almost any tirring. The stone of this quarry, though somewhat softer than the freestone in the south part of the parish, is more easily quarried, and may be cut out of almost any length. Owing to the distance from water carriage, and the abundance of excellent freestone in the neighbouring districts, the demand for stones at this quarry is not great, except in the immediate locality. There are three kinds of stone in the bed which composes this quarry : the 6rst being white and soft when dug, and gradually hardening when exposed to the weather ; the second being of a somewhat darker colour, ahd harder quality ; and the third being of a bluish-black colour, and capable of receiving a fine polish. This last lies alongside of the others throughout the whole extent of the bed, and seems to form part of the same rock. The direc- tion and dip of the strata appear, so far as they can be traced, to be uniform throughout ; and the fissures, though numerous, scarcely occasion any derangement in the component parts of the rock. Yet the stone passes from the one colour to the other fre- quently in the smallest discernible space. The colouring substance of the black stone is evidently of a bituminous nature ; but how it should have impregnated one part of the bed and not the other is not easily accounted for. The outer portion of the black rock* 694 - FIPESH1RE. which is more exposed than the rest of the quarry, is, in some places, broken into large masses, and assumes a cliff-like form. But whether the mass may have been, at any former period, sub- merged under any fluid which could have given it its dark hue, can only be matter of conjecture. It is certain, that the substan- ces, which at present are thinly spread over its surface, could not have produced this effect ; for they are the same as those which partially cover the face of the white portion of the rock. In the former Statistical Account of the parish, the writer, speaking of the black rock, says, " This stone will stand the fire, and the longer it is exposed to it, it becomes the more durable, and con- tracts the blacker hue." This, however, is a mistake ; for the fact is, that this stone, when subjected to the heat of an ordinary fire, soon becomes red-hot, loses entirely its black colour, exhibits to the eye a coarser texture than before, and is more friable. No fossil organic remains belonging to the animal kiugdom have been, so far as is known, found at any time in the rocks of this pa- rish. A few belonging to the vegetable kingdom have been met with, which were chiefly lepidodendrons. And, as marking the action of the watery element, it may be mentioned, that some of the slabs which have been dug out of the freestone quarry on the Carnock estate show very distinctly the ripple of the wave upon them. The chief alluvial deposits are sand, gravel, loam, clay, and moss. In the last mentioned of these, trees in a considerable state of preservation are found imbedded. The soil varies much, and often within a small space. In the southern division of the parish it is more fertile ; yet in some of the northern parts it is scarcely inferior. But the difference of exposure gives a considerable ad- vantage to the former in point of climate. In some places, the soils have much depth ; but generally they are the reverse, — rest- ing principally on sandstone, whinstone, and a hard clayey subsoil, rather wet than otherwise, and consisting chiefly of loam, clay, and gravel. Boulders are frequently met with near the surface ; but none of them have been found of any great size.- They consist chiefly of whin. Moles are frequent in the loamy soils. But the farmers seem not to consider them hurtful, as no mole-catchers are employed in the parish. Zoology. — The birds are those ordinarily met with in the dis- trict. The very rare visitant, the greater butcher-bird, was seen in the parish in the spring of 1838. The whinchat, a bird rather uncommon in the district, is occasionally found here. Snowflakes CARNOCK. 695 appear in large flights during severe winters. Attempts have been made to introduce the pheasant ; but the want of proper covers and the depredations of the poacher have prevented their success. An individual of the species, however, is occasionally seen. Botany. — Of the rarer plants, the following, kindly pointed out to me by Andrew Dewar, Esq. surgeon, Dunfermline, may be mentioned. Their localities are added : — Eteocharis multicaulis, Carnock Moor Mentha viridis, Cartieil M«lic* nutans, Blair Dean variety crispa, Do. Galium uliginosum, Do. Lamium maculatum,of Reichenbach, Do. Potamogeton heterophy Hum, Carnock M. Nasturtium sy I vest re, Hon hard Primula elatior, Pitdinnies Corydalis claviculata, Carnock Moor Trientalis Europaxu Clune Senecio saracenicus, Do. Saxifraga tridaetylites, Carneil Ophioglossum vulgatum, Carneil, Chelidonium majus, Carnock village The rein-deer moss is found in considerable profusion in Car- nock Moor. Wood. — The plantations in this parish cover several hundred acres of ground ; and, being laid out with considerable taste and skill, they serve both to beautify and shelter the lands. They consist chiefly of the different kinds of 6r, intermixed with oaks, elms, planes, &c On the lands of Clune there is, besides several belts and hedge-rows of trees, a considerable plantation of Scotch 6rs, of nearly a hundred years growth, and of superior quality. And on the same estate, there is a large clump of aged beeches, which both shelter and ornament the surrounding grounds. In Luscar Dean, which is all planted, and where a few trees of considerable age and height are found, there was a venerable beech, of which mention is made in the former Account of the parish, evidently of great antiquity, but the age of which was unknown. It was digni- fied by the name of the " Queen of the Dean." Growing on the slope of a confined glen, and closely surrounded with other trees, it was not seen to advantage. But even near at hand it appeared a magnificent tree. Its girth at the ground was 16 feet, and at seven feet above that point, 13 feet 8 inches. Of the two large limbs into which it separated, the one was 9 feet thick, and the other nearly the same. Its height was upwards of 100 feet. This tree, however, was blown down one stormy night in the spring of last year. Of late years, a large number of trees, which must have been planted above a hundred years ago by Colonel Erskine, and which had attained their full growth, or were partially going into decay, have been cut down on the estate of Carnock. A considerable number, however, evidently planted by the same spirited gentle- 696 fifeshire; man, and disposed chiefly in rows, still remain. They consist principally of oak, plane, ash, and beech. One of the beeches, which grows near the village, is worthy of notice, both for its size, being 11 feet 10 inches in circumference .at the ground, and 11 feet 3 inches at seven feet from the ground ; and especially for its long, pendulous, and limber branches, which, when the tree is in full flourish, give it au appearance of singular beauty. Upwards of a hundred acres of this estate lying together were planted nearly forty years ago, besides patches of considerable extent at different periods since. On the lands of Blair, the plantations cover about 120 acres; some of them upwards of seventy, and others of them thirty, and fifteen years old. They are all in a thriving state, and profitable. Those which are near the mansion-house are tastefully disposed and ornamental. The southern part of the parish, comprehend- ing Whinny hill, and the Pitdinnies, shews also several belts of planting judiciously placed, and these, together with an extensive plantation on the immediately neighbouring grounds, skirting along the whole eastern boundary of the above named farms, and lying partly within the parish, give this district also the appearance of being well wooded. IL — Civil History. The principal notices regarding this parish are to be found in its session records, and in the records of the Presbytery of Dud* fermline. From these, it appears to have been formerly of much smaller extent than it is at present : — comprehending only the barony of Carnock, which included the present estate of Carnock, together with the lands of Blair, and Easter and Wester Camps. The Pitdinnies, the lands of Luscar, and those of Clune, origin- ally belonged to the parish of Dunfermline, and were disjoined from it, and annexed to Carnock in the commencement of the year 1650. The following entry is found in the Presbytery record, August 19, 1649. "The Presbytery having considered the re- port of Mr John Dunn and James Sibbald, appointed to peram- bulate and consider the distance of Pittdinnies, Easter and Wes- ter Luskar, and the Clune, from the kirk of Dunfermline and the kirk of Carnock, they find it necessary that the said landis be dis- joined from the kirk of Dunfermline, and annexed to the kirk of Carnock ; and recommend the same to the commissione for the plantation of kirks, to be ratified by their authoritie." And from a subsequent entry, it appears that this recommendation was car- CAttNOCK. 697 rierf into effect in the following year. Sibbald, in his History of Fife says, that " the Lord Lyndsay of Byres got this parish by marriage of a brother daughter of Dalhousie ; and they kept it till King Jame VI.'s time, that Sir George Bruce, the predeces* sor of the Earls of Kincardine, got it." The Acts of the Parlia- ment of Scotland 1609, inform us that the lands of Pitdinnies were conveyed to Edward Bruce of Kinloss, and his wife, along with the patronage of the kirk and parish of Torrie, The char- ter conveying the barony of Carnock, with the patronage of the kirk thereof, to Sir George Bruce, is dated, as appears from the same Acts of Parliament, the 4th May 1602. From the same writing we learn, that the church of Carnock belonged originally to the ministry of Scotland-well, and was disjoined from it when Sir George Bruce received infeftment of the barony. Chalmers in his Caledonia says, that "in the year eighty-three of the Christian era, Agricola the Roman general, in endeavour- ing to conquer the northern parts of Scotland, passed the Forth, and encamped his army in the now parish of Carnock*" And the circumstance that the name Camps is given to one of the localities in the parish, and that several Roman urns were dug up some years ago on Carneil hill, renders his statement probable. He says again, " Upon Carneil hill, near Carnock, the Horestii ap- pear to have had a strength, as we might learn from the prefix of the name : the caer of the British signifying a fort."* Eminent Men. — The connection of the Bruces with this parish appears, from what has been already mentioned, to have commen- ced in the year 1602. Edward Bruce, the first Lord Kinloss, " was a man of superior talents, learning, and integrity," and was eminently instrumental in the peaceable accession of James VI. to the throne of England. His second son, Thomas, third Lord * The people of Carnock were formerly staunch Covenanters. The following no* tioe regarding the first swearing oTthe Solemn League and Covenant is worthy of be* ing recorded. It is extracted from the earliest of the session records, and is in the handwriting of John Row. " The 5 of November 1643. The covenant of thir three kingdoms, Scotland, England, and Irland, wes solemnlie sworne to, and subscribit be the parishioners of Carnock, and all that cude wreat subscribit their names in the book qrin the printed covenant was, and the rest of the parishioners y t culd not sub- scribe themselves subscribit be Jhone Andcrsone, No tar pvblik Dunferlyne, he tuicbing their hands as the use is, at the communion table in the kirk of Carnok, as- the book qlk is in my possession will testifie. Qlk action was done verrie solemnlie after I bad taught the historie of Joshua*s covenant, Josh. 24 cap. fra the 14 verse to the 29." Again, during the ministry of Mr Belfrage, we find the following entry. " Dec. 17, 1648, The quhilk day the Solemne League and Covenant was renewit and sworne, and the public confession of sins was read over againe. The fast was. lykewise solemnlie kept this day. 698 PIFESHIRE. Kinloss, was created Earl of Elgin, by patent, dated 21st June 1663. Sir George Bruce of Carnock appears to have been a person of ability and sagacity. He settled at Culross, where he established extensive and flourishing coal-works. He was repre- sentative for the burgh of Culross in the Scottish Parliament, and appears to have been frequently on the commission for the plan* tation of kirks. Edward, his grandson, was created Earl of Kin. cardine, and Lord Bruce of Torrie, in 1647 ; and dying without issue, was succeeded in his title and estates by his brother Alex- ander. The character of Alexander, as drawn by Bishop Burnet, shews him to have been no ordinary man. He died in 1680, and was succeeded by his son Alexander, third Earl of Kincardine, in whose time the estate of Carnock was brought to a judicial sale, and came into the possession of Lieutenant-Colonel John Erskine. From statements made in the session records, it appears that the Earls of Kincardine occasionally held baronial courts at Car- nock, and sometimes assumed the power of expelling the refrac- tory from the parish. Among other individuals who have resided in the parish, or who have been connected with it by birth or office, there are a few whose names deserve to be mentioned as having honourably distinguished themselves, either by the influence which their coun- sel and example exercised, or by the active part which they took in questions of public interest. Of these, not the least distin- guished was the above-mentioned Colonel Erskine, who became proprietor of the barony of Carnock in the year 1700. He was son of David, second Lord Cardross, and of Mary, sister to the first Earl of Kincardine. Being a zealous Presbyterian, he was a determined opponent of whatever measures tended to injure the Presbyterian cause. He was frequently returned as elder from the Presbytery of Dunfermline to the General Assembly, and was one of the three commissioners whom the Assembly of 1 735 sent to London for the purpose of endeavouring to effect a repeal of the Act of the 10th of Queen Anne, restoring patronage. He is spoken of also as a zealous and successful agriculturist, and the estate of Carnock still bears marks of the attention which he paid to planting. The colonel was succeeded in his estate of Carnock by his eldest son John, who became a distinguished member of the Scotch Bar, and was, for a long period of his life, Professor of Scotch Law in CARNOCK. 693 the University of Edinburgh. The well known Institutes of the Professor were composed, it is said, in his house of Newbigging, in this parish, where he usually resided during the summer months. He resided latterly at Cardross, in Monteith, where he died in the year 1767. The property belonging to the family in this parish descended to his eldest son, the late Dr John Erskine of Edinburgh. The doctor, who was an eminent minister of the Church of Scotland, and whose worth and talents were well known and highly appre- ciated both at home and abroad, was first settled at Kirkintilloch, afterwards at Culross, in the Presbytery of Dunfermline, and final- ly was translated to the Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh, where he had for his colleague the celebrated Principal Robertson. Dur- ing the period of his residence in Edinburgh, he took an active part in church affairs ; and as to much energy of character, and great industry, he joined an ardent piety and an enlightened zeal, he contributed not a little to maintain the purity and the efficiency of the Scottish Kirk. Like several of his ancestors, he was a warm friend both of religious and civil liberty. His thirst after know* ledge was great, and continued unabated to his death, which hap- pened a. d. 1803, in the eighty-second year of his age, and the fifty-eighth of his ministry. Another individual long connected with this parish by office, was Mr John How. He seems to have been the third minister of it after the Reformation.* Livingston, in his memoirs as quoted by Gillies, says, that " he was a godly, zealous man, who was care- ful to collect the most observable passages of Providence in his time. He helped at the General Assembly at Glasgow 1638, to discover sundry corruptions of the former time." His father, who was one of the Reformers, and who was a distinguished He- brew scholar, and the first that taught that language in Scotland, early initiated him into the knowledge of the Hebrew, so that when eight years of age he read the Hebrew chapter in the family. Being firmly attached to the Presbyterian Church government, and an enemy to the encroachments of Episcopacy, he suffered frequent hardships in consequence, during the ascendancy of the latter. But, being much respected for his piety and integrity, he, though a nonconformist, was permitted to live at his charge ; and • Dmvid Ferguson, afterwards minister of Dunfermline, and James Stewart, were his predecessors. Vide Row's Historie, p. 47 1 , just published by the Wodrow Society. TOO PIFESHIRE. after mourning for a long period over the defections under Pre- lacy, he was privileged to witness its overthrow, and to assist in effecting the second Reformation. His father-in-law, the cele- brated David Ferguson, 6rst Presbyterian minister of Dunfermline, and coadjutor of John Knox, began to write a history of the Church of Scotland, which Mr Row continued. This history, which consists chiefly of an abridgement of the Acts of the Gene- ral Assembly, and which bears the name of Row's MS., has been published both by the Wodrow Society, and the Maitland Club. Mr Row was settled minister of Carnock in 1592, and died June 26th 1646, aged seventy-eight years.* The eldest son of Mr Row was named John, and attained to such eminence both for his literary accomplishments, and for his zeal in church affairs, that he deserves to be mentioned in con- nection with his native parish. He was for some time rector of the grammar-school at Kirkaldy, and was afterwards translated to the rectorship of that of Perth, where he taught during twenty years with distinguished ability and success. Subsequently, he turned his attention more particularly to the church, and having gone to Aberdeen he was ordained one of the ministers of that city. In 1652, he was appointed Principal of King's College, Old Aberdeen, in room of Dr Guild, who had been deposed the preceding year. When at the head of this college, he gave great encouragement to learning, and was much respected. He was de- prived of his office of Principal after the Restoration in 1661. * His death is thus noted in the session records : " Junnie 28.— My father, Mr Johne Row of worth ie memorie, being departed this life, I, his youngest sone, Mr William Row, minister of Seres, did preach, and after sermone did bold session.*' His monument in the church-yard here, which seems to be of considerable antiquity, though the date of its erection is unknown, has the following Latin inscription in raised capitals : " Hie jacet M. Jo. Row, pastor hujus Ecclesia Fidetiss. vixit ac- cerrimus veritatiset feeder is Scoticani assertor : Hierarchies Pseudoepiscopalis et Ro- manorum rituum cordicitus osor : in frequent! symmystarura apostasia cubi instar constantissimus. Duzit Gricelidcm Fergusoniar.i, cum quaannis 51 conjunctissime vixit. Huic Rcclesis annis. 54 praefuit. Obiit Junnii 26, anno Dom. 1646, sstatis 78. .Obiit el ilia Januarii 30, 1659. On another part of Row's monument is the following inscription : " Here lyes Adam Stobie of Wester Luskar, born 1620, died 1711, and Margaret Gibbon, grand- child to Mr John Row, born 1680, died 1670." This Mr Stobie, who belonged to the parish, was a zealous Covenanter, and met, in consequence, with much hard usage. "Both tradition, and the facts mentioned by Wodrow, fully establish the truth of the following statement regarding him in the Religious Monitor for October 1 80S. "He was a gentleman much respected in the country, a man of great spirit and ex- emplary piety. His house was the resort of many of the ministers and others who were persecuted for conscience sake, in the profligate reign of Charles 1 1. He him- self was fined, imprisoned, sent to the Bass, and condemned to be transported beyond seas ; but by a wonderful interposition of Providence, was landed in England, and got safe home to his family." CARNOCK. 701 Oretn f in his History of Aberdeen, says, that he demitted his charge. He published a grammar and vocabulary of the Hebrew lan- guage, besides several tracts, both of a political and of a religious kind. Nor should we omit to mention Mr Row's immediate successor, the Rev. George Belfrage, who was ordained minister of this pa- rish in the year 1647, and who appears to have been distinguish- ed for his piety and zeal. He lived in troublous times, and suffer- ed for his attachment to the principles of the second Reformation. Being among the nonconformists in the time of Archbishop Sharpe, he was first suspended, and then deposed from the ministry by ap- pointment of that prelate. Connected with this parish' also, as minister for nearly thirty- five years, was the Rev. James Hog, an able, learned, and pious man. After his return from Holland, whither he had gone to complete bis education, he received license as a preacher in the Scottish Church, and was first settled as minister of Dalserf. While here, he became involved in a dispute with his Presbytery in consequence of his opposition to the oaths of allegiance and ab- juration. Though of undoubted royalty, yet he greatly dreaded the erastian principles which appeared to him to be spreading, and felt himself constrained to testify against them. Subsequently he demitted his charge at Dalserf, and did not for some years accept of another. In 1699, however, he became minister of Car nock, and continued to labour there with general acceptance and much success till his death. The same piety and the same zeal for the liberties and the efficiency of the church as he had shown before, distinguished him now. He took an active share in the Marrow controversy, and was one of those who, in the year 1720, were censured by the General Assembly on account of it. The first edition of the Marrow published in Scotland was prefaced by him, and, besides some of the ablest tracts that appeared in its defence, he wrote several other pieces of considerable merit. He died in the year 1736, leaving behind him a name for distinguished worth and usefulness. Another minister of this parish was the celebrated Thomas Gil- lespie, afterwards founder of the Presbytery of Relief. He was licensed to preach the gospel in the year 1740, and in the year fol- lowing was ordained by a class of Dissenting ministers in England, of which Dr Doddridge was moderator. The same year he re* ceived a call to this parish, and was settled in it on the 4th Sep- 702 FIFliSHIHE. tember.* In the discharge of his pastoral duties while in Car- nock, Mr Gillespie showed great diligence and fidelity. And though there are few now alive who have any personal recollec- tion of him, yet his memory is still cherished throughout the dis- trict. Having, with other members of his Presbytery, refused to attend, or to acquiesce in the settlement of Mr Richardson at In- verkeithing, he was summarily deposed by the General Assembly of 1752. This sentence of deposition he received with the Christ- ian meekness which uniformly marked his demeanour. And whatever opinion may be entertained of that part of his conduct which constituted the sole ground of the sentence pronounced against him, no one will question but that he was actuated by a sense of duty. His deposition, however, gave rise to a new sect of Dissenters. But he himself continued " partial to the Establish* ment to the end of his life ; and of this he gave a striking proof, when, on his deathbed, he advised his congregation to apply to the church after his decease, to be restored to her communion : which they afterwards successfully did." His death happened in the beginning of the year 1774. Before closing these notices, it is right to mention the name of Mr Thomas Marshall, who was a minister of Caroock in the time of Episcopacy, and who seems to have suffered for his adherence to it. The following entry regarding him is found in the session- record of the period : " Sep. 4, 1689, Mr Tho. Marschal, minis- ter, was silenced by the counsell, in not giving obedience to qt * An idle report has been circulated, and gained credit in certain quarters, that Mr Gillespie, before his induction, subscribed the confession and formula with re- servations and explanations regarding the power of the civil magistrate. Whatever opinions be may have entertained on this subject, it is certain that he tendered no ex- planation regarding it to the presbytery, when he adhibited the usual subscription. And we believe that he was too single-minded and honest a man to subscribe with any mental reservation. The following extracts, however, from the minutes of Pres- bytery, and from the book which contains the usual autograph signatures to the for- mula, should, it is thought, set the matter at rest. After narrating certain circum- stances connected with Mr Gillespie's residence in England, &c. the minute of Pres- bytery proceeds : *' After all which, the Presbytery being satisfied with what hjd been offered, Mr Gillespie was called in, and having declared his adherence to the doctrine, worship, and government of this church, and judicially signed the Confes- sion of Faith and formula, the moderator put the call from. Carnock into his hand, which he judicially accepted of, upon which Mr Wardlaw took instruments, and the Presbytery appoint the settlement to take place, Friday, 4th September." Then in the book containing the formula is the following entry in Mr Gillespie's own handwriting: " Dunfermling, August 19th 1741, I, Mr Thomas Gillespie, minis- ter of the gospel, do subscribe the above written Confession of Faith as the confession of my faith, according to the above written formula. Witness my hand at Dunferm- ling, the 19th day of August one thousand seven hundred and forty-one. Thos. -Gillespie." CARNOCK. ?03 then was enjoyn'd." The same record shows him to have been diligent and exemplary in the performance of his pastoral duties. Land-owners. — The principal land-owners of the parish, ar- ranged according to the extent of their property in it, are, John Stuart, Esq. of Carnock ; Sir Peter Halket of Pitfirrane, Bart. ; Adam Holland, Esq. of Gask ; . Lady Buchan Hepburn of Smea- ton Hepburn ; and Mrs Mill of Blair. Parochial Registers. — The parochial registers, which consist of minutes of session, records of marriages, birth, and burials, and accounts of collections and disbursements, commence in 1642, and come down, with a few intervals, to the present time. They are comprised in eleven volumes of various sizes, some of which are much injured, and one of them the duplicate of another that is now scarcely legible. An earlier volume than any of the pre- sent seems once to have existed ; but it appears not to have con- tinued long in the hands of the session, as the following entry in the record intimates: " Junii 20, 1647, The kirk registers were produced, viz. the covenant and declaration, the acts of the Gene- ral Assembly holden at Glasgow 1636, &c The old session book was amissing." The loss of this volume is much to be regretted, because it evidently comprehended the early part of Mr Row's mi- nistry, and would probably have thrown much light on the state of the parish at that period. The covenant also, another precious relic, with its signatures, disappeared at a subsequent time. The 6rst of the existing volumes wants thirteen leaves at the beginning. It contains the minutes of session from January 30, 1642, to February 16, 1662; as also an account of collections and disbursements, and a few notices of baptisms. The first part of this volume appears to be in the handwriting of Mr Row, and contains several interesting particulars, both of a local and a gene- ral character. The greater part of the remainder of the volume, which comprehends the incumbency of Mr Belfrage, seems to have been written by the schoolmaster of the time. This latter fact is noticed on account of the beauty of the writing, which shows the schoolmaster of that period to have been a superior penman to most of the clerks that succeeded him, and which in* dicates a higher degree of literary attainment than what souue men are willing to admit as belonging to the time. The principal blanks in the registers are from February 1662, to February 1665, and from March 2, 1693, to October 23, 1699. . The more early of these records throw considerable light on the 7Q 4 FIFESHIRE. times to which they refer, and bear a strong testimony to the ad- vantages which the country at large derives from the National Church, and show with what intelligence and zeal the men who then administered her affairs laboured to reform a rude people, and to promote their intellectual and moral advancement. Tne discipline exercised was strict and minute. And, though the power that was sometimes assumed may now appear unwarrant- able, yet, when we consider the state of the times referred to, and the faithful ministrations with which it was accompanied, we shall be constrained to admit both that it was not overstretched, and that it was used simply with a view to the good of the people themselves. Indeed, almost all beneficial undertakings seem to have then originated with the Established Church, or to have been countenanced and furthered by her. The interests of edu- cation, the maintenance of the poor, the ransoming of such as bad been carried into slavery, the repairing of damage occasioned by fire, the building or improving of harbours, bridges, and other public works — these objects, in addition to the more peculiar du- ties of their office, engaged the attention of ministers and elders, and showed them to have been men of sagacity and benevolence no less than of piety.* * The following extracts may be regarded as confirmatory of these remarks, as well as interesting in themselves :— •* The 8 of November 1643, We, ministeris of the Pres- byterie of Dunfer. hailing reaolvit to intertene a bursar at the new colledge in St An- drews, we stentet qt every kirk within the said Presbyterie suld pay, yt he mycht foe intertene J and Carnock was stentet to pay 3 libs, and thairfor Mr John present bursar, cam to my house the day foresaid, and receivit the said 3 libs.* 1 — " Oct. 3. 1647. Having mist some of our people out of the church this afternoon, it was en- acted, that some of our elders, day about, should go through the parish one the Lord's day, and see who was absent remaining in their houses ; and if some just and lawll cause detained them not, that they should be censured." This regulation was long after continued in Carnock.—" Oct. 29, 1647. I did exhort the elders that they wold be careful I to search and try the parish if ther wer any neighbour at discord wt another, and let them be wanted in before the sessioune, that their friendship might be mad, and the day appointed for this purpose to be Thursday next. Nov. 4. The qlk day Andrew Creich and David Anderson came in, and were reconciled." " Nov. 14. Ther was delivered to Robt. Creich, our ruling elder, for the repairing of Cram men t brig, 4 lib., qlk was delivered." — " November 21. I did shew unto the sessione, that one day of the week must be attendit for weekly examinations, and that one or more elders should be always present." — " Decern. 12. The qlk day it was ordained by the sessione, that the children of poor ones should have the benefit of learning to read, and therefore because they are unable to pay ther quarter payments the sessione ordains," &c— Decern. 19. Orders given to procure " directiones for family worship," for the use of the parishioners. — " Apr. 30. Ordained, that no more than 24 persons be at penny bridal Is, under a penalty of a dollar."*—" My Lord Kin- cardine came to Carnock this 12 of this instant of Oct. and, having held a court, he settled the maintenance of the school to be the somine of a hundred pounds," &c.— March 18. 1649. Deacons appointed.— 15 Febr. *« A general collection throw the paroche for the poor" ordered. — " 7 March 1652. Publick intimation was made from the pulpit of a collection for the supplie of some prisoners that were taken captive at Dunbar, and are now very hardlie dealt withal. "--6th July 1656. The session, at a 3 CARNOCK. 705 Antiquities. — In the charter granted to Sir George Bruce of the barony of Carnock, mention is made of the tower of Carnock; and tradition assigns a Roman camp to a farm in the parish which bears the name of Camps. No vestiges of either, however, are now to be found* Remains of Roman urns were dug up by the plough on Carneil hill more than twenty years ago, and a few coins have been occasionally met with ; but no certain information about them has been obtained by the writer. In the former Statistical Account of the parish notice is taken of " an ancient cross," situated in the northern division of the vil- lage. " This cross," it is said, " is of a circular form, containing six rounds of stone steps, rising one above another, and gradually diminishing in diameter as they ascend. In the middle grows a venerable thorn tree, which was, even within these few years, co- vered with leaves and blossoms in summer ; but is now much de- cayed." This venerable thorn, which was probably more than two hundred years old, being reduced at last to a decayed trunk and a single branch, and in constant danger of falling, was a few years ago cut down. The cross itself has also been removed. The road-maker being abroad, and finding the venerable " rounds of steps" in his way, first got them remodelled, and then pulled down altogether. And thus, though our carriage-way has been greatly improved in consequence, we have been deprived of almost the only relic of the olden times that we possessed. Several referen- ces are made to the " thorne" in the session record. The fol- lowing entry is characteristic: " Feb. 6, 1653. Forasmuch as it has been found yt many breaches of the Lord's holy Sabbath has been occasioned by people's gathering about the thorne on the Sunday afternoone, some by yr buying and selling of servant's corne in the harvest, and some by other frivolous and idle dis- meeting of this date, granted leave to certain persons to erect a seat for themselves in the church, and " every one ofthem are to give in 24s. to the poor.*' — u 12 July 1657* The elders wer appointed once in the monetb to give ane accorapt of those under yr •overall charges, and to see who are sick, under necessity, scandalous in yr carriage, or defective in familie deuties." — " 21 Feb. 1058, A collection was publickly inti- mat for the relief of a poor man in Sauling, called Rot. Harrower, who had his bouse brunt." — " 22 May 1659, Given to a stranger supplicant, 6s. To another stranger supplicant, 4s. To a poor disabled souldier, 2s." — " 18 Deer. 1659, There was a contribution intinoat to be for the support and 6Upplie of the people in Pitten- weyrae, &c. who had suffered so 'much skaith 'by the inundation of waters" — " 15 April 1660. The elders were exhorted to visit the sick more frequently, for the mi- nister declared, that the sick told him yt few or none of the elders came to them, and they were sharply rebuked." — " 29 July 1666. There was a contribution intimat for repairing the barboree of Inverkeithing." FIFE. Y y A. 706 FIFESHIRE. courses dishonour God — therefore it was appointed yt every one sail repaire to yr owne houses immediatelie after sermones are ended, yt the rest of the Lord's day remaining may be employed by masters and others in the family in repeating of sermones, ca- techising, and other religious exercises ; and if hereafter any sail be found standing about ye thorae, they shall be conveined before the kirk-session, and censured according to the nature of yr dis- obedience." The designation Law Know, given to a small eminence in the neighbourhood of the village of Carnock, may be also mentioned, as pointing out a place where, it is probable, in feudal times, the vassals and dependents were assembled by their superiors for de- ciding their differences, and administering justice. Modern Buildings. — Of these there are few to be noticed. The mansion-house of Newbigging, in which the Institutes of the Law of Scotland were composed, is still standing. It was design- ed, it is said, by one of the Adams, and affords but an indifferent specimen of his art at the time. It is at present used as a farm- house, and considered a very indifferent one. There is a plain and substantial house on the estate of Blair, which was built about thirty years ago. And at Luscar a handsome residence, in the old English or Elizabethan style, has been lately built. And on the estate of Carnock Mr Stuart has just erected a small but com- modious dwelling. A new church has also been lately erected, which, though it be a plain structure, is yet, independently of its utility, a great ornament to the place. It is in the Saxon style, and in the form of a cross, with a handsome spire, and groined ceiling. There is a single corn-mill in the parish. It goes both by water and steam. III. — Population. Nothing very certain can be mentioned regarding the ancient state of the population of the parish, except that it seems to have been more scattered than it is at present. Judging from the re- gister of births, the number of inhabitants, nearly 200 years ago, would not amount to much above 350. At that time, the village of Carnock was thi only one in the parish, and of small extent The others are of comparatively recent date. And as manufac- tures had hen made little progress, the population was chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits, and in the domestic labours which were then requisite for procuring the necessary supplies of food and clothing. CARNOCK. 707 According to Dr Webster'* survey in 1755, the population was 563 From a survey made in . 1781, ... 912 Do. 1791, 970 By Government census in 1801, ... ... 860 Do. . . 1811, ... ... 884 Do. . 1821, 1136 Do. . 1831, ... ... 1204 Do. . 1841, ... ... 1269 The cause of the decrease shown by the census of 181 1 appears to have been the ceasing of some coal-works in the parish, about the commencement of the century ; and the increase which the subsequent surveys give is sufficiently accounted for by the im- provements in trade, manufactures, and agriculture. At the close of the year 1841 the following were the results : — Number of persons residing in villages, 891 the country, . . 378 The yearly average of births for the last seven years, . 33 deaths, . . .21? marriages, . . 10* The number of persons under 15 years of age, . . 501 betwixt 15 and 30, . . 245. 30 and 50, . . 268 50 and 70, . . 131 upwards of 70, . 24 bachelors upwards of 50 years of age, . 4 widowers, . . .6 widows, . . 25 unmarried women upwards of 45 years of age, . 13 families, . ... 207 The average number of children in each family, • . 8^ Number of inhabited houses, . . 251 houses uninhabited or now building, . . 13 Proprietors of land of the yearly value of L.50 and upwards, . 5 Number of fatuous, ... 1 IV. — Industry, The number of males employed in agriculture, . . 87 The number employed in manufactures, ) ?*** n * "- * Q . r J J journeymen, etc ■> o4 handicraft, \ . ' « ,. {journeymen, &c« • 15 Professional and other educated men, ... 7 Number of labourers not agricultural, . . 63 Of these there are employed in mines, 26 Number of retired tradesmen, superannuated labourers, &c. . 7 Agriculture. — The number of imperial acres in the parish which are cultivated, is 1665* The number uncultivated, besides what are occupied with roads, fences, &c*, is about 45 ; and of these only a few acr^ could be profitably added to the cultivat- ed land. 450 acres are under wood. There is no natural wood in the parish. The plantations con- sist of larch, spruce, and Scotch firs, oak, beech, elm, chestnut, and ash. The different kinds of fir, the oak, and the beech seem to be best adapted to the soil The wood of the ash and the elm 70S FIFESHIRE. is said to be of an inferior quality. Some of the plantations have not been much attended to. The management of them, however, has, of late years, been much improved, and their value in conse- quence been increased. Prices*— K close cart and wheels with iron axle costs from L.8 to L.10, according to the quality ; open carts for corn and hay cost L.3 ; with wheels, L.6 ; an iron plough costs L.4 ; and a wooden plough, L.2 ; a pair of harrows mounted costs L.2 ; a break har- row for two or three horses costs from L.1, 10s. to L.2; fanners vary in price from L.6 to L.8; a turnip barrow costs L.1 ; a stone roller from L.8 to L.4 ; the price of an iron drill plough is L.2, 10s., and of a wooden one, L.1 ; a horse-hoe costs L.l ; a grub- ber, L.8 ; a paring plough costs L.2 ; a drill sowing-machine va- ries in price according to the width : one used in the parish cost L.1 1 ; riddles average 3s. 6d. each; a bushel costs 12s.; a potato firlot, 1 0s. 6d. ; harness of a pair of horses for cart and plough is bought for L.10; a grape costs 3s.; a spade, 3s. 6cL; a shovel, 4s. ; a mattock, 4s. ; a horse-shoe made and driven costs 9d., iron furnished by the smith ; laying plough-irons, Is. 3d., iron also fur- nished by the smith ; sharpening plough-irons, 2d. ; shoeing a pair of cart wheels, including iron, L.1, 7s.; building ruble wall per rood, exclusive of material, L.2, 5s. ; plastering per yard, do. 3d. ; a horse and cart per day, 4s. 6d. ; a day's ploughing, 8s. lAve-Stock. — A considerable number of sheep are grazed in the parish. The cattle commonly reared are the Fife and Teeswater ; but small attention is paid to the improvement of the breed. The number of cattle reared in the parish is not great, 9 — the attention of the farmers being more directed to the raising of grain than to grazing. The horses differ not from those generally used in the district, and are, for the most part, kept in good condition. The general state of husbandry in the parish is at least equal to that in the surrounding district Ploughing is executed, for the most part, in a superior style ; but the reaping is often done in ra- ther a careless manner, much grain being left on the field. Drain- ing, both with stones and tiles, is at present carried on with much spirit, on almost every farm in the parish, Ad with the most bene- ficial results. The general duration of leases is nineteen years ; and these are chiefly, it is believed, drawn up in such a way as to be mutually advantageous to the proprietor and the tenant. Farm-buildings have been much improved of late years ; and • Of late, however, a good many haye been fattened for slaughter. CARNOCK. 709 the whole of them are now in a respectable and comfortable con- dition. Some of them are very complete. They are all covered either with slate or tile. Thrashing-mills are attached to them all, except one; and of these, six are driven by horses, one by water, four by steam, and one by steam and water. At three of the farms are saw-mills. The enclosures also have been of late much attended to, and considerably improved. They consist both of stone fences and hedges. The latter are increasing. A con- siderable extent of stone wall, in the south part of the parish, has lately been removed, and been replaced by hedges ; and of the many new enclosures which have been recently formed, not one has been of stone. The hedges are in general well managed, and in good condition. The rents are generally a fixed money rent, without reference to the Bars. The tenantry, for the most part, are in comfortable circumstances ; and the families of several of them have been long on the farms which they at present occupy. They are a sober and industrious body of men. But, perhaps, a greater command of capital on their part, and greater encouragement on the part of proprietors, would be necessary to enable them to turn the whole capabilities of the land to account Produce. — The average gross amount of raw produce may be stated as under ; — Wheat, 125 acres, . • « L.1250 Barley, 228 • 1300 Oats, 450 • i 2362 Beans, 105 • i 805 Potatoes, 92 N • i 992 Turnips, 56 • 448 Hay, 161 • 805 Flax, • 5 Pasture, 290 • 237 Thinnings of wood, a 250 Gardens, • « > t 100 Cattle, supposing 200 annually sold, 1200 Horses, supposing 90 annually sold, 450 Coals and stones, • • • 650 Miscellaneous produce, including pig p, sheep », butter , &C. 1600 Total yearly value of raw produce, L. 11,454 The amount of capital sunk in the different articles of manu- facture required for the various purposes of husbandry, as carts ploughs, &c, and in horses employed in agriculture, may be esti- mated at L.4896. Manufactures. — There are no spinning-mills nor public manu- factures in this parish. No fewer* however, than 205 persons ar e 710 FlFESftfRE. employed in weaving, — 155 males, and 50 females. They ar£ all, with the exception of one or two, who do country work, de- pendent upon the neighbouring town of Dunfermline, and get their webs from thence ready for the loom. The kinds of cloth worked are table-linens and table-covers. These last consist of cotton and worsted. The number of looms in the parish is 208. Of these, 159 are mounted with Jacquard machines, and may average in value, along with the machine, L.15. The remaining looms, which are without machines, may average L.4 each. The value of the whole looms in the parish, may be estimated at L.2500, reckoning them at what they cost when new. A gross of pirns, value 2s., is generally allowed to each loom. Connected with this branch of manufacture, also, there are in use 83 pairs of wheels and swifts. Each pair, consisting of a wheel and a swift, costs from lis. to 14s. These are used in winding pirns, — a depart- ment of the trade which is generally allotted to females or to young persons. Each loom may consume a boll of potatoes during the year in the shape of dressing, or a quantity of flour equal in value. Nifflers and rollers, which are used in beaming webs, are also pro- vided by the weavers, and cost L.3 the set. And as a number of persons are required to beam a web, the weavers form themselves into societies, commonly called quarters, and have a set of nifflers to each. Weavers receive so much a spindle for their work ; and as that varies with the kind of cloth, and as the quantity wrought by dif- ferent workmen in a given time differs considerably, it is not easy to ascertain with accuracy theiraverage earnings, either by the day or by the week. It may be stated, however, that at present those employed in weaving can scarcely be said to have a fair re- muneration and support from their labours. * V. — Parochial Economy. Market-Town. — There is no market- town in the parish. The nearest is Dunfermline, three miles distant from the centre of Carnock, where there are weekly markets and frequent fairs. The villages in the parish are, Carnock, Gowkhall, and Cairney- hill. A fair for cattle, &c. is held annually at Carnock, on the 20th May ; and when that happens to be Sunday, the fair is held on the Saturday previous. * This account of the manufactures is properly descriptive of their state a year or two ago ; for at present, many of the weavers arc out of employment. But it is.ro be hoped that the depression of trade will only be temporary. j CARNOCK. 711 Means of Communication. — A penny-post, in connection with Dunfermline, was procured for the village of Carnock in the year 1838, and has proved a great convenience to the inhabitants. It passes daily. The Culross and Kincardine posts also pass through Cairneyhill twice a-day. The only stage-coach is that between Kirkcaldy and Glasgow,, which passes daily through Cairneyhill. But from Dunfermline there is communication with Edinburgh twice a-day by coaches ; and the steam-boats between Stirling and Edinburgh are easily accessible to our population. Carriers go twice a-week from Cairneyhill to Edinburgh, and once a-week from the same to Auchterarder, Crieff, and Comrie. The length of turnpike roads in the parish is only between five and six miles. They are kept in good repair. The statute-la- bour roads, however, are generally very indifferent. The one es- pecially between the villages of Carnock and Cairneyhill, and which forms the principal parish road, was, until lately, in a wretched state. The line is bad, and there is little prospect of getting it altered ; so that the intercourse between these villages is very much impeded, especially in winter. There are six bridges in or on the confines of the parish. They are all small, but in good condition. The two oldest have had an addition made to their width, subsequent to their first erection. Above the arch of the one of these, which is in the village of Carnock, there are two stones with an inscription on each. The one contains the following in raised letters; mr,t» bow pastor anno d. 1638; and the other contains the words george bruce ov carnok. But whether this date marks the age of the oldest part of the bridge, or of a previous erection, is somewhat uncertain. Ecclesiastical State. — The former parish church stood near the village of Carnock, and was conveniently situated for upwards of one-half of the population. It was distant from the furthest ex- tremity of the parish a little more than two miles, and from the nearest somewhat more than one mile. It was old, inconveniently small, and most uncomfortable. The time of its being built is unknown. The date 1602, with the letters g. b., appears on it ; but it is evident that part of the building at least was much older than that. From Row's Historie just published, it appears that it was repaired in the year 1602, when the roof of heath was re- placed by one of heavy gray slate. It was again repaired in the year 1641; and in the year 1815, the gray slate roof was replaced 712 FIFESH1RE. by one of Eisdale slate. A few years ago, some further repairs were made on it, which rendered it more comfortable. But ib 1838, the presbytery, on a report by Gillespie Graham, Esq. Architect, condemned it, and issued a decreet for building a new church, in which the heritors unanimously acquiesced. The greater part of the walls still remain, and form an interesting re* lie of the olden times. The old church bell bore the date 1638; but it was lately recast On the pulpit, which was of oak, was the date 1674, with this motto, Sermonem vita prcebenti, Phil. ii. 16. The materials of this pulpit have been converted into a chair and table, for the communion elements, in the new church, preserving as much of their original appearance as was consistent with what they have been adopted to. The new church, which was planned by John Henderson, Esq. Architect, Edinburgh, contains 400 sittings on the ground-floor ; provision being made for the erection of galleries afterwards to contain 200 more, if required. It is an exceedingly comfortable place of worship. The site chosen for it is only at a short dis- tance from that of the old church ; no other place being more convenient, considering the localities of the parish. It was opened for worship in May 1840, and proves a great accommodation to the parish. The manse was built in 1802. It underwent some repairs in 1829, and is in pretty good condition ; though, from the defects of its construction originally, it is still cold. The old offices were removed in 1829, and the present ones built. They are small, but comfortable. A barn and cart-shed, however, are still to be erected. The glebe contains a little more than eight acres, ex- clusive of the space occupied by the manse, offices, and garden* It is at present worth L.24 a-year. The stipend is one of those which receive aid from Government It consists of 6 1 bolls, 1 firlot, 1 peck, 1 ^ lippy of meal ; 30 bolls, 3 firlots, 1 peck, 3 r ? lippies of bear; 19 bolls of oats; and L.216, Is. 4d. Scots, being the whole teinds of the parish. The Government allowance is L.36, 10s. 6d. The number of persons belonging- to the Established Church is 652. The number of families, 127. The average attendance during the summer months may be estimated at 220. The num- ber who are in the habit of attending throughout the year, but not all present at any one time, amounts to upwards of .350. Several persons, belonging to the Establishment, are in the habit of at- CARNOCK. 713 tending worship in the neighbouring parish churches. The num- ber of communicants on the roll at last communion, belonging to the congregation, and exclusive of those who worship in other parishes, was about 200. Previous to 1828, the number on the roll was 93; and in 1833, it was 151. There is one Dissenting meeting-house in the parish. It ori- ginated about 1748, and is situated in the village of Cairneyhill. The congregation belongs to the United Associate Synod. The number of sittings in the meeting-house is 400. The minister's stipend is L.96, derive* from seat rents and collections, besides a house and garden, and a glebe of two acres. The whole number of Dissenters of all denominations in the parish is 598. Of these, about 400 profess to belong to the congregation at Cairneyhill ; two are Episcopalians, and one a Roman Catholic, who occasionally worship in the parish church; and the remainder, adhering to the United Secession, the Relief, and the Original Burghers, attend places of worship belonging to their respective denomina- tions in Dunfermline. Of those not known to belong to any re- ligious denomination, the number is 19. The average amount of church collections, &c. yearly for re- ligious and charitabje objects, besides the ordinary weekly collec- tions for the poor, may be estimated at upwards of L.10.J Education.— There are two schools in the parish ; one, the pa- rochial school, in Carnock village ; and the other at Cairneyhill. The branches of instruction taught in the two schools at present existing, are, English reading, writing, arithmetic, English gram- mar, geography, and sometimes Latin and Greek. The parochial schoolmaster has the maximum salary, and a small mortification of the value of 5s. 6£d. annually. .This mortification is the inte- rest of 100 merks bequeathed the kirk-session of Carnock, for behoof of the schoolmaster, by Principal Row, " Calling to mynd," as the deed of mortification in the principal's hand-writing states " the place of my birth, and first initiating in letters." The schoolmaster at Cairneyhill has a free school-house ; but is other- wise wholly dependent upon the school fees. Besides the facilities afforded for the education of the young by the two schools already mentioned, the inhabitants of the east- ern portion of the parish have the privilege of sending their chil- dren to a well-conducted school, which is connected with a public work in the parish of Dunfermline. In 1834, the number of children at school was 210. Subse- 714 FIFESHIUE. quently, the number decreased considerably, and has never since reached that number. This diminution, especially of late, has been owing to the depression of trade. The parochial teacher has barely the legal accommodation. The school-room is small and ill-furnished; and the dwelling- house, which is above, is in ill-repair and uncomfortable. A seminary for young ladies has for a number of years past been successfully conducted at Cairneyhill, by Mrs More. Be- sides the ordinary branches of education, there are taught French, Italian, English composition, music, drawing, and other branches, both useful and ornamental, that are usually taught in the most respectable boarding- schools. The terms are moderate, and the seminary is flourishing. Libraries. — There are two libraries in the parish; one in the village of Cairneyhill, which has existed several years ; the other in the village of Carnock, which was established by means of col- lections and subscriptions by the minister in the year 1840, and which now consists of about 250 volumes. .The desire for read- ing has of late been increasing among the people. Friendly Societies.— The only association of this kind in the pa- rish is what is called the Dead Fund, the object of which is to assist in defraying the expenses of funerals. On the occasion of a death in the family of a member, a certain sum is paid out of the fund to the survivors, each member contributing a shilling or a sixpence, as the sum to be paid may be greater or less. This association has proved very beneficial. Savings 9 Banks. — There is no Savings' Bank in the parish. The nearest is in the town of Dunfermline. A Savings' Bank was established there a good many years ago ; but as a national one was opened in 1838, the deposits of the old bank were trans- ferred to it. Few persons, however, in this parish avail themselves of the advantages which it offers. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The average number of persons on the permanent poor's roll, including those that are dependent upon them, is 12. Of these some receive 5s. a month, and some as low as 3s. 6d. One pauper receives 2s. a week. Besides those on the permanent roll, there are several that receive occasional relief. I 1 he funds to meet these expenses consist of collections at the church doors, mortcloth-dues, the interest of L.200 of money accumulated in former years by the session, and now invested in the Dunfermline gas stock, and a voluntary assessment by the 4 CARtfOCK* 715 heritors when required. The average annual amount of church collections for relief of the poor may be estimated at L.11, 7s. 7d. The mortcloth-dues now yield a very small sum, as in these days of reform many think it better to support a small concern of their own,'than to be the means of contributing a little for the relief of the poor by using the parish mortcloth ; and the heritors do not choose to litigate the matter with them. The burden on account of the poor of this parish, however, is by no means heavy. The sum annually distributed among paupers on permanent roll, in oc- casional relief to persons not on roll, and in the education of poor children, has not, on an average of several years, exceeded L.36 ; a fact which testifies to the general comfort of the population, and shows that there is a creditable disposition among the poor to re- frain from seeking parochial relief. Fairs. — Only one fair is held in the parish in the year. It is chiefly a cattle and shoe market, and is held on the 26th May* except when that happens to be Sunday, in which case the fair is held on the 27th. Much business used formerly to be transacted at it ; but now the attendance is comparatively small. Inns. — When the former account of the parish was written, the number of inns or alehouses appears to have been ten, viz. four in Carnock, five in Cairrieyhill, and one at Blair. A considerable improvement has since taken place in this respect, for the number of these houses now amounts only to five, viz. two in Carnock, two in Cairneyhill, and one at Gowkhall. Fuel. — Coal is the only fuel used in the parish. It is procured either at the Blair colliery in the parish, or at some of the pits in the neighbouring parish of Dunfermline. The price of the for- mer varies from 5s. to 6s. a ton of 20 cwt., and that of the latter from 5s. to 6s., and sometimes more, a ton, at the pit mouth. Miscellaneous Observations. Since the former Statistical Account was written, the general appearance of the parish has evidently been much improved. With the exception of a few acres of moor, and of what is occu- pied by wood, roads, fences, and water, the whole surface is under cultivation. Agriculture has greatly improved ; the means of communication has much increased ; trade and manufactures have received a new impulse. Farms have been enlarged. Oxen are no longer employed in husbandry. Thrashing-machines are in ge- neral use. Draining is now much attended to. Bone-dust is used extensively in turnip husbandry. The rental of the parish, 716 FIPB8HIBE. which in 1791 amounted to L. 11 00 a year, including the proceeds of the feus, may now be estimated at nearly L.3000. And it is not to be doubted that the population generally have kept pace with their neighbours, in the ordinary comforts of life, and in their endeavours to increase them. January 1843. PARISH OF ABERDOUR.* PRESBYTERY OF DUNFERMLINE, 8YNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. HUGH RALPH, LL.D., MINISTER. 1. — Topography and Natural History. Name, Extent, fyc. — The name Aberdour, in Gaelic, signifies " the mouth of the water," referring in this instance to a rivulet, which empties itself into the Forth, a little below the village. It is bounded by the parish of Dalgety on the west ; by those of Beath and Auchtertoul, on the north ; by Kinghorn and Burntisland, on the east ; and by the Forth, on the south ; being, at an average, about three miles from east to west, and as much from north to south. A small part of the parish is detached from the rest, by the intervening parishes of Burntisland and Kinghorn, and lies at the distance of four or five miles. The number of acres may be about 5000. The parish is divided by a ridge of hills, running nearly from east to west The north part is a cold and bleak track, considerably above the level of the sea, and, excepting what has been done by one of the heritors on the north-west corner of the parish, altogether unsheltered, either by hedges or plantations. The soil is cold and sour. On the south of this ridge, both the soil and the climate are much more kindly. Coast — The parish stretches along the shore above two miles. From the east boundary the coast is rugged and stefep, and gene- rally covered with wood to the "water's edge. The trees have been planted with a proper regard to effect, and the jutting rocks which appear in different places, render the whole ex- tremely picturesque and beautiful. This wood is intersected with * From notes furnished by a parishioner of Aberdour. ABERDOUR. 717 walks cut out on the face of the hill, from which the prospects are rich and varied. On the west, there is a beautiful white sandy bay, surrounded with trees. Here the grounds rise gently to the west, bordered by thriving plantations ; and stretching southward, they terminate in a perpendicular rock washed by the sea. — By this rock on the east, and by headlands on the south-west, the small har- bour of Aberdour is well-sheltered from all winds. IL — Civil History. Inchcolm. — The parish of Aberdour belonged to the monastery of Inchcolm. This monastery was founded about the beginning of the twelfth century by Alexander I. in consequence of a vow. Sibbald says, that the western part of Aberdour was given by one of the Mortimers to this monastery, for the privilege of bury- ing in the church. There is a tradition, that the corpse of one of the family was thrown overboard in a storm, which gives the name of Mortimer's Deep to the channel between the island and the shore. This western part of Aberdour, together with the lands and barony of Beath, are said to have been acquired from an Abbot of Inchcolm, by James, afterwards Sir James Stuart, second son of Andrew Lord Evandale, grandfather by his daughter to the admirable Crichton, and by his second son, Lord Doune, to Sir James Stuart, who married the daughter of the Regent Murray. Lord Doune was Commendator of the monas- tery of Inchcolm at the Reformation. The whole of the above- mentioned property, together with the island itself, is still in the family of Moray, with the title of St Colme. The Earl of Mo- ray attempted to cover the island with trees, which would have increased its picturesque appearance, but the attempt did not suc- ceed. — (Old Stat. Account.) Antiquities. — Not far from the village of Aberdour, on a flat on the top of a hill, there is one of those cairns or tumuli so frequent- ly met with in Scotland. A coffin and several earthen vessels, containing human bones, were found in it. A small plain tomb- stone erected on the south wall of the old church to the memory of the Rev. Robert Blair, minister of St Andrews, in Fife, and Chaplain to Charles L, who was ejected from his charge by Archbishop Sharp in 1661, and died at Couston, in this parish, 1666. The inscription is in Latin, but nearly defaced. Parochial Registers. — These consist of minutes of kirk-session, commencing iir 1649; baptisms in 1663; distributions to poor, 1658; collections at the kirk, 1659; marriages, 1669; deaths, T18 PIFESHIRE. 1658 to 1669, when a register ceased to be kept, but was renew- ed by the present session-clerk in 1817* Land-owners. — The principal of these, with their valuations are, the Earl of Morton, L.2900, 14s. ; Earl of Moray, L.2190, Is. 7d.; William Fraser, L.836 ; Major Rose, L.321, 15s. lOd. ; William Inglis, L.255, 6s. 8d. ; Robert Wemyss, L.223 ; J. Drysdale, L.205; J. Boswell, L.83 Scotch money. Mansion- Houses. — These are, Aberdour House, Hillside House, Whitehill Cottage, Cuttlehill House, and Templehall. IIL — Population. Amount in 1811, 1302 1821, 1489 1831, 1751 Aberdour village* • 906 In the country, 983 Total, 1891 in 1841. Number of illegitimate births in the parish within the last three years, about 7 or 8. IV. — Industry. Number of acres, standard imperial measure, in the parish, which are either cultivated or occasionally in tillage, about . . . 3240 Number of acres which never have been cultivated, and which remain con- stantly "waste, or in pasture, about .... 1200 Number of acres that might, with a profitable application of capital, be added to the cultivated land of the parish, whether that land were afterwards to be kept in occasional tillage or in permanent pasture, probably about . 400 Number of acres under wood, planted, . . . 1800 Rent — Average rent of land, L.2 Sterling per acre. Real rental of the parish, L.4000 Sterling. Reclaiming waste land and drainage of cultivated land have been the chief improvements of late. Manufactures. — Not more than eight or nine hand-loom weavers are employed in the weaving of ticking. There are two saw-mills for cutting wood ; also, an iron-mill for manufacturing spades, &c. driven by water. Fishings. — Oyster-fishing is carried on to a very limited extent. Navigation. — Two pinnaces ply betwixt this and the port of Leith for passengers and goods. V. — Parochial Economy. Ecclesiastical State. K — The number of families in the parish be- longing to the Established Church is about 357 ; of Dissenting or Seceding families, about 70, a great proportion of which occa- sionally attend the parish church ; of Episcopalian families, 1 ; of Roman Catholic families, 1, The extent of the glebe is 4 acres, 1 rood, 38 falls, 6 ells, (Scotch measure.) It is let, at present, at KEMBACK. 719 L.3, 10s. an acre. The manse was built in 1802, and is in very superior condition. Education. — There are 4 schools in the parish, exclusive of Sabbath schools, viz. the parochial, a female, Donibristle colliery, and Templehall schools. The yearly amount of the parochial schoolmaster's salary is the maximum. The probable yearly amount of fees actually paid to the parochial schoolmaster is, on an average, L.30 Sterling per annum. The probable amount of the other emoluments of parochial schoolmaster is about L.10 Ster- ing, arising from session -clerk's salary and emoluments of office. An Association on the plan of a saving's bank was recently formed in the parish. Poor. — The average number of persons receiving parochial aid is 26 weekly and 12 monthly pensioners, also a lunatic female pauper ; total, 39. Average sum allotted to each of such persons, 1s.6d. per week ; L.9, 2s. per annum to the lunatic pau- per, besides occasional relief to others. The average annual amount of contributions for relief of the poor is about L.80 from voluntary contributions of the heritors; about L.30 from church collections ; L.18, 8s. 7d. from alms or legacies. February 1843. PARISH OF KEMBACK.* PRESBYTERY OF 8T ANDREWS, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. J. MACDONALD, D. D., MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name. — Thr name of this parish in old writings is variously spelled Camback, Kembek, and Kembok. It is by some held to be the modern form of Kemp-achar, " the field of battle ;" but it is more generally supposed that the first syllable is de- rived from the name of the Kem or Kame, a brook which, taking its rise in the hills of Scoonie parish, about seven miles west, traverses Kemback parish and is there united to the Eden. The course of this brook through a broken and wood- * Drawn up l>y G. Malcgill, Esq. of Kemback. 720 FIFESHIRE. ed glen is highly picturesque, and although on a smaller scale bears much resemblance, in its natural features, to the celebrat- ed pass of Glen Farg at the north-west extremity of Fifeshire. And while Dura Den, as this ravine is called, is the chief attrac- tion to the lover of landscape, the rest of the parish, from the un- dulating character of the ground, and the abundance of timber, has altogether a richer appearance than most parts of the country, and contrasts favourably with the f bare though highly cultivated districts which surround it. Extent and Boundaries. — Kemback is bounded on the east, by a line of two miles in length, running nearly due north and south, which divides it from the parish of St Andrews. Its northern boundary is the river Eden, separating it from Leuchars and Dair- sie ; it joins Cupar on the west, and Ceres on the south. Its greatest length, which is from north-east to south-west, is about three miles, and it is at few places more than a mile and a-half in breadth. It is formed by a ridge of hills called Nydie or Kem- back hills, running through it from east to west, sloping gently to- wards the south, and somewhat abruptly to the north. The highest point of elevation is Clatto hill, which is 548 feet above the level of the sea. Nearly the whole of this range of eminences, not long ago a barren heath, is now covered by thriving plantations. Climate. — From the sheltered position, and the increase of wood, the climate is milder than most of the surrounding country : and many of the inhabitants have attained to a very advancd age. The beneficial effect of cultivation and drainage on climate and health is shown by the fact, that some of the older inhabitants who have resided in the parish all their lives, recollect that, about fifty or sixty years ago, ague was a very prevalent disorder every spring ; whereas this complaint is now scarcely known. SoU. — The parish contains almost every variety of soil, as bar- ren black sand, peat, gravel, black and brown loam, and rich strong clay of great fertility. Much has been done of late years in draining the cold wet soil, with manifest advantage ; but on the greater part of the north side of the parish, this is unnecessary, the immediate subsoil being dry loose gravel. Fishing. — The Eden affords tolerably good trout-fishing in springand autumn, and there is a right of salmon fishing attached to the lands of Kemback, which, however, is now quite unproductive. Geology. — The rocks consist of sandstone, ironstone, shale, and trap* The sandstone is of two kinds, and belongs to two great de- 3 KBMBACK. 721 posits ; one of which is connected with the coal formation, and the other with that of the old red sandstone. The geological corre- sponds with the geographical position of the parish, which occupies an intermediate place betwixt the coal-field on the south, and the old red sandstone on the north. The lower beds of the former rest inconformably on the upper beds of the latter. The trap consists of veins of greenstone and a few isolated patches of clink-* stone. , A vein of lead ore also occurs in the series. Dura Den, a beautiful and interesting valley, traverses the pa- rish nearly at right angles to the plain of the sedimentary depo- sits, and exhibits a well-defined section of the entire series of these beds. Without leaving the road, the whole are laid open to the eye of the observer, and may conveniently be examined in detail The- geology of this district has lately acquired very considera- ble celebrity. Dr Anderson was the first who drew the attention of the learned to its interesting relics, in his essay on the Geology of Fifeshire, published in the Transactions of the Highland So- ciety. Since that time it has been visited by some of the most eminent in the science, and commented upon in various publica- tions. The sandstone beds, whieh belong to the old red, are here of a bright yellow colour, and attain a thickness of from three to four hundred feet. Their position in the series is determined by their organic remains, which are identical in every respect with those found in the red formation. They also lie conformably on that de- posit, as may be observed at the out-crop at Dairsie church, both having an inclination of nearly 10°. Towards the base of the rock, the sandstone assumes a variegated reddish appearance, where soft beds of marl or clay are interposed, and which vary from an inch to several feet in thickness. The lineal extent of the depo- sit, of which a section is here laid open, is nearly a mile, and rises in precipitous mural cliffs of great height, indented with caves, in which the persecuted of a former age are saicf to have found an asy- lum. The whole deposit is extremely rich in organic remains. Seve- ral entire fishes, with fins, tail, scales, and thinnest filmy members, have been procured. Along with three or four belonging to com- pletely new species, if not genera, and of which no account has yet been published, specimens of the Holoptychius, N., and Pte- richthys are to be found in the greatest abundance. Beautiful plates of five distinct animals are figured in Dr Anderson's Essay- pije. z z 722 FIFESH1RE. '.' The place in the rock," says this accurate observer, * which these curious relics occupied was towards the base, and immedi- ately under the argillaceous marly beds mentioned above. Ex- ternally they have undergone but little change in their form, co- lour, or scaly covering ; being still as perfect in their organic de- velopement, even to the minute silken fin, as when they sported in the waters of a distant primeval age. The substance of the body, however, and every trace or vestige of internal organization, have entirely disappeared, and the material of the rock has been substituted in their place, — the enamel of the scales being less, soluble than the more calcareous matter of which the bones are composed." A vein of greenstone separates the sandstone now described from the beds which belong to the coal formation, throwing them up to an angle of 26°. The junction is extremely well defined ; the sandstones are contorted in every possible form, as well as highly indurated, by the infusion of the volcanic rock. Two thin seams of coal may be observed at this locality. The ironstone and shaly matter occur about a quarter of a mile to the south, where they have assumed a nearly horizontal position. " The ga- lena," says Dr Anderson, s< occurs on the farm of Myretown of Blebo, and was noticed so early as the year 1722, when large out- liers or masses of ore were found on the surface of the ground. The papers in the possession of the present proprietor, General Bethune, describe these as weighing from ten to twenty-four stones in weight A vein was opened about two feet thick, but would seem to have been speedily abandoned in consequence of the hardness of the rock, which required to be blasted with gun-pow- der. Subsequently, and a little to the north, another vein wa» discovered, (probably a continuation only of the first,) which is described as containing a " rib" of metal of three inches, and gradually increasing to seven inches in thickness. Various at- tempts were made from time to time to work the mines, but the disturbed and ruptured state of the strata, and frequent intrusion of the trap, prevented the operations from being successfully car- ried on. The vein bears in a north-east by south-west direction." II. — Civil History. Remains of tumuli may be traced in one or two places, and re- lics have at different times been discovered, both of Roman ori- gin, and of feudal times, but not of any peculiar interest. There are in the grounds of Kemback, the remains of an old burying- 4 KBMBACK. 723 ground, but there is no trace of its history or of any building con- nected with it Land-owners, 8fc. — The number of heritors is five, of whom the principal is General Alexander Bethune of Blebo, &c* Parochial Registers. — The earliest registers are those of bap- tisms and burials, which both commence in the year 1735. That of proclamations begins 1st October 1783. The records appear at one period to have been made irregularly ; and there is no ac- count of the burials from 1738 to 1750. The only session book extant commences in the year 1732, and continues with some in- terruption to April 1775. III. — Population. Years, . 1755. 1811. J 821. 1881. 1841. Males, . . 282 Females, .... 869 Total, 420 . 625 . "634 651 780 The following is a table of the baptisms, proclamations, and burials for the five years preceding 1841, extracted from the re- gisters : — Tear, . 1836. 1837. 183a Baptisms, 22 . 15 . 18 Proclamations, 1 . 6 9 Purials, .17 26 22 . Number of inhabitants residing in villages, in country, .of inhabited houses, about of heritors, All of the heritors reside in the parish, and are possessed of in- comes above L.50. In addition to these, there are fifty-one persons holding feus of various values, as entered in the new valuation roll of the county. IV. — Industry. • Rent of Land.— -The valued rent of the parish, as it stands in the old roll of 1695, is L.2312, 6s. 8d. Scots. The amount on which the property-tax was assessed in 1815, was L.3441 Ster- ling, and in the new valuation roll, drawn up by order of the Com- missioners of Supply in 1841, the gross annual value of the land k stated at L.3889, 2s. 8d. Sterling. Agriculture — The number of imperial acres may be estimated at . 2200 . of which in cultivation or pasture, about 1700 under wood, is . 820 . * See Swan's Fife Illustrated, Vol. iii. p 75, for the aecount of this estate, and the others in the parish* 1839. 1840. Aver. 20 22 . 19 10 6 . 6 13 Id . 18 • 880 . 400 . 160 • 5 724 FIFESHIRR* About 500 acres of the arable land is occupied by the proprietors themselves, and the extent let to tenants is 1480. The leases tinder which it is held are generally for nineteen years ; though some now nearly expired are for ninety-nine years. A proportion of the rents are payable according to the Bars' prices of grain, and the average rent, under recent leases, may be estimated at L.l, 12s. per imperial acre. Part of the land adjoining the river Eden, and consisting of rich alluvial clay, is exceedingly fertile, and has been known to produce 64 bushels of wheat on a Scotch acre. Of late years, however, the crops of this grain have been very unproductive, partly from the inclemency of the seasons, and partly, it may be supposed, from the gradual exhaustion of the chemical elements in the soil, which are most favourable to its production. One farm, held under a long lease, has for many years been constantly in pasture, some of the inclosures of which were let during the last season for Above L.6 per Scotch acre* A considerable extent of the lands of Blebo were feued by a former proprietor of that estate, and about 100 acres are now held in this way, in lots of from two to fifteen acres, at moderate feu- duties, nearly all of it having been reclaimed from unproductive heath. The number of resident families in possession of these feus is about twenty, and most of them are partly or principally employed in other handicrafts, or as labourers on the adjoining farms. Wages. — The average wages of farm-labourers is, for men, Is. 3d. ; and for women, 8d. per day. The usual number of horses kept for agricultural purposes is about fifty- four. There are nine thrashing-machines, seven of which are worked by horse-power, one by steam, and one by water. Manufactures. — There are two mills for spinning yarns in the parish, both occupied by Mr David Yool, and both situated on the Kame or Ceres Burn : L Yoolfield Mill, built in 1839, driven by a water-wheel of 39 feet diameter, and 10 feet wide, assisted, when the water is scarce, by a steam-engine. There are now employed at it 98 women and girls, earning on an average 5s. per week ; 7 wrights, at 12s. 6d. ; 10 men, at 12s. ; 7 boys, at 4s. j 6 labourers, at 9s. ; and 80 hecklers. 2. Blebo mills, further up the stream, worked by a water-wheel and steam-engine of ten- horse power, at which are employed 4 men at an average at 13s. per week ; 3 boys, at 4s. ; and 37 females, at 10s. 3d. KEMBACK. 720 At Blebo mills, there is also a meal-mill, a barley- mill, and a flax scutching-mill. At Kemback mill, on the same stream, but further down, and also tenanted by Mr Yool, a wheel of sixteen horse power impels a meal-mill, a saw-mill, and a bone-mill, by which from 500 to 600 tons of bones are ground annually, and about 150 tons of rape-cake. V. — Parochial Economy. Stipend and Glebe. — The stipend is, wheat, 4 bolls, 1 firlot, 2 pecks, 1 lippy; meal, 3 bolls, 3 pecks; bear, 21 bolls, 1 firlot, 3 lippies; oats, 29 bolls, 1 firlot, 3 lippies; and money, L.109, 6s. 9d. The glebe extends to about 5 Scotch acres. In the year 1446, Robertus de Ferny and Mariota Olifert, hi* wife, lady of Kemback, granted to Gilbert de Galbrath, rector of the church of Kemback, and to his successors, four acres of the lands of Kemback with three cows' grass, and one horse's grass for ever, to be held on condition of the rector being always bound to say two masses weekly in the said church, for them, their parents^ and benefactors, " purgatorii poenas demollire, et fidelium ani- mas in paradisi gaudiis collocare." The deed and confirmation by the Bishop of St Andrews is witnessed by James, abbot of the monastery of Lundoris ; John, archdeacon of St Andrews ; Hugo Kennedy, chaplain of St Andrews ; John Beatoun, rector of Dairy ; and rector of the University of St Andrews ; John de Balfour, vicar of Lynlytholk ; James Treyle de Malgaske ; Thomas de Wemyss de Myrtyn ; James Butellere de Rumgally ; Alexander de Forsith de Nydy, and others. Patronage, $*& — The teinds and right of patronage belonged to the archbishopric of St Andrews. By the original charter of 1458, founding the old college of St Salvador's, they were appropriated by Bishop Kennedy, the founder, to the licentiates or second master of that college, who was appointed ex officio rector, or par- son of the parish, with a pension of L. 10 Scots for a vicar to be presented by the rector. In 1579, the University was remodelled by James VI., when the office of licentiatus was suppressed ; but the right to the teinds and patronage of Kemback was reserved to the college ; and as the second master had the right of presenting the vicar, the college, which came in place of the second master, continued to present. Since the union of the Colleges of St Sal* vador's and St Leonard's, in 1747, the Principal and Professors of 726 FlFESHIKE. the United* Col lege have been patrons of the parish, and titulars of the teinds. The following is a list of the ministers of the parish since the Reformation. The three first in the list were masters of St Sal- vador's, and ex officio ministers of Kemback : 1. Mr William Ramsay was minister in 1566; died 1570. 2. Mr James Martin was minister in 1567. 3. Mr David Monypenny in 1578; resigned in 1595. 4« Mr George Nairn, admitted 1596, translated to Kennoway 1604. 5. Mr David Monypenny, who resumed the charge 1604, at the desire of the congregation, who petitioned the Presbytery te that effect on Mr Nairn's translation. He was deposed for forni- cation, October 7, 1617. 6. Dr David Monro, admitted 1618; translated to Kilcon- quhar, 1628. 7. Mr John Barrow, admitted 1628; conformed to Presbytery 1638; demitted 164a 8. Mr David Pat ton, admitted July Uth 1648; translated to Kettins, June 19th 1650, (Vacant from 1650 to 1656.) 9. Mr John Wardlaw, admitted July 2d 1656 ; deposed 1662. 10. Mr Robert Glassford, admitted 7th September 1044 ; translated to Kilmeny 1667. 11. Mr John Christison, June 30th 1699. 12. Mr George Landells, admitted June 4, 1674; translated to Cupar 1682. 13. Mr Alexander . Edward, admitted February 22, 1682; outed 1689. (Vacant from 1689 to 1700.) 14 Mr Alexander Anderson, admitted 1700. 15. Mr William Cunningham, admitted March 1703. 16. Mr Alexander Walker, admitted March 1736. 17. Dr James Macdonald, the present incumbent, admitted 1781. It is worthy of remark, that only two inductions have taken place since 1703, a period of 139 years, and only one since 1736; Mr Walker having been minister of the parish fifty-five, and the present venerable incumbent the long period of sixty- one years. The present church was opened for public worship in .May 1814, and cost about L. 700. The manse was built in 1801. TORRYBURN. 727 The average yearly amount of collections in the clfurch for the last five years is L.17, 3s. 5d. Education, — There is one unendowed school besides the paro- chial school ; the number of scholars at both together averaging from 70 to 80. There is also a girl's school at Kemback mill, partly supported by ladies in the parish. The parochial teacher has the full legal salary ; but the present incumbent, being incapacitated from performing his duties, the he- ritors at present employ another teacher in his place at a salary of L.14 per annum. He states his annual profit from fees at L. 16; and he has also about L. 3 as session-clerk. The common branches of elementary education only are taught, there being but one pupil taking lessons in Latin. Poor. — The number of poor regularly supplied is from 15 to 20. The amount of voluntary assessment is about L. 1 1, 10s., besides which the session possess a fund bequeathed by one of the family of Blebo, amounting to L. 250. Collections, L.17, 3s. 5d. ; assessment, L.11, 10s.; interest of fund, L.10— L.38, 13?. 5d. February 1843. PARISH OF TORRYBURN. PRESBYTERY OF DUNFERMLINE, SYNOD OF FIFE . • THE REV. THOMAS DOIG, A. M., MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name, fyc. — The parish of Torryburn consists of the united pa- rishes of Torrie and Crombie. Crombie appears to have con- sisted of the district of the present parish south of the burn of Torrie, and of certain detached lands, distant about seven or eight miles, and now annexed quoad sacra to the parish of Saline. In lieu of these, the lands of Inzievar and Oakley, belonging, quoad civilia, to the parish of Saline, but cut off by the interven- ing parish of Carnock, have been annexed, quoad sacra, to Tor- ryburn. Torry, the original name of the parish to which these annexations have been made, is said to signify, in Gaelic, the 728 FIFESHIRE. king's height ; while the more modern name of Torryburn may be traced to the circumstance of the parish church being situated by the side of the burn of Torrie. Situation and Extent — The parish, as now constituted, forms the extreme south-west corner of the county of Fife. It is bound- ed on the west, by the parish of Culross, in the county of Perth ; on the north, by the parish of Carnock ; on the east, by the parishes of Carnock and Dunfermline ; and on the south and south-west, by the Frith of Forth, which separates it from the parishes- of Camden and Bo'ness, in the county of Linlith- gow. It is about five miles in length, and from one to two in breadth, comprising an area of five or six square miles. The surface is beautifully varied. The higher grounds command se- veral fine views of the frith and its opposite shore; and, in the distance, the castle and part of the city of Edinburgh are seen* Hydrography. — Besides the burn of Torrie, there are two small streams, by which the parish is partially bounded, at its eastern and western extremities. A small loch, which at one time existed on the lands of Oakley, is now drained. There are several chalybeate springs in the parish. The tide, at low water, recedes to a consi- derable distance from the shore. By care and industry net a little land might have been gained from the frith. Geology 9 $c. — Under this head the following facts have been communicated by Mr Cadell, tacksman of the Torrie colliery : The whole of the parish stands upon the coal measures, forming part of the basin which stretches across Scotland from south-west to north-east. Although the strata are very irregular, being in many places thrown up by the trap and dislocated by slips ; yet in no part of the parish are any of the inferior beds of carbonife- rous limestone, or old red sandstone, visible ; nor does it appear that any of the superior beds of magnesian limestone, or new red sandstone take on. In the south-west part of the parish, at the shore, the strata crop out to the east at an angle of about 45°, being apparently thrown into this angular position by the trap-hill en which Torrie House is built* About 400 yards east of the burn, which bounds the parish on the west, the strata dip to the south-east at about one in five* This rise increases opposite to the village of Torryburn, when the strata again dip into the east. The proprietor of Torrie has this year (1839) been at consi- derable expense in proving the coal-field along the shore ; and, from several borings, the basin between Torrie and Torryburn TORBYBURNr 739 has been found to show the following section, taken generally, viz : — Fathoms. Feet. Shale, with two flve-inch bands of ironstone, 13 Coal, 2f % Sandstone, shale, and three thin seams of eoal, unworkable, 85 Coal of a fine quality, 4* % Shale, sandstone, and three thin seams of coal, unworkable, 15 Coal, 2», Sandstone and shale, • . • • .15 At the north-west corner of the parish, where there is a colliery now at work, the strata are found dipping to the north-west. The general section, as obtained in the engine-pit, is as follows, viz. Fathoms. Feet. Shale, with thin beds of sandstone, .... 8 Coal, mostly wrought out, • . . . 4( Sandstone and shale, with several small unworkable seams of coal, 22 Coal (parrot seam), ..... 8 Sandstone and shale, with several thin unworkable seams of ooal, and two bands of ironstone further proved, . 19 Above the strata is in general found a bed of blue stiff clay, full of rounded nodules of coal, whinstone, sandstone, &c Above this, in some places, is a bed of sand; and, in others, of fine brown clay, suitable for making *bricks and tiles. II. — Civil History. There is no record, apparently, of the time when either Torrie or Crombie .was first erected into a parish. The earliest notice of the former, which we have seen, is in a list of parishes said to have been drawn up in the reign of King William the Lion, quoted in a recent publication from Sibbald's History of Fife. Crombie appears to have been dependent on the Abbey of Culross. In the " Booke of the Universall Kirk of Scotland/ 9 Torrie and Crombie aFe noticed as separate parishes in the years 1581 and 1586, and it is thought that their union was effected towards the close of the same century. One of the first notices in the session records is an intimation, of date^June 21st 1629, that " the ses- sion convened at the kirk of Crombie, appointed ane stent for re- pairing the kirk of Crombie, extending to 30 lb., to be paid by parishioners." But there is nothing in the record to enable us to ascertain whether that church was then, or afterwards, used for public worship. By the session records, it appears that there was a school i» Torryburn in the earlier part of the seventeenth century; for r June 17th 1632, Alexander Rae was " discharged from teaching bairns in the parish of Torrie ;" and, April 28th 1633, William 780 FlFESHIttfc. . Duddingstone was " received to read in the kirk before sermon, and to teach the bairns to read and write." In 1644, " the school- master was found unfit to teach such a number of bairns as comes to school," and an assistant teacher was in consequence appointed. The elders appear to have gone through the parish, from time to time, " to gather money to pay the master's house- mail and school- bouse ;" and, July 7th, 1 644, mention is made of a " bond be- twixt schoolmasters and session, subscribed by so many as could wreat, in name of the rest, except by Johne Dalgliesh." The fees of poor children were paid by the session, that there might be no excuse for absence from school. In illustration of the in- terest taken by the church at that period in the cause of educa- tion, we give the following extract from the record : " March 18th 1649, the schoolmaster being inquired if the bairns attend the school, he complained that manie faythers did withdraw their children, and the names of the bairns 9 faythers that were absent were given in to the session." They were u ordained to be sum- moned again the nixt day." And accordingly, " March 25th 1649, compeared the faythers of the bairns that were withdrawn from the school, and promised to send them to the school owre the nixt week without faile." Whenever there was a falling off in school attendance, the elders appear to have visited their se- veral quarters, to 4C deal" with the parents to send their children to school, and to keep them there as long as possible, instead of sending them away to " the herding." In 1655, there appear to have been four schools in the parish, one of which was in Torry or Newmill, and another in " Crumbietoune." And, about this time, " it was the desire of some that their bairns might be taught the Latin to tinge." • While the record proves that great efforts were made by the kirk-session to promote the cause of education, so also to see that family worship was observed, that the Sabbath was sanctified, and that drunkenness, swearing, evil speaking, and lewdness were discouraged. Offenders were fined, and publicly rebuked before the congregation. In 1643, " the Covenant was read and explained;" and, De- cember 10th 1648, " the' Covenant was renewed, and solemnly sworn to by all, and subscryved to by as manie as could wrht : the rest were desyred to come in upon Tuesday following^ for subscryv- tng the same by themselves, or by some at their desire." About this period, too, so memorable in the history of our fathers, there TORRYBURN. 731 appears to have been great anxiety to wait upon religious ordinan- ces* Thus, June 6th 1647, it is noticed, " that the kirk was too little to contain the people of the parish ;" and that " hundreds were constrained to ly in the kirkyard in time of sermon, about the doors and windows." An application was in consequence made to the heritors, who enlarged the church accommodation by building an aisle. After the occupation of Scotland by Cromwell, the record exhibits. complaints of " disorder," occasioned " by the troubles of the time ;" of disorder " by Englishmen," and " by English souldiers." And, October 16th 1653, the minister re- ports to the session, that there were in the parish " ignorant per* sons, scandalous livers, persons who had not attended diets of ex- amination, and those who did not profess to keep family worship, in all near to 200 persons*" As illustrative of the spirit of our fathers about this period, the following public collections may be noticed, which were made in the parish between the years 1631 and 1658 : 163), For tbe distressed Germans, • 1692, For the captives of Dysart and Kirkaldy, 1643, For the captives of Inverkeithing, &c. 1647, For tbe distressed people in Argyle, . . 1647, For tbe bridge of Cramond, and tbe distressed persons re- commended by the General Assembly, 1651, For prisoners at Newcastle, 1652, For Lieutenant Jardine, 1652, For " the desolate toune of Glasgow/' 1652, For the captives among the Turks, . • 1653, For soldiers, prisoners, and others, 1656, For the town of Edinburgh, 1656, For bursars, . 1656, For pious uses, 1657, For ** the Grecians, and the toune of Anstruther," 1658, For the town of St Andrews, Under tbe Episcopal usurpation, during the reigns of Charles II. and James VII., the discipline appears to have been maintain- ed with considerable strictness. None of the festivals or saints' days seem to have been observed ; and the communion was dis- pensed on a Sabbath, and sometimes on two successive Sabbaths, by appointment of the session. The first Presbyterian minister after the Revolution, Mr Allan Logan, was ordained July 24, 1695. His session consisted of thirteen elders; and discipline continued to be exercised with a very searching strictness. Dur- ing his incumbency, till he was translated to Culross, in 1717, many curious notices are to be found in the record. Under thid head we may notice an oath of purgation, administered, in 1703* to one Curry, who had been accused of adultery ; the appearance L.80 Scots* 4 26 13 4 133 6 8 36 49 6 .0 40 10 26 16 4 5 6 22 24 792 FIFE8HIRE. before the session, in 1705, of one Dr Sibbald, a physician, who appears to have been a very worthless character ; and the exami- nation, in 1704, of one Lillias Adie, accused of witchcraft, who afterwards died in the jail of Dunfermline, and was buried within the flood-mark between the villages of Torryburn and Torrie. Mr Logan's great hobby appears to have been the prosecution of witches; and, April 4, 1709, Helen Kay was rebuked before the congregation for having said that the minister " was daft," when she " heard him speak against the witches/ 9 In 1697, a great mortality prevailed in the parish, the burials that year amounting to 1 14. It was a time of great scarcity all over the country; and the tradition is, that the people died in conse- quence of unwholesome food, and of an immoderate use of a particu- lar kind of fish which they caught in the frith. Nothing is remem- bered of a more modern date that is worthy of notice. Only it may be noticed, that Torryburn appears to have been in its most lourishing state about sixty or seventy years ago. As a place of enterprise it never has recovered from the effects of the failure of the then proprietor of Crombie. The coal and salt works, which had previously been in full operation, were abandoned ; and, in so far as a flourishing trade invests a locality with importance and in- terest, it must now be said of Torryburn, that it has seen better days. Chief Land-owners. — Without reckoning the lands annexed quoad sacra to Saline, but including that part of Saline annexed quoad sacra to Torryburn, the parish is divided among seven pro- prietors, whose valued rent is L»5377£ Scots, and whose real rental may probably amount to nearly the same sum in Sterling money. The present proprietors, with their valued rent in Scots money, are : — Andrew ColvUle of Ochiltree and Crombie, LJ640* Captain James Erakine Werayss of Wemyss and Torrie, . 1475 Andrew Well wood of Garvoch and Pitliver, . • 788 Henry Beveridge of Inzierar, • . . 718 The Heirs of Sir Robert Preston, Bart of Valleyfield, . 414$ The Heirs of General Farquharson of Oakley, . . $35^ Miss Erskine of Dunimarle, &c . • 56 Antiquities* — These are few in number, comprising the ruins of the small church of Crombie, occupying a commanding situation overlooking the frith; and a large stone at a place called the Tolbzies, supposed to have been erected as a memorial of a fight at some remote period. Modern Buildings. — The only edifice of this description worthy 3 T0RRYBU1W. 733 of notice is the House of Torrie, which is finely situated, and has .a handsome appearance. A valuable collection of paintings, which once gave to it an interest, fell by bequest, at the death of the late Sir John Erskine, Bart., to the University of Edinburgh. III. — Population. By referring to the average annual number of births and bap- tisms, the population may be estimated at 1250 in the year 1640 • at 1800 in 1670; and at 1550 in 1680. During what may be considered to have been the most flourishing period of the history of the parish, between 1770 and 1780, the population, by a simi- lar reference, may be estimated at from 1800 to 1900 souls. In 1755, the return of the population made to Dr Webster was 1635; and, in 1792, it is stated in the former Statistical Account at 1600. Table of the population, distinguishing the sexes : Years. Males. Females. Souls. 1801, 580 828 1408 1811, 654 807 1461 1821, 689 804 1443 1881, 612 824 I486 1886, 648 851 1494 In the enumeration of 1836, teamen belonging to registered vessels are included ; a class excluded from the Government enu- merations of the four preceding periods. These are 18 in num- ber. The actual increase of population since 1831 has been oc- casioned by the re-opening of Torrie colliery, and the influx in consequence into the parish of 13 families of colliers, consisting of 65 souls. Of the population in 1836, residing in villages, that of Torry- burn was 6c 5, of Torrie or NewmiU, 394 ; of Crombie Point, 81 ; and of Crombie, 47. ' Average annual number of births and baptisms : Years. Ay ?' x?"* Years. A? TJ f"" Years. **?£* 163&-40, 464 1771-80, 92* 1811-20, 40ft 1665-70, 67 1781-90, 64ft 1821-80, 89( 1671-80, 57ft 1791-1800, 51ft 1831-35, «Sf 1763-70, 631 1801-10, 42ft • During the last thirty or forty years, the register is not complete ; parents not unfrequerotly neglecting to have the names of their children inserted in it ; while, unhappily, there are families, who are altogether indifferent about religious ordinances, and whose children in consequence are un baptized. Including those which have not been inserted in the register, the average annual number 734 •FIFESHIRE. * of births during the last seven years may be estimated at 48 or 50. Average annual number of marriage contracts, including those where the man or where both parties were resident in the parish, but not those where the woman only was resident. Years. 1635-40, 1652-57, 1763-70, 1771-80, Aver, an- nual No. n 144 12 Years. 1781-90, 1791-1800, 1801-10, 1811-20, Aver. an. Dual No. 64 Dual No. 1821-30, 8f 1831-35, 10| Average annual number of burials : Years. Aver, an- nual No. 1606-1700, 62} 1701-10, 26^ 1711-20, 42^ 1721-30, 42fc 1731-40, 404 Years, 1741-50 1751-60, 1761-70, 1771-80, 1781-90, Aver, an- nual No. 39A 464 aa y **ro A A > • **TO Years. Aver, an- nual No. 1791-1800, 36f 1801-10, 26* 1811-20, 25f 1821-30, 26* 1831-35, 32 N. B.— In 1697, a year of great scarcity, the number of burials was 114. State of the population in June 7, 1841 : Houses. Uninhab. Inhab. Torryburn village, Torry village, Crombie Point village, Country, north part, Country, south part, Total, Ajre. Males. •Under 5, 82 'From 5 to 10, 82 10 — 15, 63 15 — 20, 58 20 — 25, 54 25 — :p0, 37 30 — 35, 87 35 — 40, 28 40 — 45, 45 45 — 50, 29 8 6 1 1 5 107 97 14 34 40 Families. 152 107 16 39 46 Souls. Males. Females. 231. 166 17 82 95 871 245 87 82 109 Total 602 411 54 164 204 21 292 360 591 844 1435 Ages of the population : Females. 106 86 94 79 68 71 42 52 50 47 Total. 188 168 157 137 122 108 79 80 95 76 Age. 50 — 55, 55 — 60, 60 — 65, 65—70, 70 — 75, 75 — 80, 80 — 85, 85 — 90, 95, Total, Males. 20 16 20 8 7 1 4 "59T- Females. 41 21 34 20 12 8 11 I 1 Total. 61 87 54 28 19 9 15 1 1 844 1435 Of the entire population, 1097 were born in the county of Fife, 8 10 in other parts of Scotland, 25 in England, 1 in Ireland, 1 of English parents abroad, and I of foreign parents abroad. Of the 360 families in the parish, 52 consisted of 1 person in «acb, 58 of 2, 68, of 3, 45 of 4, 46 of 5, 38 of 6, 25 of 7, 18 of 8, 6 of 9, 1 of 11* 1 of 13) and 2 of 14 persons in each. TORKYBURN. IV. — Industry. Families chiefly employed in Trade, manu- Team. Agriculture. factures, and All others. handicraft. 1811, 61 - 801 4 1821, 65 • 284 3 1631, 44 - 120 182 735 9 In 1886, the total number of persons of all ages belonging to the agricultural class was 359 ; to other classes, 1135. In 1831, in the return made to Government, of the male popu- lation upwards of twenty years of age, there were, agricultural oc- cupiers of the 6rst class, 15 ; do. of the second class, 5 ; agricul- tural labourers, 54 ; manufacturers or weavers, 63 ; retail trade and handicraft, 81 ; wholesale, capitalists, clergy, and professional, 7; labourers not agricultural, 44 ; all other males upwards of twenty years, 28; male servants upwards of twenty years, 3 ; female ser- vants of all ages, 35. In 1831, of the males above twenty years of age employed in retail trade and handicraft occupations there were, carriers and carters 7, slaters 7, bakers 6, carpenters 6, sawyers 6, shoemakers 6, cabinet-makers 5, publicans 5, tailors 5, black* smiths 4, masons 3, wheelwrights 3, grocers 3, butchers 2, millers 2, plasterers 2, house-painter 1, clock and watchmaker 1, drysalt- er 1, earthenware 1, cattle-doctor 1, maltster 1, shopkeeper 1, flax-dresser 1, wood-merchant 1. The number of persons thus classified in the return to Government in 1831 is much the same, now. A few of the weavers are employed in the damask manu- facture, for which Dunfermline has long been celebrated ; but most of them keep by the cotton manufacture for the Glasgow market. This last has long been a poor trade ; but being easily learned* and the workman being his own master, it is generally preferred. The tambouring and sewing of muslin give employment to a con- siderable number of females. But there is not that briskness in any of these departments which would indicate a flourishing state of trade. The extensive salt and coal works, which at one time contributed to the industry of the parish, were given up in the latter part of the last century. One colliery only now remains, in which about thirty pickmen, and thirty labourers and others, are employed. During the last six years, the working has been confined to a seam of 3 feet, containing in some places 1£ feet of parrot coal of very fine quality, suitable for gas-works. The an- nual produce may be stated at 2500 tons of parrot coal, and 6000 tons of rough or splint coal, in all 8500 tons, of which two* 786 FIFBSHIRE. thirds are shipped, and one-third sold in the adjacent country. The only other public work in the parish is that of a wood-mer- chant, whose establishment is extensive and flourishing. Rent.— >The rent of land in the parish varies from L. 1 to L.4 per acre. The average rent may be stated at L.2, 10s. per acre. The number of farms is 11. Several of them may be consider- ed large ; and in all of tbem, we believe, the most approved modes of husbandry are followed. Like many other small towns on the coast of Fife, Torryburn was more of a seafaring place formerly than now. There are still, however, seven vessels belonging to this parish, registering about 380 tons. There is a small pier both at Crombie Point and at Torrie, but the latter stands much in need of repair. V.— Parochial Economy. The nearest market-town is Dunfermline, distant about three miles from the eastern boundary of the parish, and four and one- third from the parish church. The villages are, Torryburn, Torrie or Newmill, Crombie Point, and Crombie, with a population respectively of 655, 394, 81, and 47. By means of a private post from Dunfermline, letters and news- papers are regularly received. There are upwards of four miles of excellent turnpike road in the parish ; but some of the other roads are in bad condition, and during the winter months, in many places almost impassable. This is a great inconvenience to se- veral families, as it respects their attendance at church ; and the evil has recently been aggravated, since the shutting up, by the proprietor of Torrie, of a footpath, which, from time immemorial, had been understood to be a kirk road. A similar road in another part of the parish was shut up several years ago by the then pro- prietor -of Crombie. Along the turnpike road a stage-coach from Kirkaldy, by Dunfermline to Falkirk, communicating with Glas- gow by the Forth and Clyde Canal, passes every lawful day ; and, by means of a boat at Crombie Point, travellers have access to the steam-vessels that ply on the Forth between Edinburgh and Stirling. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church, rebuilt in 1800, is in good condition, with the exception of one of the gables, which is rent from top to bottom. It is situated at the east end of the Til- lage of Torryburn, and is not inconveniently placed for the great- er portion of the inhabitants ; 1135 of the population being dis- tant from it not more than one mile, and 1289 not more than two TORRTBURN. 737 miles. The number of sittings, allowing 18 inches to each, is 502, the occupancy of which was found, in 1836, to be engrossed by a total population of 818. Of the sittings, 214 were formerly let, besides others let in a smuggled way by some of the farmers. But it is believed that few, if any, will be let in future ; the peo- ple being convinced, since their attention was recently directed to the matter, that the imposition of seat rents is illegal. An end, it is hoped, has thus been put to what the minister regards, and has publicly denounced, as a system of ungodly merchandize. The church is by far too small for the parish. The stipend awarded by the Court of Teinds in 18J5, was 216 bolls, half meal and half barley, besides 6 bolls meal, in lieu of the old glebe of Crombie; L. 1, 13s, 4d. for foggage, and L. 8, 6s. 8d. for communion elements. But, when allocated, owing to an apparent want of funds, the amount, including the allowance for the glebe of Crombie, for foggage and for communion elements, was found to be only 91 bolls, 3 6 riots, 1 peck, 3 lippies meal ; 85 bolls, 3 firlots, 1 peck, 3 lippies, barley ; and L. 20, 5s* in money. The glebe of Torrybum consists of three acres, and is let at an annual rent of L. 9. The manse was built in 1768, and repaired about thirty years ago. Most of the apartments are small and inconvenient. There is no Seceding or Dissenting place of worship in the pa* rish. The great body of the people profess to adhere to the Es- tablished Church. In 1836, the religious profession of the pa- rishioners, including children with their parents, was as follows : Communicants. Total adherents. Established Church, .445 1332 Other religious denominations, 73 160 Avowed infidels, • ... 2 Total, ~&\S 1404 Of those professing to be connected with other denominations than the Established Church, there were belonging to Communicants. Total adherents. United Secession, • 57 126 Relief, Original Burghers. Reformed Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Oallican or French Church, 73 160 The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is dispensed twice a-year ; the average number of communicants being in winter 340, and in summer 370. There are two Sabbath schools, attended by about GO children. In the church there are two diets of public wor- FIPE. 3 A 7 18 6 10 2 3 1 2 • m 1 73S FIKESHIRK. skip all the year round ; and these, for the most part, are remark- ably well attended. We trust that an increasing vaiue is being at- tached to public worship as a Divine ordinance. But, for a long period, the views, in regard to this, of a considerable part of the population in the west of Fife, appear to have been extremely low. Many seem never to have thought of attending public wor- ship, unless as hearers or spectators on a communion Sabbath. This must have been the case in Torryburn during the earlier part of the last century, when, with a population greater than at present, there were no Dissenters. So, also, it must have been in the adjoining parish of Dunfermline, where, before the Seces- sion took place, the only place of worship was the old parish church, capable of accommodating a congregation of from' 1200 to 1400, while the population of that parish was then about 8000. There are no regularly constituted societies for religious pur- poses. A few individuals contribute to defray the expenses of a monthly distribution of tracts. The number of copies distributed annually is about 3400. Yearly collections are made in aid of the General Assembly's schemes for promoting the cause of Christ. These in 1839 were, for colonial churches, L.3; for church ex- tension, L. 3, 2s. ; for education, L. 3, 8s. ; for the India mission, L. 4, 16s.; for the Jews, L. 5, 4s.; in all, L. 19, 12s.; besides L. 14 contributed by individuals to particular exertions in connec- tion with the Church Extension scheme. Education. — Besides the parochial school there are three others. Two of these are partly sewing-schools, taught by females. The instruction in the parochial school consists of English reading and grammar, writing, arithmetic, geography, and Latin when requir- ed. The schoolmaster is qualified, in addition, to give lessons in Greek and French. His salary is L. 34, 4s. 4^d. The fees, with other emoluments, may amount to L. 46. The house pro- vided for him is far from commodious. The school-room, which is merely rented by the heritors, is unworthy of the parish. The number of children attending the several schools in the parish may be about 140. The number of children between five and fifteen years of age, who have been taught to read, is 351 ; and taught to write, 194. The total number attending school, including those who frequent schools in the adjoining parishes, is about 210. There are three males and three females, grown up, who admit that they have never been taught to read. On the whole, the benefits of education do not appear to be so generally appreciated as could be wished ; and by many the school fees are very irregularly paii TORRYBURN. 739 There is a small parochial library, but not much of a taste for reading. Friendly Societies. — A most useful institution of this description is " the dead-box," out of which the contributors receive a sum at the death of any member of their families to defray funeral ex- penses ; L.6 at the death of a grown-up person, and L.2 at the death of a child. Poor and Parochial Funds. — During the years 1835, 1836, and 1837, the average annual amount of collections for the poor at the parish church was L.36, 4s. 9d. ; of voluntary assessment by he- ritors, L.1 50, lis. Id.; and of the sum arising from mortcloths, L.1, 15s. 8d. The extravagance of the fees for mortcloths had the effect, about ten years ago, of leading to the formation of a private mortcloth society, which is very generally countenanced. The average number of paupers on the permanent roll is 33, and the average amount of the sums distributed amongst them annual- ly, L.1 41, 14s. Id. The average annual expenditure on occa- sional paupers is L.3, 7s., and on the education of poor children, L.6. The highest annual rate of relief to paupers on the perma- nent roll is L.7, 12s., and the lowest, L.2, 12s. Coals and soup are distributed annually, in addition, to the amount of about L.31 ; and several poor children are educated at the expense of the Hon. Mrs Coivile of Ochiltree, the lady of one of the heritors, to whose bounty in articles of clothing also many of the poorer parishioners are indebted. Generally speaking, the reverse of a spirit of re- luctance to receive parochial aid is manifested ; and, in the vil- lages of Torryburn and Torrie, one family in six receives occa- sional charity in oue shape or another. Fairs.— There is one held annually at the west end of Torry- burn village, on the second Wednesday of July. No business is cow transacted beyond the sale of confections and crockery. In the evening, there is usually a horse-race. Inns, Alehouses, fyc. — Of these, there are not fewer than 14, «»ot to mention another, which, although not within the parish, is within a hundred yards of its western extremity. A year or two ago, the number within the parish was eighteen ; and for the di- minution which has since taken place, and which, it is hoped, will go on progressively as the holders of licenses die out or remove, we are mainly indebted to the enlightened interference of Mr Be* ye ridge of Inzievar. Drawn up in 1841. Revised January 1843, PARISH OF KIRKCALDY. * PRESBYTERY OF KIRKCALDY, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. JOHN ALEXANDER, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name, — There seems to be no good reason for doubting the accuracy of the derivation commonly given of the name. It is said to be compounded of Cil or Kily and Celedei or Keledie, the Culdees. Prior to the introduction and establishment of Popery in Scotland, the Culdees, who had erected several religious esta- blishments in Fife and Kinross, had one of their houses, called cells, here ; hence the place was called Kil-celedei. During the Sco to- Saxon period the name was changed into Kirkcaledie, and subsequently it was contracted into Kirkcaldie and Kirkcaldy. Extent and Boundaries. — The parish was originally large, but is now very small, in consequence of the erection of the adjacent parish of Abbotshall, the greater part of which was disjoined from Kirkcaldy. The parish consists of one small farm ; a piece of acre-land, which has been divided, from time immemorial, among a number of small proprietors ; the burgh acres ; and the com* monties, with the moss and moor, which at one time belonged to the town. It is 2£ miles in length, and scarcely 1 in breadth : and is bounded on the south-east, by the Frith of Forth ; on the north-east, by the parish of Dysart ; on the north-west, by the parishes of Dysart and Auchterderran ; and on the south-west, by the parish of Abbotshall. Topographical Appearances. — It rises towards the north, for the most part very gradually, to an elevation of 300 feet above the level of the sea. The sea-beach is level and sandy. The parish em- braces about three-fourths of a mile of the sea*coast A short * The former Statistical Account of Kirkcaldy by Dr Thomas Fleming is minute and accurate. The writer of this account has freely used it, and he wishes to ac- knowledge this here, as be will not make more special reference to it in toe following pages. KIUKCALDY. 741 distance inward from the sea the land is nearly level, and then it rises rather abruptly. On this flat ground, along a section of a spacious bay on the north side of the Frith of Forth, the town stands. It is ten miles due north from Edinburgh. It may be proper to mention, while speaking of the town of Kirkcaldy, that it comprehends much more than the royal burgh, though this be all of it that lies within the parish. When it is viewed as a considerable sea-port, and an important manufacturing town, it must be regarded as comprehending Linktown, in the pa- rish of Abbotshall, West Bridge, in the parish of Kinghorn, and all this is included within the Parliamentary burgh. To this also may be added Pathhead and Gallaton, in the parish of Dysart. These places are all adjoining, and form one town, though they are looked upon as distinct by the inhabitants, more from the divi- sions of parishes than from any thing else. The town, in this extended sense, has a population of 15,000 ; and little more than 5000 reside within Kirkcaldy proper. Climate. — The climate is dry and salubrious, and favourable to longevity, of which there are numerous instances. On account of the great and sudden variations in the temperature of the atmo- sphere during the end of spring and beginning of summer, croup, bronchitis, and other forms of thoracic inflammatory complaints are prevalent. Hydrography.— This parish presents scarcely any thing worthy of notice under this head. The East Burn, a small stream, after receiving one or two nameless tributaries in its course, which does not exceed three miles, falls into the sea at the point where the parishes of Dysart and Kirkcaldy meet on the coast. This rivu- let deserves to be mentioned chiefly on account of its romantic and richly wooded banks, which are commonly called the Den. These woods and banks are intersected with walks, to which the proprietor allows the public to have access ; and thus the inhabit- ants have the privilege and advantage of a beautiful and agree- able retreat in the immediate vicinity of the town. Minerals. — The limited extent of this parish, the absence of rocks on its sea coast, and the fact, that, in very few places, the strata make their appearance on the surface, render it scanty in geological phenomena. The general dip of the strata, where their bearings are regular, and have not been deranged by the convulsions which threw up the trap rocks, that intersect this coal- field, and are so troublesome in the working of the coal, is south- 742 FIFESHIRF. south-east, from a ridge near the northern extremity of the parish. The prevailing strata are sandstone, slate, clay, and till, contain- ing a number of seams of coal, varying in thickness from 9 inches to 3£ feet. Above the coal, which is now being wrought, there is a bed of whinstone 8 fathoms thick. There is only one coal-pit in operation at present. It is 46 fathoms deep. The bed of coal is 5£ feet in thickness ; but the expense of turning out this coal is much increased, in consequence of its being composed of two seams, separated by a stratum of clay 15 inches thick. This, however, only lessens the value of the coal-field to the proprietor, and does not raise the price of coal to the consumer ; — for this is prevented by the competition of other coal- works in the neighbour- hood. Considerable quantities of iron ore are also found in this coal- field in globular masses. About thirty years ago, when the iron trade was more profitable than il is just now, this ore was wrought along with the coal, and was sold at 10s. 6d. per ton to the Car- ron Company. The working of it has been discontinued for many years. The present tacksman of the Dunnikier colliery could find buyers of the iron in England ; but the price* offered are not .sufficiently remunerating to encourage him to embark in this branch of trade. Soil. — Tbe soil of the plain along the coast, on which the town is built, as may be seen in all the gardens on the south side of the High Street, is exceedingly sandy. To the north of the High Street, where the ground begins to ascend, and all along tbe back of the town in its immediate vicinity, the soil is dry rich loam, and very productive. On the rising ground farther north, the sub- soil becomes retentive, and the land is cold, wet, and clayey. The part of the parish most distant from the sea is what was for- merly the town's common moor ; and, though much has been done for it by cultivation and improvements, it still remains comparatively unproductive* Zoology. — Between twenty and thirty years ago, a little insect, whose effects are denominated the American blight, made its ap- pearance here. Ever since that time, it has been very destructive to apple trees in this parish. Once visited by it, they seldom after- wards recover health. Various expedients have been tried to pre- vent its attacks, and to discover a remedy for the disease it leaves behind it ; but all such attempts have hitherto been unsuccessful, ifofawy.— Interesting as is this district of Fife to botanists, tbe parish of Kirkcaldy may be said to be destitute of botanical richei. KIRKCALDY. 743 ■ No plants are found in it, except what are common in similar lo- calities. The adjacency of the spot to this parish may justify us in noticing here, that around Ravenscraig Castle, in the parish of Dysart, these two rare plants are found, the sea-fern (Asplenium marinum,) and Alexanders (Smyrnium Olusatrum.) The only plantations in the parish are about Dunnikier house, and in the den already mentioned. They are between sixty and seventy years old, and contain various kinds of fir, beech, elm, and oak ; but they present nothing remarkable. II. — Civil History. No historical account of this town has ever been published. Nor do the burgh records throw any light on its earlier history. It seems, however, to have been a place of considerable import* ance at a very remote period. The obscurity of antiquity conceals what accident or causes led the Culdees to plant an establishment here ; and the date of these Christians coming to occupy this as one of their stations is unknown. Of the existence of one of their houses here, no reasonable doubt can be entertained. Its sup- pression, or at least it being brought into subjection to the religi- ous establishment at Dunfermline, under which it subsequently continued for a long time, very probably took place in the earlier part of the twelfth century. David I., before the middle of that century, introduced thirteen English monks from Canterbury, be- longing to the order of St Benedict, into the Culdee establish- ment at Dunfermline: and thus brought it under the dominion of the Pope. Such an innovation awakened the alarm of the Cul- dees, by threatening their independence with overthrow. To re- concile them to the change, and to divert their attention from the danger of their contemplated overthrow, the king elevated the priory of Dunfermline to the rank of an abbey ; and to flatter them still farther, it is said he, at the same time, suppressed the Culdees of Kirkcaldy, or made them subordinate to, and depend* Qiit on, the newly erected abbey. The first authentic notice of the town, except what is vague and general, from which the commencement of its history must be dated, is its erection into a burgh of regality in the year 1334. David II. at this date mortified Kirkcaldv to the abbot of Dun- fermline, and his successors. For more than a century, it was held by this monastery, and used in all probability as the princi- pal sea-port of Dunfermline, In 1450, the commendator and con- vent of Dunfermline, "gave, granted, and disponed to the bailies and community of the burgh of Kirkcaldy, then present, and their 744 FIPESHIRB. successors, for ever, the burgh, the harbour of the same, and all burgage farms of the said burgh, with the small customs, lie tolls, stallages, with courts and their issues; also common pasture within the muir of Kirkcaldy, and pertinents thereof, as freely in all and by every respect as the burgesses of the burgh of Dun- fermline have enjoyed and possessed*" Not long after this dis- position was granted, the holding of the burgh was changed. From being one of the burghs of the lordship of Dunfermline, it was erected into a free royal burgh, with all the privileges of other royal burghs. The original charter having been lost, the date of the royal burgh's»erection is unknown. Charles I. granted a charter of confirmation to Kirkcaldy in 1644* ratifying all its former rights and immunities ; and erecting it de novo, into a " new free burgh royal," with enlarged powers and privileges. Prior to the grant- ing of this charter, the magistracy consisted of two bailies and a treasurer, but the charter of Charles gave power to choose " a provost, bailies, a dean of guild, and a treasurer, for administra- tion of justice, and government of the burgh." The provost has also the title of admiral. Historical Notices. — This town suffered severely during the civil war that followed the contest between the English Parliament and Charles I. ; and also in the struggle maintained by the Covenan- ters in Scotland. It appears from a statement in the burgh re- cords, that no less than 94 vessels belonging to this port, of the value of L.53,000 Sterling, were lost at sea, or taken by the enemy, between the beginning of the war and the restoration. The pub- lic authorities and inhabitants of Kirkcaldy espoused the cause of the Parliament, and opposed the Royalists. The cause of the Covenanters also was well supported here. The presbytery records show, that the cause was popular in the district, and that the covenant was very generally subscribed. This parish added a large force to the Covenanters, as may be inferred from the circumstance, that the battle of Kilsyth alone, in 1645, is said to have left 200 widows in the town. The ge- neral feeling may be gathered from the session records, in which we find " runawayes from their cullors warnit," and " declaired contumacious." Sums were allowed from the poor's funds " for horses to cary woundit men," and to be given to " woundit men." On the margins of both the presbytery and session records, spe- cial notice is taken of the " batell of Kilsyth." Mapsy #c— -No map or survey of the town or parish is known to KIRKCALDY. 745 have existed previous to 1809. A plan of the burgh was drawn that year by Mr Moore of Abbotshall, preparatory to application be- ing made to Parliament for a police bill. This map is still pre- served. Another was made by Mr Wood of Edinburgh in 1824, which is also in possession of the Town- Council. Mr John Sang, civil-engineer, Kirkcaldy, executed a plan of the burgh, including the whole of the royalty, in J 840, when the assessment under the new Prison Act was to be levied on the county : one copy of which was deposited with the commissioners of supply, and ano- ther with the town-council of Kirkcaldy.* Eminent Characters* — Henry Balnaves of Halhill, who acted a conspicuous part in the reigns of James V. and his daughter Mary, was the son of poor parents in the town of Kirkcaldy. After attending school at St Andrews, be went to Cologne, and prosecut- ed his studies. While receiving a liberal education there, he was at the same time instructed in the principles of the Protestant faith. After his return to Scotland he was appointed a Lord of Session in 1538 ; and had a seat in several Parliaments. He took an active part in forwarding the work of the Reformation, and oftener than once suffered imprisonment for his zeal. He lent valuable assistance, when he was in parliament, to the passing of an act, that the enemies of the reformation violently opposed, for allowing " baith the New Testament and the Auld," to be trans- lated into the vulgar tongue and read. The sixth General Assem- bly of the Church of Scotland, appointed him, along with others, in 1563, " to advise the Booke of Discipline (viz. the first Book), diligentlie, consider the contents thereof, noting their judgments in writing, and to report to the nixt General Assemblie of the kirk." Mr George Gillespie and his brother Patrick, whose names are intimately associated with the history of the Church of Scot- land, during the period immediately subsequent to the second Re- formation, were sons of Mr John Gillespie, second minister of the collegiate charge of Kirkcaldy. George was born in 1613, and Patrick in 1617. George was sent to college as the presby- tery's bursar, and was supported by contributions from the kirk- sessions, as appears from the following extract from Kirkcaldy ses- ' sion records : November 1629, " The session are content that * These two copies were legalised in the following form s Cupar, 27th October 1840. This is one of the copies of the plan of the boundary of the royal burgh of Kirkcaldy, produced to the general meeting of the commission- ers of supply for the county of Fife held here this day, along with the agreement be- twixt the magistrates of Kirkcaldy and a committee of the commissioners of supply, fixing the boundaries of the said burgh, and which is referred to in their minute of this date. (Signed) G. Anderson, Provost. O. Tyndall Bruce, Convener of the County. 746 FIFESHIRE. Mr George Gillespie shall have as much money of our session for his interteynment, as Dysart gives, viz. 20 merks, being our presbytery's bursar." He was ordained to be minister of Wemyssj on the " supplication" of the kirk and parish, and in opposition to the wish and order of the Archbishop of St Andrews. Mr Robert Douglas, minister of Kirkcaldy, who will be noticed after- wards, presided at the ordination. Mr Gillespie was soon after translated to Edinburgh ; and in 1643, he was nominated and ap- pointed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, to be one of the Scotch Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly of Divines. He was one of its youngest members, and his abili- ties, acuteness, knowledge, and skill in debate, often astonished the assembly and confounded his adversaries. He is described by Principal Baillie as " the verie learned and acute Mr Gilles- pie, a singular ornament of our church, than whom no one in the whole assembly (Westminster,) speaks to better purpose." On one occasion, as is related, after Selden, with all his talents and eru- dition, had maintained, in an eleborate speech, the supremacy of the civil magistrate in the government of the church, Baillie, feel- ing strongly the necessity of the arguments advanced being an* swered, said to Gillespie, " Get up, George, and defend the kirk of your fathers." He replied with so much learning and ability, that Selden, feeling the overpowering force of Gillespie's strong arguments and conclusive reasoning, is reported to have whispered to a friend beside him, " that boy has, in the course of one speech, overturned the labours of my past years." George Gillespie wrote Miscellanies, and published also an acute and able work, entitled " Aaron's Rod Blossoming," for which he is most justly celebrat- ed. He was chosen moderator of the General Assembly in 1648, and died at Kirkcaldy in the end of the same year. A monu- ment was erected to his memory, which, as an inscription on a plain tablet, that still stands, informs us, was thrown down through the " malign influence of Archbishop Sharp." It was re-erected in 1745, by his grandson, the Rev. George Gillespie, minister of Strathmiglo. The tablet is still to be seen in the south- east porch of the present church. Mr Patrick Gillespie, besides being a native of Kirkcaldy, was for some time minister of the parish. After the death of Charles I. he favoured the side of the Commonwealth, and was appointed Principal of the University of Glasgow. He had to encounter much opposition and many difficulties, before he could be installed into the office. At the Restoration he was ejected* KIRKCALDY. 747 Mr Robert Douglas, another of the five commissioners ap- pointed by the General Assembly to repair to the Westminster Assembly, was for some years one of the ministers of this parish. It does not appear that he ever attended at Westminster. He became one of the ministers of Edinburgh, was moderator of the General Assembly, and preached at the coronation of Charles II., which took place at Scone in 1651. Three individuals were born in this town in the earlier part of last century, who attended the burgh school at the same time, and contracted a friendship there that continued through life ; and each of them attained a certain degree of eminence in the station he occupied, and the duties be undertook. We refer to James Oswald, Esq., Dr John Drysdale, and Dr Adam Smith. Mr Oswald of Dunnikier represented the county of Fife in one Parliament, and the Kirkcaldy district of burghs in three, between 1741 and 1768. During his parliamentary career, by attention to his duties, and his talent for business, he recommended himself to the ministry of the day, and gained their confidence. He thus secured for himself some of the honours of the State, and for his friends, as well as himself, the advantages of office. He was a privy-counsellor, and at different times he held the offices of a Commissioner of Trade, a Lord of the Treasury, and Vice- Trea- surer of Ireland. Dr Drysdale, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, was clerk to the General Assembly, and was twice chosen moderator. He obtained his presentation to a church in the city through the in- fluence of his friend and school companion, Mr Oswald. It may here be noticed, that, previous to the appointment of Dr Drysdale, the magistrates and town-council had entrusted the election of the city ministers to the general kirk-session. But in his case the council commenced to take the choice into their own hands, " for good reasons," according to the statement of the Doctor's bio* grapher and son-in-law. The last, but by far the greatest and most celebrated of the three, was Dr Adam Smith, the author of the Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, — a work which laid down principles and unfolded views of political science, that startled men by their novelty when they were first propounded, but whose soundness in general, whose enlightened and philosophical cha- racter, have long been admitted and applauded by political econo- mists. He was also the author of a work entitled the Theory of 743 F1FESHIRE. Moral Sentiments ;' but comparatively little of his well-merited and widely extended fame has arisen from this treatise. He was born here in 1728. After be left school, he was absent from the town for many years, following his literary pursuits, and dis- charging his professional duties in the chair of Moral Philosophy, which he for a time occupied in the University of Glasgow. But he returned again to Kirkcaldy, and resided here while he was composing his celebrated work. He died in 1789. It seems strange that no monument to his memory has ever been erected in Kirkcaldy. This want appears to iudicate a prevailing insensibility to the high honour conferred on the town, by its being the birth- place and long the residence of a man of such universal celebrity. Land-owners, — James Townsend Oswald, Esq. of Dunnikier, is proprietor of seven-eighths of the landward part of the parish. The other eighth is much subdivided. Parochial Registers. — Five classes of registers are preserved, viz. .minutes of session, registers of proclamations and marriages, of births and baptisms, of deaths and burials, and accounts of the collections and disbursements for the poor. The 6rst and the last of these are nearly entire, and in a good state of preserva- tion ; the other three are much mutilated* The oldest volume of the session records commences with January 1614, and the same volume contains, besides the minutes of session, a register of bap- tisms and marriages, commencing with the same date. The mi- nutes of session from 1645 to 1663 are wanting. In consequence of leaves being torn away at the beginning of a volume, the mi- nutes for the year 1632 are lost. With these exceptions, the minutes from 1614 are complete and well kept. There are du- plicates for considerable periods, the scroll copy of the minutes having been preserved. Antiquities. — Various relics, such as sculptured arms and in- scriptions, furnish grounds for supposing that a religious house must at one time have stood on the north side of the High Street Sepulchral remains also have been found in this locality. Stone coffins, and large quantities of human bones have been discovered in different places, by workmen digging for foundations. This town, like many others in ancient times, bad gates. They were called the east and west ports. The places where they stood still retain the names. These ports or gates, and the cross which stood at the market-place, were taken down early in the last century, of which nfttice is taken in the minutes of the town- council. Nothing like a ruin is found in the parish. KIBKCALDY. 749 Modern Bititdingi. — Besides the parish church, which will be noticed more particularly elsewhere, we may mention here, a new and elegant church which stands close upon the sea, on the High Street, and was erected last year. It cost nearly L.2000, and is an ornament to the eastern part of the town. The town-house and jail form one building, and it is situated near the middle of the town. It is a small, but very neat and hand- some building, in the Saxon Gothic style, and cost L.&000. The town-hall or council-room, in which the courts and meetings of the public bodies of the town are held, is spacious and well-finish- ed. It has lately been furnished with a portrait of Walter Fergus, Esq. of Strathore, copied by Colvin Smith, Esq. from an original painting by Raeburn. A number of gentlemen in the town pre- sented it to the council, to be hung up in the hall, as a memorial of Mr Fergus's connection for many years with the advancement and prosperity of the trade and public affairs of the burgh. The town is chiefly indebted for recent and extensive architec- tural improvements to the banks. The Bank of Scotland,, the Commercial Bank, the National Bank of Scotland, and the Glas- gow and Ship Bank have all branches here. They have all built large and elegaut offices, and houses for the agents, on the High Street. Besides the ornament of the bank buildings themselves to the street, it may be remarked, that they have improved the style of building around, and thus the aspect of the town has been greatly changed of late years. In the parish there is Dunnikier House, the seat of James Townsend Oswald, Esq., and in the town, or its immediate neigh- bourhood, there are three villas meriting notice, viz. that of John Fergus, Esq. of Strathore; Balsusney, the property of Colonel Fer- guson of Raith ; and St Brice-dale, the property of William Stark Dougall, Esq. of Scotscraig. III. — Population. No traces remain of any census of this parish having been taken prior to 1755; but the parochial registers furnish data upon which we may approximate at least to the amount of the popula- tion at a much earlier date. The births, annually registered, on an average during the ten years commencing with 1614 were 115. This number is much larger than the register has annually received for many years past. The practice of registration was more general then, we apprehend, than it is at present ; for the injury done to the interests of children by the inattention of pa- 750 FIFESHIRE. rents to this duty is matter for regret. If we suppose the popu- lation to have been as 35 to 1 of the births, it must have been at this period 4025. Its rapid increase after this date may be infer- red from the facts, that the church required to be enlarged in 1343, and in 1650 Abbotshall was disjoined from Kirkcaldy, and a new church was erected. From 1640 to 1650, the average of births was 174, making the population 6090. This, it will be ob- served, included the present parish of Abbotshall, the population of which, together with that of Kirkcaldy, is at present about 10,000. This gives an idea of the comparative size and import- ance of this parish, at dates two centuries distant. The trade of the town was nearly annihilated, and the number of its inhabitants was greatly reduced during the forty years that intervened between the death of Charles L and the Revolution. The population has been gradually increasing for a century past Population in 1755, . 2296 1795, . 2673 1801, . 3248 1811, 3747 1821, . 4452 1831, 5034 The following abstract of the census taken on the 7th June 1841 , in order to make a return to Parliament, will serve to exhibit the state of the population at present. The return contained the num- ber of persons who slept in the parish on the night of the 6th June. Males. Females. Total. In the East Port parish (quoad sacra), . 912 1065 1977 In the rest of the old parish within the royal burgh, . . 1292 1476 2768 Within the royal burgh. 2204 2541 4745 In part of the parliamentary burgh outside the royal burgh, and within the parish, . 149 216 365 Landward part of the parish beyond the par- liamentary boundary of the burgh, .64 61 125 On shipboard in the harbour, . 12 2 14 In the jail, . . 21 5 26 In the whole parish, 2450 2825 5275 {) sailors, 65 From royal burgh, > other males, 51 | females, 64 I sailors, 3 From rest of parish, V other males, 2 ) females, 3 Total, 18B _, ., ,, . j • i j j • } within royal burgh, males, 34 Temporarily resident, and included in f J * ' fe^JajL 37 the above return, J in rest of the parish, males, 2 Total, . 73 KIRKCALDY* 751 At the time of taking the census there was no apparent cause for any unusual influx or decrease in the population of this parish. Very few have emigrated of late years from this place. Number of families in the parish, • 1057 Houses, or parts of bouses usually occupied by one family that are empty, 87 Houses building, . .5 No register of deaths is kept ; but the average number of burials an- nually in the church-yard during the last ten years, . 82 iff This must be rather under than above the number of deaths in the parish. No noble family has a residence within the parish, and very few others, except annuitants, that live upon their fortunes indepen- dently of business. There are only two landed proprietors whose yearly incomes from their land within the parish exceed L.100, viz. James Townsend Oswald, Esq. of Dunnikier, and John Fergus, Esq. of Strathore. The property of Mr Fergus, however, lies ehiefly in adjoining parishes. A spirit of enterprise, directed and regulated by that prudent caution which naturally accompanies the possession and employ- ment of real capital in business, pervades this manufacturing and commercial community, and prevents the town from being visited with those sudden and ruinous convulsions, which the rashness of mere speculators, whom injurious facilities of obtaining credit raise up and sustain for a time, too frequently brings upon other trading districts* The habits and conduct of the merchants and manufacturers, who are commonly capitalists to a greater extent than is general throughout the country, in the management of their business, and the nature of the trade itself, give a steadiness to the various branches of industry, and exercise a very salutary in- fluence on the community generally. The demoralizing practice of smuggling, chiefly from Holland, prevailed here at one time to a great extent It has now almost entirely disappeared. Of late years, the officers have never de- tected smuggling, except, and this very seldom, in the case of small craft from France, which sometimes bring along with their cargoes of fruit, larger quantities of brandy than the crew may be thought to require as sea-store. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — This parish contains 1050 imperial acres, of which 160 acres are planted. With this exception, all of it is under cultiva- tion ; but, from its small extent, it affords little scope for remarks 752 F1FE8HIHE. under this head. The land near the town, from its superior qua- lity, from facilities for obtaining manure, and from the ready mar- ket found for produce, especially in the early part of the season, brings a rent varying from L.4, 10s. to L.6, 6s. per acre. The land becomes less valuable in the remoter part of the parish, not only from locality, but also from inferiority of soil, and its rent is from L.2 to L.3 per acre. The average rent per acre of the whole pa- rish may be stated at L.3, 10s, Mines. — One coal-pit is at present in operation. Forty (pick- men) colliers are employed in it, besides labourers, and young per- sons to draw the coals below ground. Manufactures. — The capital of the burgesses seems at one time to have been chiefly employed in shipping. This interest receiv- ed a shock, during the civil war in the reign of Charles L, which affected the prosperity of the town for a century and a half. After the shipping interests declined, and were destroyed, manufactures were introduced. With the increase and prosperity of manufactures, the shipping of the port has been revived, and the town, from the union of the shipping and manufacturing interests, now numbers among its inhabitants not a few, who are entitled to the honourable appellation of British merchants, and occupy no mean place among them, whether we regard the capital they employ, the spirit of en- terprise they manifest, or the extent of their business. The principal trade of the town is the manufacture of various descriptions of linen, with the collateral branches of flax-spinning, bleaching, and machine-making. This trade was probably intro- duced from Holland and Flanders about the time of the Revolu- tion, or early in the last century. It was long very limited. It made little progress till after the middle of the last century, as the following facts demonstrate. In 1783, no more than 177,740 yards of linen were manufactured in this district, including Abbotshall, Dysart, Leslie, &c. It had increased in 1743 to 316,550 yards, the value of which was L. 11,000. The infancy of the trade, the want of facilities for extending it, and the advancement it made during these ten years, may be seen in the anxiety and care manifested by the authorities to afford it all possible encourage- ment In 1739, " the town-council, considering the great beneflt the town may receive by an annual market for linen-cloth and other goods, they appoint the same to be held on the first Wed- nesday of July, and to be custom-free for three years." In the same year, " the council, considering how much it will be for the 3 KIRKCALDY. 753 benefit of the town and country that a heckler of lint be esta- blished, they, therefore, unanimously resolve to make application to the trustees that a heckler be settled here with such a salary, and under such regulations, as the trustees judge proper." About the same time advantages were held out to bleachers, and encou- ragement was given them to settle in the neighbourhood. The goods manufactured at this time consisted chiefly of linen checks of inferior quality, which were commonly sold to Glasgow mer- chants for exportation ; and linen handkerchiefs, checks, and a eoarse description of ticks not now manufactured ; all for the home trade. The goods were conveyed by the manufacturers on horse- back to the various towns 10 Scotland, and were mostly sold at fairs. Towards the end of the last century, a great stimulus was given to the linen trade of Kirkcaldy by the judgment and energy of Mr James Fergus, — a name justly associated with the extension and prosperity of the trade of the town. He set himself to produce ticking for the home-trade in England. After he had discovered the tweel, and had provided materials for making this fabric of the first quality, he was unable to find weavers who could give the cloth the requisite stiffness and smoothness. The difficulty was at last overcome by a weaver discovering the effect of what is still denominated " the open stroke." The effect of this stroke in the weaving upon the cloth is, in the language of a workman, to make it as smooth as a " buik leaf." This opened up a new trade, and ticking is still the staple article in the manufactures of Kirkcaldy. Mixed cotton and linen-checks were made for the same market ; they were produced in large quantities, and continued to be sold with profit till they were superseded by the cheaper and more showy article of cotton. Besides ticks, there are now manufac- tured in the town, drills, dowlas, sheetings, ducks, and sail-cloth. It was difficult at one time for manufacturers to extend their business, in consequence of being obliged to provide houses for their weavers. Their trade was proportionate to the number of weavers they could accommodate. This practice is not yet alto- gether done away, but weavers now generally find houses for them- selves, and seek after manufacturers who are willing to employ them. Females began to weave here between forty and fifty years ago : and they now form a considerable proportion of the number employed. The trade is carried on chiefly by eight manufacturing houses fife. 3 B 754 FIFESHIBE. or establishments. Besides these, there are a few individuals who occasionally make webs. The manufacturers employ 1100 weav- ers.* Of this number 113 work in two factories, erected for the manufacture of canvas. This branch of trade was introduced in 1811; and the manufacturers of sail-cloth here generally obtain a share of government contracts for the navy. Only 119 weav- ers, exclusive of the factory workmen, are accommodated with looms within the parish. Accordingly, many weavers in the ad- joining parishes and surrounding villages, are employed by the manufacturers of Kirkcaldy. The average earning of weavers is 6s. 6d. per week ;f and the price of weaving is from one-fifth to two-ninthsj of the value of the goods when they are ready for the market. The gross value of the linens annually manufactured within the burgh may be estimated at L. 80, 000. Of the whole manufactures in the town, in the extended sense already explain- ed, including the Links and Pathhead, two-fifths are said to be produced within the burgh ; so that the value of the various de- * The writer wishes to acknowledge the kindness of all the manufacturers in an- swering his inquiries, furnishing him with information, and affording him data and facilitiesfor ascertaining the number of weavers employed on an average of years ; the weekly wages of weavers, and the proportion which expense of weaving bears to the cost of the goods. f Out of this sum the weaver has to pay the winding of his weft, and all other ex- penses. A very inadequate pittance is left for his subsistence. Statement of weekly wages (after allowing for necessary deductions) agreed upon at a meeting of manufacturers and weavers, held in the town-hall Kirkcaldy, An* gust 8th 1838. Linen Ticks. Stout men at the finest fabrics, (42 and 45 porter,) L. Do. Second class, (96 and 40 do. Older men and boys, (28 and 84 do. ) Making an average of Fine Sheetings. Stout men at finest fabrics, (40 porter f and upwards) Older men and women, (96 do. $ do. ) Making an average of Dowlas. Men and young women, 10°* and 13°° J . Lads and women, 34 and 45, porter, 90 inches, Boys and girls, apprentices, 26 and 32 porter 25 inches, Sail-Cloth. Heavy work (in factories) stout men, • .099 Reports from Assistant Commissions Hand- Loom Weavers* Since the date of this report weavers' wages have been reduced 10 per cent. £ This proportion has been ascertained by taking from the books of two manoihc- turers a number of webs given out to different weavers in succession, and may there- fore be regarded as a fair average of their business. 'Hie gross value of the one num. ber, which are all ticks, is L. 148, 6d. ; the price of weaving, L.43, 6s. 6U The value of the other number, composed of ticking and dowlas, is L. 123, 19s. 6(d. ; the price of weaving, L.29, 13s. 8£d. The expense of weaving fine ticks is nearly one- third of their cost ; sheetings, one-fourth ; dowlas, one- fifth j coarser fabrics, ooe- ai*th ; and the best sail-cloth, one-eighth. Nothing is here allowed for the manu- facturer's profit. 8 3 7 9 5 9 7 3 6 6 5 4 5 11 6 6 4 6 3 KIRKCALDY. 755 scriptions of linen goods annually manufactured in the town may be reckoned at not less than L. 200,000. Besides the home trade in England and Scotland, these linens find markets in Canada, the United States, South America, the West Indies, and Australia. The manufactures have created an extensive trade in bleaching and dyeing. Some manufacturers dye their own yarns, others em- ploy public dyers. There are only two bleach fields in the parish, one of them is doing very little business ; but there are other five in different parts of the county, belonging to merchants and ma- nufacturers in the burgh. The yearly receipts for bleaching yarns at these seven bleach fields amount to fully L. 30,000. Previous to the introduction of mill-spun yarn, manufacturers got their flax dressed in the town, and sent it to agents through- out the country, to be given out to women to be spun. Inferior yarns were imported in large quantities from Germany and Prus- sia. Hand-spun yarns were also brought from Ireland, and par- cels were occasionally procured from the north of Scotland. The difficulty of obtaining supplies of yarn was so great, that orders for goods had often to be refused. Yarns continued to be imported till within the last ten years. Cotton spinning was carried on here till about 1 805. It was on a very limited scale however, as may be inferred from the fact, that neither steam nor water power was ever applied to it. Flax-spinning, by machinery, was introduced into this neigh- bourhood from Darlington about 1793. At first the frames were small, and were driven by the hand. In 1807, a steam-engine of six horse-power was applied to flax-spinning. The price of mill- spinning after its introduction was from Is. to 2s. per spyndle; at present it is not more than 3d. to 5d., and the price of a spyndle of yarn used in the common manufacture of the district, is from Is. 6d. to 2s.. At present a girl will attend fifty spindles, and will produce 25 spyndles of yarn per day. About forty years ago a girl attended 24 spindles, and produced seven spyndles per day. Mills are now erected in Kirkcaldy or the neigbourhood, belong- ing to merchants and manufacturers within the burgh, which con- tain 13000 spindles, the cost of erecting which must have been L.90,000, and they will produce 6000 spyndles of yarn per day. Besides supplying the manufacturers in the district, the spinners now export large quantities of linen yarns to France. Notwith- standing the difficulties interposed by the additional import duties on linen yarns lately imposed by the French government, the trade 756 FIFE3HIRE. with France is still carried on. The yarns annually exported for the previous two years, from Kirkcaldy, may be estimated at about 700 tons, the value of which will be upwards of L.60,000. The progress and prosperity of flax-spinning called for en- gineers and machine-makers, consequently a large and import- ant branch of this trade has recently sprung up. There are in the parish three works, engaged chiefly in making steam-en- gines, and flax-spinning machines, in executing mill-wright work, and in founding iron and brass. In these three works 200 men, at an average wage of 15s. per week, are employed. The mills in the district have not furnished sufficient employment for these esta- blishments, especially during the depression of late years; but ex- tensive orders have been executed in them for Ireland, the conti- nent of Europe, and the British colonies. The capital invested in these works will amount to L.2 1,000; and steam-engines, equal to twenty horses power, are constantly employed in them. Navigation. — The port of Kirkcaldy, including the sub-port of Anstruther, extends from Aberdour, in the Frith of Forth, to Guard Bridge, in the upper part of St Andrews Bay, being about fifty-two miles of coast. The registered shipping consists of 160 vessels, with a tonnage of 12,077. There belong to the head port 91 vessels — 8911 of tonnage. Two smacks ply regularly between London and Kirkcaldy ; and there are regular traders from Kirk- caldy to Leith and Glasgow. Two vessels are engaged in whale- fishing ; the rest in trading to North and South America, the Mediterranean, France, the Baltic, and occasionally beyond the Cape of Good Hope. The foreign ships which usually trade to this port are Norwegian, Dauish, Hanseatic, Hanoverian, Prussian. On an average of years there have been 92 vessels from foreign parts. The principal articles of import are flax and timber; of export, coals and linen yarns. Nearly thirty years ago vessels began to sail from Kirkcaldy to the whale-fishing in Davis' Straits. For a number of years this trade increased, and was very profitable. In 1828, nine vessels belonging to this port, with a tonnage of 8008, were engaged in this fishing. A few prospe- rous years succeeded, and large profits were realized. In 183% the Kirkcaldy ships brought home 900 tons of oil, and 60 tons of bone, the value of which was not less than L.30,000. The fishing trade has declined since 1835; and, but for the partial success of last year, the fishing would very probably have been this year entirely abandoned. Agricultural Society. — The only association in the parish pro- KIRKCALDY. ?57 fessedly for encouraging or improving any branch of industry, is an Agricultural Society* It meets twice a year for competition among its members in seeds, crops, and stock ; and it might be very advantageous to farming interests, if the proprietors in the neigh* bourhood were more generally to give its meetings the support and countenance, by premiums and attendance, which they justly deserve. V, — Parochial Economy. Markets. — Kirkcaldy is the market-town, not of the parish only, but of an extensive district Retail dealers in the surrounding towns and villages are supplied with goods by Kirkcaldy merchants. This creates business for carriers, who frequent the town chiefly on Tuesdays and Fridays, and cause considerable bustle on the streets. A corn-market is held on Saturday. It was at one time only a sample market, and most of the buyers came from Leith. After the sales, the grain was shipped at the ports along the coast most convenient for sellers. The town-council erected a stock- market, and opened it for business in 1827. Not only is the grain grown in the neighbourhood mostly sold in this market, but large quantities are brought to it from within a circuit of fourteen or sixteen miles. The attendance of merchants belonging to the burgh, and buyers from other places, is numerous ; and prices are generally a shade higher here than in any other market in Fife. The market was unpopular at first, and not a third part of the grain raised in the district was brought to it for some years after it was opened. When the fact came to be known that better prices were obtained when grain was sold in stock than when sold by sample, the pre- judices of the sellers were removed, grain was brought from more distant places, and the quantity offered weekly for sale increased, so that this has now become the leading corn market in the county. About 25,000 quarters of grain are annually sold in the Kirkcaldy stock market ; and 10,000 quarters more are annually sold in the market by sample. The success of this market has operated fa- vourably on other branches of business, by augmenting the num- ber of weekly visitors, and adding not a little to the circulation of money in the town. In this as in other stock markets, all sales are for ready money, and the effect of this upon the retail trade in the town is beneficial. The market-dues are l£d. per quarter, and no shore-dues are charged on market grain, if it be shipped within fourteen days after it is sold. Few places in Scotland have a better flesh -market. Besides furnishing the town and neighbourhood with a regular supply of 758 FIFESHIRE. superior butcher-meat, the fleshers have been in the practice for some years of sending large quantities of meat, of all descriptions, to the London and Glasgow markets. No regular fishers are re- sident here. The town is supplied with fish from Buckhaven and other villages on the south coast of Fife. The fish is commonly carried by land, though boats occasionally expose fish for sale on the beach ; but the vicinity of Edinburgh has a tendency to keep up the price of this article of food in Kirkcaldy. There are a number of large and handsome shops in the town, in some of which there is carried on an extensive wholesale and retail trade. In this respect a great change has taken place within the last fifty years. It was not uncommon in the end of last ceo* tury for grocers, drapers, and other merchants from Edinburgh and Leith to make regular calls on families here for orders, and many families were supplied with goods in this way. About the same time oatmeal was regularly imported into the parish for consumption from Mid-Lothian, whereas now great quantities of grain are constantly exported for the Edinburgh market. Burgh* — The town-council consists of 21 members, who are elected by a constituency of 250, — the number of parliamentary voters within the ancient royalty. The council elect from their own number a provost and admiral, two bailies, a dean of guild, and a treasurer, on whom the management of the municipal affairs in a great measure depend. The burghs of Kirkcaldy, Dysart, King- born, and Burntisland return a member to Parliament The town has no police ; but the magistrates, the convener of the incorporated trades, and sixteen inhabitants, chosen by pro- prietors and tenants, being possessors of heritable subjects, within the burgh, of the yearly rent or value of eight pounds, are consti- tuted, by Act of Parliament, a board of trustees, " for widening, paving, lighting, cleansing, and otherwise improving and keeping in repair the streets, lanes, and passages of the said royal burgh," " and for bringing water into the same ;" and they are empowered to levy for these purposes an assessment, not exceeding five per cent on the rental. This assessment realizes at present upwards of L.500, and enables the trustees to light the streets with gas, to do something to keep them clean, and to supply the town with water, brought from a distance, and carried through the streets in pipes. Harbour.— " The harbour of Kirkcaldy, though the property of the town, is under the management of Parliamentary Commit KIRKCALDY. 759 'si oners, chosen in terms of a statute passed in 1829. The commis- sioners are, the provost, two bailies, dean of guild, and treasurer of the burgh, and the convener of the seven incorporated trades ; three commissioners chosen by the Prime Gilt Society, which is com- posed of ship-owners and ship-masters ; three chosen by the mer- chant traffickers; and two chosen by the county of Fife.' 9 * The revenue of the harbour belongs to the town, and the trustees have no funds, except such sums as may be granted to them by the town- council for the use of the harbour* It has been improved and ex- tended at various times ; but, being accessible by heavily laden ves- sels only at spring-tides, it is exceedingly inconvenient and disad- vantageous for merchants, whose pro&ts now depend so much on quickness of dispatch. It is also unsafe and incommodious for vessels. The want of a good harbour here has long been felt and complained of; and this seems to have an adverse influence on the increase of the trade of the town. Attempts are now making to supply this want. About a month ago, the town-council resolv* ed to improve the harbour by extending the east pier, according to a plan furnished by James Leslie, Esq. civil-engineer, Dundee. Contractors have been advertised for, and the work is expected to proceed this year. It will cost L.10,000. This, however, is only a part of the proposed improvement and extension. The comple- tion of the plan is supposed to require from L.30,000 to L.40,000 ; but the council have wisely determined to proceed according to their pecuniary means, and not all at once to overburden the town with debt. The revenue of the harbour is the chief income of the town ; and this seems to impose on the council an obligation to provide as good accommodation as possible for vessels that fre- quent the harbour. The shore-dues have increased very rapidly of late years. The tacksman of the shore-dues complained to the council, in 1744, of the loss he was sustaining by his lease. For the ease and encouragement of the tacksman, " the council doe agree to set him the shoar-dues for this current year at four pounds Sterling, and recommend to the clerk to get him to enact there- fore with a sufficient cautioner." In J 791 the shore-dues were L.135; in 1811, a little above L.300; in 1823, let at L.625. In 1825, the council took the collection of them into their own hands ; and in 1827 thev amounted to L.1191 ; and in 1842, including the commuted anchorage of steam-boats, and exclusive of the charges of collecting, the; amounted to L.1715. • Report from Commissioner* on Municipal Corporations in Scotland. 760 FIFESHIRE. Revenue— The funds of this burgh have long been managed with great economy. The honour of correcting abuses in this de- partment of the town- council's administration was not reserved for the operation of the Municipal Reform Act The debt of the town is now nearly liquidated, — a state of affairs found in few Scot- tish burghs, and this is at once a practical testimony of the judi- cious management of the public functionaries, and of the town's pro- sperity. At the Revolution, the town had a debt of 60,000 merks, or L.3333 Sterling. It seems never to have been liquidated. Iu 1791, it was L.2430; in 1832, L.7649. At the balance in Oc- tober last, it was only L.775, 6s. 2d. The income of the town, in 1768, was L.284, lis. lid. * The revenue last year was L.2312, Is. 6d. The town has no landed property. The commonties, consisting of 487 acres, at one time belonged to the town ; but these lands were all feued out in 1723 and 1750. Their full value at the time seems to have been obtained for them ; and the grassum paid for them, as well as the price of redeeming the feu- duty, appears to have been laid out in repairing the harbour, for the " pier met with a disaster be and through the late violent storme, that it is dung through and through." This was one of the council's reasons- for disposing of their lands, and the invest- ment of the price in the harbour is perhaps better for the town than if the lands had still been retained. The revenue of the burgh arises from shore-dues, feu-duties, petty customs, the mar- ket-place, warehouses, &c. Means of Communication* — The town has a post-office, and the letters are delivered twice a-day. Daily coaches either start from the town, or pass through it, to Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, St Andrews, and Glasgow. A steam-boat constantly plies the ferry between Newhaven and Kirkcaldy. During the summer, it makes eight passages, affording four opportunities of crossing from each side ; during the winter months, there are only six passages. A railway is, at present, projected from Lochgelly colliery to the town and harbour of Kirkcaldy, a distance of eight miles ; and no- tices have been served of application being to be made to the 6rst session of Parliament for a bill giving power to the shareholders to carry this railway through. , The collector of excise for Fife and Kinross has his office in Kirkcaldy. The revenue realized from the excise-duties within the bounds of this collection amounted last year to L. 167,420. In 1819, it was L.95,700. This increase is chiefly owing to the * From a Return to the House of Commons in 1789. KIRKCALDY. 76J duty on spirits sent to England being now paid in Scotland, whereas, prior to 1826, this duty was paid in England. The in- crease would have been L. 40,000 more, had not the duties on beer, candles, tiles, leather, and salt been repealed since 1819. Ecclesiastical State.— The parish church stands upon the rising ground to the north of the High Street, near the middle of the town, — a convenient situation for the population. It was erected in 1807. It is large and handsome, and Gothic in its style. It is oblong, with the pulpit at the end of it, and contains 1500 sit- tings. The fitting up and finish of its interior are chaste, without any superfluity of ornament ; and it has an air of elegance supe- rior to what is commonly met with in churches in Scotland. The building, from its style and elevated situation, would be an orna- meqt to the town, were its architectural effect not destroyed by part of an old tower being attached to the west end of it, which is not only in itself devoid of beauty, but is destitute of historical in- terest, and even of the common attraction of a ruin, which, in the estimation of antiquarians, might have justified its preservation, to deface an elegant building, and offend the eye of strangers. It must indicate to strangers either a scarcity of money, or a want of taste in the inhabitants* Its removal, and the erection of a tower or Spire, which would form a prominent and commanding object from Leith to the mouth of the Frith of Forth, have long been projected and talked of, but have hitherto been prevented, chiefly from the difficulty of raising the requisite funds. The age of the old church was unknown. It was repaired and enlarged in 1643. It required repairs in 1806 that would have cost L.700. Instead of expending such a sum in repairs, the he. ritors resolved to erect a new church, if money for this purpose could he raised. The novel method adopted by the heritors to free themselves from the expense of erecting -it, has done much to restrict accommodation for the parishioners in the present church. Instead of providing funds by an assessment, as law di- rects, they resolved to procure plans, and to ascertain, before pro- ceeding to build, what sum could be realized by the sale of pews. After the plan of the proposed church had been exhibited for the inspection of the inhabitants, a committee of the heritors, appoint- ed for the purpose, proceeded to sell the pews by public roup. In the articles and conditions of sale, the following clause was insert- ed : " in case a sum sufficient for finishing the church shall not be received from the sale of seats, it will be in the power of the 762 FIFE8HIBE. heritors to adopt such other method in building the church as they shall be advised, and in that case the sale to be made in virtue of these articles to be null and void." The sale of seats realized L.3428, and the estimate for executing the plan was L.2740. It would appear, however, that by extra work, changes on the plan, law-expenses in settling disputes with the contractor, and addi- tional work to make the church sufficient, the whole of the money was expended ; for a gallery was afterwards sold to the kirk-ses- sion for L»205, lis. and a small assessment additional was requir- ed to settle the accounts. No detailed account of these money transactions can now be found ; and it is commonly said, that ne such account was ever rendered by those who took charge of the business. Hitherto there have been no free sittings in the church. The kirk-session have charge of the communion or table- seats con- taining 160 sittings, and a gallery, which they purchased with poor's money, containing 200 sittings. These sittings have hitherto been let, and the rents applied in maintaining the poor. As this exaction in parish churches has been found to be illegal, it will, in future, be discontinued, and these sittings will be free. All the rest of the church is private property, and is occupied or let by the proprietors. Great inconvenience is experienced by the letting of sittings being in the hands of a great number of proprietors. It is difficult for those who want ac- commodation to find out where sittings may be got ; and families coming to the parish often find it exceedingly difficult to get them- selves accommodated, not so much because there is no room, for the church is not filled, (the average attendance will be from 1200 to 1300), but because they cannot find proprietors willing to let their seats. Pews of eight sittings have of late been selling for from L.40 to L.50. This is a virtual exclusion of the poor from the area of the church, in which these pews are situated, for they can- not acquire such pews ; and those, whose worldly circumstances allow them to advance such a sum for church accommodation t Q their families, are often unwilling, by receiving a rent, to admit to sit beside them their less opulent neighbours* * * An accident, attended with great loss of life, happened in this church in 1828. The Rev. Edward Irving of London was to preach on the evening of the sacrament- al Sabbath, and the church was densely crowded before the hour when worship was to commence. Before he entered the pulpit, the gallery upon the north side of the church gave way. in a moment and without warning, and precipitated not less than 250 individuals upon an equal number in the area below. " The scene," says an eye-witness, " that immediately ensued baffles all description. Hie cloud of dust that arose, the prayers and supplications for mercy, the howling*, the groans and la- KIRKCALDY. 763 The manse was built in 1808, and is in good repair ; but the offices are in a ruinous state. About six acres of land belong to the minister, consisting of glebe-land, and land enjoyed from a private morti&cation, in very nearly equal proportions. Its annual value is about L.36. The modified stipend is 19 chalders, but teinds to this amount have not yet been found. A protracted process of locality was carried on, which was terminated in 1840; and there is a defi- ciency of L.48, 8s. 9d. of teind to make up the stipend modified* The interest of the money spent in this process would very nearly have paid this deficiency to the minister in all time coming. The expense of the process first and last must have been L. 1000. The present stipend is paid according to a decreet of locality obtained in 1737, and is 120 bolls, 2 firlots, and 1£ lippies barley; 79 bolls, 3 firlots, and 2£ lippies oats ; and L.13, Is. 3 x 2 5 d. for vicar- age and communion elements. The late augmentation is 1 firlot, 3 pecks, and T 7 tf of a lippie of barley, and L.44, 0s. 9}d. in money. The decreet of 1737, which is still the rule of payment, gives the teind of fish according to use and wont ; but nqfhing is realized from this item. The ecclesiastical state of this parish has undergone several important changes. From an early date, and for a long period, the ministerial charge of the parish was collegiate. The Crown is patron of the first charge, and the town council were patrons of the second. Prior to 1650, one-half of the second minister's sti- pend was paid by the town, the other half by the heritors. This is stated in the beginning of the oldest volume of the kirk-session records : " Steipend payed to the second minister of Kirkcaldie, viz. 800 merks, equalie divyded by the toune and parosch." In 1612, the town agreed to be assessed for their proportion of the second minister's stipend* The same day, October 14, 1612, " David Huchone, baillie, declarit to the haill nybouris of the comunitie thair present, that Mr lhone Gillespie, minister, was • mentations of the wounded, the frantic and terrific-like appearance of those emerg- ing from the broken beams and rafters, are circumstances not easy to be effaced from the minds of those who were called to witness them." It was a considerable time, amid the panic and confusion that immediately followed the dreadful crash, before the amount of destruction could be ascertained. The killed and wounded were as speedily as possible extricated from the ruins, when it was found that sixteen femalea and twelve males had perished. Few were killed by the felling of the gallery. The greater pert of the twenty-eight were either suffocated by the pressure of the crowd striving to get out, or having lost their balance, fell down, and were trodden to death. A lively recollection of the awful scene makes many nervous, and fills- them witk alarm when there is an appearance of the church being crowded* 764 FIPE8HIRE. proponit to the towne to be ane secund minister to thame ; and thairfore demandid of thame giff they wald be contentit to be taxit of thair awn gudwill for payment of the said Mr Ihone his stipend for the townis part, or uther wayis giff they wald lose the benefit of the said Mr Ihone his doctreine in default of moyen for inter- tening of him to teach and instruct thame in the word of God. Quninto they maist willinglie agreit, approving and allowing the agrement w* the said Mr Ihone to be ane gud and ane godlie wark, and that they willinglie agreit to be stentit to that effect/' After 1650, the date of the parish of Abbotshall being disjoined from Kirkcaldy, the town paid the whole of the second minister's sti- pend. No hesitation in appointing, and no doubts of the town's liability to support the second minister, seem to have arisen til) about 1740. The difficulty of continuing to maintain this living was occasioned by a considerable portion of an augmentation, ob- tained by the first minister in 1 737, having fallen on the town for the lands they had feued, in the feuing of which the town reserved for itself all public burdens, as if for the purpose of publishing an- nually, that thejown had once been possessed of considerable pro- perty in land. The town's desire to reduce the ecclesiastical establishment by discontinuing the second minister, in order to relieve the funds from the burden of his stipend, was first mani- fested in 174 1. 4 A vacancy was prolonged at this time for up- wards of two years. On various grounds, the town craved delay from the presbytery, always professing that there was " no inten- tion to sink the said charge." The council applied to the Lord Advocate of the day for an opinion as to their liability to appoint and maintain a second minister. After reasoning on the memo- rial, his Lordship concludes thus : " After what has been been said I must be of opinion, that the presbytery has a power, after the lapse of the patron's time, to settle a minister, and that he will be entitled to 1000 merks stipend, that has uniformly been paid to the second' minister for so long a time." On receiving this opinion, the town-council appointed a minister. When the next vacancy occurred in 1759, the town offered to pay the first minister a certain portion of the second minister's stipend if he would un- dertake to discharge the whole duties. This offer was accepted by the minister, and connived at by the presbytery, and thus the council accomplished, by an unworthy compromise, what they had previously found they could not accomplish by law. This agree- * Town and Presbytery records. 4 KIRKCALDY. 765 merit was not disturbed till the death of the incumbent in 1767. From this date, the town has retained the whole of the second minister's stipend, and the charge has remained vacant. Among the evils entailed by the sale of the town's lands, with a reservation of all the public burdens, this suppression of a ministerial charge, though by no means the smallest, is seldom heard of. The pur- chasers have gained by the bargain, the town-council have gained, the church and the religious interests of the community have chiefly suffered. Application was made to the presbytery in 1649, by the heri- tors of this parish, requesting inquiry to be made as to the neces- sity for erecting another church in the parish ; the heritors expres- sing, at the same time, their willingness to provide a church and stipend for an additional minister, should the Presbytery think this necessary. Heritors and presbyteries appear to have understood in these days the principles of church extension. The Presbytery recommeuded to the Commissioners of the Parliament for sur- renders and tithes, " that, besydes the church w*in the burgh of Kirkcaldie, for ye present usuallie attendit be two ministers, a church sould be erectit in ye landward for a distinct congregation." The proposed disjunction took place in the following year, and the present parish of Abbotshall, which contains almost the whole of the landward part of the original parish of Kirkcaldy, was erected. The Rev. Robert M'Indoe* a member of the original Burgher Associate Synod, who had a congregation in this parish, lately re- turned with many of his brethren to the communion of the Church of Scotland. A new church, containing 840 sittings, has been erected for this congregation, which cost L.2000. It was opened last year. It is situated near the east end of the town, is called the East Port Church, and has the eastern part of the burgh, containing a population of 1977, assigned to it as a parish quoad sacra. The stipend is derived from seat-rents and collections, and varies according to the number of members. The minister has no bond for his stipend. Besides the two churches in connection with the Establishment, there are four places of worship in the parish belonging to different religious denominations, viz. United Secession, Episcopalians, In- dependents, and Scottish Baptists. A few Bereans and old In- dependents regularly meet for worship, but neither of them has a church. 766 FIFESHIRE. Date of erection. Cost. Sittings. Stipend. United Secession Church, 1822 L. 1700 750 L. 160 Episcopalian, . 1813 800 132 L. 37 to L. 65 Independent, . 1803 650 480 L. 100 to L. 112 Scottish Baptists," . 1822 700 350 services of pastors gratuitous. These stipends are raised from collections and seat-rents. There are two diets for public worship each Sabbath in all the churches ; in some of them there are frequently three. These congregations are collected from a number of parishes ; and, on the other hand, many from this parish attend a United Secession congregation in Abbotshall, and a congregation of Original Se- ceders in Patbhead, and a few go to a Relief church in Dysart. Religious Societies. — There are two Bible Societies in the parish, a Tract Society, a Sabbath Evening School Society, and a Parochial Association in connection with the General Assembly's Schemes. Some of the congregations have missionary associations within themselves. The average amount annually collected for purely religious purposes by the societies within the parish cannot be less than L.150. The interest of L.400, mortified by Robert Philp, Esq. for the circulation of the scriptures, is annually sent to the British and Foreign Bible Society, agreeably to the directions given in his trust-deed. Education. — There are 15 schools in the parish, attended by 773 scholars. Eight of these, with 206 scholars, are taught by females ; three for young ladies, who are instructed in French, music, &c; and five for girls, who are taught needle-work, as well as the elementary branches of English reading, writing, and arithmetic ; one of them called the Ladies* School, because it is supported and superintended by a committee of ladies, is partially maintained by subscriptions; and another is supported chiefly by the benevolence of one family. There is an infant school includ- ed in the eight, which is also supported by subscriptions. The heritors have never been burdened with the maintenance of a parochial school in this parish. The town's funds bear the whole expense of the burgh school. For a long period this school had two teachers, who received small salaries, and were quite inde- pendent of each other; and in order to prevent interference or opposition, they were restricted by the council to teach particular branches. The burgh school is now under the charge of Mr John Lockhart, as rector, with one assistant He is allowed L.50 of * Report by the Commissioners of Religious Instruction in Scotland in 1838. 3 KIRKCALDY. 767 salary, without a house, and L.40 for his assistant. There are upwards of 170 pupils attending the school. The present school- house is insufficient for the accommodation of such a number ; but measures are at present in progress for erecting new and more commodious school-rooms in a more open and airy situation than that of the present school-house. The elementary branches are taught in all the schools, and in three of them, Greek, Latin, French, and mathematics are taught In the burgh school, the fees vary from 3s. to 10s. per quarter, according to the branches taught In some of the other schools the fees are higher, and in some a shade lower than the rates fixed by the council for the burgh teacher. " Scale of fees in the burgh school, fixed by the magistrates : English alone, 3s. per quarter; English with writing, 4s. 6d. ; English grammar, arithmetic, and writing, 5s. 6d. ; arithmetic, rudiments of Latin, geography, and writing, 6s. 6d. ; writing alone, for one hour, 2s. 6d. The above fees include pens, and no charge is to be made for eoals or janitor/' " Any branches taught besides the above, to be by special agree- ment with the teacher ; but in no case can more than 3s. 6d. per quarter be charged, in addition to the highest rate of 6s. 6d. as above, making in all 10s. per quarter." Robert Philp, Esq. a native of this parish, long an extensive manufacturer in the town, and an elder in the Established Church, who died in 1628, left the munificent bequest of L.74,000, the interest of which is to be expended in educating and clothing 400 children, who are " most needy,' 9 in this district Schools have been erected and teachers appointed under this trust in Kirkcaldy, Pathhead, and Abbotshall. In Pathhead, 150 children are taught and clothed ; in Kirkcaldy, 100 ; in Abbotshall, 100 ; and 50 chil- dren are sent to the parish school of Kinghorn and clothed by the trust Children are not admissible under six years of age, and they are not allowed to remain after they are fifteen. Well-behaved scho- lars, on leaving school, are allowed a sum " to enable them to begin the world/ 9 At present, the funds allow them from L.7 to L.10, according to their merits. The management of the fund is committed to eighteen trustees, consisting of the two oldest jus- tices of the peace within the burgh, the minister of Kirkcaldy, three ministers of the presbytery of Kirkcaldy to be elected, four elders from the kirk-session of Kirkcaldy, also to be elected, and eight of the burgh trustees. Some of the details of managing the schools without the burgh are devolved on a board of managers 768 FIPB8B1RB. provided for in the trust-deed. The Kirkcaldy school is entirely under the management of the eighteen trustees. The teacher's salary in Kirkcaldy is L.100, and a schoolmistress is engaged to teach the girls to sew, at a yearly salary of L.15. The branches taught are, English reading, writing, arithmetic, and music The testator provides for a Sabbath school being taught in all the four districts, and allows an annual sum of L.10 to each district for this purpose. The sum of L.780 was mortified by Mr John Thomson, mer- chant in Kirkcaldy, who died in 1810, the half of the interest of which is to be expended " in paying school wages, and providing school-books for poor children of the parish of Kirkcaldy." About 20 children of the class described receive education from this fund. Few places in Scotland enjoy such educational advantages as Kirkcaldy. There are few, if any in the parish, above twelve years of age, who cannot read ; there are very few who cannot write a little. Nor need there be any. With such facilities for obtaining a gratuitous education, the neglect of it in the poorest would be inexcusable. It may be inferred, from the number and urgency of applicants for the benefit of the trust-funds of Philp and Thomson, that the advantages of education are generally ap- preciated. Literature. — There are five public libraries in the parish, viz. Kirkcaldy Subscription Library, with 4000 volumes; Kirkcaldy Mechanics' Library, 1500; United Secession Congregational Library, 340 ; two circulating libraries, 2600. Scientific Association. — A scientific association was formed here a few years ago, which provides a course of popular scientific lec- tures for the community during the winter season. These lec- tures have frequently excited considerable interest. They have been generally well attended, and have diffused much valuable information. There is a public reading-rooA in the town, and a small weekly newspaper is published on Saturday. Charitable Institutions* — About thirty years ago, a few friendly societies were formed in the parish, but being based on erroneous principles, they soon began to decline, and they have all been long extinct A charitable institution, denominated the " Prime Gilt Box,' 1 which provides for old and disabled mariners belonging to the KIRKCALDY. 769 port, and tor their widows and orphans, and for the relief of ship- wrecked seamen, has existed in this parish from a period prior to 1591. Officers and men, in vessels belonging to the port, long paid a per centage of their wages into this society. These con- tributions are no longer paid. A proposal was made a few years ago to dissolve the society, and divide the funds among the exist- ing members. This was prevented by interdict, and the Court of Session ultimately found, that the society cannot be dissolved, and that the whole property of the society is held in trust for the so- ciety called the " Prime Gilt Box of Kirkcaldy." The value of the property belonging to this society, the income of which will in future be applied in relieving poor seamen, their widows, and or- phans, is from L.2000 to L.3000. The half of the interest of L.7S0, mortified by Mr John Thom- son, (the other half being for educational purposes), is applied " towards the support of respectable inhabitants of Kirkcaldy who have seen better days*" Savings 9 Bank.— A branch of the National Security Savings' Bank was established here three years ago. The following statement will show its present condition ; 263 depositors of sums under L.5, 102 .., ... above L.5 and under L. 10, 114 10 ... 20, *fl ... ... ... mmJ ... Ov, Zo ... . ., 30 ... JiiU| Zt ... ... 1 \A) ... 1 (XJf "603 6 charitable societies, , 5 friendly do. , . , Poor and Parochial Funds. — No legal assessment has yet been imposed in this parish. The poor are maintained from the collec- tions at the church door and subscriptions among the inhabitants. The amount of annual church collections is about L.200 ; L»33 have hitherto been got from seat-rents ; and the additional sum required has been furnished by subscription. A sum upwards of L. 400 is annually required to maintain the poor. The average number of paupers ou the roll for a few years past is 1 10, Besides the provision made for paupers by the kirk-session, much is done in the town for the relief of the destitute, by a La- dies' Benevolent Society, a Clothing Society, and a fund annual- ly raised to supply the poor with coals. In very few parishes are fife. 3 c L.375 5 11 . 698 8 10 . 1568 9 n . 2842 19 2 . 1592 18 . 244 14 8 L.7322 17 6 53 15 7 . 433 6 8 L.7809 19 9 768 Fi*"" provided for ■'- m r""""' d are the wants of the under thf 0*5i"l relieved ? salary j ^ ^ fi*ffi<<*fZthe best in the county of Fife. teach ^ r^J^^&^ts management has been much im- tau 8 J*!*!*''** ***** "*r* constantly employed, and great care ^ S ' /S^fbfi p* "^** be paid to their health, their diet, "' m^'*^ */#* P^rf relig* ous instruction. It is now a place more # r f*£ji/c*t ,oa '*pthaQ * ne punishment of prisoners. ***£* ^ ol J/.J^uses. — In the parish 54 houses are licensed to /*& a - r jts. Vigorous and successful efforts have been made pll *d e ° jg te ct the irregularity of some of the houses, and to ofl* te h ^possessors to punishment ; and it is to be hoped that briM f v jgi]ant superintendence will be kept up, and that ^ -II succeed in checking and preventing that noise and rioting, * ^juJjy on Saturday nights and Sabbath mornings, of which t r e has been good reason to complain. February 1843. PARISH OF DAIRSIE. PRESBYTERY OF CUPAR, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. ANGUS MACGILLIVRAY, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Situation and Surface. — This parish is of an irregular form, extending from the south-east to the north-west, two Scots miles, and from the south-west to the north-east, nearly as much. Its general appearance is that of a gently rising ground. The soil is for the most part fertile, and in many places rich and deep. The air is generally dry and healthy. There are no considerable rivers in this district, except the Eden, which forms its boundary to the south and south-east Craigfoodie Hill is the highest point of land in the parish, and may be about 500 feet above the level of the sea. It pre- sents a fine precipitous mural and somewhat columnar front to the south-west. Another height towards the west is Foodie Hill, planted, on which a whinstone quarry has been opened. The lower parts of the parish, near the river Eden, exhibit freestone in abundance. DAIRSIE. 771 Rivers. — The river Ederi abounds in salmon and trout, and the * c Dairsie streams'' are well known to the lovers of angling. The only other river except the Eden is the Middlefoodie Burn, in which there are some trout. It intersects the parish towards the north, and runs eastward till, joining the Mottray, both of these streams run into the Frith of Eden, near the Inner Bridge, about two miles from the German Ocean. II. — Civil History. - Parochial Registers. — These are of baptisms, commencing Fe- bruary 27, 1705; marriages, October 1, 1783; burials, October i, 178a Land-oioners. — The names of the land-owners and their proper- ties are as follows : Chapelwell and Dairsie, Judge Erskine ; New Mill, Mrs Bayne ; Todhall and Middle Foodie, the Trustees of James Cheape, Esq. ; Fingask, Heirs of the late Mr Somerville, now sold to Thomas Whitson, Esq. ; Wester Craigfoodie, William Fortune, Esq. ; Pitormie, John Meldrum, Esq. ; Craigfoodie, David Meldrum, Esq.; Foodie, John Small, Esq. Mansion-houses. — These are, Craigfoodie, Mr Meldrum ; Pitor- mie, Mr Meldrum ; Newmill, Mrs Bayne. Castle of Dairsie. * — The old Castle of Dairsie, now in ruins, although still in wonderful preservation, is situated on that part of the estate of Dairsie parish known by the name of Dairsie, the property, at this time, of Judge Erskine, by his marriage with Miss Traill, the daughter of the former proprietor. It is built upon a rising ground near the banks of the river Eden, which stream forms the southern boundary of that beautiful estate for about one mile aud a half. This must have been a place of some consequence in early times, for we learn, that, in the minority of David IL, 1335, the then Regents of Scotland, Stewart and Moray, held a Parlia- ment in the Castle of Dairsie, probably selected as a place of strength and retirement in these troublesome times.f The estate of Dairsie, like most others in the country, has bad many owners. On 28th December 1520, it was conveyed by feu-charter by Andrew Archbishop of St Andrews and his chapter, to David Learmonth of Clatta and his son James. Con- tinuing in the possession of the family of the Learmonths till 1616, it became the property of the Spottiswoods, the unfor- * Communicated by a gentleman connected with one of the principal estates in the parish, t 6«e Note to Sibbald's History of Fife, p. 400. 772 FIFESHIRE. tunate family who suffered so much by opposing the Covenant- ers. Dr John Spottiswood of Dairsie was Archbishop of St Andrews and Chancellor of Scotland about 1590. His son. Sir Robert, recovered many records and documents about the Scot- tish Church from abroad, which had been carried away by the monks at the time of the Reformation. He was beheaded at St Andrews, 1646, by decree of Parliament assembled there* Captain John Spottiswood, younger of Dairsie, was put to death in Edinburgh, 1 650, at the same time as was the gallant and re- nowned James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, and many others. In 1646, Sir John Spottiswood conveyed Dairsie to Sir G. Mor- rison, Knight, and it was adjudged by his creditors, and purchased by Thomas Earl of Kincardine for L.78,636, 3s. 4d. §cots. In 1772, it was again sold by the Earl then of Elgin and Kincar- dine, to General Scott of Balcomy, and falling to his eldest daughter Henrietta, who was married to the Duke of Portland, it was purchased by Mr Barnes of London, and afterwards became disjoined, in consequence of speculating purchasers, until it re- mains with the heritors already enumerated. On the estate of Dairsie is a pleasant small residence, called Dairsie Cottage, of modern date, and surrounded with wood. It stands to the west of the castle, overlooking the Eden. A num- ber of years since, it was occupied for some time by that unfortu- nate nobleman, Lord William Russell, who was so inhumanly murdered in London lately by his French valet, Courvoisier. During his residence there, his Lordship was much admired for his unpretending mode of life and kind behaviour, although he lived strictly private, and was held in high esteem in the neigh- bourhood. Near the old castle, the grounds of which the present proprie- tor keeps in great order, is the parish church built by the Arch- bishop Spottiswood about 1615. In the life of Spottiswood, pre- fixed to his History of the Church, it is said, " He, the Arch- bishop, built upon his own charges the church of Dairsie after the decent English form, which, if the boisterous hand of a mad re* formation had not disordered, is at this time (1678) one of the beautifullest little pieces of church work that is now left to that now unhappy country."* The above is far from an overstretched account of this edifice, which originally had a flat roof with lead, and most grotesque * Life of Spottiswood. 4 DAIR8IE. 773 shaped windows in the Gothic style, and a belfry tower near it* Now it is modernized by a roof of the modern shape, and the steeple pointed as others. In the records of the synod of Fife, lately published for the Abbotsford Club, we find that, in 1641, a report anent the church of Dairsie was presented, when it appeared that the brethren and ruling elders had been appointed to visit the church of Dairsie, " anent superstitious monuments and kirk burial," who found that, " at the entrie of sindrie desks upon the platform, and above the great west door, there are crosiar staffes, being a sign of the de- gree of the last prebend and bishops, as not hierarchical according to the manner and form used among the Roman hierarchs, and further found superstitious " a glorious partition wall, with a degree ascending thereto." All these were denounced by the provincial assembly, and the minister, and elders, and heritors were ordained " to take order of the same," and this order was several times renewed in after meetings. In 1645, in an assem* bly held at Dunfermline, an order was made about " the levelling of the queer in Dairsie Church." Within these few years, a vault was discovered in the east end of the church, near the pulpit, and found to contain coffins and bones, being used as a place of interment It is understood that this practice of burying in the inside of churches is in future to be done away with, as prejudicial to the health of the sitters. III. — Population Population in 1755, . 469 1790lS, . 540 1801, . 550 1811, . 553 1821, . 569 1831, . 605 1841, . 669 The number of illegitimate births in the parish within the last three years, 5. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — Number of acres standard imperial measure in the parish, which are either cultivated or occasionally in tillage, . 2247 Number of acres which never have been cultivated, and which remain constantly waste or in pasture, • . 15 Number of acres that might, with a profitable application of capital, be added to the cultivated land, • . Number of acres in a state of undivided common, . • Number of acres under wood, whether natural or planted, ; 44 Valuation of Dairsie Parish, 1695. — Dairsie, . L. 1200 Mr William Bethuoe's, Craigfoodie, . 520 774 F1FESHIRE. Cullarnies, Craigfoodie, . L. 181 13 4 Newraylo, . 158 Pitormy, 121 Fii.gask, . 352 13 4 Foodie, . . 588 Rent of Land. — The average rent of land per acre, L.2, 10s. per Scotch acre. Rental. — The real rental of the parish is about L.4400. Manufacture*. — These are, manufacture of dowlases, by Mr John Inglis, employing 35 hands ; flax-spinning, by Mr John An- nan, 5200 spindles annually ; flax-spinning, by Mr Michael Smith, 81,200 spindles annually. V. — Parochial Economy. Villages. — The villages in this parish are those of Middlefoodie and Osnaburgh, or Dairsie Moor. The former consists of a few straggling houses and some small feus. The houses are principally of little value, most of them being occupied by the la- bourers on Todhall, to the proprietor of which (Mr Cheape's Trus- tees) most of them belong. The village of Osnaburgh is be- coming more populous, and is a thriving village about a quarter of a mile from the church to the northward, and is intersected by the great posting road from Edinburgh by Cupar to Newport. The turnpike road is well kept, and several coaches pass daily through this village. Ecclesiastical State. — The number of Dissenting or Seceding families in the parish is about 12 or 15. Amount of stipend, wheat, 12 bolls; meal, 60 bolls, S pecks; barley, 98 bolls, 3 pecks; oats, 48 bolls ; and L. 55, 7s. Id. Sterling money. The glebe is about six acres in extent, — value, L.2 an acre. There is a good manse, which was built in 1825. List of Ministers of Dairsie. — Mr Peter Ramsay, admitted 1567. Mr John Williamson, vicar, admitted November 24th 1577. Mr James Yuille, 1590, died 1610. Mr John Rutherford, admitted February 1611, translated to Monifieth 1626. Mr Patrick Scougal, 1636, translated to Leuchars 1645. Mr David Rait, translated from Newburgh 1645, conformed to Episcopacy 1662, translated to Kinnaird 1664. Mr George Paterson, admitted 1665, outed 1689. Vacant from 1689 to 1696. Mr Andrew Geddie, March 3, 1696. STttATHMIGLO. 775 Vacant October 170& Robert Macculloch, D. D. ; Mr John Macartbur. Mr Angus Macgillivray, present incumbent* Educatiotu — The number of schools in the parish, exclusive of Sabbath schools, three. The yearly amount of parochial school- master's salary, L. 34, 4s. 4£d., with house and garden. The probable yearly amount of fees actually paid to parochial school- master, L.25. Poor. — Average number of persons receiving parochial aid, 12. Average sum allotted to each of such persons per week, Is. Ave- rage annual amount of contributions for relief of the poor : from church collections, L.18; from alms, legacies, &c. L.17. February 184a PARISH OF STRATHMIGLO. PRESBYTERY OF CUPAR, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. GEORGE MIDDLETON, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Boundaries, Name. — This parish is bounded on the norlh by Abernethy and Arngask; on the west, by Orwell and Portmoak; on the south, by Falkland and Portmoak ; and on the east, by Auchtermuchty. The name is obviously derived from the Miglo, a small stream which flows eastward through the strath, and is afterwards designated the Eden. In form, the parish resembles a very irregular oblong, extending in length seven miles, and varying from two to four miles in breadth. Topographical Appearances* — The greater part of the surface consists of two gentle acclivities rising on either side of the stream which divides the parish. On the south, and forming a striking natural limit to the parish, rises the West Lomond hill, whose elevation above the level of the sea has been computed at 1700 feet, and which, diversified by bold mural cliffs, thriving woods, and rich sward, constitutes a very picturesque object. On the north, it terminates in a succession of inconsiderable eminences, which may be regarded as a continuation of the Ochil range. * See Appendix to Records oi Synod of Fife, printed for Abbotsford Club. 776 FIIESHIRB. Soil — The soil on the south is light, and rests on red sandstone ; it is not remarkable for fertility, though in some farms good bar- ley is raised. On the north of the Miglo, the soil rests on a whin- stone bed, and consists of a rich friabte loam, which yields abun- dant crops. There is thus no want of good materials, both free- stone and whin, adapted for building and enclosures. From the side of the Lomond hill, white freestone has also been quarried, which is said to be durable and susceptible of a fine polish. It is surprising that the latter has been so little used instead of the dingy brick-red, which offends the eye in most of the mansions in the neighbourhood. II. — Civil. History. At a remote period, the lands of Strathmiglo appear to hate belonged to the Crown, whence they passed into the hands of the Scotts of Balwearie, an ancient and powerful family. In the be- ginning of the sixteenth century, a royal charter was granted, con- stituting these lands into a barony, with power to form the feuars into a burgh of barony, and vesting the nomination of its magis- trates in the superior. The superiority afterwards was obtained by the family of Balfour of Burleigh, noted in Scottish history, whose arms are carved on the front of the town-house. After the Re- bellion in 1745 was quelled, hereditary jurisdictions, the barbaric remnant of feudalism, were annulled ; and Strathmiglo was, in con- sequence, deprived of the usual baronial privileges. The feuars, however, still retain the management of some property pertaining to the original burgh, and use it in a very creditable and beneficial manner. The ecclesiastical history of this parish is not destitute of inte- rest The church was originally collegiate, and connected with the bishopric of Dunkeld. When the Papal hierarchy was assail- ed and overturned, this, in common with many other districts in Fife, took a lively interest in the Reformed religion, and steadily adhered to the Presbyterian worship and government through its checquered and eventful history. A sequestered spot, called Glen- vale, is still pointed out as a place of resort in troubled times. In point of romantic scenery, it may bear comparison with the wild recess in Cartland Crags, where the Covenanters of the west met for the same purpose. When the secession took place early in last century, we find a notarial protest taken by the kirk-session of this parish against the Seceders ordain- ing elders here, charging them with " intrusion/ 9 and threaten* STttATHMIGLO. 777 ing prosecution. This singular paper may be found (p. 194) in Swan's Views and History of Fife. The following is a list of the ministers of this parish from an early period :— 1. Mr George Leslie, 1560 ; admitted vicar of Auchtermuchty, 1575. 2. Mr William Braidfut, 1560. 3. Mr John Balfour, reader, with L.20 Scots of stipend. 4. Mr Alexander Muir, mi- nister, 1574, with L.106, 13s. 4d. Scots of stipend. 5. Robert Scott, reader. 6. Mr James Balcanquel, 1589. 7. John Mon- crieff, 1633. 8. John Murray, conformed to Presbytery in 1638. 9. John Rigg, admitted 1655, and afterwards conformed to Epis- copacy. 10. David Barclay, outed in 1689. 11. Alexander Auchmoutie, 1690. 12. Thomas Black, 1695. 13. Mr George Gillespie, 1699, grandson of the famous George Gillespie, mem- ber of the Westminster Assembly. 14. George Lyon, 1754, grandson of the above Mr Gillespie. 15. Mr John Martin. 16. George Bennet. 17. George Middleton, 1836. Antiquities. — Within a recent period, the west portion of this parish is said to have contained numerous cairns, imagined to be relics of Druidical superstition. On and around the West Ix>- mond, may be found abundance of rocky fragments of fantas- tic shape and position ; but whether so moulded and piled by nature or by the " Druid hoary," we pretend not to determine. Within the memory of the present generation, there also existed several barrows and tumuli, with human bones, ashes, and warlike instruments. The consequence has been, that Strathmiglo has now lodged its claim among the parishes which compete for the honour of containing the site of the celebrated battle of Mons Grampius, described by Tacitus, in which the warlike but undisciplined Cale- donians under Galgacus were defeated by the legions of Agricola, III. — Population. The following is a table of the population, as taken at different intervals : In 1755, it amounted to 1095 1690, - .980 1801, - - 1629 1811, - 1697 1821, - - 1842 1831, - 1940 1841, - - 2187 Analysis of census 1841. Total population, - - 2187 Males, - - - 1009 Females, - - - - 1178 Families, total number of, - 517 K umber of persons under 15 years, 776 betwixt 15 and 30 years, 604 778 FIFESHUtE. Number of persons betwixt 90 and 50, - 483 50 and 70, - 263 upwards of 70, - 61 The lands of this parish are divided among twenty- three pro- prietors, of whom eighteen possess property of the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards. Eight of the heritors are non-resident. Six individuals in the parish are fatuous ; one is blind from the effects of an accident ; and one is deaf and dumb. There is no peculia- rity in the general customs or character of the people deserving of special notice. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — This parish gives employment to 186 males as far- mers and farm-servants. Itssurfacemay amount to about 5000 acres; of which nearly 600 are entirely adapted for pasturage, and 350 are planted. The remainder is under regular cultivation. Upon minute inquiry, the gross rental of the parish at present is fully L.9000. According to the diversity of soil and situation, the annual rent per acre varies from 15s. to L.4. The most extensive land-owner is P. G. Skene, Esq. of Hallyards and Pitlour. The leases ex- tend, with some trifling exceptions, to nineteen years, the rent being generally payable, partly in money and partly in grain, ac- cording to the fiars prices. The tenantry may justly be charac- terized as an intelligent and enterprizing body of men, under whom husbandry has reached a very advanced stage of improvement. In the more fertile farms, a rotation of four years is adopted, its tendency to exhaust the soil being counteracted by the liberal ap- plication of manure, partly produced on the farm and partly pro- cured, at a considerable expense, from the adjacent villages. In the less fertile soils, the fields are usually allowed to remain three years in grass, making a rotation of six years. Nearly the whole parish is divided by substantial enclosures. In several of the thrashing-machines, water-power is employed; and the farm- steadings are in general commodious and in good repair. There is one flour-mill, recently improved and enlarged, and four for other descriptions of grain. Manufactures. — The staple employment of the great body of the parishioners of both sexes in the village is the manufacture of linens. These are wrought up in great variety, such as diapers, damask, dowlas, linen checks, and table-linens. In this depart- ment of industry, from 500 to 600 persons are engaged. For- merly, the hand-loom weavers were employed by the extensive manufacturers of Dunfermline, Dundee, and Kirkcaldy, by means 8TRATHMIGL0. 770 of intermediate agents ; but of late, almost the whole trade has been carried on by resident manufacturers, transacting business on their own account. There are also in the parish a bleachfield and a spinning-mill, both of which are upon a small scale. Those employed in weaving are of course paid by the piece, and work from ten to fourteen hours per day. From the fluctuations in trade, the rate of remuneration is necessarily very variable. A few years ago, it was double and even treble its present amount. But although this, in common with other manufacturing districts, has severely felt the late depression of trade, very few have here been destitute of employment for any great length of time ; and, small as the wages have been, and still are, it has not been found necessary, as in many other localities under similar circumstances, to have recourse to extraordinary measures, to meet the pressing wants of the population. V. — Parochial Economy. Market-Town, — There is no market in this parish; but in the adjacent towns of Auchtermuchty, Milnathort, Newburgh, and Cupar, at distances varying from two to eleven miles, regular weekly markets are held. Auchtermuchty is the nearest. In Newburgh, at the distance of eight miles, a ready market is af- forded for potatoes, cattle, Swine, &c, which are shipped thence for the London market. The population in the village of Strath- miglo and its outskirts amounts to nearly 1400. The only other village is Edenshead or Gateside. Means of Communication. — These are in general good. The parish may contain eight miles of turnpike, and five of statute la- bour roads, all kept in excellent order. Here, as throughout the country at large, improvement is in nothing so evident as in the highways. The post-office here is an appendage to that of Kin- ross. No public carriages pass at present through Strathmiglo. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church is situated near the east extremity of the parish ; but, being in the centre of the vil- lage, containing the mass of the population, no fault can be found with its site. It was built about fifty-eight years ago, and is in tolerable repair ; but it is a paltry structure, and ill seated within. It is also rather small, containing accommodation for 750 persons. There are no free sittings, the whole area being divided among the heritors. The price charged for a sitting, however, is small, being from Is. to 2s. 6d. annually. The manse is sixty years old, and from its situation was rather damp and confined. About 780 FIFESHIRE. five years ago, it underwent a thorough repair, and was much enlarged, and made altogether commodious and comfortable. The glebe extends to four acres. Its annual value may be L.1 2. By a recent decision of the Court of Teinds, the stipend wa» fixed at 17 chalders, half meal and half barley, with L.10 for communion elements. There is another place of worship in Strathmiglo, connected with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, stated to have a congregation of about 200 from this and other parishes. The number of communicants may be 140, of whom 90 belong to Strathmiglo. At Edenshead, there is another place of worship, belonging to the United Associate Synod, the con* gregation of which has been computed at 300, of whom 200 may be communicants. Divine service is well attended at all these places of worship. Of the entire parishioners, upwards of 1400 may be in connection with the Established Church, and the ave- rage number of communicants is 430. A Tract Society is in operation, which distributes monthly a religious tract gratuitously to every family in the parish. It is supported by occasional col- lections and contributions. Education. — There are five seminaries, viz. the parochial school, a female school, built by Mr Skene of Pitlour, who allows a small salary to the teacher, and three subscription schools. These are all conveniently situated. The parochial school was greatly en* larged by the heritors a few years ago, and may comfortably con- tain 150 pupils. A convenient play-ground was recently pur- chased by subscription. The teacher's dwelling is also commo- dious. He has the maximum salary. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The number of poor on the re- gular roll is 18 at present, who receive altogether L.1, 12s. per week, the lowest allowance being 1 s. and the highest 4s. There are also two lunatics maintained in Perth Asylum, and one blind person partly supported in the Asylum for the Blind. The ex- pense of the three amounts to about L.50 per annum. For the relief of the poor, upwards of L.20 is annually obtained from the stated weekly offerings at the church doors. There is land of the yearly value of L.1 9 devoted to the same object, and a sum of money yielding L.10 of interest. The parochial minister has also the management of a small property worth L.9 annually, for behoof of indigent persons in the parish. The balance is made up by occasional voluntary assessments among the heritors. It may be proper to state that a Friendly Society exists here. It was AUCHTB RMUCHT Y. 7fi 1 formed in 1806, and at present numbers 213 members. The annual payment is 5s. During illness, a member of it becomes entitled to 8s. 6d. per week for the first nine months, after which the allowance is reduced to 2s. When any member is superan- nuated, he has a permanent weekly allowance of 1 s. It is proper to state, that, while in this as in every district containing a considerable population, there are some individuals hackneyed in mendicity, there is in this parish a prevailing disposition among the poor to refrain from seeking parochial relief. An honourable, though laborious independence, is in general preferred to the resources of charity. February 1843. PARISH OF AUCHTERMUCHTY * PRESBYTERY OF CUPAR, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. ROBERT JOHN JOHNSTONE, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Boundaries, §*c. — This parish is bounded on the east by the pa* rTsh of Collessie ; on the south by Falkland ; on the west by Strath miglo; and on the north by the parishes of Abernethy, Newburgh, and Abdie. It extends in length from north-west to south-west, 4 miles, and in breadth from east to west, nearly 2 miles ; but at the north and south extremities, it does not exceed 1 mile in breadth. The burgh and town of Auchtermuchty, which contains a population of 2550 persons, is situated about a mile from the southern boundary of the parish, which is washed by the river Eden, and is distant from Kirkcaldy fifteen miles, Cupar nine miles, Kinross ten miles, Newburgh five miles, and from Perth fifteen miles. The line of road from Stirling to St Andrews, perhaps one of the straightest and most direct in Scotland, passes through the southern extremity of the town ; from the former of which places it is thirty-three, and from the latter twenty miles. The eastern line of communication between Perth and Edinburgh, via Newburgh and Kirkcaldy, passes also through the town, and a coach has now been established on the road for several years. " From notes furnished by Mr Archibald Dickson, parochial schoolmaster of Auch- termuchty. 782 FIPESHIRE. The county of Perth extends to within less than a mile of the town of Auchtermuchty on the north; and the line which separates the parish, on the north-west, from that of Abernethy, forms also the boundary for nearly two miles, between the counties of Perth and Fifeshire. Almost the whole rising ground in the parish has a southern exposure, with an inclination towards the east, while the south-east part forms a section of an extensive plain of deep, rich, alluvial soil, which was mostly flooded with stagnant water during the winter season, within the remembrance of many of the inha- bitants, but is now thoroughly dried, and comprehends some of the most valuable land in Scotland, renting from L. 4, 10s. to L. 5 the imperial acre. II. — Civil History. Parochial Registers.— The oldest record of this parish is a re- gister containing the minutes of kirk-session, commencing in the year 1650, and also a separate register of births and marriages from the same period. How far the latter contains a complete record of all the births and marriages which took place within the parish at this period, it is impossible to say ; but it is probable that these were much more accurately recorded at this early pe- riod, than they are now, when the parish was less a prey to reli- gious divisions and animosities. No particular register appears to have been kept of the deaths at the time, and the number is only to be ascertained from the notices given of the funds arising from the use of the mortcloth. There is, however, a blank in the records of this parish not easily accounted for, from 1658 and 1667, till the beginning of the eighteenth century, when they ap- pear again to have been kept with considerable regularity. At present the records of this parish, and, perhaps, of most parishes in Scotland, are far from being complete. The register of mar- riages, amount of collections at the church doors, and minutes of the kirk-session, are kept with great accuracy ; but the record of births and deaths is most deficient Of the former 25, and of the latter only 8 were recorded for the year 1 840, while 50 deaths, and from 70 to 80 births are known to have taken place in the pa- rish within that period. This strange anomaly may be accounted for tbus : Over the registration of the former, the kirk-session have a complete control, over the latter, as the law now stands, they have little or none; and, consequently, by far the most important records are incomplete. Few or none of the Dissenters in the parish register their children's names, and in a parish. AUCHTERMUCHTY. 783 where, at least, between thirty and forty children must be born of Dissenting parents yearly, there are not as many of them re- corded in the parochiaf registers for the last twenty years. With regard to the register of deaths, it may be observed that, for many years, a very faithful record was kept, while the kirk-session's mortcloth was used, but since it has become fashionable to use those of private societies, or, what is now much more common, none at all, no authentic record of the mortality which takes place with- in the parish is kept. fjond-ovmers* — The principal heritors in the parish, of which there are 65, are, Mr Bruce of Falkland ; P. G. Skene of Hall- yards ; and Andrew Murray, Esq. sheriff-depute of Aberdeenshire. The valued rent of the parish is L. 5783, 9s. lOd. Scots ; the real rent is L.5900 Sterling. The following are the qualified heritors of the parish, with their respective valuations : O. T. Bruce, Esq. L. 2429 18 7 P. G. Skene, Esq. . 1112 Andrew Murray, Esq. . 504 16 9 William Johnstone, Esq. 249 14 8 Union Bank of Dundee, . 216 13 10 Charles Moyes, Esq. 189 7 John Bonthron, Esq. . 194 13 10 Mansion Houses. — My res Castle is the only mansion of any con* sideration in the parish. It was long the residence of the Mon- crieffs of Reedie, the ancestors of P. G. Skene, Esq. who sold the estate of Myres, together with the patronage of Auchter- muchty, to the late Mr Bruce, the King's printer for Scotland, about twenty years ago. Although a large addition was made to the castle about fifteen years ago, and the house is capable of ac- commodating a large family, the present proprietor has never taken up his residence here. The pleasure-grounds are not very exten- sive, including only a park of about thirty acres,' while the lands on every side are perhaps too valuable for agricultural purposes ever to extend it beyond the present boundary. Bellevue, the property of Mr Marshall Gardiner, and Southfield, the property of Messrs Moncrieff, are very pleasing places of residence. III. — Population. Amount of population in 1811, . 2403 1821, 2754 1831, . 3225 1841, . 3352 In 1841, the town and burgh of Auchlermuchty contained a popu- lation of 2550 ; the village of Dunshelt, which lies about a mile to 784 F1FESHIRE. the south-east on the road to Falkland and the New Ion, 601 ; and the landward part of the parish, 293. IV. — Industry. The parish is in a high state of cultivation, and the number of imperial acres cultivated or in tillage is 2600 nearly. The total extent of the parish is 2900 imperial acres, and not 3000 Scots acres, as stated in the Old Account. It does not appear that any waste lands could be added to those under tillage. There is an undivided common in the parish of about 90 acres. The number of acres under wood is about 220, and most of them have been planted within the last Gfty years. Rent. — The average rent of land in this parish is very high, and the competition for it, when out of lease, is extremely great ; but the following statement, made from minute investigation and au- thentic sources, will best exhibit a comparative view of its value : There are A00 acres, averaging L. 4 per ucre, L. 1200 600 3 1800 1200 . 2 . 2400 590 1 . 500 2600 L. 5900 The real rental of the parish is L. 5900. In this the value of plantations and undivided common is not included. Manufactures. — In the year 1817 a blight came over the ma- nufacturing interest in this parish, which it has never recovered. Since that time, trade, instead of being carried on by resident manufacturers, has been transacted chiefly through the medium of agents who give out yarns to the weavers to work from manufac- turers at Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, &c The manufactures consist of cotton and linen goods, or checks, and drills, as they are called, and green linens. It is generally supposed that there are about 700 weavers in the parish, of which one-third are females, whose earnings average about 5s. 6d. per week. V. — Parochial Economy. Ecclesiastical State. — The number of families in the parish is nearly 750, of which Dissenters form, as near as can be ascertain- ed, the one-half. The stipend of the Established clergyman is 136 bolls of meal of 140 lb. per boll, and 99 quarters of barley, (or 17 chalders tit totOj) and L.10 in money. The glebe measures 8£ acres imperial, and is worth L. 30 per annum. The manse was built in 1793, and is a substantial fabric. An addition was made to it about seven years ago, and it is now AUCHTERMUCHTY. 785 one of the best and most comfortable manses in the presbytery. The church was built in 1780, but in 1838 the patron made an ad- dition at his own individual expense (upwards of L.500) by which nearly 400 additional sittings were added. The church now accom- modates 900 sitters. It is well attended ; the number of commu- nicants is nearly 600. There are three meeting-houses in the pa- rish besides, viz. two in connection with the United Secession Church, and one belonging to the Relief. They may accommo- date 1200 sitters, and are all well attended. Education* — There are sixschoolsin the parish, of which five are in the town of Auchtermuchty and one at Dunshelt. Three of them, besides the parochial school, are partially endowed by public sub- scription or private munificence. The parochial schoolmaster's sa- lary is the maximum; the school fees on an average do not ex- ceed L.20 per annum, and his other emoluments as session-clerk and kirk treasurer are about L.12. Savings Bank. — There is a savings bank ip the parish. It wad established upwards of twenty years ago, and has been eminently successful. There are 490 depositors, and the sum lying at in- terest on the 31st of December 1840, was L.3028, 9s. The benefit of the bank is not confined to persons residing in the pa- rish, but is extended to the surrounding district ; and, accordingly* a majority of the depositors are from the parishes of Strathmiglo, Falkland, Collessie, and the surrounding country. During the year 1840 nearly L.300 was added to. the stock. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The number of persons at present upon the poor's roll is 62, exclusive of occasional poor, as also those on the list of the female society. The expenditure for the year ending at the 1st of April 1841 was L. 293, 15s. 6d. The average aid given to each is about 6s. per month, but in some cases much more — and few or none have below 4s. per month. In most cases, a house rent of L. 1, 5s. is also allowed, and in few parishes are the wants of the poor better attended to than here. The contributions for the support of the poor in this parish have hitherto been made up of a voluntary assessment upon the land- ward heritors, and the collections at the church doors, which amount to about L. 30 yearly ; but since the burden of support* ing the poor has become so heavy of late years upon the landed heritors, several of whom have refused to pay their share of the assessment, a legal assessment was imposed in September last upon all heritable property in the parish. January 1843. fife. 3d PARISH OF MOONZIE. PRESBYTERY OF CUPAR, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV, ALEXANDER KIDD, D. D., MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name. — At a very early period, previous to the year 1238, the parish was called Urhithumonetyn. It afterwards assumed the name of Auchtermonsey, Moonzie, its present name, is gene- rally supposed to be a Gaelic word, which signifies the Hill of ike Deer* Extent, 4*c. — Moonzie is one of the smallest parishes in Scot- land, being not quite two English miles in length, and one and a* half mile in breadth. It approaches in figure to a parallelogram, and is bounded on the east by the parish of Cupar, on the south by Monimail, on the west by Criech, and on the north by Kil~ meny. Like the greater part of the north side of Fife, it presents a varied surface of hill and dale. To the west, there are several beautiful rising grounds of no great height, which descend with a gentle slope to the east, and terminate in a valley of considerable extent. Its elevation above the level of the sea may be about 800 feet The only stream worth mentioning, Moonzie Burn, takes its rise from Lordscairnie Myre, and after winding its way through several parishes to the eastward, falls into the Eden, near the Inner Bridge. In the farm of Lordscairnie, there was formerly a loch, or myre of considerable extent, nearly two miles long, and in some places about a quarter of a mile broad. About forty years ago it was drained at considerable expense, and converted into arable ground. By paring and burning the surface of the soil, many excellent crops of oats and turnips were at first procured. But its fertility is now much diminished, and its produce greatly lessened* An attempt was made several years ago to dry the moss more completely, by deep* ening the former drains, and excavating the rock at the point where the water flows out, and it was supposed that this would renew the soil, and render it more productive. It has only, however, been MOONZIE. 787 partially successful The crops are still scanty and uncertain, and sometimes hardly defray the expense of cultivation. When em- ployed in draining the loch, the labourers found many large oak trees deeply imbedded in the soil, and in a good stale of preserva- tion, and some are still discovered when they are ploughing the ground, and digging for marl Many deers' heads, with splen- did branching horns, in a petri&ed state, were also dug out of the moss, and were eagerly sought after by the lovers of natural his- tory, to adorn their museums. Under the moss, about two or three feet from the surface, there lies a bed of excellent shell-mar]. It varies in thickness in different places from one to three feet. It has been employed with great success in fertilizing the soil of the adjacent country. Great quantities have been raised at different periods, and employed with advantage, as an ingredient in com* post dunghills, and as a top-dressing for pasture ground, and in some cases it has been applied to a naked fallow like lime. Gaofapy.*— The parish of Moonzie comprehends the summits and slope of three connected elevations, shutting up the west end of a valley extending east about two miles, by about a mile and a- half broad. On the west these elevations are connected by a neck of high land with the declivity of Norman Law, and consequently form an offset from the line of high lands formed by the Ochil and Campsie hills. Observations in the neighbourhood of Cupar, near the line and level of the Eden's bed, as well as those made near the Tay in the opposite direction, give every reason to believe that the trap rocks, of which alone the surface of the parish is formed, rest upon that series to which the name of red sandstone or old red sandstone is given, forming the floor of all the Fife, and I be- lieve, of all Scottish coal fields. Whether these rocks are to be considered as contemporaneous with the red sandstone and subordinate to it, as some theorists con- tend, or as having been forced up and overflowing these rocks at a subsequent period by the action of internal fire, it is impossible, from any appearances discovering themselves here, to conjecture. The hills are generally rounded, and covered with soil to the sum- mits, and the trap of the vicinity only shows a tendency to the co- lumnar form in the rock of Craigfoodie hill, which affords a pictu- resque termination to the distant view down the valley to the east- ward. Beds of trap tufa and boulders, crumbling down in layers • For the few remarks on the geology of the parish, I am indebted to George Go- van, Esq. 788 FIFESH1KE. from the surface, contribute much to enrich the soil, which, in many places, might at first seem sterile from its proximity to the rock. At some places, amygdaloid is to be found containing balls of agate or Scotch pebble in concentric layers. The only exception to the rocky material constituting the sur- face of the parish is from the presence of those masses, often many tons in weight, rounded and water-worn, of which I noticed one lately on the side of the road near Colluthie. The parent rock of all these, which is numerous on many other moors in Fifeshire, I need hardlv observe, is far to the north-west II. — Civil History. Sibbald, in his History of Fife, seems to be of opinion that Moonzie was early visited with the light of the Gospel. He re- lates that St Regulus, in the fourth century, having landed at St Andrews, and formed a Christian establishment there, travelled through the country, and built several wooden churches in differ- ent places, — one of them at Monechata or Monichi, which he thinks was the parish called Moonzie. Jameson, in his History of the Culdees, asserts that Sibbald is mistaken in this opinion, and, from the similarity of the names, concludes that Monechata or Monichi must be understood to be Monikie in Angus. But when we reflect on the great changes which the names of places under- go in the course of time, we see no reason in this case to consider Sibbald's interpretation either incorrect or improbable. In a list given by Sibbald of the churches and chapels in Fife in the reign of William the Lion, " Moonzey" is included* Land-owners. — The greater part of the parish, consisting of the farms of Moonzie, Lordscairnie, Torr, and Bridgend belongs to the Earl of Glasgow, who succeeded to this property lately on the death of Lady M. L. Craufurd. The estate of Colluthie is the joint property of Messrs John and Henry Inglis. The estate of Moonzie or Lordscairnie came into the possession of the Craufurd family at a very early period. Sir David Lindsay, the seventh of the family after their settlement in Scotland, and who was one of the Magnates Scotise who signed the celebrated letter to Pope John, asserting the independence of Scotland in the time of Ro- bert Bruce, was the first of the family who possessed the property. He married Mary, one of the co-heiresses of Sir Alexander de Abernethy, and received along with her the estates of Cairnie, Dunbog, and Country hills in Fife, besides other lands in other counties.* Sibbald, in his History of Fife, mentions that they " Reg. Mag. Sig. 36. i MOONZIfi* 789 Acquired this estate in the reign of Jatnes IV. in consequence of Alexander Lindsay, sixth Earl of Craufurd, marrying Dumbar, heiress of Moonzie. But for this statement he produces no autho- rity, and it is disproved by existing records. " Sir David Lindsay gave, on the 19th of November 1355, a donation of six pounds of wax yearly out of his lands of Cairnie, to the abbot and convent of Lindores, for finding a burning taper every day that mass is ce+ lebrated in the choir of their church, at his sepulchre, which was confirmed by charter granted by David II. on 3d August 1364."* Eminent Men — In the Craufurd family there were many indi- viduals who were distinguished for their talents, their bravery, and for the high situations which they occupied in the government of the country. Alexander the third Earl of Craufurd, who lived in the reign of James II. was a man of singular character and habits. From the fierceness and cruelty of his temper and his undaunted courage, he was surnamed the " Tiger," and, from his long black bushy beard, he received the appellation of Earl Beardie. Though a great part of his property and his principal residence were in Angus, it is generally understood that he resided occasionally in Fife. He is said to have built the castle of Lordscairnie, in the parish of Moonzie, and this account is confirmed by its being call- ed Earl Beardie* s castle to this day. It is a large and lofty build* ing, being 54 feet in length, and 40 in breadth over walls, and four stories high. The walls are nearly 6 feet thick, are com- posed of every kind of stones, and bound together by the strong- est cement. The ground floor, it is likely, was occupied, with kitchen and cellars, and the second with the great baronial hall. It is now in a very dilapidated state. The outward walls or shell of the castle still remains, but the roof and floors are entirely gone, and even the ribats of the windows and the corner-stones of the building have disappeared. The tenants of the estate, who were formerly in the habit of making a quarry of the castle to obtain stones for building houses or dikes, are now very properly pro- hibited by their leases from making any farther encroachment upon it. There was formerly a wall of considerable height and thickness round the castle, called the " rampart wall," including several acres of ground, and having towers on it at some distance from each other. A part of this wall on the north existed till within these few years, and one of the towers still remains. From the construction of this tower, it had evidently been a place of do* • Wood's Peerage. 1 790 FIPESH1RE. fence, and is supposed to have been near the gate which formed the principal entranoe to the castle. Within the memory of some individuals in the parish, there was another tower to the north of the castle, which contained an oven, and had been devoted to cu- linary purposes. The castle is situated ou a gently rising ground, and in ancient times, before Lordscairnie Myre was drained, in the midst of which it is placed, must have been surrounded with water, 'and nearly inaccessible. This celebrated member of the Craufurd family was strongly imbued with the factious and turbulent spirit of the age in which he lived. He was engaged in frequent bloody disputes with the nobility and gentry of his neighbourhood, and on all occasions he displayed great ferocity and courage* Near Arbroath, he de- feated the Ogilvies, a powerful family in Angus, in a pitched battle ; and after having slaughtered them in great numbers, plundered their houses, wasted their lands, and made captives their wives and children. Like many of the feudal barons of those days, he not only quarrelled with his neighbours and equals, but rebelled against the authority of his sovereign. He entered into a league with the Earl of Douglas and the Lord of the Isles two of the most powerful nobles of the kingdom, to dethrone James 1L and subvert his government Lord Huntly, a nobleman of great talent and bravery, was employed by his sovereign to put down this unjust and unnatural rebellion. Having collected a respectable army, he attacked Craufurd, who was posted with his forces in a moor near Brechin, and, after an obstinate struggle, totally defeated him. Njt long after this humiliating defeat, Craufurd, through the influence of Huntly, made his peace with the King. While James was travelling through Angus, receiving the homage of his subjects, Craufurd suddenly presented himself before the King, clothed in mean apparel, with his head and feet bare, and attended by a few miserable-looking ragged servants, and throwing himself on his knees, he humbly confessed his guilt and implored forgiveness. The King, moved by his penitence and professions of attachment, and persuaded by the entreaties of his barons, mercifully pardoned his treasons, and generously re- stored him the lands and titles which he had justly forfeited by his rebellious conduct. Craufurd appears to have been deeply affected by the kindness and lenity of his sovereign. He accom- panied James in his tour through the country, entertained him MOONZIE. 791 most splendidly id bis castle at Finbaven, and was ever afterwards a faithful and obedient subject. He did not long survive his reconciliation with the King. In about six months after, he was seized with a fever, which carried him off in a few days* He died in 1454, and was buried in the Grayfriars* Church of Dundee. Another distinguished individual belonging to the parish was Sir William Ramsay of Colluthie. He lived in the reign of David IL, King of Scotland, and was renowned both for his wisdom and bravery. He was present at the fatal battle of Durham in 1346* in which the Scottish army was totally routed, and, along with many of the nobility and gentry, was unfortunately taken prisoner. After his liberation from captivity, he, with a great number of his countrymen, entered into the service of the King of France, and fought against the English, who were then threatening the subju- gation of that country. At the celebrated battle of Poictiers in 1856, where the Scottish auxiliaries behaved with the utmost bra- very, and suffered most severely, he had again the misfortune to be taken prisoner. On the evening after the battle, he displayed great address and sagacity in accomplishing the deliverance of Archibald Douglas, a man of high rank, and an eminent Scottish warrior, who had fallen into the hands of the English. When the prisoners were assembled, Douglas was found arrayed in armour of the most splen- did description, and it was concluded by his conquerors that he was a man of noble birth, and a most valuable prize. Ramsay, who was present, declared in the most positive terms that Douglas, in- stead of being a nobleman, was a mean fellow ; some servant who had either stolen the armour of his master, or taken it from his body. He abused him in the grossest terms ; commanded him to pull off his boots, and beat him with one of them most unmerci- fully. To all this injurious treatment, Douglas, who saw his de- sign, submitted without murmur or reply. Ramsay having thus lulled the suspicions of the English asleep, paid forty shillings for bis ransom, and thus enabled him to escape from captivity, and perhaps from death. Sir William Ramsay was connected with some of the first families in Scotland. In consequence of marry- ing Isabel Countess of Fife, daughter of Duncan, last Earl of Fife, he was invested with the Earldom by King David II. It has been asserted, that he had a right to this title by blood ; but this account is not established by satisfactory evidence. He received 792 FIFE8HIRE. the title as a mark of favour from his sovereign, and, dying with- out issue, it returned to the Crown. The old house of Colluthie is said to have been built by Sir William. But this is bestowing an antiquity on it to which it has no just claim, and which is ooly supported by the most vague tradition. The house is a small plain building, remarkable only for the thickness of its walls and some arched doors and windows. It was long much neglected, and hearty uninhabitable, but it has been lately repaired by its present proprietor, Mr J. Inglis, at considerable expense, and may now accommodate a respectable family. Parochial Registers. — The parochial registers are not of ancient date. The first entry in the minute-book is on November 6th 1693. Baptisms were first recorded in 1713, and marriages in 1769. Since 1821, births and baptisms, as well as marriages and deaths, have been regularly recorded. Antiquities.— When the church was repaired in 1821, there was found in the east end of it a coffin containing some human bones in a mouldering state, and a thigh-bone in good preservation* The aide stones of the coffin consisted of two long sandstones, and the bottom of Dutch square bricks. The upper stone, or cover, on which there is often an inscription, had, it is likely, been removed at some early period, but on one of the side-stones there was cut out the figure of a sword, indicating that the person who had been entombed there had been a soldier or warrior. It is probable that he belonged to the Craufurd family, who had large property in the parish, and were generally military men. Several years ago, when some labourers were casting a ditch on the west side of the farm of Moonzie, they discovered several stone coffins near the surface of the ground. From the rude materials of which they were composed, and the exposed situation in which they were placed, they do not appear to have contained the ashes of the illustrious dead, but to have been the repositories of some ignoble individuals. Some coins have been found in different places of the parish, but none of any importance either from their antiquity or intrinsic value. III. — Population. The return to Dr Webster in 1755, was 271 1798, 171 1831, 188 184k, 174 MOONZIE, 793 The population of the parish was formerly touch greater than it is at present. Different causes appear to have operated in producing this de- crease. About fifty or sixty years ago, the farms in this country were generally of small extent, and much more numerous than at present Ample employment and maintenance were thus afforded to many families, and the population of the country parishes con- sequently great. But the farms are now generally of large ex- tent and few in number, and though laboured much more skilfully and perfectly than formerly, the number of cultivators is much di- minished. It was also the practice of the farmers in these times to lease out to each of their cottars, and to those who had houses on the farm, two or three acres of land at a moderate rent, and to give it the requisite cultivation. They also allowed them to keep cows, and provided them with grass in the summer and straw in the winter, for their maintenance. These privileges were highly valued by the people, and contributed much to their comfort and advantage. From the produce of their land and dairy, they had abundance of plain food for the maintenance of themselves and families ; and in seasons of sickness, when unable for their daily labour, they could subsist for a time on their own means without beiog forced to apply for public aid. But this practice has been discontinued, and none even of the farm-servants enjoy the advan- tage of a cow except the Foreman. In consequence of this change, the people of the country who were tradesmen, seeing that they enjoyed none of the comforts of the country, left the habitations of their fathers, and established themselves in the towns from which their employment was principally derived. This desertion has produced in many parishes a paucity of labourers for field work, particularly for the green crop husbandry, which has been rapidly increasing for some time past, and is now carried on to a great extent* The yearly average of births for the last seven years is, 5 deaths, • . 8 marriages, . « 2 Average number of persons under 15 years of age, . 79 between 15 and 30, 39{ 30 and 50, 39 50 and 70, 16 upwards of 70, . 9 There are only three proprietors of land in the parish, and none of them reside in it. The income of each is upwards of L. 50. 79* FIFESHIRE. Numb** of unmarried men, bachelors, and widowers upwards of 50, 4 women upwards of 45, . 10 Average number of children in each family, . . 8 IV. — Industry. The great majority of the people of this parish are engaged in agriculture, either as farmers and ploughmen, or as day-labourers. The number of tradesmen is small, four masons, three carpenters, and seven weavers. There are about 1000 Scots or 1261 impe- rial acres in the parish. The whole is arable and in a high state of cultivation, except a few acres on the top of Colluthie hill, which is steep and rocky, and incapable of being ploughed, and which has been planted with wood, principally Scots firs. The soil in general is excellent, being chiefly a black loam, resting up- on trap or rotten-rock. In some places it is a strong coarse clay with a wet bottom ; and there are about thirty-six acres of moss- land belonging to the farm of Lordscairnie. Within the recol- lection of the present incumbent, improvements of the most valu- able and substantial nature have been accomplished. Upwards of sixty acres of land, which were formerly covered with whins and broom, have been trenched, and manured and converted into productive soil. The land has been subdivided and inclosed, drained in the most effectual manner, and cropped so judiciously as both to keep it as clean as a garden, and also to make it most productive. The average rent of a Scots acre of land may be L.2, 5s. The grazing of an ox of twenty-five stones weight or upwards may cost during the summer from L.1, 15s. to L.2. The keep of one during the winter for six months, on turnips and straw, from L.2, 10s. to L.3. The grazing of a wedder or ewe L. 1 per an- num. Live-Stock. — Great attention has been paid in the parish to the breeding of domestic animals. Several of the farmers rear a number of young horses every year, and occasionally purchase some brood mares from adjoining counties to improve their own stock. Small active horses are in general preferred to large and heavy ones, as they are better fitted than the others for labouring the hil- ly ground of the north side of Fife. The Fife breed of oxen, which is generally of a black colour and horned, is the favourite in this quarter. Not long ago, it had rather fallen into disrepute ; but the tide is now turned, and from the attention directed to its improvement, it bids fair to rival the best breeds in the kingdom. 3 M00NZ1E. T95 The Teeewater or short-horned breed from England wm intro- duced here some years ago, and is still highly esteemed by some agriculturists* The principal advantage of this breed consists in their capability of being made fat when only two years of age* But, notwithstanding this recommendation, it is now beginning to be less esteemed, and to give way either to the Fife or dodded cattle of Angus. There is only one tenant in (he parish who keeps a breeding stock of sheep on his farm. They are a mixture of the Leicester and Cheviot* He has lately got some ewes of the Dorsetshire breed, which are of large size and horned, and produce lambs twice a-year. A six years' rotation is the mode of cropping gene- rally adopted* 1* Fallow or green crop ; 2. wheat ; 8. pease or beans ; 4. barley with grass seeds ; 5* grass cut or pastured ; 6* oats. The tenants in this parish enjoy particular advantaged in regard to their leases* These extend in general to twenty-five years, and include no restrictions of an oppressive nature. The farm steadings of the principal tenants are of a superior kind, built upon the most approved plans, and affording every ne- cessary accommodation. As a proof of the spirit of enterprize and improvement which exists amongst us, it may be mentioned that, though there are only four thrashing-mills in the parish, two of these are driven by steam. The soil is every year changing its appearance and becoming more productive. A laudable spirit of rivalry prevails amongst the farmers, and leads them to adopt every improvement which may benefit the land as well as promote their own interest iVoAn*.— Amount of raw produce raised in the parish : Produce in grain 4000 bolls, L.4000 Stock sold annually. 700 Dairy, 100 Potatoes. . 100 L.4900 V. — Parochial Economy* Market-Town. — Cupar, which is about three miles distant, is the nearest market-town. Every article of country produce finds there a ready sale and a good price. There are several small col- lections of houses in the parish which hardly deserve the names of villages. They are the residences of the agricultural labourers belonging to the different farms, and of a few tradesmen* There has been no inn in the parish for many years* 796 FIFE8H1RE. Mean* of Communication. — The nearest post-office is Cupaf. The turnpike road leading from Cupar to Newburgh, and extend- ing to one mile and 1400 yards, lies along the south boundary of the parish. A statute labour road of one mile and 500 yards connects the Newburgh road on the south with the great Dun- dee road on the north. There is, beside, a private farm road which goes through the middle of the parish. Ecclesiastical State. — The church of Moonzie is situated on a rising ground in the south-west part of the parish, and is easily accessible to all the population. It is a small plain building, with- out spire or other ornament. From its elevated position, it forms a conspicuous object from the Newburgh road, and enjoys the name of the Visible Kirk, from being a landmark to mariners en- tering the Tay. It has all the marks of an old building, but the time of its erection is unknown. It was lately repaired and new seated ; and though not possessed of any external beauty, is now a comfortable place of worship. It has accommodation for 171 sitters. All the sittings are free. The church and teinds of the parish of Moonzie belonged at one time to a religious fraternity at Scotland Well, in Kinross- shire, called the Ministers of the Fratres Sanctae Trinitatis de Redemptione Captivorum. William Malvoisin, Bishop of St An- drews, who died in 1238, was the founder of this institution, and set apart the teinds of the parish of Moonzie for its support. Its design was to show hospitality to religious pilgrims, and collect money for the redemption of Christians who had been taken cap* tives by the Turks. The brethren of the ministry performed the spiritual duties of the parish, and continued to act in that capacity till the Reformation. In 1564, the parish of Moonzie was united to that of Cupar; but, in 1625, it was disjoined and again made a separate parish, and Mr James Wedderburn admitted minister. List of Ministers since the Reformation. — William Grey, reader, admitted 1576; Mr James Wedderburn, admitted 1625, died 1661 ; Mr J. Wedderburn, Yo., admitted 2d September 1659, deposed 1662; Mr James Forsyth, 1664; Mr David Bayne, 1675 ; Mr James Ross, outed 1689 ; Mr Andrew Young, ad- mitted November 21, 1693, died 1699; Mr William Myles, ad- mitted September 12, 1700; Mr Archibald Myles, admitted September 4, 1739; Mr David Burn, admitted July 24, 1755; Mr Robert Swan, admitted August 9, 1770 ; Mr Andrew Ireland, MOONZIE. 797 admitted March 16, 1777 ; the present incumbent, admitted Sep-> tember 3, 1807. The manse was built about thirty-six years ago, and, though in tolerable repair, is small and inconvenient, and far inferior in point of accommodation to the manses in the neighbourhood* The glebe consists of fifteen acres, and may be worth L.30 per annum. The stipend is L. 177, 18s. 8fd. in money, and 7 bolls, 3 firlots, 1 peck, 3f lippies meal, and 3 bolls, 3 firlots, 2 pecks, 3' lippies barley. Forty-one families attend the Established Church ; two families are Dissenters. 140 persons at an average attend public worship in the parish church each Lord's day. There are eight Dissenters who go to different churches in Cupar. The average number of communicants for the last seven years, is 1 10. The average amount of church collections yearly for religious and charitable objects is L.3, 10s. Education.— There is only one school, the parochial. It is situated in the centre of the parish, and is attended by about 60 scholars. The present teacher has officiated in that capacity for upwards of forty years with great credit to himself, and much to the advantage of the youth in the neighbourhood. His legal sa- lary is only L.30 per annum ; but the heritors lately, sensible of his merit, raised it to the maximum during his life. No perqui- sites of any kind are allowed. The fees in all do not exceed L.14 per annum. The school-room is of sufficient size, but the ceiling is low, which makes it uncomfortable for the young people during the heat of summer. The teacher's house is small, and would require both repair and enlargement. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The average number of persons receiving parochial aid is 4. Some receive 2s., others Is. 6d or Is. per week, according to their circumstances. The annual amount of collections at the church doors for relief of the poor is L. 2, 14s. 7£d. ; rent of land, L. 35 ; seat rent in Cupar church, 16s. ; total, L. 38, 10s. 7£d. It will be seen from this state- ment, that the principal fund for the support of the poor is derived from land. Six acres of land were purchased by the session of Moonzie in the parish of Cupar, about the middle of last century, at a low price* They were enabled to do this, in consequence of a legacy left them by the last Episcopal curate of the parish, and from the savings of their collections. From the rent stated, there falls to be deducted various bur- 798 FIFESHIRE. dens, which considerably lessen its amount, such as mtmster's stipend in Cupar, repairs of church and manse, bridge, and rogue money, bishop's rents, as well as beadle, precentor's, and session- clerk's salary. The funds, however, have proved sufficient for the maintenance of the poor, and no application has been made to the heritors for any assistance. The poor evince a laudable spirit of independence, and the funds have generally been employed for the support of the aged and infirm. Fuel. — The fuel commonly used is coal, either English coal brought from^Newburgh or Balmerino, or Scots coal from Balbir- nie or Dysart. The price varies according to the demand, and has been higher for these two last years than formerly. A single horse cart-load at Dysart, where they are cheapest, and which contains 12 cwt., costs 3s. 3d. To this there is to be added, tolls and carriage, which will amount at least to as much more. Eng- lish coal are sold at Newburgh at from 4s. 6d. to 5s. the boll of 6 cwt. January 1843. ^p^* gent necessitie, under sicke securitie as ye can best devise, quhairanent we ha\e di- rect! t of said servit* particulate, quham ye sail credit Assuring you the mair wear* straitit be thispnt (present) necessitie, qu* having ane competent tyme we could have remedit, and spairit you further, the mair deep lie we will imprint the ben i fit kynd- ness ye will shaw us at this tyme above all those that ever we have recevait, or will recaive at any time hereafter. And thus comtti (committs) you to the Eternall, at Faulkland, ye second day of September 1589. (Signed) Jambs R . Made up and folded as a letter, and addressed on the back, To our right trust freind, ye Laird of Belmontou." The comptroller's receipt for the loan has also been preserved. KINGHORN. 807 Eminent Character*. — Besides those already mentioned, the fa- mily of Kirkcaldy of Grange— (a property now in the possession of Colonel Fergusson of Raith, about a mile to the north-east of Kinghorn,) demands honourable mention. It was not the extent of their property, but the great force of their character and splen- dour of their talents, which gave them such a prominent place in the history of James V. and during the regency of the ill-fated Mary. Sir James Kirkcaldy, who was Lord High Treasurer of Scotland during a part of the reign of James V., was considered one of the wisest and worthiest of the nation ; and few achieve- ments in war are more brilliant than those performed by Sir Wil- liam Kirkcaldy, both at Stirling and Edinburgh, when, after the battle of Langside, he espoused the side of the incarcerated Queen. For his holding the castle of Edinburgh (of whbh he was gover- nor) so long against the regent and the force sent by Elizabeth to reduce it, he, on surrendering, suffered death with his brother at the market-cross of Edinburgh, August 3, 1570. Mr John Scrymgeour, a man remarkable for his piety and learn- ing, was minister of Kinghorn, and was selected as chaplain to the King in 1590, when his Majesty sent to Denmark to bring home his Queen. He is enrolled among the Scottish Worthies on account of his refusal to subscribe the articles of Perth, and join the modi- fied Episcopacy, which at that time was attempted to be introdu- ced into the Scottish nation, and for which he was deprived of his living at Kinghorn, and obliged to retire to a small house he had in Auchterderran, where it is supposed he spent the remainder of his days. In one of the old records of this parish, the signing of the na- tional Covenant in 1590 is inserted, and the first name to the deed is that of Thomas Biggar, minister of the parish, and is followed in beautiful penmanship by Johne Boswall of Balmouto, and Johne Kirkcaldy of Grange. On an old stone, still entire in the churchyard, which had been erected by the Sailors' Community to the memo- ry of Nlr Thomas Biggar, we find that he died in 1601, about ele- ven years after the signing of the covenant. This is mentioned also in the session records of that period. He was succeeded by -Mr John Moncriefe, a man also of considerable eminence during those stormy periods of our ecclesiastical history. The accom- plished scholar and gentleman, the late Professor Bruce, who held long the patent with Sir James Hunter Blair for printing the Bible 8Qa FIFE8HIBE* in Scotland, and was His Majesty's Secretary for Latin Records, had his patrimonial estate in this parish.* Land-owners. — The principal heritors of this parish are, the Earl of Rosslyn for the lands of Invertiel, Tyrie, South Piteadie* and South Glassmount; Colonel Fergusson of Raith for Easter and Wester Balbarton, Easter and Wester Boglilly, Cauldhame, Seafield, Vicars- Grange, Grange, Baidland, and other lands; John Boswell, Esq. of Balmuto for the estate of Balmuto ; Mrs (X T. Bruce for Grangehill and other lands ; John Drysdale, Esq* for Kilrie and North Piteadie ; the Trustees of the late Robert Philp, Esq. of Edenshead for Banchory, Drinkbetween, Justine lands, and other acres ; the Trustees of the late Burridge Purvis, Esq. for North Glassmount ; Robert Stocks, Esq. for Abden ; the Duke of Buccleuch for Inchkeith ; Mr George Greig for Easter Balbeardie ; the Trustees of the late Mr Greenhill for com- mon of Kinghorn ; Mr Shanks of Ciistlerigg for acres near King- born, Glaramis Tower, &c. ; the burgh of Kinghorn for the Ross lands ; and a few others whose property is very limited. Parochial Registers. — The earliest register is of baptisms, com- mencing in 1577. The session records commence with some re- gularity in September 1607, yet there are earlier notices of the proceedings of the session* We find in one of the volumes, not only the parish signatures to the national covenant already noticed* but also a number of special reasons recorded for a general fast tu be held as early as October 1593. The records of baptisms and marriages, and the proceedings of the kirk-session, are kept with much regularity and fulness from the close of the seventeenth cen- tury to the present time. Antiquities.— The rage for modern improvements here has al- most swept away every vestige of those ancient buildings in the town of Kinghorn which formerly distinguished it in its ecclesias- tical and civil importance. St Leonard's Tower was the last re* matning edifice of this nature, which, subsequent to the Reforma- tion, was converted into a town-house and jail. It was a few years ago entirely removed for the erection of a handsome modern build- ing as a town-house and prison. History, and not stone walls, must tell us what Kinghorn formerly was.— -The very seals, {Scat- tici 9 seiches,) along the shore, now enjoy an absolute respite from the conditions of the charter granted by David L to the Abbacy of * Patie Birnie* the far-famed fiddler, ought not to be forgotten, among the eini- 9*n.t characters belonging to Kinghorn. KINGHORN. 809 Dunferm]iBe» that every seventh one caught at Kinghorn should be sent to the ecclesiastics of that place.* — Except a few human bones dug up in forming the foundation for the extension of St Leonard'* spinning mill, nothing has of late years given any indication that that place was formerly consecrated ground. — Instead of the deep-ton- ed vespers sounding for prayers from St Leonard's Tower, there is now heard the sharp and enlivening bell summoning the healthy light-hearted young people to the spinning manufactory, — The ploughshare passes uninterruptedly over the spot where stood the grim stately walls of Glammis Tower. After Robert II. had given away this royal residence to Sir John Lyon and his successors, the Kings of Scotland still possessed a domicile in Kinghorn, to which they had recourse in crossing to Fife from Edinburgh, In the old orchard of Abden, there were not long ago removed the remains of a building, which tradition declared belonged to the King, and the road to which, from the shore or landing-place, was called the King's gate. This is coun- tenanced by the fact, that the property of Abden belonged to the Crown ; and in the ancient charter of this property, granted by Cardinal Beaton to Sir John Melville, there is a distinct reserva- tion that the King, in crossing to Kinghorn, should enjoy free lodg- ings, and the hospitality of Abden at any time he should require it* And the crown charter confirming the same to the son, (the father having been executed for high treason and his lands confis- cated,) shows that it continued Crown property, so that the Scot- tish monarchs had always a residence of one kind or other ia Kinghorn. The present proprietor, Mr Stocks, possesses both charters,-— the one by Cardinal Beaton has attached to it the seat of that ecclesiastical dignitary, as well as that of St Andrews; and he holds it under the same reservation which the Cardinal him- self, and his immediate successors did. It is thus evident that royalty has still a right to this ancient privilege, a fact probably al- together unknown to the present interesting and beloved posses- sor of the throne of these realms»f There are several objects yet * The present incumbents of Dunfermline would fare but ill if they depended on, any portion of this grant. Not a pboca is now sought after, for any purpose what- ever. ■f The words of the charter referring to the above reservation are, M reservatis no- bis nostrisque regiis suceessoribus in hujusmodi mansione hospitalite ct reaidentia to- ties quoties contigerit nobis ibidem supetvenire et declinare quamdiu nobis placluerit seu visum fenerit nostris propriis sumptibus ac etiam pro solution© et prasstatione no- bis quae cunque alia servitia et divoria qua) continentur in antiquis infeofamentis et rentalibus dictarum terrarum ac duplieans, diotam feudifirmam primo anno introitus. cujuslibet haredis ad dictam mansionis domum Greenbrae head, Parson'* croft alia* que pnelat iisdam spectan. 810 FIPB8HIR*. remaining in the parish of considerable interest to the antiquarian. Seafield tower presents a striking feature on the margin of the shore, resting on one side on a solid mass of red sandstone, and guarded on the other by the visible remains of a fosse and draw- bridge. This was the seat of an ancient family of the name of Moutrie. In the middle of a field belonging to the farm of Tyrie, there stands an old ruin, the gable of a building of no great ex- tent, but which, from its name and human bones found around it, -was most likely a chapel or place of public worship* The people call it Egsmalee, an evident corruption of Eglise Marie* Farther northwards, on the side of the hill of Piteadie, the old castle of that name is very entire in its ruins. This place was inhabited not more than an hundred years ago* It belongs to the Earl of Rosslyn, and has. been in the family of the St Clairs for a long .period* There are two obelisks of rough stones standing in a field to the west of North Glassmount House ; (this place is called by Sibbald Boisvill-Glasmond,) supposed to have been erected im- mediately after the last battle which was fought between the Scots and Danes, to mark the spot where some of the Scottish com- manders had fallen* A chapei had formerly been in existence in connection with this land* A field to the east of the house still bears the name of the Chapel-field, and it is not long since some 'of the ruins of the building were to be seen* Modern Buildings.— -Few places have undergone such a trans- formation during the last thirty years as Kinghorn* Its streets were then almost impassable, they are now levelled and well pav- ed* Its public buildings were mean,*— they are now good* The former town-house was an ancient ecclesiastical building, the pre- sent town house and jail is of Gothic architecture, which cost the ■ burgh L* 2500* Notwithstanding, however, its l>eauty, strength, and cost, its jail can only now be used as a lock-up house, and it does not prevent the inhabitants of the burgh from being assessed for the erection of prisons in other parts of the county* The school- house was formerly a plain unpretending building'; the school- house now, and the grounds adjoining would do honour to the me- tropolis. The spinning-mill adjoining the town house has under- gone of late great improvements, and has been much enlarged. This improvement has taken place since it came into the posses- sion of the present public spirited proprietors, the Messrs Swan of Kirkcaldy. Its extensive front, and well kept shrubbery, make it a great ornament to the place. The church is the only public KINGHORN. 811 building, which remains in much the same state as it has done since 1774, when it was rebuilt. Mansion-Houses. — Besides the house of Abden, a plain old grey building, situated on the east side. of Kinghorn, and commanding a beautiful and extensive view of the Forth, the mansion-house of Balmuto is almost the only other building in the parish worthy of the name. Its square tower is of great antiquity, but the chief accommodation is of modern architecture. It is well sheltered by the finely woodedT grounds immediately surrounding, and by the hills to the north and south. The Sower garden and conserva- tory mark the taste of the proprietor. III. — Population.* The population in 1755 was , 2389 1793, 1768 J 801, 2308 1811, 2204 1821, 2443 1831, 2079 1841, 2934 At the last census there were 1302 males — 1632 females. Inhabited houses, . 409 Uninhabited do., • 14 Building, .2 Number of families, . . 675— about 4j to each family. In the town of Kinghorn, . 1555 Landward and agricultural, 81 1 Village of West Bridge or Invertiel, ' 568 There are no resident heritors in this parish. Out of 675 fa± milies in the parish, about 610 belong to the labouring classes* leaving only 65, consisting of farmers, shopkeepers, and proprietor* of houses, who cannot be classed among those who depend solely on their manual labour for subsistence; The chief cause for the increase of the population since 182 1> is the extension of the flax spinning mills, which has brought a considerable number of strangers to the place for employment. Females are chiefly employed in spinning, which accounts for the greater proportion of females above males in this place. * Thererare three or four fatuous persons in this parish, but none insane. There is one deaf and dumb. IV, — Industry. Agriculture. — The rental of the landward parish is about L.13,000.f There are about 4000 Scots acres, or 5030 im-t perial. Of these there are, • The population of this parish roust have been as great at the close of the 16th century as it now is ; for we find that the National Covenant has adhibited to it be- tween 800 and 900 names— a considerable proportion of which were heads of fami- lies, and probably all of them communicants. f By the last valuation, the gross rental of the heritable property in the parish and 8!2 FIFE8HIRE. Cultivated, . , 9660 Soots acres. Uucultivated, 170 Planted, . . 170 Thirty-five acres may be advantageously cultivated, that are in- cluded in the 170 uncultivated. Produce. — The produce of the parish may be stated as follows : Scots acres. 800, oats, from 10 to 1 1 bolls per acre. 400, barley, from 7 to 9 do* 400, wheat, from 7 to 9 do. 400, turnips, L.6 to U8 per acre, consumed on {be frrm. 925, potatoes, L.12 to L.14 per acre. 430, hay, L.6 per acre. 865, pasture, 1*8, 10s. per acre* 40 occasionally cultivated* 0660 Rent.— The rent of land in this parish varies from L.I, 10s. to L.6 per acre. The average is about L 3, 10s. per acre. Stock. — There are few cattle reared in this parish. Those that are reared are of the Fife and short-horned breed, with crosses between them* Although there are few reared, yet a great num- ber, brought from other counties, are fattened in this parish, and from the attention paid to their condition and appearance, fre- quently bring high prices, L.25 and. L.30 being no uncommon price for them per head. Much attention has of late been given to sheep feeding. A considerable number are now kept, chiefly half-bred Cheviot, and black-faced. These, like the cattle, are generally imported from other places. Few parishes have undergone more improvements than this in draining and trenching, or can exhibit such an activity and atten- tion in the application of all recent discoveries to bring the land to the highest state of cultivation and productiveness. The farm- buildings and inclosures are in general very good, and show both the good taste of the tenant, and the encouragement of the land- lord. The duration of leases is nineteen years. Manufactures. — The only manufacture carried on in Kinghorn is the spinning of flax. The raw material is imported, and it un- dergoes here all the processes from the dressing of the flax, up to the final preparation of the yarn and thread, for the loom and other purposes. There is an extensive bleaching field at Nether Tyne, about beyond the boundary line of the burgh, including feu-duties, is L.HM364, 5a» 9(4. The rental within the burgh boundary is about L.2000. R1NGH0HN. 8)3 One and a-half mile to the eastward, belonging to the proprietors of St Leonard's mill, which enables them to prepare the thread and yarn in a purely white state for the market These gentle- men employ daily at their mill 200 females, 54 males, flax-dres- sers, 21 mechanics, or machine-makers, and 12 males who superintend and have other duties in the mill. About 70 are em- ployed in the bleaching of yarn. There are two other mills in Kinghorn, at both, of which are employed about 130 females, and 50 males, including 36 flax-dressers. There are thus connected with the spinning mills, 330 females ; 137 males; 70 of both sexes in the bleaching department ; total, 537. Girls above fourteen years of age, who are spinners, earn from 4s. to 6s. per week. Mechanics have from 12s. to L. I per week* Flax-dressers are paid by the hundred-weight of dressed flax ; they get a fair price for their work, and can make a good livelihood fully employed. Navigation. — Except the steamers which ply on the ferry, be- tween Pettycur and Newhaven, and a few half-tide boat* of forty tons burden, which carry goods and cattle to and from Leith, there is only one — a coaster of about seventy tons burden, which now belongs to Kinghorn. Occasionally vessels of considerable bur- den land their flax cargoes from the Baltic, and other places at Pettycur harbour, and a few cargoes of potatoes are shipped an- nually there for the London market. There are a few small boats belonging to individuals in the town, which, during the summer months, are employed in fishing. V. — Parochial Economy. There is no town in the parish except the burgh of Kinghorn* The population, as has been already stated, is 1555. Its trade has been diversified and fluctuating. While basking under the smiles of royalty, it had an ample business in supplying the necessary ar- ticles for the Court, and gentry, with their retainers* But when Glammis Castle began to decay, and the old nobility and gentry died out, or ceased to live upon their properties in the parish, a great change came over the affairs of Kinghorn. Still it pos- sessed a constant and advantageous traffic from the. proximity of Pettycur, which was the principal ferry between Fife and Mid- Lo- thian. In the absence of steamers and stage-coaches, the town was usually crowded with passengers, waiting for fair weather to allow the boats to set saiL The whole town on these occasions 814 F1FEKSHIRE. was wont to be an inn : every house that could well accommodate strangers was in requisition ; and the demand for saddle-horses was so great, that, in. the recollection of some old men, not less than sixty belonged to Kinghorn. All this passed naturally away by the introduction of steamers on the ferry, and the establishment of stage-coaches, with all their expedition of conveyance and accu- racy of hours. This deficiency of bustle and traffic in the town has been more than compensated by the erection of the spinning- mills, upon which the inhabitants' now principally depend for em- ployment and subsistence. From the period when, the privileges of a royal burgh were con- ferred upon Kinghorn by David L, it had been managed by a town-council and magistrates, up to Michaelmas 1841, when, upon the day on which, by the set of the burgh, or terms of its charter, the magistrates ought to have been chosen, a quorum could not be mustered, and in consequence of this it was disfranchised. Certain parties applied to the Court of Session for managers, and the court appointed three respectable gentlemen, resident in King- horn, to preside over its affairs, without beiug invested, however, with judicial authority. The absence of this authority has been felt to be no great evil. The residence of one of the county po- lice has been found quite sufficient to check any disorderly con- duct, and to maintain a surveillance over the public-houses and spirit-shops within the burgh. And the change in the manage- ment has had this material advantage, that the feelings of partisan- ship and partiality which naturally gathered around a system of some hundred years' growth, and which became every day less agreeable to the wants and wishes of the community, have now, and we trust for ever, passed away.* Meant of Communication.— The long establishment of a post- office in the burgh, the constant and regular communication to Edinburgh by means of the Ferry, and the daily coaches which pass through the town on their route to and from the metropolis, present the greatest facilities for intercourse with all parts of the kingdom. In whatever article of supply Kinghorn may be deficient for its inhabitants, there is an abundance to be found in Kirkcaldy, i " The burgh of Kinghorn, with a few others in Scotland, was excluded from the operation of the Municipal Reform Bill, which gave 8 new and more. popular law for the choice of magistrates and councillors. Up to the time of its disfranchise* ment, it remained in the old close burgh system. K1NOHOUN. 815 only three miles distant, which opens a most extensive market for both borne and foreign productions. Harbours. — The old harbour of Kinghorn is of little use, save, for the accommodation of fishing-boat*. The harbour at Petty- cur is in good condition, and affords a convenient landing place for passengers, goods, and cattle, when the vessels, by the state of. the. tide, are able to get along-side of the quay. The harbour and shore dues, with anchorages, have, hitherto yielded not less than L» 140 annually to the burgh funds. Ecclesiastical' State. — The cburch and burial-ground are close upon the sea shore, near to the old harbour. The situation is very inconvenient, even for the townspeople; the street that leads down to it from the main or high street is long, narrow, and steep. It is, besides, very frequently wet and dirty. For the in- habitants of the landward parish the site is as bad as could be chosen. It is nearly seventy years since the church was rebuilt The walls are still tolerably good, but the seats are old and rickety, and from .the church-yard standing above the level of the floor, (in some places nearly five feet,) the pavement and walls are damp, and the atmosphere is often close and heavy. This latter evil has been greatly removed by the erection of two stoves. It can accommodate about 700. One-half of the sittings are ap- propriated to the landward parishioners, and the other half to the town's people. There have been very few seat rents drawn by the burgh, and none by the landward heritors. A number of old seats under the sailors' gallery (this aisle is of a more ancient date than the rest of the church) were for a long period set apart for the school children, and have been latterly occupied by the scholars enjoying the benefit of Mr Philp's charity. The manse is hard by the church, and is in good repair, having been built in 1817. The glebe is below the legal measurement, but it was an excambioa for the old glebe near Vicarsgrange, and was considered. at the time an advantageous exchange for the in* cumbent. Its value is about L. 18 yearly. The stipend is 17 chalders, half meal, half barley, paid according to the Fife Gars. There is a poor grass glebe along the shore, which is rented at L.1, 10s. annually. There is a quoad sacra church built on the eastern boundary of this parish, in the village of Iovertiel, or Westbridge. It is seated for 800. A portion of this parish, containing a population of 760, and a part of the adjoining parish of Abbotshall* were al* 816 PlffiSHlltB. located by the Presbytery of Kirkcaldy to this new church. The minister is paid from the seat rents, and the collections made at the church doors* A-Burgher Dissenting chapel has existed in the town for up- wards of sixty years. The minister is paid on the voluntary prin- ciple, and of course his stipend varies. There are also a few Anabaptists, who meet together for wor- ship. There are about 700 communicants in the parish belonging to the Established Church of Scotland. About 500 of these belong to the parish church, and the remaining 200 attend at Inver- tiel new church, and at Auchtertool and Abbotshall churches,— these being more contiguous to some portions of the landward pa* rish than the church at Kinghorn. There are 165 communicants in the parish belonging to the Burgher meeting-house, and nearly 100 more in communion with ether Dissenting congregations in Kirkcaldy and Burntisland. The attendance on the ordinances of religion at the parish church is full and regular. A Female Bible and Missionary Society collects annually at an average, L.6, 10s. And the collections at the parish church, with parochial contributions for religious and charitable purpose^ average L.20 per annum. Since December, (four months ago), there have been L.16 collected for coals to the poor; for the four schemes of the church, L.10, 16s., besides L.6 from an indivi- dual for church extension, to aid the supplementary fund. This was in addition to L.14 formerly given for the same object. Education. — The burgh and parochial school of Kinghoro is an object which attracts attention, on account of its equipments and accommodation as a seminary for youth. It is a handsome building at the west end of Kinghorn, standing within an enclosure tastefully laid out with shrubs and plants. There is also a bowl* ing-green, besides the play ground, with gymnastic poles for the children. In addition to the large room allotted to the parochial teacher, there are two smaller ones, well fitted up,— one for an infant school, and the other for drawing classes. This apartment is fre- quently used by the parochial teacher for monitors' classes. In the centre of the building, there is a museum well furnished with good specimens of mineralogy, geology, zoology, concholegy, and anatomy. There are also a few good casts from the busts of emi- s KINGHORN. 817 tient men, such as Sir Isaac Newon, Franklin, Watt, Sir W. Scott, and others ; and several stucco casts from the frieze of the Parthenon, taken from the Elgin marbles in the British Museum. The school is taught on the most approved prinqiples. The at* tendance of pupils averages about 120. A wide range of instruc- tion is afforded them. Besides the usual branches of English and grammar, writing, arithmetic, and book-keeping, mathematics, pure and practical, French, Latin, and Greek, the children are taught the uses of the various specimens which the museum pre- sents to their youthful inquiry, and thus they receive an initiatory knowledge of geology, mineralogy, &c. The salary is L.25. The school fees for each scholar average 18s. per annum, and amount to L.100 annually. The teacher has neither house nor garden, the arrangement made for the re- tirement of the former teacher having considerably crippled the means of the burgh for providing suitable accommodation for his successor. There is another school in the town, attended on an average by 50 children, who are taught the elementary branches of reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is not endowed, and the teacher has no remuneration except the school fees. There is also a female and infant school ; the average number attending both is about 80. A sewing-school for the girls is now in full operation. There is an efficient school in the village of Invertiel, where the usual elementary branches are taught, and also practical ma- thematics. It is attended by 70. A school-house is provided for the teacher, but no salary beyond his school fees. The chil- dren in the northern parts of the parish are obliged, on account of the distance from Kinghorn, to attend the schools in Auchter- tool. Sabbath school teaching has long been vigorously carried on here for instructing the youth in the principles of religion, and training them to its practice. The parochial teacher has one under his charge, attended by 125 ;* and the minister has had an adult class for several years, which he has lately taught on the Thursday evenings, attended on an average by 50. This class * This school is parUy endowed by the late Mr Philp, who left to the districts in which hit other charity schools are established, L.10 to ecch for the instruction of a Sabbath evening school, besides a similar sum for house-rent. FIFE. 3 F 813 F1FESHIRE. is exclusively for females, and those especially who are employed in the mills. The Dissenting minister, the Rev. James Hardie, has also been most industrious in this department. He has long had a Sabbath evening class, which has been well attended. Library. — There is a library kept in the museum by the paro- chial teacher, and another subscription one in the town. The minister obtained, a few years ago, a good selection of books from the Tract Society in London, which have been well read by the young people attending his class, and others who chose to enjoy the privilege. Charitable Institutions. — The late Robert Philp, Esq. of Edens- head, left his property for the endowment of schools ; one-eighth part of which was appropriated for the instruction and clothing of 50 children in Kinghorn, and the residue of the fund to be given to the children in such proportions as the managers of the charity shall direct, " the better to enable the children on leaving the school to begin the world." The children enjoying the charity attend the parochial school, and are taught all the branches which the other children receive in the course of instruction. Henry Bursary. — The late Rev. James Henry, minister of this parish, left L.300 to found a bursary, to support a young man during four years of his philosophical studies at the United Col- lege of St Salvador and St Leonard,' in the University of St An- drews, the interest of which, at five per cent., yields to the bursar L.15 a-year. The right of electing the bursar is vested in the kirk-session of Kinghorn, the presbytery of Kirkcaldy, and the town-council (now the managers) of this burgh. These bodies are appointed by the trust-deed to send their respective delegates to meet together, by previous appointment of the minister of Kinghorn, in the session-house there, and then to make choice, by plurality of voices, of a young man to enjoy the bursary for the time being. Savings 9 Bank, — There is no saving bank in the parish, but there is one in Kirkcaldy, which is of great advantage to the dis- trict, and in il deposits to a considerable amount lire lodged by the sober and working classes. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The average number of poor, who receive regular aliment from the parochial funds, for the last se- ven years, is 39, and the weekly sum granted to each varies from 8d. to 2s. 6d. There arc occasional poor besides these, who re KINGHORN. 819 ceive half-yearly distributions at the winter and summer sacra- ments. The average amount for their relief is L.121, 19s. The church door collections have averaged, for the last ten years, L.30. Voluntary contributions, supplied by the heritors, have averaged 1*70 per annum, and the interest on L.550 at four per cent, left to the kirk«session for the poor by the late Rev. James Henry, including L.100 left by the Rev. Mr Shanks of Castlerigg for the same object, after deducting stamp-receipt, amounts to L.21, 19s. making in all the above sum of L.121, 19s. annually. There is no disposition on the part of the poor to abstain from seeking parochial relief. There is an opinion gaining ground, that the heritors of the parish are obliged to supply the wants of the poor, which is affecting considerably both the church door collections, and the independent feeling which at one time had such a strong hold of our Scottish peasantry. Prisons.— There is a strong and secure prison in the town- bouse, but there is not a prisoner in it, and it will not be of much use now, except for a lock-up-house, as the prison for punishment for this district is in Kirkcaldy. Fairs. — There is a fair marked in the Almanack for Kinghorn, but there has not of late been a sweety stall erected on the street, on the day on which it is said to be held. Ale-houses.— There is one good inn at Pettycur, and there are in the burgh nine spirit-shops and ale-houses. Fuel. — The fuel chiefly consumed here is coal, which costs about 9s. a ton, and is driven in carts from Lochgelly, Cluny, and other collieries, at an average distance of eight miles, Inchkeitk. — This striking island, lying in mid-channel between Kinghorn and Leith, was, soon after the Reformation in Scotland, annexed ecclesiastically to the parish of Kinghorn, * It is up- wards of half a mile in length, and it varies in breadth, being nar- row towards the south, but widening and increasing also in height as it approaches towards the north. At its highest elevation, on which the light-bouse is built, it is 180 feet above the level of the sea* It has several springs of the purest water, and is rich both in its botanical and geological productions. The soil is excellent, where, from the nature of the surface, it can be cultivated, and the pasture has long been esteemed peculiarly nutritious for cattle* * Records of Presbytery, Kirkcaldy. 820 FIFESHIRE. There are many rabbits on the island, and its shores are well known to the fishermen as abounding with fish and oysters, and other kinds of shell-fish. The island was conferred by Malcolm IL, in 1010, upon the first of the Noble family of Keith, as a reward for his valour at the battle of Barry. From this family it received its name. It subsequently fell to the Crown, as it was included in the grant of Glammis Tower and the lands of Kinghorn to Lord Giammis. The Slrathmore family retained it till 1649, when it was sold to Sir John Scott of Scotstarvit, for the purpose, it would appear, of establishing a fishery upon it After passing into the bands of various proprietors! it ultimately became the property of the Buc- cleuch family. His Grace, the present representative of that distinguished family, is, in virtue of this property, an heritor of the parish of Kinghorn. The purposes to which this beautiful island has been appro* priated are varied and important It became a military station of great consequence to the contending parties during the stormy periods of Mary of Guise and her unfortunate daughter, and of Charles I. A part of the wall, showing the strength and nature of its fortifications, is still to be seen. James IV. is said to have made it the scene of an experiment to discover the original Ian* guage of mankind, by sending thither two infants under the care of a deaf and dumb nurse ; but the result of the trial has never been recorded. At an earlier period (1497), the island was, by order of the King, made an asylum for the reception of persons in Edinburgh who were seized with a contagious disorder " calltt the grandgore." Very different is now the purpose to which Incbkeith is appro- priated. In 1 80S, it was selected for the establishment of a light- house, on account of its great importance to the navigation of the Forth ; and the first beacon-light appeared from it on the evening of the 1st September 1804. Since that time it has undergone various improvements. In 1816, it was changed from being a stationary light to a revolving one, to distinguish it from the fixed light erected on the Isle of May. But the greatest improvement upon the apparatus was made in 1834, when, instead of seven re- flectors revolving, each with its own lamp in the cavity or centre of the reflector, there is now one fixed burner, around which there revolves a heptagon, having on each -side a perpendicular lens of large size and great power, which concentrates the light at the DUNFERMLINE. 821 focus of each to a dazzling brilliancy. This heptagon performs, by a beautifully constructed machine, an entire revolution around the burner, or fixed light, in the course of seven minutes, which causes the lapse of one minute between the concentrated light passing through the centre of one lens till it again passes through the centre of another. Hence the alternations of brilliancy and dimness in the light, appearing to every eye around the whole horizon. There are two families who constantly reside on the island, — the principal keeper of the light-house and his assistant, who are very comfortably lodged within the building which has been erected for the light Everything connected with this establishment is in the most complete order, being under the skilful superintendence of Mr Robert Stevenson, Civil-Engineer. January 1843. PARISH OF DUNFERMLINE. PRESBYTERY OF DUNFERMLINE, SYNOD OF FIEE, THE REV. PETER CHALMERS, A. M., MINISTER OF FIRST CHARGE. Second charge at present vacant L— Topography and Natural History. Situation and Height — The town of Dunfermline is situated in latitude 66° 5' 4" north ; longitude 3? 27' ltf' west from Green- wich (station, Abbey Church) ; sixteen miles north-west of Edin- burgh ; 43 north-east of Glasgow ; 21 east-south-east of Stirling ; 29 south of Perth ; 1 1 south-west of Kinross ; 30 south-west of Cupar, the county town ; and 12 west south-west of Kirkcaldy. It is 2 miles 7 furlongs north of the Frith, at Limekilns, in the parish ; 3 miles 3 furlongs ditto at Rosyth Castle ; and 5£ miles north-west of North Queensferry. Name. — The word Dunfermline, locally pronounced Dumfer* line, or vulgarly Dumfarline, is of Celtic origin. Dun signifies a heap, hill, tower, castle; /aire denotes a watch or guard; and linne, a pool, a pond, and also a waterfall or cataract; or foi'n, a little stream 822 FIFESHIRE or rivulet. Hence Dun-fair- linne or loin will mean, The Fort or Castle, which commands the pool or stream, — or shortly, The Watch-tower of or upon the stream. This is thought the most simple derivation, and most agreeable to the Gaelic idiom, and therefore is preferable to another, the more common, and also quite correct one, which makes Dun and linne or loin as above, and fiar % crooked or winding, so that Dun-jiarAinne or loin, will signify, The Castle upon the crooked or curved pool or winding stream. Both these etymologies are suitable to the locality from which it is most probable the name was taken, the tower or resi- dence of King Malcolm III. being situated upon a mount in Pit- tencrieff Glen, on the west side of the church, around which a little stream winds. The word, Dunfermline, was anciently written Dunfermelyn, Dunfermelyne, Dunfermling, Dunfermlyng, Dwnfermling, Dom- fermeling, Dounfranelin, and Dunfermlis; and in l Fermalinodu- num, Fermilodunensis, and Fermilodunum. This last mode of writing the name, appears on the present common seal of the burgh, the armorial bearing of which is a tower or fort, supported by two lions. Around the device is a circle, on which are inscrib- ed the words sigillvm civitatis fermilodvni. In the ancient seal of the burgh, which has been long lost, but some impressions of which remain, there were around the same arms two circles, in the exterior of which were engraved the words just quoted, with the name of the town, spelled fermeloduni, and the interior, the words esto rupes inaccessa. On the reverse side was the figure of a lady, holding a sceptre, and on each side an inverted sword, handle downwards, surrounded by the words ma roar eta regina scotorum. All these legends are in Roman capitals* The arms of the burgh evidently refer to the origin of the town, and show what has been the prevailing opinion as to the derivation of its name. For there is a peninsulated eminence in Pittencrieff Glen, as already noticed, close by the town, of about seventy feet in height, and very steep, rugged, and rocky on the north side, on which stood a tower commonly called King Mal- colm Oanmore's Tower , or his residence at Dunfermline, and pro- bably built by him. The name of his Queen was Margaret, afterwards canonized, and named St Margaret. A small coarse fragment of two walls of this tower, strongly cemented with lime, mixed evidently with sea sand, from the quantity of shell DUNFERMLINE. 823 imbedded in it, still remains, very properly preserved by the pre- sent proprietor, James Hunt, Esq., and which must be now nearly 800 years old Around the base of this little hill, there winds a rivulet, named the Back-burn or Tour (Tower) burn ; and from * the sides and summit of the hill, as well as through the adjacent deep and narrow glen, there rises some very stately and aged trees. The hill or mount is named from the building erected on it, The Tower-hilly and about a hundred yards south-east of it in the glen, are the ruins of the ancient Palace of Dunfermline, of which no- tice will afterwards be taken. The whole scenery is exceedingly picturesque and romantic* the admiration of all strangers. Extent and Boundaries. — The territorial extent of the parish is very great, and its figure irregular. Its utmost length from north to south is about nine miles, and its utmost breadth from east to west, about six miles. It contains about 19,296 acres imperial, or 15,300 Scots, exclusive of the space occupied by the town, villages and great roads. Calculating the average length at eight, and the average breadth at four and a-half miles, the number of square miles in the parish will be 36, and of square imperial acres, 23,040. Dunfermline is bounded by the parishes of Cleish and Saline on the north, of Carnock and Torryburn on the west, and of Beath, Aberdour, Dalgety, and Inverkeithing, on the east. It has Inverkeithing, also, on the south-east ; and the Frith of Forth on the south* west Topographical Appearances. — The surface presents a great va- riety of appearances. The southern division is fertile and well clothed, and in many places very beautiful, from the undulating nature of the ground, and the intermixture of clumps and, belts of good plantations ; while the northern is, with some exceptions, naked and bleak in aspect. The land has a general ascent from south to north, which is easy, and not much interrupted by declivities between the Frith of Forth, at the village of Limekilns and the town ; but is more rapid and irregular afterwards. The undulations of the rising ground, on the approach to the town, from the North Queensferry, are very considerable, causing alternately great heights and hollows in the road leading to it. The northern section of the parish is considerably diversified by high and low-lying grounds, the swelling ridges becoming more numerous and elevated, as they spread towards the Cleish 824 FIFESHIBE. hills, with occasional valleys intervening, and generally extending from east to west. The Roscobie ridge is very prominent. The principal hills are, the hill of Beath, on the north-east, which is partly in this, and partly in Beath parish ; and Craig- luscar hill, on the north-west. The former has the greater ele- vation of the two, is clothed with verdure to the summit, and com- mands a beautiful prospect. The coast along the Frith of Forth stretches about a mile and a half, and is partly high, and partly flat. It is chiefly rocky in its nature, and the portion of it immediately in front of Broom- ball house, which is steep, is covered with fine wood. At the western extremity are the harbour, village, and lime-works of Charleston ; in the centre, the bay, harbour, and village of Lime- kilns ; and close by, on the east, in the parish of Inverkeithing, the harbour of Brucehaven, and about a quarter of a mile onward the ruins of the old church, and the churchyard of Rosyth, where the ground projects a little into the Frith. Meteorology*— The atmosphere is generally dry, clear, bracing, and salubrious ; but there is a considerable diversity in the parish as to climate. In the southern .division, where the land has a gentle slope towards the Frith, and is comparatively well shelter- ed, the temperature is much milder and more genial than in the northern, where the ground has a gradual ascent, and is more hilly and less protected. From this circumstance, as well as the greater wetness and inferiority of the soil in the northern district, the harvest there is commonly two or three weeks later than in the southern. Even in the upper and lower ends of the town, there is a perceptible difference in the temperature, as indeed may be supposed from the fact, that there are 200 feet of difference be* tween their respective elevations above the level of the sea. A meteorological table, showing the state of the barometer and thermometer at nine o'clock in the morning for ten years, 1825- 1834, both inclusive, was kept by the late Rev. Henry Fergus, minister of the Relief Church, Dunfermline, well known in this quarter for the ardour and ability with which he prosecuted scien- tific studies, as well as the amiableness and modesty of his cha- racter. From this table, with which I have been favoured, the following facts and calculations have been deduced as to atmo- spheric pressure and temperature : — 1. Atmospheric Pressure. — The subjoined table points out the mean height of the barometer for each of the months of the ten DUNFERMLINE. 885 years specified, viz. from the beginning of 1825 to the end of 1834, derived from observations made daily at nine o'clock in the morning. There is "also a column to indicate the deviations in excess or defect of the means for each month from the mean height of the barometer, during the whole period of observation. Aberration* Mouths. Height at 9. A.M. of Monthly Means. Inches. Inches. January 29.49 +.05 February 29.40 —.04 March 29.43 —.01 April 29.41 —.08 May 29.55 +.11 June 29.48 +.04 July 29.51 +.07 August 29.46 +.02 September . 29.45 +.01 October 29.44 =.00 November . 29.35 —.09 December 29.81 —wlS Average Mean 29.44 Thus it appears that the average mean pressure, taken from the means of the months, is 29.44 ; that the means in excess are one more than in defect ; that the former obtain in five conse- cutive months, from May to September, both inclusive ; and that in the month of October there was an equality. The mean height of the barometer during the twelve months, and the highest and lowest state of it in the course of each year of the above specified period, as also its annual range or difference between these two conditions, was as follows :— Yiajis. 1025 1826 1827 1828 1829 1880 1831 1882 1888 1834 Means Mean Height of Barometer during Twelve Months. 29.655 29.287 29.437 29.293 29.550 29.478 29.491 29.565 29.471 29.614 Highest. Lowest. 29.403 29.68 29.56 29.57 29.64 29.73 29.80 29.69 29.74 29.87 29.87 29.59 28.75 29.11 28.90 29.01 29.18 29.25 29.29 29.42 29.02 29.19 29.26 Annual Range. .93 .45 .67 .68 -55 .55 .40 .82 .85 .50 2. The Temperature. — The following table shows the mean heigh tof the thermometer during the tw elve months of each of the years in the fore-mentioned period ; as also its highest and lowest state in each year of it :— 826 FIFESHIRE. Mean Height of tr_ . _.- Thermometer „. . t v IfAfcft. during Twehe H'g 1 **- Months Leweti 1825 46.810 60.01 87.22 1826 47.665 62.07 34*17 1827 46.380 58.26 33.18 1828 47.662 57.26 39.13 1829 44.950 57.05 33.17 1880 45.909 56.14 35.09 1831 47.629 60.17 34.27 1882 47.134 5a 10 38.27 1833 46.757 59.0 34.10 1834 48.023 60.0 30.12 The mean temperature of each month, and the average means of the whole for these ten years, is thus shown :— Mean Height of Mouths. Thermometer from 1825 to 1834. January . 36.17 February . 38.14 March . 40.13 April . 44.12 May . 50.14 June . 67.10 July . 59.10 August . 56.10 September . . 52.16 October . 48.15 November . . 40.12 December . 40.14 Averag e Mean 46. 8 The average of the thermometer was accordingly 46.8, white that of the barometer, as formerly ascertained, was 29.44. It ap- pears, too, that January was the coldest and July the hottest months during the ten years in question. Rain and Wind.~The prevailing and strongest winds in the parish are from the west and south-west, as indicated by the in- clination in an opposite direction of single and exposed trees ; and it is these winds which most frequently bring rain, while the cold- est are from the north and east. A north-westerly wind is gene- rally dry. In 1828, the following observations were made as to rain and wind. From 1st January to 31st December of that year, there were 157 rainy days, in 51 of which the rain was incessant. The number of days during which the wind blew from the west and south-west was 211, from the south 39, from and about the east 56, and from the north 59. The following is a table of the quantity of rain which fell in the DUNFERMLINE. 827 town of Dunfermline each month for the last ten years, obtained from a common rain-gauge. Moiroa. 1882. 1 83a 1884. 183& 1886. 1887. 183a 1889. 1840. 1841. January, February, March, April, May, June, July, Auguit, September, October, Norember, December, In. .75 1.8 1.5 1.24 1.4 1.7 1.6 a9 1.3 5.6 1.3 1.5 In. .87 a 1.5 1.4 2.4 2.6 2.6 1.1 1.4 1. 2.4 ai In. 44 2.6 2.4 .9 13 2.5 1.9 1.7 43 1.6 2.8 1.3 In. 1.7 2.8 2.6 1. 1.4 .9 25 1.6 4.9 2.7 2.9 1.9 In. 3.9 2.4 3.9 2.2 2.6 6.9 2.9 3.2 2.7 2.6 4. 38.8 In. 14 83 3 1.9 1.5 13 23 84 1.6 35 a9 2.7 In. 1.9 2.9 S.5 1.8 2.8 6.4 a a9 3.4 25 2.2 1.1 In. 08 23 ai .4 J8 2.4 2.8 1.6 4.8 2.9 2.9 2.9 In. a 1.4 a a ai 1.8 83 2.1 2.3 2.1 2.5 5. In. 1.3 1.1 1.2 .8 .7 1.9 43 6.8 8.3 85 2.1 a2 Total of { each year, ( 23.68 27.87 27.6 26.6 27-8 35.1 29.9 32.8 85.1 Hydrography. — The Frith of Forth, as already mentioned, bounds the lower part of the parish, on the south-west, and the quoad civilia part of it, at North Queensferry, on the south-east. It presents here nothing remarkable as to tides, except a slight peculiarity occasionally at Charleston, the south-western extre* mity of the parish. Indeed, there is no great peculiarity in this respect on the whole Frith till near Alloa, where there is a very striking one, called Lakies, of which a short account is given in Sibbald's History of Fife (pp. 87-8), and a very full one in the new Statistical Account of that parish. A bank runs from Long Craig Island at North Queensferry, all along the north shore, as far up as Long Annat Point, above Blair house, west of the burgh of Culross, which is nearly dry in all places, in low spring tides. Some of the soundings, at a little distance from this bank, at low water of spring tides, are as follows :— Near Charleston, .... Between Charleston and Limekilns, Near Limekilns, .... ... Du- Craig Island, west of Rosyth Castle,* . ... Long Craig Island, west of North Queensferry, The depth of water at Charleston harbour, at the height of the tides, is .... Ditto at Limekilns harbour, . Ditto at Brucehaven do. . Ditto at all these harbours, at neap-tides, is about stream 16 feet 12 9 21 18 164 134 144 8 • "Probably Pubh- Crags, Gaelic, black- rocks."— Sibbald's History of Fife, Cu- par Fife, 1803, 8vo, p. 94. 828 PIFESHIRE. Heavy gales of wind from the west often raise the tides 1£ feet above the usual calculation. The average depth of water in the centre of the Frith, between a point opposite. Rosyth castle, and a point opposite Borrowstoun- ness, is about 55 feet. The greatest depth in this range is on the south side of the small Bimar Island, where it is 192 feet Be- tween that island and Long Craig Island, it is 16*2 feet The depth between North Battery Pier and the north-west of Inch- garvie Island, is 210 feet, nearer to that point it is 222 feet, — the greatest depth of water in the whole Frith, and even in many parts of the North Sea. A stone-beacon was lately erected by the commissioners for the northern light-houses on Bimar Island, 27 feet in height, and 13 in diameter, as a protection to vessels at high water, when the island is covered Long Craig Island, Du- Craig, and Bimar, are all rocky and of small extent. Their sizes are in the order now named. South of the east end of Long Craigs, and midway between it and a parallel line from Bimar, is Fair-way sunk rock, flattish, stretching south-west and north-east, about the size of the deck of a vessel of 200 tons. It is covered at lowest stream ebb by 5£ or 6 feet water. A sloop drawing 8} feet water grounded on it on the 2d November 1826, and remained till the tide had flowed an hour. Since that period, vessels with any draught of water always take the south side of Bimar rock. The smallest breadth of the Frith, viz. from the extremity of the Signal- House Pier to that of the South Queensferry Pier, at lowest water of spring tides, is I J miles, and to Newhalls Pier, about 50 yards more. The greatest breadth, viz. from Limekilns to the opposite shore, west of Blackness Castle, is from two to three miles. Springs. — There is a small mineral spring near the iron mill, in the vicinity of Charleston. The springs from which the town of Dunfermline is supplied with water are situated at Cairncubie, in the town-moor, about a mile and half north-east of the town. The water was 6rst brought from them into the town about 1797, and is conveyed in pipes partly wooden and partly cast-iron, and also, during a portion of its progress, in conduits built of stone and lime. Lakes or Lochs. — There are several of these in the northern 6 DUNFERMLINE. 629 part of tbe parish ; — tbe Town Loch, Lochend, Lochfitty, Loch Gloe, and Black Loch. Rivulets. — The chief brook deserving notice is the Lyne, or as it is often called the Spital (Hospital) burn, from passing in its course near the site of the ancient hospital of St Leonards, at the lower end of the town* There are also the Tower or Tour-burn, which winds round the Tower-hill in Ptttencrieff Glen, whence it derives its name, and the Baldridge burn. Mineralogy, Geology, SoiL* — The fields of coal in this district are very extensive, and appear to have been amoog tbe most an- cient in Scotland. I am aware of only two notices of coal, one in England, the other in Scotland, prior to that in Dunfermline, the former being variously dated, 1234, 1239, and 1245 ; the lat- ter 1 284-6. f In 1291, William de Oberwill, proprietor of Pittencrieff estate, adjoining to the town, granted a charter to the abbot and convent of Dunfermline, bestowing on them the privilege of working one coal-pit, wherever they chose, on any part of his property, except the land which was arable ; and when one was exhausted, of open* ing another at their pleasure, as often as they considered it expe- dient, but for their own exclusive use, and with an express prohi- bition to sell coals to others. He also, in the same charter, gave them a right to quarry and hew as many stones as they pleased, on the same conditions, with the liberty of making " free use of all the roads and footpaths through his lands of Petyncreff and of Galurigs, which they at any time had employed, or been in the practice of employing." To this charter were affixed not only his own seal, but, at his instance, those of the Lord Bishop of St Andrews, and of Robert de Malevilla ( Melville), and it is dated at Dunfermline on the Tuesday immediately before the feast of St Ambrose, bishop and confessor, 12914 But at the early period of 1291, there was little coal wrought in the parish. It was then a luxury enjoyed chiefly by the inmates of the Abbey, and persons of distinction in the country. In progress of time coal came to be generally used as fuel in * Vide the author's Prize Essay on the Dunfermline coal-field, which appeared first in the Quarterly Journal of the Highland and Agricultural Society *' j^™» *°* f 1 "!* 1840, and with the necessary alterations brought down to October lW2 «* nd . l ^™?® ?f: ditions, in his Historical and Statistical Account of Dunfermline, pp. 600, illustrate* with 17 engravings, published by Blackwood and Sons, May 1844. f Arnot^Hku of Edinburgh, 4to, Book i. cb. 2, i, 84. ^IJL Ac* 8tc> (1835), p. 310-31 1. Chalmers' Caledonia, Vol. i. p* 793, note . t Carta de PetTbyncnff de dono WiUielmi de Obetwul, 1 291 .-Chartulary of tin Abbey, Advocates' Lib. Printed Chart p. 218. t 830 FIFESHIRR. Dunfermline, as in other places ; and when trade was prosperous, even to be exported to foreign parts* Although it continued to be wrought by crop-levels long after 1291, there was little expor- tation till the middle of last century. Even so late as 1768, the writer of the last Statistical Account of the parish, states that the annual value of exported coal was only L.200^ and in 1771, that it did not exceed L.500 Sterling. The coal-mines became after 1771, and have continued to be, very lucrative to many of the pro- prietors. " From a remote period," the same writer records, " the family of Pitferrane obtained from Government the privilege of exporting these coals to foreign parts, free of all duty whatever. The original privilege was renewed by Queen Anne, on Decem- ber 21, 1706, and ratified in Parliament on March 21, 1707. The family continued to enjoy the privilege till 1788, when it was pur- chased by Government for L.40,000 Sterling, when the property that could injure the revenue was nearly exhausted." Although the coal in the parish has thus been dug for upwards of five centuries, it is still most abundant. Nearly 3000 acres are calculated as still to work, a portion of that quantity having been ascertained by general boring, and the rest conjectured on good grounds to be of the coal-formation, with such interruptions, more or less slight, as commonly occur in coal-fields. The coal-strata extend from Culalo Hills on the east to the Saline Hills on the west, and pervade in that line of bearing the whole of the parish of Dunfermline. In some parts there have been discovered 10 or 12 seams to the dip, the aggregate thick- ness of which amounts to upwards of 40 feet, contained in beds varying from a few inches to seven or eight feet in thickness* These are different in quality as well as in thickness, but in gene- ral improve towards the west By being divested of part of their bitumen, they partake of more heat and durability, and, from a hard splint, they become a rich caking cubical coal, until they approach the trap hills, when they lose their bituminous quality altogether, and are changed into a blind anthracite, or glanoe-coaL* Elgin Colliery. — The largest proprietor is the Earl of Elgin, who possesses a coal-field, the whole area of which, wrought and unwrought, may be stated at from 2600 to 2700 acres* The coal-seams are of various quality, and some of them, es- pecially the deepest, are extremely valuable* Almost all the coal * This coal i* termed by the workmen in Fife, Rotten ratchell, or Foui rmhilL, nd is used in furnaces of steam-engines and breweries, 1 DUNFERMLINE* 831 partake* more or less of the caking quality and soft texture of the Newcastle coal. It is easily ignited, possesses great heat and du- rability, and produces very few ashes of a brown colour, which renders it cleanly and economical for all purposes. A new pit was completed at the end of the year 1839, 105 fa- thoms deep, named the " Wallsend Pit,"* which has entirely su- perseded the use of the Baldridge pit in the vicinity. It is the deepest coal shaft in Scotland, and probably one of the most va- luable. It is very productive, yielding at present as much coal as all the other pits together previously did at any one time. Subjoined is a section of the different strata in this pit, showing the order of their superposition and succession, as well as the thickness of each. As the shaft is sunk in the bottom of an el- liptical basin, the general dip of the strata is towards the sbaft, as to a common centre from all directions, except the north, where the segment of the basin is cut off by a dike. The general angle of the dip will be from 16° to 20°.f ♦ • The common name WalUend means the end of the wall of Severn*, on the north- ern bank of the Tyne, a few miles below Newcastle, where the beat coal is got. + Section of the Urate in the WaUscnd Pit in West Baldridge, the property of the Earlof Elgin. M ^ - Coal. Various Strata. 1 . SoD and clay mixed with sand, 3. Soft brown sandstone, 3. Coal soft and foul, 4. Soft brown sandstone, 5. Hard white sandstone, 6. Slate clay or blaes mixed with sand, 7. Coal, 8. Bituminous atone or slate, 0. Coal, 10. Slate-clay or blaes 11. Soft white sandstone, 12. Slate-clay or blaes, . 13. Sandstone plies mixed with blaes, 14. Slate-clay or blaes, 10. Coal, 16. Bituminous stone, 17. Coal, 18. Slate- clay or blaes, 19. Sandstone, 20. Sandstone plies and blaes alternately, 21. Sandstone, 22. Slate-day or blaes, 2a Coal, . 24. Slate-clay, . 25. Sandstone, 28. 81ate*day, Path. Ft, In. Fath. Ft. In. 2 4 4 3 3 3 12 13 1^ 2 5 1 7 4 \ * O 3 $ o o o 12 9 O 2 * 3 6 6 2 9 A ____ -— O 6 » o iw O 2 \ o » o O 3 O 4 ^ 7 O 1 o v I o a 1 1 3 » Carry over, 832 FIFESHIRB. The whole quantity of coals raised at the Elgin Collieries, on an arerage of the last five years and upwards, has been fully 60,000 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 3d. 86. 37. 3a 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 46. 40. 47. 48. 4a 60. 51. 52. 53. 54. 65. 56. 67. sa 59* 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 07. 6a 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 7«. 77. Slate-day mixed with sandstone, Slate-day, Sandstone Slate-clay, Sandstone Slate-clay, Coal, Slate-clay, Coal, Bituminous stone, Coal, Sandstone pile* and ulaes alternately Slate-clay, Coal, ... Sandstone mixed with blaes, Coal, Sandstone with a ply of date-clay, Slate-clay, Coal, • Slate-day, Sandstone. Slate-day,, Coal, Depth of Pitferrane lerel, Slate-clay, Coal, • • • Slate-clay with balls of ironstone, Fire-clay, Slate-day with balls of ironstone, Coal, Bituminous stone. Coal, Slate-clay, Ditto mixed with sandstone Sandstone, Coal, Sandstone, * Ditto mixed with blaes, Slate-day, Sandstone mixed with blaes, Sandstone, Sandstone mixed with blaes, Sandstone, Slate-day, Sandstone, hard, Slate-clay, Coal, Slate-clay, ••• Sandstone, Coal, . * • Slate-day, Ditto mixed with sandstone, Coal Various Strata. Fath. Ft. In . Path. Ft. la. 1 2 3 5 ■ I 8 1 6 1 4 8 6 5 3 8 2 • 3 3 o ft 9 1 2 8 2 5 2 9 1 10 2 7 1 1 2 a 2 av 4V 2 6 2 f 5 2 6 2 4 • a a io 2 5 2 5 41 3 2 4 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 i 1 It 4 1 4 • 3 7 4 5 e 4 2 2 3 3 9 3 9 2 • 11 3 1 3 9 • 2 10 2 a 3 I 4 1 2 4 4 1 4 2 5 7 7 I 4 3 6 9 1 6 1 6 2 3 2 8 Carry orer, DUNFERMLINE. 833 tons, 40,000 of which have been exported, chiefly to the ports on the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas, the remainder being disposed of by land sale, and consumed at the Charleston Limeworks. The whole of this quantity is now produced at the Wall send pit alone. WeUwood Colliery. — Immediately to the east of the Elgin is the Wellwood Colliery, belonging to Andrew WeUwood of Garvock-, Esq. It is situated about a mile north of Dunfermline, and is leased by James Spowart of Venturefair and Bellfield, Esq., a very enterprising and successful coalmaster. The colliery was a few Cool. Various Strata Fath. Ft. In . Fath. Ft. In 78. Slate-clay, . . 3 1 79. Coal, . ' . 7 7 80. Sandstone mixed with blaes, 3 2 5 81. Coal, .... 1 2 1 2 82, Slate-clay, . 1 8 83. Sandstone mixed with blaes, 4 6 84. Sandstone, • 2 1 8 85. Slate-clay, • 2 88. Ditto mixed with sandstone, 2 5 87. Sandstone, 1 3 88. Ditto mixed with blaes, 1 8 89. Slate-clay or blaes, 4 9 90. Coal, . 1 7 1 7 91. Sandstone with petrifactions, 2 3 7 92. Slate-clay, 1 5 5 921. Coal, 2 2 94. Slate-clay (light grey), 5 95. Ditto mixed with sandstone, 5 3 96. Sandstone, 9 6 97. Slate-day, 3 5 9a Coal, 2 8 99. Bituminous stone, . 3 100. Coal, 10 3 9 3 101. Slate-clay, 102. Ditto marked with sandstone, 1 6 103. Slate-clay, 1 6 104. Sandstone mixed with blaes, 1 2 7 105. Sandstone, 3 3 106. Slate-day, 1 7 107. Coal, 2 2 108. Sandstone plies mixed with blaes, 3 1 109. Slate-clay or blaes, 1 110. Coal, 3 8 3 8 111. Sandstone, 1 4 105 1 " In the preceding section," the manager remarks, " there are 27 beds of coal of va- rious thickness amounting to 56 feet 3 inches. Several of these are so thin that they cannot be wrought to advantage. But there are 19 of them containing 49 feet 8 inches of coal when taken in sections, as stated in the left hand column, which can be wrought in 13 divisions or separate workings. Each of these divisions is generally denominated one seam, without any regard to the midstone which lies between the different beds or leaves. " The whole of these seams partake less or more of the caking quality and soft tex- ture of the Newcastle coal, and, in particular, the three undermost are of the very rich- est kind." FIFE. 3G 834 FIFESHIHE. years since greatly increased in value, both to the proprietor and lessee, by the erection of a powerful steam-engine for drawing the water, whereby an excellent seam of splint-coal was reached, much admired for its clearness and purity. The coal from this work is extensively used in the town of Dunfermline and neighbourhood, and a large quantity of it is also exported to the ports on the Bal- tic and Mediterranean Seas, France, &c chiefly for navigation purposes, for which it is well adapted* The steam-boats plying between Paris and Rouen are almost entirely supplied with it- There have been at times 2000 tons sent down by the Elgin rail- way in one fortnight. The coal-field, including East Baldridge and Venturefair, not at present wrought, may embrace 200 acres, of which 30 or 40 are still to work. The average quantity of coals raised in 1836-1841 was 39,535 tons per annum. Townhill and Appin Collieries. — To the east of this colliery, and about a mile and a quarter from the town, are the Townhill and Appin Collieries, the former belonging to the burgh of Dun* fermline, and the latter to Mr Downie of Appin. Previous to Candlemas 1838, the burgh had its coal in its own hands, and worked only that which was at a moderate depth, and of inferior quality, which was all sold in the town and neighbourhood at a lower rate than other coal. At the period mentioned, however, an enterprising and wealthy company took a lease of it for nine- teen years, commencing at that date, and by sinking new pits, so as to reach the splint coal, a greater amount and superior quality of coal are raised, so that hopes are entertained that not only the lessees, but the creditors of the burgh, will be much benefited, even that the debt of the burgh will, at no distant period, be en- tirely paid off. The consumption formerly was chiefly in the town and vicinity, but now there is a considerable exportation to France, Denmark, and the Baltic The coal for exportation is now ship- ped at Inverkeithing, whither it is conveyed by a branch railway recently formed through the lands of Messrs Downie, Wellwood, and Main, and joining the Halbeath one at Guttergates, near where it crosses the Crossgates road. The whole coal-field leased by the company is understood to cover above 900 acres, of which about 700 still remain unworked. AH the lower seams to the north of the great dike are untouched. The gross output of coal for several years previous to 1838 by DUNFERMLINE. 835 the burgh used to be between 6000 and 7000 tons per annum. That of the company averages at present 15,000 tons. HalbtaXh Colliery. — The next large and very old colliery, still farther to the east, and two and a half miles from the town of Dunfermline, is that of Halbeath, belonging to John. Clarkson, Esq. The coal-field here is very extensive, comprehending, with all the portions leased from the neighbouring proprietors, seve- ral hundred acres, of which there is a large portion still to work, but the precise extent of this cannot well be ascertained, in conse- quence of the want of the old plans of the workings. It may be estimated, however, at above 200 acres. A valuable bed of can- nel or parrot coal has been wrought in it, with much advantage of late, in supplying the Dunfermline and other gas-works. There are other two small collieries, the Cuttlehitl and South Lethan, but at present there is little coal wrought at them. Fossil Organic Remains. — These are found in great abundance in almost all these coal-fields, and they chiefly belong to the ve- getable kingdom. They occur in the sandstone, coals, and fire- clay, but principally in the shales. Some excellent specimens . were found in the New Wallsend pit, at the Elgin Colliery, in the stratum No. 91 of the section previously given, which is 15 feet 7 inches of sandstone, at the depth of from 76 to 78 fathoms from the surface. The largest of these have been transferred to the lawn south-east of Broomhall House. Elgin Colliery. — 1. A Stigmariaficoides. There are specimens of the body of this tree in fire-clay, with the leaves proceeding from the punctures, six or seven inches long. 2. There are stalks of the Sigillaria packyderma. 3. There are the Lepidodendron obovalum, and the Lepidodendron Sternbergii, with other species. 4. There has likewise been found a plant, which is probably a Megaphyton. It is a pretty long stalk, exhibiting projecting points like steps, from which the branches probably went off. Some por- tions of the bark of these trees are quite smooth, and others still retain the rough coal I y matter; while the inner woody structure, which is the first to decay, has disappeared, and the space has been filled up with other ingredients, now forming the sandstone. Wellwood Colliery. — At the Wellwood Colliery there have been found very good specimens of the Lepidodendron Sternbergii, and of Catamites. There is a round stalk of one of these, more than a foot long, and exhibiting two divisions of growth ; and there is another more compressed, probably from having lain either hori- HI 1.sJ H Ls §1! 'I! ]5i 111 § M 9 3 II III IB" ill L I it ii 111 §59 ill* * si si ■ ■ llllllf I I IliUIf ti MS U ~4i * i\ s£& I_ ta»pc o ■ H tjj DUNFERMLINE. 837 zontally, or at least at a less angle than 45°. The reedy appear- ance on both is quite distinct. The Stigmaria also has been found. Town Bill Colliery.— At the Town Hill Colliery there have been found some very fine specimens of the Lepidodendron in clay- ironstone and in shale, and of the Catamites. Balbeath Colliery. — The tooth of a sauroid fish, named by M Agassiz, Megalychtis, was found a few years since in a bed of can - nel coal at Halbeath, of which Leonard Horner, Esq. gave an account in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for April 1836, contending, in opposition to the opinion of Dr Hibbert, that it, as well as the same fish found in the limestone of Burdiehouse, belongs to a marine, not a fresh water formation. This district abounds not only in coal, but in limestone, whin- stone, sandstone, and a portion of ironstone. Limestone. — Limestone is found in the lands of Broomhall, Ros-* cobie, Lathalmond, Dunduff, Dunnygask, Craigluscar, Cowdens, Brucefield, Southfod, and Sunnybank ; but is wrought for sale at present only on the first four mentioned properties. There are altogether about 400,000 bushels of shells, and 15,000 tons of raw stone sold annually at Charleston. The burnt lime is sold by the imperial standard measure, and the present prices are, — For lime shells, per bushel, . L.O 4 Slacked lime, per chalder of 86 bushels, . 4 Limestone, per ton, 4 ( Put free on board at Charleston harbour. ) Lime-shell, by land-carriage, per bushel, 6 There are nearly 60,000 bushels of shells sold annually at Roscobie at 5£d. per bushel. The limestone in the parish belongs to the mountain limestone formation, and is of marine origin. The Charleston limestone has several varieties, the principal of which are of a grey colour, with foliated structure, greyish brown with splintery fracture, and compact ash-grey. These have been found by careful analysis to contain carbonic acid from 40.65 to 42.3; lime from 47.05 to 51.6; magnesia from 0.92 to 2.59; alumina from 0.95 to 1.8; silica from 2.76 to 7.9 ; iron from 0.28 to 0.56 ; with a very small proportion of manganese, carbon, sul- phur, and naphtha. The limestone which contains the greatest portion of naphtha, carbon, and sulphur, is also that which is low- est in the stratification.* * Fide a Paper by the Rev. A. Robertson Junior, late of Invcrkeithin^, in Jame- son's Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, to), vi. p. 304. 833 FIFESHIRE. Fossil Remains.— There is a great abundance of fossil rgtnains in the Charleston limestone. One large block of the stone, con- taining a very rich specimen of these, has been transferred to the lawn on the south-east corner of Broomhall House. Here there are, 1st, The Turbinolia fungitee, vulgarly named Sheephorn, from its resemblance to that object, or turbinated ma- drepore* 2d, The Tubipora, in great abundance. 3d, The Encrinite. Whole masses of the rock at Charleston are covered with this fossil, on account of the profusion of which, the limestone might be called, as it sometimes is, " Encrinal." 4tth 9 The Producta is very plentiful in this quarry, and there are some specimens of that species of it which have been denominated the Producta Martini. There are also the Producta Jimbriata, puttulosa* and many others. There are observable on some of the Producta long minute lines, like silver wires, proceeding from both valves, commonly named needles, but now ascertained to be the spines of the Producta. Some portions of limestone also contain these spines without the Producta. There are here, too, several species of Spirifer* and Terebra- tulce, and a few rare instances of the Orthoceratite* On the shore, west of the harbour, was found a specimen of ap- parently a coralline. Between Broomhall House and the quarry, there is on the ris- ing ground a huge piece of lime-rock, preserved as a memorial of the height which the rock once possessed, and full of the organic remains now noticed, some of which are in thick regular layers. This piece of rock is seen from a great distance, and has upon it a flag-staff. Roscobie Limestone. — This is about three and a half miles north from the town of Dunfermline, and is also of the mountain de- posit. It has several varieties, the two principal of which are, — compact, grey, fracture earthy, with many particles of calcareous spar ; and compact, grey, fracture earthy, with very few of these shining particles. Two specimens of these were carefully analys- ed for the writer in January and February 1839, by Rev. A. Ro- bertson, Junior, well known for his chemical attainments, and were found to contain as follows. The first, — Carbonic acid, 428 Lime, , 52.8 Magnesia, 0.54 Alumina and oxide of iron, 0.5 DUNPERMLINE. 839 Siliceous matter, insoluble in acid, in powder and small masses, . . . 3.7 A trace of sulphur and /naphtha, and a little carbon. 99.84 The second, — Carbonic acid, 41.4 Lime, ■ • • 52.2 Magnesia, 0.33 Alumina and oxide of iron, • 0.4 Siliceous matter, insoluble in acid, in gritty powder, • 4.7 A trace of carbon. 9903 This limestone abounds in the same kinds of fossils as have been mentioned to occur in that of Charleston. The encrinite is ex* ceedingly abundant, and very large at Roscobie. * One piece has been found, containing not only a great mass, in apparent confu- sion, as if arising from some violent disturbance of the stems and tentacula, but also what are very rare, at least in Scotland, two beads of this fossil. The rarity of these is supposed to be owing to their having been more tender parts of the animal, and of course more easily destroyed than the others. There are met with here also pieces of calcareous shale, in which there are parts of the encrinite covered with iron-pyrites, and beautiful crystals of the same. Some pieces of shale, too, have the spines of the Producta distinctly marked on them ; and one has spines of perhaps a large Producta, with portions of en- crinites and Retepora. Also Turbinolia is found. At the neighbouring lime-quarry of Lathalmond there are some large specimens of the Producta. Sunnybank Limestone.— The limestone at the small quarry of Sunnybank, in the south-eastern part of the parish, is not the main bed of the mountain deposit, but one of the interpolated beds of the same formation. There is a thin bed 9f coal immediately be- low the limestone, and beneath the coal is a deep bed of fire-clay, of which are manufactured the very excellent fire-brick and gas retorts made at Inverkeithing. Orthoeeratites and various shells abound in a bed of slate-clay immediately above the limestone ; as also at Duloch, in the im- mediate neighbourhood, in Inverkeithing parish. Craigluscar Lime-Quarry.— This quarry, which is in the north- western part of the parish, and near the summit of a hill of the same name, presents one of the exceptions to the general nature 840 FIFESHIRE. of the limestone rock, inasmuch as it contains a bed of trap, inter- stratified with two beds of limestone. The trap, however, is not pure, but has a mixture of lime in it, in consequence of which it is commonly named Bastard Whin. It is soft and of no durability, and hence is of little value. It is used in kiln buildings, and as metal on country roads, but soon needs to be replaced. It was probably thrown up over the lower bed of limestone, and at some subsequent period the upper bed was deposited upon it No metallic deposites, which are so abundant in the correspond- ing limestones of England, have been discovered in the limestones of this parish. Trap Rocks.— There are several quarries of these in the parish. The principal one is at Woodhill, on Knockbouse farm, belonging to Captain Sir John Halket, Bart, Pitferrane. This rock appears to have been produced after the deposition of the coal formation. It. is rather an exception to the general appearance of such rocks* It cannot be said to be exactly stratified, but there are regular overflows, or beds of trap, as in volcanic mountains ; and different from one another in compactness or degrees of hardness. The co- lumnar structure is not very distinct, but seems to be separated oc- casionally by fissures containing quartz and carbonate of lime* There is one of these of considerable length and width. They may not have been original cracks, but occasioned by subsequent convulsions, and filled bv siliceous and calcareous materials. The rock presents in different places, when newly broken, beautiful veins of quartz, and of jasper, approaching to cornelian. There are strewed around the quarry various balls or masses of decom- posed greenstone, of a roundish form, with concentrate coatings or layers, which, it is well known, form an excellent soil. The rock is within a few inches of the surface, in which respect it differs greatly from the sandstone quarries in the immediate neighbour- hood, which have an pluvial covering of from 10 to 20 feet thick. There is another of these trap-rock quarries at Redcraigs toll, three miles north from the town of Dunfermline, and another a mile and a half still farther north, near the Outh farm-house, both on the Crieff road, and seen from it This last quarry has a very curious and interesting appearance, resembling the geperal aspect of the basaltic pillars at the Giant's Causeway in the north of Ire- land. It is not large, is of a semicircular form, and has rather a narrow entrance. At the north-west corner the stones are colum- nar, and of a pentagonal figure. They lie in a horizontal posi- DUNFERMLINE. 641 lion, the one heaped above the other, and closely and regularly compacted, with the outer ends pointing southward. On the north side the pillars are vertical, on the east arched downwards, on the south inclining or dipping in a bending form to the north, and on the south-west corner dipping to the north-east. Some parts of the greenstone are amygdaloidal, having the cavities filled with carbonate of lime, and some of the fissures are coated with calca- reous spar. There is a great deal of trap-rock, also, on the range of hills lying between the Redcraigs toll and the Roscobie lime-works. Freestone or Sandstone Quarries* — There are several of these in the parish. The chief ones are at Berrylaw and North Ur- quhart, a mile nortb-west ; at Millhilis, a quarter of a mile south- east ; and at Sunnybank, three miles south-east from the town ; and at Pittencrieff within it, between Pittencrieff and Golf-Drum Streets. The stone at all these, except the last, is of good qua* lity, and much used in building. Fossil Remains in the Sandstone Quarries. — There have been found at the Berrylaw and North Urquhart quarries many large fossils of the three kinds already named as occurring in the coal- formation, the Lepidodendron, the Stigmaria Ficoides 9 and the Siffillaria. The writer lately obtained a very excellent specimen of the first of these, about 3 feet in length, and one in diameter; and two of the third, one having three branches, the stem and one branch of which are 2\ feet, and the other, having two branches, the stem and one branch of which are \\ foot long, and both about 8 inches in diameter. The bark, which- is turned into coal, still retains in all of these in some places the black coally struc- ture and substance. On the east side of the Berrylaw rock, and completely imbedded in it, is a large root of the Sigillaria, about 4 feet high, nearly upright, apparently standing where it grew, but probably, according to the more prevalent opinion of geolo- gists, transported from its native site by the inundation of some river, and meeting with an obstacle, deposited in its present posi- tion, the sedimentary matter of the agitated waters accumulating around it, as well as replacing its own inner substance, which, it is well known, in all fossil trees decayed first, and now forming the sandstone. In the adjoining North Urquhart rock there was lately seen closely imbedded in it the stem or branch of a fossil tree, or 8 842 FtFESHIRE. feet long, and 7 or 8 inches in diameter, lying horizontally, and about 40 feet from the surface. Quarrymen are not fond of meeting with these fossil remains, since, wherever tbey occur, there are generally cracks, technically called dries, which prevent long blocks being taken out. It is the remark ofan old observant quarryman that he has at* ways found the Lepidodendrcn lowest in the rock, then the Stig* maria, and the Sigillaria highest, and that near the last, the rock is in an unsolid loose state ; and farther, that he has never seen a root penetrating a layer of earthy matter lying between two beds of stone, while he has noticed it passing through two contiguous beds not so separated* Petrifactions have been found also in the Pittencrieff quarry, and particularly a species of Stigmaria, which is thought to be undescribed. At Millhills quarry, too, there have been got impressions of Spirifers and Pecten papyracens, Producta on bituminous shale, Corbula sulcata in clay-ironstone, and Spirifera bisulcato. The principal specimens of these fossil remains which have been noticed are to be seen in the New Museum of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, Edinburgh. # Composition of Hills and Plains. — The hills are generally com- posed of greenstone, as is the case in those of Craigluscar and Roscobie. The Hill of Beath, adjoining to the Halbeatb Col- liery, some of the minerals under which belong to the Marquis of Tweeddale, and are leased by the Halbeath Company, is com- posed of greenstone, and must have been projected after the coal- strata* For, when the workings were carried under the hill, the strata were observed to rise towards the centre, or rent, through which the greenstone must have been projected. In the high grounds and plains, at least so far as the coal-for- mation extends, there are alternate beds of sandstone and blaes (or slate-clay), with balls of ironstone in it Bituminous shale and indurated or fire-clay frequently intervene, but the first two com- pose the greatest part of the strata above the poal, and are found in beds, varying from I foot to 20 feet in thickness, and to the depth of from 20 to 100 fathoms before reaching the lowest seam of coal, under which sandstone of different colours and textures more generally prevails, to the depth of 50 or 60 fathoms, uutil it reach the limestone. » * Ores and Simple Minerals. — Ironstone, to a greater or less ex- 9 DUNFERMLINE. 843 tent, pervades the whole coal-field of the Earl of Elgin, in thin bands and balls, and was once wrought to the extent of 4000 to 5000 tone per annum* But the working of it was discontinued about eight or nine years ago, as a remunerating price could not be obtained for it, on account of the low price of pig-iron, and has not since been resumed* Copper-pyrites, in small quantities, is found imbedded in the clay-ironstone with carbonate of lime at the Elgin Colliery. There is a thin seam of argillaceous iron-* stone in the Wellwood, Town Hill, and Halbeath Coal-fields, but in all of these it is of an inferior quality, and not sufficiently abundant to render it workable to a profit. It occurs both in veins and nodules at the Townhill Colliery. It is also found in blaes while tirring for lime at the Charleston and Northern Limestone Quarries. Iron-pyrites is likewise sometimes met with in the roof of the parrot- coal at Halbeath Colliery. Neither the extracting nor purifying of ores is practised in the parish. Some beds of sand* stone at the Elgin Collieries contain strong impregnations of alum. Quartz and calcareous spar are found imbedded, and in veins, in the trap-rock at the Town Hill Colliery. Garnets occur in the builders of mica-slate scattered in that neighbourhood. Alluvial Deposites. — At the Elgin Colliery the alluvial cover above the sandstone is composed of clay, mixed with sand and small rounded stones, and frequently of fragments of the different strata under it. In the working coal-field it varies in thickness from 6 to 18 feet. It is impervious to water, and never produces water of itself. Peat in some instances forms part of the alluvial cover. At the Wellwood Colliery the alluvial cover is from 6 to 90 feet in thickness, consisting of clay, sand, and large blocks of quartz, greenstone, and other materials. As none of these rocks are in the immediate neighbourhood, the blocks must have been transported from some of the hills by water. At the Townhill Colliery the alluvial cover, in the higher parts of the ground, consists of a stiff tenacious clay, intermixed with rounded water-worn stones ; and in the lower and hollow parts, of a rich vegetable mould, approaching in some places to the nature of peat, under which the clay is again found, resting upon the rock, but much thinner. The covering varies from 3 to 9 feet in thick- ness. At Halbeath Colliery the alluvial cover is from 4 to 40 feet 844 F1PB81IIRE. in thickness : and at the Netherbeatb Colliery it is about 18 feet, where it is chiefly of a clayey nature. No remains of plants or animals are known to have been met with in any of these alluvial deposites. Soil and Boulders. — The land towards the north of the town, where the collieries are situated, is generally of inferior quality, but some portions of it are good, and others, from being much im- proved by draining, yield a fair produce. The soil in that quarter varies from a few inches to 2 or 8 feet in thickness, and chiefly rests on till, but some of it, especially near Lathalmond, where the lime-quarry is, reposes on trap, sandstone, or limestone. The land towards the south of the town, in which are some of the sandstone quarries that have been mentioned, and the Charles- ton lime-work, is of excellent quality, in high cultivation, and capable of bearing all sorts of crops. The soil there consists chiefly of a brown loam, resting on rotten trap ; but a portion of it is of a light nature, on strong clay, not far from the surface. Zoology* — Bare Birds found occasionally in the Parish.— Falco Haliaetus Parus ater Alca Torda peregrinus caudatus arctica cyaoeus palustris Alle Msalon Capriraulgus europssus Laxus ridibundus Junius Excubitor Hematopus ostralegus crepidatus Coitus Graculus Rallus aquaticus Anas Tadorna Sturnus vulgaris Alcedo ispida Penelope Turd as torquatus Scolopax glottis- Ferina Motocilla Phoenicurus Tringa macularia clangula rubetra morinella fuligula rubecola •» Botany. — Bare Plants found in the Parish. — Hippuris vulgaris Polygonum viviparum Thrincia birta Veronica Buxbaumii Paris quadrifolia Hieracium Lavsoni polita Pyrola secunda Cichorium Iotybua Fedia mixta Silene anglica Seoecio saraeenicus Eleocharis multicauHs noctiflora Matricaria Cnamomilla Agrostis Spica-venti Ly thrum salicaria Anthemis arven&is Melica nutans Rubus saxatilis Cotula Festuca bromoides Glaucium lutetim Habenaria albida Bromus erectus Nymphaa alba Epipactis enstfolia Galium Mollugo Nuphar lutea Malaxis paludosa Potamogeton heteropbyHus Ranunculus hirsutus Euphorbia Lathyrus rufescens Mentha viridis Sparganium natana Lyaimachia vulgaris crispa (variety) Garex divulsa Primula elatior piperita strigosa verls Galeopsis Ladanum fulva Verbascum nigrum Staohys ambigua stricta Viola birta Nasturtium sylvestre Arum mac u latum Chenopodium oiidum terrestre Atriplex lacinjata rubrum Braasica campeatris angustifolia Pep lis portula Sinapis mural is Asplenium alternifofiuro Tulipa sylvestris Malva inoschata mirinum Alisma ranunculoides Vicia sylvatica Pteris crispa Trientalis europsea Tragopogon pratensis Botrychiunr. Lunaria Epilobium roseum major Ophioglossum vulgatum DUNFERMLINE* 815 There are no forest*. The plantations cover about 900 Scotch acres, and are chiefly on the Pitferrane and town properties ; the former to the west, and the latter to the north-east, of the burgh*. The soil appears to be congenial to almost all sorts of timber, but not all equally so* The wood grown consists chiefly of larch and Scotch fir, with a proportion of oak, beech, elm, plane, ash. and willow. II. — Civil History. Ancient and Modern Accounts, Maps, Plans, and Surveys, jrc, of the Parish.— The most ancient and valuable document con- nected with the parish, in reference particularly to the Monastery which once flourished in it, is " The Auld Register," or the " Li- ber MonasteriideDunfermlin," commonly called the Chartu- lary of Dunfermline. It is a large folio MS. volume, consisting of 169 leaves of vellum, and has long been preserved in the Advocates* Library at Edinburgh. It is known to have been there at the end of the seventeenth century ; but when the first Earl of Haddifig- too (a celebrated antiquary), more than two centuries ago, used it, making a table of its contents, and taking numerous extracts from it, illustrative of the ancient tenures and forms of convey- ancing of Scotland, he does not state where the^ Register was then deposited. At the close of the last year (1842), .this Chartulary was printed by the Bannatyne Club, as the joint contribution of seven of its members,* under the editorial care of Cosmo Innes, Esq., advocate, extending, with appendices and tables of contents, to 561 pages quarto. A table of the contents of two MS. registers is printed along with the Chartulary of Dunfermline, by the Bannatyne Club, from inventories in Lord Haddington's Collections, preserved in the Advocates' Library, and collated with the original volumes. A History of the Town and Parish of Dunfermline was pub- lished by the late Rev. John Fernie, one of the parochial minis- ters in 1815, in 8vo, which contains some useful statistical infor- mation, collected with much care and accuracy, applicable to that period. It is now out of print Another History of Dunfermline from the earliest records down to 1828, the date of its publication, 12mo, was written by the late • Duke of Buckingham, Earl Spencer, late Earl of Rosslyn, the Right Honour- able Thomas Grenville, late R. Fergusaon of Raith, Esq., James Loch. Esq., and John Richardson, Esq. London. 84$ FIFESHIRE. Mr A. Mercer, author of " Dunfermline Abbey/' a poem, with historical illustrations, published in 1819, of a collection of verses in 1838, and of some fugitive pieces which appeared in the " North British Magazine" in 1804, of which he was for the short period of fourteen months editor, and in other periodicals, and who died in Dunfermline only last July 1842; a man whose abilities, edu- cation, and literary taste, had they been steadily directed to one definite object of pursuit in life, might, with his inoffeusiveDes of disposition, have secured for him a higher estimation, and better fortune than unhappily distinguished his latter days. There was published also in his name, a large, " Historical and Chronological Table of the ancient town of Dunfermline, from 1064 to 1834," on a large sheet, which is an abridgement of an elaborate, valuable, and beautifully written MS. quarto volume, pp. 422, entitled, " Annals of Dunfermline from the earliest Re- cords to 1833," and which was kindly prepared for his benefit by the author, E. Henderson, LL.D., F. R. A. S. In the Advocates 9 Library are preserved twelve vols. 4to, bound, of the MS. collections of the late Lieutenant- General Henry Hutton of the Royal Artillery, who for many years was en- gaged in obtaining materials for a Monasticon Scotia, ah account of all the monastic institutions in this country, but who died (June 1827) before 1 executing his purpose. The earliest map of the parish, of which I am aware, is con- tained in a map of the sheriffdome of Fyffe, by Mr James Gordon, parson of Rothiemay, published in 1645. This was prepared from the papers of the famous geographer, Mr Timothy Pont, who took the bearings of the county, and executed draughts not only of it, but of most of the parts of North Britain and its isles. The papers, after his death, came iuto the possession of Mr Gordon's father, the learned Sir Robert Gordon of Straloch, through Sir John Scot of Scotstarvet, who not only recovered them, when nearly lost or destroyed through carelessness, but supplied their defects. The map is part of " Bleau's Atlas of Scotland." A Plan of the town of Dunfermline was published in 162% from an actual survey by J. Wood, Edinburgh ; and a map of the parish included, in a very large and excellent one of the counties of Fife and Kinross, was published in 1828, by Messrs Sharp, Greenwood, and Fouler, London, which was republished with improvements in 1841 by Mr Frazer, Cupar Fife. DUNFERMLINE. 847 Two good engraved views, large folio, of the town of Dunferm- line, are to be seen in Slezer's " Theatrum Scotise," exhibiting some public buildings now gone, as the Queen's, Constabulary, and Baillie Houses, accompanied by letter-press descriptions and illustrations, in Dr Jameson's new edition, Edinburgh, ,1814. These views were probably taken about the year 1690. Landowners in 1843* — These, with their respective valuations, as standing in the cess-books of the county, are as follows : The Right Hon. the Earl of Elgin, * Mrs Madox Blackwood of Pitreavie, James Hunt of Pittencrieff, Sir John Halket of Pitferrane, Bart Andrew Moffat Wellwood of Garvock, George Robertson Barclay of Keavil, Charles Durie of Craigluscar. Robert Downie of Appin, for Touch, &c. Col. Martin Lindsay of Halbeath, Adam Rolland of bask, Lady Buchan Hepburne of Blackburn, James Kerr of Middlebank, Mrs Winstanley, i of Pitliver, &c Messrs Aitken of Southfod, The Guildry of Dunfermline, The Marquis of Tweeddale for Kiersbeath, William Miller of Sunnybank, Robert Wemyss, Cuttlehill, for Netherbeath, James Alexander of Balmule, John Kirk of Transy, James Stenhouse of Northfod, James Aitken of St Margaret's Stone, James Spowart of Venturefair, Capt. Matthew Moncrieff of Broomhead, Mrs Gairdner of Woodmill, Alex. Stnithers of Brucefield, Town of Dunfermline, Dr Abercrombie of Netherbeath, Sir Robert Preston's Trustees, for Lochend, Robert Douglas of Abbey Parks, Henry Flockhart of Easter Craigdukie, Andrew Main, part of Northfod, William Walker of Meldrum's Mill, Mrs Campbell of Headwell, Dr John Liddel of BrieryhiU, Trustees of Henry Brown of Northfod, Robert Curror of Wester Craigdukie, Sir John Malcolm's Tutors, for Netherbeath, Alexander Colvill of Dunduff, Miss Aitken of Lochhead, James Aitken of Grassmuirland, Society of Gardeners, Dunfermline, Hugh Coventry of Bonnington, William Blackwood, for North Baldridge, Robert Clark, Limekilns, * L.400 of this sum not a&sessible for poor-rates, but for other burdens in ihe palish, being for Logic in Invcrkeithing parish, quoad civiKa. L.4426 19 6 1801 18 5 •1706 15 6 1553 8 4 1220 1008 11 4 702 3 4 399 13 7 367 6 8 317 7 11 314 4 7 310 3 3 305 283 10 268 15 11 259 228 4 220 13 3 215 155 11 8 175 16 9 152 1 8 66 7 1 114 18 8 140 14 10 139 14 4 137 5 10 136 133 126 117 12 111 5 10 110 5 2 108 4 107 11 6 106 2 6 100 95 6 8 81 78 2 6 58 3 4 49 8 6 34 25 19 L.15 15 9 8 6 2 15 2 8 11 1 1 2 8 15 8 2 5 11 1 4 5 848 FIPESHlltE. Mrs Capt. Wardlaw, for part of Garvock, James Douglas, James Cusine, Clayacres, Alex. M'Kinlay's feu, . " J. Duncanson's do. John Anderson's do. George Cooper's do. P. Livingston's do. W. and J. Rutherford's do. Total valued rental, as corrected in 1848, . L. 18,636 5 4 Parochial Registers. — These consist of 19 folio volumes, the first 6 of which contain registers of baptisms and marriages jointly, and of the remaining 1 3, there are 9 of baptisms and 4 of mar- riages, separately. With the exception of a blank in the mar- riages from 1745 to 1750, they are continuous from 16th July 1561, the date of the first entry, to the present period. Where the baptisms and marriages are recorded together, the latter are on the margin. Some of the old volumes are beautifully written, and the ink is black and still retains its shining quality. There is a register of deaths from 1617 to 1657, small quarto, very distinctly and beautifully written. It was recovered by me very lately from a person into whose hands it had shortly before accidentally come. It had evidently been at one time in the pos- session of one of my predecessors, but it had afterwards passed from him to others not officially connected with the parish, and seems to have been altogether lost sight of. A very accurate register of burials has been kept in a folio vo- lume since 1838. The superintendent of the churchyard takes charge of it. . " The kirk-session records consist of 11 folio volumes. The first regular entry on them is dated the last day of June 1640. The minutes for the first 45 years are very neatly and distinctly writ- ten, apparently, too, in the same hand, but abound-in contractions. With the exception of a blank between 1689 and 1701, the vo- lumes are continuous to the present period. All these registers and records are well bound, lettered, and dated on the back, and in good preservation. Antiquities.* — King Malcolm Canmore's Tower. — All that now remains of this ancient edifice is a connected angle, or fragment of the south and west walls : the length of the former of which is 31, and of the latter, 44 feet. The south wall, in 1790, was 49} • A full account of the antiquities is given in the writer's History of Dunferm- line. Only a few can be here shortly noticed. i DUNFERMLINE. 849 feet Their present height is about 8 feet. They have been of great thickness, but all the hewn stones are removed from them. Apparently the lower part of the ancient tower, when entire, was about 50 feet broad, from north to south, and 60 from east to west, so that the building must have been nearly square. It is about 70 feet above the level of the rivulet below. The date of this building is uncertain, but it is supposed to be as ancient as the middle of the eleventh century, probably between 1056 and 1070. From the nature of the ground, the tower or castellated palace of Malcolm III. could not have been a very spacious edi&ce, and if an idea of its structure can be formed from the coarse fragment which remains, it must have been of a very simple kind. Still, here were married, and lived in conjugal affection, this famous monarch and his excellent queen, Margaret. Palace. — A little to the south-east of King Malcolm Canmore's Tower, and east side of the rivulet close to the verge of the glen, in a very romantic situation, are the ruins of a palace, once the re- sidence of the sovereigns of Scotland. Only the south-west wall, and a small portion of the eastern end of the edifice remain. The wall which overlooks the glen is 205 feet in length, and 60 in height outside, supported by 8 buttresses. The depth from the sole of the window in the recess on the first floor is 31 feet At the western end tradition still points out a high window, now com- pletely covered with ivy, and the chimney, nearly entire, of the room in which that ill-advised and unfortunate monarch, Charles the First, was born, which event occurred on the 19th November 1600. This, too, was the birth-place of his sister Elizabeth, on the 19th August 1596, afterwards Queen of Bohemia, from whom her present Majesty is descended. Near the south-eastern extremity of this massive wall, there is in the ceiling of a high and projecting oriel window, the third from the end, a large antique piece of sculpture, quite visible from be* low, which was discovered in 1812, when some repairs were made on the palace ; and of which an excellent cast was taken about three years ago, now in my possession. It contains in bas-relief a well executed carving (in stone) of the passage in the first chap- ter of St Luke's gospel, usually termed the Annunciation. There is a representation of the angel (Gabriel) with outspread wings, and of the Virgin Mary in a devotional attitude, facing each other. The angel holds in his right hand, which is very unusual, a scourge fife. 3 u 850 FIFE3H1UE. • or lash, the emblem probably of discipline, and in bis left a scroll proceeding towards the Virgin, on which is inscribed part of the salutation to her in large old Roman capitals, i( Ave gratia plena Dns. Tec" (Dominus Tecum,) " Hail full with favour, the Lord be with you." Before the Virgin is a table with an open book on it, containing her answer, also in Latin, and with some abbrevia- tions. The words are not very legible on the cast, but having seen them as taken in 1812 by a zealous antiquary of that day, I can partly trace them, and am satisGed that they are all there, al- though the space is but small. Tbey are in small Roman capi- tals, as exhibited in the engraving, and are as follows : Ecce ancilla di (dominu) Fiat michi fmikij S. V. 71 (secundum verbum tu- um>) " Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me ac- cording to thy word. 1 ' At the top is a human head and face with a crown of glory, the emblem of God the Father, and to the left, a dove, the symbol of the Spirit, descending amid rays of light, proceeding from him upon the head of the Virgin. In front of the table before the Virgin is a pot with a lily in it, the emblem of purity, and the usual accompaniment of the Virgin, and in front of it again, at the lower centre of the stone, is a coat armorial, consisting of a shield bearing a cheveron between three crescents. The arms are those of the Dury family, ancient possessors of the lands of Dury in Fife, in the reign of Alexander II., and of whom George Dury, a descendant, was the last abbot and perpetual com- mendator of the abbey of Dunfermline, and arch-dean of St An- drews at the Reformation, and for about twenty years previous. At the bottom of the whole device is the date 1 100, in Arabic numerals, the cyphers being of the form of diamonds, and before it is some contracted word not easily legible on the cast, which has hitherto been given as CHI. the abbreviation for Christi ; but the probability is that it is XPI. the Greek letters, which are the usual contraction for the name of our Lord. The date 1100 has given great trouble to antiquaries. The questiou is, whether this date was engraven at the time specified, and whether it be meant to indicate the period when the palace was built. From various considerations, my own opinion is, that the stooe in its present state could not have been sculptured at that period* As to the time of its execution, my conjecture is, that it was at the close of the reign of James V. and the commencement of the abbotship of George Dury, probably between 1539 and 1541, and perhaps contemporaneous with the execution of the coat of arm*, J DUNFERMLINE. 851 just noticed, of that monarch and his second queen soon after their marriage. The date 1100, too, may have been put upon it, as the then reputed age of the older part of the palace, which in that case would be built by King Edgar, son of Malcolm IIL, whose reign was rather peaceful. This opinion of the antiquity of this part of the edifice, as well as of the addition made to it by James IV., was expressed also by the heritors of the parish, and magistrates and council of the town, in a memorial presented in 1836 to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. But as no ancient and authoritative historical or other document is known to exist, fixing the age of the palace, it must still, it is to be feared, remain in some obscurity. Subterraneous Passage. — Near the north-west corner in the north wall there is an aperture, which was originally about 4 feet high by 2£ wide, but from the accumulation of the earth on the floor of the cellar, the height is now only 2£ feet. This is the entrance to a long dark subterraneous passage, with various off-* shoots, and having a total length of about 100 feet. Not satisfied with* some of the accounts and conjectures current concerning it, I resolved to make a personal exploration, which, with the aid of competent persons, was done early in January 1843. Queen's House. — This building was adjacent to the palace, on the north-east, and communicated with it by a gallery. It stood in the centre of the street to the north of the present arched or pended gateway, and reached near to the great west door of the church. It was so named as having been erected, or at least re- stored by Queen Anne of Denmark, and having been her perso- nal property during life, and not a mere jointure house to which she had a title on the demise of her husband. Immediately to the north of the Queen's House stood the Con- stabulary House, or residence of the Constable of the Royal Edi- fices, and near to it the Bailie House, or residence of the Deputy Bailie of Regality. Frater-halL — Immediately to the south of the old Abbey Church are the ruins of the Frater-hall or Refectory, — the din- ing-room of the brethren or ecclesiastics. There remain of it only the south-front wall and the west gable, in the former of which there are nine tall handsome windows. In the west gable there is a large Gothic window, much ad* 852 FIFE3HIRE. mired, quite entire, 20 feet high by 16 broad, with six mullions, and a great deal of tracery above. Pended Tower is a massive oblong building, connecting the Monastery with the Palace, and elegantly arched or pended be- neath, forming a gateway across the street, from which circum- stance it is commonly called the Pends (from pendeo, to hang*) What remains of it is 47 feet in height, 35 in length from north to south, 16 in breadth at the northern, and 18£ at the southern arch. There had been a gate at the former one. The archway is groined with central ornamented keystones, and strong ribbed arches, and the windows present a fine specimen of the pointed and rounded style of architecture. Abbey Old Church. — This is all that remains of the ancient and large ecclesiastical edifice of this place, spared from the ravages committed first by the English in the fourteenth century, and afterwards by the Reformers in their zeal against Popery. This part of the building formed the nave of the Abbey Church when completed, or the vestibule or passage to the principal por- tion of it, where the choir was, as it now does to the new place of worship. Ancient Eastern Church. — The length of the choir or ancient eastern church within walls to supposed Lady Aisle, was 100 feet, and to supposed great altar 90 feet ; its breadth, clear of the co- lumns, 20 feet, and with these and side aisles, 55 feet* The length of the transepts was 115, and their breadth 73 feet The ex* treme length of the whole ancient ecclesiastical edifice outside was 275 feet, and its extreme breadth 130. Till 1818, there were standing four very tall and beautiful Go- thic windows, which formed part of the north wall of the north transept of the Abbey, but which were removed at the commence- ment of the building of the New Church in that year. Royal Tombs. — It is well known that the celebrated lona or Icolmkill, in the Western Isles, was originally, and, for many cen- turies, the place of royal sepulture. But if the testimony of Boece can be credited on this point, as it has generally been, Malcolm IIL changed it to Dunfermline, appointing the church which be had built there to be thenceforth the common cemetery of the kings of Scotland* It is certain, too, from other and older au- thorities, as the Cbronicon de Mailros, Chronicon de Lanercost, Fordun, and Winton, that Dunfermline church was so used from the time of Malcolm IIL, during many succeeding reigns. At DUNFERMLINE. 853 present, all that remains, perceptible by the eye, of this ancient and once splendid royal burying-place, is the tombstone of Queen or St Margaret, already noticed, which is a large horizontal slab of coarse blue marble or limestone, in two tiers, about three feet above the surface, at the east end of the new church, outside, co- vering the spot in which, it is understood, were once deposited not only her remains, but those of her husband, Malcolm III. There are to be seen on it six indentures, which, tradition says, are the prints of candlesticks, in which candles were kept burning; and, it is added, that a proprietor in Fife, at Pitilloch, in Falkland pa- rish, once paid an impost for lighting them. Besides Malcolm III., his Queen Margaret, and their eldest son, Prince Edward, named by Winton Edward I., there were, according to different authors, interred at Dunfermline, the fol- lowing royal and distinguished personages : — Edward, eldest son of Malcolm III.; King Edgar; Alexander I.; David L; Mal- colm IV.; Malcolm, Earl of Athole and his Countess, in the reign of William the Lion ; Alexander IIL, and Margaret, his first Queen ; David and Alexander, his sons ; Robert I., and Eli- zabeth his Queen ; Mathildis, their daughter ; Annabella Drum- mond, Queen of Robert IIL, and mother of James I. ; Constan- tino and William Ramsay, Earls of Fife; Thomas Randolph, Earl of Murray, nephew of Robert L, Regent of Scotland during the minority of David II. ; Robert, Duke of Albany, and Earl of Fife and Menteith, Governor of Scotland. It may be proper to answer a very natural inquiry which is often put, What evidence is there for believing that King Robert Bruce was interred here ? It is gratifying to think, that the evidence for this fact is clear, varied, and strong. In the first place, the King himself selected Dunfermline as the place of his sepulture. For it appears from the Chartulary of Dunfermline that he gave the church of Kinross and chapel of Urwell to the monastery of Dunfermline, not only in honour of his predecessors buried in it, but on account of his own sepulture, which, it is said, " I have specially chosen among them ;"* and again, " he chose his own interment to be among the kings of Scotland, in the honourable monastery of Dunfermline."-}- Then Barbour and Fordun, two of our earliest chroniclers, record that he had been buried here, and in what may be presumed, the very * Printed Chart., p. 229-30 (1315.) f Printed Char., p. 412. 854 FIFESHIRE. spot now discovered. Barbour gives the following account of the funeral : — " I bop that nane that is on ly ve* The lamentacioun suld discryvcf* That that folk for thair lard maid.$ And quhen thai lang thus sorrowit had, Thai haiff had him to Dunferlyne ;— * And him solemply erdyt§ syne In a fayr tumb, iotill the quer. Byschappys and prelatis, that tbar wer, Assoilyeit|| him, quhen the service Was done as thai couth best dewiss :^f And syne, on the tothyr day, Sarv and wa ar went thair way, And he debowaillyt was clcnty, And bawmyt syne richly.*'** Fordun, too, who wrote after Barbour, and who acknowledges the excellence of his work, says, that " the King was interred at the monastery of Dunfermline, in the middle of the choir, with due horiour.'*tt And farther, as quoted by Morton, in his Monas- tic Annals of Teviotdale, p. 232, " magnificently interred under the grand altar of the church of Dunfermline Abbey."}} Both these early writers mention the choir, and the latter, the middle of it, as the situation of his grave, and the spot found precisely corresponds with this, as far as the form of the ancient building can be ascertained, for it is in a line with the exact centre of the Ab- bey Church. Farther, it is well known that Bruce, in the view of his approach* ing dissolution, which took place at Cardross, near Dumbarton, on the 7th June 1329, from a severe disease, then termed leprosy, at the age of fifty-five, in the twenty-fourth year of bis arduous and glorious Teign, reckoning from his coronation at Scone, took a pledge from his faithful friend Sir James Douglas to carry his heart, on his decease, to Jerusalem, and humbly to deposit it in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre there, as the only mode which he then had of fulfilling a vow, which he had made as soon as he restored the peace and freedom of his kingdom, to undertake an expedition to the Holy Land against the enemies of the Christian faith. This pledge, the gallant knight, on the demise of his be- * Alive. f Describe. £ Lord. § Interred. || AssoUzeit As Ring Robert was excommunicated by the Pope, for tbe murder of Cuming in Dumfries, on account of treachery, so far back as 1305, his body could not receive the accustomed rites and ceremonies of what was then deemed •* Christian burial" in consecrated ground, till this sentence was removed by ecclesiastical authority. This may explain what if here referred to by the poet. Some authors, however, state that he was pardoned in 1309 — Guthrie's Hist, of Scot., ii. p. 205. f Devise. ** The Bruce, Bdin. 1820, 4to, B. xiv.,1. 871-884. ft Scotichron. xiii. 13. Xt Scotichron. xiil 20, 14. DUNFERMLINE* 855 loved master, immediately went to redeem, along with a numerous retinue, bearing the heart of the monarch enclosed in a silver casket, suspended from his neck by a silver chain. But, in pass- ing through Spain, in his progress to Jerusalem, he assisted Al- phonso, the young King of Leon and Castile, against the Sara- eens, and after exhibiting feats of valour, he fell in battle, when his body, with the casket and its precious contents, were conveyed to Scotland, under the charge of Sir William Keith, one of his surviving companions. His remains were interred in the Church of Douglas, the sepulchre of his forefathers, and the heart of Bruce was entombed in Melrose Abbey, by the Earl of Moray, then Regent of Scotland. Now, in order to carry into execution this object, it behoved the body of Bruce to be embalmed, and accordingly it exhibited full evidence of having been so, as the metrical account also of the funeral by Barbour, just quoted, states that it was. The sternum or breast-bone was found sawed asunder longitu- dinally from top to bottom, according to the awkward mode adopt- ed by the anatomists of those days, for reaching the heart, with the view of complying with the sovereign's dying command, and a small box was discovered in the vicinity, supposed by some to con- tain the entrails. The whole appearances, too, of the tomb and body, as described, in- dicate them to have been those of a person of h igh consideration, while, in the immediate neighbourhood, were found numerous fragments of fine white and black marble well polished, carved and, gilt, in all probability the remains of a monument which bad been erected over the grave inside the church, and which had been demolished at the destruction of the Abbey. Some of these exhibit small ornamental columns, and one of them an animal in a reclining posture. Along with a few of these in the Antiquarian Museum, Edinburgh, found long prior to the discovery of Brace's tomb, and erroneously labelled as having belonged to the tomb of Mal- com Canmore, there is a small head, cut in soft bluish stone, seemingly calm stone, the same as what many of the other orna- ments are made of, with a crown on it. The face is unfortunately destroyed, but there are large curls at each ear, of the form and style seen in the coins of Robert the Bruce, so that there is every probability that this was meant to represent his head. From the Chamberlain Rolls, too, it appears that the king himself had or- dered, during his long and tedious illness, such a monument to be 856 F1FESH1RE. erected ; that it was of a very splendid nature, and that, proba- bly from its being beyond the skill of the artists of this country at that period, it had been been executed in Paris, and conveyed hitherto by the way of Bruges. What would have completed this body of evidence to us would have been a plate with an actual inscription, signifying that this was the tomb of Bruce ; but the probability is, that such a plate made of brass, as was then common, with an inscription round the edge, had been upon the monument, and carried off at the plun- der of the abbey, or destroyed.* Fordun has preserved Bruce's epitaph, which it is likely was inscribed upon the tomb, and which I have not seen before quoted. It is this — " HlC JACBT INVICTUS RoBERTUS, REX BENBDICTU8, Qui sua gesta legit, hefetit quot beixa pebegit, Ad LIBERT ATEM PERDU XIT, PER PROBITATBM, Regnum Scotorum ; nunc vivat in arcs polorum."! King Robert Bruce's Sword and Helmet — These interesting relics are at Broomhall House, about three miles south from the town. In the Scots Magazine for 1781, there is an engraving of them, along with the following description : — " They are of steel, and they have acquired a clear blackish colour from age. The sword is a two-handed one, and the handle is covered with black leather. Both the sword and the helmet were presented by Ring Robert's sou, King David Bruce, to his cousin Sir Robert Brace of Clackmannan, and they have been preserved in Clackmannan Castle by the descendants of this Sir Robert, with the greatest veneration, till the present time. Though there be no written documents to instruct the sword and helmet having been presented to Sir Robert Bruce, yet the above account has the sanction of the universal tradition of the family and of the country around." They are now in the possession of the Earl of Elgin and Kin- cardine, having (along with the genealogical family tree, dated 1686, which contains a lengthened history of the descent of the * A well-executed and appropriate plate, bearing the appearances of antiquity, found at the grave, after the re-interment of Bruce, but it was satisfactorily ~ " not to be ancient. It was the doing of a few individuals, as *jeu j 4 „ M Causes of Abbouhip. WAMEt. Removal. A. D. i. 1128-1154 t.Galfrid I. (Galfridus, Gosfrid, or Geoffi-y), ...Died. U. 11M-1178 Galfridll Died. in. 1178-1198 Archibald ( Erkenbaldus, Archombaldus), Died. iv. 1196-1202 Robert T. de Berewick, Deposed. ▼. 1202.1223 Patrick I Died. ▼i. 1228 William I Died. to. 1220-1298 William II Died. Tin. 1288-1240 Gaufridlll Died. n. 1240-1252 Robert II. de Keldelecht, Resigned. x. 1252-1256 John I Died. xi. 1256-1270 Matthew, K xii. 1270-1275 Simon, Deposed. XItt V^leatf^ I B * lph * Radu, P hu8 de Grenlaw). 838 FIFE8HIIIE. • list of abbots. — Continued. Duration oi Abbotsbip. A.D. Names. Causes of BemovsL XIV. 1309-1313 (at least) \ Hugh. XV. 1316-1327 (at least) I Robert III. de CraJl. XVI. 1331-1953. Died. XVII. John 11. Blak. XVIII. John HI. of Stramifflaw. XIX. 1363. John IV. XX. 1365. John V. of BalTflirnach. XXI. 1380-1395 (at least) I | John VI. XXII. 1399-1409 (at lenst) John VII.de Tony. XXII I. 1413-1419 (at least) William TIF. de Sancto Andrea. XXIV. 1437-1442 (at least) Andrew I. XXV. 1446-1472. XXVI. 1472-1482. XXVII. 1483-1490. xxvni. 1494-1499 George I. XXIX. \tueast) j 'ft* 1 ** IV. Blacader. 1502-1504 James I. Stuart , 1504-1510 » • TtD4 D . or J51 1 I Jttme * II. Beton or Bcthune,. xxxri. 1511-1513 Alexander II. Stuart, xxxiii. 1515-1516 James III. Hepburn, , xxxiv. 1516-1522 Andrew II. Forman , xxxv, 1522-1539 James II. Beton or Bethune (agaim) t xxxti. 1589-1561 I n . tt « or later J Geor « e IL Unr l, xxxvii. 1564 Robert V. Pitcairn, xxxtiil 1585-1587 Patrick II. Gray, Master of Gray, the 7th Lord Gray, , xxxix. 1567 George III. Gordon, the 6th Earl of Huntly,. In 1593 the Abbacy was perpetually annexed to the Crown. Died. .Resigned* Slain in battle. . Resigned* .Died .Died. ..Died. (Banished ( and died. .Banished. .Resigned. The Abbey long enjoyed a high celebrity, partly on account of its preserving the relics of St Margaret, the .tutelar saint, and of its being the place of royal sepulture, and partly from the magni- tude and splendour of its buildings, and its great wealth. It seems to have attained its highest repute about the middle and close of the 13th century, during the long and prosperous reign of Alexander III., when it had become one of the most mag* nificent and opulent monastic establishments in Scotland. In- deed, Matthew of Westminster, an English historian of that period, says, in regard to its extent, that its limits were so ample as to contain within its precincts three carucates of land, (or as much arable ground as could be tilled with three ploughs in a year), and so many princely edifices, that three distinguished DUNFERMLINE. 86^ sovereigns, with their retinue, might be accommodated with lodgings at the same time, without inconvenience to one an- other. Of its wealth we may form an idea, when it is mentioned, that almost the whole of the lands in the western, and part of those in the southern and eastern districts of Fife, various lands in other counties, and at one time the barony of Musselburgh (then denominated Musselburghshire), in Mid-Lothian, belonged to it. This last place, however, was afterwards separated from it, and converted into a distinct lordship, in favour of the Lord Chan- cellor Thirlestane. The following are some of the remote places from which its ample revenues were derived, conferred either by Scottish sovereigns or opulent subjects, clerical or lay, at various periods, from motives of gratitude or piety: — Kildun, near Ding- wall, Buckhaven, Carnbee, Crail, Newburn, Kinglassie, Kirkcaldy, Abbotshall, Kinghorn, Burntisland, named also Wester- Kinghorn, Kinross, Orwell, Perth, Scone, Bendothy, Kirkmichael, Dun- keld, Dollar, Tillicoultry, Clackmannan, Stirling, Logie, near Stirling, Linlithgow, Cramond, Liberton, Maistertoun, in New- bottle, Newton, Inveresk, Musselburgh, Tranent, Haddington, Berwick, Goldingham, Roxburgh, Renfrew; besides the imme- diately contiguous parishes, In verkei thing, Beath, Saline, Cleish, Oarnock, Torryburn, and, of course, Dunfermline itself. Churches and Chapels of the Monastery. — The following is an Alphabetical List of all the Churches and Chapels, the patronage of which belonged to the Monastery of Dunfermline, along, generally, with a right to the teinds and lands pertaining to them. The names of the donors, too, and the dates of the donation, are given, so far as these can be ascertained. Exact accuracy, how- ever, as to these is unattainable, as the fact of the donation is often mentioned, only in a charter of confirmation, and there left quite general :— No. Names of Churches and Chapelt, Donors. Dates. i. Abmrombie (Crombje) ) R . Malcolm IV } 163 _ 1 I6a Chapel, Torryburn, Fife, ) * ' u. Aberarombie Church Malcolm, 7th Earl of Fife, 1203-1214. m. Bendachin (Bendothy,) Before 1219. Pertusbire, it. Calder '""-" v ™ 3 ' - f ▼. ilder (Kaledour), Edin- Duncan, 5th Karl of Fife, J j j^ burghshire, ) and Ela, his Countess, J Carnbee, Fife 1561. yl Cleish Church or Chapel, { Malcolm 7th g^ ^ rife> 1205-1229. Fife, \ vii. Cousland Chapel (paruh of J .... Before 1159. Cranston, East Lothian), J 860 FIFE8HIRE. No. Names of Churches and Chapelt. Donors. Data. ▼ui. Dunipace Chapel (pariah of) b^u—ma* Larbert, Stirlingshire), ... J BerorellW. xz. Dunkeld, Perthshire, King Malcolm I V„ 1158-1165. %. St Giles, Edinburgh, Before 156a tt ^^IwS J! 1 !^!!!?!^.-^--^!^!! ^»-« 3s«amfaaol.» m^T^ 1153-116& xii, Hailes (Colinton), Edin-i Etbelred, son of Malcolm) lfty . no . burghshire, j Canmore, { 1UW-I13K. xiu. Inveresk, Edinburghshire,... King David I., M ... 1124-1 1£& xiv. Inverkeithing, Fife, Weldeve, son of Gospatric, Before 1551 iv. Inverkeithing Chapel, King Malcolm IV., 1153-1165. XVL K t2Ata™^.-^^ I Ki ° g AteMnderI H07-1M4. 1W "JSi.A^ 1153-1165, xviii. Kinross, King Robert I., 1315. six. Kioghorn (Little), Fife, Before II88L xx. Kioghorn Wester, or Burnt- ) . 10J island, Fife ( lM * xxt. Kirkcaldy, Fife, King David L, 1124-1151 xxu. Kinglassie, Fife Before 115a xxm. "^J^^^^ lm xxiv. Moulin (Perthshire), Malcolm, 2d Earl of Atbole, About II 70. xxv. Newlands, Perthshire, John de Grahame, In 131 7. xxvi. Newton, Edinburghshire,.... {^hLTife!^! .^..^1 B « fe,e 1Wi xxvit. Newburn, Fife,. M King David L, 1124-1152. xxvni. North Queensferry Chapel, King Robert I., 1306- 132a xxix. Orwell, Kinross-shire, King Robert I., In 1315. xxx. Perth (St John Baptist),.... King David I., 1124-1152. xxxl St. Leonard's, Before II 63. xxxn. Chapel of the Castle, M 1164. xxxi£ | Stirlin *' two •*"<*•* ... King David I., 1124-1152. xxxv.' StMn* Chapel of thej Ri|lg ^^ ^ 1107.1124. xxxvi. Strathar^^ King WilUam the Lion 11<»-U» xxx vu. Wymet (annexed to Newton, { « . _. . f 1 1 a* , , «, Edinburghshire), { King David I., 1124-1152. The cells or priories of Urquhart and Pluscardine, in Moray- shire, and of Coldingham in Berwickshire, anciently belonged to the monastery of Dunfermline. Privilege of Regality. — The abbey possessed the very important right or privilege of a free regality, that is, had an exclusive civil and criminal jurisdiction over the occupiers of lands belonging to it. The civil jurisdiction of the regality was equivalent to that of a sheriff, but its criminal was royal, having power of life and death. The abbot, as the Lord of regality, did not usually preside in the court himself, but he appointed a bailie to officiate for him, who could try capital offences. And such was the power of the ab- bot's court, that if any accused person, residing within the terri- tory of the regality, were taken to another court, the abbot could, by DUNFEKMLINE. 861 himself or procurator, appear before that other court, however high, even of the King's justiciar, and repledge, as it was called, or ju- dicially demand hack the delinquent to be tried before the tribunal of his own district. As early as the reign of David L, offenders, within the territories of the abbey are declared to be amenable only to the court of the Holy Trinity and the abbot of Dunferm- line. James IL, at the instance of abbot Richard Bothwell, exempted the abbey from the obligation of appearing before his courts in Fife and Clackmannan, by reason of the lands of Luscreviot and Dollar, which belonged to it, and he granted a letter, empowering the abbey to repledge any inhabitants of these lands, detained by his courts to the court, of regality, in 1449. This baneful privilege, it would appear, had been extended to a particular family of the name of Makaroun or Kynmacaroun; but, in consequence of the murmurs of the country, and for brid- ling the multitude of transgressors pretending to be of the same race, the King found it expedient to abolish this power possessed by the monastery in their case. However he removed the restric- tion in 1459. At the Reformation, in 1560, the peculiar power of Regality, possessed by the monastery, did not cease. It only passed into other hands, those of influential noblemen, who also received much of the temporal property of the extruded monks. The jurisdiction in question, along with the lands of the mona- stery, first devolved on Robert Pitcairn, archdean of St Andrews, who held them in commendam, or trust, and who afterwards be- came Secretary of State to James VI. In 1580, four years before the decease of this person, when he had reached an advanced age, he and the convent of Dunfermline created the office of Heritable Bailie of the Regality, and by char- ter, dated 15th November of that year, conferred it on David Durie of Durie, (the nephew, it is supposed, of George, the for* mer abbot, and who had previously exercised the office of regality bailie under the abbot, but without any written title to it), and his heirs-male in fee, and in inheritance for ever. In 1596, David Durie, the original bailie, with consent of his eldest son and heir-apparent, resigned his office and its emolu- ments .into the hands of Queen Anne, as lady of Dunfermline, in favour of, and for new infeftment of the same, to be made and granted to Alexander Seton, President of the Court of Session, by the title of Lord Urquhart, afterwards Earl of Dunfermline* 862 FIFESH1RE. From his family it subsequently passed into that of the Marquis of Tweeddale. In the year 1780, the last renewal of the crown-lease in favour of the Tweeddale family having come to an end, the Marquis' of Tweeddale again applied for it, but without success, in consequence of a counter application having been made for it by the vassals of the lordship. A new lease was accordingly granted to the Coun- tess of Rothes, the Earl of Elgin, and others, as trustees for them* selves and the rest of their vassals, to endure for nineteen years, commencing with crop 1780, at the yearly rent of L.100. In 1748, the heritable jurisdictions of Scotland were all abo- lished; but compensations were given to the respective parties concerned, according to the opinion of the Court of Session, as to the amount of loss during life sustained by them. The whole sum, voted by Parliament for this purpose, was about L. 150,000, out of which the Marquis of Tweeddale received L 2672, 7s. as the value of the bailiary of the regality of Dunfermline, and Mr William Black L.600, as that of his office, as clerk to the re- gality. Besides the office of bailie of the regality, there was also that of Constable, or Keeper of the Palace, and other royal edifices, and of the adjoining yards and pleasure-grounds, for the maintenance of which office, the teinds of Masterton and Pitliver were paid. There was also the heritable office of Mayor, or Serjeant, af- terwards named Provost, or Head officer of the regality, institut- ed in 1579, a year before that of heritable bailie. He was imme- diately below the depute-bailie, and, on some occasions which are specified, he was empowered to exercise a certain measure of civil and criminal jurisdiction. There was lastly the office of Heritable Admiral of the whole lordship of Dunfermline, except Musselburgh, once held by La* dovick, Duke of Lennox, Great Admiral of Scotland, but resign- ed by him on the 24th December 1612, to Queen Anne of Den- mark. The duties of this office would have reference to the shipping, fishing, &c on the water adjoining to the lands of the regality, and there were certain perquisites attached to it. All these offices came into the possession of the Earl of Dun- fermline, and subsequently of the Marquis of Tweeddale. Al- though none of the offices any longer exist, the Tweeddale family still enjoy the fees or salaries, which originally belonged to them, and collect them under their respective names of bailie, consta- DUNFERMLINE. 863 ble, serjeaot or mayor fees. None, I believe, are now paid as ad* miralty fees, these not being derivable from land. Memorable Historical Events, — Only a few of these can be briefly noticed. The Chartulary records one important fact respecting the ho- mage formerly claimed by England from the Scottish Kings. It is a deed " concerning the homage which Alexander III., King of Scots, paid to Edward I., King of England, for his lands which he held in the kingdom of England." This was in 1278. Edward I. visited Dunfermline in 1291, 1296, 1303, and 1304. In 1303, he took up his winter quarters here, where he was joined by his Queen and a part of his nobility, and employed himself in receiving the submission of those Scottish barons and great men who had not made their peace during his pro- gress through the kingdom in 1296. It was at this period, also, previous to his departure, which, according to some, took place iir February, and others in March following, that his soldiers, doubt- less by his orders or with his approbation, shewed their gratitude for the ample and magnificent accommodation which they had so long enjoyed here, by setting fire to the Abbey, whereby it was reduced to a shadow of what it formerly was. On the 4th March 1323, Robert Bruce had a son born to him in Dunfermline, when the palace must have been in some degree repaired, who, after a long minority, ascended the throne under the title of David II. In 1385, a large body of Frenchmen were lodged in Dunferm- line, as there were in some other inland towns, as Queensferry, Kelso, Dunbar, and Dalkeith, Edinburgh not being able to accom- modate them all, on the occasion of John de Vienne, the famous admiral of France, having come over to this country in the reign of Robert 1L, in consequence of an application from the Scots to the regency of the French King, Charles VL, with a great number of knights and others, the flower of the French army, and of private soldiers, to assist the Scots in the invasion of England. On this occasion, too, Froissart mentions that Richard II. of England having burned Edinburgh, " he and his Lords went to Dunfermline, a tolerably handsome town, where is a large and fair abbey of black monks, in which the Kings of Scotland have been accustomed to be buried. The King was lodged in the ab- bey, but after his departure, the army seized it and burnt both that and the town/' Hume says, generally, that the King " treat- 864 FIFESHIBB. ed in the same manner Perth, Dundee, and other places in the low countries/' On the 28th January 1581, the Second Confession of Faith, sometimes called Craig's Confession of Faith, because drawn up by John Craig, or the King's Confession, because signed by him, or the First National Covenant of Scotland, and which is em* bodied in all the subsequent National Covenants entered into by the Scottish Church and people, was subscribed by James VI. and all his household, at Dunfermline. Between 1582 and 1585, three Danish ambassadors of noble birth, and splendidly attended, arrived in Scotland, and were in- troduced to King James VL, at Dunfermline, where they con- gratulated his Majesty, in the King their master's name, with a long discourse of the old amity bond, and mutual friendship, be- tween the two kings, and their kingdoms. They also presented their claim, respecting the restoration of Orkney and Shetland to the Danish crown. In 1596, a Convention of the " Estates" was held here, for the purpose of recalling the Popish Lords, who had been banished for a conspiracy ; and the Princess Elizabeth was born at the palace, on the 19th August, first daughter of his Majesty, afterwards Queen of Bohemia, whose baptism the Convention appointed to take place at Holyroodhouse, on the 28th of November follow- ing. On 19th November 1600, King Charles I. was born here. In 1624, a great fire took place, which nearly consumed the town ; the houses, at that period, being almost entirely composed of wood, at least from the second story. Its ravages were chiefly on the north side of the ancient pillory, at the prison, to the east por^ The town was reduced to such poverty by this calamity, that it was obliged to supplicate assistance from the community of Scotland at large. In 1638, during the months of March and April, in the reign of Charles I., the Covenant, as drawn up by Alexander Header* son and Johnston of Warriston, was subscribed at Dunfermline, by the nobility, gentlemen, burgesses, and commons in the parish. The document containing it is still extant here, and is written on a very large sheet of vellum parchment Among the signatures are Dunfermlyne (Charles Seton, Earl of Dunfermline) ; Sir Robt. Halkett, Pitferrane; James Durie, Craigluscar; Robert Ged ; R. Ged younger ; Henry Wardlaw of Pitreavie ; William DUMPERMLINE. 865 Wardlaw of Balmule ; Johne Stanehouse, and Mr Samuel Row, then assistant minister at Dunfermline. In 1643, the Solemn League and Covenant, a mutual bond of union which had that year been entered into between England and Scotland, for the better protection of the Protestant religion, pre- vention of the spread and ascendency of Popery and Prelacy, and the preservation of the liberties of the kingdom in peace and unity, — a document which has been characterized by bur latest church his- torian as " the noblest, in its essential nature and principles, of all that are recorded among the national transactions of the world," — was sworn and subscribed at Dunfermline, on the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 12th days of November of that year. This Covenant contains most of the signatures already mentioned as attached to the for- mer Covenant, with several new ones, among which are those of Mr Robert Kay, then minister at Dumbarton, and two years after- wards at Dunfermline, Robert Anderson, reader of God's word, and a great many more, many of them written in the same hand, probably for those who were unable to write. It is printed, and contained in a quarto bound book, having on one of the boards, " For the Kirk of Dunfermlipg." In 1645, the plague raged in the parish, and carried off num- bers, of which there are several notices in the kirk-session records. In 1650, Charles II., soon after his accession to the throne, on the decapitation of his father in January 1649, subscribed at Dun- fermline, with apparent, but only feigned, sincerity, a most re- markable declaration, confirmatory of his former oath to adhere to both covenants. This has been styled " The Dunfermline Declaration," and is dated 16th August 1650, In February 1651, there was a great dearth in Dunfermline. In July 1651, a battle was fought near Pitreavie House in this parish, between the army of Cromwell and that of Charles IL, when the former crossed the Frith at Queensferry, on their march northward to Perth, in order to cut off the royal resources from the King, then at Torwood, in the vicinity of Stirling, an engage* ment which in its consequences proved very disastrous to the Scots. It has been called " the Battle of Fife," and sometimes also, " the Battle of Inverkeithing," and " Battle of Pitreavie ;"— the first action having been fought near Inverkeithing, and then con- tinued up to Pitreavie, where the chief slaughter took place. The English soldiers, after their victory, indulged in many acts of annoying petty plunder, fife. 3 1 866 FIFESH1RE. 1670. Id the middle of June of this year, a conventicle or field-meeting was held at Beath-hill, partly in this parish, which produced a great sensation. It was kept by Mr John Blackadder, the ejected minister of Troqueer, and Mr John Dickson, the ejected minister of Rutherglen. On the 24th October 1715, about a month before the battle of Sheriffmuir, fought in the attempt of the old Pretender, James VIIL, to ascend the throne, there was a surprisal of a Jacobite detachment at Dunfermline. Eminent Persons. — Alexander Seton, first Earl of Dunfermline, a branch of the noble family of Seton, Earls of Winton. He was the fourth son of George, sixth Lord Seton, and was born about the year 1555. Queen Mary, who was his god-mother, presented to him, " ane god-baime gift, the lands of Pluscarty in Moray." From the royal favour which he enjoyed on his own and his fa- ther's account, he was appointed on 27th January 1585, an Extra- ordinary Lord, by the style of Prior of Pluscardine, and on 16th February 1587, being then Baron of Urquhart, be was promoted to the place of an ordinary senator of the College of Justice, un- der the style of Lord Urquhart. He was created Earl of Dun- fermline in 1605, and admitted a member of the English Privy Council in 1609. He represented the Royal Person in the Par- liament held on 24th October 1612, wherein the obnoxious pre- latic acts of the General Assembly, held at Glasgow in June 1610, were ratified, and the act of Parliament 1592, establishing pres- byteries, is asserted to have been rescinded. In 1613 lie built Pinkie House, near Musselburgh, or rather converted the old one, which was a country mansion belonging to the abbots of Dunferm- line, who were at an early period superiors of Musselburgh, into its present shape, on the front of which is the following inscription, now hid by a portico, as translated into English, and which seems to savour a little of vanity : — " Lord Alexander Seton built this house, not after the fashion of his mind, but after that of his for- tunes and estates, 16 13." Here he died on the 16th June 1622, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, and was interred on the 19th July following, with all funeral solemnity, in his burial-place in a vault of the old parish church of Dalgety, now in ruins, on one of the small galleries of which were emblazoned the family arms. The Right Honourable James Abercromby, born 1776, Speaker of the House of Commons 1835-39, and third son of the gallant Sir Ralph Abercromby, who was killed at Aboukir in 1801, I DUNFERMLINE* 867 created in 1639 a British Baron, by the title of " Lord Dunferm- line." Broomhall Family. — This family trace their origin to Robert de Bras, a kinght of Normandy, who came over to England with William the Conqueror, and claim to be the representatives of the male line of the illustrious house of Bruce, although the exact connection with the monarchy has been lost. The lands of Broom* ball, formerly Wester Gellet, about three miles south from the town of Dunfermline, appear to have been possessed, at the be- ginning of the seventeenth century, by Sir George Bruce of Car* nock, who gave them to his son Robert Sir George, from whom the Elgin family is descended, in a direct male line, was the youngest of three sons of Edward Bruce of Blairhall, Esq., who lived in the reigns of James V. and Queen Mary. The eldest succeeded to Blairhall, which line ended in an heiress, Mary, who married one of the family of Stuarts of Bute, and died in 1759. Edward, the second son, was an eminent lawyer, and built the house now called the Abbey of Culross, so named from its being si- tuated near the old abbey or monastery. He was an ambassador to Queen Elizabeth in 1594, and was of much service to James VI., on his accession to the English throne. Having followed his royal master to England, he was made by him Master of the Rolls, and created Baron Bruce of Kinloss in 1603. His eldest son was killed in the duel with Sir Edward Sackville, and the son's heart is buried at Culross. The late Earl, Thomas Bruce, succeeded his brother William Robert, who enjoyed the title only two months, and died in the eighth year of his age, on the 15th July 1771. Earl Thomas was long one of the representative Peers of Scotland ; a lieutenant- general in the army ; a general of the Royal Archers of Scotland ; a family trustee of the British Museum ; and a member of the Privy Council. He was ambassador at Constantinople in 1799- 1801, when, in his zeal for the fine arts, he rescued the marbles of the Parthenon at Athens from the destruction which awaited them, and secured them as an invaluable possession for Great Britain. Having been purchased from him by Government for about L.30,000 — a sum, however, which it is understood was only about half of what they cost him — they have been perma- nently deposited in the British Museum, and bear the name of *' The Elgin Marbles." His Lordship was a liberal patron, not only of the fine arts, but of science, literature, and antiquarian 868 FIFESHIBE. r researches. He established excellent schools at his lime and coal works, and was Grst president of the Mechanics 9 Institution in Dunfermline, as well as personally assisted at its formation. He was public spirited and enterprising, carrying his local im- provements on his estate and works to an extent which embar- rassed his private fortune. He was liberal and free from selfishness in his charities ; and, in his private manners, happily blended the suavity of the private gentleman with the dignity of the nobleman. He died at Paris, on the 14th November 1841, in his 76th year, much regretted by his tenantry and work-people, by whom he was greatly esteemed. He is succeeded by his eldest son, by the second marriage, James, 8th Earl of Elgin, and 12th Earl of Kincardine, born 181 1, a nobleman of very promising talents and character, at present Governor of Jamaica. Pitfirrane Family.—This is the most ancient family resident in the parish, and has had many members eminent for their pub* lie services and private worth. The first mentioned of the family was David de Halket, proprietor of the lands of Lumphennans and Ballingall in Fife, who lived in the time of King David Bruce, whose son Philip, designed " Dominns de Ballingall el Lunfinnans," flourished in the reign of Robert II. and IIL, and acquired the third part of the lands of Pitfirrane from his cousin, William de Scott de Balweary, in 1399. To the deed of con* veyance John de Torry, abbot of Dunfermline, and son of Philip, was a witness. The first of the family found to be designed by the title of Pitfirrane was David de Halket, grandson of Philip, and son of Robert, who was sheriff of Kinross in 1373. He is mentioned as early as 3d June 1404. The first members of the family that were knighted were two sons of George Halket, who lived in the reigns of Queen Mary and King James VL His eldest son, Robert, received the honour from King James VL, and was served heir to his father, in the lands of Pitfirrane, in 1595. A younger son, John, was knighted by the same prince ; and attaching himself to a military life, he entered the service of the States of Holland, rose to the rank of a colonel, and had the command of a Scots regiment in the Dutch service. He was likewise President of the Grand Court Marishall, in Holland. Anne, daughter of Mr Thomas Murray, Provost of Eton, and preceptor to Charles I., and second wife of Sir James Halket, knighted at Dalkeith, 1 4th June 1633, was a lady of great DUNFERMLINE. 869 natural gifts, which she had diligently cultivated, and of decided religious and moral character* She was born in 1622, and, through her father's connection with royalty, was soon known at Court, where she was held in high esteem for her talents, pru- dence, amiableness, and benevolence, as well as strong attachment to the royal family, to whom she made herself very serviceable. She was appointed, by King Charles I. and his Queen, first sub- governess, and afterwards, on the death of the Countess of Rox- burgh, governess to the Duke of Gloucester and the Princess Elizabeth. Immediately after the death of Charles L, she found it prudent to retire for a while from court to Scotland, and resided for some time in this town with the Earl and Countess of Dun- fermline, who always paid her great attention. Hor scriptural knowledge and piety, as well as uncommon activity of mind, were her prominent excellencies, of which she has left substantial evidence in some writings still extant, particularly, " Meditations on the 25th Psalm ; Meditations and Prayers upon the First Week, with Observations on each day of the Creation, and In- structions for Youth." (Edinburgh, 8vo, 1778); with a Memoir, containing many interesting and pleasing incidents of her life. She wrote 5 books in folio, 15 in quarto, and one in octavo, all of a religious and spiritual nature. Some of her MSS. are still at Pitfirrane. Elizabeth, second daughter of Sir Charles Halket, who was born in 1689, was married to Sir Henry Wardlaw of Pitreavie, Baronet, in 1696, and died in 1726 or 1727. She was a lady of great accomplishments, and has acquired celebrity, as being con- sidered by many the authoress of an admired poem or ballad, entitled " Hardyknute." The' present proprietor, Sir John Halket, is the seventh Baronet of Pitfirrane — a commander in the Royal Navy. His lady, Amelia Hood, daughter of Colonel Conway, descends from a branch of the Conways of Ragley, who were elevated to the peerage, as Barons, Viscounts, and Earls of Conway. Wardlaw Family.— -The Wardlaws claim a very high origin, having first come from Saxony to England about the year 500 ; and they derive their name from an office which they held in the law department under the Anglo-Saxon monarchs. There were three leading branches of this family — the Torrie, the Luscar, and the Balmule and Pitreavie, in this vicinity, besides those of 870 FIFESHIRE. Riccarton and Warrieston elsewhere. It is the third named with which Dunfermline parish is more immediately connected. Sir Henry Wardlaw, the eldest son of Sir Cuthbert of Balmule, was the first designated of Pitreavie (2£ miles south-east from Dunfermline), and was also of Balmule. He was in high favour at court, and in 1603 was appointed chamberlain to Anne of Den- mark, Queen of James VI. The present representative of the family is Sir William Ward- law of Pitreavie, the thirteenth Baronet, born 1794, residing in Edinburgh. Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell, K.B., was the son of Charles Mitchell of Pitteadie, afterwards of Baldridge, near Dunfermline, and descended from the ancient family of Bandeth, Westshore, commonly called Mitchell of that ilk, and whose ancestors were barons of Scotland. He was born in this parish in 1757, and distinguished himself in the naval service during the last war. He died at Bermuda in February 1806. Arnold Blair, a monk of Dunfermline, was Chaplain to Sir William Wallace, and author of two Latin works, entitled " Re- lationes quaedam Arnaldi Blair, monachi de Dunfermling, et ca- pellani D. Willielmi Wallas, Militis, A. D. 1327," which begins with Sir William Wallace being chosen governor of Scotland in 1 298, and ends with his being betrayed and put to death, in 1305 ; and " Diarium Arnaldi de Blair, capellani Willielmi Vallcij, Militis, (Gubernatoris Regni Scotiae), monachi de Dum- fermling, 1327," beginning at 1297, and ending 7th September 1305, and occupying four and a half folio pages. Mr John Durie, a monk of Dunfermline in 1 563, embraced the Protestant faith, and became an eminent preacher of it He was successively minister of Leith, Edinburgh, and" Mon- trose. Mr David Ferguson was the first Protestant minister of this parish, a man of great celebrity in his day, and held in much confidence and esteem by his brethren. He died on 23d August 1598, aged 65, and is thus briefly but pithily characterized by Spottiswood. " A good preacher, wise, and of a jocund and pleasant disposition, which made him well regarded both in court and country." Besides his famous sermon preached at Leith, be was the author of a compilation of the Scottish Proverbs, set in alphabetical order, the same year in which he died, and printed DUNFEfcMLINE. 871 at Edinburgh in 1644, 4to, and other works, noticed by M'Crie in his Lives of Knox and Melville. Mr John Davidson* another eminent reformer, was a native of this parish. .He was first minister at Liberton, and afterwards at Prestonpans, in the reign of James VI. Mr Robert Henryson was an eminent person in this parish, as a teacher and poet, at the end of the fifteenth century. The exact period and place of bis birth, as well as the time of his death, are involved in equal obscurity. He must have been born, however, in the reign of James II. or III., and it is certain that he died in this burgh. The main fact regarding his personal history, well ascertained, is, that he was " Scolmaister of Dun- fermling," or, as he has been styled, " Chief Schoolmaster of Dunfermline ;" and it has been conjectured, that he officiated as preceptor of youth in the Abbey. Mr Adam Blackwood was born in Dunfermline in 1539. Being a Roman Catholic, he settled in France, and became a Senator in the Parliament of Poitiers. He died in 1623, aged 74. He published various works, a corrected edition of which, Latin and French, appeared twenty-one years after his death, at Paris, 1644, 4to. He had two brothers, also natives of Dun- fermline ; Henry, who became eminent as a doctor of medicine at Paris, and George, who became a professor of philosophy there, and afterwards a clergyman of celebrity. Mr James Bayne, schoolmaster of Dunfermline, published, in 1714, a short introduction to the Latin Grammar. Mr James Moir was a teacher and author in Dunfermline in 1756, and afterwards in Edinburgh, where he died in 1306, aged 9a Mr Andrew Donaldson, brother-in-law to Mr John Mackie, a respectable gentleman in the carpet manufactory trade in Dun- fermline, who died in 1793, was a teacher in this town, a man of good education and character, but of singular habits. Provost Ijow was long and deservedly eminent for his success in the reduction of dislocations, and for the disinterested manner in which he acted in the exercise of his peculiar talent. He died in September 1817. Rev. Henry Fergus, late minister in the Relief Church, was an ardent student of physical science, on some branches of which he lectured in the Mechanics' Institution in 1825-6, and was the author of several publications. 872 FIFESHIRE. Ebetiezer Henderson, D.D., Theological Tutor, Highbury Col- lege, formerly agent of the British aod Foreign Bible Society, and author of several works, was a native of this parish. Modern and other Building*. — The most recent school build* ings are the Burgh, Commercial, and Maclean Schools. Churches. — The following may be noticed :— Queen Anne Street Dissenting Church, a huge building, " rearing its enormous rectilinear ridge over all the other buildings in Dunfermline, the Abbey Church itself not excepted." Within the last sixteen years have been erected St Margarets Church, of the United Associate connexion, 18*27 ; behind it, the Baptist Church, 1 834 ; St Andrew's Church, North Chapel Street, 183S; North Church, Golfdrum, 1840, which last two are both quoad sacra churches, built in connexion with the Esta* blishment; the Independent or Congregational Church, Canmore Street, 1841, and the Episcopal Trinity Chapel, Queen Anne Place, 1842, all additions to the ornamental structures of the town, and affording comfortable accommodation to the congrega- tions worshipping in them. A Free Church also, built of stone and slated, has been erected in Canmore Street, in the end of 1843. But the largest, most splendid, and interesting ecclesiastical edifice of modern date, is the Abbey Church. It was begun in March 1818, and completed in September 1821. It imme- diately adjoins the Old Church on the east, the latter being now a porch or vestibule to it. It is of light ornate Gothic architec* ture, with tall handsome windows, and having a fine square tower, near the east end, 100 feet high. On the summit of this tower, instead of a balustrade of the same architecture as the rest of the building, there are the four words, •« King Robert The Bruce,* on the four sides respectively, in capital letters of open hewn work, four feet in height, which can be easily read at a consider* able distance. These are surmounted by royal crowns, and each corner is ornamented with a lofty pinnacle. This decoration is intended to designate the place of sepulture of our great patriot King, whose ashes repose immediately beneath; but the taste and architectural effect of it are questioned by many. The in- terior of the church is much and universally admired, for the simplicity, chasteness, and elegance of its form and ornaments. A Poor's House and Prison have been recently erected in the Towu Green, east from the Burgh. DUNFERMLINE. 873 III.*— Population* The population of the town and parish at various periods, far as can be ascertained, is as follows : — Tear. In Town and Suburbs, In Parish. 1400 500 • • • ( MS. Annals of Dunfermline, by Dr ( B. Henderson. 1600 1,000 • ■ • Ditto. 1624 1,400 • • ■ Inventory of Records of Aberdeen.* 1690 1,800 • • • M8. Annals. 1696 2,000 • • • Ditto. 1713 5,000 ( Presbytery Records, taken for proposal • • • | to have a third Minister. 1755 4,400 Ma Annals. 8,552 (Ditto, Return to Dr Webster, Iqr \ Widows' Scheme. f 1791 5,192 9,550 Old Statistical Account. 1801 5,484 9,980 First Government Census. 1811 6,492 11,649 Second Ibid. 1821 8,003 13,681 Third Ibid. 1831 10,625 17,068 Fourth Ibid. 1841 13,323 19,778* Fifth Ibid. tfta The results of the census, taken in 1841, are as follows :— Houses. 1 Persons. 1 Inhabited. Uninhabited. Building. Males. Females, j Total. 1 1374 1 97 2 9,083 17 3,079 7 6,112 1 24$ J 1375 872 97 23 2 2 3,050 908 3,066 825 6,13611 1,7881 1747 1177 120 70 4 1 3,958 2,783 3,911 2,671 7,869** 5,454ft 2924 1489 190 82 5 14 6,741 3,283 6,582 3,633 13,323$$ 6,916§§ 4413 272 , 19 10,024 10,215 20,2391111 Excess of 191 Females in whole parish. • As it appears, from an extract from these Records, that there vera 287 fami- lies in Dunfermline in 1624, by allowingnearly five to a family, the population is about 1400. t Dr Webster's undertaking was begun in 1743, but not completed till 1755, which accounts for this last year being given as thst of the Report. t I have here excluded North Queensferry, which is in the parish quoad civtlia, (and was estimated in 1841 for the first time), in order to shew the proportional in- crease of the population with previous years. Including North Qjueensferry, it is 20,239. § GaoL H In ancient burph. U In burgh, as extended by Police Bill. *• In municipal burgh under the jurisdiction of the magistrates. ft In Parliamentary bounds. tt In town and suburbs. §§ In landward part of the parish, including North Queensferry. till In parish, including as above. 874 F1FESHIUE. Comparison of totals in 1841 and 1631. Houses, Persons. Inhabited* Uninhabited. Building. Male*. Females. Total. 4413 92 272 18 19 1 10,024 203 10,215 256 20,239 in 1841. 461* 4821 2347 259 113 18 1 9321 8,440 9,957 8,628 19,778 in 1841. 17,068 in 1831. 1974 146 The total inert* - 3 lew. 1,381 1,329 Me between 1821 and 1831 was 2,710 Increase. > 3,387 677 Dift 455 The number of distinct families, as reported in 1841, is the same as that of inhabited houses ; but, in 1881, the former was stated to be 3552, while the latter was 2847 ; the houses, in this last case, having been taken as separate buildings. The villages, with their respective populations, in 1841, were — Crossgates, .... 548 Halbeath, Townhill, WetiVood, Roseobie, Milestnark, Parknook and Blackburn, Croctford, Charleston, . Limekilns, Patiemuir, Matterton, Brucefield Feus, 347 70 193 264 443 724 950 130 144 104 4657 Births. — It is impossible to state accurately the yearly average of births, for the last seven years, since very few of the Dissenters, during that period, have recorded the births of their children in the Parish Register, and some of the parents belonging to the Establishment have also neglected to do so. The following is the average number of the registrations of births and baptisms for ten years, at four different periods, compared with the popu- lation, shewing a rapid decrease in the descent, which is to be ascribed to the cause just mentioned — a cause which began to operate during the third period, and became still stronger after- wards. Between. 1783-1792 1803-1812 1817-1826 1827-1836 Medium Population. Yearly Registration of Births, 9,250 280 or a027 per cent. 10,800 909 or 2.861 ... 14,000 254 or 1.815 ... 17,000 181 or 1.059 • Deduct for North Ferry. 876 FIFESHIHE. cent, and including Rosyth (say 40), 553 = to about 1 in 35 (35.94), or 2| per cent There was an unusual mortality in 1837, owing to the great prevalence of typhus fever, measles, and what are usually name4 hives. Influenza, also, was very prevalent and fetal at the com- mencement of that year, chiefly among the aged and infirm ; and it was remarked, that although many persons died of other dis- eases at that period, almost all these diseases assumed more or less the type of this epidemic, as an accompaniment. The num- ber of deaths was nearly as great as that arising from cholera and other diseases in 1832 j the former being 493, and the latter 500, of which last number there were 180 deaths by cholera alone. This alarming disease prevailed in the parish from 3d September to 1st November 1832, and partially in the March preceding. There were nearly 500 cases, although only 180 deaths. Marriages.— As the accuracy of the Register of Proclamation of Marriages can be depended on, it may be interesting and use- ful to know the average number of them at four different periods, compared with the population and other circumstances. Accord- ingly— Medium Yearly Average From Population. of Marriages. 1801 i to f 11,880 82, or 1 in 144, or 09 per cent. 1810) 1810) to V 12,665 85, or 1 in 149, or 67 ... 1821) 1821) to Y 15,374 1 19, or 1 in 129, or 77 ... 1831) 1831) to V 18,400 149, or 1 In 128, or 81 .., 1841) Or the average from 1801 to 1841 is 1 in 134, or 74 .., In 1801, the year of the great dearth, the number of marriages was 62, which was the same as in the year immediately preceding, while it rose in 1802 to 81, and in 1803 to 101. In the three following years it fell, being 77, 87, and 93 respectively. In 1827, after a great depression in trade, the number of marriages was only 106, while in the year immediately preceding and following, it was 125, and in 1830 it rose to 171. The Malthusians will consider these facts, as corroborative of their theory of population. The number of persons in the whole parish, including North Queensferry, as nearly as can be gathered from the census of 181 1, is for the following ages, — 878 FIFBSHIRE. furnished houses, dress respectably, educate their children, and can afford to have the same wholesome and nourishing diet, as is usual in a similar class in other parts of Scotland. Many of the weavers and operatives of all descriptions, are very intelligent and skilful at their employments, and have information far superior to their rank in life. The inhabitants generally are a church-going people, as indi- cated by the attendance on the places of worship, and the crowds of persons who are seen going to and from these on the Sabbath. Many of the respectable middling classes are well informed on re- ligious subjects ; and although there is a great diversity of sects, and an occasional keenness in the discussion of controversial to- pics, there are considerable freedom and harmony of private in- tercourse. It is to be acknowledged and lamented, however, that, as in all populous and manufacturing places, there are many exceptions to this favourable statement, both in respect of prosperity and cha- racter. A young weaver, from being soon able to earn a journey- man's wages, often contracts too early a marriage, which, espe- cially if followed by irregular employment, and reduction of wages in consequence of depression of trade, as has of late years too frequently occurred, and much more by his own improvidence or dissipation, necessarily entails poverty and wretchedness. Accord- ingly, there are not a few journeymen weavers and their families, from one or more of these causes, living in great straits and dis- comfort, which they have little prospect of overcoming. Asa na- tural result of this, there is discontent among a certain portion , of the weaving class, as also other mechanics, accompanied by a keen interference in civil and ecclesiastical politics, and an anxious at- tempt to find remedies for their wants in the removal of real or imagined public evils, rather than in the amendment of their own habits as individuals and members of society. The cases of ex- treme indigence and misery arising mainly from intemperance, with its concomitant evils, idleness, profligacy, carelessness of per- sons and dwellings, neglect of education of children and of divine ordinances, are often very appalling and heart-rending. As to the collier population, it is well known that anciently the coal-hewers were serfs ^ to their employers, or " adscripts glebae," the law. repealing which practice having been passed only in 1775, and made effectual by another only in 1799. In consequence of disputes at some of the collieries in this quar- 6 840 F1FESHIRE. IV. — I&DU8TBY. - Agriculture.— The following tabular view of the agriculture of the parish was drawn up chiefly in consequence of hearing certain remarks made by Ear) Fitzwilliam on the Statistical Reports of Agriculture, including those of the new work of the Church of Scotland, at the meeting of the British Association held in Edin- burgh in 1834. These are now recorded in the printed transac- tions for that year, p. 693, and are, in substance, as follows:— " The expediency of furnishing more minute details with respect to the agricultural part of statistical reports, was suggested in these remarks. The statements ought to show not only the total amount of land in cultivation, but also the quantities allotted at the time of the inquiry to the various kinds of produce, the number and value of agricultural implements, the number of draught and other cattle, and similar details. Lord Fitzwilliam stated, that he had succeeded in obtaining such returns for some parishes in his own neighbourhood, and observed, that accurate and minutely detailed information for only a small number of places would furnish more safe grounds for correct inferences than could be obtained from a more widely extended, but less precise inquiry." The information contained in the first four tables may be de- pended on, as possessing all attainable accuracy, having been pro* cured from written returns, made by the several proprietors or te- nants of land, in answer to queries submitted to them in schedules,- containing a variety of columns for the purpose. The information * in the other tables was also obtained from the best sources. Ex- cept when otherwise noted, they all refer to the year 1838, soon after which, the author expected his History of Dunfermline to be completed, but in this, from other duties, he was disappointed. This he regrets, as some slight changes may have taken place since that period, especially as to the number of farming implements,* AGRICULTURAL STATISTICAL TABLE FOR 1838. I. Number of Acres Arable aud not Arable, &c Scots Imperial. Acres. Acres. Roods. Poles, FalK Number of acres arable, 10,618 13,991 1 notarable, 2,966 8,740 2 26 6 underwood, 900 1,135 10 58 underwater, 180 227 2 If * The substance of these tables and of the previous article on population was ntd at an eftra meeting of the statistical section of the British Association at Glasgow, in September 1840, of which the chairman, in name of the meeting, waa pleased toss- press his approbation. 882 FIFESH1RE. Several of the farmers are provided with steel-yards for weigh- i ng corn, reaping-scythes, scythe-hooks, and large horse-rakes. V. Average produce of the Land in the Southern Section of the Parish, On best soil*. On ordinal? soils. Bolls. Quarters. Bolls. Quartet*. 1. Wheat, 9 or 4( per acre. 7 or 3{ per acre. * Barley, 7 or 5J ... d^at^ ... 3. Beans and pease, A or 4 ... 6 or 3 4. Oats, 10 or 71 ... 8 or 6 5. Potatoes, fJOor 4 cwt. ... 45 or4cwt»... & Hay, 200 stones ... 120 stones ... 7. Tumips, 30 tons ... _ 24 tons Northern Section. On best soils. On ordinary soils. Bolls. Quarters. Bolls. Quarters, 1. Barley, 7 or 5J per acre, 5 or 81 per acre, 52. Beans and pease,... 4 or 2} ... 4 or 24 31 Oats, 8or6 .., 5 or 8} ... 4. Potatoes, 35 or 4 cwt... 25 or 6 cwt... 5. Hay, 150 stone ... 100 stones ... The produce of a boll of Hopeton oats, in the southern dis- trict, may be computed at from 16 to 16^ pecks of meal, and that of the best potato or early oats, at from 17 to 18 pecks. In- stances of a greater produce are rare. Besides the Hopeton and early oats, there are also sown the Dunn, Angus, and Stratbmiglo, VI. Price of Provisions, and the Rate of Wages of Agricultural Male and Female Servants, at three different periods, 1786, 1814, and 1838. Provisions. 1786. 1814. 183a & d. t. <£, J. d» a> dL s. <2L #• dL Oatmeal, p peck, Dutch weight, from 8 to 1 I 2 to 1 8 1 2 to 1 31 Beef, ytt». 24 to 4 7d - 6to06j Butter, ...y ft. Tron, ... 6 to 8 1 6 to 1 8 Is. Sid. Eggs, ... ^dosen, 03 to0 4 Is. 3d. 7 to 1 Aben, 6 toO 20to26 16to20 Wages. Ploughman, y year, with lodging and rictus!*, 45 £16 £12 to £16 Maid-servants do. do. do. £2 £5 £4 to £7 Men reapers p day, with breakfast and dinner, 8tol0 1 3 to 1 6 1 8 to 1 10 With dinner. Labourers ^ day without victuals, 10 to 1 18to23 1 6 to I 8 VII, Gross Amount of Raw Produce, the Quantities of and other Articles being taken as in 1638, and the Prices of the Grain on an average of the Fiars for seven years, and of other Articles as nearly as could be ascertained for the same period- DUNFERMLINE. 883 Wheat, Barley, Oats, Pease and beans, Potatoes, Acres. Average produce per acre. Turnips, 493 840 2794 420 552 908 828 222 3561 2986 50 Bolls. 9 «4 8 7 41 Tons. 27 Stones. 160 90 Average price per boll. £ s. d. 2 6 1 15 8J 1 I 7 » 7 Avenge total price per acre. 8 6 £ s. 10 2 6 10 6 5 7 11 14 7 d. 6 «4 4 1 Total produce injtolls. 5 5 6 2 5 3 5 5 Rye-grass bay,. Meadow-hay,... Arab, land in pas. Not arable do.... Gardens & orch. (landward,) .. An. thinning of plantations,.. Straw at 2s. per boll of corn, Coal, 120,000 tons of all kinds, at 6s. 6d. per ton, at Lime shells, 460,000 bushels at 5d. per bushel, Lime raw stones, 15,000 tons at 4s. per ton, Free and whinttone quarries, 8 4437 8460 22,352 2940 22,632 132,480 19,980 Total value of each. . ...| 38,189 pit-mouth, ... £ s. d. 4991 12 6 8495 5 17.509 1 4 8172 15 7921 4 1540 4416 499 10 10,683 741 10 250 705 3818 9 39.000 9583 6 8 3000 441 L Total yearly value of raw produce raised fa the parish, £\ 11 6.767 13 8 There is no ground in a state of undivided common. The ge- neral kind of trees planted, or indigenous, has been noticed under the article Botany, p. 845. The management of them, with re- gard to yearly thinning and pruning, is understood to be good. Rental, 4 to 1*7, generally L.6 per annum. Male labourers have Is. 6d, per day in winter, and Is. 8d. in summer. Female labourers have at the rate of a penny per hour, both summer and winter, or, on an average, 3d. per day. Country masons and wrights have 2s. per day in winter, and 2s. 6d. in summer. The wages of harvest labourers, who [are for the most part fe- males, are, of course, variable, generally from Is. 3d. to Is. 6d. per day, with dinner. They work, according to the practice of this part of the country, from nine in the morning till six in the even- ing, with an interval for dinner. The men who are employed as bandsters receive from Is. 8d. to Is. 10d., with dinner. Manure. — House and ash dung sells at 2s. 6d., and stable or byre dung at from 4s. to 5s. per double-cart ; slacked lime at 5£d. or 6d. per bushel; bone-dust at 2s. lOd. per bushel; and rope-dust at L.£, 5s. per ton. Lime is now by some not so much j 886 FIFESHIUE. Harvest — Hay-cutting commences in ordinary seasons about tbe 20th June, and continues throughout July. The other crops are usually reaped in the lower section of the parish between the middle or end of August, and the beginning of October ; in the upper section a fortnight or three weeks later. Leases.— The general duration ofleases is nineteen years, which is reckoned favourable, but no boon, to the occupier. As rents are now generally covenanted for partly in money and parti; in grain, in as nearly equal proportions as possible, regulated by the fiars of the county, on an average of three years, it is of less im- portance to a landlord how long a lease may last Farm-Building* and Enclosures. — Farm-buildings are much improved, and, for the most part, executed in a substantial man- ner. The lands are almost all enclosed, partly with free, or some- times whinstone dikes, and these often dry, and partly with ditches and hedges. Manufactures.— The staple trade of Dunfermline is the manufac- ture of Table-linens. In no other part of Scotland does the traffic in this article exist, although in one or two places a few looms are to be found. The trade of the town began more than a century ago, with the making of ticks and checks, which continued to be made in winter after the table-linen was introduced, which was then wo* ven in summer. Like most other arts, it has attained its present high excellence by slow and successive improvements.* The following three tables were prepared by a committee of manufacturers in July 1886, for Joseph Hume, Esq*, M. P., and may therefore be depended on as having all the accuracy which is attainable in such cases. ltf, The amount of capital employed in the trade — 9517 looms, producing annually finished goods to tbe amount of L.95l,700 (Calculating each loom at L.I00). Value of loom-shops and workhouses, . . 156,000 ... 3000 damask looms at L. 10 each, 80,000 517 diaper looms at L.3 each, . . 1,551 Mounting, or patterns, and cards for the above 9517 looms, 4,500 The houses and warehouse* of the manufacturers, 90,000 Warping mills and bobbins, . . 500 Floating capital, calculated at L.60 for each loom, . 21 1,000 Machinery and houses for boiling yarn, . 9,100 Floating capital for do. . . 250 U Machinery, ground, and houses for bleaching yarns, 6,000 • Floating capital for do. . 9,500 * The writer refers for a full account of the table-linen manufacture, illustrated by plates, to his recently published History of Dunfermline. 1 $tt» FIFESHIHE. 1792 About 820 About 380 1200 1813 ... 930 ... 70 1000 K95.000 1818 ... 1500 ... 150 1650 120,000 1822 • • • • • • 1800 • • * 1831 ... 2670 ... 450 ' 3120 • • • 1836 (July) ... 2794 ... 723 3517 351,700 1837 (Aug.) ... 2983 ... 717 3700 370,000 The following tables are extracted from a written paper deli- vered by the weavers to the Hand- Loom Commissioners in July 183a 5fA, Table. Persons to whom the looms within the parish be- long, or who work at them. Looms belonging to tingle men, - . 476 married men, - - 2098 warebouaemen, - - 156 manufacturer*, » - 218 Total, 2947 Ownen of looms who work, and who are unmarried, 279 married, - - 605 journeymen unmarried, - 7<52 married, - 231 apprentices bound, - 44 1 ... unbound, - 664 married wearers, - 925 Amount of families married, - - 4422 Of these work at the loom, - • 1S94 wind pirns, - - 1155 not of age, ... 1873 Those who have gone to other trades are not here included in the amount of family. Of the 44 apprentices bound, 20 were at a factory in town. The reason of so few being bound, is said to be the high stamp* duty of the indenture, viz. one guinea, and the expense of writing it. 6l/i y Table. Number of looms and hands employed at diffe- rent times. July 1836. 24 looms unemployed for want of hands. Dec. 1837. 900 Do. and 500 weavers unemployed. 9th Feb. 1838. 550 Do. 139 Da 31st July 1838. 6)7 Do. 175 Da Tables of wages have been made at different periods, first in 1807 and next in 1816, during which time the rate of payment continued the same. In 1816, and again in 1822, the prices were reduced, at which last period there was a strike for about nine months. The manufacturers, however, prevailed, and from that time till 1828, when the Jacquard machines came into use, the prices varied slightly. In that year, and again in 1834, 1837, and in 22d May 1844, tables were also made. DUNFERMLINE, 889 7th 9 Table. Showing bow and when the wages were reduced. 50 Threes 45 Threes per Spindle per Spindle of Warp. of Warp. *• d. t. d. 1807, - 7 8| 6 8,V 1816, 6 S{ 6 lyV 1822, - 6 01 3 11^ 1825, - 5 54 * 4 2^ 1826, -5 0} 3 lift 1828, - 4 6ft 3 7 1830, .41 3 3j 1838, .32 2 9J 1837 (August) 2 104 2 6| 1841 (October) 2 9} 2 8 1844 (May) 2 5 2 2 Wages were wont to be paid per yard till within these 12 or 15 years, when they came to be paid per spindle of work, which is thought an improvement, as being more simple. The gross ave- rage amount of weekly wages, as stated by the operatives, is about 10s. 6d., but with deductions for light, tear and wear, loom-rent, and dressing, the average of net weekly wages is about 8s. 6d. per 5 week, for each loom. Journeymen receive nearly three-fourths of the income, or 7s. 6d. per week, with the deduction of a small proportion for light and twisting, amounting to about 12s. per an- num, the remainder being the master's remuneration for the cost of the loom-rent, &c, and the trouble of providing and superin- tending the work. Taking the fine and the broad coarse goods separately, which the journeymen chiefly weave, the average of their wages will be somewhat higher than 7s. 6d. In some of the warehouses, where the finest work is wrought, the earnings are much higher than now stated. Although the weaver has certainly lower wages now than he had twenty years ago, for working fine damask, he has much less idle time in ordinary circumstances, in consequence of the use of the Jacquard machines, and the yarn being better, not hand-spun as before, but mill-spun, which is to a certain extent a compensa- tion. Loss of time, on a change of pattern, may be reckoned as occurring, upon an average, only once in eighteen months, but sometimes only once in two or three, or even many years, accord- ing to the pleasure of the manufacturer* Pirn fillers can earn, if they have nothing else to do, lOd. per day, being paid at the rate of 2£d. per spindle of weft. Bobbiners could earn the same amount, but do not receive usually from one warehouse more than from 4d. to 6d. per day, being at the rate of Id. to l£d. per spindle of warp, according to the weight. •JW FIFE8HIBB. The weavers have twelve hour* of actual labour, upon an ave- rage. Spinning- Mills, #c— The first spinning-mill in th* parish was erected at Brucefield, about half a mile south-west from the town, in 1792, which got the second patent for spinning yarn by ma- chinery. It -span yarn from flax, hemp, tow, and wool, but has not been in operation for several years past In July 1836 there were seven spinning-mills in operation in the parish : at present there are only five. The following is a table of particulars regarding these mills, prepared along with the one respecting the table-linen manufac- ture, in July 1836, for Joseph Hume, Esq*, M.P. Number of spinning-mills, 7 power, • 101 Number of spindles, • - 7704 Sice of spinning-flax, 3 lb. to 90 lee— tow, 2\ lb. to 24 lb. Estimated value of machinery and houses, 1*32,409 Number employed— Men, 160; girls, 160. Average wages of men, 15s. ; ditto of girls, 6s. Number of tons of flax purchased in 1838, 902 Ditto in 1834, - - 1008 Ditto in 1835, - - - 1069 Value of flax purchased in 1836, - - L.68^50 These mills spin chiefly linen yarn, but one of them manufac- tures also a great quantity of linen thread, in a state prepared for the market, and for the quality of which it has long been in great repute. The others likewise twist for thread, and some of them make a good deal of shoe thread. There are three Iron Founderies in the parish, — two on the north side of the town, and one at the iron mill, near Charleston, — in all of which considerable work is done, and some brass is cast. There are five Breweries of beer, ale, and porter, — three in tbe town, one at Grossford, and another at Brucehaven. There is one Soap-work, in which candles also are made, and a Candle-work separately. There are two Manufactories of Tabacoo 9 being one less than in 1841, and two less than in 1837. There are no snuff-milk; * as there were anciently, near the ruins of the monastery. There are, on the north side of the town, two Tanning and Currying-works. There are, in or near the town, three Rape- works ; and in the vicinity of Charleston and Townhill, two Tilt and Brick-works, There are, in different parts of the parish, four Corn or Meal Tods, Men. 980 - 60 641 - 45 798 - 57 16 - 2 197 - 10 121 - 11 to L.7 and L.& DUNFERMLINE. 891 Mills ; and connected with the one at the iron-mill, near Charles- ton, is a Saw-mill, both of which are driven by the same wheel. There are in the town four Dye-works. There is only one Flour Mill, which is in Monastery Street, named the Heugh Mill. It was erected in 1784 or 1787, and was driven by water till 1819, when the present proprietor appli- ed to it a steam-engine, that it might continue regularly in opera* tion, during summer as well as winter. Since that period, the mill has manufactured, on an average, 71 94 bolls of wheat an* nually. Navigation.— -The shipping at Limekilns and Charleston in December J 843 was as follows :— Limekilns, 6 Brigs, — 7 Schooners, — 16 Sloops, — 1 Pinnace, Charleston) 2 Schooners, - — 4 Sloops, - Average wages per month : — For Brigs, Masters from L.6 Schooners, — K4, 10a* to 1*5 and L.6. Sloops, — L.4 to L.4, 10s. Mates from L.2, 10s. to L.3, 10s, and L.4 ; seamen from L.2 to L.2, 10s., and boys from 10s. to L.1, 5s. m Several of these vessels are employed during the summer in carrying lime from the harbour of Charleston ; and many vessels from the east coast of Fife, and from the continent of Europe, come thither for lime and coal. Banks. — There are four branches of banking houses in Dun* fermline ; one of the Bank of Scotland, established in September 1781 ; a second, of the British Linen Company, which was first established in August 1804, and after having been given up for many years, was re-opened in July 1831; a third, of the Com- mercial Bank, begun in 1812, but afterwards withdrawn, and again permanently established in June 1823 ; and a fourth, of the Edin- burgh and Leith Bank, begun on 22d May 1840. The National Bank has had a bill-collector here since April 1825. National Security Savings Bank. — A savings bank was established in Dunfermline in 1815, and connected with the National Security Savings Bank in 1838. Its business is greatly increased in conse* quence of this connection, the amount of the sums deposited for ten years previous to 1838, reckoned on the 30th of April of that year, varying from L.%467 to L.4439 ; while from the 20th No- 892 FIFE8H1RI*. vember 1838 to the 1st June 1841, it varied from L.5370 to L. 15,251. The following were the sums invested yearly, and the number of depositors, during the ten years above mentioned, viz. from 80th April 1828 to 90th April 1887, both inclusive :— No. of depositors. - 440 498 1828, 1829, 1880, 1831, 1892, J 833, 1894, 1885, 1896, 1897, Sums deposited. - JL2467 9 4 2616 5 I - 9964 17 2 2990 12 4 - 3075 16 5 9242 6 8 9489 9 9664 10 6 - 4109 18 9 4499 10 9 418 406 406 42^1 450 421 460 No. of ac- Amount de- counts opened posited. 490 L5370 12 9 495 8209 7 2 910 6799 19 9 998' 7718 8 4 212 6611 12 10 Principal i and interest i nuns repaid. Transaction*, L.107 19 605 9276 19 2 2506 4024 17 9 2916 5699 6 11 9205 7585 12 2956 Tabular view of the progressive advance of the Institution, from its commencement on the 18th September 1888 to 20th No- vember 1842. At 20th Nov. 1898 1899 1840 1841 1842 1725 L.84,649 9 4 L.20,634'2 11 12190 The number of depositors, at 20th November 1 842, was 990. Of these, there were accounts containing sums Under L.5, . . 996 From L.5 to L.10, . . 185 *.. 10 to 20, . 209 u. 20 to 50, . 191 ... 50 to 100, * 47 ... 100 to 200, . • « H Charitable Societies, • 10 Friendly Dot 1 990 ClassiGcation of Depositors, by their designations, who have opened Accounts from 18th September 1838 to 20th November 1842. FEMALESt Domestic servants, . 209 Farm domestic servants, . . . 77 Single women, without designation, generally persons keeping house by themselves, or for a father, or other relative, . . 296 Married women, without designation, generally the wives of operatives, . 59 Widows, designated simply as such, ... 86 Minors, ' ...... 43 Miscellaneous designations, 4 ... 03 Total number of accounts opened by females, 775 DUNFERMLINE. 893 MALES. Weavers, ...... 262 Mechanics and operatives of all kinds, . . , 155 Coal-hewers, miners, quarrymen, and labourers, • • . 108 Farmers, and farm-servants, and others engaged in agricultural employment, 107 Minors, • . • • • .76 Miscellaneous designations, .... 168 No designation, • , • , » .62 Total number of accounts opened by males, , ~ 928 Ditto ditto females, . 775 Ditto ditto societies, . , 22 Total accounts opened, • ♦ 1725 Sum total constituting tbe funds of the Bank, as at 20th No- vember 1842, L.15,778, 9s. 6d,; of which sum L.5834, 15s. 2d. were held by 730 depositors, of not more than L.20 each, out of 990 ; clearly evincing that the Bank is what it professes to be,— the working-man's bank, and that the operative classes generally continue to repose in it their wonted conBdence. A marked improvement has taken place since November 1842, i—so much so, that the number of depositors on 2d November 1843 was 1021, while the total funds of the Bank, on 20th No- vember, were L. 18,232, 15s. 4d. ; and on 12th December of the same year, L.18,915, 17s. lid. Guildry.-^-The fraternity is of very great antiquity in this town, having been incorporated, there is reason to believe, by a charter from the monastery, as early as the close of the fourteenth cen- tury. Its funds are applied to the relief of its' decayed members, and widows of members deceased, and to educational purposes. It distributes about L.50 annually in charity. Incorporated Trade*. — These are eight in number, and stand in order of precedency, to which they attach some importance, thus; — Smiths or hammermen, weavers, wrights, tailors, shoe- makers, baiters (bakers), masons, and flesbers. They have each a separate charter, named a gift, or seal of cause, granted by the magistrates and town-council, by authority, it is understood, of the Crown. There are several Horticultural Societies, and one Ornitho- logical, in the parish. Western District of Fife Agricultural Society.*— The meetings of this Society are held in Dunfermline annually, ip the month of July. Its yearly subscriptions average from L.40 to L.50, and are expended at each show of cattle and horses. In addition to the ordinary annual premium?* occasional extraordinary pre- 894 FIFES HI RE. miuras are awarded at the exhibitions, offered by the Society, through the liberality of some of the landed gentlemen of the district. Since 1824, there has been given away in premiums considerably upwards of L.I 000. Gas Company. — This was instituted 11th November 1828, and its extensive work, situated towards the lower end of the town, commenced lighting on the 28th October 1829. The cost of the works, up to May 1843, was L. 11,277, 133. 6&, being L.9200, the capital stock at the same period on 860 shares, and L.2077, 13s. 6d., the old sinking fund, and premiums on shares expended on works. The original price of the shares was L10, and the present selling price is L.21. The new sinking fund, at May last, was L.992, 7s. Id. A dividend upon the original stock of L. 10 per cent has been paid almost every year, and for the last four years of L.12, 10s., notwithstanding the price of the gas being understood to be as moderate as that of any other com- pany, if not more so. It is furnished at present, by meter, at 7s. 6d. per 1000 cubic feet, and has always been considered of superior quality. V. — Parochial Economy. Dunfermline is a market town and royal burgh. A corn mar- ket is held at it every Tuesday for the sale of grain by sample, and is well attended by the agriculturists of the district. There is a weekly market also every Friday for butter, cheese, eggs, &c. The burgh is governed by a provost, two bailies, a treasurer, a guild magistrate, a chamberlain, and sixteen councillors, with the assistance of a town-clerk, who acts also as legal assessor. Their election is regulated by the general amended municipal act of Parliament, dated 24th August 1833. The provost and magis- trates have the usual jurisdiction, civil and criminal, belonging to magistrates of royal burghs. They hold regular courts, with the town clerk as their assessor, once every week, on Wednesday, for the disposal of police cases, and on the same day, besides the ordinary court, what is denominated " The Nine Merk Court, 1 ' for the recovery of small debts not exceeding ten shillings. Upon the decreet of this last court, summary diligence can be executed. They also hold a court twice a-year for granting certificates to publicans. The provost is ex officio a justice of the peace, and sits in the courts held by the justices. The annual revenue of the burgh is about L.1000, derived from the rents of five small farms still belonging to it, &e. The DUNFERMLINE. 895 burgh pays to Government yearly the sum of L.78 of land-tax, or town-cess, besides a sum of L.8 or L.10, in support of the convention of royal burghs, all levied from the property of the in- habitants within burgh. ' Guild Court. — Formerly the Dean of the fraternity of Guildry was a member of Council, and presided in this court. Now, the Guild Magistrate is chosen by the Council themselves, and he and four councillors form the court. Their duty is to decide upon questions relative to ruinous tenements, and disputed marches within burgh, and to attend to the correctness of weights and measures. Police. — In 1811, a police bill was obtained from Parliament, not only for the purpose of regulating the police of the town, but of granting powers for paving, lighting, and cleansing the streets •—for removing nuisances and obstructions therefrom, and for opening new and widening the present streets ; and likewise for increasing the supply of water for the use of the burgh. This act has done much good, in promoting the accommoda- tion, health, security, and comfort of the community ; and, by continued vigorous management, it may be expected to preserve and increase these important civil advantages. A county police having been lately established, Dunfermline has been made the head-quarters for the western district of the county, where an inspector and two constables are stationed. There are a sheriff, a small debt, and a justice of peace court Dunfermline unites with the burghs of Stirling, Inverkeithing, Culross, and South Queenaferry, in sending a Member to the British House of Commons. Stirling is the returning burgh, and Lord Dalmeny the present member. Internal Communication, fyc— Dunfermline is a post-town. The length of the turnpike roads in the parish is about thirty* one miles. Two coaches daily leave Dunfermline for Edinburgh, and two return. A coach goes every morning to Falkirk, for the Edin- burgh and Glasgow Railway, and returns in the evening* The bridges and fences in the parish are in good condition. There being no rivers, the bridges are small. There are several railroads, chiefly for the conveyance of coal ; one from the Elgin and Wellwood collieries to Charleston bar* hour, and another from the Halbeath and TownhUl collieries to the port at Inverkeithing, 896 FIFESHIRE. There are three harbours in, of close to the parish, belong- ing* to the Earl of Elgin, viz... Charleston, Limekilns, and Bruce- haven. Ecclesiastical State.— The Abbey Parish Church is situated in the town of Dunfermline, about two miles from the nearest, arid six from the furthest boundary of the parish. Of course it is not convenient for the distant part of the population, for there are 1000 inhabited dwelling-houses more than two miles, one-half of which are nearly four, about 15 are further than four, and two or three are about six miles distant from the church. There is a dissenting church in two of the extreme positions — Crossgates and Limekilns. ,The New Abbey Church was built in 1821, and opened for divine service on the 30th September of that year. It needed repair so early as 1834-5 from dry-rot, but is at present in ex- cellent condition, It affords nominal accommodation for 2051 persons, but there are 552 sittings in a measure useless, from in- convenient position, 402 of these being behind either pillars or the pulpit, so that the ^minister cannot be seen from them ; and in the rest he can scarcely be heard, on account of the echo or distance from the speaker. Indeed, the accommodation which can be considered available is only about 1400, and much of this requires and could receive improvement. Suggestions for this purpose have often been made, and some of them tried, with more or less success, but none of them have yet been adopted. There are 110 free sittings allocated to the poor, but from being considerably behind the pulpit, are quite useless, and never occu- pied. A few temporary forms have been placed for their use near the pulpit, which are generally well filled. This want of due ac- commodation for the poor has always been considered a great evil. A few of the heritors and tenants take rents for their sit- tings, which they do not themselves occupy. The burgh having paid a fifth of the expense of erecting the church, obtained a fifth of the area in return, and have accordingly sold several of their pews to private individuals. From time immemorial, there had been neither manse nor pas- ture-ground belonging to the ministers of Dunfermline ; but there were paid to the senior minister, in lieu of the former, L.3, 6s. 8d., and of the latter L.l, 13s. 4d. One of the ministers, during last century, sued for a manse, without success ; but the late Rev. Allan M'Lean, minister of the first charge, having discovered that DUNFERMLINE. 897 anciently there had been a manse, renewed the action in 1803, both for the manse and pasture-ground, and succeeded, first in the Court of Session, and afterwards in the House of Peers, on an appeal by the heritors, after a litigation of ten years. He ob- tained possession of the present manse in September 1816, and remuneration for the want of it from Martinmas 1804; and for that of the grass glebe from Martinmas 1803. The deficieqcy in the arable glebe, caused by the manse being built on part of it, was ordered to be made up, along with the ground to be allocated for the grass glebe. An allocation took place by the Sheriff of the county on 11th July 1814, but, from various reasons, the desig- nation of it was never completed, and the minister has not yet obtained possession. The heritors, however, paid L.24 per an- num, in lieu of the pasture and deficiency of the arable glebe, till 1840, when, by mutual agreement between them and the present minister, it was reduced to L.20, and to continue at that rate till a glebe be provided. The arable glebe is at present nearly 3£ acres, and yields a rental of L.15 per annum. The manse under- went a considerable enlargement and repaif, partly at the expense of the heritors, and partly of the present mfnister, when he en- tered it in 1836, on his translation from the second to the first charge. There is neither manse nor glebe attached to the second charge. The stipends of the two collegiate ministers are the same, viz. 19 chalders of victual, one half meal and the other bar- ley, at the rate of the Fife fiars, with L.1Q for communion ele* ments each. The number of persons that communicated at the last dispensation of the sacrament, in December 1843, was nearly 500, only about 200 less than the average for these some years past, in winter, notwithstanding that the Episcopal, North Exten- sion, and Free Churches have been opened since 1840. The number of communicants on the roll is, of course, considerably greater. The present minister of the first charge is the Rev. Peter Chalmers, A.M. The second charge is vacant. Quoad Sacra Churches. — There are two quoad sacra churches in Dunfermline. 1. St Andrew's, which was once a Chapel of Ease. The sit- tings of the church are 797. There are also a house and garden. Present minister, Rev. Andrew Sutherland, A.M., admitted-28th March 1839. He has joined the Free Church. 2. North Church* — An extension church, at the east end of Golfdrum, was opened for worship in November 1840, — sittings FJFE. 3 L 898 FIFE3HIRE. 800. It cost L. 1(573, of which were raised by subscription L.1002, and received from the General Assembly's Extension Fund L.411 ; drawback on materials, interest of money, and revenue from church after being opened, L.259 ; so that it is free from debt. No manse or garden. Present minister, Rev. Charles Marshall, ad- mitted June 1841, — who has subsequently joined the Free Church- From 1839 till the summer of 1843 there was another quoad sacra church, named the Canmore Street Church, in connection with the Establishment, and formerly in connection with the Ori- ginal Burgher Synod, established in 1799. Its last minister, Rev. William Dalziel, admitted to it in 1815, was inducted, in September last, minister of the church and parish of Thurso, and the congregation have connected themselves with other churches. Free Churches. — There are at present (January 1844) three Free Church congregations : 1. St Andrew's ; 2. North Church ; 3. The Abbey, (or as at first called, Abbey and Canmore Street congregations, from most of the elders and many of the people of the latter having joined the former.) Dissenting Churches, — It is well known that Dunfermline has always been a principal seat of dissent, ever since the Secession from the Establishment of the Rev. Ralph Erskine, who was one of the parochial ministers here, and his deposition by the Gene- ral Assembly in 1740, when he became one of the chief support- ers of the Associate Synod, and had a large congregation in this place ; as also, since the deposition of the Rev. Thomas Gilles- pie, minister of Carnock in 1752, which gave rise to the forma- tion of the first Relief congregation in Scotland, in this town. The following are the churches in connection with one or other of the different branches of dissent There are six churches belonging to the United Associate .Synod. 1. Queen Anne Street congregation, founded in 1743, under Rev. Ralph Erskine. Sittings, 1642. Stipend L.200, with L.10 for communion elements, and house and garden. Present minis- ter, Rev. James Young, admitted June 1831. 2. St Margaret S) East Port, founded 1825, in consequence of a separation from Queen Anne Street Congregation, caused by a dispute about the appointment of a minister. Sittings, 979. Sti- pend L.175, with L.10 for sacramental expenses, and L.15 in aid of house rent. The minister's life is insured by the congregation, for the benefit of his family, for L.500. Rev. John Law, admit- ted 1828. 3. Chalmers* Street, foundad in 1788, formerly of the Anti- DUNFERMLINE. 899 burgher Synod. Sittings, 430. Stipend, L. 120, with L.8 for sacramental expenses. No house or garden, or other provision. 4. Maygate, founded in September 1832,* by a separation from the Chalmers* Street Congregation, along with their minister, Mr Barlas. Sittings, 410. Stipend, L.100 to L.120. No house or garden. Rev. James Gibson, admitted 1841. 5. Limekilns, founded in 1784. Sittings of New Church (built in 1825), 1056. Stipend, L.150, with L.10 for sacramental ex- penses, and a house, rebuilt 1841. Rev. William Johnston, ad- mitted 182a 6. Crossgates, founded in May 1803. Sittings, 530. Stipend, L.100, with L.8 for sacramental expenses, and house and garden. Rev. Thomas Wilson, admitted 26th November 1811. There is one Belief Congregation, the first in Scotland, as stated in the preceding page, founded in 1752. Sittings of the church, North Chapel Street, 520. Stipend L.150, with a house and garden. Rev. Niel M* Michael, admitted 1839, and appointed Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History 1841. Scottish Baptist Church, founded about 1805. Sittings of church, James' Street, 310. Pastors, Mr David Dewar, since 1815, and Messrs A. Kirk and J. Inglis. Services gratuitous. From this church there were, in 1841, two separations. The one was under Mr Blair, as their pastor, formerly home mission- ary, and still acting as such. The principles of this body are those of the English Baptists. They meet in the Music Hall, North Inglis Street. The other was of persons who take the de- signation of " Christians" from Acts xi. 26, who have no creed, oral or written, but the Bible. They are usually styled Camp* bettites, after a Mr Campbell in America, to whose opinions re- garding the influence of the Spirit, and instrumentality of the Word, in conversion, they are understood to be favourable. They have as yet no pastor, and meet in the Old Mason Lodge, Maygate. Congregational or Independent Churchy founded in 1 841. Place of worship opened in Canmore Street, 2d Jan. 1 842. Sittings about 700. Stipend, L.100. Present minister, Rev. George Thomson. Holy Catholic Apostolic Congregation, commonly called Bowite or Irvingite, from the general conformity of their opinions and go- vernment to those of. the religious community so named, founded in 1835. Their pastor is the Rev. William Cannan, who at pre- sent resides in Dundee, and occasionally visits them. In his ab- *.The building was erected in 1815-16 for a Methodist congregation. 900 FIFKSHIRE. sence two elders conduct public worship, and dispense the sacra- ments. They meet at present in a room in Horsemarket Street. The pastor has no fixed salary, but provision is made for him, partly from funds contributed by the united body, in aid of weak congregations. Roman Catholic Congregation, founded in 1823. Having no re- sident priest, they meet in the dwelling-houses of two of their members, who conduct the usual services, but of course do not perform mass. Scottish Episcopal (Trinity) Chapel— Founded in 1840. Sit- tings, 842 in the low area, and, if fitted up with galleries, about 500. Present stipend, L.100. Rev. T. B. Field, admitted De- cember 1841. There are also a few Swedenborgians, Unitarians, Methodists, and Friends ; but the last three have no separate meetings for worship. The stipends of the Dissenting ministers are dependent upon the promise, affection, or liberality of their people, although gene- rally paid according to the amount which has been specified. The population of the parish, as taken in March 1836, and re- ported to the Religious Instruction Commissioners, without chal- lenge, in 1836, was as follows : — 1. Belonging to the Established Church, . . . 7006 2. Known to belong to other religious denominations, . . 9776 9. Mot known to belong to any religious denomination, . 504 Total, . 17,286 Since that period, great changes have taken place ; but, from an ecclesiastical census taken by me in 1841, according to the Government census of that year, and from information recently obtained, I think the following may be regarded as at least an approximation to the present number of persons, of all ages, be- longing to the different religious denominations : — Establishment, . . . 4000* Free Church, . . . 2500 United Secession, . . 8000 Relief, . . . .700 Baptist* — James' Street and InghV Street ) oqa — Margate, J Episcopalians, . . .160 Congregationalists, , . 490 Rowites, • .40 Roman Catholics, . . 100 Swedenborgians, , . .60 * Calculated from the number of those who declared themselves in 1841 connected with the Establishment, after deducting about 1600, as mere nominal adherents, pat into ihe class of" Not known/' &c, and 2500, stated to belong to the Free Church. DUNFUKMLINE. 901 Unitarians, ... 35 Methodists and Friends, . . 20 Not known to belong to f any denomination, including some Chartists and Socialists, about . . 3493 Total, . 19,778 Divine service, it is believed, has been generally well attended in the different churches, according to the number acknowledged to belong to them, till within these last two years, when, chiefly from the poverty caused by the long depression of trade, it has in most of them considerably fallen off. A missionary (Mr Joseph Hay) has been employed during these last two or three years in visiting the town of Dunfermline. His services meet with much acceptance. He receives from L.40 to L.50 of salary, paid by the inhabitants generally, without regard to religious denomination. He belongs to the United Secession. Religious Societies.— There are a Bible and a Sabbath School Society in the parish. Sums are likewise raised privately and by collections for the support of native missionaries and of Female Education in India. The Dissenting congregations collect annually for missionary purposes. The Abbey parish church collects regularly for each of the five Schemes of the General Assembly, as well as occasionally for other religious and charitable purposes ; the average annual amount of which for seven years, viz. 1836-42 inclusive, has been nearly L.50. It besides collected, previous to the commence- ment of the legal assessment in 1839, about L.120 annually, for the ordinary parochial and extraordinary poor ; but since that pe- riod, such collections have been reduced to about a third of that sum. The St Andrew's and North Churches have also made collec- tions for several of the Assembly's Schemes, and other religious and useful purposes. Education.— The total number of schools, in 18-14, in the ori- ginal or quoad civilia parish, exclusive of North Queensferry, was 32. There is no parochial, but there is one burgh school. Of the others, there are 15 partly endowed, and 6 unendowed. One school in town is supported, in part, by a society of ladies. The endowment in general consists either of a salary or a free school- room, or one or both of these, and a free dwelling-house. The unendowed schools are entirely on the teachers' own adventure. The total number of teachers at all these schools was 37, and of scholars, exclusive of those attending evening schools, 2622, or 904 FIFESHIRE. Scots (L.33, 6s. 8d. sterling), the money found in the poor's boi at the death of Mr Grame, the last Episcopal clergyman of Dun- fermline, was, by the Justices of the Peace, Heritors, and Town* Council, mortified in the hands of the Town- Council, for the use of the poor. The town, at the same time, came under an obli- gation to pay the interest yearly — one half to the poor of tbe burgh, and the other half to the poor in the landward part of the parish. On 19th April 1757, the town paid L.50 Scots, as in- terest for five years, to a meeting of heritors and session, which was forthwith ordered to be paid to the poor in the landward part of the parish. Whether, or how it has been subsequently applied, I have not been able to ascertain. Jermin's Mortification. — The donor and original amount of this bequest seem at present equally unknown, but it is also in the hands of the Town Council, and small payments have at dif- ferent periods been made from it to the poor, as in 1829 of L.5, in 1830 and 1832 of L.1, 14$., and in 1832 of 17s. 6d. No payments have been made since the trust commenced in 1835. St Leonard's Hospital. — This is the most ancient charitable institution now in the parish, but the exact date of it has not been ascertained. The object of it was the maintenance of eight widows, each of whom was entitled to four bolls of meal, four bolls of malt, eight loads of coal (now converted into 4d. per load), eight lippies of fine wheat, eight lippies of groats (dressed oats), and, according to one account, also fourteen loads of turf yearly, with a chamber in the Hospital, and a small garden. • Some of them had also at one time 2s. silver yearly to buy pins. The pro- vision for them is payable from the produce of sixty-four acres of land, in the immediate vicinity of the place where the Hospital once stood. The average annual amount received by each of them, for the last five years, has been L.8, 9s. 3d., with a small deduc- tion for collecting and public assessments, and Id. for pin money* Pitreavie 9 s Hospital — In the year 1675, Sir Henry Wardlaw of Pitreavie, Baronet, "for implement and fulfilling of several vows, promises, and engagements, made by him before God, after great mercies received, and for certain other good causes, motives, and considerations," instituted an hospital at the- village of Mas- terton, in the south-eastern part of the parish, a house of four rooms, still remaining, in favour of four widows, " women of honest fame, relicts of honest husbands, who live on the ground of Pitreavie, or other ground belonging to him and his succes- DUNFEUMUNE. 905 Sors/' and failing widows of this description, such other honest women as the patron shall please to prefer. Each of the widows was to have a chamber in the hospital, and six bolls of meal yearly, or one half oats, the other bear, at the option of the patron. The eighth (auchtand) part of the lands of Masterton was burdened with the provision of these twenty-four bolls victual* Friendly Societies* — In 1815 there were twelve Friendly So- cieties in the parish, and the number increased afterwards ; but. a few years ago most of them were found to have been formed upon a very insecure basis, and they are now alrpost all extinct. Those which remain are the following : — 1st, " The ancient Society of Gardeners, in and about Dun- fermline" This is understood to be the most ancient Gardeners 9 Society existing. The exact date of its institution is unknown, but it existed, as appears from its records, as early at least as the 16th October 1716. 2d, Dunfermline Philanthropic Society. — This Society was constituted 17th March 1815, and its articles were confirmed at Cupar on the 4th March 1817, and revised 1st November 1835* With the exception of the Society of Gardeners, this is the only one in town which has survived the fall of the numerous similar societies which previously existed, in regard at least to the sick- ness scheme. 3. Dunfermline Equitable Friendly Institution.— -This was be- gun 9th February 1827, and confirmed at Cupar on the 28th March 1831. 4th, There are many other strictly funeral societies, one of which, entitled " The Woodhead Street Benevolent Funeral So* ciety," was instituted 26th January 1821, and confirmed 21st May 183a 5th, There are also " Yearly Societies " in the town of Dun- fermline, both for sick and funeral purposes, the constitution of which is peculiar. Each member pays not less than Is. weekly, the whole of which he is entitled to receive back at the end of the year, if not previously paid. These societies are safe, and have been found very beneficial to the working classes. 6th, There are also societies called " Menages," on the same principle as the yearly societies, but without the provision for sick and funeral expenses. 7th, Malcolm Canmore Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was instituted here on the 19th April 1842, in connec- 906 FIFESHIRE. tion with the Manchester Unity. It has assumed " Malcolm Canmore " into its title, in memory of the Scottish monarch, who was so closely connected with this place. 8th, Rechabites. — A Tent of the independent new order of this race of persons, named the "Robert the Bruce" Tent, was formed in Dunfermline 1841. The principal feature of their character is, that they will drink neither wine nor strong drink; and, in a spirit of brotherly kindness, they are associated for the purpose of granting assistance during sickness and at bereavements by death. 9th, Charleston Friendly Relief Society, instituted 1784. lOtA, Charleston Sick Fund, instituted about 1841. 1 1 /A, Limekilns Merchant Seamen? s Fund, a national one, in- stituted by act of Parliament, in August 1884. \2th, Limekilns United Seamen 9 s Society, instituted about three years ago. 13th, At Charleston and Limekilns, there are also Funeral Societies— the one at the former village consisting of about 200, and at the latter of 300 members. Foot and Parochial Funds. — Till 1815, there was a voluntary assessment laid annually upon the heritors resident and non-resi- dent, in proportion to their respective valued rents, and made over to the kirk-session, to be distributed to the poor on their list, among whom were a few Dissenters. The average amount of this assessment for ten years, extending from January 1807 to January 1817, was nearly L.300, and the average annual amount of collections in the parish church and chapel of ease, during the same period, was L.71, from which, and the money obtained from burying ground, along with the rents of a little property in the hands of the kirk-session, about 100 paupers were supported. The Dissenters at that time generally maintained their own poor. In 1815, a Voluntary Association for support of the poor was formed, managed by a committee of heritors, ministers, and in- habitants of all religious denominations ; the funds of which were raised by subscriptions from the heritors and householders, from annual collections in the chapel of ease and dissenting churches, and from one general annual collection, at a sermon preached for the purpose, in one of the largest churches. The kirk-session did not enter into this Association, but retained their own collec- tions and property, the proceeds of which they distributed among as many poor of the Establishment as these funds would allow of. DUNFERMLINE. ■3 j 1 1 P 3 !? | I If MI Rip tj ■?ff g • £ ¥■» — to 3f © III •• o tj t?!o £"-, a — ~ a* — o II ihi fir III! ^S385S£gg§=S 1 i 1 II ^ — - (J (6 to ff C. OdO to .isse&ssasaa s 008 KJPfiSHIRE. Tabular View of the Working of the Legal Assessment, for the 6rst four complete years of its existence. 1. Total number of ordinary poor, including the fatuous, on >the roll for twelve months, end- ing on SUt January, On I5th of May,* 2. Total number of occasional poor relieved during the same pe- riod* 3. Total number of insane poor in asylums, . • . s I. POOR, 183&-40 408 ^ 1840-41 895 J 1841-42 422 } 1842-48 431 J For 1840 168 1841 1842 about 1848 1584 For 1840 1841 1842 1848 IT. FUNDS. i n ii .- • .u awi~ n fFor 1840, L.21 1. Collections in the Abbey Pa. 1 jg^j jq rish Church (one half) for period \ 1842' above specified^ 2. Total ditto in St Andrew unendowed Church for ditto. a io*a, 18 I 1843, 13 For 1840, L.2 1841, I 1842, 1 1848, For 1840, L.2260 1841, 2244 18*2, 2275 1843, 2659 For 1840. 1*1 1841, 1842, 1843. Total receipts for these four years, Average of ditto, . 3. Assessment,! 4. Miscellaneous, \ f For 1840. L.I 0) J . 1 84 1, none, f J 1842, none. C I 1843, 11 10 4 J Average. 412 678 L.I7 19 10 1 12 10] 2359 18 7] 3 2 7 L.9530 15 104 2382 13 114 III. APPLICATION OF FUNDS* 1. Amount given to paupers on the .^Permanent roll, including f For 1840, L. 1344 19 1) clothing, coals, medicines, and) 1841, 1414 12 10 funeral charges, for the year end- } 1842, 1596 15 8 ing as above, . L 1843, 1014 16 10 L.1493 6 3) * 34 months, viz. from 2d February to 15(h May 1841, are omitted in the calcu- lation, the Board having found it expedient to change, at that period, the time of reckoning the commencement of the year, making it from Whitsunday instead of Candlemas. + Of these eight, three are at Dundee and two at Edinburgh Asylums, while thre* are in the poor's house, having been brought to it from Dundee this last summer. Another was added to the poor's house in December 1843 ; in all at present, 9. £ Previous to the legal assessment in 1839, the whole ordinary collections for the poor averaged L. 90, and along with the extraordinary for ditto, L. 120. § This assessment included a sum of L. 500 per annum, applicable towards the erection of a Poor's house. This was continued till May ] 843. A revenue, some- what eiceeding L. 100 annually, derived from Reid's mortification, now becomes available for the Poor's house, since its erection in 1843* 1 DUNFERMLINE. 909 2. Amount given to paupers i on Occasional roll, during the< same period, . I {For {For For 5. Expense of levying the ( assessment and general ma-< nagement,f • I 6. Expense caused hy pro- f For securing the fathers of illegiti- J mate children, and husbands j absconding, • v For 7. Miscellaneous. 1840,L.142 1841, 159 15 1842, 173 15 1843, 286 6 1840, none. 1841, L. 49 4 1842, 67 14 1843, 110 14 1840, L.126 1841, 144 18 1842, 168 8 1843, 145 5 1840, L. 170 104*1, or O 1842, 105 5 1843, 103 10 ^ 10 f Average. 10 f L.190 9 5} ** VL.56 18 4} 146 2 11} * VL115 14 ) 8 *, 1 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, lOvU, 1841, 1842, 1843, none. L.9 16 8 12 5 8 L.83 17 73 II 45 17 56 15 5 19 34 Total expenditure for four years, Average yearly expenditure, ° >L.65 6} 10 J L.8294 6 6 L.2073 11 74 IV. MANAGEMENT. 60 60 60 72 1. Number of persons giving their services gratui-" tously, in looking after the poor, and having a district For 1 840, set apart to each for his superintendence. These, I 1841, along with some members, not attached to any par- f 1842, ticular district, constitute the Poor's Board, and are 1843, elected by the rate-payers annually, voting per capita, J {For 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, {For 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, Total number of persons employed in 1842-43 gratuitously or with > salaries, in the management of the poor, exclusive of a few additional f 76 members of the Board, • . . . • . J The assessment for 1841-42 was, on a rental of L.5 1,074, at Is., and for 1842-43, L. 50,644, 10s M at Is. 2d. per pound, with an exemption for all rents under L.3. * The expense of each lunatic at the Asylum is, about L,2l yearly. j The great difference between these sums arose from the extra assistance required in 1840, in surveying the property in burgh and landward, for obtaining a correct valuation, &c, and from an addition being made in 1842 to the surgeon's salary. ± Manager's salary, L.70 per annum ; surgeon's, L.21 ; clerk's, L.10 : officer's. LA 10s. 3 2 1 1 FIFESH1LIB. Classification of Rates of Aliment paid to the Ordinary Poor on the Roll, at Whitsunday 1841-43. h It 1841 1849 Ratn m Mourn. | A i t * 1* 2 J J d & £ ' 4 4 i 4 i" 3! 5|2fl 421 33 pi 3998749 7(l5 55 ... 1664 5 19 9(21 P 42 ... B 8 3 8 8 "1 1 a ] 2 "1 413 422 431 -48,423. A wage monthlj allowance for !I840, L.0 5 8 1841, 5 5 1842, II 5 91 1848, « 5 11 the average of the whole of which is 5s. 8d., being only 5d. more than was paid during the last year of the Voluntary Association, namely, 5s. 3d. Average annual allowance to each case on the permanent roll for 12 month*, end- ing 31« January 1840, . . - 1.3 8 1841, ■ . 3 5 WhiUnnda; 1842, - - - 3 8 6 Anrige for 1840-43, - L.3 8 1 Pritmi. — The present prison has lately been enlarged, and much improved in its arrangements and security, but is still defi- cient in accommodation. The following tables may be interesting and useful : — Table 1. — Age of Criminal Prisoners received from 1st July 1842 to 1st July 1843, as recorded on admission, 1 9 9 4 5 21 jean ft 50 yean A 17 .ear. & Main, 40 38 Venule*, IS Table II. — Previous Imprisonment in the said Prison of Crimi- nal Prisoners received, during the said period. 12 8 4 5 8 7 8 Male*, 19 20744 7 963 Female*. 5 3 4 2 2 t 9 19 Total*, 24 23 II 6 ~8 ~4 ai 902 FlFESHIltE. about 1 in 7£ of the population, a considerable improvement since March 1842, when it was only about J in 8£. There are two infant and Gve female schools in the parish* There is connected with the large female school in High Street, Dunfermline, a deposit fund, for aiding the poor in procuring clothes, one-third more being added to the amount of their own contributions, and repaid in clothing. At the Holland) or Priory Lane School, there are between 180 or 190 children taught, almost all of the working and poorer clas- ses, the fee for English reading being only 2s. per quarter. It is under the direction of the magistrates and council, who, by a late arrangement with the burgh creditors, hold it as trustees for the in- stitution, unaffectable now for burgh debts. At the MacLean School, Golfdrum, opened in 1842, the fees are on a low and graduated scale, to suit the working and poorer classes. There ar$ from 30 to 40 children taugbt gratuitously at this school, on a legacy of the late Rev. Allan M'Lean, minister of the parish, out of whose funds, with some aid from Government, this educational establishment was erected. The legacy consists of a dwelling-house and some ground, both adjacent to the school; the rent and feus of which go to the purpose specified. It is un- der the management of the kirk-session of the Abbey Church. The children taught gratis receive the same branches of edu- cation with those who pay. The total number attending the schools is about 200. At all the collieries there are excellent schools, and as the pay* ments are now made universal and compulsory, there is a much more regular attendance than formerly. A few years ago, four or five deaf and dumb children, belonging to the parish, were taught in Rolland School for two years and a half, by a deaf and dumb young woman, also a native of it, who had previously received a good education in the Edinburgh In- stitution. The experiment, which was undertaken by die writer, from inability to procure funds for sending so many of these help- less children to a public institution, and persevered in by him amid many discouragements, succeeded far beyond his expectations, and evinced the entire practicability of the deaf and dumb teaching others, in the same unhappy condition. The want of a sufficient supply of suitable books and other materials prevented the expe- riment being carried to its full extent ; but funds coming to be at his disposal, from a bequest of his late colleague, some of the chil- PARISH OF CARNBEE. PRESBYTERY OF ST ANDREWS, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. ANSTRUTHER TAYLOR, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name, Etymology* # c — The parish of Carnbee seems to have borne the same name in Roman Catholic times as at present, for mention is made of it at a very early date in the chartulary of the Abbey of Dunfermline, and it remained attached to that reli- gious house till the abolition of Popery. A portion of the teinds is still paid to the lordship of Dunfermline, to which, on its erection, all the revenues of the abbey were conveyed by a grant from the Crown. It also appears, from " the Buik of the Uni- versal Kirk," that a Mr David Wemyss sat as member of As- sembly for the kirk of Carnbee in the first General Assembly after the Reformation, held in 1563. The etymology of the name is given in the former Statistical Account as being derived from two Gaelic words, corn and bee, the first signifying birch, and the se- cond hill; and the appearance of the locality, as well as certain names yet existing, accord with this etymology. Extent and Boundaries.— The parish of Carnbee is bounded on the north by Cameron, Denino, and part of Crail; on the west, by Kilconquhar ; on the south, by Abercrombie and St Monans, Pit- tenweem, West Anstruther, and Kilrenny ; and on the east, by Kit renny and Crail. Its form is nearly a parallelogram, measuring about five miles in length, by four in breadth. The southern part of the parish is intersected from west to east by the turnpike-road leading from Colinsburgh by Kellie toll, towards Crail, which enters the parish at Pitcorthie, and passes out of it at the crossing of the Anstruther and St Andrews turnpike-road, at Pitkeerie wood, be- ing a distance of nearly five miles ; while the northern part of it is intersected in the same direction by the turnpike-road leading from Cupar to Crail, which enters the parish at Lathockar bridge, and, passing by Lingo and Lochty, leaves it about half a mile west- FIFE. 3 M 914 FIFESHIUE. ward of the point where this road crosses the Anstruther and St Andrews turnpike, at Drumrack. There is also a road which stretches from Balcarres Den, (the western boundary of the pa- rish,) eastward through the middle of it, to the before- named turnpike at Burnside. These, with the cross roads which run from south to north intersecting them, extend to about 21 miles; making about 9 miles of turnpike, 6 miles of statute labour, and 6 miles of roads not upon the turnpike or statute labour lists. Topographical Appearances.— 'There is a very marked difference between the south and north sides of the parish, which is inter- sected for almost its whole length, from east to west, by a ridge of high land, dividing it into two nearly equal parts. This ridge at several places, such as Carnbee Law, Kellie Law, Baldutho Craig, and Cunner Law, rises into hills, varying from 500 to 800 feet above the level of the sea, and commands a most extensive and beautiful view of the whole Firth of Forth, the Lothians, and greater part of the coast of Fife. Kellie Law is the highest point of this ridge, being about 810 feet above the level of the sea, and three miles distant from it* From its summit the view extends northward, comprehending St Andrews Bay, the Firth of Tay, tnd the greater part of the county of Angus, with the Grampians in the distance. It was one of the stations chosen by Captain Colby, when making the Trigonometrical Survey of Scotland ; and he and his party of Engineers were encamped upon it for the six or eight weeks spent in taking their observations. Soil and Climate, — The southern division of the parish, stretch- ing from east to west, through its whole length, consists chiefly of a stiff clay soil upon a closely retentive subsoil, with an excellent exposure, and in a very high state of cultivation. The northern division is inferior as to soil, and still more so as to climate, — the elevation of a considerable part of it being nearly the same with the ridge already spoken of. At certain places, indeed, such as parts of Cassingray, Lingo, and Craigloon, the soil is excellent ; but the elevation being considerable, the whole range is better adapted for pasturage than corn, and is in general so laid out Hydrography. — The parish is well supplied with springs of ex- cellent water, and it is intersected by several small streams ; those on the south side of the ridge finding their way by different courses into the Dreil, which runs into the sea at West Anstruther, while those on the north side join the Kenly, which runs eastward by Denino, and falls into St Andrews Bay. CAIINBEE. 915 Geology and Mineralogy. — The geological construction of the parish and the character of the minerals correspond with the di- vision above referred to, — sandstone prevailing in the south, and whinstone in the north. Coal is found at several places, and at present there are two collieries,— one at Kellie, and another at Cassingray. The Kellie consists of two main seams of cherry coal, distinguished among the workmen as the back and the fore, — the one being 7 feet thick, and the other 5 feet. The metals cut through in the engine pit are, 3 feet of clay, 9 feet of faiks, 12 feet of til) mixed with faiks, 12 feet of gray faiks, 6 feet of white blaise or till, 12 feet of freestone pavement, 2£ feet of hard white sandstone, 6 feet of till with gray faiks, 6 feet of freestone, 5 feet of soft till or blaise, \\ feet of hard stone mixed with lime, 5 feet of gray faiks, 6£ feet of pelt, 2J feet of hard sandstone mixed with whinstone, 18$ feet of freestone pavement, 6£ feet of gray faiks, 3 feet of soft blue till, 2£ feet of limestone roof above the coal, 5 feet of cherry coal. The price of this coal at the pit is Is. per load of four cwt. It is found at 21 fathoms, with a dip of 5 to 1 west by north. From 15 to 20 men are employed at the works. The Cassingray coal consists of 6 regular seams, and 1 seam found occasionally 2 to 3 feet thick when it holds, and of excel- lent quality. The first regular seam is the marl coal, dipping to the south, 3 feet thick, and very near the surface. The second is a splint coal, about 14 inches thick, and found at from 7 to 8 fathoms. The third is also a splint coal, 3 feet 10 inches thick, of excellent quality, and found at 38 fathoms. The fourth is si- milar in quality, and 3£ feet thick. The fifth is what is called the scarrot loft, and almost close to the black coal. The sixth, again, is a splint coal, 4 fathoms below the scarrot loft, 18 inches thick, and of the best quality. The dip of all these seams is as 1 in 6, but in different directions, — the coal on the north side of Cassingray dipping to the north-west, and that on the south dip- ping due south, while it is to be observed that the crops of both approach very near to each other, not far from the place where the pigeon house now stands. The metals cut through in the engine pit are 2 fathoms of clay, 15 fathoms of sandstone, 5 fa- thoms 2 feet of till or shale, 22 inches of limestone, 1 1 fathoms of sandstone, 4 feet of till, 15 inches of a black stone called pelt, and 7 inches of coarse parrot above the coal. The price of this coal at the pit is Is. 2d. per load of four cwt. There are 38 col- 916 F1PE8HIRE. Hers, 3 labourers, and 2 engine-men employed at the work, which has recently been let to an enterprising tenant. Limestone of good quality is found in various places, and has been successfully wrought at Over Kellie, Baldutbo, and Gibliston. There are several excellent freestone quarries, one of them yield- ing good pavement All these freestone quarries lie in the southern section of the parish, — the ridge formerly spoken of as running through the heart of the parish, consisting almost entirely of whin- stone, and, with some few exceptions, such as at Cassingray, the whole northern section may be referred to the same formation. IL — Civil History. Carnbee originally belonged to the Abbey of Dunfermline, and, when it was formed into a temporal Iprdship, the patronage went along with the teinds and other church property. The name of Melville, Laird of Carnbee, appears in public documents as early as 1466, — the property having been acquired by that family in the reign of Robert the Bruce, and remaining in it till it was sold by Sir James Melville in 159& One of them was killed at the battle of Flodden field, and honourable mention is made of them both before and after the Reformation. Subsequently Sir James Galloway, created Lord Dunkeld by Charles II., held the lands and the patronage. Carnbee Place (as the old mansion-house was called, and which was only taken down in 1813), was long the residence of the family of Lord Dunkeld, whose names are often mentioned in the parish records. The third and last Lord Dun- keld joined Viscount Dundee at the battle of Killiecraukie, after which he was attainted, and died in the French service. The pa- tronage has since passed into the family of Kellie, and is now, along with the lands, vested in that of Balcaskie. Eminent Men. — The following is a list of distinguished persons connected with the parish : Sir Thomas Erskine, first Earl of Kellie, who bore a conspicuous part in suppressing the Gowrie conspiracy ; Dr George Sibbald of Giblistou, uncle of Sir Robert Sibbald, the historian of Fife, and a very celebrated physician ; Sir William Bruce, the celebrated architect ; Thomas the sixth, or more generally known as the musical Earl of Kellie ; the eccen- tric Hugo Arnot of Balcormo, the author of " State Trials," an " Essay upon Nothing," and other works ; Archibald Constable, the celebrated bookseller ; and if talent and success in mercantile affairs, joined to personal worth and a long series of benefits con- ferred upon the parish, should place any one in the list of distin- guished persons who have been connected with it, may be men- L.2042 16 6 1783 15 I 1327 960 7 2 be. 806 702 8 10 427 1 3 377 6 3 369 325 295 6 8 262 6 8 173 3 4 164 86 . 36 CARNBEE. 917 tioned Joseph Pitcairn, Esq., son of the Rev. Joseph Pitcairn, minister of Carnbee, who, for twenty-five years, sent an annual do- nation of L.15, and, at bis death in June last, bequeathed the sum of 1000 dollars to the kirk-session for the relief of the poor of his native parish. Land-owners, #c» — The rent for which the parish was assessed in 1815 was L. 11,502. And the following is a list of the present landed proprietors, with the valued rent of their estates. James Maitland Hog, Esq. of KeUie, Sir Ralph A. Anstruther of Balcaskie, Carnbee, &c George Simson, Esq. of Pitcorthie, &c 8ir Henry Bethune of BeUiston and Cassingray, Lord William R. K. Douglas of Balhouffie, Falside, &c. Robert G. Smyth, Esq. of Gibliston, Lieutenant- Colonel John Briggs of Over Carnbee, Lieutenant-General Graham Stirling of Balmouth, Hugo Arnot, Esq. of Balcormo, Robert Briggs, Esq. of Gordonshall, John Dalyell, Esq. of Lingo, The Right Hon. Lord Mar of Kellie Castle, Joseph Tosh, Esq. of Mortonshall and Kellieside, Mrs Mouat of Craigloon, New College of St Andrews for Langside, Schoolmaster of Carnbee, L. 10,202 8 5 III. — Population. The population of Carnbee has decreased considerably. In 1752 it was 1290. At the date of the last Statistical Account it was 1041 ; in 1811, 1098; in 1821, 1048; in 1831, 1079; and in 1841, 1043. The decrease since 1752 is to be ascribed to the change in the system of farming. The average number of communicants is 375 ; of baptisms, 28 ; of marriages, 5 ; and of deaths, 13. IV. — Industry. The parish is strictly agricultural. It is at present divided into 32 farms, the largest of which is 390 Scots acres, and the smallest about 40, the average being about 150. The system of manage- ment is that generally pursued on the stiff clay lands of this part of Fife, as already described in the reports of parishes similarly situated, and it is therefore unnecessary to give a detailed account of it The same remark will apply to the produce, rates of wages, and the general expense of farm operations. The rent ranges from L. 1, 8s. to L. 3, 2s. per Scotch acre. Furrow-draining is going on vigorously, and cannot fail to effect a most decided im- provement on a soil such as that of which the parish chiefly con- sists. Almost the whole of it has been limed. 918 F1PESHIRE. V. — Parochial Economy. The east end of the parish is within two miles of Aostruther, a sea-port, corn-market, and post-town, Pittenweem, also a sea- port and post-town, is within two and a-half miles of the ehurcb ; and Colinsburgh, a corn-market and post-town, is within a mile of the west side of the parish. The church and manse are about eight miles distant from St Andrews. The produce is shipped chiefly at Anstruther, but also at Pittenweem and Elie. There are two corn mills and one lint mill in the parish. The church is not centrical, being near the eastern extremity of the parish. It was built in 1793, and is large and commodious, containing accommodation for about 500. The chapel at Largo JVard affords accommodation to the inhabitants of the north-west part of the parish. The manse and offices were built in 1820, and are in all re- spects substantial and commodious. The glebe is about 15 Scots acres. It is valued at L. 30 per annum. The stipend is 16 cbal- ders, with L. 8, 6s. 8d. for communion elements. The teinds of the parish amount to 37 chalders. There has not hitherto been any dissenting meeting-house io the parish, the few Dissenters who reside within the bounds at- tending the Relief chapel at Pittenweem, or the Burgher chapel at Largo Ward. A Free Church meeting-house is at present erecting at Arncroach, but it would be premature to pass any opi- nion as to the support which it will receive from the parishioners. It has already been stated, that Mr David Wemyss represented the kirk of Carnbee in the first General Assembly. In the same Assembly he is also mentioned among such as were thought best qualified for the preaching of the word, and ministering of the sacraments at St Andrews, and he was afterwards settled there. List of Ministers of Carnbee since the* Reformation : Mr David Spens, from 1567 to 1575 Mr Thomas Wood, Mr William Laing, .. Mr Andrew Hunter, .. Mr David Mernes, .. Mr John Mernes, Mr Henry Rymore, Mr Andrew Bruce, Mr James Garden, Mr Alexander Lundie • ■a ym. 1576 to 1578 1579 to 1563 1582 to 168- 1589 to 1638 1639 to 1642 1644 to 166- 1664 to 1677 1678 to 1681 1681 to 1683 Mr John Falconer, from 1683 to 1689 Mr Henry Rymore, ... 1690 to 1694 Mr R. Fairweather, ... 1693 to 1701 Mr Hugh Kemp, ... 1704 to 1716 Mr Wm. Dalgliesh, ... 1719 to 1799 Mr Joseph Pitcairn, ... 1742 to 1790 Mr Alexander Brodie,... 1781 to 1804 Mr Joseph Taylor, ... 1805 to 1815 Mr Anstruther Taylor, 1816* * The above list I received from the Rev. H. Scott of West Anstruther, who with great labour has made up similar lists for most of the parishes in Scotland. His col- lection, if completed and printed, would form a curious document, and is worthy of the attention of some of our book societies. CARNBEE. 919 Education. — There is one parochial, one private, and one fe- male school. The salary of the parochial teacher is the maxi- mum, with house and garden, and, in addition to this, be has a portion of land at Over Kellie, yielding a rent of L.20. The number of scholars may be stated at 70. The teacher of the fe- male school has a salary of L.10, and a free house and school room, together with the school fees. The number of scholars, 35. The teacher of the private school depends altogether upon the school fees, which are inadequate for his support. Th$re is also a Sabbath school. Registers.— The earliest of the registers extant is of date 1650. They have been well kept. Poor's Funds. — The only property vested in the kirk-session for the relief of the poor is L.320, L.100 of which was bequeathed to them by the Rev. Mr Thomson. A legacy of 1000 dollars has, within the last few months, been left to them by the late Joseph Pitcairn, Esq. of New York, for the same purpose. The interest of the above sum, the collections at the church doors, parish dues, and a voluntary contribution from the heritors, has hitherto been sufficient to relieve the wants of the ordinary and occasional poor, as will be seen by the following statement : Statement of Receipts and Expenditure on an average of seven years. By collections at the church doors, . . L.17 17 2 ... voluntary contribution by the heritors, . 35 ... interest of money, . . 12 16 ... mortcloth dues, • . . 1 19 8 L.67 12 10 In addition to this must be stated a donation yearly received from Mr ) ^ q ~ Pitcairn, . . . J And proceeds of a clothing club, of which the poor receive the full benefit, 13 L.95 12 10 To amount of allowances to 14 ordinary poor, L.48 d 11 extra allowances to do. and to 13 occasional > 90 7 6 poor, in money, meal, clothes, and coals, . ) To amount of session clerk and other safeties, . 19 6 2 92 2 7 US 10 9 The highest allowance is Is. 2d. per month, and the lowest 4d. — the allowance being paid on the first Monday of the month. In conclusion, it may be observed that the progress of agricul- tural improvement has been very great since the date of the last Statistical Account. Judging from the details there given, the 920 FIFESHIRE. prodace of all kinds of corn must be at least four times greater, while the number of cattle reared and fattened is so much greater as scarcely to admit of a comparison. A great change has also taken place in the houses of all classes within the bounds of the parish, and perhaps a still greater in the farm-steadings. These are all of the best description, two of them baring thrashing-mitts driven by steam, six by water, and twenty-three by horses. December 1844. PARISH OF FALKLAND. PRESBYTERY OF CUPAR, 8YNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. A. WILSON, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name. — The present parish of Falkland embraces what was formerly Kilgour and Falkland. The former name, like many in the neighbourhood, is of Celtic origin : Ceil-gor, " the Plea- sant Church ;" the Lomond,* or Lois-monadh, " the Hill Fort- ress." The name Falkland, however, or Faukland, as it often occurs in old charters, is considered of Gothic or Teutonic ori- gin, from Falkf " a species of hawk," referring to the once fa- vourite amusement of hawking. As a royal residence, indeed, Falkland seems to have been chiefly chosen with a view to the pleasures of the chase. Even after the union of the Crown of Scotland with that of England, both King James I. and Charles L enjoyed that pastime in the wood or park of Falkland. This name, at first successively given to the manor, castle, and palace is now extended to the town and parish* Boundaries and -Extent— The parish of Falkland is bounded on the north by Auchtermuchty ; on thfe east, by Kettle and Markinch; on the south, by Leslie; and on the west, by Port- * The Lomond, according to Jamieson, is derived from the Welsh dialect of the Celtic, from Uo % " what is raised or ejected," and mwnt, u a mound or mount." Falkland, as it stands in the charter of Malcolm IV., is Falecklem^ which might also be referred to the Celtic, as if Folaighc-leana, " the Chieaain or King's UinsV meadow." FALKLAND. 921 moak and Strathmiglo. The greatest length of the parish is about 6 miles, and the greatest breadth 4. Geology.— -This forms an extremely interesting portion of the statistics of the parish. The structure of the Lomonds exhibits, in a condensed outline, the geognosy of the entire district ; while their isolated and elevated position renders the various strata a subject of comparatively easy investigation. The builder, and agriculturist, and miner have been long acquainted with their rich mineral stores ; nor did the cupidity of the miner, in a former age, want materials on which to exert itself. A very brief sketch can only here be given. The old red sandstone skirts the northern boundary of the pa- rish, and constitutes the lowest of the sedimentary deposits. The best sections of this rock are seen near to Strathmiglo, where it is of great thickness, and is much prized for building material. Some of the beds are extremely fine and close-grained ; others assume a brecciated or conglomerated character. It abounds in organic remains, chiefly belonging to the genus Holoptychius. There are also innumerable spherical spots, of a whitish colour, diffused throughout the mass. This rock dips generally to the south-east, at an angle of 10°, — the outcrop of the beds rising to- wards the Ochils. Resting upon the old red, beds of yellow sandstone next occur, which are likewise of great thickness, and contain organic remains similar to the former. The two deposits are conformable in their dip and inclination* On the farm of Lappa, their junction is ex- posed in a rivulet which issues from Glenvale, — a deep ravine in- tersecting the Lomond ridge towards the western extremity of the parish. The lower beds are of various colours, — red, brown, blue, white, and yellow alternating with each other ; and the whole in- termixed' with thin bands of clay, containing nodules of limestone. The yellow sandstone, as well as the old red on which it rests, traverses the valley of Stratheden, passes through the shires of Kinross and Clackmannan, and has lately become the subject of much geological interest and speculation. Next to Dura Den, towards the eastern extremity of the county, the parish of Falk- land contains some of its finest sections. The two rocks now described constitute the base of the Lomond ridge. The superincumbent materials all belong to the under coal formation, and consist of the usual beds of sandstone, shale, ironstone, coal, and limestone. The lower beds of sandstone are 4 922 FIFESHIRE. of a whitish colour, of a fine hard texture, and are from 500 to 600 feet thick. There are three thin beds of coal, which are little sought after, of inferior quality, and do not pay the expense of working. They vary from a few inches to about a foot and a half in thickness. The limestone consists of two main beds about ten feet thick, is highly crystalline in its structure, and of various shades of grayish-white. The blae, as it is termed by the work- men, is very hard, is blasted with gunpowder, and abounds, as well as the lime, in corals, madrepores, encrinites, and shells. The limestone has a slight inclination to the south-east, and dips under the western peak, which rises above it to the height of 500 feet. The peak consists of amygdaloidal greenstone, passing towards - the summit into a grayish-black basalt ; and underneath the lime- stone there is a dark crystalline greenstone, probably 100 feet thick, which splits up into tabular masses, and presents a bold mural cliff towards the northern face of the hill. The table-land which stretches to the East Lomond exhibits, in various places, the protrusion of the ignigenous rock through the sedimentary strata, which are, in consequence, a good deal altered and disturbed. The limestone passes round the cone of the bill at an elevation above the level of the sea of nearly 1200 feet This is the high- est point where fossil organic remains appear in Fifeshire ; there is no soil or covering upon the limestone in many places ; and yet on the upper surface of a bed of blae, of a few inches thick, shells are found of forms the most perfect and beautiful, uninjured, and almost uninfluenced by their long exposure to atmospheric agen- cies. The limestone trains round the south-eastern acclivity, and, after several shifts, crops out near I^eslie ; whence we lose all trace of it, until it again emerges near the bottom of the valley at Fothar. Boulders of greenstone, granite, and gneiss, (and other primi- tive rocks,) are strewed over the high mainland, as well as sloping sides of the Lomond ridge. Some of them are of great dimen- sions, and upwards of twenty tons weight. The greenstone boul- ders are not much rounded, and have obviously not been trans- pprted far from their parent mass. A vein of galena occurs on the south side of the Easter Lomond. It was discovered and wrought about the year 1783, and is de- scribed in the notices of the period as rich in silver ore. But it bas little claim, we believe, to be regarded as argentiferous. Its line of bearing is nearly north-east by south-west, tt intersects FALKLAND. 923 the limestone noticed above, and penetrates the hill at the farm- house of Hanging Myre. The mine seems to have been carried to a considerable extent ; but no records appear to have been kept or can now be found of the results of the operations. Two similar veins occur in the county, in the parishes of Kembach and Inver- keithing, situated among the same series of rocks, and having the same general line of bearing. The ore ip all of them is partly massive, and partly in very regular hexahedral crystals. Zoology and Botany.— The wood of Falkland, which was once the resort of the fallow deer \Cervus dama), and the hunting-place of kings, has long ago had no other existence than in the archives of the past This wood, which chiefly consisted of oak, was, even during the regency of the Queen- Mother of the unfortunate Mary, in a state of decay ;* and, about a century after, Cromwell cut down of it what suited his purpose for erecting a citadel at Perth. The fallow deer, as well as the ancient wood and forest, have dis- appeared ; and the Lomonds are now only ranged by that elegant native species, the roebuck (Cervus capriolus.) Five of this species were killed this season on the Lomond hills. Towards the summit of the East Lomond, which rises 1466 feet above the level of the sea, the Faccinium Vitis Idcsa (red whortleberry) grows plentifully, and bears ripe scarlet fruit abun- dantly. On the ruins of the palace, situated at the northern base of this hill, the Cheiranthus ckeiri (wall-flower) grows as in a na- tive climate ; and the abundance with which it covers the rocky shores near Burntisland, may give it the undisputed claim of being here completely naturalized, if not native. II. — Civil History. Falkland has obtained great celebrity, from having been in former times one of the favourite residences of the Scottish mo* narchs. The first mention made of it in history, is in the book of the Priory of St Andrews. Sibbald, quoting from this book, states, that in the fifth year of the reign of David I., Constantine, Earl of Fife, and Macbeth, Thane of Falkland, gathered toge- ther an army to prevent Robert de Burgoner from forcing the Culdees of St Andrews and Lochleven to give him the half of the lands of Kirkness, in which they succeeded. * In an act of Scott, Pari. a.d. 1555, the following finding occurs : " It was fundin be ane assyse, that the said wod of Falkland, fir the maitt paiti thairqf, wot avid, JaiUeit, and decayii, and tneit to be cutiii dvwne for the comoun Weill of the realme, and to be park.it, hanit, and keepit of new for polide thairof." 924 FIFBSHIRE. Falkland afterwards became the property of the Crown ; but, in the time of Malcolm IV., it fell into the possession of Duncan, the sixth Earl of Fife. Duncan married Ada, Malcolm's niece, and Falkland formed a part of her marriage dowry. It remained in the possession of this powerful family until the year 1371, when it passed into the hands of Robert Stewart, Earl of Monteitb, af- terwards Duke of Albany and Regent of Scotland. The Castle or Tower of Falkland is mentioned in an indenture between Iso- bel, Countess of Fife, and this celebrated statesman, whom she acknowledges as her heir. The said'Earl, it is said, " shall have in his keeping the Castle of Falkland, with the forest of it, and a constable shall be placed there by him as he pleasetb, and the said Countess may stay within the tower when she pleasetb, and the whole village of Falkland, over against the said tower, shall be set in tack." " Falkland/' says Dr Jamieson, " had formerly a designation which, as far as I have observed, occurs in no other instance. Speaking of the forfeiture of the Earl of Fife, Sibbald says, ' It was before that called the Castle or Mar of Falkland, and was one of the seats of the Macduff's.' I have met with no word that seems to have any probable affinity, unless we should view it as softened in pronunciation from Welsh, magwyr, * what is raised up, a structure, a wall, a building, a house.' " * Falkland first became the residence of the Court during the regency of Albany. Robert III., a feeble monarch, entrusted him with the entire administration of the kingdom, and hence manerium nostrum de Fawkland^ as he termed it, became virtually the seat of Government. -f But when the estates of Murdoch, the second Duke, were forfeited in 1424, Falkland reverted to the Crown. While the old Castle or Mar of Falkland belonged to Albany, U became the scene of one of the most painful tragedies % in the history of Scotland. David, Duke of Rothesay, eldest son of Robert III., and heir apparent to the Throne, was thrown into one of its dungeons by his uncle, the Duke of Albany, where be was starved to death in 1402. The circumstances connected with this event, so characteristic of the cruel and barbarous man- * Brown's Views of the Royal Palace* of Scotland, page 30. f Ten different charters jet remain, which are dated Manerium nostri dc Fautk- land* or simply Falkland, by Albany while Gubemator or Regent. £ In the Fair Maid of Perth, Sir Walter Scott has lent to this historical event all the embellishments of poetry and romance. FALKLAND. 925 ners of the times, are differently related by the Scottish historians, and have led to much discussion ; but the result of recent inves- tigations has confirmed the popular account.* The Regent was jealous of the talents of the young Prince. He beheld in him a dangerous rival, whose capacity for affairs and energetic character might prove fatal to bis own power. These fears appear to have been well founded, for Rothesay, while yet a very young man, supplanted his uncle in the regency. The ambitious mind of Albany could not submit patiently to this humiliation, and the dissolute conduct of the unfortunate Prince soon allowed him an opportunity of gratifying his revenge. Rothesay was of a volup- tuous disposition ; he seems also to have been inconstant in his attachments, so that be gave just cause of offence to several fa- milies of rank, and created formidable enemies to himself among the nobility. These individuals supported Albany in his machi- nations against the Prince. The weak monarch, Robert HI., was made to believe that the vicious excesses of his son were ex- citing popular discontent, and that it was expedient that he should be placed under temporary restraint Rothesay was indignant at this insulting proposal, and attempted to make himself master of the Castle of St Andrews, and in that citadel defy his enemies. But in passing through Fife he was arrested by Lindsay of Rossy and a traitor of the name of Ramorgny, friends of Albany, by whom he was carried first to St Andrews and afterwards to Falk- land. Here he was exposed to the most barbarous treatment. He was thrown into a miserable dungeon, under the charge of two ruffians, by whom he was starved to death. His life, how* ever, was preserved for a few days by means so affecting and ro- mantic, as to remind us of some of the incidents of Roman story. According to Boece, Buchanan, and others, his life was for some days feebly sustained by means of thin cakes pushed through a small crevice in the wall of his dungeon by a young woman, the daughter of the governor, whose heart was moved by the situation of the unhappy Prince. But being at last found out, she was put to death by her father, who regarded her noble conduct as an act of treason towards himself. Her cruel fate did not prevent an- other woman, employed in the family as a wet nurse, from supply- ing him with milk conveyed through a long reed from her own * Lord Hailes has published an original paper, throwing some light on the mys- terious death of this Prince, which was communicated to him by Mr Astle, a gen- tleman to whom Scotland is indebted for many valuable illustrations of her history. Remarks on Hist, of Scot p. 278. 926 FIFESH1HE. breasts. She also fell a victim to her generous compassion, and the Prince perished miserably, Albany gave out that he died of a dysentery, but the people were convinced that be had been foully murdered A public inquiry was made into the matter, but a jury, composed of the creatures of Albany, were sure to re- turn a verdict of acquittal. Their report is a partial and con- strained testimony to Albany's innocence, and after it was re- turned, any further rumours unfavourable to him or to his friends were forbidden by a public proclamation, — a circumstance which fully accounts for the silence of Win ton* and others upon the subject The Prince was buried at the Abbey of Lindores, where the curious may still see the stone coffin in which, it is said, his remains were enclosed. It is difficult to ascertain exactly the site of the Castle of Falk- land. We are disposed to believe that it stood on the mound a little to the north of the present edifice. The palace was begun pro- bably by James II., and completed by James V.f " The part now remaining consists of two distinct portions of building in different styles of architecture. The eastmost portion is two stories in height, and in the monastic style. On each floor there are six windows, square topped, and divided by mullions into two lights. Between the windows the front is supported by buttresses enriched with niches, in which statues (representing the Stewart family) were placed, the mutilated remains of which are still to be seen, and terminating in ornamental pinnacles, which rise considerably above the top of the wall. The western part of this front of the palace is in the castellated style, and of greater height than the other. It is ornamented with two round towers, between which is a lofty archway, which forms the entrance to the court-yard be- * Wynton says, 0. C vol. ii. p. 997, ed. Lond. 1795, Scbir Davy, Duke of Rothesay, Of March the sevyn and twenty *d day, YauJd his saule till his Creatoure, His cors til halowit sepulture. In Lundoris hit body lyis, His spirite in-till Paradys. Wynton does not mention the circumstances under which the Prince died, pro- bably for the reason mentioned in the text. f It is universally admitted that James V. made splendid additions to the palace, for his initials and the date 1 587 appear upon the walls ; but we cannot ascertain which of his predecessors began the structure. It appears, from a statement made by Beatoun of Crcich, who had « the keeping of the pal ice of Falkland,** to the Scot- tish Parliament in 1525, that it bud then fallen into disrepair, — being " riven, and the thak yrof brokin." This circumstance shows that the palace, even at that period, waa an old building. We suspect it was begun by James II., by whom a charter was granted at Falkland in the year 1446. Pinkerton says, (Vol. ii. p. 424,) James IV. improved or enlarged the Castle of Falkland, but he mentions no authority. FALKLAND. 927 hind, and which in former times was secured by strong doors, and could be defended by the towers which flank it. James V. made great additions to the palace, and appears to have erected two ranges of buildings equal in size to that described on the east and north sides of the court-yard. As completed, therefore, by him, the palace oc- cupied three sides of a square court, the fourth or western side being enclosed by a lofty wall. The range of building on the north side of the court has now entirely disappeared, and of that on the east the bare walls alone remain, these two portions of the palace hav- ing been accidentally destroyed by (ire in the reign of Charles II." On the east wing the " fa9ade between the windows is ornament- ed with finely proportioned Corinthian pillars, having rich capitals, and above the windows are medallions presenting a series of heads carved in high relief, some of which are beautifully executed, and would lead us to believe that more than native talent had been employed upon the work. On the top of the basement which supports the pillars, the initials of the King and of his Queen, Mary of Guise, are carved alternately."* Little is said of Falkland as a royal residence before the time of James V. That gay but unfortunate prince was kept in re- straint at Falkland when a minor, by the Earl of Angus and the Douglasses. Angus left him there to enjoy the pleasures of the chase, and proceeded himself to the Lothians ; while Sir Archibald Douglas went to Dundee, and Sir George to St Andrews, en- trusting the young monarch to the charge of Douglas of Park- head. James embraced the opportunity to escape out of their hands and assert his independence. That his purpose might not be suspected, he ordered preparations for a splendid hunt on the following day. The chase was to commence at seven in the morn- ing, which James made the excuse for retiring early to bed, and Douglas, after setting the watch, followed his example. As soon as all was quiet in the palace, the prince, disguised as a groom, contrived to elude the vigilance of his guards ; went to the stables and saddled a fleet horse, and then, accompanied by two trusty followers, galloped at full speed to Stirling Castle, which he reach- ed by dawn of day. James, who was fond of hunting and hawk- ing, often returned to Falkland afterwards, that he might enjoy his favourite amusements. In the following passage, taken from an old humorous ballad which the learned ascribe to the pen of * Swan's History of Fife, Vol. ii. p. 230. 928 PIPESHIRB. (his joyous prince, be celebrates the mirthful recreations of this royal retreat. Was never in Scotland hard nor sene Sic dansin nor deray, Nowthir at FaUckmd on the grene* Nor PebiUis at the Play, Aa was of wowaris, as I wene, At Chryit-kirk on ane day.+ Jatnes V. died at Falkland, in December 1542, shortly after the disastrous affair of Solway Moss. It is alleged that he died of a broken heart After this battle, says Drummond of Hawthorn- den, he passed in a retired manner to Fife, and from Hallyards to Falkland, " where he gave himself over to sorrow. No man had access unto him, no, not his own domestics. Now are his thoughts busy with revenge, now with rage against his scornful nobility ; long watchings, continual cares and passions, abstinence from food and recreation, had so extenuated his body, that, pierced with grief, anguish, impatience, and dfespair, he remained fixed to his bed, where he breathed his last, in the 83d year of his age and 32d of his reign." Mary of Guise, the widow of James, resided occasionally at Falkland during her regency, surrounded by her French soldiers. It was here, in the year 1 559, that she cited the Earl of Argyle, and James, prior of St Andrews, (afterwards the celebrated Re- gent,) to appear before her. Her daughter,, the unhappy Mary, seems also to have been attached to this residence. She retir- ed to it, on several occasion^, to escape from the anxiety and tur- moil of her distracted court, and enjoy, like her royal father, the pleasures of hunting and hawking* She was at Falkland in the month of September 1561, when Both well and the Hamiltons laid a plot to take away the life of her natural brother, the Earl of Murray, that the Queen might be completely in their power. Bothwell urged that the thing could easily be accomplished and the Queen surprised, because she was in the habit of resorting daily to a wood in the vicinity of Falkland, where stags were kept, and where she could be seized without &ny difficulty.^: Falkland was also honoured frequently with a visit from that sage monarch James VL, who took great pleasure in buck hunt- ing — a taste which could be amply indulged in the noble park * Pinkerton thinks Falkland on the Greene the title of an ancient ballad, written in the style of Chryst-kiik. + Chrystis kirk on the Grene. £ Buchanan, Hitt lib. xvii. c. 29. FALKLAND. 929 that lay around the palace. While he was enjoying this pastime, in the month of June 1592, a desperate attempt was made by the unprincipled Francis Earl of Bothwell and his-associates to obtain possession of his person. " Bothwell understanding the King to be at quyetness in Falkland, be the secret advertisement of certayne courtiers, rade from the water of Esk to Falkland, accompanied by the Master of Gray and a goodly number of horsemen. But when they came to the palice, they found not sik reddeoess as was sup* posit, bot be the contrare certayne people provydit to resist, sa that Bothwell was repulsit, and he, to his perpetual ignominie, fled away with shaymeful dreador ; and before thay departit, tbay spulyeit the King's stable, and reft many horses bayth out of the town of Falkland as also furth of the park."* A few years later {1600), James was exposed to another assault in the same place, for at Falkland the 6rst scene was laid of that dark tragedy, known in Scottish history as the Gowrie conspi- racy. An account of this painful affair was published at the time by royal authority. " His Majesty, having his residence at Falk- land, and being daily at the buck hunting, (as his use is in thai season), upon the 5th day of August 1600, raide out to the parke, between six and seven of the elocke in the morning, the weather being wonderful! pleasant and seasonable. But before his Majes- tie could leape on horseback, Maister Alexander Ruthven, second brother to the late Earle of Gowrie, being then lighted in the town of Falkland, hasted him faste down to overtake his Majestie before his onleaping, as he did," &c. He enticed James to Perth, and the result is well known. After James succeeded to the crown of England, Falkland leased to be a royal residence. Charles I. slept in the palace once or twice, and Charles II. also visited it ; but after the de- parture of James, it ceased to become the scene of important events, and hastened to decay. Fairney of Fairney acquired the heritable offices of Forester of the Woods and Muirs of Falkland, the lands of Nutbill, &c. In 1604 Fairney sold these offices to Sir David Murray of Gospetrie, Lord Scone, for 4000 merks, and about the same time James VL gave a grant to his Lordship of the offices of Constable of the Castle, Forester of the Forest, and Ranger of the Lomonds of Falkland, on account of bis services at Perth, 5th August 1600. The estate then passed * The Hist, of King James the Sexk—Bannatyne Club Book. Edinburgh, 1825, p. 250. FIFE. 8 N 930 F1FESH1RB. iuto the family of Murray of Lochmaben, afterwards Earl of An- nandale, and was sold in 1658 by James Lord Annandale to John Earl of Athole. His successor, tbe Duke of Athole, sold it to Skene of Hallyards, from whose family it passed to the late Mr Bruce. Mr Bruce, immediately after he acquired the pro- perty, began to repair the palace. He converted part of it into ao elegant and commodious dwelling-house for the factor, and laid out the adjoining grounds as an ornamental garden, greatly to the embellishment of the ancient edifice. The same taste and libe- rality are exhibited in the preservation of this interesting ruin by the present proprietors, O. Tyndall Bruce, Esq. and his lady. The only other building in the parish that deserves particular mention is the new House of Falkland.. It is built after a design by Mr Burn of Edinburgh in the Elizabethan style of architec- ture. It was begun in 1839 and completed in 1844, and is justly regarded as one of the most' beautiful and princely edifices in Scotland. Antiquities. — Several coins have been found among the ruins of the palace. They are not very ancient, being principally coins of Charles I. and II. There are several traces of ancient fortifications on the Lomond hills, which the late Colonel Miller, in a paper on the battleof Mons Grampius, has endeavoured to connect with the movements of tbe Roman and Caledonian armies. " The fortifications on the East Lomond hill," he says, " have been perfected with great labour and very considerable skill, although the works are irregular* On the summit there are two works 150 yards in circumference. There have been four defences on the north side, the lower ditch of which is carried through the rock in one place. On the west side there is a ravelin which would not disgrace a modern en- gineer ; and on the south side there is a ditch about 100 yards below the summit, and nearly 200 yards long, which has either been filled in at the east end or never finished. The remainder of it is about 6 feet deep, and the earth is thrown up in tbe in- side to form a rampart, which is still in excellent preservation. Between the East and West Lomonds, and about half-way below their summits, tbe ground presents the appearance of a plain sloping gently towards the east, although very much broken. This I conceive to have been the position of the Caledonians pre- vious to the battle." Whether this opinion be well founded or FALKLAND. 931 not, there can be do question that traces of ancient military works still remain upon these heights. " Some think," says Sibbald,* " that the station or camp of the ninth legion was where the tower of Falkland stands now." We are disposed to believe that this opinion is correct. On the estate of Nuthill, to the west of the town of Falkland, the remains of Roman entrenchments may still be traced. While treating of the antiquities of the parish we may mention, that in Slezer's Theatrum Scotia (in folio), two large engravings of the palace are given, which represent it as it appeared about the year 1690. One of the views is taken from the north, and pre- sents the interior court. In the east wing all the statues are entire, and there are two on each buttress, — one in the niche, and the other above the capital of the pillar. The other view is an external one, taken from the east side of the town, where the Pleasance is now built. It represents the east wing of the palace as much more entire than it appears at present. The east port of the town or arched gateway is de- scribed as it then existed. It stood at the south-east angle of the palace, having a porter's lodge upon the north side, where the gar- den wall now runs. In this engraving we are also favoured with a view of the old homely town house, with its diminutive spire. Eminent Men. — Among the eminent men connected with Falk- land must be classed David, first Viscount of Stormont, the an- cestor of the Earls of Mansfield. He built the present church, find his armorial bearings, as well as those of his lady, Elizabeth, daughter of David Beatoun of Creich, are beautifully carved in oak on the front of the gallery in the north aisle. The Beatouns of Creich were the original keepers of the palace, and therefore It is highly probable that Viscount Stormont's connection with that fa- roily might partly be the cause of his obtaining the office. His ori- ginal designation was David Murray of Gospetrie. He was knight- ed and appointed comptroller of the household in 1599. In the events connected with the Gowrie conspiracy the year following, be rendered the king important service, and James seems to have been grateful 4 for Sir David received charters of the barony of Segy in Kinross, and of the castle stead of Falkland, with the office of Ranger of the Lomonds and Forester of the Woods in 1601, and of Glendovich, Balinblae, and Nuthill in 1602. Three years afterwards be was created Lord Scone. Murray was a^reai * HULife, p. 71. 932 F1FESHIRE. favourite with his royal master. He was a man of a bold and re- • solute character, and therefore an admirable hand, in that fierce and stormy age, for executing the purpose, which James so ardently cherished, of introducing Episcopacy. It was chiefly through his influence that the famous Articles of Penh were carried through the Parliament of Scotland. He hastened to Court with the pleasing intelligence, and James testified his gratitude for this ser- vice by creating him (16th August 1621) Viscount Stormont. He died in 1631, and was buried at Scone, where a magnificent monument was erected to his memory. With the ancient history of this interesting parish the name of Sir David Lindsay of the Mount is associated. This distinguish- ed poet and courtier, whose works about a century ago were as much read by the people of Scotland as the Waverley novels are in our own age, seems to have spent some happy days in Falkland. In " the second epistle of the Papingo, directed to her brethren of Court," he apostrophizes Stirling, Linlithgow, and Falkland, in the following strain : — " Adieu fair Snuwdov*, with thy towers hie, The chapel royal, park, and table round ; May, June, and July, would I dwell in thee, Were I a man might hear the birds sound, Which doth against the Koyal rock resound. Adieu LWtgtoe, who, palace of pleasance, Might be a pattern in Portugal or France. Farewell Falkland^ the fortress sure of Fife, Thy polite park under the Lowmood Law. Some time in thee I led a lusty life, Thy fallow-deer to see them raik on raw, Court- men to come to thee they stand great awe, Saying, thy burgh been of all boroughs bail, Because in thee they never got good ale.™* Falkland is the birth-place of Richard Cameron, the founder 6f the sect of the Cameronians, who distinguished himself by his resistance to the criminal attempt of Charles II. to introduce Episcopacy by violence into Scotland. In his youth, he was him- self an Episcopalian, and acted as parish schoolmaster and pre- centor to the curate. A radical change took place in bis views, however, and he connected himself with the indulged Presbyte- rians. He subsequently joined the party who refused the indul- gence. He was undoubtedly a man of extreme views, but this cir- cumstance should not induce us to forget the important services which he and his party have rendered to the cause of civil and re- ligious liberty. He was killed at Airs Moss in 1680, in a skirmish with the King's troops. His head was carried in savage triumph • Written probably about the year 1590. FALKLAND. 938 to Edinburgh on a pike, and bis body interred in the place where he fell. Falkland affords a title to the English family of Carey. Sir Henry Carey of Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, was created a peer of Scotland by the style and title of Viscount Falkland, 10th No- vember 1620. He was the individual who brought to James the earliest tidings of Elizabeth's death. - The residence of James VI. in Falkland did not induce the people of the. town to embrace bis views on church government; for in 1673 Mr Robert Gillespie, a preacher among the Cove- nanters, was brought before the Council for having kept a con- venticle in the town of Falkland. Gillespie refused to mention the names of his audience, and for this offence he was carried to the Bass Rock (then the chief state prison in Scotland,) and subjected to a long con6nement. About the same period Mr Donald Cargill, who "suffered" at Edinburgh in 1681, preached one Sunday on the Lomond Hills, and baptized a great many children. Both he and Gillespie, although their in- itials are only given, are mentioned in the " Memoirs of Emilia Geddie," a native of Falkland. The subject of this curious and scarce old tract was born about the year 1665. She was interred in the present burial ground, in the east wall of which a monu- ment was erected to her memory. Among the individuals connected in more recent times with the parish, who have risen to some degree of eminence, mention should be made of Dr Doig, so long the rector of the Grammar School of Stirling. He was at one time parish schoolmaster of Falkland. He was much esteemed by his contemporaries for his learning. He published several Latin and English poems, and left behind him in manuscript an immense variety of literary, historical, and philological treatises. The late Sergeant Spankie, a distinguished member of the English Bar, was a native of Falkland. His father was the minis- ter of the parish.* Proprietors.— There are sixteen proprietors of land of the yearly value of L.50 and upwards. The chief proprietors are, O. Tyn* 4all Bruce, Esq. of Falkland ; William Johnston, Esq. of Lath- * Perhaps it will interest the poetical antiquary to know, that " Jenny Nettles*' hanged herself upon a tree in the wood of Falkland. She was buried on the Nuthill estate under t( a cairn" of stones, where her bones were reoently discovered 934 flFBSHIRB. risk ; John Balfour, Esq* of Balbirnie ; Mrs Jamieson of Drums ; Captain Aytoun of Purin ; Geo. Wm. Hope, Esq. of Rankeillos*. III. — POPULATION. Amount of population in 1801, 2211 1811, 2317 1821, 2459 res I, 2658 1841, 2885 The number of persons that live in towns or villages is perhaps 2250, — the remainder of course live in the country. IV. — Industry. Agriculture.— Number of acres in the parish either cultivated or occasionally in tillage, 8000 occasionally waste, 2060 that might be cultivated with a profitable outlay of capital, about 1000 in undivided common, . 10 under wood, ... 400 In no parish in Fife has agriculture made greater advances within the last twenty-five years, than in Falkland. The face of the country has entirely changed, and places comparatively waste have been converted into large and beautiful farms. The present valuable and extensive farm of Falklandwood was then a marsh. The proprietors of Falkland have been the chief authors of these improvements. Twenty-five years ago, the large estates in the par rish, of which Mr Tyndall Bruce is now the proprietor, had been long in the market,, and therefore no attempt had been made to de- velope their resources by a great outlay of capital. When the late Mr Bruce, however, came into the possession of the estates, be granted improving leases of twenty-one years 9 duration ; built farm- steadings upon an extensive and liberal scale; constructed roads; and assisted the tenantry in liming, draining, and making enclo- sures. While these important changes were proceeding on the low lands, the Lomond Hills, a large commonty of 2000 acres, were divided amongst the towns-people and heritors* While undi- vided, no improvement could be made upon them, so that they remained from one generation to another without plantation or enclosures. But immediately upon the division taking place, the large heritors, Mr Bruce of Falkland, Mr Johnstone of Lathrisk, and Mr Balfour of Balbirnie, proceeded to subdivide their re* spective portions, which had the effect of greatly improving the appearance of the country and raising the value of the land. To give some idea of the improvements made by Mr Bruce upon se- 996 F1FB9HIRE. have been made, during the last twenty-five years, the v&Iue of real property must have considerably increased. The average rent of arable land per acre is L.l, 12s. 64, of pasture land, 7s. 6d. Manufactures. — A great part of the population of the parish are engaged in hand-loom weaving. There are no manufacturers carrying on business, on their own account, in the town of Falk- land ; but one individual manufactures dowlas and sheeting in Newton of Falkland, and six manufacture window-blinds in the village of Freuchie. The weavers are principally employed by manufacturers in the neighbouring towns of Newburgh, Kettle, and Kirkcaldy. V. — Parochial Economy. Seven markets for horses and cattle are held in Falkland dur- ing the year, four of which are mentioned in the charter of the burgh. The Lammas market was formerly one of the most ex- tensive in Scotland, but it has greatly declined. The other mar- kets have also fallen away, except the one held in November, im- mediately before Hallow Fair, which is steadily improving. These markets were held at one time upon the Lomond Hills, but of late years they have been held alternately in the streets of Falkland, and in a small commonty adjoining the town* We cannot but consider these markets as injurious to the morals of the people. They lead to much intemperance. There is no market for grain in the town ; it is sold either to the dealers in the surrounding villages, or at the market in Kirkcaldy, twelve miles distant. Villages, — Besides the ancient royal burgh of Falkland, there are two villages in the parish, Newton of Falkland and Freuchie. None of these villages are built upon any regular plan. Nar- row dirty streets cross each other in every direction, and the primitive, but most odious custom of making dunghills in front of the houses, is still maintained. Freuchie and Newton of Falkland are inhabited principally by feuars engaged in hand-loom weaving. Falkland was erected into a royal burgh by James II. in 145& The preamble to the charter of creation states, as reasons for granting it, the frequent residence of the royal family at the manor of Falkland, and the damage and inconvenience sustained by the many prelates, peers, barons, nobles, and others of their sub- jects who came to their country-seat, for want of victuallers and innkeepers. This charter was renewed by James VL in 1595. The corporation consists of three bailies, fifteen councillors, and and importance of the burgh. The corporation possessed at one time a very considerable extent of property, but by mismanage- ment and law-suits, it faas dwindled down to very narrow dimen- sions. The revenue in 1844 amounted to L.66, 2s. 5$d., the ex- penditure to L.79, 15s. 3d., the debt to L.3'23, 5s. 7d. Falkland still bears some faint traces of its former greatness, — among other things, in the names of its streets, one of which is called « Parliament Square," another " College Close," and a third, the " West Port." Some of the houses which belonged to officers of the household in the time of James VI. still remain. The town is exceedingly healthy. Its site at the foot of the East Lomond* is airy, and the people enjoy an inexhaustible sup- ply of the purest spring water, brought into the town in pipes from the neighbouring hill. This was effected by the town-council in 1766, at an expense of L.400. The town, however, does not ap- pear to have been healthy in former times, for it is mentioned in an old record, that the followers of the Court, when residing in Falkland, sent their children to be educated in Cupar, on account of the greater salubrity of the place. The fertile plain to the east of Falkland was then marshy, so much so, that when James VI., in 1611, issued a mandate, enjoining the presbytery to hold their meetings at Falkland instead of Cupar, they refused to com- ply, on the ground that Falkland could not be approached in winter, nor after heavy rains in summer. But the marshes have been drained long ago, and the air, ever fresh from the Lo- mond Hills, is so healthy, that the inhabitants are somewhat re- markable for longevity. Eccletiaitical State, — The church stood originally at Kiigour, in the western confines of the parish, and before the Reformation belonged to the Priory of St Andrews. The Earl of Fife made a grant of it to the priory in 1318. The deed of mortification, as well as another curious old charter, bearing date 1324, which throws light Upon the ecclesiastical state of the parish at that early period, may be seen in the book of the Priory of St Andrews, lately published at the expense of Mr Bruce. It is difficult to ascertain when the church was removed to Falk- * It would appear Ibat Falkland could foirnorlj b< cotie, (Hist. 1814, p. 535,) " Patrick Learmontfa, p •ne guidlic companie of fjva uundereth boraemen to the congregation u queen at Falkland.- 938 FIFBSHIRE. land. There is a stone in the present structure, bearing the date 1620,* but there is reason to believe that there was a more an- cient edifice upon the same site. The present church can boast of no architectural beauty. It was repaired about the year 17712; but internally it is again in a state of great dilapidation. It has a damp earthen floor, and many of the seats are decayed : altogether it re- flects little credit upon the parish. It is seated for about 700 or 800 people. The front of the gallery in the north aisle, be- longing to Mr Bruce, is beautifully carved in oak. It bears the arms of Viscount Stormont, (captain of the guards in the time of James VI.) by whom the church was erected. Manse. — There never was a manse at Falkland until 1807 ; for when the original manse at Kilgour fell into decay, the minister, by a private bargain between him and the titular of the teinds, ob- tained in lieu of a manse and glebe, one chalder of bear, amount- ing in value to L.80 Scotch, L.6, 13s. 4d. Sterling, and more re- cently he was accommodated with a few apartments in the ruins of the palace. This state of matters continued till 1806, when the above compact was declared illegal by the Court of Session. The heritors then bought half an acre of ground about a quarter of a mile to the east of the town, on the northern slope of the East Lomond Hill, for the site of a manse and a garden. The manse was erected here in 1807, in a neat substantial manner, though its interior plan might have been more conveniently arranged. The ground on which the manse is erected was anciently part of the property of the Order of the Knights Templars ; and a copious spring of excellent water at the manse is still named St John's Well, and the adjoining property to the west is styled St Mary's Chapel Yard ; and beside it is another strong spring of excel- lent water, called the * Lady Well,' (in honour of the Virgin Mary,) which was conveyed in pipes to the town of Falkland, in the year 1766. Glebe, — The glebe is still where it originally was, near the site of the ancient parish kirk of Kilgour, about two miles west of the * That eminent antiquary, the Rev. Mr Rowand, has mentioned two very weighty reasons for concluding that there was a church in the town of Falkland, before the erection of the present edifice by Viscount StonWnt in 1620. In the brat place, two buttresses, which have evidently belonged to a more ancient ecclesiastical building, are left standing to support the front wall of the present church. In the second place, it is mentioned in the life of Mr Patrick Simson, (the Scots 'Worthies, edit. 1817. p. 83,) " that in 1606, when the bishops and some commissioners of the General As- sembly convened in the palace of Falkland, the ministers assembled in the kirk of the town, and chose him for their moderator." i FALKLAND. 939 town. As there has been no excambion yet made it is very in- conveniently situated ; but an excambion will, in all likelihood, take place in a few months, so that the glebe will lie immediately behind the manse. The present glebe consists of four acres of good land, for which the incumbent receives L. 14 of yearly rent Formerly the minister of Falkland enjoyed a right of pasturage upon the Lomond hills for threescore of sheep, but when the commonty was divided, this right was lost, we know not upon what ground. Cemetery. — The ancient burial ground was at Kilgour. The church, which seems to have been a small building, 40 feet by 16, stood in the centre, having a quire at its east end. Not a single vestige of it is now visible, the foundations having been dug up about twenty years ago, and removed to fill up drains on the neighbouring farm. The farmer transported one of the ancient stone coffins into his stable-yard to form a water trough for his cattle, where it still remains, and then crowned this sacrilegious act by ploughing the churchyard I The present burial ground was probably first used for the purpose of interment about the year 1670, as the earliest date upon the tombstones is 1074. But the old cemetery of Kilgour was also used, up to the beginning of the present century, if not later. There are three dissenting places of worship in the parish ; two in Falkland and one in Freuchie. The number of Dissenters, however, is not large, the two congregations in Falkland being very small. The great body of the people adhere to the Esta- blished Church. The stipend consists of 8 chalders of barley, 8 of oats, and 1 of bear, valued by the Fife fiars. The sum of L. 8, 6s. 8d. is allowed for communion elements. Education. — The number of schools in the parish is five ; of scholars attending them 850. The parochial teacher's salary is the maximum, and his fees may be about L. 50 per annum. He has an allowance of L. 10 a year for house and garden. There is an excellent subscription school in Freuchie, which confers an immense benefit upon the village. The means of education are put within the reach of every inhabitant of the parish, but still it is doubtful if the people are in general better educated than they were forty years ago. The children of both sexes are taken away from school at such an early age, to engage in hand-loom weav- ing, that sufficient time is not allowed to complete their educa- tion. They forget much of what they have learned in early youth, 940 F1PE6HIRB. before they arrive at years of maturity. Unfortunately there is no public library in the parish, but steps are now taking to supply this grievous defect, and place a sound literature in the hands of the people. A Sunday school library, which is extensively used both by old and young, has been established during the last year, and it already contains many standard works upon practical divinity. Poor. — The average number of people receiving parochial aid is 34. Besides the regular paupers, 30 or 40 persons in straiten- ed circumstances sometimes receive a little aid from the kirk-ses- sion. The whole expenditure for the poor of the parish, which contains nearly 3000 people, is, for the last year, L, 143. The weekly allowances run from 6d. to 2s. 9d.: Is. is about the ave- rage. The bulk of the paupers are above sixty years of *ge. There cannot be a doubt that a reluctance to apply for parochial aid is disappearing, but, at the same time, it is feared that an ex- cessive desire to foster a spirit of self-dependence among the poor, has, in this as in other parishes,~led to a stinted allowance in many cases of real distress. The first voluntary assessment for the aid of the poor was made in 1800, and the system has been continued up to the present time ; but as some of the heritors have refused to pay their proportion for the last year, the system of legal assessment will, in all probability, be immediately intro- duced. A yearly sum of L. 40 or L. 50 is derived from mortifi- cations, sessional dues, mortclotb, &c, while the collections at the church doors may upon an average amount to L. 20 a year. It is proper to mention that liberal donations are made to tbe poor by Mr and Mrs Bruce of Falkland. /row. — In the parish there are fourteen licensed houses for the sale of ardent spirits. We are afraid that stringent police regu- lations are necessary to keep some of them in proper order. The practice of granting such licenses to so many houses in a parish of this size is highly censurable. Fuel. — There is a great abundance of coal in the neighbour- hood. It is brought in carts from the adjoining parish of Mark- inch, and also in considerable quantities from Locbgelly. The Balbirnie and Lochgelly coals are of excellent quality, and if we include the carriage, cost 9s. or 10s. a ton. February 1845. PARISH OF CRAIL. PRESBYTERY OF ST ANDREWS, SYNOD OF FIFE. WILLIAM MERSON, A. M., MINISTER. L — Topography and Natural History. Name. — In the former Statistical Account, the name of this parish is supposed to point out, in the Gaelic language, its situa- tion upon a small winding or bending of the shore* But, as in old times it was written Carrail or Carayle, afterwards contracted into Craiil or Cryle, and in Latin it is called Oppidum or Burgum CaralcB or CaralicB^ it is not improbable that it is compounded of eaer 9 a town, and ay 7 e or ala, a wing or corner, which is quite de- scriptive of the place, the town being situated in the eastern cor- ner of the county commonly known by the name of the East Nook o* Fife. Extent, Boundaries, $c. — The parish is of a very irregular shape, and of a very unequal breadth, while its boundaries are so ill defined that the precise number of acres which it contains has never been ascertained, on account of its intermixture with other parishes. However, it acknowledgedly extends from Fife Ness at the east, to King's Cairn at the west, a distance of about 7 miles, and from the Frith of Forth on the south, to the Ger- man Ocean on the north, about 3 miles ; but within this area are included three farms in Kiogsbarns, which were taken off when that parish was disjoined in 1631. It is bounded on the south and east by the Frith of Forth and German Ocean, extending along the former about 3, and the latter about 2 miles ; on the north, it is bounded by the parishes of Kingsbarns, St Leonards, and Denino ; and, on the west, by Carnbee and Kilrenny. Topographical Appearances. — When viewed from the sea, the general appearance of the country is flat, and, owing to the want of wood, it looks naked. The coast is bold and rocky, with only a few creeks, where vessels of any size can be landed with safety 942 F1FESHIRE. From the sea the ground rises abruptly to a considerable height, so that, at the distance of a hundred yards from high water mark, there is scarcely a point where it does not reach the height of 60 feet. Thence it gradually swells in a westerly direction, without hill or steep, towards Airdrie, (^rd-rAt, the King's Height,) and Drumrack. In this direction, when the sun goes westerly, and the atmosphere is favourable, the view at some points is beautiful and extensive. From Airdrie or Drumrack, and especially from the ancient tower of the former, one may, with a very slight turn of his eye, survey the whole Lothian coast from Leith to St Abb's Head, along with the islands of the Forth, — Inchkeith, the Bass, the May, &c M together with the multitude of vessels that float upon the Forth, and the number of towns and villages situated upon its banks on either side, till at last bis attention is arrest- ed by the Bell Rock Lighthouse, erected to warn the mariner of danger, and at night to guide him onward in his pathless track. In ascending from the shore to the highest part of the parish, the agriculturist never fails to be struck with the variety of soil he has to pass over, proceeding from the richest black loam to thin wet clay ; the former, in the neighbourhood of the town, drawing a yearly rerit of L.6 and L.7 the Scotch acre,— the latter let on improving leases for a mere trifle. Island and Rocks, — The Isle of May, which, in 1743, was claimed by the magistrates and minister of West Anstruther, as a portion of their parish, has defacto^ if not dejure 9 been connected with Crail since the Reformation at least. It lies about six miles south-east from the harbour of Crail, and is about a mile in length by about three-quarters of a mile in breadth. Its shores are ge- nerally cliffy, and at the west end rise perpendicularly to the height of 150 feet or upwards. Yet there are two or three places at which vessels can touch according to wind and tide. Although situated in the mouth of the Frith of Forth at its junction with the German Ocean, and consequently exposed to heavy eastern storms, the island is very productive of its native plants, and seve- ral parks are cultivated and enclosed. It supports a few cows and a flock of sheep, which are said to improve in flesh and fleece. A peculiar kind of long-wooled rabbit is also found upon it ; and about June and July immense numbers of birds breed their young upon the ledges of its western precipices. It has also abundance of fresh water and a small lake. This island, once famous for the* cure of barren women, belonged. at one time to the monks of Read- CRAIL. 943 ing, for whom David I, founded a monastery, which was after- wards dedicated to St Adrian, whose body was buried there, and whose coffin, cut out of stone, is still exhibited in the ruins of the chapel. From the monks it was purchased by a bishop of St An- drews, and attached first to his own cathedral and afterwards to the priory of Pittenweem. In aftertimes it became the property of Cuningham of Barns, and all parochial burdens exigible from it are understood to be paid out of his barony in the parish of Crail. This proprietor in 1635 received power from Parliament to erect a lighthouse upon the island, (though one had existed there before), and to collect certain duties from the shipping for its maintenance. The lighthouse then erected consisted of a square tower, on the top of which a quantity of coals was kept burning every night. Rude as this mode of giving light to the navigators of the Forth may seem, it continued with little improvement till 1816, when the Commissioners of the Northern Lights (having previously purchased the island with all the rights of the light-keeping), erected a beacon with a stationary oil light, 240 feet above the medium level of the sea, and capable of being seen at seven leagues distance. About the same time the attention of the Commissioners was directed to the Carr — a reef of rocks extending between one and two miles from Fifeness, on which, according to calculation, there bad been at least two shipwrecks every year. And after years of labour and many disappointments, they at length succeeded in erecting a building at the extreme point, where there is water deep enough for vessels entering the Forth. This building consists of a base of solid masonry, from the top of which spring iron pillars terminating in a point, with a hollow ball raised 25 feet above the medium level of the sea. This erection was reckoned a mighty boon to the shipping interest ; but still the Commission* ers were not satisfied. Guided, therefore, by Mr Stevenson, civil engineer, they, in 184S-44, built a second lighthouse upon the May, with a light so directed as to point out the position of the Carr, and show mariners how to enter the Frith in safety. This light was first exhibited in autumn 1844 ; yet, strange to say, on the 1st of October of the same year, the Windsor Castle steamer, on her return from Dundee with about 200 passengers, who had gone thither to witness the Queen's departure, struck upon the Carr rock beacon with such violence as to compel the commander 944 FIFESHIRB. to run her ashore among Kilminning rocks, where she went to pieces* Providentially no lives were lost. Beside the lighthouses, there are comfortable lodgings for the keepers and their families, and excellent accommodation for the Commissioners when they may visit the island* The only inha- bitants are the persons connected with tbe lighthouses ; but there are generally also a number of pilots from various quarters look* ing out for ships, and the old light tower is fitted up for their ao commodation. Hydrography. — There are no lakes or rivers in this parish, yet there is a plentiful supply of excellent water from the springs which are everywhere to be found, and from a few burns which meander here and there. At one time there was a loch of Sypsies, covering six or eight acres of ground ; but, since the beginning of the present century, it has been drained, and the soil is now under cultivation. Climate. — The nature of the soil, and the position of the country at the junction of the Forth with the ocean, combine to render the climate particularly pure and healthful. The public roads, and the streets and walks of the town, are almost always dry, for no sooner does the rain fall, than it is absorbed and lost in the soil, or flows away into the sea. The spring is, no doubt, often rendered chill and unpleasant by a haar which sets in from tbe east during the months of April and May. The wind continuing in that quarter sometimes for weeks together, brings with it a dense vapour, which spreads over the country for several miles, thus rendering the east coast not so agreeable as the west at that period of the year ; yet, though such weather be unpleasant to the feelings, and sometimes leads delicate persons to remove to a more inland situation, it does not seem to retard vegetation, or to be very prejudicial to animal health. Every species of crop ad- vances to maturity as speedily as in almost any district of the country. The arbutus and similar trees often ripen their berries ; the jessamine flowers on houses along the streets ; and fuschias not only withstand the winter in open ground, but, on returning spring, may be found budding at a height of four and five feet from the ground. Indeed, unless ftpon extraordinary occasions, tbe labour of the husbandman has been, for a number of years, but little interrupted either by frost or snow. Bestial of all kinds thrive w.ell and fatten rapidly. Among cattle, murrain prevailed pretty extensively last year, but with very few deaths ; and this CRAIL. 945 year there have been a few instances of a sort of influenza among horses, but they have in general recovered. Judging from history and experience t the climate of this parish may be considered as highly conducive to health ; and there can be no doubt that, from its proximity to the sea, it is less exposed to the extremes of heat and cold than more elevated situations. Epidemics, or contagious diseases, (unless what are common to children,) are scarcely known here. Within these few years, several people have died beyond ninety years of age, and there are still a number in wonderful health and activity, who are upon the borders of it Geology and Botany. — The geological structure of this parish, as seen along the shore, consists entirely of the coal formation, including sandstone, shale, clay, ironstone, and coal. The usual dip of the strata is towards the east ; but on the western part of the parish, where lime and coal are still wrought, the dip is to the west On the west of the harbour, different seaifis of coal appear, and clay-ironstone in thin bands alternate with the shale. The action of the advancing tide is very remarkable on the east of the harbour, where the priory stood. The ruins, which were there about half a century ago, are now entirely swept away, and only the gateway from the land, with a small part of the founda- tion of a wall in the alluvial soil, remains to point out its site. At the very extremity of Fifeness, a pure white sandstone oc- curs particularly adapted for various economical purposes. As plants used in medicine, the Pareitaria officinalis and Conium ma" culatum may be mentioned. On the rocks under the castle the Cheiranthus Cheiri occurs ; and on the sea -cliffs to the west of the harbour, the Brassica oleracea maintains its place in a congenial lo- cality. In a small garden on the sea margin at Fifeness is the Lavatera arboreoj which once had a habitat on the islands of the Frith. The Asplenium marinum is met with among the rocks on the south shore. Of the less common algae may be mentioned the Alaria escu- lenta and the Himanthalia /area, which grow abunda ntly about Fifeness. Wood*. — The plantations in this parish are of very limited ex- tent, not exceeding seventy or eighty acres, chiefly fir; of which about fifty are on the lands of Airdrie and Redwells, ten or twelve on Kingsmuir, about eight on Sipsies, and four on Wormistone. A good number of the trees about Airdrie and Wormistone, chiefly fife. So 946 FIFESHIRE. ash and elm, are of .stately size. There are also a few in and around the churchyard, of ash, sycamore, and elm, on which crows find a place to build. But in general the soil is considered too valuable for agricultural purposes, to tempt any one to plant trees, unless around his domicile. Quarries and Mines.-' -Freestone for ordinary purposes may be found in almost any quarter of the parish, so that few farmers re- quire to go for stones beyond their own lands. At Craighead, Newhall, and Kingsmuir, stones may be found suited to the finest operations of masonry. Ironstone is also abundant, and frequently exported from the harbour of Crail. Lime has been wrought to a great extent upon the borough muir, as the remains of the work still testify. The only work of that description now in operation is at Troustrie, and occasionally at Newhall. There are many indications of coals having been dug here at an early period; and only a few years ago Robert Inglis, Esq. had an extensive work upon his estate of Kirkmay, with a steam- engine for pumping out the water — but he gave it up. And at present, unless at times on Kingsmuir, coals are raised only for burning lime, though there is not the least doubt that many seams remain untouched. Fire and common clays are dug in great abundance on the es- tate of Kirkmay, where a brick and tile work has been carried on for a long time. Fire-clay bricks and chimney cans are manufac- tured here and exported to Arbroath, Dundee, and other towns to a considerable extent. II. Civil History. Seats and Residences.— Almost all the baronial abodes have been suffered to fall into decay or ruin, and some of them are now only known by name. At the southern extremity of this parish an old house with vaulted cellars, and rooms above, occupied by farm-servants, is the chief remain of the extensive mansion of the Cunninghams of Barns. Here, about 1620, the poet and historian, Drummond of Hawthornden, is understood to have written his ce- lebrated Polemo-Middinia, or Battle of the Dunghill — a humorous • poem in doggerel Latin, giving a satirical description of a real or an imaginary quarrel bewteen the Lady of Barns and one of her neighbours. Here he tuned that lyre, (which he afterwards ad- dressed in melancholy strains,) to the full enjoyment -of a lively imagination and buoyant spirits. Here he may be said to have enjoyed the happiest period of his life. And here his feelings re- CRAIL. 947 ceived a shock which no human contrivance was able to remove. For it was at this spot, near Crellia Crqfta 9 and in this very house, of which a remnant now is seen, that he captivated the affections of Miss Cunningham, the daughter of the principal heroine of the Polemo, and engaged her for his wife. The marriage day was fixed — the friends were invited — the feast was iu preparation, and the parson engaged to do the solemn duty, when the beautiful and youthful bride was seized with fever and expired. Drummond's grief on this occasion he has expressed in poems which have gained him the name of the Scottish Petrarch. In the hope of relieving his burdened spirit, he forsook his patrimonial estate and country for foreign climes. Eight years be spent abroad. At length returning, he was united to Miss Logan, grand-daughter of Sir Robert Logan of Restalrig. In process of time the estate of Barns passed into another family, and is now the property of Robert Anstrutber, Esq. of Caipley. A small summer-house on the rock projecting into the sea at Castlehaven points out the spot where Sir Neil Cunningham — an elder branch of the house of Barns — entertained his followers, and whence he defied the assaults of his deadly foes. The ruins of the castle were pulled down in 1839. Newhall tower is now completely gone, so that only some old persons can point to the spot where once it stood. Balcomie Castle, once reckoned amongst the finest buildings in Fife, and in which a late owner is reported to have said he could accommodate a troop of dragoons, and give every man a bed and every horse a stall, is now reduced to one wing, which, however, affords genteel and ample accommodation for the tenant The ancient lofty tower still remains, though much mutilated, and, while it forms an excellent land-mark to mariners, shows what the building must have been. Some of the houses which enclose the court-yard are evidently of far more recent date than the castle ; for, over the arched gateway into the court, there are two stones, on one of which are the arms of Learmonth, as depicted on the seating in the parish church, with the initials J. L. at the bottom, and on the other the arms of Myrton, with the initials E. M. Between these stones there is a vacant space, as if a third had dropped out ; and fortunately, Mr Todd, the tenant, discovered it lately as one of the paving stones of his barn-floor. On this there are, at the top, hands joined as if by the ties of wedlock, and . 948 FIFESHIRE. underneath, the arms of Learmonth and Myrton quartered, with the letters J. M. and date 1602 at the base. We must therefore conclude that the initials J. L. and E. M. mean Sir John Lear- month and Elizabeth Myrton, the proprietors of the estate at the time, and husband and wife when that portion of the building was erected. Now, Sibbald states that from Malcolm IV. to James II. the castle belonged to ihe Hays ; that since, the Leslies have had it ; and that afterwards it came to the Learmonths ; which would lead down to nearly the above date. Sir James Learmonth, eldest son of Sir John, became a Lord of Session in 1627, as Lord Balcomie. He was a member of several Parliamentary Commis- sions, and died in Edinburgh while presiding as Lord President of the Court, Lamont says, in June 1657. t Lord Balcomie had a son, John, who became a regent in the Old College of St An- drews, but he must have died young, as his Lordship was succeeded in the castle and estate by a daughter as heiress. This daughter married Sir William Gordon of Lismore, and the property con* tinued in the Gordon family till 1705, when it was purchased by Sir William Hope, son of Sir James Hope of Hopetown. Sir William was a soldier who had' seen much foreign service, and gained the renown of being the most expert swordsman and the finest rider of his day. He published a work called " The Com- plete Fencing Master," in which he described the whole art, and gave directions how to act in single combat or on horseback. Ac- cording to a tradition in the country, the fame of Sir William and his book induced a foreign cavalier to take a for journey to try his skill. Having arrived at Crail with this intent, he challenged Sir William to meet him on horseback in the open field. The parties met within a mile of the Castle of Balcomie, at the spot where the standing stone of Sauchope still remains, and which the road from Crail to Balcomie then passed. The onset was dreadful — but at length Sir William's sword, with deadly force penetrated the body of his antagonist. The wounded cavalier fell, and with his dying breath declared his name and title, and requested his victorious antagonist to become the protector of his widowed lady. Sir William died in 1 724, and was succeeded by his son Sir George, who enjoyed the property for a very few years. Sir Wil- liam, son of Sir George, was an officer in the East India Com- pany's service, and was killed in India. Thereafter the property was sold to Mr Scott of Scotstarvit, and left by him to his se- cond son, General Scott, who rebuilt the part now occupied by CRAIL. 949 the tenant, and added a large house at the north end of it for a billiard room. The General seems to have had one son, who died young, and was interred in the choir of the church of Crail. His three daughters became respectively Duchess of Portland, Count- ess of Moray, and Lady Canning. By these noble persons the castle was sold to Thomas, Earl of Kellie, who pulled down the old building, and reduced it to what it now is. Sir Thomas Erskine, great-grandson of said Earl, is now the proprietor. In the Castle of Balcomie Mary of Guise was hospitably enter- tained by the then proprietor, in June 1538, having landed, after a stormy passage, at the adjoining creek of Fifeness, to be mar- ried to King James V. Airdrie House, which is situated in one of the most beautiful and commanding positions in the parish, is embosomed in wood in- every direction, except the south, whence the finest view is to be had ; but, like the other ancient dwellings^it is no longer the habitation of a belted knight or noble peer. Yet the ancient tower and most of the walls of the. original house remain entire, though the interior arrangements are made to correspond to mo- dern taste. Of this place, Sibbald says, " in King David IL's reign 1 find that it belonged to Dundemore of that ilk. After- wards it came to the Lumsdens, who had it in 1466/' The fa- mily of Lumsden possessed it till at least the end of the sixteenth century, as is proved by a fine monument erected in the church- yard, of date 1598. From the Lumsdens, says the same writer, it was purchased by Sir John Preston of Pennycuik, President of the Session in King James VI.'s time, though it would appear he inherited it through his lady. This baronet seems, along with many of the gentlemen in his neighbourhood, to have keenly espoused the cause of Charles I., and to have been subjected to pains and penalties in consequence. For, within a month after the death of that ill-fated monarch, we find in the record of the kirk-session, 16th February 1649, that Lord Balcomie, Sir John Preston of Airdrie, Lawrence Cunning- ham of Barns, John Lindesay of Wormistone, and a number of others, whose names are mentioned, had to appear before the con- gregation to acknowledge publicly their sinful' engagement, and sign the covenant. During the seventeenth century Airdrie be- came the property of General Anstruther, who greatly enlarged the house by the addition of two wings, of which the one was a large and lofty hall, with figures in niches, pictures on the walls, 950 FIFESH1RE. massy chandeliers Tor lights, and a splendid chimney-piece of white marble, which he brought workmen from Italy to execute. After the General's death the estate was purchased by Methven Erskine, Esq. afterwards Earl of Kellie, who died there in 1889. Upon the Earl's death Sir David Erskine, Bart, succeeded as heir of entail. He took down the wings built by General Anstruther, and removed the fine chimney-piece to bis own house at Cambo, where it now ornaments the drawing-room. Upon the same estate, but a little to the west of Airdrie^at Red wells, or Redwalls, stood an ancient and extensive building, the history of which we have not bfeeu able to find. It was a quadrangular building, having the ground apartments on every side arched over with hewn stone, and small apertures or loop- holes at regular distances from each other. Over these there was a second story of solid masonry, containing accommodation for a numerous family, Ad at one end a well-paved barn, with two in- clined planes up to the door, as if for cattle carrying up their bur- dens and again descending. The barn, the last remain of this singular erection, was taken down a few years ago, when the walls were found to be of amazing thickness, and of uncommon strength. A general impression is, that it had been a religious house ; but, as some of the old charters convey the property cum fortaliciis^ others think it must have. been a kind of fortress ; while from the name, Ard-rhi, or King's height, a third conjecture is, that it was a hunt- ing seat of royalty. Kingsmuir House, the residence of George Francis Hannay, Esq. is a respectable country mansion, which has been greatly enlarged, and now forms a genteel and comfortable dwelling. In former times, the extensive property on which this mansion stands, was an open rauir adjoining to the commonty of Crail, with limits so ill defined as to lead many to believe that the neighbour- ing proprietors helped themselves to portions of it, without leave asked or given. However, after it came into possession of the present family, buildings began to be erected, and progress towards improvement made, so that in 1724 the presbyteryof St Andrews took into consideration, " under whose ministerial inspection the dwellers thereon should be," and adjudged the inhabitants ad inte- rim to be under the jurisdiction of the minister of Denino. A similar appointment took place in 1743, when a new minister came to that parish. Thus it continued till it was found necessary to rebuild the church and manse of Denino, when Mr Hannay being CRAIL. 951 called upon to pay his proportion of the expenses either as quoad sacra or quoad omnia in the parish, he refused all, and was ex- empted from payment, upon pleading that his property formed a portion of the King's muir of Crail. And in 1828, when the seat- ing of the church of Crail was enlarged, Mr Hannay attended the meetings of heritors, and claimed his position as a proprietor in the parish, together with the right of himself and Bis tenants to be admitted to all the privileges of parishioners. His claim was admitted, seats in the church were allocated to him, and instruct tions given to the kirk-session accordingly. 'Since that date, there^ fore, Kingsmuir has been considered as an integral part of the parish of Crail, and its poor have been supported out of the com- mon funds. It may be here observed, that in no place in this quarter has the judicious management of a resident landlord been more remarkable than in the case of Kingsmuir. Within the last twenty -five or thirty years, Mr Hannay and his tenants have, by their skill and industry, brought hundreds of acres, which before were considered a barren waste, into very productive corn land; and where, before that date, neither man nor beast could pass without the risk of sticking in the mire, luxuriant crops of wheat now grow. This alteration Mr Hannay has effected by paring, burning and liming where any heather grew, and by draining and enriching the boggy land. The estate is now nearly all under cultivation, and we hope and trust that the spirited proprietor will be spared to reap the reward of all his personal exertion, and his liberality towards his tenantry. Wormistone, the residence of David Aytone Lindesay, Esq., is a 6ne old house surrounded by hard-wood trees of considerable size, and the only place in the parish in which, for hundreds of years, the same family have had their abode. This property, Sibbald says, belonged of old to a family of the name of Spens, descended from Macduff, Earl of Fife ; but in the beginning of the 17th century it came into the possession of Patrick Lindesay, a descendant of Lord Lindesay of the Byres. John Lindesay, son of the first proprietor of this name, (as shown in the account of Airdrie,) was, like Lord Balcomie and the landholders in this quarter in general, a strenuous supporter of Charles the First and Second ; as his descendants afterwards were of King James and Prince Charles ; and much the family suffered in consequence of their attachment to that infatuated race. This gentleman had to submit to the degradation of appearing before the con- 952 FIFE8HIRE. gregation within the church of Crail, and there making a public disavowal of his adherence to the cause of Charles I.; and at the battle of Worcester, in 1651, one of his sous was slain and another taken prisoner while contending in the royal army. Patrick (the son taken prisoner) either experienced the leniency or escaped the cruelty of Cromwell, and, after the Restoration, was appointed commissary of St Andrews, an office which was held by several of his descendants in succession. In the troubles of 1715, this fa- mily appears to have taken an active part in favour of King James* and to have suffered in substanoe, if not personally;* and in 1746, Patrick Lindesay, son of the then proprietor, was executed at Carlisle for having joined Prince Charles, and fought at the battle of Culloden. The last proprietor, Patrick Lindesay, Esq., com- manded a ship for a number of years in the East Indies, and af- terwards purchased the patrimonial property from his elder bro- ther, who bad succeeded to the estate of Kilcouquhar. Kirkmay House is a handsome and spacious building, at a little distance from the principal street of the burgh, with pleasure ground in front, and a 6ne garden and offices behind. It was built in 1817 by Robert lnglis, Esq. of Kirkmay, a descendant of the baronets of Cramond, and is the finest modern structure is the parish. * A letter, which the writer of this found in Wormtstone house, together with the annexed extracts from the record of the kirk session, will help to show the state of the parish at the time. This letter is addressed " To the Laird of Wormistoun and Heritors of the parish of Crail," and is as follows : 4 * Sir,— T am directed and order- ed by the Earl of Marr, commander in chief of his Majesty's forces in this kingdom, to transmitt to one of the principal heritors of each parish the inclosed order, and it is required that the order so transmitted should he intimated to the several 1 heritors and their tennents within your parish, to the intent that punctuail obedience to my Lord Marr's orders.' 9 (may be given, we presume, has been omitted.) " You have the inclosed warrand sent you to be published and intimatted accordingly. K payment of the money imposed is refused or delayed after three days, a party of High landmen are to be employed to poind for payment: What loss that will occa- sion to your parish you may easily conceave, and that it may be prevented is heartily wished by — Sir, your most humble servant, (Signed) J a. Smyth. Dated Cupar, 13th October 1715. Session Record, 18tb October 1715. " There was no sermon Sabbath last, the Highland army being here/ 1 Nov. 13. (t There was no sermon Sabbath or week day, the town being then bombarded, and the minister sought for to read the Karl of Marr his edict." Nov. 20. " No sermon on Sabbath, the Highlanders being ha town.*' Nov. 27. " The Minister forbidden to preach in the church, unless he read the Earl of Marr his edict, and pray for K. James. A young man, Mr Nivena, by order of baillie Crafurd, preached in the church after the old Episcopall fashion. Our minister preached in his own house." Dec. 6. M Sermon in the minister's house." Dec. 11. "No sermon, being stopped by a party of Highlanders.*' Dec 18. ** Ser- mon in the Minister's house forenoon, but interrupted afternoon." Dec. 25. u No sermon, being stopped by letters, one from baillie Crawfurd to baillie Robertson, another threatening letter to the minister.* 1 Jan. 31 1716. u No sermon on Sun- day by our minuter, the Highlandmen being here. One Mr Nivens, ane Episcopall preacher, possessed the kirk that day, and had the English service." CRA1L. 953 Heritors. — In mentioning the land-owners of the parish, it may be proper to mention, that for the purposes of building or repair* ing church, manse, or. school, one-third of the expense is defray- ed by the corporation as superiors of the town and burgh muir. The other two- thirds are paid by the landward heritors, according to their valued rents, as under. Heritors. Sir Thomas Erskine, Bart • J. iDglis, Esq. of Kirkmay, . General Graham Stifling, J. Lindesay, Era of Wormistone, R. Anstrutber, Esq. of Third part, . Captain Corstorphine of Pittowie, Wm. Douglas, Rsq. of Pinkerton, . Mrs Murray, Crail, Geo. F. Hannay, Esq. of Kingsmuir, Andrew Brown, Esq., Mrs Wemyss of Denbrae, Trustees of W. Glass, Esq., . Kilrenny Fisherman^ Box, Kirk-session of Crail, Mrs Dr Chalmers, Right Hon. Lord William Douglas, Crail Sea Boi, Mr Et. Meldrum of Peatfleld, . Thomas Landale, Esq. S. 8. C Lord Blantyre for Troustrie feu, Rev. Bishop Low, Pittenweem, Town of Crail, . . . Mr D. Henderson, Valued rent of the parish, This valuation is, with the exception of as the parish was rated at in the new valuati and, though it be very high in comparison of many other places, it shows that the land in this quarter must have been early in a high state of cultivation. In 1815 the landward part of the pa- rish was valued at L. 7234 Sterling, for property-tax, and the burgh L.1391 Sterling, making in all L. 8625; and it is consi- dered that the real rental of the parish, exclusive of the burgh and its pendicles, is now only about L. 10,000. Parochial Registers. — These commence, on the 15th April 1648, with a minute in the beautiful handwriting of Mr James Sharp, who was then minister of the parish and afterwards Arch- bishop of St Andrews, and are carried on, with little interruption, to the present day. The greatest blanks are from the 4th Febru- ary 1729 to the 4th January 1782, which seems to have been oc- casioned by the clerk neglecting to copy from his scroll-book, as the leaves are paged but not filled up ; and from 1779 to 1790. They now occupy fourteen folio volumes, and are valuable records Valued rent in Soots money. L. 5208 14 3 2545 15 1480 11 6 1273 687 14 2 619 12 7 588 8 1 805 5 1 200 188 6 4 131 12 1 125 9 8 114 64 18 4 56 57 55 10 7 55 6 8 47 8 28 13 4 18 10 13 4 6 13 4 L. 13,670 Kingsmuir, the same ion of Fifeshire 1695 ; 954 ' FIFE8HIRE. of the days of other years ; for they not only contain the minutes of session with an account of its discipline ; a register of births, baptisms, and marriages, along with the receipts and disburse* ments for the poor, and a list of deaths and burials ; but, by their direct or indirect reference to passing events, they tend to throw light upon the state of society and the history of the times. No doubt, in perusing them we are sometimes astonished at the powers which the office-bearers of a Protestant church seem to have exercised over the persons and properties of the people ; but, if we carry our minds back to the rude state of society which then existed, and reflect on the difficulty which the learned had to instil moral and religious feelings into the ignorant population, we must admit that the men acted in the manner that was perhaps best suited to the times. With these views we might perhaps be able to vindicate the conduct of the afterwards Archbishop from all reproach on account of his severest acts of discipline while mi- nister of Crail. Yet, even in those days, his proceedings did not escape the animadversion of his brethren ; for, at the termination of little more than the first two years of the record, we find the visitors appending the following not very ambiguous hint : " St Andrews, 21st August 1650. — The Presbyterie, after revising and considering this book, do commend and approve the proceed- ings of the session. Only they are appointed to refer to the civil magistrate the enjoining of corporal punishment and pecunial mulcts." One grand point against which Mr Sharp seems to have firmly and properly turned his face was the desecration of the Lord's day ; and there is no wonder that this was necessary, considering that the parents of the then generation were accus- tomed to regard it as the day of greatest relaxation and business ; for, be it remembered, it was only about sixty years before his time that an act of the Scottish Parliament was passed, abolishing the Sunday market in Crail. Though, then, the power assumed by Mr Sharp and his suc- cessors seems to us to have been occasionally unwarrantable, when we look back to the times, we will be brought to admit that the stretch of power was for the benefit of the people, and perhaps the only way in which the lower classes could be brought to sub- mit to Divine or human authority. Besides the registers above noticed, there are four volumes of records of burials, which commenced in 1754 and are still carrying on. These have been kept by the beadles, and ppint out the. spot CRAIL. 9S5 where every body has been laid, by stating in yards and feet the distance and direction of the grave from certain fixed points about the church and churchyard. For some time', these records were considered as almost a sufficient register of deaths. But, as in 1826, the inhabitants erected a vault in the churchyard, in which corpses were to be deposited in winter for three months and in summer about six weeks, and then buried ; the interval between death and burial was, in many cases, found too long for identifying a deceased individual ; and therefore the plan of keeping a se- parate register of deaths was renewed. Antiquities. — Some of these will be afterwards mentioned, such as the castle, the priory, and the college ; to which it may be add- ed that a nunnery is. said to have existed near the Nethergate Port, of which only an entrance now remains; but, at this entrance, human bones were found, when the street was levelled a few years ago. In the church, there is an oblong Runic stone, a good deal mutilated, having cut upon it a Maltese cross, with figures like serpents over it. " Below the transept, 1 ' as Leighton describes it, " on each side of the lower limb of the cross a variety of figures are sculp- tured, now much defaced and indistinct. On the right side is a portion of a horse, a wild boar, the legs of a man, another horse, and a ram ; on the left, a figure seated in a chair something like a man, with the head of a bird, as seen on Egyptian antiqui- ties ; and, lower down, part of a horse and part of a dog." Other relics of similar antiquity are believed to have been in the church, before last repair; but the workmen, not knowing the value put upon them by antiquaries, hewed them down into pav- ing stones. The stone mentioned in the former Statistical Ac- count as having a cross rudely sculptured on it, is no doubt of the same description. It is the one at which Sir Wilfiam Hope is reported to have killed his challenger. Many urns containing calcined bones have been dug up in different parts of the parish* In 1843, at a place called Swinkie Hill, probably Sueno's KnoU f no fewer than seven urns were discovered; and, in April 1845, another was found at Toldrie. They seem to be all of the same kind of material, though differing a little in size. The general shape is tapering towards both ends, with various beltings, and some with zig-zag ornaments. All were found with their mouths downwards, imbedded in an artificial mound which seemed to have been erected over them. Some of these urns may now be seen in the Museum at St Andrews. When levelling the ground ad- 956 F1FE8HIRE. joining to Castle Haven several stone-coffins were found with bones nearly consumed ; but, about twenty years ago, about thirty were discovered lying in regular rows, with bones so entire that the farmer dug a hole and buried them. The last were upon the estate of Wormistone, near tbe cave in which the Danes are said to have murdered King Constantino II. in the year 874, and ma; have contained the remains of persons killed at that time. The only other antiquity in the parish which seems deserving of notice is the Danes Dyke, a building of dry stones of about half a mile in length, said to have been raised by the Danes when they fled before Constantino II. after defeat at the water of Leven in 874. This dike, at one time, enclosed a considerable piece of ground of a triangular shape, having to the east the little harbour of Fifeness, whence, it is said, the Danes expected to es- cape in their boats, which were then hovering at the mouth of the Frith. A considerable portion of it is now removed, the farm- house of Craighead being built upon its site. From what remains now faced up on one side as a park fence, some have disputed the accuracy of the tradition, and maintained that it was a natural, not an arti6cial mound. This supposition, however, is disproved by the fact, that, in removing a portion of it, human bones were found, and none but broken and carried stones discovered. At the one end, which must have been within the dike, is a natural cave in the rocks, which the appearance of lime at its mouth in- dicates to have been extended by artificial means. This is tbe spot of the reputed murder of Constantine. At the other end, but without the dike, a place is pointed out called the Long mans grave, where tbe ashes of a Danish hero may have been depo- sited. III. — Population. Partly owing to the enlargement of farms and doing away with cottars, and partly owitig to fewer hands being employed in fish- ery, the population of the town and parish has been diminishing for a great number of years. In 1753 the population amounted to 2 1 73 1791, . . . 1710 1801, . . 1652 1811, . . . 1600 1821, . . . 1*54 1831, including Kingsmuir, 1966 but excluding Kingsmuir, 1836 1841, including do. • 1906 but excluding do. . 1 765 Decrease since 1753, 408 CRAIL. 957 Statistics of the burgh in 1841. — Houses inhabited, 261; houses not inhabited, 2a Males, 5*20; females, 707; total, 1227. In the same year there were in the landward 342 males and H37 females, of whom 66 males and 75 females were upon Kings- muir. Marriages in 1844, 13; births, 52; deaths, 42; increase, 10. The food of the lower classes is chiefly farinaceous and vege- table. Yet butcher-meat is used to some extent in every family ; for there are few householders who do not every year feed a pig or two for domestic use. The people on the whole enjoy in a tolerable degree the com- forts and advantages of society, and are industrious and content- ed. They are justly entitled to be denominated an enlightened, intelligent, and well principled community. In their daily inter- course, they are kind and friendly, and in their general conduct obliging and civil. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Economy. — In agriculture almost every species of modern improvement has been tried, with the greatest activity and attention, so as to bring the land to the highest state of cultivation and productiveness, and in very few places have the effects of draining and trenching been more conspicuous than here. The places which old people recollect of, fifty or sixty years ago, as dangerous for man or beast to tread on from their boggy na- ture, are now bearing luxuriant crops of corn — the rough and stony bawks which intersected almost every field and yielded a scanty support to the cows, can no longer be distinguished from the sur- rounding soil. Nor are the improvements on the land more re- markable than the change in the implements of husbandry. At the period referred to, no farmer was reckoned respectable who bad not two or four oxen with a couple of horses and two men to con* duct the slow motion of each cumbrous plough. Now 115 ploughs are at work in the parish, each drawn by a couple of horses guided by a single man ; — then wains, or large carts with a pole to which two oxen were yoked with two horses as leaders, formed the only mode of carrying manure to the field or produce to the market ; now not a wain is to be seen nor an ox in harness ; — then the cattle fed upon the grass that grew from the roots of the quicken or couch grass upon the fauch or fallow land ; — now labourers may be seen picking up and carrying away in their baskets every por- tion of the roots that had escaped the harrow ; — then, too, the 958 FIFKSHIRE. ploughman had to start at cock-crowing to prepare the daily straw for his cattle ; now the sound of the flail is seldom heard, as ever; farmer has his thrashing-mill. The flrst two-horse plough in the parish was used upon Pittowie in 1783-4, and conducted by one who still lives and enjoys a good old age. The 6rst thrashing- mill was erected in 1801. The greater number of farms have been furrow drained ; and with the exception of the quantity already mentioned as being under wood, and about sixty acres, chiefly sea braes and links used as pasture, the whole land in the parish is under tillage. Near the coast, sea- weed is much used as a manure which an- swers well, so that some pieces of ground which seldom get a change, produce as good crops as any lands adjoining. Lime and stable dung are of course universal ; bone-dust, guano, soda, &c. are also more or less employed. The rotation of crops differ according to the soil and situation, but the generality follow the four or six rotation. In the former case, the crops are, 1st, potatoes or turnips ; 2d, wheat or barley; 3d, beans or grass ; 4th, wheat or oats. In the latter, 1st, fallow ; 2d, wheat; 3d, beans; 4th, barley; 5th, grass; 6th, oats; and then recommence with fallow, potatoes, or turnips. In conse- quence, it will be seen that very little land lies fallow, not above one acre out of twenty ; while potatoes and grass may be reckoned each one in six ; turnips and beans each one in twelve ; the re- mainder in wheat, barley and oats. Bere or bigg is very seldom grown. In a parish containing such a variety of soil, and one acre in one locality producing more than two in another, it is almost im- possible to ascertain the actual amount of produce ; but the fol- lowing may be regarded as an average per Scotch acre. Potatoes, 35 bolls; turnips, 20 tons ; beans, 4 quarters; wheat, 4£ quarters; barley, 6 quarters; oats, 6£ quarters; grass, 175 stones. Stock. — There are not many cattle bred in this parish, but such as are, consist chiefly of the Fife and short-horned breed. A good many calves are purchased and brought from other places ; and a number of two and three year old beasts are bought at the public markets, partly for the purpose of eating the straw and tur- nips to make manure, and partly to fatten for the butcher; and from the great attention paid, they generally bring very high prices. Great attention is paid to the quality and keeping of horses, as well as to their harness, &c Only one or two farmers keep any CRAIL. 9^9 flocks of sheep, and these they generally bring from the High- lands to fatten for the market. Wages. — Young unmarried men living about the farm get from L.9 to L.12 a-year, according to their age and qualifications. Married farm-servants have from L.10 to L.12, with a house and garden ; 10 pecks of potatoes planted, 6£ bolls of meal, half a boll of pease or wheat, a pint of sweet or l£ of skimmed milk a-day, coals driven, and liberty to feed a pig with their own potatoes,— all of which are estimated at about L.25 a-year. Female servants living in their masters 9 houses get from L.5 to L.6 a-year. Other field labourers are, males, 9s. a- week ; females, 4s. a- week or 8d. a-day ; but in harvest the daily wages are higher. In very few places, are the farm-steadings so good and the ac- commodation for man and beast so ample, as they are in general in this parish, which proves the good taste of the tenants and the liberality of the landlords. Leases are in general for nineteen years. V. — Parochial Economy. Means of Communication. — Only one mail arrives here every day, bringing letters from every direction, which often occasions serious inconvenience, as letters from St Andrews and other towns only a few miles off are received here the day after they were written, and the answer fares the same. This might be remedied by the post-office re-establishing the runner between Crail and St Andrews, as it was to 1829. By this means. letters written in that city could be received here within two hours of the time when they were posted. There are turnpike roads crossing the parish in every direction, and the commutation roads are in good keeping* A light van or waggon has, for many years, run from this to St Andrews every lawful day, carrying passengers and parcels. A parcel carrier goes to and returns from Anstruther in the same manner. A carrier goes twice a-week to Edinburgh. There are also conveyances to Dundee and Cupar for goods. By sea the conveyance of passengers and goods is still more complete, as the Aberdeen, Montrose, and Dundee steamers call off the harbour, thus giving always one, and often three opportunities a-day, of getting to Edinburgh, and, on their return, a conveyance to the respective ports to which they belong. Royal Burgh of CraiL — As a town, Crail is of great antiquity, and mentioned by the Scottish historians as a place of some con- sequence so early as the beginning or middle of the ninth century* 960 FIFESHIRE. As in days of other years, it consists chiefly of two parallel streets ex* tending along the shore from east to west, intersected by others of inferior note. Many of the houses are large and of ancient appear- ance, giving evidence of the grandeur of former days, when some of the neighbouring proprietors of land had either their house in town, or one to which the dowager might retire when the old laird died and the son came into possession of the estate. At one period the tho- roughfares seem to have been considerably interrupted by houses projecting upon them at right angles here and there ; but these have been mostly bought up by the corporation and removed ; so that there are very few towns of its size in which more spacious streets are to be found* These are now lighted with gas, and in ge- neral kept very clean. There was a royal residence within the town, upon an elevation overlooking the present harbour, of which some vestiges still remain ; but at what time it was erected, cannot now be ascertained, nor by how many crowned heads it was occupied. However, the historians of the day agree in admitting that David the First lived in it about the beginning of the twelfth century. Sibbald says he died here, but others maintain that he died at Carlisle, where he had a residence as Duke of Cumberland, and that the mistake arose in consequence of the similarity of names, Carayl and Carlisle. It is not unlikely that this monarch or some of his successors might have conferred some important privileges upon the town in which he occasionally dwelt, but of that we have only this pre- sumptive evidence, that when Robert the Bruce granted a charter to the burgh, which is dated at Stirling 12th June 1310, he con- firmed to the burgesses and community privileges which they had enjoyed under former kings, and exempted them from all jurisdic- tion vicecomitis de Fife. This charter, with several new grants, was afterwards ratified by Robert IL, Queen Mary, James VI. and Charles I. By these charters the privileges of the burgh, extended not only over the town and common muir, but also from the middle of the water of Leven to the water of Puttekin, (now called Pitmilly burn), with a right to the fishings, tolls, anchorages, &c. in all the harbours and creeks within these bounds, being an extent of coast of about twenty-five miles. Yet, though all these rights were confirmed by Charles I. in his deed executed at Whitehall on the SOth April 1635, there seem to have been some heartburnings excited, and a desire expressed by many to get free from the jurisdiction of Crail long before that date. For in 1587, CRAIL. 961 when Anstruther was erected into a royal burgh, we find in the proceedings of Parliament that James Geddy, burgess of Carrail, appeared before the kibg and three estates, and in name and be- half of the same burgh solemnly protested "that the erection, creation, and confirmation of the burgh of Anstruther in ane free burgh royal suld on nawys be hurtfull or prejudicial! to the said burgh of Carrail anent the richtis, liberties, and privileges of the same." About the same year, the bailies and council of Grail are understood to have let in feu-farm the customs, anchorages, &c« of Elie to Thomas Dischinton of Ardross, through whom they have been transmitted to the family of Anstruther ; but the feu- duty has not been paid for many years. The towns of Pittenweeu and Anstruther appear also to have complained of the jurisdiction of Crail as a grievance, and threatened to resist payment; but the dispute was settled by arbitration, and both towns continue to pay a trifling supi yearly in name of reddendo, in consequence of which a free trade is established. A similar contract seems to have been made with the late Thomas Earl of Kellie, about 1610, for the customs, anchorages, &c. of Pifeness, Old Haiks and Kingsbarns, and thus the ancient jurisdiction of the burgh has been much curtailed* Still the town has a revenue of nearly three hundred pounds a-year, which answers all the purposes of the corporation. The ends of the streets leading out of the town still retain the name of ports, which would lead one to infer that at some period they had been actually shut up with gates ; and that they were so, is evident not only from the fact, that an act of Parliament was passed in 1503, wherein it is statute and ordained, that all towns and ports on the sea side>sik as Leitb, Inverkeithing, Kinghorn, Dysart, CraU> and others, ware their common gudes on the walls of the town to the sea side, with ports of lime and stane ;" but many people are alive who recollect of the ports being taken down. The burgh had also the liberty of holding a free market upon Sunday, which, by an act passed in Parliament in 1587, was changed from Sunday to Saturday, and all markets between the waters of Leven and Puttekin forbidden on any other day. In proof of this we may mention that the following entry is in the session record of St Andrews :— "April 18, 1582. A great number of drapers, fleshers, and merchants, accused of keeping the market of Crail on the Sab- bath ; prohibited from repeating the offence under pain of exclu- sion, and debarring of themselves, their wives, bairns and servants fife. 3 p 962 FIFESHIRE. from all benefit of the kirk in time coming, viz. baptism, the Lord's supper, and marriage." Before and up to the beginning of last century, Crail was a great station for the herring fishery. To this many resorted from different parts of the country, particularly from Angus and Aber- deen shires, who were supplied with nets and other conveniences by the inhabitants for a stipulated premium. Over the multitude of boats that then assembled in the Frith, a person (generally a lawyer from Edinburgh) was appointed by the Lord High Admi- ral to preside, under the title of Admiral-depute for the east of Fife. This officer had power of trying all offences committed by persons engaged in the fishing, and of fining or otherwise punish- ing those found guilty. He had also a vessel called the admiral's boat, which was employed in regulating the fishery, and fired a gun for announcing the hours of beginning or ending the fishing, particularly on the Mondays and Saturday nights ; for which each boat had to pay a certain sum as admiral's dues. Since then, however, the fishing has gradually declined, and was nearly lost sight of upon the Fife coast ; and the office, as well as officer, is entirely unknown. But within the last few years, the fish have returned to their wonted haunts, and many who from their early years had been in the habit of joining the herring fish- ery at Wick or other places in the north, have staid at home and reaped the reward of their labour. Yet Crail has not resumed its place as a fishing station — for last year there were only twelve boats belonging to the harbour engaged in the trade. In former times Crail, Kilrenny, the two Anstruthers, and Pittenweem had jthe privilege of returning a member to Parliament; but, since the Reform Act was passed, St Andrews (the returning burgh) and Cupar have been associated with them ; and these, being larger towns, swallow up in a great measure all the consequence of the minor burghs at a disputed election. The government of the town is vested in three bailies and a treasurer, with seventeen other members of town-council. There are seven incorporated trades. In the centre of the town, there is a very neat town-hall and a lock- up-house, with two cells under charge of the police. The harbour is small, not very safe, and difficult of access to the small vessels that frequent it ; but Room or the old harbour, which is only about a quarter of a mile to the eastward of the present, might be easily converted into a haven capable of containing a large fleet, and would, it is said, have nearly thirty feet of water at spring tides. CRAIL, 963 It is sheltered from all winds but the south, and may be entered by vessels of small draught of water, from any point, at an hour • and a quarter's flood. The corporation have voted a sum of money to defray the expense of having it surveyed with the view of brings ing it under the notice of Government, as a harbour of refuge ; and should it be so constructed, it would prove a benefit not only to the traders on the Forth, but also to the whole east coast of Scot* land. Unless in importing coals, and exporting the produce of the land, the port is not much frequented by shipping. However, twelve vessels belong to it, with a register of 580 tons. In po- tatoes alone, several vessels have been employed for a portion of the year, carrying them to Newcastle, London, and elsewhere ; above 3000 tons having been exported in one season. This crop has fallen off considerably for some time, and, in consequence, last year's export was only 1800 tons. Fishing is not carried on to the same extent as in some of the neighbouring places, such as Cellardyke. Yet a number of respectable men contrive to make a living by it. The kinds of fish which they most commonly bring ashore are, cod, ling, halibut, haddock, rock or red cod, cole-fish, dog-fish, cat-fish, flounder, turbot, skate, and occasion* ally mackerel. Sand-eels and shrimps are gathered among the sand as the tide recedes. The principal employment of the fish- ermen here is in catching shell-fish, such as lobsters and crabs, but in these the quantity seems to be rapidly diminishing; for, when Mr Bell wrote the former Statistical Account, he states the number of lobsters sent annually to the London market to be about 20,000 or 25,000, and that ten years before there was double the number ; whereas, though the same trade be still con- tinued, the number sent to London last year was only about 4000. During the same year, (1844,) after supplying the home con- sumption, between 8000 and 4000 dozens of crabs were sent to the markets of Dundee and Edinburgh. Within the last few years, a new "trade in shell-fish has been opened with London, viz. in periwinkles or wilks, of which no fewer than 50 tons were sent from Crail in 1844. The town-council has also let the sal- mon-fishing to the south of the town, and, a few days ago, the tacksman set his nets and was successful. He therefore antici- pates that the salmon-fishing will be advantageous to himself, and a new source of revenue to the town. In the burgh, no manufactures are carried on, nor any trade of 964 FIFESHIBE. importance, except what is required for the neighbourhood ; but there are a post-office, with a daily arrival of the mail, a number of shops at which any of the necessaries of life can be purchased,, a good butcher-market, and a brewery. Fourteen persons are licensed to sell spirits, and two gentlemen act as medical practi- tioners. The Parliamentary and municipal constituency is 51. The town is ten miles south-east by east from St Andrews, and thirty north north-east from Edinburgh. Ecclesiastical State. — It is generally believed that Crail was at one time the seat of a priory dedicated to St Rufus, and, wbeo the last Statistical Account was written, a ruinous gable with Gothic windows was standing, and bore the name of the Prior Walls. That gable was thrown down by the sea about the year 1801, and there now only remain some of the foundations of the outworks, to point out where it once stood. The adjoining ground, however, retains the name of the Prior's Croft, and a well near the old building is still called the Briery or Priory Well As this is not mentioned among the religious houses suppressed at the Reformation, some have doubted the common tradition ; but Leightou, in his Fife Illustrated, states that, according to General Hutton, there is an old manuscript inventory among the Harleiaa manuscripts in the British Museum, in which the following char- ter is mentioned : — " To the prior of Crail, of the second teiads of the lands between the waters of Neitbe and Nith." There was also a chapel within the Castle of Crail, dedicated to St Ruf% which had teinds belonging to it, both parsonage and vicarage, but its name is now only to be found in ancient charters. The present church is so old that many believe it to be the one in which David I. worshipped when he lived in Crail ; and, although its beauty has been much destroyed by the alterations it has undergone, it is still a fine specimen of pointed architecture. It consists of a central nave, with aisles divided by a row of pillars on each side, and, at the east end, a portion of what originally formed the choir, in which daily service was performed. The choir was for a number of years shut up ; but, in 1328, it was re-opened, and seated for the sake of additional accommodation to the parishioners. In all, the church will now accommodate nearly 1000 persons, being about the legal allowance for the po- pulation. This church, which, with the teinds, both parsonage and vicarage, anciently belonged to the priory of Haddington, was, in the year 1517, (upon the petition and endowment of Sir CRAIL. 965 William Myreton, vicar of Jjathrisk, and Janet, prioress of Had-* dington,) erected into a collegiate church, with a provost, sacrist, ten prebendaries, and a chorister* The provost had a right to the vicarage tithes, and six of the prebendaries had annuities, payable out of certain lands and tenements of houses lying in the town and neighbourhood, morti&ed for that purpose by Sir Wil- liam Myretoo, who is called the founder of the College Kirk of Crail. At that time, besides the high altar, which was richly en- dowed, there were eight other altarages within the church dedi- cated to the Virgin Mary, to St Catharine, to St Michael, to St James, to St John the Baptist, to St Stephen, to St John the Evangelist, and to St Nicholas* * For many years after the college was established, the church retained its connection with the priory of Haddington ; for though King James VL, in 1536-7, made over to the town of Crail the place called the college, with the college kirk, and all emoluments belonging to the provost and prebends thereof, with the advoca- tion, donation, and right of patronage, it was not till 1594 that an act of Parliament was passed disjoining the church and parish from the priory, and establishing Crail as an independent rectory. By this act, one-third part of the fruits was assigned to the mi- nister serving the cure, another to the new college of St Andrews for the sustentation of students of theology, and the remaining third to the college of Edinburgh, for students of philosophy,— Lord Lindsay being declared patron of the parsonage and bursa- ries. " About the time of the Reformation," says Mr Bell, in the former Statistical Account, " Lord Lindsay seems to have obtain- ed from the prioress and convent of Haddington a tack of the teinds both parsonage and vicarage, for the yearly rent of two hundred and 6fty-five merks. The patronage was vested in Sir William Murray of Balvaird, who presented Mr Murray to the benefice. He then resigned the patronage into the king's hands in favour of John Lord Lindsay, who, in 1609, obtained from Mr Murray a confirmation of the former tack of the teinds for three lives and three nineteen years/ 9 " The towu of Crail," says the same writer, " having by several charters obtained a grant of the collegiate church and its revenues, with the right of patronage, &c- disputes began to arise between * A list of the * ' ornaments and sylver werlt in the College Kyrk of Carale," is contained in the chartulary now in the Advocates* Library. 986 FIFESHIRE. it and Lord Lindsay concerning their respective rights. To pre- vent law-suits, a compromise was entered into in 1630, by which the town's right to the collegiate church and place called the col- lege, with the right of patronage, was confirmed ; but its claim to emolument was expressly restricted to the tithe fish, and the rents, fees, and duties which had been the especial property of the pro- vost and prebendaries. The parsonage and vicarage tithes, ex- cepting the tithe fish, were declared to remain with his Lordship and his successors. In 1774-6, the question concerning the right of patronage to the parish church was tried. By an interlo- cutor of the Lord Ordinary, it was given against the town, and the Earl of Crawford, as successor to Lord Lindesay, considered as undoubted patron. The Earl of Glasgow is now patron, as repre- senting the Earl of Crawford. It is proper to mention that in this church John Knox preached and excited the people to begin the work of abolishing the monu- ments of idolatry in Fife. In reference to this, Grierson, the his- torian of St Andrews, says, " John Knox, on Sunday the 29th of May 1 559, preached a sermon at the town of Crail, in which he represented the favourers of Popery as guilty of the heinous sin of idolatry, and their churches as containing the monuments of it, namely, pictures and images. The effect of his eloquence was such, that the populace immediately rose, and in a very short time demolished all the churches in Crail, Anstruther, and the other adjacent towns along the sea coast. They then proceeded to St Andrews, where the preacher delivered another sermon of the same sort on Sunday the 5th of June ; and the effect of it was similar to that which had before taken place at Crail, for the in- furiated mob set instantly about demolishing the superb cathedral church, plundered both the monasteries of the Black and Greyfrian, and razed these edifices to the ground." Spottiswood says, " John Knox preached a sermon at Crail, and persuaded the expulsion of the French. The people were so moved by his exercitation, that they immediately set about pulling down altars, images, and every thing which had been abused to idolatry ; and did the same next day at Anstruther, and from thence came to St Andrews." Besides the religious houses already mentioned, there was, no doubt, a cell or chapel dedicated to St Minin or Monan at Kilminning farm ; the corn- yard of which is still full of grave?, like a regular burying-ground. CRAIL. 967 Within the town there is a congregation of the Associate Sy- nod, who have a church and a minister's house enclosed in a gar- den. The members of the Free Protesting Church are also build- ing a place of worship. Attendance at church is remarkably good, and the ordinary number of communicants about 800. The manse, which is within the burgh at the entry to the church, with a small garden attached to it, was purchased by the kirk-session in 1637 for 3300 merks, and mortified to the then minister and his successors in office. The house, thus bought, remained entire till 1789, when the greater part of it was taken down and the present manse erected in its stead, having still a portion of the old building for bed-rooms and other convenien- ces ; but in 1829 the last remains of the old house were swept away, cellars, &c erected on its site, and a third storey added to what was then called the new manse. As it now stands, it is a good commodious dwelling, and has every convenience that a fa- mily may desire. The offices are very poor, consisting only of an old stable and a gig-house; but the minister is allowed a sum of money to pay the rent of additional accommodation, till a proper situation can be found for building a suitable steading. The glebe was designed in 1658, out of lands which once be- longed to the priory of Haddington. It measures a little more than four Scotch acres. A small park, not quite an acre in ex- tent, called the vicar's garden, and believed to have belonged to that official, is also attached to the living; and in 1799 a field of nearly three acres was obtained as a grass glebe in exchange for seven and a half acres of the links of Sauchope, which were designed by the presbytery. For property* tax the manse and glebe are valued at L. 64 per annum. The stipend, as settled in 1834, is 152 bolls of meal, 110 quar- ters, 5 bushels, 1 peck, 1 gallon, 1£ quart of barley, and L.8, 6s. 8(1. for communion elements. Ministers of the Parish. — Upon the elevation of Mr Sharp to the archbishopric of St Andrews, Dr Alexander Edwards, mi- nister of Denino, was transported to the charge in 1662, and Con- tinued to discharge the duties of it till his death, 10th May 1684. Dr Edwards was succeeded by Mr Alexander Lesly, minister of Ceres,* who was deposed in 1689 for non-conformity. He was * The following extract from the record of the kirk-session shows the mode of procedure in those days : — " September 14th 1684. Dr John Wood, minister of Kil- rennie, did preach, and Mr Alexander Lesly, minister of Ceres, being presented to 968 FIPBSHIRE. the last Episcopal rector of the pariah. After his ejection he got a chapel erected at the west end of the town, part of which still remains as a wright's shop, behind the gas work, in which he continued to officiate till his death in 1707. Mr William flar- die was then ordained minister of Crail by the presbyteries of St Andrews and Cupar — the session record says, " by preaching, prayer, and imposition of the hands of the presbyteries — by deli- vering to him the Bible, the bell tow, and the key of the kirk." Mr Hardie removed to St Andrews in 1701. Mr Robert Fair- weather, minister of Carnbee, was then elected by the people 14th August 1701, was inducted by the presbytery, and continued till his death in 1786. Bat Mr Fairweather having become old and infirm, Mr Patrick Glas was ordained as his assistant and successor, 24th December 1794, and continued to be minister of the parish till 1787. After his death Mr Robert Glendraniog succeeded, but lived only a short time* Mr Andrew Bell was or- dained 6th May 1790, and dying in 1828, was succeeded by the present incumbent. Education. — In 1542, a grammar school was established here by Mr David Bowman, one of the prebendaries of the college, who mortified a house and lands for the maintenance of the teacher, and left the patronage* after his death, to the town-coun- cil of the burgh, unless a qualified person of his own name should apply, who was to be preferred.* How this provision came to be alienated from its purpose, we have been unable to discover ; but, from time immemorial, the sum of L.12 a-year has been paid to the teacher out of the town's common good. In 1821, the heritors and council agreed to erect it into a parochial school, the former paying the maximum salary to the rector, the latter continuing their L.12 payment, under certain conditions, to an the curt and benefice of this parish by Thomas Moncrieff of that ilk, as undoubted patron of this kirk, and having a right thereto from the Earl of Crawford, there was ane edict granted by John Bishop of Edinburgh, vicar-general of the ice of St An- drews, (being in the vacancie of the see of St Andrew^,) in his favour, which wai served and read this day in face of the congregation by the said Dr John Wood, and is to be called at the Trinitie church of St Andrews upon Wednesday come eight days next* at ten o'clock." * See deed of endowment and mortification in the town's charter-chest. As eon- netted with the church, schools, and records, it may be mentioned here, that Mr John Preston of Drumrack, a branch of the Airdrie family of that name, presented to the church the handsome silver basin and ewer used at baptism ; that the Earl of Crawford, out of the vacant stipend of 1769, gave the session LJSO for education, which is mortified in the town's hand at five per cent. ; and that a lady, who wished her name to be concealed, gave, through the late Mr Bell, L.50 for the same pur- pose, which is now lying at bank interest. CRAIL. 969 usher. The rector, therefore, has the maximum salary, and the fees average about L.40 a-year. He is also kirk-treasurer and session-clerk. At this school, all the ordinary branches of educa- tion are taught, and frequently the higher branches of mathe- matics, with Greek and Latin, French and Italian. The number attending is 93. There are other three schools in the parish, two of them being within the burgh, and one upon Kingsmuir, at all of which the ordinary branches are taught. One. of the burgh teachers has a free school, and a small salary allowed him by the town ; the other is upon his own adventure. At the two, there are about 190 scholars. The Kingsmuir school was erected by subscription in 1843, and iq attended by about 50 children. In both the endowed schools the teachers are' bound to edu- cate a certain number gratuitously, and thus there are none above six years of age who do not at least know the letters. Poor, — The kirk session funds arise from the rent of about six acres of land, rents of seats in the church given by some of the heritors, due9 upon marriages when the bride is in the parish, col- lections at the church doors, and some small feu-duties. Last year the number of poor upon the roll was thirty-one, who each received from a shilling to two shillings and sixpence a-week according to their circumstances — some received assistance in paying their rents — every applicant received clothing, and in many cases per- sons not upon the roll received assistance in money. Two persons were also maintained in a lunatic asylum, and the de6ciency in the session's funds was made up by a voluntary assessment among the heritors. Besides what was bestowed by the session, the in- terest arising from a share of the Bank of Scotland's stock, be- queathed by the late Mrs Coldstream, was divided among sixteen, in terms of her deed, and ninety persons received a cart load of coals each by voluntary subscription. The poor here are better provided Tor, on the whole, than they are in most places. May 1845. PARISH OF KILRENNY. PRESBYTERY OF ST ANDREWS, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. GEORGE DICKSON, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Extent, Boundariety frc. — The name of this parish, as found in old manuscripts, is variously spelt, as Cilrinnie, Kylrinnye> Kilriny, &c In the former Statistical Account it is spelt Kilrennej, while the general spelling at present is Kilrenny* It has been stated in Swan's Views of Fife that " the name is derived from St Ninian, and that as Ninian is still popularized into Ringan, so Kilringan could easily be corrupted into Kilrenny/' The more probable derivation, however, is that given in the former Statisti- cal Account. " The name of this parish seems to be derived from the saint to whom the church was dedicated, viz. St Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, whose fame for piety was at that time great throughout Christendom. What serves to conGrm this origin of the name is, that the fishermen, who have marked out the steeple of this church for a meath or mark to direct them at sea, call it St Iroie to this day ; and the estate which lies close by the church is call* ed Irniehill; but, by the transposition of the letter i, Rinnie-HilL What adds to the probability of this interpretation, is a tradition still existing here, that the devotees at Anstruther, who could not see the church of Kilrenny till they travelled up the rising ground to what they called the Hill, then pulled off their bonnets, fell on their knees, crossed themselves, and prayed to St lrnie." The figure of the parish may be described rather as rectangu- lar than circular, and the extent of it is computed at about 3£ miles in length, and nearly 2£ in breadth. It is bounded on the east by Crail ; on the south by the Frith of Forth ; on the west by East and West Anstruther and Cam bee ; and on the north, by Carnbee and Crail. Being bounded by the sea on the south, the ground rises to the north, by a gentle acclivity, unbroken by any eminence deserving of notice ; and presenting to the eye a fer- tile and highly cultivated slope. It is divided by hedges and dikes into a variety of enclosures, all of which are under the 3 KILKENNY. 971 plough, with the exception of about 10 or 12 acres of common, belonging to the towns of Kilrenny and Cellardyke, and lying in a state of nature, being partly covered with furze, and partly soured with water. There are also a few acres along the shore con- stantly kept in pasture, as they cannot be brought under the ope- ration of the plough. There are likewise some acres under plan- tation, but not to any great extent All along the coast the shore is covered with large masses of sandstone blocks. The stratum of sandstone projects over an- other of shale or indurated clay ; so that by the action of the wa- ter upon the clay, it has been gradually removed, and these masses of the superincumbent rock have thus been broken down. There are some remarkable caves or coves, as they are some- times called, situated in the eastern part of the parish and close by the shore. They are considerably above high water-mark, but the rocks, in their outward form, have every appearance of having been at one time under the action of water ; while within the caves there are still further indications of such having been the case, by the rocks being drilled in many places by the Pholas. They stand at present several feet above high water-mark, and rise to the height of 30 or 40 feet. There are likewise to be seen in the interior of the caves, artiBcial cuttings and chiselled crosses, which indicate that at some period they have been used as the abode of men. Some human bones were lately found, when removing a portion of earth from the interior of the caves ; and a friend on hearing of this circumstance, has suggested the idea that they may have been the resort of the leper, or the hermit, or the persecuted in evil times. It is highly probable that they would be resorted to by smugglers, at the period when smuggling was carried on to a very great ex- tent in the East Neuk of Fife. They were at a later period used as the outhouses of a small farm ; and they are still used as a place of shelter for cattle. There is no tradition regarding them, ex- cept that there is a communication below ground between them and the house of Barnsmuir, situated nearly half a mile from the shore, where it is said that a piper was heard playing beneath the hearth stone of the kitchen ; but these days of delusion have passed away. The temperature of the atmosphere along the coast is rather mild than otherwise, so that the snow in winter seldom remains 972 FIFB6HIRE. long undissolved, and from the extent to which draining has of late been carried, the climate may be represented as dry and healthy* The diseases are such as are common to the district, and in the town of Cellardyke, where there is a great population closely crowded together, ferer is often prevalent. Geology. — The strata laid open along the shore exhibit the common coal formation of sandstone, limestone, clay ironstone, shale, and coal, and contain many interesting fossil remains. The direction and dip of the strata vary much. The usual dip is from 20° to 25°. About the west end of the parish, the direc- tion in which the strata are found is towards the south, while, as you proceed eastward, it inclines towards the south-east. Along the shore are found clay ironstone balls with coprolites, and many specimens of the Variolaria Ficoides of Sternberg ; and toward the east end of the parish, considerably within high water mark, are found in the sandstone strata, a number of fossil trees, projecting upwards at an angle of 70° to the height of several feet, and placed at distances' from each other, as if growing in a forest. In the limestone quarry at Cornceres, about half a mile ioland 9 the dip of the stratum was found in the working to be almost per* pendicular, while at other times it inclined to the north-east This limestone resembles that of Burdiehouse, in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, with similar fossil remains, such as fresh-water fish, plants, &c. In reference to this quarry, the Rev. Dr Anderson of Newburgh, who has long paid great attention to the subject of geo- logy, thus writes in his Geological Account of Fife, published along with Swan's Views of Fife : " While these pages have been passing through the press, I have been successful in finding the fresh wa- ter, or bituminous limestone, in the south-eastern extremity of the county. I first met with it in the parish of Kilrenny on the shore, and likewise to the eastward about a mile, in the parish of Crail. It is wrought inland in both parishes, at Cornceres and at Sypsies. Here it lies in small trough-shaped basins, and is much disturbed by underlying dikes, which traverse in every di- rection the whole of this district Along the shore the deposit is about six feet thick, and dips to the south-east at an angle of 20°. It rests upon a thin bed of coal of about one foot and a half in thickness." " Scales, coprolites, and vegetable impressions are in the greatest profusion, and no doubt can be entertained, from its mi- neralogical characters, as well as its organic contents, of its being KILKENNY. 073 * portion of the interesting deposit which ranges westward from Pettycur." The soil in the parish varies considerably. Along the coast, al- though containing a strong mixture of clay, it is rich and produc- tive, while in the higher parts, as it rests oh strong clayey subsoil, it is more retentive of moisture, and, in wet seasons, less produc- tive. It is astonishing, however, to observe the vast change and con- sequent improvement which have taken place within the last few years, from the skill and enterprise which the tenants have dis- played in draining their farms. Zoology. — There are not many of the rarer animals to be found in this locality. In winter a great many birds flock to the shore which are not to be found in summer. Among the feathered tribe frequenting this locality may be mentioned pheasants, the golden plover, starling, and the golden-crested wren, though but rarely seen ; while there is no lack of common birds. In the woods of Innergelly, some of the deer species, ( Cervus capreolus), have been observed, but they are not numerous. The most interesting class of animals, both as to number and import- ance, in an economical point of view, is the 6sh found in the Frith of Forth. The following are found in abundance : Cod, ling, haddock, skate, flounders, and halibut : turbot very rarely* Besides these, which are of great importance, as affording a cheap and wholesome diet, there is the dog-fish, which is very abundant at times, and very destructive to the haddocks when caught upon the line, but which is useful as affording a certain portion of oil, and still more so to the farmer, as a rich manure when formed into a compost with earth. There is also the cat- fish, which certainly has not a very seemly appearance, but is highly relished by some when dressed as fish and sauce. The shell-fish which are caught along the shore are the lobster, the parten, or common crab, the wilk, and the limpet. Of late great quantities of wilks have been gathered from the rocks and sent to the London market. There are no oysters oC mussels to be found along the shore. Botany. — As the parish does not rise to any great altitude above the level of the sea, the plants along the sea-side, and the 4tyA tt — — =— isgS il ; :§ ■ " :«l i r JSi_| Id «3 .1 o o W a o C0 M IP O o a o •s 9 I e § 8 « 9 c a < eS Jfl <-R O te 3 « §ii-s! sps a o *) :© : g © o •- e to t> :»o o 2 S 00 SS I 3 2 c* e :ao o ao o ■J QD o o : «* o © r^© • • • • • • • ■ • 2 8 09 $ 5 $8 ©r*» © 00 *■ © © © © © © 82§ © © O© :©©(*© 00 »o :© o ~ 8 s 8 3 4 S w s 9 © 8 W e 8 -a 1 © o o J o s ' % o o © o S 9 'a OO I I J f|Ooqog i 1 1 I •oa srenpuipu] o © :0 o o o M O CO OO 0:00 00 3 ©o :©© (Own (n CO J *©7ST^~cl 5T © ©© © © © : •«* «*<*• ^ <*© S SS S «cn *0 09 .— Tillage, 90, 93, 98 King's cairn, the, 94 1 Kingsdale house, 379 King's gate, the, 809 Kingskettle, parish of, 102 Kingsmuir, history of the property of, 362 — house, 950— plantations at, 945— quarry, 946 King's wud end, death jrf Alexander III. at, 805 Kinkell cave, 451 Kinloch, village of, 30 Kinloss, Lord, 697 Kinnear, Charles, Esq/26 Kinnear, barons of, 549 — quarry at, 536 Kinninmonth quarry, 518 Kirkcaldy, parish and town of; 740— agri- cultural association, 756— chamber of commerce, 158 Kirkaldy, Sir James, of Grange, 807- Sir William, t6. ^^ Kirk craig of Kingborn, 801 Kirkforthar house, 668 Kirk heuch of St Andrews, 460 Kirkland spinning mills, 394, 397— vil- lage, 398, 400 Kirldands house,799— mberal8pring,518 Kirkmay, coal at, 946— house, 952 Kirkton of Balmermo, 578— of Barntis- land, 404, 414, 415— of Lai^o, 441 Knockdavie castle, ruins of; 414 Knox, David, bequest by, 17— John, no- tices of; 465 Lackerstone, barrow called, 106 Ladedda hill, 520— lime quarry, 521 Lady bum, 1, 2 Lady well, Bahherino, 580— Falkland, 938 Lamberlaws, camp on, 413 Lamont, John, 378 Landale, David, bleachfield o$ 676 Land owners, 9, 30, 50, 64, 92, 106, 115, 124, 133, 166, 175, 188, 196,220,238, 252, 267, 286, 307, 327, 342, 364, 378, 392, 412, 428, 437, 446, 462, 500, 507, 523, 540, 567, 583, 600, 618, 639,689, 703, 718, 723, 732, 748,771,783,788, 799, 808, 847, 917, 953, 378 Lappa, rocks at, 921 Largo, parish of; 434— bay, 317, 434— house, 435, 437— law, 316, 434— Til- lage, 436, 442 Largoward, chapel at, 833 — collieries, 322 Lathallan collieries, 322— house, 326 Lathalmond, limestone quarry of; 836 Lathockar bridge, 913— trees at, 306 Lathones, village of, 307 Lawrence, Abbot of Lindoree, 66 Laurie of Hill Cairnie, family of; 544 Law, Rev. Mungo, 132 Law courts of Dunfermline, 895 Law know of Carnock, 706 Leases, 43, 85, 125, 137, 156, 168, 178, 199, 215, 243, 256, 271, 288, 310,331, 346, 384, 431, 440, 447, 475,510,527, 549, 570, 605, 622, 650, 671,708,724, 778, 795, 812, 886, 959, 978 Lesley, Sir Andrew de, 599 — Norman, & Leslie, Sir John, 124, 418, 437— Oeneral, 341,657 Leslie, parish of, HI — green, tradition regarding, 115 — house, 112, 113, 116 —village,, 112, 113,116 Lesly, John, of Parkhill, 50— Abbot of , Lindores, 67 Letham colliery, 835— hill, Draidkal re- mains on, 239-— village of; 44 Leuchars, parish of, 217 — church, rate- INDEX. 1001 ration and description of, 220— castle, mini of, 223— village of 224, 227 Leven, fint Earl of; 666, 667 Leven water, 111, 112, 195— Tillage of, 269 279 Libraries, 16, 45, 88, 100, 121, 144, 164, 203, 229, 247, 259, 275, 292, 388, 401, 423, 433, 444, 493, 526, 608, 714, 739, 768, 818, 903, 940, 982 Lighthouse, Inchkeith, 820— May, 612, '943 Limekilns, Tillage, bay, and harbour of, 823, 824, 874, 896 Lindores Abbey, history and description of; 61, 62, 64— battle of; 52— house, ib. loch, 28, 49 Lindsay, Sir David, of the Mount, 39, 788, 982— of Balcarres, family o£ 827 —of Pitscottie, birthplace of, 525— Lord, of Byres, 668— of Kirkforthar, origin of the family of; 669— David Aytone, Esq. 951 Linen trade of Kirkcaldy, history, Ac. of, 752 Lingo, soil at, 914 Links of Burntisland, 408— of Elie, 279 —of St Andrews, 451 Linktown of Abbotahall, 159 Live stock, breeds of; 10, 32, 43, 48, 53, 75, 83, 97, 107, 156, 168, 199, 215, 226, 251, 255, 270, 309, 331, 368, 382, 416, 431, 440,474, 510, 526, 547,570, 589, 604, 622, 648, 670, 708, 724, 794, 812, 881, 885, 958, 978 Loch, remarkable, Dunearn hill, 407 Lochend loch, 829 LochgeUy collieries, 170— hill, 166— vil- lage, 166, 170 Lochmalonie house, 538— property, 551 Lochore, plantations on, 446 — loch, drainage of, 447 Lochty bleachfield,676— water, 128, 195 Lochy hill, 633 Logan, Rev. Allan, 731 Logie, parisn of, 426— house, antiquities in, 857— law, 596 Lomond hills, 112, 656, 775, 922 Long Annat point, 827 Long Craig island, 827, 828 Longevity, instances of, in AbbotshaU, 147—Anstnither, 298, 612— Babne- rino, 579— Ceres, 517— Collessie, 22 w-Ciail, 945— Creich, 632— Cupar, 2 —Dysart, 136 — Forgan, 506 — Kilcon- quhar, 329— Kilmany, 343— Kinghorn, 802-Kirkcaldy, 741— St Andrews, 452 Longman's grave, the,* 956 Lordscairnie castle, 789— loch, drainage of, 786 Lower Largo, village of, 436, 442 Low, Provost, 871 Lowries Know, barrow called, 106 Luckland hill, 218, 219 Lumsdaine, Sir James, 976 Lunardi, balloon, ascent of, 524 Lundin, family at, 438 Lundin house, 435, 438— standing stones o£ 267 Lundin mill, village o£ 442 Luscar dean, 695 — hill, 690— house, 706 Luthrie, village of, 632, 651 Lyndemus hill, 596 Lyne burn, 829 Lyon, Sir John, 805 M'Cormack, Principal, 589 Macbeth, defeat of the Danes by, 805 Macduff, Thane of Fife, 50 Macduff^ castle, 393, 665— cave, 319— cross, 52, 70 M'Indoe, Rev. Robert, 765 M'Lean, Rev. Allan, bequest by, 902 Madras College, St Andrews, 482 Magus muir, 460 Maiden Castle, ruins of the, 29, 664— rock, 451 Maitland, Admiral, 51— -Mr, improve- ments by, 33 Major, John, 461 Malcolm Canmore, charter of; 477— burial place o£ 852, 853— ruins of tower of, 822, 848 Manufactures, 11, 31, 44, 75, 85, 98, 108. 119, 135, 137, 157, 226, 244, 257, 272, 298, 332, 347, 885, 897, 416,441, 476, 511, 527, 546, 572, 592, 606, 651,672, 709, 718, 724, 752, 774, 778, 784, 812, 886, 936 Mar, the Earl of, 412 Margaret, Queen, 822, 853 Markets and fairs, 12, 19, 76, 86, 98, 101, 109, 120, 122, 126, 145, 159,201,227, 229, 247, 277, 289, 299, 383, 372, 390, 425, 478, 495, 512, 528, 552, 576, 593, 606, 609, 624, 629, 710, 739,757, 779, 819,912,936,961,981 Markinch, parish of; 655— village, tk— hill, &— remains on, 663— comparative states of, 688 Marshall, Rev. Thomas, 702 Martine, history of St Andrews by, 458 Mary of Guise, residence of, at Falkland, 928 Mary, Queen, residence of, at Falkland, 928 Masterton, village of, 874 May isle and lighthouse, 611, 612, 942 Mechanics' institute, Dunfermline, 868 — library, St Andrews, 493 Medicine well, Dysart, 128 Melville, Sir James, 27 — of Raith, 39 — George, 1 st Earl of, to.— James, &, 300, 975— Andrew, 39,46'^— George, 152— Sir John, of Abden, 809 — Laird of Carnbee, 916 Melville house, 41 — meteorological ob- servations taken at, 37 Mercer,Mr,hi8toryofDunfermlineby,845 1008 FIFB80IRE. Meteorology, see Climate Methill, village and harbour o£ 398, 400 —chapel at, 403 Methill mill, ruins of chapel at, 893 Middlefield home, 8 Middlefoodie burn, 771— village, 774 Miglo water, 775 Mileamark, village of, 874 Miller of Ballomill, tradition regarding the, 29 Millhills quarry, 841 Milton of Balgonie, village of, 682 Miltown, village o£ 675 Mineralogy, see Geology Mineral springs, Ceres, 518— Dysart, 128 Kinghorn, 802— St Andrews, 454 Ministers of Abbotshall, 161— Anstruther Easter, 297— Balmerino, 593— Cam- bee, 918— Crail, 967— Creich, 639— Dairsie, 774— Flisk, 707— Kemback, 726— Kilmany, 539— Moonzie, 796— Strathmiglo, 777— Wemyss, 399 Minto, Lord, improvements by, 168 Mitchell, Admiral Sir Andrew, 870 Mitchelsone, Rev. John, 412 Moir, James, 871 Monastery of Dunfermline, 857— Inch - colm, 717— St Andrews, 466, 468 Moncriefe, Rev. John, 807 Moncrieff of Reedie, fiunily of, 783 Monimail, parish of; 37 — village o£ 44 Monks moss, 30, 31 Monkston, village o£ 30 Mons Grampius, battle of; 777 Monthrive house, 268 Monumental stones, Cults, 568— King- horn, 810— Largo, 438 Monzieburn, 219, 786 Moonzie, parish o£ 786 Moothill of Cupar, the, 3 Mortimer* deep, origin of the name, 717 Motray water, 533, 534, 578, 632, 771 Moultry burn, 219 Mount hill, 37 Mount Melville house, 307 Mount Pleasant hill, 404 Mountquhanie house, 533, 544— proper- ty, 551— quarry, 536 Mowbray, Sir Robert, of Cockairney, 182, 188 Moves, Charles, 50— Dr Henry, ib. Mucros, ancient name of St Andrews, 449 Mugdrum island, 58— cross, 68 — house, 72— wood, 62 Muir Craig, farm of, 550 Murdoch, farm of, 551 Myres castle, 783 Myres of Kinghorn, the, 800 Nails, manufacture at, Dysart, 137 Nairne of St Fort, fiunily of; 507— Lord, 508— Rev. Thomas, 161 Naughton house and castle, 577, 578, 586, 588 Neilson and Co., mills of, 394, 397 Neth«^ateofCraiI,nnmierya4,955 . Nether Kilrenny harbour, 975 Nether Tyne bkachfiekl, 812 Nettles, Jenny, 933 Newark house, ruins o£ 343 Newbarns house, 977 Newbiggmg, basaltic columns at, 518 — house, 415, 706 — lime quarries, 408 — village, 257 Newburgh, parish and town o£ 56 Newburn, parish of, 124 Newhall, quarries at, 946— tower, ruins of, 947 Newington, property of, 551 Newmill house, 771— village, 733 Newport ferry, 512— harbour, 506, 514 —village, 508 Newspapers, Cupar, 16— Kirkcaldy, 768 Newton hill, 506 Newton of Falkland, village o£ 936 Newtown of Abbotahall, Tillage of, 159 Nine wells, the, 58 Norman* law, 49, 205, 534, 596 Nome* law, remains found on, 439 North Church, Dunfermline, quoad sacra pariah o£ 897 North Glassmount house, remains at, 810 North Queensferry, village of; 237, 242, 244,876 Nunnery, remains o£ in Crail, 955— in Dunino, 356, 365 NuthiU, Roman camp at, 981 Nydie-hiUs, 720— quarries, 475 Oakfield, village of, 176 Oakley house, 799— loch, 728 Oar water, 128, 148, 166, 168, 195 Oberwill, William de, 829 Ochil hills, 426, 532, 631, 775 Ochre pits, Sooonie, 266— Wemyss, 395 Ogilvie, Rev. John, 27— Alexander, of the Boyne, 637 Ogilvies, defeat of the, by the Crawford* 790 Oil, preparation o^ 418 Oliver* Knoll, 413 Organic remains, Anattuther Wester, 614 — Burntisland, 407 — Ceres, 522— Cults, 56— Jtanfermline, 835, 838, 841 —Dysart, 129— Kemback, 721— KU- many, 538— Kinghorn, 803 — Lenchar* 219— Markinch, 658— Moonzie, 787 —Wemyss, 391 Ornithological Society, Dunfermline), 893 Orrock hill, 405— basaltic columns at, 407 Osnaburgh, village o& 774 Oswald, James, of Dunnikier, 747 Otterston house and loch, 181, 182 Outh quarry, 840 Over Kellie, limestone at, 916 Paintings, the Tome, 733— Wilkie* early, 556 Palace of Dunfermline, ruins of the, 849 Paper mills, Markinch, 672 Parbroath castle, ruins of, 645 4 INDEX. 1008 Parknook and Blackburn, village of, 874 Parliament, meeting of, at St Andrews, 459 Parliament Square, Falkland, 937 Parish registers of Anstruther, extracts from, 297, 619— of Auchtermuchty, 782— of Beath, 175 — of Burntisland, 413— of Carnock, 696, 703— of Ceres, 523— of Dunbog, 210— of Dunfermline, 848— of Dunino, 363— of Flisk, 600 — of Inverkeitbing, 238— of Kitmany, 541, 542— of Markmch, 678, 683— of St Andrews, 463— of Torryburn, 729— of Wemyss,393 Pathhead, village of, 127, 135, 139 Patiemuir, village of, 874 Paten's collection of antiquities, 857 Pauperism, see Poor Peashills, remains found at, 587 Pended tower, ruins of the, 852 Pettycur harbour, 801 , 8 1 5 Phelp, Robert, Esq. bequest by, 163, 765, 767, 817, 818 Pier of Burntisland, the, 420 Pitblado house, 8 Pitcairly wood, 62 Pitcaim, Dr, birthplace of, U5-r-Rev. Alexander, 539— Robert, 861— Joseph, Esq. 917, 91-0 Pitcarthie, monumental stone at, 976 Pitcullo castle, ruins of, 223 Pitdinnis plantations, 696 Piteadie castle, ruins of, 810 Pitferrane, family of, 868 Pitkeerie wood, 913 Pitlessie fair, Wilkie's painting of, 20, 567 Pitlessie hill, 558— quarries, 570— village, 568, 574 Pitormie house, 771 Pitreavie, battle of, 865 Pitreavie's hospital, 904 Pitscottie, spinning mills at, 527 — quarry, 518 Pittairthy castle, ruins of, 365 Pittencrieff glen, 822— quarry, 841 Pittendriech, origin of the name of, 366 Pittenweem, parish of, 983— town, 984— priory, 985 Pitulloch, Andrew, monument to, 6 Plague in Dunfermline, the, 865 Plantations and planting, 22, 31, 62, 107, 113, 130, 136, 150, 167, 199,220,236, 805, 324, 339, 366, 371, 381,391,410, 427, 435, 440, 446, 457, 473,509, 538, 547, 579, 599, 647, 695, 707, 720, 743, 751, 844, 945 Playfeir, Dr James, 462 Poaching in Auchterderran, 167— in Les- lie, 118 Poor, management of the, 17, 35, 46, 55, 79, 87, 100, 110, 121, 126, 144, 162, 171, 180, 191, 203, 217, 229,247,259, 276, 292, 303, 313, 335, 354,373, 389, 402, 423, 433, 444, 448, 494, 505, 516, 531, 556, 575, 594, 608, 628,653,686, 714, 719, 727, 739, 769,775,780,785, 797, 800, 318, 906, 919, 940, 969, 982 Population, returns, character, &c of the, 8, 30, 41, 52, 72, 84, 93, 106, 116, 125, 135, 154, 166, 176, 188, 198,212, 223, 253, 269, 287, 298, 307, 328, 344, 366, 379, 394, 400, 428, 439, 447, 471, 501, 508, 525, 544, 568, 588, 602, 620, 645, 669, 706, 718, 723, 733, 749, 773, 777, 783, 792, 799, 811, 878, 917, 956, 977, 986 Pottery, Abbotshall, 157 Prestonhall house, 8 Priest's burn, 49 Printing, St Andrews, 497 Prior walls and croft, Crail, 964 Prior well, Balmerino, 580 Prior Letham Sycamore, the, 306 Priory of Crail, the, 964 — May island, 612 — Pittenweem, 985 — St Andrews, 466 Prisons, Burntisland, 424— Cupar, 18 — Dunfermline, 872, 910— Dysart, 145— Earlsferry, 336— Inverkeithing, 247— Kinghorn, 818— Kirkcaldy, 770— St Andrews, 495 — St Momma, 54 Produce, average annual, 11, 34, 44, 58, 75, 85, 96, 108, 119, 125, 169, 177, 190, 200, 216, 226,257,269, 311, 331, 345, 368, 385, 396, 416, 476, 502, 511, 549, 572, 606, 623, 650, 671, 709, 795, 812, 882 Provisions, prices of, at various periods, 42 Pundlert Know, barrow called, 106 Quarantine frigate, the, 242 Quarries, freestone, 1 1, 23, 105, 196, 243, 257, 305, 346, 358, 408, 435, 475, 502, 559, 572, 605, 651, 693, 776, 841, 946, 978 — limestone, 91, 105, 149, 169, 250, 257, 305, 323, 340, 406, 408, 435, 448, 520, 560, 570, 837, 916, 946— whinstone, 23, 47, 219, 243, 257, 475, 510, 518, 536, 605, 651, 693, 840 Queen of the Dean, tree called, 695 Queen's house, Dunfermline, ruins of tne, 851 Queensferry, North, town ofj 237, 242, 244, 876 Quern found in Collessie, 28— in Creich, 644 Radernie lime quarries, 305 — village, 307 Railroads, Dunfermline, 895 Rain, fall o£ Dunfermline, 826— St An- drews, 454 Raith house, 153, 801— lake, 148— pro- perty, 153— tower, 150, 158 Ramsay, Sir Andrew, 152— Sir William, 791 Randerstone, headland, 90 Rankeilour house, 41 Rathillet hill and house, 538 — property, of, 551 Ravenscraig castle, ruins of, 133 1004 F1FE8HIBE. Rector of St Andrew* University, the, 490 Red rocks at Dysart, the, 135 Redcnigs quarry, the, 840 Reddie, J., of Kedhouse, improvements by, 169 Redwalls house, ruins e£ 950 — planta- tions at, 945 Red wells hill, 195 Reed Society of Kennoway, the, 336 Refectory of Dunfermline, ruins of the, 851 Regulus, a monk, traditions regarding, 449, 497 Reid, William, improvements by, 650— John, bequest by, 903 Relief chinch, origin of the, 238, 701 Rent, rates of, 10, 32, 43, 52, 73, 85, 96, 107, 125, 137, 155, 167, 178, 190, 199, 214, 225, 243, 254, 269, 288, 309, 331, 845, 366, 382, 395, 416, 430, 440, 447, 473, 502, 509, 526, 547, 569, 589, 603, 622, 647, 671, 709, 718, 723, 736, 752, 774, 778, 784, 794, 799, 81 1, 812, 883, 917, 935, 978, 987 Reres hill, 316, 319 Resby, Jacob, death of; 66, 459 Reston, Lord, 115 Rhynds house, 799 .Richard IL, destruction of Dunfermline by, 863 Richardson, Rev. Mr, settlement of, 702 Roads and bridges, 12, 34, 44, 53, 77, 86, 98, 103, 120, 140, 160, 170, 178, 201, 227, 257, 274, 289, 299, 31 1, 333, 348, 371, 386, 398, 419, 432, 442, 479, 512, 528, 553, 573, 593, 607, 624, 652, 711, 715, 736, 760, 774, 779, 781,796, 814, 895, 936, 959, 981 Roadstead, Burntisland, 420 Robinson Crusoe, birthplace of the origi- nal, 436 Rock and spindle, rock called the, 456 Roman camps, remains, &c Bailingry, 446— Camock, 697, 705— Cults, 565— Dunearn, 411 — Dunino, 366— Kem- back, 722— Kinglassie, 197— Largo, 439— Leslie, 116— Leuchars, 223— Markinch, 663— Saline, 799 Rope works, Dunfermline, 899 | Roscobie hills, 824 — limestone quarries, 837, 838, 839— village, 874 Roasend castle, history of, 413 Rossie loch, drainage of, 22, 33 Roaslyn, Earl of, 135 Rosyth castle, ruins of, 239— church, ruins of, 246, 824 Rothes, family of, 114, 115, 599 Rothes bleachfield, 676— paper mills, 672 Rothesay, Duke of, notices of, 458, 924 Row, Rev. John, death and monument of, 699, 700— Principal, 700 Rowe, Rev. William, 523 Rowle, John, 985 Royal George, relic of the, 438 Rule, tradition regarding, 449 Russell and Co. bleachfield of, 573— Lord William, 772 Russell mill factory, 57S Rutherford, Samuel, 462 St Adrian, alleged coffin o( 620 St Adrian's chapel, ruins o£ 612 St Andrews, town and parish at, 449— its origin, ib. 450— links, 451— its his- tory, 458 — first archbishop, 459— an- tiquities, 464— cathedral, 465— priory, 466— castle, 458, 467— shipping, &c 477— Madras college, 482— university, 486 St Andrew's Church, Dunfermline, 897 St Ann's bleaching company, 527 St Rennet's chapel, ruins of, 223 St Bricedale house, 749 St Colme house, 188 St David's, harbour and village o£ 183, 184, 188 St Dennis' chapel, ruins o£ 134 St Fort hill, 506— house, 508— property, 507— woods, 509 St Glass's well, 194 St John's well, Balmerino, 580— Falk- land, 938 St Leonard, 497 St Leonard's, parish o£ 497— college, St Andrew's, 487— hospital, Dunfermline, 904— spiimng-mills, 810, 813— tower, ruins of, 808 St Margaret's Hope, 231— -origin of the name, 237 St Mary's burn, 1, 2 St Mary's chapel yard, 938 St Mary's college, St Andrews, 488 St Michael's church, site o£, 5 St Minim's chapel, 966 St Monans or Abercrombie, parish of, 337— cell, 350, 966— history and de- scription of the church, 350— village, 338, 344, 347 St MugghVS seat, 601 St Phillans or Forgan, parish of; 505 St Regulus or Rule K 449, 498 St Regulus' tower, ruins of, 464 St Rums' priory and chapel, ruins of, 964 St Salvatort chapel, 502, 503— college, 487— tower, 492 Saline, parish o£ 798— hills, 830— vil- lage, 799 Salmon fishing, state of the law of, 590 Salt, manufacture of; Dysart, 130— St David\ 186— Wemyss, 397 Sandilands, Sir James, 337 Sauchieburn, 195 Sauchope, standing stones at, 948, 955 Sauchur point, 283 Savings banks, 17, 45, 88, 100, 144, 171, 259, 276, 335, 354, 388, 401 , 423, 444, 494,714,769,785,818,891 Scarlet fever, ravages o£ in Elie, 283 Scathe stone, the, 976 School hill of Cupar, 3* 5— ef Burnt- island, 404 3 INDEX. 1005 Schools, see Education Scientific association, Dunfermline, 903 Scone, Lord, 929 Scoonie, parish of; 264 Scott, Rot. William, 6— Michael, resi- dence and history of, 150, 151 — of Bal- wearie, -family of, 151— Thomas, Lord Abbotshall, 152-Sir William of Ar- dioss,.279 Scrymgeour, Rev. John, 807 Sculptured stones, Creich, ^40— Dun- fermline, 849 Scurr hill, 678, 531 Sea, supposed encroachments of the, 427 — various inundations of, 620 Seafield tower, ruins of, 810 Seaton, chancellor, burial place of, 19 r Seatons of Clatto, tradition regarding, 1 06 Seggie distillery, 226 Selden, Archbishop, 746 Selkirk, Alexander, birthplace of, 436 Sonatas Academicus of St Andrews, 490 Seton of Parbroath, fiunily of, 638— Alex- ander, first Earl of Dunfermline, 861, 866 Shank, Rev. Mr, bequest by, 819 Sharpe, Archbishop, 83, 460, 518, 954 Sheep, see Live -Stock Ship-building, Burntisland, 418 Shipping belonging to Aberdour, 718 — Anstruther Easter, 299— and Wester, 623,624— to Burntisland, 419— Crail, 963— Dunfermline, 891— Dysart, 139 — Inverkeithing, 244— Kinghorn, 81 3 —Kirkcaldy, 756— Largo, 441— Le- ven,27S— Newhurgh,76— St Andrews, 477— St Monans, 847 Shipwreck, losses of life by, St Monans, 341 Sibbald of Balgonie, 667— Dr George, .916 Sinclair, John, of Balgregie, 167 Sinclair town, village o£ 135, 139 Skeith stone, 976 Smibert, Rev. Mr, 539 Smith, Adam, birthplace, Ac. of, 115, 747— Michael, spinning mills of; 774 Smuggling in Auchterderran, 167— Dy- sart, 136— Kirkcaldy, 751— Leuchars, 224 Snuff-mill, Cupar, 11 Soap work, Draifermline, 890 Societies, religious and charitable, 1 4, 16, 36, 142, 162, 247, 302, 335, 352, 388, 423, 443, 482, 493, 626, 687,738, 766, 769,816,901 Sommerville, Mrs, 412 Southesk, Earls of, 220 Southfield house, 783 South Letham colliery, 836 Spankie, Sergeant, 933 Spinning mills, Ceres, 527— Cults, 678 —Cupar, 11— Dairsie, 7 7 4— Dunferm- line, 890— Kemback, 724— Kingdom, 810, 813— Kirkcaldy, 755 — Largo, 441— Markinch, 773— Scoonie, 272— Strathmiglo, 779 Spital burn, 829 Spottiswoode, Sir Robert, execution of, 459— Archbishop, 461, 583, 772— Dr John, of Dairsie, 772 Spowart, James, of Venture&ir, 833 Springfield house, 8— village, to. Stake-nets, decision of the law courts against, 691 Star, village of, 380 Starly burn, 405— harbour at, 420 Starr, farm of, 551— stone coffins found at, 544 Stenhouse, ruins of tower on, 414 Stewart, Duncan, 664 Stocks, Mr, of Arden, tenure of his pro- perty, 809 Stone, Jerome, birthplace o£ 267 Stone coffins found in Abbotshall, 150 — Abdie, 51— Aberdour, 717— Anstru- ther, 620— Balmerino, 687— Burntis- land, 414— Colleasie, 29— Creich, 644 — Flisk, 601— Kihnany, 544— Kings- barns, 92— Kirkaldy, 748— Largo, 439 Leslie, 116— 'Leuchars, 223— Moni- mail, 41— Moonzie, 792— Scoonie, 268 Stones of Lundin, the, 267 Stormont, first Viscount, 931 Stratheden,d21 Strathendry, improvements at, 123 — house, 116 Strathkiness quarries, 474— village and chapel, 479, 481 Strathmiglo, perish of; 776— village, 779 —rocks at, 921 Strathore house, 749 Strange, James, Esq. 424 Stravithy castle, ruins of; 365 Struthers house, ruins of; 624 Submarine forest, Flisk, 597 Sunnybank, limestone quarry of, 839 — eandstone, 841 Swan, Messrs, spinning mills of, 810, 81 3 Swinkie hill, urns found at, 955 Sword of the Bruce, the, 856 Sypsies, limestone at, 972— loch, 944 Tanneries, Anstruther, 298 — Dunferm- line, 890— Kilcenquhar, 332 Tarvit house, 8— spinning mills, 527— tower, ruins of; 524 Tay river, 56, 57, 82, 506, 578, 579, 592, 596 Tayfield house, 508 Teesses house, 525— limestone quarries of, 520 Temple, village o£ 442 Templehall house, 718 Tennant, professor, birth-place of, 297 Tents moor, the, 219 Tenure, curious, 809 Tequliats, Quarry of, 520 Teuchats, lime quarry of, 520 Thirdpart woods, 974— house, 977 Thomas, Earl of Kellia, 916 1006 FIFB8HIRB. Thomson, Mr, Kilmany, improvement* by, 538 — Rev. James, monument Us 542— John A., bequest by, 656— William, be- quest by, 627— John, bequest by, 768, 769— Rev, Mr, bequest by, 919 Thornton, collieries at, 661 — vitriol ma- nufactory, 677— village and chapel, 682 Three trees of Dysart, tradition regarding, 183 Tides in the Frith of Forth, the, 405, 827 Tiel water, 148, 249, 801 Tiger Earl of Crawford, the, 789 Tile works, Dunfermline, 890 Tindal, Rev. John, 540 Tobacco, manufacture o& Dunfermline, 890 Tod, George, Esq. of Luthrie, 649, 651 Tolhries, stone called, 732 Toldrie, urn found at, 955 Torrie burn, 728— collieries, to. — house, &, 783— paintings, 783— village, ib. Torryburn, parish of, 727— village, 732, 733 Tour or Tower burn, 829 Tower of Carnock, the, 705— of St Re- gulus,464 Towers, ruins o£ Saline, 799 Tower hill, Dunfermline, 823 Town hall, Anstruther, 619 Townhill colliery, 834, 837— village of, 874 Town house, St Andrews, 470 Town loch, Dunfermline, 823 Traquair, Earl of; 266 Trees, remarkable, Abbotahall, 150— Ca- meron, 306— Forgan, 509— Largo, 435 Trinity church of St Andrews, the, 470 Troustrie, quarry at, 946 Tullideph, Principal, 462 Tullis and Co., paper mills of; 672 Tumuli, Aberdour, 717 — Burntisland, 414— Collessie, 28— Kemback, 722— Kettle, 106— Leslie, 116— Saline, 799 —Scoonie, 268— Strathmiglo, 777 Turcot, bishop of St Andrews, 461 Tyne, ruins of chapel at, 810 Union, effects of the, on Dysart, 182 University commission, the, 491 University of St Andrews, the, 486 Urns, ancient, found in Abbotahall, 150 — Abdie, 51— Aberdour, 717 — Car- nock, 705— Collessie, 29— Crail, 955 — Creich, 644 — Cults, 565— Dunino, 366— Flisk, 601 — Kilmany, 544 — Largo, 439 — Scoonie, 268 Urquhart, the first Lord, 861, 866 Urquhart quarry, 841 Venturefair colliery, 834 Vitriol manufactory, Markinch, 677 Wages, rates of, 42, 53, 73, 85, 97, 107, 119, 167,178, 187,200,214,243,253, 254, 270,288, 299, 309, 831, 346, 382, 416, 431, 447, 474, 509, 547, 570, 589, 603, 622, 647, 671, 724, 813, 882, 884, 889, 935, 959, 978 Wallace, Sir William, 52 Wallsend colliery, the, 831 Walton hill, 558— Roman remains on, 565— village, 574 Wardlaw, bishop, 478, 486— femilv of, 869— Sir Henry, 870, 904 Watson, Mr, bequest by, 422— Principal, 462 Weaving, Abbotahall, 157— Aberdour, 718 — Auchtermuchty, 784— Balmeri- no, 588, 592— Carnock, 709— Creich, 651— Cults, 572— Dairsie, 774— Dun- fermline, 886— Dysart, 138— Ferry Port-on-Craig, 85 — Forgan, 511 — Kennoway, 385— Kettle, 108— K3- conquhar, 332 — Kilmany, 546 — Kingsbarns, 98 — Kirkcaldy, 752 — Leslie, 119— Leuchars, 226— Mark- inch, 674— Newburgh, 75— St Mo- nans, 347 — Scoonie, 272— Strathmi- glo, 778 — Torryburn, 735 Wedderslie hill, 31 Wellwood, Andrew, of Garvock, 833 Wellwood collieries, 833, 835— village, 874 Wemyss, Rev.Patrick, 161— Sir Michael, 392— Captain, 402— Principal, 600— Rev. David, 913,918 Wemyss, parish of, 390 — castle, 391, 353 —hall, 7— villages, 898, 400 West, John, the mathematician, 428 West of Fife Agricultural Association, 893 West Balrymonth hill, 450 Westbarns house, 977 Westbridge, village of; 811 — quoad taera parish of, 815 West Coaltown, village of, 398, 400 Wester Anstruther, parish of, 61 1— town, 620, 623, 629 Wester Bogie house, 154 Wester Oallaton, village of, 139 Westfield house, 8 West Lomond hill, 775 Westport of Falkland, the, 937 West Wemyss, ruins of chapel at, 393— village and harbour, 398, 400 Whale fishing, Burntisland, 417— Kirk- caldy, 766 Whinny hall, quarries of, 406 Whinny hill, the, 696 Whirly Kip cairn, &c 601 Whitehill cottage, 718 Wild boar, former abundance o£ St An- drews, 456 Wilkie, Sir David, birthplace, Sec of, 26, 565— Professor, 462— Rev. Robert, 500— Rev. David, 565, 567 Wilson, Dr, 462 Winds, prevalent, Dunfermline, 826 Windsor Castle, wreck of the, 943 Winram, superior of St Andrews, 364 Winthank,- quarries of; 305 INDEX. 1007 Wishart, George, martyrdom o£ 459— bishop, 468 Witch lake, the, 456 Witchcraft in Anstruther, 612— Dysart, 138— Newburgh, 73— Torryburn, 782 Wood, John, bequest by, 126— Rev. James, 864— Sir Andrew, 436, 438— John, 436— Mrs, bequest by, 442— Professor, 462 Wood of Forth, site of the, 434 Wood's hospital, 444 Woods, see Plantations Woodhaven harbour, 506, 514— ferry, 512 Woodhill quarry, 840 Woodside, village o& 442 Woodtop quarry, 520 Wormistone house, 951 — plantations, 945 Wormit bay, 506, 578— den, 578 Wyntoun, Andrew, 461 Yoolfield mills, 527, 724 Zoology, 4, 39, 48, 113, 196, 207, 283, 251, 325, 359, 409, 428, 456, 536, 598, 618, 694, 724, 844, 923, 972 Errata, P. 315, line 5, for Ceauniuchair read Ceann-iuchair and KQ-ceauniuchair or Kilcon- quhar. P. 989, et seq. for population 1831, read population 1841. EDINBURGH : PRINTED BT STARK AND COMPANY, OLD ASSEMBLY CLOSE, KINROSS CONTENTS. CLEISH, • • PAGE 32 KINROSS, ... 1 ORWELL, . • .52 PORTMOAK, .... 30 PARISH OF KINROSS. PRESBYTERY OF DUNFERMLINE, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. GEORGE BUCHANAN, D.D. MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name. — The name was formerly written Kynross or Kynrosse. The word is of Gaelic origin, signifying the head of the promontory, and referring to the position of the parish at the extremity of a point of land running into the lake. This seems to be a better explanation of the name of the town and parish than that assigned in the former Statistical Account, viz. that it stands at the head of that tract lying betwixt the Friths of Forth and Tay, which bad the appellation of. Rose or the Peninsula* The etymology now given has the sanction of Christopher Irvine, whose work, entitled Historic* Seoticct Nomenclature contains these words : " Kinrossium. The town of Kinross, lying at the beginning or bead of a point of land that runneth into the west side of Lochleven, and this is the rea- son of its name in the old language." (See his work, p. 117, Edin- burgh, 168a) Extent, jrc.— The parish of Kinross hardly extends 4 miles in length from east to west, and 3£ from south to north, and con- tains about 14 square miles. It is bounded on the east by the lake, (which leaves only a small portion of land betwixt it and the town,) and part of the parish of Orwell ; on the south, by an angle of the parish of Portmoak and by the parish of Cleisb ; on the west, by the united parish of Tullibole and Fossaway ; and on the north, by that of Orwell. It forms a sort of trapezium. There are no eminences within the parish to which the appel- lation of mountains, or even of hills, can in strict propriety be ap- plied, and hence its area is often called the laiyh or level of Kin- ross, presenting, in this respect, a striking contrast to the heights of the four adjoining parishes. The surface of Lochleven is 360 feet and odds above the level of the sea; but the most elevated portion of the parish is not 100 feet above the surface of the lake. Meteorology. — The altitude of the parish, the range of the Cleish and Ochil hills skirting it both on the south and north, and KINROSS. A 2 KINROSS-SHIRE. the evaporation of the waters of the lake, all concur in rendering the climate of Kinross parish, moist, cold, and variable. So for as this climate depends on evaporation, a great improvement has been accomplished, and will go on, by means of the recent operations upon Lochleven, and the increasing exertions of cultivators of the soil to convert wet land into dry ; of which, more particular men- tion will be made in a subsequent part of this account About sixty years ago, agues were very prevalent, in consequence of the marshes and stagnant water which then abounded. Now, a case of ague is seldom to be met with. Rheumatism, often pro- ceeding from the same causes as ague, or at least very much ag- gravated by them, is both of rare occurrence and less severe than before. It is also not unworthy of remark, that our harvest frosts, which some years ago left the potato stems in the lower grounds alto* gether black, while in the upper they remained fresh and green, — are now far less frequently attended with these effects. And to what is this so much to be attributed as to a less copious exhalation ? Hydrography. — Throughout this parish, there lie scattered many perennial springs, " as clear as crystal, and as cold as ice," arising from a sandy or gravelly bottom. They yield water of ex- cellent quality. But there is none to which recourse is had for any medicinal or chemical purposes. Among the different objects connected with the parish of Kin- ross, there is none which imparts to it so much celebrity, interest, attraction, and value, as the magnificent sheet of water which forms its eastern boundary. The pen and the pencil have been so often employed in the description of this lake, and have been employed so well, that nothing of the kind is required or will be looked for in this Account. Yet it may not be unnecessary to observe, that while the ope- rations which the lake has given rise to within these few years, have certainly taken from its general impressireness, as well as irom its extent, it still presents an appearance on which the ad- mirer of nature delights to dwell. The appearance referred to, in calm weather, and under an unclouded sky, is that of mild beauty, rather than of picturesque grandeur. Under moonlight, and when " all the air a solemn stillness holds," the views from the road leading to the old church-yard are in no ordinary degree sweet and soothing. Now that Lochleven has been subjected to a considerable drain- KINROSS. 3 age, its extent or circuit is 12 miles, being 3 less than in its ori- ginal state, its depth 14 feet at its medium height, being 4£ feet less than formerly. u The surface of the loch," says Dr Fleming of Aberdeen, in his Interim Report on its Fishings, " previous to the late partial drainage, extended to 4638 imperial acres. It is now diminished from the high-water flood to the top of the spill-water 1095 acres, thus leaving its maximum state at 3543 acres, according to the testimony of the Commissioners. By this mode of estimating the change, the loch would appear to have been diminished about one- fourth of its extent. But the water is seldom if ever allowed to rise to the height of the spill-water. Hence it appears expedient to increase by one-third, 365 acres, the recognized diminution of 1095 acres, thus making in all the diminution of the area of the loch, and its consequent value, as it may be viewed as a fish-pond, of 1460 acres, as equal to one-third of its former dimensions." Within the circuit of Lochleven there are several islands, but all inconsiderable and insignificant, with the exception of two, one of which is the island of St Serf or Servanus, or the Inch, which the pa- rish of Portmoak claims as its own, and which, as such, has been de- scribed in the old Statistical Account of that parish. The other, al- though considerably smaller, being only five acres in extent, is com- monly called the Castle Island or Castle, in consequence of an ancient fort and buildings being connected with it, which cover a great part of its surface. The oldest and largest building, (and for the particulars of which the last Statistical Account may be consulted, ) is ascribed to a king of the Picts. In the absence of any thing like historical certainty on this point, it seems more reasonable to believe that many additions and alterations have taken place in the course of centuries, than to suppose, as Dr Walker (in his Essays on Natu- ral History and Rural Economy, under the head Lochleven,) has done, that, from its form, it appears to have been built in the time of James II. of Scotland, who began to reign in 1436. Indeed, the facts to be afterwards mentioned render such an opinion altogether untenable. When, in the progress of arts and manufacturing industry, a very considerable number of mills and bleachfields, requiring a large and permanent supply of water, had been erected on the Leven, which runs out of the lake, and when in a dry season that supply was often quite inadequate for the purpose, — it became an object of no small m omen t to the owners of these works, to render the basin of Lochleven 4 KINROSS-SHIRE. a reservoir on which they could depend throughout the year. But the means to be employed for this object, were the very same which made it for the interest of the landed proprietors around the lake, and of none so much as the proprietor of Kinross estate^ to unite with the owners of the mills and bleachfields in taking steps to diminish the extent of the lake, — a work which, by lessening its evapora- tion, gave a more equable and steady supply to its outlet, while it added to the arable acres of the district Accordingly, George Graham, Esq. of Kinross, first moved in the scheme, and after him Thomas Graham, Esq. with still more activity. It was not, however, until after the decease of this gentleman, and during the minority of his grandson, Graham Montgomery, Esq. son of Sir James Mont- gomery, Bart, that all opposition and difficulty were surmounted. Geology. — The rocks are sandstone, limestone, and trap or whin- stone. The sandstone consists of two varieties, one of which belongs to the old red sandstone formation, and the other to the under car- boniferous group. No good section of either occurs within the parish, and our knowledge of the existence of the former is chief- ly obtained from an examination of the geognosy and structure of the surrounding district. The old red prevails throughout the en- tire extent of Stratheden, flanking the southern slope of the Ochils from Strathmiglo westwards, and cropping out at various places in the neighbouring parish of Orwell, whence it ranges in a south-westerly direction through the basin of which Kinross occu- pies the centre. It consists of two beds, the lower of which is an extremely coarse conglomerate, containing fragments of quartx, granite, slate, hornblende, felspar, and several members of the trap family, varying from the size of a garden pea to three or four inches in diameter : the upper bed is fine-grained, hard and com- pact, and forms an excellent building stone. The dip varies from an angle of 8° to 12°. No organic remains have been detected in this deposit in any of the quarries in the vicinity. BinoartJ hill rests upon a yellow sandstone, which differs in its mineralogi- cal character from the sandstone of the coal-field, and which is supposed to be more nearly allied to the old red. But the inter- vention of the loch and other obstructions prevent any satisfactory researches being made into the nature of this interesting deposit, so far as its range is connected with the parish of Kinross. The carboniferous sandstone occurs in the western division of the parish on the farm of the property of Mr Spowart It is said to contain beds of coal, but to what extent this valuable combusti- KINROSS, 5 ble exists in the locality is still matter of conjecture only. The position of this rock is sufficiently indicated by its relation to a similar deposit in the adjacent parish of Cleish, where it underlies the mountain limestone : and to the westward a few miles, near the Crook of Devon, the old red again emerges. If such be its true position, as we have every reason to believe that it is, any beds of coal that may be found in it will be such as are characteristic of the group with which it is connected, amounting, as in other places, to two or three in number, and of inconsiderable thickness. Limestone accompanies this sandstone, but of what quality and extent, whether it belongs to the carboniferous limestone, or to the cornstone of the old red sandstone series, we have not the means of determining. No section of these rocks is exposed to view ; a thick covering of aluminous earth overlies the surface ; but the intelligent proprietor, from his excavations and drainings, as well as great practical knowledge of the minerals of the district, has been enabled to ascertain the existence of a calcareous deposit be- neath. Whinstone, or rather porphyry, is no less sparingly distributed in this parish. Two varieties only occur, namely, compact felspar, and claystone porphyry. The former is quarried towards the south side of the parish at Calcarnie, and occupies the ridge to the westwards. This rock is extremely close and compact in texture, and is much used as a road metal. It has a reddish ash-grey colour, and contains minute crystals of hornblende and carbonate of lime. The clay- stone porphyry, which is of a mixed iron-red and ochreous colour, may be observed behind the farm-steading of Calcarnie, and seems to run in the form of a vein in a north-easterly and south-westerly direction. It is traversed by veins of carbonate of lime, and also contains large masses of the same, along with crystals of glassy felspar and augite. It is stained in various places with dark-green spots, which would seem to indicate the presence in small quanti- ties, of copper, and which arise in all probability from the oxida- tion of that metal. Boulders of the primitive rocks are abundant- ly distributed, consisting of granite, quartz, mica slate, born- blende and greenstone. None of these are of very large dimen- sions, but all are much water-worn, and bear sufficient marks of attrition to which they have been subjected in the course of their transportation. Masses of diluvium, of considerable depth, may be observed in several localities, and which consists chiefly of the debris of the old red sandstone. 6 KINROSS-SHIRE. If Mr Spowart, who is well acquainted, and is still connected, with working of coal at Dunfermline, on "an extensive scale, shall fail in discovering, as he once hoped to do, that mineral in his lands in this parish, none need make a subsequent attempt. . Zoology. — Passing from a subject of inquiry, in which, so far as this parish is concerned, little is to be added to the general stock of mineralogical information, the next branch of natural history, viz. zoology, is one in which there is much more variety, and the mate- rials are much more interesting. It is much to be feared that one of the effects of the late partial drainage of the lake, has been the destruction of some of the spe- cies of the fish, together with the diminution of the number and de- terioration of the quality of others. Certain of the sorts of which Dr Walker has written, seem now to be extinct, and the char, Salmo al- pinu8 9 one of the finest fishes of the loch, has almost disappeared; in so much that Dr Fleming, so well known as a zoologist, and who has been appointed a valuator of the damage done to the fishing of Lochleven by the above-mentioned partial drainage, estimates it at L. 73, 6s. 8d. per annum. The three circumstances to which the learned Doctor ascribes this permanent injury are,,/?™*, the cur- tailment of the area of the loch, secondly, the continued abstrac- tion of the fish by the currents at the new sluices, and lastly, the barrenness of the new margin of the lake. The weight of some of the trout has been 6£ lbs. of 22 oz. to the pound ; nay, one was caught nearly 18 lb. Pike has been caught in 1822, wanting only half-a-pound of two stones, or 42 lb. Dutch weight The trouts of Lochleven feed on insects of every description, and very much on red earthworms, and insects from the side of the loch. According to Mr James M'Gill, who has spent the greater part of his life at Kinross, and who is uncommonly well ac- quainted with the natural history of the district, many of the fishes in Lochleven devour others. There are some that prey on min- nows, and some on shell-fish of every description ; but these last are trouts of inferior quality. That which seems to give the high colour to the fish of the lake, is the animalculae they feed on, im- perceptible to the naked eye. These minute insects are very abundant, and trouts in full season are always gorged with them. They resemble jelly after they have remained a little while in the stomach of the fish. When the contents of their stomach are not dried, the colour is of a light pink ; when dried, red. The fishing of Lochleven, which begins on the first of January KINROSS. I Mid ends on the first of September, is at present let for seven years, at L. 204 per annum. The price of trout, which thirty years ago was 4d. is now Is. a-pound at Kinross, although often lower at Edinburgh, Glasgow, and even at Manchester, where there has been of late a regular market for it. Pikes are sold at 2d. a-pound, and perches, which are most plentiful during the heat of summer, at 2d. a-dozen. There is now no stated fishing of eels, as for- merly, from August till December. Two boats and four boatmen are employed during one part of the fishing season. The two men employed throughout the whole of it have lis. a- week; the other two, whose labours are confined to the summer months only, 10s. With regard to the fishes, it is further to be noticed, that they ascend the tributary streams of the lake, ready to spawn by the middle of August, and continue to do so nearly the whole month of February. We here add an extract from an article in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for 1839, entitled " Account of a new species of British Bream, and of an undescribed species of Skate : to which is added a List of the Fishes of the Frith of Forth, and its tributary streams, with observations, by Richard Parnell, M.D., F.R.S., E., &c " Salmo ccecifer, Parnell, (bearing coeca, — the coeca being more numerous than in any of its congeners;) Salmo Levenensis, Wal- ker, Lochleven trout, common in Lochleven. This species of trout, which is well known to many persons as a delicious article of food, is considered by most naturalists as a variety of the Salmo fario or common fresh water trout, the redness of its flesh depending on the nature of its food. I consider it, however, not only as distinct from the Salmo fario, but as one of the best defined and most con- stant in its characters of all the species hitherto described. It is at once distinguished from the common fresh water trout by the number of its ccecal appendages, which vary from seventy to eighty, whereas in the Salmo fario they are never more than forty-five or forty-six in number. Its tail is crescent-shaped at all ages, and its body has never a vestige of a red spot. The tail of the common trout is sinuous, and at length even at the end, and its body is almost always marked with red spots, besides its flesh being always of a white appearance. " 1 have no doubt that more than two species of trout are to be met with in our fresh water streams, which at present receive the name of Salmo fario. 99 — P. 154. 8 KINROSS-SHIilE. to the birds thai repair to Lochleven, it is deserving of notice, that a new one made its appearance about thirty years ago* It became very tame, and was called the Swedish crossbill. It comes in autumn, and its coming was thought to prognosticate bad weather. It feeds on buds and cones of fir. It frequents the plantings at the churchyard. Its colour is red, resembling that of a parrot The bill crosses, and hence the name of cross-bilL Botany* — There are three plants found in the parish of Kinross, which that eminent botanist, Dr Arnott of Arlary, has not yet observed elsewhere in the county. The one is Cheiranthus chriri, Twr.Jrvtictilosus, (or wallflower), growing on Lochleven Castle; the other is Cerastitan arvense, found at Lathro, nearly opposite to the gate at Lethangie, east approach ; the third is Bromui sterilis, on the roadside to the church-yard. There were some trees of a stunted appearance betwixt the lands of Lethangie and Kinross, or Lochleven, by report and ap- pearance, several centuries old, which were lately cut down. There are trees in the avenue that attract, by their size and form, the at- tention of the stranger. There is a beautiful walnut in front of the mansion house ; and a remarkable ash in the Castle island, which was split by lightning, and part of which rests on the western wall of the castle. II. — Civil History. Of this parish, as such, there are no accounts, so far as the wri- ter of these pages has either seen or heard, nor any maps, plans, or surveys. Of the county of Kinross, there has been a very correct map by Rennie. Of the counties of Kinross and Fife, a very hand- some as well as accurate one was published by an English com- pany a few years ago. In Gough's British Topography, Vol. ii. 1 780, it is stated that Andrew Rutherford drew a view of the beautiful thorn tree, near Kinross, and of Lochleven Castle. In Ponfs Maps of Scotland in the Advocates' Library, folio xviL, there is one of Kinross-shire, described 28th October 1642, by James Gordon of " Keanroes," with the loch and adjacent countries, sixteen inches and a half by thirteen and a half. This is the oldest map of the county, and a great curiosity. Eminent Characters. — One of the first of these is Sir William Bruce, who built the mansion-house of Kinross. He was archi- tect to Charles IL The Palace of Holyrood was his design, as were also Hopetoun and Moncreiff Houses. Kinross House was KINROSS. 9 originally intended for the residence of James, Duke of York, afterwards James VII. of Scotland, in the event of his being pre- vented by the Exclusion Bill from succeeding to his brother. It must be added, that Dr John Thomson, the present distin- guished Professor of General Pathology in the University of Edin- burgh, is a native of this parish* Ministers off he Parish. — Clergymen within and without the Es- tablishment, who were born or carried on their ministerial labours in this parish, were respected and esteemed in their day, and have left behind them memorials, shewing that, for their contemporaries and posterity, they did not live in vain. The Rev. Robert Stark, although his settlement in 1732, was nearly coeval with the rise of the Seces- sion Church, and was the occasion of much division and strife, was a superior preacher, and, in particular, the author of an essay on the Ethiopian of the Acts of the Apostles, which has been much admired both by Churchmen and Dissenters. The Rev. John Swanston, or- dained minister of the Associate congregation of Kinross, 23d January 1 748, was appointed to the office of Professor of Divinity in May 1764. This office, along with that of Minister of the Gospel, he held at Kinross, until his death at Perth on the 12th of June 1767. His biographer, Mr Fraser, minister at Kennoway, speaks of him as equally distinguished by the eminence of his piety and the depth of his theological attainments. A volume of his discourses, rich in the grace and truth of the gospel, has been long in the hands of the Christian public The incumbent of Kinross parish imme- diately preceding the present, preached before the Synod of Glas- gow and Ayr a sermon, afterwards published, on the subject and manner of apostolical preaching. The ministers of Kinross parish since the Reformation, as far as the writer can ascertain, are as follows : — James Dolby, or Dobie, or Dowie, first-mentioned, a. d. 1567 ; — had under his superintend- ence the kirks of Orwell and Ballingry, while Mr Walter Balfour and Mr Alexander Wardlaw were readers and exhorters ; Robert Rait, 1690 ; John Colden, 1607, — conformed to presbytery in 1638, and died in 1640 ; Mr George Colden, probably a son of the former, admitted 1641, and died in 1665. Of George Col- den it is reported that he died at St Andrews, whither he had gone to have an interview with Archbishop Sharp on some of the rights and interests of his benefice, but where he met with no redress or satisfaction. Such was the attachment borne to this minister, that a number of his people went to St Andrews, and bore his mortal remains to Kinross as his place of interment. Mr James Forsyth 10 KINROSS-SHIRE. was translated from Moonzie to Kinross, 23d November 1665; Mr Henry Christie was settled in 1682, and ejected for not praying for William and Mary in 1689 ; he was, afterwards, in 1709, con- secrated as a nonjuring bishop, and died in Kinross, in 1718, with the respect and affection of all who knew him. In Kinross church- yard, there is still to be seen the tombstone of Mr Christie, hav- ing a brass plate and a Latin epitaph in verse. Mr William Spence, next in order, was admitted 1689 ; Mr Robert Macgill, 1699; Mr Robert Stark, 1732; Mr Archibald Smith, 1784; the present incumbent; 1804. Speaking of religious persons connected with Lochleven, it may not be improper to mention that, at the dissolution of the monas- teries, Robert Pitcairn, commendator of the Abbey of Dunferm- line, and Secretary of State to James VI* in the regency of Len- nox, died in the castle of Lochleven, 1584, aged sixty-four. He was one of those engaged in the Raid of Ruthven, and as such, was carried prisoner to Lochleven. He was Royal Legate as well as Secretary to James VI. His tomb is in Dunfermline church- yard ; and on the lintel of a house occupied by him in the May- gate there is this couplet : Sin word is thral and thocht is fre Keep weil tby tongue 1 counsel the. Chief Land-owners. — The chief land owners are, Graham Mont- gomery, Esq., eldest son of Sir James Montgomery, of Stanhope, Bart, by the younger daughter of the late Thomas Graham of Kinross and Burleigh, Esq ; and the Earl of Kinnoul, who lately purchased the lands of Colden, &c once the property of Charles Stein, Esq. of Hattonburn. Parochial Registers. — The Session records extantcontain the acts of that court from 8th October 1 665 until 1 3th May 168a There is also at the end of these records, a register of baptisms, from April 1676 to March 1684. There is a second series from the 20th of May 1683 to the 29th September 1 689, with a register of baptisms from the 24th July 1684 to the 23d of August 1689, when the minister, Mr Chris- tie, was removed. The third begins the 29th May 1699, and ends 9th November 1718. The fourth begins 29th January 1719, and ends 24th July 1741. The fifth is from 28th September 1741, to 26th March 1753. The sixth, from 17th April 1753 to 24th July 1754. There is a register of baptisms in a quarto volume from 30th April 1699, and ending 2d April 1727, together with a re- gister of proclamations from the 23d of May 1699, to the 6th of January 1727. Another similar, from 9th April 1727 till 16th April J KINROSS. H 1770. A register of burying-grounds ; and a register of deaths from 1783 to 1735. Loose minutes beginning the 4th of July 1754, and ending 6th March 1771. From 1772 the session records are complete;. and now every minute is subscribed by the moderator. From the Session records, it appears to have been the practice more than a century ago, of a part of the kirk-session visiting the town during the time of public worship, and making a report to their brethren. Antiquities, §*c. — In the month of June 1820, a number of sil- ver coins were discovered on the lands of Coldon, to the south of Kinross, having been turned up by workmen in one of the fields. When found, they were quite covered with a black coat* ing darker than the earth from which they were dug. The num- ber might amount from 300 to 400, and were found to consist chiefly of the coinage of Edward the First and Edward the Second of England. They were of the denomination commonly called silver pennies, and seem to have come from various mints, e. g. London, Canterbury, York, Durham, Lincoln, and Dublin. Some of tbem, instead of having the place of coinage, had on the reverse the name Robert de Hadeleir surrounding the X • Along with these English coins, a few Scotch were found of Alexander III. and John Baliol. They very much resembled the English in size and ap- pearance. If they differed in any thing, it was that they were rather more handsome : — the King's head was a profile with a crown and sceptre surrounded by Alexander Dei Gra. and Joannes Dei Gra. The reverse had a X with four stars, surrounded by Rex Scotorum. When and how these coins came to be depo- sited in the place where they were discovered, is a matter of con- jecture. Most probably, they had been lost by some person at- tached to one of the English armies, who, in the period of the so- vereigns referred to, and thereafter, so frequently occupied the - country in the vicinity of Kinross, for the purpose of getting pos- session of the Castle of Lochleven, or of overawing that fortress, • then a place of considerable strength and importance. In the month of April 1829, some labourers employed by John W. Williamson, Esq. Banker, Kinross, in examining his grounds at West Green, found, about two feet below the surface, imbedded in what appeared to be travelled earth, an ancient seal of pure gold, of a circular shape, eight-tenths of an inch in diameter, and two-tenths of an inch in thickness. It has two small wings also of gold joined in the centre by a neat hinge, which folds flat on the upper side of the seal, and when raised serves for a handle. This very curious piece of 12 KINUOSS-SHIRE. workmanship, weighing four sovereigns, appears from its flat shape to have been intended for the pocket ; and as it has engraved on it the royal arms of Scotland impaled on the dexter side, with those of England on the sinister, it was at once considered, according to the laws of heraldry, as the private seal or signet of a Scottish King, who had married an English princess. The seal was shewn to several Edinburgh antiquaries ; and among others, to the late Sir Walter Scott, the late Sir Patrick Walker, Mr Auriol Hay, and Mr William Clerk, all of whom were decidedly of opinion, that it was the personal seal of the unfortunate James IV., who fell on the fatal field of Flodden. James, it is well known, mar- ried Margaret, daughter of Henry VIL of England. The seal is in perfect preservation, and affords a favourable view of the art of engraving in Scotland more than three centu- ries ago* How this relic of the olden time found its way to Kin- ross, must be mere conjecture ; yet is it no great stretch of ima- gination, that the ill-fated Mary had possession of this memorial of her grandfather, and may have dropt it in making her escape from the Castle of Lochleven ? A more probable opinion may be hazarded, which is, that James himself may have lost this seal while hunting or travelling from his palace of Falkland to Stirling, Kinross being in the direct line betwixt these two royal residences. This view is strengthened by the fact, that there was found at the same time with the seal, and within a few yards of it, the corrod- ed fragment of a horse's shoe, — a circumstance which would lead us to suppose, that the royal charger, in losing a shoe, had stum- bled, and thrown his rider, when the seal dropt from his person. In 1822, the proprietor of Lathro, on trenching some of his grounds which had been planted sixty or seventy years before, came upon thirteen graves, which did not appear to contain an; coffins ; but in one of them were two bodies, and a skull filled with undecayed teeth. This burying-ground was on an eminence be- side the ground trenched, and called the Gallows Know, and hence it is naturally supposed to have been the place of public execu- tion. This burying-ground must have been used before the abo- lition of heritable jurisdictions, and when the proprietors of the estate of Kinross had the power of pit and gallows. With regard to the bodies discovered, they were again committed to the earth, and the spot where they were found has been planted anew. The Castle of Lochleven, so far back as 1257, was a royal re- sidence. We read that, in that year, Alexander I1L and his youth- KINROSS. 13 ful queen were forcibly laid bold upon in this place, and carried off to Stirling. In Balfour's Annals, we have mention made of Sir John Corny n in 1301 raising the siege of Lochleven, then besieged by the English. In 1885, as has been related by Buchanan, Abercromby, Sir David Dalrymple, (and for a particular account of which transaction see Fvrduni Scotichronicon^ Vol. ii. p. 313, Edinburgh, 1759, folio,) Sir John Strevelyn invested Lochleven, at that time held by Alan Vypont, in the interest of David IL and was compel- led to raise the siege with great loss. In 1429, Archibald Earl of Douglas, on account of some inconsiderate speeches against his sovereign James L, was committed a prisoner to the same castle ; and in 1477, Patrick Graham, an eminent dignitary of the Scottish Church, and Archbishop of St Andrews, was, by a sen* tence of deprivation and imprisonment pronounced by Pope Sextus VI. (1484), and a college of cardinals, committed first to a cell in Inchcolm, removed thence to the monastery of Dunfermline, and lastly, for greater security, to Lochleven, where he died, and whence his mortal remains were carried to the island of St Ser£ The Earl of Northumberland, who had taken refuge in Scotland to avoid the effects of Queen Elisabeth's displeasure, was also con- signed to Lochleven Castle in 1 569. The then ruling party placed and kept him there for three years, when hie was removed to Eng- land, and there put to death by his sovereign. But all these are unimportant events in comparison of those that befel a Queen of Scotland, the most illustrious and most interest* ing, perhaps, that ever swayed a sceptre, by her beauty and per- sonal qualities, as well as the lengthened train of calamities to which she was subjected, and the termination of a captivity of twenty years, on a scaffold, by the hands of the public executioner* It appears from a deed printed in Laing's " Dissertation on the Murder of Darnley," and entitled " Act for sequestrating the Quenis Majesties person, and detening the same in the hous and place of Locblevin, 16 June 1567 ;" that the unfortunate Mary was in Lochleven on the 16th June 1567. None acquainted with her eventful and tragical story can be ignorant of the man- ner of her escape, on Sunday the 2d of May 1568. We are informed, in the history of Mary's escape from Lochleven, that when her deliverer had opened the gates of the castle and shut them again, he threw the keys into the lake. Now, it is not undeserving of record, that, at the close of the very dry autumn of 1805, when the lake was uncommonly low, a boy, who 14 KINROSS-SHIRE. had been sauntering along its brink, picked up a bunch of keys, which he carried immediately to the parish schoolmaster, the late Mr John Taylor, — in whose possession the writer of this account has frequently had occasion to see them. They were very rusty, and fastened by an iron ring, which mouldered away on being rub- bed by the hand. Mr Taylor sent them to the late Earl of Mor- ton, heritable keeper of Lochleven, from whom he received a suit- able gratuity to the finder, L. 5 to the poor, and a handsome silver inkholder to himself. Modern Buildings. — The latest of these, and the most conspi- cuous from whatever quarter it is viewed, is the parish church, first employed for public worship on the 1 1th of March 1832. Before 1742 the parish church stood within the old burying-ground, im- mediately beside the lake. It was then removed from this situa- tion to another at the west of the town, which, gradually extend- ing its dimensions, came at length to place the church in its centre, as well as in the very front of the most frequented inn. The situation of this second church being very inconvenient, at the same time that it was also inadequate in size for the growing population, a handsome edifice of the Gothic kind has been erect- ed on a rising ground adjoining the manse, and altogether removed from the noise and bustle of the town thoroughfare. It cost L. 1537, lis. 6d. The County Hall, which is also the public gaol, is a still finer building. It was finished in 1826, and cost L.2000, ofwhich L. 750 formed a grant from Government, and the remainder was raised by a voluntary assessment from the heritors of the county, according to the old valued rent. It consists of a course of apartments, ofwhich .there are 2 for the sheriff-clerk, 1 record room and safe, 1 court room, 1 witnesses room, 3 debtors rooms, 2 cells, and a guard -room. There are three mills within the parish, the first and most im- portant of which goes by the name of Kinross mill, and is for all manner of grain ; the second, within a quarter of a mile of the town, is Balleave, once for grain, but now employed in the new tartan manufactory ; the third, at West Tillyochie, about three miles from Kinross, once also occupied in grinding corn, but within these few months, taken in lease by one of the three tartan manufacturing companies here for the purposes of carding and spin* ning of wool on an extended scale ; the first attempt of the kind in this quarter, but only, it is to be hoped, the commencement of a new era of our manufacturing industry. KINROSS. 15 III. — Population. The population of the parish has been on the increase ever since it was examined into. In 1755, it was 1310 1792, 1839 1801, . 2124 1811, . 2214 and in 1831, . 2927 Among the more usual causes of the increase of population may be noticed a mortification, as it is termed, of land to the value of from L. 80 to L. 100 of yearly rent, which, on the death of a female of eighty years of age, who receives an annuity of L. 50, will come to be divided among the domiciled poor. Such bequest, it is greatly to be feared, may prove a premium to idleness, and a strong inducement to vagrants to terminate their wanderings here. The neighbourhood of coal, and the cheapness of living, may al- so contribute to the growing population of the parish. The number of the inhabitants of Kinross, is about 2200, and of the rest of the parish 727. The number of proprietors of land of the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards, (including two properties, one of which belongs to the British Linen Company, and the other is disponed in trust to the heritors of this parish,) is 25. From a census made for this work, the number of inhabited houses in Kinross appears to be 566 ; of these unlet, 26 ; in ruins, 5. There are 3 persons in the parish more or less insane or fatu- ous, but not requiring confinement ; 4 blind, 4 deaf and dumb, and 1 in the Deaf and Dumb Institution, Edinburgh. Character of the People. — The general character of the people as to intellect, morals, and religion, is not inferior to that of the people of many parishes in like circumstances. There is not in their number one professed infidel ; and there exists among them a general external reverence for the Sabbath and its public ordi- nances ; not a few of them being of exemplar} 7 Christian character, and of eminent Christian qualifications. Affability, hospitality, and a readiness to serve and oblige to the utmost of their power, — nay, sometimes beyond what a regard to their own private and family interests would dictate, — are peculiarities in the habits of many of this place and vicinity, which, to strangers who have come to fix their residence here, have been the subject of pleasing observation and of grateful experience. Poaching, it must be confessed, is still too much practised both in the fields and in the tributary streams of Loch Leven. In 16 KINROSS-SHIRE. the first case, it receives no check from any public association, and next to none from any individual whatsoever. In the last case, it is not unfrequent, at certain seasons, even on Sabbath, nay, par- ticularly on that day, especially among the young. It is gratify- ing to think that smuggling has almost disappeared. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — In consequence of a very large proportion of the lands of this parish being in the occupation of proprietors, it is not easy to arrive at a correct state of the number and value of its acres. But, from repeated surveys and examinations of the parish minis- ter, followed up by those of five of his parishioners peculiarly well qualified to obtain and to communicate the wished-fbr infor- mation, the following results, although not mathematically exact, may be considered as no distant approximation to the truth : — The whole of the arable aerea may be 5240 Those still in their natural state, but susceptible of improvement, 121 Those under planting, • . 215 Those under buildings, fences, &c - 24 5600 The kinds of trees generally planted are, larch, Scotch fir, and spruce. Those of the oldest standing are round the mansion-house, while those recently planted on the trust-estate of Kinross, and on the lands of Lethangie, Lathro, Easter Balado, &c are both hard wood and fir. The whole seem well attended to and thriving. Rent. — The old valued rent of the parish is L. 4006, 6s. 8d. Scotch. The real rent is L. 9175 Sterling: the minimum rent per acre is 17s. the maximum L. 5, the average rent L. 1, 12s. 10}d. The average rent of grazing an ox or cow is from L. 3, 10s. to L. 4, and one-third of that for a ewe or full-grown sheep. The gross rental of land in the parish is, . • L.9175 House property in town of Kinross, • . 8478 9 6 Garden ground, do. .... 195 g \\ L. 12^48 17 71 Average of Annual Produce. — 704 acres wheat, arerage produce 4 quarters per acre, 282 qrs. bush, 483 do. barley, do. 5 do. 2415 1191 do. oats, do. 5do.Sbush.do. 6401 5 200 do. potatoes, do. 8} tons per acre, 1750 tons. 280 do. turnip, do, 28(do. 8580 do. 280 do. summer fallow. 722 do. sown grass hay produce 1{ ton per acre, 106S do. Average value of Raw Produce. — 282 quarters wheat, at L. 2, 6s. per quarter, - . L. 648 12 2415 do. barley, at L. 1, 8s. do. . . 3881 6401 do. 5 bush, oats, at L. 1 do. - - 6401 12 6 v KINROSS. 17 1750 tons potatoes, at L. 1, 7s. per ton, - - L. 2962 10 6560 do. turnip, at 4s. per do. - - - 1316 1088 do. sown grass hay, at L. 3 do. ... 9249 2004 acres pasture, at L. 1, 12s. per acre, - - 9206 8 Loch fishing, - - - - 204 Market customs, - - - - -6600 Hie whole is calculated by the Scotch acre. L. 20,835 2 6 Feu-duty paid to Kinross estate from this parish, - L. 313 17 do. to Aldie do. - - 18 8 6 L827 5 6 Number of families of proprietors, farmers, &e. in the country, 150 male servants, 94 female servants, ... 47 cottars, .... 839 horses in the parish, ... 274 colts, .... 52 bulk, .... 9 cows, .... 392 calves, ^ - - - 329 other cattle, ... 646 sheep, .... 867 ewine, .... 146 carts, - - - 188 ploughs, ... 76 harrows, 77 pairs, quarries, ... 9 There are 22 thrashing-machines in the parish, one of which is impelled by steam, one by water, and the others by horses. Soils. — Extent of surface about 5600 acres : Whereof 2000 acres are a deep black alluvial soil incumbent on sand or gravel, the substrata of part of which is whin-rock; 1000 acres light sandy soil (thin) incumbent on sand or dry till ; 1400 acres black thin loam, on a cold retentive clay or tili ; 200 acres cold thin clay, subsoil, barren clay mixed with weeping sand ; 100 acres moss, on a cold weeping sand and clay mixed ; 700 acres light black moorish soil, on a moorband sterile subsoil ; 200 acres uncultivated and under wood, the soil and subsoil of such a tex- ture as that of the preceding 700 acres. . The various cattle-shows which are frequently held here and in the adjoining districts, have contributed not a little to the im- provement of farm stock. It is humbly suggested, that the great- est advantages would follow if prizes, whether as medals or sums of money, were distributed, not only to such as rear the best horses, bulls, and cows, &c but to such as, in the judgment of competent arbiters, had most distinguished themselves by draining, irrigating, embanking, destroying weeds and vermin, — by the condition of their enclosures, — by the nature of their management and crops, — by the neatness and cleanliness with which they surrounded their dwel- lings, and the order as well as comfort which prevailed within them. KINROSS. B 18 KINROSS-SHIRE. The general duration of leases is nineteen years. The state of farm-buildings, enclosures, &c. has of late undergone a very striking change to the better: and the same improvement is observ- able in the roads, fences, husbandry, &c throughout the parish. Rents of several properties have, within the last thirty years, been more than doubled. An estate in the parish which was sold forty years ago for L. 10,000, was purchased last year for L. 35,500. Fisheries. — There is but one fishery, that of Loch Leven, which commences, if frost permit, on the first of January, and closes on the first of September. It was lately let at the yearly rent of L. 204. The former rent was L. 230, and this diminution has arisen from the partial drainage of Loch Leven being regarded as un- favourable to the lake, viewed as a fishing-pond. Manufactures. — Kinross was, of old, famous for its cutlery ; but now, there is not one individual in the parish employed in that oc- cupation. The manufacture, also, of Silesia linens, of which we read in the last Statistical Account, has ceased. Instead of these, there are ginghams, pullicates, checks, &c. the materials of which are sent from Glasgow. But, of late, tartan shawls, plaids, and other articles of dress have begun to be wrought by three com- panies residing in Kinross, on their own account, with every pros- pect of a good return, besides a rise of the wages of the operative, and an increase of employment to our female population. There is, in addition to the two kinds of work mentioned, a ma- nufacture of damasks from Dunfermline. The number of wearers of the first description, 384 second do. 48 third do. - 14 Making the weaving population iq all, - - 396 The average wages of an industrious cotton weaver are, per week, 5s. 6d. ; of a tartan ditto, 14s. The condition of the former is very fluctuating. Sometimes their wages are very low ; nor is it at all an uncommon occurrence for a greater or less number of them, for days and weeks together, to have no webs from Glasgow at all. For the removal, or at least the alleviation, of this distressing situation, heritors and others, whose circumstances permitted, have occa- sionally come forward to purchase materials of industry, or to pro- vide out-of-door occupation. It is the practice with our weavers, and others of the labouring classes, to apply to proprietors and farmers for as much land as will be sufficient for planting a certain quantity of potatoes, which i KINROSS. 19 they obtain on condition merely of their giving manure, and hoe* ing the drills of the young plants, when necessary. This practice deserves to be encouraged, for to those accustomed to sit for hours at the loom, it affords health and relaxation in the open air, be- sides supplying, at an expense which none of them feels, an article of food most nutritious and valuable. V. — Parochial Economy. Town. — The town of Kinross, though not a Royal burgh, has long enjoyed a species of municipal institution, which has been particu- larly useful for certain public purposes ; the principal of which are, lighting of the streets, supporting a bell and clock, a fire engine, steelyard, &c. Having no public funds, the inhabi- tants have long had recourse to. an annual voluntary contribution, which is placed under the management and control of a preses, treasurer, and clerk, who, with eight or sometimes ten members of committee, constitute a sort of town-council, so far as the above matters go : they are annually chosen at a public meeting, having, in the first instance, the trouble of collecting the contributions, of which, for the ensuing year, they have the sole charge ; but for the management of which they are at all times subject to be called to account at a public meeting of the inhabitants. This useful institution, designed " The Steeple Committee," commenced in 1742, when at a public meeting of the inhabitants, the Rev. Robert Stark, minister of the parish, chairman, it was agreed, " That, considering it was in contemplation to build a new church, a steeple might with great propriety be added thereto." This after much care and assiduity was completed in 1751, when Sir John Bruce presented the town with a clock. At a meeting during the same year, the following appears on the record : " that the bell shall be rung at five in the morning ; eight and ten at night ; and on Sundays, at eight, nine, and ten in the forenoon, and that the last bell for divine service shall continue ringing a quarter of an hour." — 17th July 1758. " The principal Lord of the Chapmen" 'compeared, and gave half a crown for carrying on the finishing of the steeple," which seems to have been the addi- tion of a vane or weathercock. In 1793 the streets were first lighted by lamps. At present (1839) the number of lamps is about 42 ; all lighted with gas. The annual collections vary from L. 20 to L. 25, which, with an annual donation of L. 5 from the road trustees, constitute the only funds for the purposes above referred to. 22 KINROSS-SHIRE. bath without public worship in the new building. It is still in good repair. The old manse, inhabited by the Rev. Robert Stark, who was ordained minister here more than one hjundred years ago, still exists near the inlet of the loch, at the south of the town, into which it is said the boat was rowed which carried Mary from the island. The new manse was built in 1784, after the admission to the charge of this parish, of the last incumbent, the Rev. Archibald Smith. In 1812, and subsequently, additions and improvements have been made to it, both by heritors and the present minister. L. 600 have not sufficed for the outlay of the latter on the house, the offices, and the grounds around them. The glebe, at the admission of the present incumbent, consisted of * about six acres, including the stance of manse and garden. After a process at law commenced by him in 1811, and not final- ly concluded until 1825, he ultimately succeeded in establishing his claim to grass for a horse and two cows. About five acres, in the near vicinity of the manse, have been added to his former glebe, all of good quality, and worth more than L. 40 per annum. Stipend. — The stipend of the parish consists of the following items, viz. : barley, 31 bolls, 6 pecks ; oatmeal, 94 bolls, J peck ; money, L. 94, 6s. 7 T 7 9 d. ; amounting, communibus annis, accord- ing to the Third Report of the Commissioners for Religious Instruc- tion, to L. 184, 16s. 4d. The first and last augmentation obtained during the present in- cumbency, was on the 8th of December 1806; and the present incumbent has not made another effort to add to the comparatively inferior stipend he possesses, although, according to the above- mentioned Report of the Commissioners for Religous Instruction, there are in this parish unappropriated teinds to the amount of L. 116, 16s. 9d. Dissenting and Seceding Chapels. — There are two places of wor- ship in this parish pertaining to the United Secession Church, for- merly the Burgher and Anttburgher communions. Their minis- ters are paid by seat rents. The amount of the stipend of the one minister is X. 120, and of the other -L. 80, besides a house and gar- den. The number of persons of all ages belonging to the Establish- ed Church is 1240. Seceding and Dissenting ministers having no parochial territory, the range of their spiritual labours is uncir- cumscribed, and accordingly their Sabbath and week day-ministra- 3 KINROSS. 23 tions extend to individuals within every parish of this county and even beyond it The average amount of the ordinary collections in the parish church is about L.36 a-year. During 1838, collections were made for the four schemes of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, in addition to one for the Auchterarder case, when more than L, 18 was collected or subscribed. There are also different other collections for local- purposes, on which occasions there is, on the part of the congre- gation in general, no want of liberality. The amount of the sums thus received, and which are independent of the weekly collections for the poor, was L. 61, 16s. 8d. for 183& Societies for Religious Purposes. — In 1812, a Religious Society was instituted under the designation of the Fife and Kinross-shire Bible Society. Soon after its institution, the union of counties was found to be attended with inconveniences. Accordingly, a Kinross- shire Bible Society was formed, which had its yearly and penny a-week subscribers, its quarterly committee and its annual general meetings, the last alternately at Kinross and Milnathort. The Apo- cryphal controversy led to the sending of that part of its funds which remained, after certain distributions agreed upon by its members, to the Edinburgh Bible Society. Peace and charity, and active co-ope- ration were the distinguishing features of this association. But of late, different communions of Christians, with those who take the deep- est interest in their public proceedings, have such different, and alas ! often such conflicting views and measures which they consi- der of paramount importance, that it is not to be wondered there should be a striking diminution of the members and funds of the Society. There are in Kinross parish three Religious Tract Societies con- nected with the three congregations, and*in which pious and be- nevolent ladies take a most efficient part, employing their stated visitings for the distribution of these tracts, as occasions for ac- quainting themselves with the bodily as well as the spiritual wants and distresses of the individuals whom they call on. Ladies' Society. — There is a Society of considerable standing here, and which is not undeserving of being classed in the number of Religious Societies. This is the Ladies' or Female Society. The members of it meet together monthly, when they distribute a certain quantity of oatmeal to each of those destitute women, whom they shall determine upon as the most suitable objects of re- 24 KINROSS-SHIRE. lief. Their funds arise from a small subscription from each member of 5s. on ber entrance ; and of a penny a- week or 4s. 4 —(1689.) PORTMOAK. 33 times animals of less value. There are no forests in the parish, and till lately there were very few plantations. Within the last twenty years, about 300 acres have been planted, chiefly Scotch and larch fir. In some cases, there is a mixture of hard-wood. The soil would bear any trees except those which are partial to cold clay. II. — Civil History. Land-owners.— The chief land-owners are, the Marquis of Northampton, and Thomas Bruce, Esq. late of the Customs. The rest are chiefly feuars of from a-half acre to land worth L. 400 per annum. Parochial Registers. — The parochial register commences in 1703. The records previous to that time are said to have been accidentally burnt In so far as the affairs of the poor, and the record of proclamations are concerned, they have been regularly kept ; but the register of baptisms is very incorrect, as Dissenters have in general been very remiss in getting the names of their children entered, and till very lately there was no register of funerals. Antiquities, $c— There are no antiquities in the parish known to the writer, except the ruins of a priory on the island of Sefvanus, and of a chapel at Scotland-well. A short time ago, the metal heads of some spears and a shield were found in the cut for drain- ing the lake. They were sent as curiosities to London. 1 1 1. PoPUL ATI ON. The number of people in the parish, according to Dr Webster*! return, was 996 In 1783, it was 1040 1791, - 1105 At present (1839) it is 1608 Of these are under 15 years of age, - 619 betwixt 15 and 80, - - 854 80 and 50, - - 847 50 and 70, - - 211 above 70, - 71 During the last three years there were 6 illegitimate births in the parish. No person of independent fortune resides in the parish. There are 29 land-owners whose properties exceed the value of L. 50 per annum. There is nothing remarkable in the strength, size, or complexion of the people ; 3 persons are deranged ; 2 fatuous ; 2 blind ; and 2 dumb. The people have improved greatly in cleanliness within the last thirty years. In some cases, there is still room for improvement, but there is none of that filth so often to be met with in large KINROSS. c 34 KINROSS-SHIRE. towns. When they appear at church or market, they are gene- rally well dressed. Their ordinary food is the produce of the country, with the addition of tea and coffee, which are in general use. There are very few, if any, who have not butcher-meat occa- sionally, and there are few places where the labouring classes live so comfortably. Any person may have, for a trifle, as much land for potatoes as he can manure, and every thing done to it, except hoeing and digging the crop. In this way, an industrious family may, for 10s. or 12s., have as many potatoes as they can use, and perhaps feed a pig. If their turbulent neighbours would not in- terfere with them, and lead them to believe that this and the other change will improve their condition, they would give very little trouble. Among them are a considerable number of very intelli- gent men, to whom it would not be easy to find equals in their station. They are a reading population, and, with a few excep- tions, temperate, and, circumspect There is perhaps no smug- gling ; but owing to the want of resident gentlemen to protect game, poaching is carried to a shameful and demoralizing height. And if means be not adopted soon to put a stop to it, very injurious effects will follow, both to the rising generation and to property. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — The parish contains about 6566 acres of land that have been cultivated, and 3313 that have never been culti- vated, including 1700 covered by that part of the lake which is in this parish. Of this very little could be ploughed with any ad- vantage, except what may be made dry by the partial draining of the lake. There is no general common, and even most of that which belongs exclusively to separate townships is in the progress of being divided. About 350 acres are under wood, all planted. Rent. — The rent of arable land is extremely various, being, ac- cording to the quality of the soil, from 15s. to L.3 per acre. The probable average may be about L. 1, 10s. The rate of grazing, equally diversified, from L.1 to L. 4 for a milk cow. The average may be about L.2, 10s. The common breed of sheep is Leicester and Cheviot, and much attention is paid to their improvement The land, in general, is well cultivated and drained. A great part of the parish is in the possession of the proprietors. That which is let is generally under leases of from seven to nineteen years. The farm-buildings are generally good, and the greater PORTMOAK. 35 part of the lands inclosed chiefly with dry stone-dikes, which are preferred to hedges, as the latter are long in coming to maturity, and decay before they are very old. Husbandry. — The principal improvement in farming, of late years, has been in pasturing to a greater extent, and bringing into cultivation above 500 acres of meadow and moss that were formerly of little value. The chief obstacle in the way of farming has been the practice of small proprietors working along with their servants. As they do not feel themselves called upon to work hard, their ser- vants imitate their example. Of course, farming is carried on at much greater expense than is requisite. This, however, is gradu- ally wearing out. There are 89 ploughs in the parish, and all on the model brought from East Lothian. The author never saw the long Scotch plough in this parish nor one drawn by oxen, ex- cept in one solitary instance, when it was employed to tear up some very coarse land. There are 189 farm-horses, which, with very few exceptions, will bear comparison with those of the Lo- thians; 13 riding-horses, 6 poneys, 12 chiefly for carting, 95 young horses, 230 milch cows kept by farmers, 40 by servants and trades- people, 347 calves reared, 1 160 young cattle, and many thousands of sheep. Quarries. — Though there be very good freestone in the parish, there is at present no regular quarry. Lime is the only quarry that is regularly worked, and there is nothing remarkable in the way in which it is conducted. Arribunt of Produce. — 3283 acres in white crop, at L. 7 per acre, L. 22,961 996 do. green crop, at L. 6 do. - - - 2376 422 do. hay, at L 3, 10s. do. - - - 1477 Live-stock, including 1728 cattle, 904 horses, and 250 sheep, pasture may be worth ...... 2749 Flax, chiefly for domestic use, - ... 40 Thinning woods, ...... 50 Lime quarry, - ... . 903 Fishery in this parish, perhaps, • ... 150 Total yearly value, - - '- - - L. 30,126 Manufactures. — There are no manufactures in the parish ex- cept one of parchment, which has for a very long period maintained its ground. There was a tannery of considerable extent, and also a thread manufactory ; but they have been discontinued for some years. _. V. — Parochial Economy. Fairs, Sfc. — Each of the two largest villages his nominally a fair* but one of them hardly deserves the name, as scarcely any cattle 30 KINROSS-SHIRE. or purchasers attend it. The nearest post-town is Kinross, which has no regular market. One of the villages contains 501 inhabi- tants, and the other, now 315. Besides these, there are three smaller villages. Means of Communication. — Turnpike-roads intersect the parish in two different directions, and the public roads are in general good; but no public carriages travel on them. Bridges and fences are, for the most part, in good order. Two excellent bridges have been lately thrown over the Leven. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church is as near the centre of the parish as the locality will permit. It is distant about seven miles from one corner, which is very thinly inhabited, and about half that distance from the other extremities. The old church was built in 1661, and has been rebuilt several years ago. It had become too small for the population, and was supposed dangerous. The heritors, with a liberality that does them credit, have now built a plain substantial church, to accommodate about a third more than the former. It is seated for 730. The only benefaction on record is one of L. 100 to the poor born in the parish. The manse is a handsome and commodious dwelling, and by much the best house in the parish. The glebe contains above 18 imperial acres, but only about three of good land. The rest is either moss or unproductive land. The stipend is 16 chalders, half oatmeal and half barley. Till lately, there were two Dissenting meetings in the parish ; the one of Dissenters from the Cameronians, the other of the Secession church ; but the Cameronian minister having died, the congrega- tion was too small to call another, and most of the people have come to the Established Church. The stipend of the Seceding minister is L. 100, which is raised from the seat rents and the col- lections at the door. To this is added a dwelling-house. The number of families in the parish attending the Established Church is 219 : of families Dissenting or Seceding, 127. The collections in the parish church amount from L. 10 to L. 15 per annum. Education. — There are four schools in the parish, but none of them endowed except the one established by law. In these are taught, English, writing, arithmetic, and sometimes Latin, not, however, on the most desirable principles. The salary of the pa- rochial schoolmaster is the maximum. His fees amounted last year to L. 6. None above six years are known to be unable to read, and, in so far as the branches mentioned above are concerned, POKTMOAK. 37 there is an universal desire to have the young educated. The great desideratum is the want of. a judicious and active teacher. There are two libraries in the parish, one of which is connected with the Secession Church. Poor. — No person is enrolled as a regular pensioner, so long as there is any hope of his ever being able to provide for himself. In- cidental distress is provided for by small loans with or without in- terest, on the understanding that they are to be repaid again, if it can be done ; and frequently they are paid years after, principal and interest. Nor is there any stated pension. The object in every case is to meet the real exigency, and leave no apology for begging. The kirk-session have given sums from 6d. to 5s. 6d. per week, according to the necessity of the cases. Besides this, they pay house rents, provide coals and articles of clothing, and shoes when required. The number of pensioners varies from about 8 to 20. To meet this expense, there is a fund of L. 540 in the management of the kirk-session, and L. 100 in that of the minister and two prin- cipal heritors. There have been no assessments for the poor, but the heritors and wealthier inhabitants have sometimes subscribed to meet extraordinary cases. Nor does there appear any growing indelicacy in the poor. The writer had occasion to examine very narrowly into the state of the poor, on account of the approach of cholera, and did not meet with a single instance of complaint, the justness of which he had reason to suspect. In a population of 157 1, the whole claims did not exceed L. 8. Fuel. — The fuel chiefly used is coal, and a colliery has been lately commenced in the parish, but its practical effect is not yet known. There is an inexhaustible peat moss, which in a dry year, and with a cheaper mode of digging, might afford cheap fuel, though greatly remedied by the draining of the lake. Revised April 1839. PARISH OF CLEISH .* PRESBYTERY OF DUNFERMLINE, SYNOD OF FIFE. THE REV. W. W. DUNCAN, MINISTER. L— Topography and Natural History. Extent, §•<:. — This parish is about 6£ miles in length from east to west, and about 1 mile in breadth, except at the east end, where it is 14 mile from north to south ; it contains about 7£ square miles. It is bounded by Dunfermline parish on the south ; Beath on the south-east; Saline on the south-west; Portmoak and Ballingrvon the east ; on the north by Kinross and Fossaway. The north-east end of the parish is about half a mile from the south side of Loch- Leven. Topographical Appearances. — The Cleish hills form the highest part of that elevated tract of ground which lies between Kinross- shireand Dunfermline. Dumglow, the highest of them, is 1215feet above the level of the sea ; it is flat on the top, and conspicuous from all the country round. The next highest are three hills called la- gans, 1030, 1060, and 1048 feet in height. The arable land is from 380 to 500 feet above the level of the sea. No account has bees kept, of the temperature or pressure of the atmosphere. In general) it is considered a good summer day when the thermometer is from 55° to 58°, between eight and nine in the morning; from 65° to 68° between one and two, and about 60° between nine and ten it night. It is not often above 70°. The reporter only saw it twice as high as 80°, except in the year 1826. That year it was often higher ; once at 88°. A moderate frost is from 2° to 8° (of Fah- renheit) below freezing ; it is seldom below 20°, very seldom be- low 10°. The prevailing winds are between south and west; after these, the most frequent are from north-east ; these last feel colder than the others, even where the thermometer continues at the same height. The west winds are strongest, often consisting of violent blasts, with intermissions ; the east winds are more uniform and . * Drawn up partly by the late Mr Daling, minister of the parish, and patty *? the present incumbent, Mr Duncan. CLEISH. 39 steady. Rheumatisms and coughs are common here, as in other parts of Scotland, owing probably more to the dampness than the cold. A good deal more rain falls here than on the shores of the Forth, which are about twelve miles distant. Hydrography. — This parish is well supplied with excellent springs, almost every house having a rivulet running near it. The water is of good quality. The heat of most of the springs is 45°, of some 42° ; they proceed from the whinstone and freestone rocks. There are four lochs in this parish ; they are situated on the highest parts of the parish ; the largest, Ix>ch Glow, is about a mile and a half in circumference, the others much smaller. The fish in them are perches, pikes, and eels, with a few trouts. The river Gairney divides Cleish from Kinross for about two miles and a quarter ; the water from the lochs falls into it. The fish in Gairney are produced by the Loch-Leven trouts, which come up the river during the floods in harvest, and return in the beginning of winter. About this time, some eels are caught going down from the lochs. Mineralogy. — The hills are principally composed of sandstone, greywacke, and whinstone. The highest hills consist of the lat- ter ; lower down on the north, there is excellent freestone, extend- ing from east to west about four miles. There is also some of the same kind on the south side of the hills, and in that part of Benar- ty hill which is in Cleish parish. The best houses and bridges in the county and neighbourhood are built of it. It is porous, bears a fine polish, and does not yield to the weather. The whinstones in the hills are in columns. On the side of the high road from Kinross to Dunfermline, at Craigencat, (in Dunfermline parish, but annexed, quoad sacra, to Cleish,) there are very regular ba- salts in perpendicular pillars, with many horizontal divisions. They are easily quarried, and make excellent dikes and road metal. Of two stones of this kind fallen from the hill called the South Ingan, a pair of mill-stones has been made for Cleish mill. They have a great resemblance, internally, to the rocks of the Abbey Craig of Stirling, from which many flour-mill-stones have been made. There is coal on the estate of Blair- A dam, which was formerly wrought to a considerable extent ; it is a branch of the Kelty^oal. As it is near the proprietor's house, it has not been wrought for many years. There is also coal in the hill, but the seams are thin, and nearly perpendicular, so as not to be worth working. There is very good lime at Scarhill, on the estate of Cleisb. 40 KINROSS-SHIRE. The animals and vegetables here are the same with those in other parts of the low country of Scotland, A few roes and foxes are now found in the young plantations. Botany. — Through the kindness of the Rev. Mr Robertson ju- nior, of Inverkeithing, the reporter has been furnished with the following list of some of the rarer plants found in this parish : Veronica montana Scrophularia vernali* Valeriana pyrenaica Cardamine amara Melica cserulea Arabis turrita Lobelia Dortmanna Geranium sylvarJcum Lysimachia nemorum lucidum Campanula latifolia Genista Anglica Viola palustris Hypericum humifusum Parnassia palustris Leontodon palustre Meum athamanticum Hieracium amplexicaule Peucedanum ostrathium Doronicum plantagineum Sambucus Ebulus Gymnadenia conopsea Trientalis Europea Habenaria albida Juncus squarrosus Liatera nidus-avis Vaccinium oxycoccos Epipactis latifolia Paris quadrifolia Makuris paludosa Chrysosplenium alternifolium Litorella lacustris Saponaria officinalis Empetrum nigrum Stellaria nemorum Arum maculatum Arenaria trinervis Polypodium phegopteris Sedum villosum dryopteris Lythrum salicaria Aspidium lobatum Prunus padus — Oreopteris Nuphar lutea Blechnum boreale Meconopsis Cambrica Botrychium lunaria , Helleborus hyemalis Ophioglossum vulgatum Actea spicata Lycopodium clavatum Ranunculus auricomus ______ alpinum Trollius EuYopseus selago Scutellaria galericulata Equisetum byemale Linaria cymbalaria II. — Civil History. Land-owners. — The chief land-owners are, Rear Admiral Sir Charles Adam of Blair- Adam and Barns ;* and John Young, Esq. of Cleish. There are at present 1 1 heritors in Cleish, all of whom except one have land above the yearly value of L. 50. The number in 1744 was 24; many of their properties were small, and were bought up from time to time by the contiguous heritors. One of the principal heritors resides always in the parish, the other oc- casionally. • Mr Henry Burt bequeathed the estate of Barns to Admiral Adam, who has continued enclosing, cultivating, and planting, has rendered the mansion-bouse a most convenient dwelling, and has executed the large and important drainage by the straightening and lowering the Gairney in the manner mentioned :— and to which may be added, that, besides making some private roads for the benefit of the es- tate, he has contributed most liberally and usefully to an important public road which goes through his property from a place called Red-Moss, upon the great north road, to Cleish, to Tullybole, and the Crook of Devon. CLEISH. 41 Antiquities. — Traces of an ancient fort or camp are to be found on the top of Dumglow, the highest hill in the parish. Some urns have been found under large stones and cairns, containing bones, ashes, and bits of charcoal. The oldest buildings in the parish are those of Cleish and Dow- hill. The house, usually called the Place of Cleish, is about 85 feet high, the walls still almost entire. There are several old trees round it. The finest of these are two silver firs in the middle of a walk of yews, one of them being scarcely equalled in Scotland by any tree of that kind. It is 15 feet in circumference at one yard from the ground, which girth it maintains in a perfectly upright trunk of 22 feet in height, when it shoots out several enormous boughs, each of which might form a large tree. One of these is about 10 feet in circumference ; it continues in a horizontal position for 12 feet, when it changes its direction, and runs directly parallel with the main trunk to nearly the same height, that being about 120 feet Exactly opposite to this branch three others strike off, one above another, in the same manner, and on one of the other sides, a single bough, of gigantic dimensions, throws itself in a downward direction for 18 feet, when it, like the others, assumes the upright position. The effect of the whole is most imposing. The House of Dowhill has been used as a quarry, and a good part of it carried away. These buildings had very thick walls ; the lower stories were vaulted, and each of them had a small apartment with- in the wall, called by the people the pit, and used, according to tradition, not as a prison but as a place of concealment It was in this parish that Michael Bruce, the poet, taught a schooL The school-house stood in the centre of what is now the farm-steading of Gairney Bridge, and it was in a public-house which occupied the site of the stables, that the fathers of the Se- cession held their first meeting. About a quarter of a mile east from the church, in a stone dike opposite Nivingstone House, stands a large rock, which deserves notice. It is called The Lec- ture Stane 9 and was used, it seems, before the Reformation at fu- nerals, as a support for the coffin at the time that the burial ser- vice was read. There is a large hole in it, which was made many years ago with the view of bursting it with powder. Thrice this was tried, and as many times it failed, — which led to the belief that it was charmed, and no similar attempt has since been made. At the east end of the parish, the late Lord Chief- Commissioner has inserted in a bridge a stone, with an inscription, to mark the 42 KINROSS-SHIRE. road by which Queen Mary fled from Lochleven Castle. In the grounds of Blair- Adam are to be seen " the Keiry Crags," (a most romantic spot,) mentioned in " The Abbot" as the houffoi Joha Aucbtermuchty, the carrier. 1 1 1. — POPUL ATIO N. In 1831 the number of inhabitants was 681, of whom 221 re- sided in villages, and 460 in the country. In agricultural parishes the numbers do not vary much. An act of Parliament is neces- sary to regulate the parish registers, particularly with regard to the births. Since the ground was enclosed there are fewer cottars, and their houses, instead of being placed irregularly in the fields, are built by the sides of the principal roads. There are five per- sons in the parish who have been insane ; one of them, a farm- servant, was eleven years in that situation, and was supported bj the parish funds ; he recovered without the use of any remedies, and for more than thirteen years has maintained himselL Character of the People. — In general the people are of good morals, quiet, decent, intelligent, and seem contented with their si- tuation. Illegal distillation was attempted some years ago, but was soon put down. Within the last two years, only 3 illegitimate children have been born in the parish, — the parents of one of which married be- fore its birth. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — In the west end of the parish, the arable land consists of clay ; farther east, very good soil upon whin rock not basaltic ; then a considerable tract of gravel and sand, and some ground full of large whinstones, very productive when improved. The south-east quarter of the parish consists mostly of stiff ground, which requires drainiug. Going south toward the hill, the soil is inferior, mixed with clay ; above, that, lies the freestone, generally covered with poor soil, damp, and producing heather; on the highest hills, the grass is of fine quality, and forms excellent sheep pasture. There is some moss in the north and east part of the parish ; it is of good quality, and forms excellent soil when culti- vated. The system of farming appears to be as good as the soil and climate admit of. The common rotation of crops in the arable land is that of four : 1. oats; 2. drilled crops, potatoes, and turnips; 3. barley, or sometimes oats, or wheat after potatoes ; 4. rye- grass, with the different kinds of clover. The first year's crop is CLE1SH, 43 generally cut for hay, and the land kept in pasture for a few years. Summer fallow is little practised except in clay, or when land is 6rst cultivated ; when turnips and potatoes form part of the rota- tion, it is unnecessary. A considerable quantity of lime is used. Draining, which is the greatest improvement that this' country ad- mits of, was never carried on with so much spirit as at present. The drains are now much better planned and executed than for- merly, and, in most places, plenty of stones can be got to fill them. A great number of acres has been added to the arable land by the main drain, which of late years has been carried along the north side of the parish. This will be afterwards more particularly de- scribed. There were originally three commons in the parish ; the greatest part of them has been improved long ago, and the cultivation of the remaining part is still going on. The thirlage of the two mills has been settled by arbitration. Some land has been trenched, or, in place of the ordinary trenching, the surface only has been turned over with the spade or plough, nine or ten inches deep, and the under soil opened with the pick to the depth of nine or ten inches more, and the stones taken out The produce of some fields that have been drained and treated in this way, is now dou- ble of what it formerly was. Some gentlemen have used ploughs of a particular construction for opening the under soil. As these ploughs are made to follow the common ploughs in the same fur- row, no fewer than six horses are requisite ; therefore, in many cases, it would be more convenient to lay the drills and either pick the furrows or open them with the under soil plough ; thus one- half of the ground would be improved, and the other half when the drills were reversed. Wedge draining has been tried here, and has succeeded completely in clay and moss, when properly per- formed. Iron ploughs are generally used, and the carts and other implements of husbandry are much improved. There are five or six thrashing-mills in the parish. Two saw-mills were erected a few years ago, and are found to be of great advantage. The saws are circular ; one in each of the mills being two feet and a half in dia- meter ; they are calculated for sawing wood for roofing and floor- ing, as well as for lath, rails, and stakes. Scotch fir, which, when young, was considered of little value, answers well for lath. The two meal-mills in the parish have been rebuilt, and the machinery much improved. The kilns also have been rebuilt, and fitted up so as to dry the corn sooner and better, as well as with less fuel. 44 KINROSS-SHIRE. The price of oatmeal from 1782 to 1791 was at an average, 14s. 7±d. ; from 1823 to 1832, 18s. 4d. per boll (140 pounds.) Wages. — The wages of labourers are about Is. lOd. in summer, and Is. 8d. in winter; of w rights, 2s. ; masons, 2s. 6& to 3s. ; slaters, 3s. 6d ; women working in the fields from the planting to the taking up of the potatoes, 8d. and 9d. ; in harvest, from Is. 3d. to Is. 6d., except when they work by the thrieve, which they find most profitable. The labour of the women is employed to greatest advantage in the management of cows. There are about 150 cows kept in the parish, inclusive of those belonging to the heritors and farmers. A cow's grass in summer costs L. 4 or L. 4, 4s. This is generally paid by the sale of the butter and the calf. At night the cow gets what can be spared from the garden, with grass from the sides offences and plantations. For winter, they generally provide some hay, and buy before harvest oats or barley, the meal of which goes to the support of the family, and the cow gets the straw, together with potatoes and turnips, which the farmers give them ground to plant in proportion to their dung. Where a cow is kept, there is also a pig, and some keep a pig who have not a cow. Every house- holder has a garden, a part of which is planted with potatoes. Live-Stock, — The cattle are generally of the Fife breed. A great deal of pains has been taken to improve them, especially since the establishment of the Kinross Farming Society. The sheep kept on the hill are black-faced, those on the low grounds of some of the English breeds. A considerable part of the arable ground of the parish is in pasture, and let for one year : it is partly stocked with young beasts, but principally with full-grown cattle, which are col- lected in the country by the graziers, and sold at the Falkirk September and October markets, or the Edinburgh Hallow fair. The leases are for fifteen or nineteen years. The farm build- ings and enclosures are good, and much improved of late years. The principal improvement which the agriculture of this parish ad- mits of, is to complete the system of draining, which is already far advanced, and to cultivate those parts of the waste land which still admit of it. The freestone has been quarried occasionally in many places ; at present, only two quarries are regularly wrought, one at Niving- stone, the other at Bin or Benarty hill. In the year 1834, there were taken from the Nivingstone quarry 14000 feet of stone for hewing, the price of which at 3d. per foot is L, 175 : and 3300 cart loads CLEISH. 45 of ruble or ordinary building stone, costing at 4d. per cart L. 55. and weighing about 18 cwt. per cart. Improvements. — The greatest improvement that has been made in the agriculture of this parish is the main drain that has been carried along the north side of the parish, dividing it from Kinross and Fos- saway. The channel of the water of Gairney forms the east part of it, that of the Pow of Aldie the west part. The valley, along the south side of which the parish of Cleish lies, extends from Loch- Leven on the east, to the Pow mill bridge on the west Here two roads unite ; one from Kinross to Alloa by Blairngone ; the other from Dunfermline to Crieff by the Rumbling Bridge. The Pow here takes the name of Gairney, runs in a deep ravine, and falls into Devon below the Caldron Linn. The ground on the sides of the valley is good ; on the banks of the rivers it is also good, butwasofteninjured by the floods. The channels of the two streams had been formerly straightened and deepened to about three feet, but this was found insufficient to prevent the low ground from be- ing overflowed, or to render it capable of being drained. It was evident that a much deeper cut was necessary, and this has at length been accomplished. John Young, Esq. of Cleish has the merit of beginning this work, and of carrying it through, as far as his estate extends. In the year 181 1, he with other two smaller heritors on the Cleish side, and Lord Keith, acting for his daughter Miss Mercer of Aldie, on the Fossaway side, agreed to widen and deepen the Pow of Aldie. This part of the cut is 2875 yatds in length, it was made 22 feet wide at top, 6 feet at bot- tom, and 6 feet deep, and cost 14s. per 6 yards. It has since been frequently cleared and considerably deepened, and now forms a complete main drain for the ground on both sides. The soil here consists partly of clay : a great part of it is moss, but of good quality, and has yielded well when cultivated. In 1820, Mr Young and Mr Colville of Maw deepened the water of Gairney which divides their estates. The soil here is very good, lying upon gravel, the upper part of which is brown and con- tains iron. At the depth of five feet, it is very clean and open ; when this was cut into, a great quantity of water came from it, the pools in the old links of the river, and the springs in the low ground dried up. Several of the wells in the neighbourhood also dried ; on digging deeper, plenty of water was got, but without the iron flavour. At one part of this cut, a vein of black gravel was found, Jhe water from which produced inflammation, and swelling in the 46 KINROSS-SHIRE. hands and feet of the labourers, so that some of them were oblig- ed to give up work for two or three days. The gravel was after- wards examined, and was found to contain iron, but nothing that could explain the effect which it produced upon the workmen. This part of the cut is 1841 yards in length, 18 feet broad at the top, 6 feet at the bottom, and 6 feet deep ; it cost 12s, per 6 yards. The ground between Gairney and the Pow of Aldie still remained to be drained. This tract is the highest part of the valley. The water here runs partly to the east and partly to the west The ground was very wet, a ditch that was formerly the march between the estates of Cleish and Aldie having been allowed to grow up, though some, parts of it still remained deep enough to drown several cattle. When the ground was enclosed, a new march was made, consist- ing of a stone dike, carried in a straight line without regard to the bend of the valley, so that the land upon the one side of the march could not be drained except through the land on the other side. Mr Young and Mr James Loch, who acted for Miss Mercer, (now Lady Keith,) agreed to make the drain in the old line of march, which was in the lowest part of the ground : and also to make a belt of planting, 24 yards in breadth, on each side of the cut. This, when the trees grow up, will make a great addition to the shelter and beauty of this part of the valley. The length of this part of the main drain is 1387 yards; the breadth at top, 18 feet; at bottom, 3 feet ; the depth, 6 feet ; the expense, 10s. per 6 yards. It was executed in 1821. The effect produced here was fully equal to what was expected; the ground, which was before very soft, being soon able to bear loaded carts. This completed the drain from the west end of Cleish parish as far east as the church. Soon after, the proprietors of the ground on the sides of the wa- ter of Gairney to the east agreed to deepen that part of the river which had formerly been straightened and frequently cleaned ; but was not deep enough to lay the whole of the contiguous ground dry, although some of it had been cultivated. The length of this part of the drain is 4022 yards ; the breadth, 24 feet to the west of the Barns estate, 26 feet to the east ; and 6 feet deep. The east part is rather too narrow, as a good deal of water from the hills falls into Gairney here. That part of the Pow of Aldie which extends from the west end of the parish of Cleish to near the Powmill Bridge, about 3157 yards in length, was straightened and deepened in 1829 and CLEISH. 47 1830,. which completes this important drain. It is in length 7 miles, 4 furlongs, 153 yards, and has drained or rendered capable of being drained, in Cleish, 453 acres; in Fossaway, 484; in Kinross, 122; in Dunfermline, 48; in Saline, 13; in all, 1120 statute acres of excellent land, almost all of which has been already cultivated. Mr Robert Drysdale, land-surveyor in Dunfermline, who is well acquainted with the ground, considers the value of each acre drained to be L. 1, 10s. yearly more than before, which would add to the annual value of that part of Cleish L. 679* Some oats raised upon this ground have been sold before harvest at L. 14, 8s. and L. 15, Is. 9d. per statute acre, the buyers being at the ex- pense of cutting down and carrying off the crop. The evaporation along this valley must have been formerly very great, and as evaporation produces cold, the air and soil in the low ground must now be warmer, as well as drier than before. It is probably owing to the diminution of the evaporation that we have not for some time seen those frost mists, which during the night in harvest frequently covered the low grounds and injured the crops. Though all the land on the sides of this drain is good, som$ of it had rather an unpromising appearance ; in particular, the peat-bog on the south side of Aldie. The improvement of this bog, which was begun by Count Flahault, has now been completed, and the moss has yielded excellent crops of oats, potatoes, turnips, and grass. The valley of Gairney and the Pow is now completely changed, and, when viewed from the higher grounds, forms a beautiful prospect, especially to those who were acquainted with it in its former state, The east part of the water of Gairney, from the parish of Cleish to Lochleven, in length 1 mile 310 yards, has not yet been straight- ened ; but this will probably be done soon. There is now plenty of level, the surface of the loch having been lowered from four to five feet The improvement of this valley has been carried through by the proprietors themselves, without any dispute, and with little difference of opinion. When any one of them obtained more ad- vantage than his neighbour on the opposite side of the river, he paid a greater proportion of the expense of the cost. This was settled privately by the parties themselves. The estate of Blair- Adam presents a most instructive exam- ple of what may be effected by skilful and judicious manage- ment, in at once improving the appearance of the country, and in- creasing the productiveness of the soil in high and exposed situations. It originally consisted of no more than 640 Scotch acres; but, in con- 48 KINROSS-SHIRK. sequence of successive purchases, it now extends from east to vest upwards of three miles, from north to south upwards of two miles and six furlongs, and contains 3110 Scotch, or 3922 statute acres* The improvements were commenced in the year 1733, by the great-grandfather of the present proprietor. At that time the estate was little better than a wild unsheltered moor, the bleakness of which was increased rather than relieved by one solitary tree, which, to use the language of the celebrated Robert Hall, looked " like nature hanging out a signal of distress." This fact the spec- tator at the present day finds it almost impossible to realize. A greater change than that which has taken place can hardly be con- ceived. The whole property is now adorned with noble woods, which are tastefully disposed so as to crown the hills, shade the slopes, and hang over the natural ravines which vary the landscape, producing altogether a striking and beautiful effect. But appearances have not been the only object of the proprietors. Great pains have been taken to drain the soil, which, when relieved from water, is in its nature rather fertile. Hedge-rows have been planted, sunk fences constructed, and every means resorted to for bringing the improvements to the greatest possible perfection. " The small property of East Mill, of which Mr Hutcheson is the tenant, is in the eastern district of the parish of Cleish, ad. joining the west march of Barns. By the judicious management of Mr Hutcheson, this property has been greatly improved with- in the last five or six years; and he now raises good wheat, where no corn formerly grew. The estate of Fruii, bounded by Bares on the west, and the lands of Gairney on the east, is proceeding in improvement under the management of the proprietor, and is greatly benefited by the lowering of the Gairney. The lands of Gairney, bounded by Brackly (in the parish of Portmoak) on the east, by the water of Gairney on the north ; and by the lands of Blair- Adam on the south, has been possessed for several years bj Mr W. Stedman under a lease from Mr Bogie, the. proprietor, who has built for his tenant most excellent and extensive offices. Mr Stedman, the tenant, has cultivated the land in a most judi- cious manner, and has converted what was unproductive and sterile dry land, into productiveness. He has likewise taken in a great part of the red moss, and by his judicious management in draining and liming, has converted what was a peat-bog, where peats had been dug for ages, into a state of fertility, and this being the work of a tenant proves that the culture must have been beneficial* This 3 CLEISH. 49 peat-moss, which had been for ages used for fuel, was a few years ago, brought into culture by the servitude of digging peats having been given up. The three proprietors, the Lord Chief Commis- sioner, Mr Bogie, and Mr Stedinan of Fruix, all encouraged the culture of this moss, through which the great north road passes. It was in extent between forty and fifty acres, of which there is now hardly any thing to be seen, being all either converted into corn land, or covered with trees, which are in a very promising state with respect to growth. " The last-mentioned properties, viz. East Mill, Fruix, and Gair- ney, may extend to between three and four hundred acres, and with the estates of Blair Adam and Barns, constitute what is con- sidered as the eastern district of the parish of Cleish. " The estate of Barns, which adjoins that of Blair Adam on the north, was the property of a respectable family of Kinross-shire. Mr Robert Burt, who succeeded to it in 1750, upon the death of his father, became factor on the estate of Blair Adam at that period, and continued to discharge that duty until 1768, when Mr Henry Burt, his eldest son, was appointed to the situation. " Mr John Adam, the father of the late Lord Chief Commis- sioner, carried on his improvements on a very extensive scale, while he and Mr Burt were factors on his estate, — a Ad they had his leave and indeed his injunctions to take from his large nurseries whatever trees they wished to plant on the estate of Barns ; so that the last mentioned property was cultivated and planted with trees in a manner similar to that of Blair Adam, so much so, that they almost appear to be the work of the same persons/ 9 * V.— Parochial Economy. Market-Town, fyc. — The nearest market-town is Kinross, about three miles north from the centre of the parish. A great part of the grain, butter, and cheese produced is sold at Dunfermline, which is eight or nine miles distant The turnpike roads from Queensferry and from Dunfermline to Kinross cross the parish from south to north. The roads here are good and still improving : the bridges were built not many years ago, and are in good order. There is a post-office at Blair- Adam, in the east end of the parish : the principal office for the district is that of Kinross. Ecclesiastical State. — The church is situated about four miles • The above remarks are from the pen of the late Lord Chief Commissioner of the Jury Court, whose warm interest alike in the comfort, of his people and the improve- ment of bis property, has caused his death to be felt in this parish as an irreparable loss. KINROSS, D 50 KINROSS-SHIRK. from the west end of the parish, and three miles from the east end. Formerly the greatest part of the people lived in the west part of the parish : but as the most of the land there is in pas- ture, and many houses have been built on the great north road, the east quarter is now the most populous. The former church, which was built in 1775, was unfortunately burnt on 1 1th of March 1802, owing to the pipe of the stove being too near the top of the wall, and setting fire to the wall-plates. It was rebuilt immediately, and is now one of the handsomest, though unfortunately not one of the most substantial, churches in the country. The expense was about L. 850. It can accommodate upwards of 400 persons. All of the seats are free. The manse was built in 1744, and thoroughly repaired, and the offices rebuilt in 1793. * The glebe consists of 5 acres of arable, and nearly 2 of foggage or pasture-ground. The latter was formed into a watered meadow, and yields 5 tons of hay annually. The foggage being under the legal quantity, 16s. 8d. was added to the stipend to make up the deficiency. The value of the glebe is about L. 14 per annum. The stipend, including L. 4, 3s. 4d. for element-money, and 16s. 8d. for the above-mentioned deficiency of foggage, consists of L. 49, 8s. 10 T 8 d d. in money ; 24 bolls of oatmeal, and 8 bolls of bear, amount- ing, at an average of seven years, to L. 32, 3s. lid. : the Go- vernment allowance being L. 82, 6s. l}§d. ; the glebe being va- lued at L. 14 ; and the manse (before the additions mentioned in the foot-note were made) at L. 8 : altogether L. 185, 18s. 1 l T a a d- The number of persons, with their families, who belong to the Established Church is about 620; of Seceders, 60. Divine ser- vice is generally well attended at the Established Church. The number of communicants is about 200. The patron of the parish is John Young, Esq. of Cleish. Education. — There are three schools in the parish : the paro- chial school, situated near the church; a private school at Maryburgb, in the most populous part of the parish ; and occasionally another private school at Gairney Bridge, which is convenient for the children in the neighbourhood, and also for some in the adjacent parishes. The parochial schoolmaster has the legal accommoda- tion; his salary is the maximum. The school fees, in 1834, * Since this was written, a large and handsome addition has been made to the manse, and an entirely new set of offices, besides a garden wall, have been built. The whole cost nearly L. 1000. CLEISH. 5! amounted to L. 30. English reading and grammar, writing, arith- metic, Latin, Greek, French, mathematics, algebra, navigation, and geography are taught here. The school at Maryburgh is supported by Sir Charles Adam, who gives the teacher a house, school, and garden, and L. 1 5 a-year. Reading, writing, arith- metic, and book-keeping are taught here : the fees are the same as in the other school, and amounted in 1834 to L.26. The schoolmaster's wife has hitherto received L. 5 from Miss Adam for teaching sewing. She has at an average eight scholars, at 3s. per quarter. The school at Gairney Bridge depends entirely on the school fees. At the examination of these schools in April 1839, the number of scholars in the parish school was 65 ; in Maryburgh, 81 ; and in 1838, in Gairney Bridge, about 30. The people are very sen- sible of the advantage of education ; and no part of the parish is so distant from the schools as to prevent children from attending. * There are no friendly societies here ; but some of the people join with those in the neighbouring parishes. Several of them also take advantage of the Savings Bank which has been recently established at Kinross. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The number of persons at present receiving parochial aid is 6, at Is. per week, one at 2s., and two or- phan children at Is. each per week. There is also a woman re- ceiving 2s. 6d. as a temporary assistance, in consequence of her not being able to prove the father of her illegitimate child. The funds for their support are, the church collections, L.21, 6s. lOd. ; interest of L. 265, L. 10, 12s. ; and mortcloth dues, which, since the parish procured a hearse by subscription, are merely nominal : these, at an average of seven years, amount to L. 31, 18s. lOd. Out of the fund are paid L. 2 to the session* clerk, L. 3 to the pre- centor, L. 1 to the church-officer, 10s. to the presbytery clerk, 5s. to the synod clerk, and 2s. to the presbytery officer, in all, L. 6, 17s., reducing the above L. 31, 18s. lOd. to L.25, Is. lOd. The average of disbursements for seven years is L. 43, Is. 5d. Till the year 1812, our funds were sufficient for the support of the poor, and there was even a small surplus. Since that time the heritors of the parish have, in addition to the ordinary income, subscribed what was necessary, in proportion to their valued rents, * There are three Sabbath schools, (besides a class of young men and another of young women,) one at Cietsh, another at Maryburgh, and the third at Gairney Bridge» consisting i« all of about 190 children. There is also a parish library. 62 KINR088-SEURE. thinking that method preferable to an assessment There was one subscription of I* 10 in 1814, and seven since that time of L. 20 each, amounting to L. 150. The sum received was L. 153, 15s. 8d. Another subscription of L, 20 was agreed to in January 1834, but has not yet been required. In 1799 and 1800, when provisions were scarce and dear, the heritors subscribed for the relief of the poorest people : the sum collected was L. 31, 13s. or A triplex ^ (ex- cept A, patula) : Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, although now in the greatest profusion throughout the parish, was unknown in the district until it was introduced along with the seed-corn, from a distance, forty or fifty years ago. Within these last thirty years, there have been a great many plantations formed both on the low grounds, and on the southern 64 KINROSS-SHIRE. exposure of the Ochils. These consist principally of larch, Scots fir, spruce, oak, and ash. II. — Civil History. The only account of the parish is that contained in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account. There is no map of the parish by itself, but there are two very excellent ones of the county. One of these is by John Bell, in 1796 ; the other, by Sharp, Green- wood, and Fowler, in 1828. The latter, in particular, is remark- able for its minute accuracy. Burleigh Castle has been the subject of several paintings, espe- cially by Mr Robert Stein. Eminent Characters. — Dr Coventry, the late Professor of Agri- culture in the University of Edinburgh, possessed the property of Shanwell in this parish ; and Dr Young of Rosetta, in whose arms Sir Ralph Abercromby breathed his last in Egypt, was a native of it. Balfour, Lord Burleigh, was also from this parish ; — see Douglass Peerage. Land-owner*. — There are about 27 "heritors possessed of the valuation of L. 100 Scots or upwards, besides 35 others having a smaller valuation, — the smallest being L. 2, 1 0s. There are nine pro- prietors at present whose valued rent each is L. 200 or upwards, viz. Dr Walker Arnottof Arlary, L. 619 Scots; John Horn, Esq. of Thomanean, L. 552 ; Rev. G. Coventry of Shanwell, L. 403; Robert Neilson, Esq. of Hilton, L. 272 ; Misses Macturk of Craigow, L. 24 1 5*Heirs of the late Rev. Dr Belfrage of Colliston, L. 233 ; Rev. Mr Brown of Finderly, L. 233 ; Charles Stein, Esq. of Hattonburn, L. 212 ; and Mr Purves of Warroch, L. 200. The total valued rental is L. 6786, 16s. 8d. Scots. By far the greater proportion of the proprietors farm their own lands, at least in part. Parochial Registers. — The date of the earliest entry in the pa- rish register is 30th September 1688. It is not voluminous, owing to a great disinclination on the part of the people to come forward and register either births or deaths. This, however, is a little more attended to now than formerly. Antiquities. — On the farm of Orwell there are two flat standing stones, firmly imbedded in the ground. They are situated east and west of each other, at fifteen yards distance ; the one is 6£, the other 8 feet high, and each 3J feet broad. Considerable mechanical power must have been required to bring them to their present position, no similar rock being nearer than the West Lo- mond, which is distant two miles, and the ground intervening is OUWELL. 59 rugged and uneven. No tradition exists in the district regarding their origin, though various conjectures have been formed ; — some supposing that they indicate a Danish battle ; others, that they form the remains of a Druidical circle. It may, however, be observed, that, in the same field, stone coffins have been occasionally turned up by the plough ; and a few years ago, the ground was in many places dug up by a neighbouring proprietor, when quantitiesof bones, much decomposed and mixed with charcoal, were discovered. The bones were about fifteen inches below the surface of the soil, and gene- rally a layer of small stones above them. A request was once made to the Antiquarian Society of Edinburgh to send a deputa- tion to examine the ground carefully ; but this was never accom- plished. The old church of Orwell, situated on the shore of Loch Leven, and near the south-east boundary of the parish, was only a chapel of ease in the reign of Robert I. ; who, says Sibbald, in his History of Fife and Kinross, gave to the monastery of Dunfermline in puram et perpetuam eleemosynam, Ecclesiam de Kinross cum Ca* pella de UrwelL At what period it became the parish church is unknown. Burleigh Castle, situated about a quarter of a mile to the south- east of the village of Milnathort, seems to be of considerable an- tiquity. It was at one period a place of great strength, consisting of a square, surrounded by a wall of ten feet in height, a deep ditch filled with water, and a redoubt. The castle itself is entirely in ruins, though part of the square still remains. About twenty years ago, two towers were standing; one was of considerable height, and must have been very capacious. The south or small tower appears to have been the most modern structure of the whole. The date, 1582, with arms and the initials I. B., and be- low these M. B., doubtless of some of the possessors, were on the north corner of the west gable. The great tower must have been built at a much more remote period ; but no date or trace can be discovered from which a conjecture as to the time of its erection can be formed. The buildings on the north were probably erect- ed about the same period as the southern tower. The plantations about Burleigh were at one time very extensive and regular ; but almost all the trees have either been cut down, overturned by the wind, or have died of old age. About thirty-five years ago, there was a considerable number quite hollowed out ; and one in par- ticular, an ash, was known to have been so for upwards of a cen- 1 60 KINROSS-SHIRE. » tury. This tree was noted for sheltering the Master of Burleigh when concealing himself from justice* In 1707, Robert, only son of the fourth Lord Burleigh, learning that Mr Henry Stenhouse, the schoolmaster of Inverkeithing, had married a girl, (for whom he, young Burleigh, had an attachment, and on account of which he had been sent abroad to travel,) and taken her from her father's house in his absence, on his return, went directly to the school- master's house, and shot him through the left shoulder at bis own door, in consequence of which Stenhouse died twelve days after. Mr Balfour was apprehended some time afterward, tried 4th Au- gust 1709, and sentenced 29th November to be beheaded. He, however, escaped from prison the 1st or 2d of January 1710, by exchanging clothes with his sister, and concealing himself suc- cessfully for some years. The hollow of the old ash was often the place of his retreat, and hence received the appellation of Burleigh's Hole. He afterwards engaged in the Rebellion of 1715, and was attainted.* This tree was dismantled of its top by the high winds, during the winter 1808-9 ; and was completely blown down to within a few feet of the root on Old Handsel- Monday 1822. It stood about twenty feet distant from the west wall of the great tower. Upon the top of the branch of the Ochils which bounds the parish on the north, stands Cairn-a-vain, once an immense col- lection of stones, though now much reduced in size, — the pro- prietor, thirty years since, having carried away many hundred cart-loads for the purpose of building dikes. An old rhyme, still remembered^ alluded to a treasure supposed to be contained in it,— In the Dryburn well, beneath a stane, You'll find the key of Cairn-a-vain, That will mak' a Scotland rich ane by ane. However, no treasure was found, although eagerly expected by the workmen. There was a rude stone coffin in the centre of the cairn, containing an urn full of bones and charcoal, and amongst these was found a small ornament of bone about four inehes long, very much resembling the figure of a cricket-bat, and notched in the edges ; this was in much better preservation than the other bones. Clay urns full of burnt bones have also been found on the farm of Holeton, and in other places along the skirts of the Ochil hills. III. — Population. In 1765, the population amounted to 1891 persons; and in * Maclaurin'a Criminal Trials ; and Douglas* Peerage of Scotland. 3 ORWELL. 61 1793, the numbers were, males, 811; females, 983; total, 1744. The population at each census was as follows : — In 1801, malee, '920 females, 1116 total, 2096 1811, do. 1005 da 1167 do. 2172 1821, do. 1170 do. 1359 do. 2529 1831, do. 1512 da 1493 da 3006 The population returns, in 1831, included about 190 males, then employed in making a new line of road from Milnathort to Damhead, nearly all of whom did not previously reside in the pa- rish, and left it when the work was completed. The causes of increase otherwise are supposed to be the improved state of agri- culture giving more employment to labourers, and the greater salu- brity of the atmosphere consequent on draining, the introduction of vaccination, &c The population of Milnathort (the rest of the parish being landward) was, In 1801, males, 409 females, 550 total* 959 1811, do. 543 do. 656 do. 1199 1821, do. 656 da 821 da 1477 1831, do. 867 do. 905 do. 1772 The number of births, deaths, and proclamations of marriages for the last seven years is, according to the register, as follows : — Births. Funerals. Proclamation of marriages. 23 25 21 21 23 21 20 Many of the inhabitants never make any registration either of births or deaths ; and several die in the parish who are buried and registered elsewhere. No census since 1821 has been taken sufficient to enable us to state the average number of persons of different ages. In that year there were, — Under 5 years, males* 142 females, 178 1832, 40 66 1833, 33 56 1834, * 30 54 1835, 35 52 1836, 40 46 1837, 31 62 1838, 33 35 From 5 to 10 do. do. 170 do. 148 10 to 15 do. do. 127 do. 150 15 to 20 da do. 114 do. 125 20 to 30 do. do. 173 do. 240 30 to 40 do. do. 137 . do. 162 40 to 50 da do* 108 da 136 50 to 60 do. do. 100 do. 99 60 to 70 do. do. 58 do. 79 70 to 80 do. do. 34 da 30 80 to 90 do. do. 6 da 11 90 to 100 do. do. 1 do. I none. 100 and upwards, There are about 50 proprietors of land, of the yearly value of G2 KINROSS-SHIRE. L. 50, and upwards. At last census (1831) there were 662 fami- lies. The number of each family is about 4£. In 1831, there were 455 inhabited houses; since then, at least, 15 or 20 additional ones have been built. In 1831, there were 7 uninhabited or building. By the census of 1831, there were 207 males employed in agri- culture ; 357 males, retailers ; 27 wholesale merchants, &c ; 236 labourers ; 52 males not included in the above description ; 91 female-servants, but there were no house male- servants. There is 1 fatuous person, 1 deaf and dumb, and 1 blind. Character of the People, §*c. — The people, generally speaking, are intellectual, moral, and religious. Poaching has prevailed of late years to such an extent that scarcely any gentleman takes out a game certificate. Smuggling is now unknown in the parish. IV. — Industry. The number of imperial acres may, in round numbers, be stated at 13,500 ; * of these about 8000 are either cultivated or occa- sionally in tillage ; and from 600 to 700 in plantations, gardens, &c The remaining 500 acres are almost in a state of nature, and, from lying principally along the heights and declivities of the Ochils, cannot be cultivated, at least with profit Larch, Scotch fir, spruce, ash, and oak, are the principal trees. Little attention is paid to the regular yearly thinning, felling, prun- ing, &c The arable land may average about L. 1, 10s. or L. 1, 12s. per imperial acre. The average rate of grazing is from L. 3, 10s. to L. 4 per annum for a cow, and L. 2, 10s. to L. 3 for an ox. Wage*. — Farm-servants in bothy receive about L. 12 in money, 6£ bolls of oatmeal, and 6 firlots of potatoes per annum, with a pint of milk daily. The married servants generally have cows, but their wages are lessened in proportion. The rate of labour is very various ; in summer a stout and good workman will earn 2s. per day (providing his own victuals) ; or, during the hay harvest, 2s. 6d. In winter Is. 6d. is a common rate. Women obtain from 9 positate in the minister his hands, in name and behalf of Captain William Crurfurd of Pow-mylne, for the use of the poor in the parish of Orwell, born and living in the parish, virtuously and honestly, the sum of L. 100 Sterling money ; the watt sum to be lent out upon good security, and the a. -rent to be bestowed as H eometh into the managers of the said mortification. The managers appointed fey the said Captain Crawfurd, being Sir Thomas Bruce of Kinross and his heiis, tte minister of the parish of Orwell and his successors, ministers, and Captain Cravfurd and his heirs, Robert Coventry, fewer in Arlary, Robert Balfour in Orwell, Willim Shaw, fewar in Seggie, and George Arnott of Holeton, and failing any of toe* four by death, the survivors to choose others in their room, (a power being resentd by the Captain for himself, or his heirs and successors, to add to the number of ma- nagers, as he or they shall find meet.) The managers being likewise convened, sod , considering this pious, generous, and honourable deed of Captain Crawford, iwon> mended it to the minister to write a letter of thanks, in name of the managers, to the Captain for his singular liberality, and to assure him that all due care shall be taken that the aamen be managed and disposed to as it may answer bis good and laudable design." ORWELL. 65 the proceeds given to the poor. It contains about 90 sittings ; the front seats are let at 2s., the others at 6d. each. The poor have seats in this loft gratis. The church is by far too small for the congregation, and the demand for more accommodation is ra- pidly encreasing : 150 additional sittings at least are required, and nearly all of these for the working classes. The want of accom- modation in the parish church deprives many of the parishioners of the means of public worship, or compels them to attend Dis- senting churches. The ai tendance at church is nearly the same throughout the year; none of the parishioners belonging to the Establishment attend worship out of the parish. The manse was built in 1788, and, though repaired in 1825, is still very incommodious. The sum of L. 200, judiciously laid out, would render it very comfortable. The amount of stipend is L. 68, 7s. 10/gd. in money; 69 bolls, 2 firlots, 1 peck, 2g lippies meal; 46 bolls, 2 firlots, 3 pecks, and 2f c lippes barley; and 7 bolls, 2 firlots oats. There is also a glebe worth about L. 30 per annum. There are two Dissenting places of worship ; the one belong- ing to the Original Burgher Associate Synod : the other to the United Associate Synod. Both these places of worship are in the village of Milnathort ; and the number of individuals attend- ing them, as given up to the Church Commission in December 1837, was as follows, viz. — at the former, average attendance, 300 ; persons in the habit of attending, 450 ; communicants, little more than 300 : the average attendance at the United Secession was about 400; those in the habit of attending, 580; communi- cants, 485. The actual numbers belonging to these establish- ments are supposed to be, to the one, 472; to the other, 714; but some of these may reside in other parishes. 41 Education. — There are 6 schools in the parish, 1 parochial or endowed school, and 5 not endowed. Of these two are female schools : some of them are at the western extremity of the parish ; and, within a few yards of the eastern boundary, there is one si- tuated in the parish of Strathmiglo, so that there are ample means of education. The parochial school is in Milnathort, and the branches here * " The primary cause of there being Seceders in this parish, was a Mr Mair,a mi- raster of the Establishment, who, changing his opinions, preached up the erroneous doctrine of universal redemption, and was, in consequence of this, dismissed from his charge ; notwithstanding of this, he still continued in the village, preaching this doc- trine till the day of his death, to his adherents, who were very numerous, and who built that large chapel presently occupied by the Burghers.*' — Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account, Vol. ix. p. 134. KINROSS. E '66 KINROSS-SHIRE. generally taught are, English, writing, arithmetic, practical ma* thematics, geography and Latin, and sometimes Greek and French. In the unendowed schools attention is chiefly paid to the four first branches. The salary of the parochial schoolmaster is L. 34, 4s. 4£d., and the school fees average about L. 50. The lowest rate is, for English, 2s. 6d. per quarter ; writing and English, 3s. 6d. ; arithmetic with the two former, 4s. 6d. ; Latin with any of the preceding, 6s. ; mathematics, book-keeping, with the addition of any or all of those enumerated, 7s. 6d. The schoolmaster's house was built within the last thirty years. It consists of two stories, and is sufficient to enable him to keep boarders. He has besides all the legal accommodations. Thepeople in general arealive to the benefits of education. There are almost none between six and fifteen years of age who cannot read or write ; and none above fifteen in that situation, so far as is known. There is no part of the parish so distant as to prevent the children attending either the parish school or one of the un- endowed seminaries. The morals of the lowest classes have not improved of late years, but this is not to be attributed to the greater facilities for educa- tion. In consequence of the low price of spirits within these last six or eight years, there have been more petty crime and drunken- ness than was formerly known. There is a library in the village, instituted in 1797, called the Milnathort Library. This belongs at present to about forty diffe- rent individuals, in, or connected with the parish, who contribute 6s. 6d. annually towards it Any one, however, may read the books by paying Is. a-month, or 8s. a-year. The annual funds for the purchase of books, after defraying the ordinary expenses, amount, for the average of the last ten years, to L. 13. It is managed by a small committee of seven persons appointed annual- ly, and at present consists of 1270 volumes. Being the oldest li- brary in the county, it received, about four years ago, a donation from the Record Commission Court of London, of all the pub* lished acts, re tours, and other records of England and Scotland, composing 52 folio volumes. Besides this, there is also a session library, instituted 1st January 1832, attached to the Established Church, and consisting of between 800 and 500 volumes. It is kept up by a collection at the church door on the first Sabbath of each year; and every individual belonging to the congregation is allowed to make use of it, on contributing Is. annually. The ORWELL. 67 books are given out to be read every Sabbath, before public wor- ship, by one of the elders ; and the poor are allowed to read the books free of expense. It is not confined to religious works, but comprehends others of general information, such as narratives of voyages, travels, &c. There are also two other libraries ; the one a subscription library, belonging to the United Secession, instituted in 1333, to which each family using it contributes 2s. annually ; the other, conducted on similar principles, is a congregational li- brary, belonging to the Original Burghers. There are no institutions or societies in the parish ; but one gen- tleman, it may be observed, has an extensive private collection of dried plants, containing upwards of 20,000 species. Saving Bank. — There was formerly a Saving Bank in the coun- ty, but, owing to the stopping of the Stirling Bank, in which much of the money was deposited, the institution was broken up. Dur- ing last year, another, nearly on the Government plan, was set agoing. The head office is in Kinross, and there are also branches in Milnathort and Cleish. As, however, it has been a few months only in existence, nothing can be stated as to its prospects of suc- cess. Poor. — In the former Statistical Account it is said, " There are few poor on the roll, as the other three places of worship sup- port their own poor," — a statement totally inapplicable to the pre- sent day. Formerly, the poor had a feeling of independence, de- clining all assistance so long as they could earn a pittance by their own exertions, and their relatives were desirous of aiding them ra- ther than see their names on the poor's roll. Not so now. The applications for assistance every year are becoming more and more numerous, and nothing is heard but grumbling that they are not getting so much as some of their acquaintances on the roll. In- deed, very near relatives, who, by law, might perhaps be compel- led to assist, contribute nothing. Formerly, the money collected at the church-door was sufficient not only to support all the poor, but, by good management, a sum was amassed, which, about forty years ago, was laid out in purchasing a piece of land. Now, ow- ing to the poor belonging to the Secession churches coming to the Orwell kirk-session for relief, from the collections at the church- door not proportionally increasing, (many passing by without be- stowing one farthing, alleging that the heritors, and not they, ought to give,) and others contributing far below their means, there is not a sufficiency of funds to support the poor, even with the rent 68 KINROSS-SHIRE. derived from the purchased land, which at present amounts to L. 56 Sterling. As it is doubtful whether a legal assessment can be laid on, so long as there is property belonging to the poor, an attempt was made about a year ago to lay on a voluntary assess- ment, in the expectation that those heritors who were either non- resident or did not attend the parish church, and who had hitherto contributed little or nothing, would come forward in a handsome manner. This measure failed ; few of those individuals having given more than what by law they could have been compelled to pay, and others gave nothing whatever. A similar attempt is not there- fore likely again to be made, and ere long the property must be sold ; and when this happens, the few hundred pounds obtained will speedily vanish, demands to be put on the poor s roll will ra- pidly increase, and a legal assessment be the result. The average number of paupers on the permanent roll, exclusive of lunatics in confinement, and of persons receiving occasional relief, were in 1835, 23 who received L. 78, 9s. 9d. ; in 1836, 19 who re- ceived L. 83, Is. Id.; in 1837, 26 who received L.81, 8s. 6A Those who received occasional relief in 1835 were 27, who got L.9, & 5d.; in 1836, 32 received L. 10, 13s. 6d. ; in 1837, 40 received L. 20, 16s. 8£d. In 1837, there was one lunatic in confinement, the cost of which was L. 25, 18s. 2d. The annual amount of collections at the church-door were as follows :— 1835, L. 29, 6s. 8d. ; 1836, L. 29, 9s. 9d. ; 1837, L.29, 19s. 3d. During these years, there were also voluntary contribu- tions to the amount of— 1835, L. 3, 5s. Id. ; 1836, L. 3> 8s. 6£d.; and 1837, L. 54, 7s. 5d. The mortcloth and other sessional dues and rent of poor's land amounted, in 1835, to 1*62, 15s.; 18% to L.62, 6s. 6d.; and in 1837, to L. 63, 14s. 6d. The collec- tions are applied to the relief of the poor of all denominations in the parish ; under deduction of a salary of L. 3, 3s. to the session- clerk; L. 3 to the precentor; and to the beadle Ll, Is. Tbe books, containing a statement of these funds, are inspected twice a year by a joint committee of the kirk-session and heritors. The parish is much annoyed by vagrants, such as shipwrecked sailors, and persons disbanded from manufacturing establishments, &c, soliciting relief. Fairs. — There are six markets or fairs held during tbe year in the village of Milnathort. Two of these, (one on the Thursday before Christmas, the other on the second Thursday of February), are held for the sale of fat cattle only. The other four are gene- 3 ouwell. 69 ral markets for cattle, sheep, and horses, and take place in the be- ginning of May, July, and November, and end of August Inns and Alehouses. — There are no less than 14 spirit licenses granted for this parish. Of these, 5 are issued to inns or public- houses in the village of Milnathort ; seven grocers in the village also allow spirits to be consumed on their premises ; and there are two public-houses in the landward part of the parish. This facility of obtaining spirituous liquors, not to mention the cheapness of the article, while it has given an effectual check to smuggling, has in- creased their consumption, and greatly deteriorated the morals of the lower orders ; and instances of late have occurred of some abandoned wretches stealing and selling mere trifles to obtain the few pence requisite to purchase a dram. Fuel. — Almost the only kind of fuel now used is coal, which is obtained in several places in the county of Fife, at no great distance from the borders of Kinross-shire. The distance of the pits from Milnathort is from seven to nine miles. The price is variable, but at present the cost may be stated at 7s. or 7s. 6d. per ton at the pit mouth. A cart load weighs 84 stone Dutch, or 13 cwt. and 14 lbs. ; and when contracted for on behalf of the poor, it varies from 7s. to 8s. 6d., including carriage and tolls. There is no distillery now in the parish. The one belonging to Mr Stein of Hattonburn, noticed in the former Statistical Account, having been converted into a potato-flour or farina manufactory. Miscellaneous Observations. Since the former Statistical Account was written, and, indeed, within the last thirty years, great alterations have taken place ow- ing to an extensive system of draining, and a more skilful method of husbandry. Many fields, which at that period were totally useless, may now be seen to produce excellent crops. The greater part of the parish is dry ; yet, from the close-bottomed nature of many fields, improvement still may be expected from wedge- draining, as yet partially introduced ; and it is probable that this will be more attended to, as the returns to those farmers who have thoroughly practised it have been satisfactory. The roads are all in excellent order, and lime is to be had at a convenient distance, and at no great expense. Taking these circumstances into view, together with the moderate rate of wages, the agriculturist has every facility to carry on his improvements. April 1839. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE COUNTY OF KINROSS, Sir Robert Sibbald, in his History of Fife and Kinross, tells us, that, in the ancient language of the Picts, the county of Fife was called Ross, " which signifietha peninsula," and adds, "that the upper part of this territory, formed by the Friths of Forth and Tay, got the name of Kean-Ross, which means the head of the peninsula.' 1 He does not, however, adduce a shadow of evidence to satisfy us that the county of Fife was at any period called Ross; and we are rather inclined to suppose, that the origin of the word Kinross arose entirely from some local circumstance. This county lies between 3° 14' and 3° 35' west longitude, aod between 56° & and 56° 18' north latitude, From the eastmost point at Auchmoor Bridge over the River Leven to the westmost part, where it is bounded by the Devon, it does not exceed twelve miles in extent ; and from Kelty- Bridge, on the south to Damhead on the north, is scarcely ten. The area of the whole county does not exceed seventy square miles, or 44,800 imperial acres; and thus it is one of the smallest shires in Scotland. It is bound- ed on the north, by the Ochil-hills, which separate the district from Strathearn ; on the east, by the Lomond-hills ; and the sooth- east and south-west boundaries run partly along the summit of Be- narty, and partly along the flat ground to a point on Keky-buro, whence the Cleish-hills, extending to the west, divide it from Fife Thus, though the boundaries are generally hilly, there is a level opening at Blair- Adam, between Benarty and the Cleish-hills, through which the great north road passes ; there is another open- ing to the north-east, between the Ochil and Lomond-hills, lead- ing towards Cupar- Fife ; and a third level, more extensive than any of the former, opens to the west towards Stirling, at the Crook of Devon. In addition to these, there is a narrow pass through which the River Leven flows from the loch. Previous to the year 1426, the greater part of this county was GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 71 incorporated with Fifeshire, and at the period when the disjunc- tion took place, it comprised only the parishes of Kinross, Orwell, and Portmoak; but in the year 1685, the King and estates in Parliament, in consideration of the smallness of the county, added Cleish, Tulliebole, and some lands lying in Perthshire. These constituted the county or sheriffdom of Kinross. But although separated from Fife, the same Sheriff-depute was placed over both, in the same way as one was placed oyer Stirling and Clackman- nan. This state of matters continued till the year 1807, when the counties of Clackmannan and Kinross were united into one She- riffdom. — Kinross-shire at present comprehends only four entire parishes, with portions of three others, which will be noticed un- der the county of Perth, to which they chiefly belong. The greater part of this small territory is dry, resting on a sharp gravel, intermingled with small portions of clayey loam, and a good deal of it is of a moorish quality. The climate, though cold and wet, owing to the general elevation of the district, has been much improv- ed by an extensive system of drainage, and is upon the whole consi- dered healthy, — the people being vigorous and subject to few ma- ladies. Indeed, the whole county till a very recent period was wild and barren, which circumstance has been attributed to the local peculiarity of the district being divided into small farms — al- most every single farm being a separate property, and generally possessed by its owner. Thus the number of small proprietors are greater here in proportion to the size of the district than elsewhere. These farms were feued out chiefly about* the end of the seven- teenth or beginning of the last century for a feu-duty. " The marches of the various farms," it is stated in Chambers' Gazetteer, " not having been well defined, and being distracted by the practice of run-rig, it was long before the county manifested very active signs of improvement. Within the recollection of persons of mid- dle life, few districts were worse cultivated or less profitable than Kinross-shire ; but various circumstances, among which is includ- ed the good example shown by neighbours, ultimately induced a spirited change, and now, from less to more, the agriculture, the mode of draining, enclosing, and planting can vie with those of Fife, or most other places." The whole productive land is about four-fifths of the whole county, and when let is on leases generally from fourteen to twenty-one years, the rent for the most part being a fixed annual sum. The size of the farms vary from 50 to 300 acres — the corn crops being oats and barley, though occasionally 72 GENERAL ORSKRVATIONS ON THE on the better soils wheat is cultivated. Potatoes, turnips, clovers, and rye-grass are raised all over the county. A fair proportion of these farms is in grass, for which the soil and climate are both favourable. The pastures of the cultivated land are occupied by cattle, but sheep are kept in numbers only on the Cleish and Ochil- hills. It is supposed that about 3000 acres are underwood, the most extensive plantations being on Blair- Adam. These were begun in 1733, and at the present time cover about 1300 acres, consisting of oak, ash, larch, elm, beech, spruce, silver and Scotch fir ; the last, however, it is understood, does not grow well in ex- posed situations. The mineralogy of the shire is of little import- ance. Coal has been found on the south, where the county joins Fifeshire, but is not wrought in this county. Freestone quarries of excellent quality are likewise wrought in the parish of Cleish, and whinstone is almost every where to be met with. To the north of Kinross, red freestone is the geological formation of the district, and limestone, in great profusion, is obtained from the Lomond- hills. The roads throughout the county are all good, and none in Scotland can surpass in excellence the great north road, which runs through Kinross, the county town. This town is the only one in the shire, but there is a large and populous village, about a mile to the north, called Milnathort. At both these places, several an- nual fairs are held, and at the latter a weekly corn-market for the sale of grain. The manufacture of cutlery was formerly carried on in Kinross, but has for a long period been entirely abandoned. A great many people are employed in weaving cotton, chiefly by the manufacturers of Glasgow ; and within the last twelve months, two or three companies belonging to Kinross and Milnathort, hate set agoing the manufacture of tartan shawls and plaids, which hitherto appears to have met with success. The annual value of real property in 1815, was L. 25,805, and now it cannot be estimated at less than L. 35,000 or L. 40,000. Legal assessments for the poor are seldom resorted to, the heritors preferring to contribute according to their rentals what sums may be necessary. * In this county there are a few small rivulets, which, with the ex- ception of the Leven, act as feeders to the loch. This sheet of water lies in the south-east part of the county, at an elevation of about 360 feet above the level of the sea, and is emptied by the stream just alluded to, which flows in an easterly direction through Fifeshire, till it disembogues itself into. Largo Bay. Loch COUNTY OF KINROSS. 73 Leveu is from eight to nine miles in circumference, and; covers about 4000 acres ; though inferior in magnitude and picturesque beauty to some of the Highland lochs, it is still a noble expanse of water. Trout, pike, perch, and eel, are found here in abundance. It is of an irregular oval figure, possessing several islets, of which only two are worth noticing, — the one, extending to about five acres, is situated within a short distance of the shore at Kinross, and here are the remains of the castle, once the prison of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots ; the other, called §t Serfs Isle, having a flat, bare appearance, is near the south-east extremity of the loch. On the latter island there was a priory dedicated to St Serf or Ser- vanus, which must have been placed here upwards of 1000 years ago, but no vestige of it is now to be seen. A considerable number of cattle and sheep are pastured upon this island, which, since the draining of the loch, immediately about to be noticed, ex- tends to upwards of 100 acres* On the other island, containing the castle, the main tower of which, it may be observed, appears to be about the same size as the border towers, a fortlet was first built by Congal, a valiant Pictish King, who reigned towards the end of the fifth century. At what period the castle itself was erect- ed we are not informed, but it makes an early appearance in our history. In the year 1335 it was defended by Alan de Vipont, a Scottish royalist, against a John de Strivilin, apparently a Scottish- man, but who acted in behalf of Baliol. A fort was erected in the churchyard of Kinross, on a neighbouring promontory, and at the lower end of the lake, where the water issues from it, an embankment was thrown across with the view of laying the island and castle under water, and thereby compelling the besieged to surrender. Vipont took the opportunity of the English General being absent on some pious duty at Dunfermline, and broke through this barrier to the utter, confusion and discomfiture of the English. Such is the story told by Buchanan, but it does not appear probable ; for an embank- ment such as would inconvenience the besieged, must, from the nature of the ground, have also annoyed the blockading party on the shore at Kinross* And when we consider the magnitude of the operations required — the strength of the works necessary — and the time requisite for accumulating the water, we are inclined to place little reliance in the tale, considering that it happened in the time of war and slender resources. It appears to us, however, that the termination of the lake formerly must have been at the east end of the level carse through which the stream of the Leven flows. KINROSS. F 74 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE Here even now the rising grounds on each side almost meet to- gether, and in all likelihood the natural barrier having, from some cause or other, given way, the waters of the loch receded to their lowest level, and thus the carse was formed. The drainage of the loch, which has lately been effected, bad engaged the attention of many of the proprietors in the neigh- bourhood for half a century ; but it was only within the last twelve years that any attempt was seriously made to get this object ac- complished. An act of Parliament was at length obtained ; and though the operations have now been completed at an expense of some L. 40,000, it is very questionable whether the advantages, supposed to arise from the measure, have not been greatly exag- gerated. A few proprietors may probably feel its good effects; but, in general, the ground recovered, which may be about 1000 acres in all, is poor. — that on the eastern side, which comprises the greater proportion, being composed of a covering of whitish sand, having generally a subsoil of bluish tilly sand, of a most unproductive quality. If any material advantage arise from the operations, it must be to the land-owners along the river, who have obtained a greater facility for draining ; or to the mill-pro- prietors, who, indeed, will chiefly reap the advantage ; and appa- rently endless disputes have already arisen as to the proportions of the expense which each party interested has to pay. The features of the county, in general, are not very imposing, yet still they have a few charms ; nor do we know any thing more beautiful than the view to be obtained from the rising ground on the eastern side of Loch Leven in an autumnal morning, when the mist which has enveloped the whole county may be seen gradually ascending from the lake, under the influence of the rising sun, and unfolding to the eye of the traveller, the calm unruffled surface of the waters, with the gray and lonely castle — connected with many a strange tale in our history — reposing in its bosom ; as the mist clears away, the hills are seen girding on the whole, which pre- sents at such a moment a picture highly interesting and sublime. The following shows the state of the population at different pe- riods : — Population in 1755, 5944 1791, 6181 1901, 6725 1811, 7245 1821, 7762 1831, 9072 COUNTY OF KINROSS. 75 And the following, applicable to the year 1831, may not be un- appropriate in this place : — Area in statute miles and acres ; 70 square miles, or 44,800 acres. Inhabited houses, ...... Id24 Number of families chiefly employed in agriculture, . 440 trade, manufactures, and handicraft, 819 All other families not comprised in the two preceding classes, 760 Males, ...... 4519 Females, • 4553 Number of inhabitants to each square mile, 129 persons corresponding to each family, , 44 house, ... 6 Until the passing of the Reform Act in 1832, Kinross-shire returned a member to serve in Parliament only alternately with Clackmannan, and the number of freeholders then on the roll was 21. The constituency at present is 498) and that of Clackman- nan 797 ; both counties uniting in sending a representative to Par- liament 76 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. s e o c 9 0> O i as O CA 0) H be c '£ I « S •a 3 O X I ? 3 e c 3 e2 «•■* •8 ■ 3 3 c •s-a S 0* § E | •« ? 4 j-2 I fa IT 788 i • • J •qsijwj uisfoogos •a * 00 TO go Jh3J "95 "^ oo co 3 8-d 3 •-* ^ pire tiaiaassiQ fi3ii£3 :8* •qoant(3 pa -Saopq suosaaj •sja jo uifiunw 01 •qomqj -qinsy o% -ftuopq «.*>i(iuin^ 91 C8 a. ••« Q ^ C^oC OB I u 2 » a s *** • SaS MM CQ a ► 3 **=? 5> 3*3 *» O 5 £ a • » 3 . « 8 9 15 P-ci-H . I May 1839. INDEX. Agriculture and rural economy, 16, 34, 42,62 Aldie bog, drainage of, 47 Antiquities, 11, 33, 41, 64 Benartie, hill of, 30 Bishop's hill, the, 30 Blair, Adam 40, 42 — improvements at, 48 Botany, 8, 40, 56 Bruce, Michael, his residence at Cleish, 41 Bruce, Sir William, the architect, 8 Burleigh castle, ruins of, 59 Burleigh, Lord, 58 Burleigh, the master of, condemned for murder, 60 Burying -place, ancient, at Gallows know, 12 Cairn -a- vain,' relics found at, 60 Castle island, the, in Lochleven, 3 Character and habits of the population, 15, 34, 42, 62 Churches connected with the Establish- ment, see Ecclesiastical Statistics. Cleish, parish of, 38 — ruins of the Place of, 41 Climate, see Meteorology. Coins, ancient British, found at Col- don, 11 .Collieries at Portmoak, 37 — at Blair Adam, 39 Coventry, Professor, birth-place of, 58 Crawford, Captain, bequest by, for the poor of Orwell, 64 Danish remains in the parish of Orwell, 59 Dissenters and Dissenting chapels, 22 36,50,65 Dowhill house, ruins of, 41 Drainage of Aldie bog, 47 — of Loch- leven, 2, 34, 74 Draining, important improvements by, 43 Dumglow hill, 38 — remains of ancient ' camp on, 41 Education, statistics of, 24, 36, 50, 65 Ecclesiastical statistics, 24, 36, 50, 64 Fairs and markets, 27, 68 Fisheries, the trout, &c. of Lochleven, 7 — effects of its drainage on, 6 Freestone, see quarries. Gairnev water, the, 39 — deepening of its channel, 43 KINROSS. Gallows know, skeletons found at, 12 Geology and mineralogy, 4, 31, 39, 54 Grahame, George, bequest by, for poor of Kinross, 27 Inch island, the, in Lochleven, 3, 73 Ingan hills, the, 38 Inns and alehouses, and their effects, 27, 69 Islands in Lochleven, 3, 73 Keiry crags, the, 42 Kinross-shire, general observations on, 70 Kinross, origin of the name, 1 — parish of, 1 — ministers of, from the Refor- mation, 9 Kinross, town of, 15, 19 — church, 21 — gas company, 28 — prison, 27 Libraries and literature, 25, 66 Limestone, quarries of, at Benartie, 31, 85— at Scarhill, 39 Live-stock, breeds of, 44 Loch Glow, 39 Lochleven, 2, 72 — drainage of, 2, 34, 74 — effects of the drainage on the fisheries, 6 — fisheries of, 7 Lochleven castle, history of, 12 keys of, found in the loch, 13 Manufactures, 18, 35 Maryburgh, village of, 50 Meteorology and climate, 1, 38, 53 Mills, various, in parish of Kinross, 4 Milnathort quarries, 56 — village of, 61, 63— library, 60 Mineralogy, see Geology Nivingstone house, 41 — quarries, 44 - Orwell or Urwell, parish of, 52 old church of, 59 Parchment manufactory at Portmoak, .35 Paupers and pauperism, 26, 37, 51, 57 Pitcairn, Robert, the commendator of Dunfermline abbey, 10 Place of Cleish, ruins of, 41 Plantations and planting, 16, 33, 72 Poaching, prevalence of, 15 Poor, management of the, 26, 87, 51. 67 Population returns, 15, 33, 42, 60 Population, character of, 15, 34, 42, 62 Portmoak, parish of, 30 Priory of St Serf, ruins of, 33, 73 Powburn, the, 45 G 78 KINROSS-SHIRE. Quarries, freestone, 39, 44, 56 — lime- stone, 31, 39 Qtteich water, the, 54 St Serfs Isle, 3, 73— ruins of priory on, 33,73 Savings banks, 25, 67 Schools, parochial, &c, see Education. ' Scotland well, village of, 81— ruins of chapel at, 33 Seal of James IV. found at West Green, 11 Societies, friendly, 25 — religious, 23 Stone coffins found at Orwell. 59 Swedish crossbill, appearance of at Loehleven, 8 Tartans, manufactory of, 18 Thomson, Professor, birth-place of, 9 ! Trout, the Loehleven, 7 Urwell, see Orwell. Wages, rates of, 44, 62 Woods, see Plantations. Young, Dr, of Rosetta, birth-place of, 58 Zoology, 6, 32, 56 SEP 2 5 1917 POINTED BY JOHN STARK, OLD ASSEMBLY CLOSE, EDINBURGH. BOLWD I