James Abercrombie of Fife Scotland

James Abercrombie, 1st Baron Dunfermline was born in Scotland on November 7, 1776. He was the third son of General Sir Ralph Abercrombie, the hero of the Aboukir landing at the Battle of the Nile. Abercrombie was Speaker of the British House of Commons from 1835 to 1839. A barrister, he was Whig MP for Midhurst 1807-12, and for Calne 1812-32. After the Reform Act of 1832 he sat for Edinburgh until 1839, when he was created Baron Dunfermline, of Dunfermline in the County of Fife. He was Master of the Mint in the administration of Lord Grey. He died on April 17, 1858.

Largoward Fife Scotland

Largoward, Fife, Scotland. Tour Largoward, Fife, Scotland, on an Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Best Scottish Tours, Best Scottish Food, Best Scottish Hotels, Small Group Tours of Scotland, Rent a Cottage in Scotland.

Kirkcaldy Harbour Fife Scotland

Old Kirkcaldy Harbour, Fife, Scotland. Tour Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, on an Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Best Scottish Tours, Best Scottish Food, Best Scottish Hotels, Small Group Tours of Scotland, Rent a Cottage in Scotland.

Fife Scotland Mathematician

Sir John Leslie, 1766 to 1832, was a Fife mathematician and physicist best remembered for his research into heat. Leslie was born of humble parentage at Largo in Fife and received his early education there and at Leven.

Wemyss Fife Scotland

East Wemyss Church, Wemyss, Fife, Scotland. Tour Wemyss, Fife, Scotland, on an Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Best Scottish Tours, Best Scottish Food, Best Scottish Hotels, Small Group Tours of Scotland, Rent a Cottage in Scotland. Wemyss in 1846, Wemyss, a parish, in the district of Kirkcaldy, county of Fife; containing, with the burgh of West Wemyss, and the villages of Buckhaven, East and West Coaltown, Methill, Kirkland, and East Wemyss, 5403 inhabitants, of whom 859 are in the village of East Wemyss, 3 miles (N. E.) from Dysart, and 947 in the burgh of West Wemyss, 2 miles (N. E. by E.) from Dysart, and 4 (N. E.) from Kirkcaldy. This place appears to have derived its name, which in the Gaelic language signifies "a cave," from the number of caverns in the rocks that form its boundary towards the coast. It extends about six miles in length, and about one and a half in average breadth, comprehending an area of nearly nine square miles; it is washed on the southeast by the Firth of Forth, and comprises 5000 acres, of which 3556 are arable, 600 woodland and plantations, and the remainder rough pasture and waste. The surface is irregularly raised; the sea-shore is strongly defended by abrupt rocks stretching boldly into the Frith, and the land rises gradually towards the northern and western portions of the parish. The scenery is richly ornamented with thriving plantations of modern date, and with some natural woods in which are many ancient trees of stately and majestic growth. The soil, also, is generally fertile, and the system of husbandry improved; but the parish is more of a manufacturing than of an agricultural character. The substratum forms part of the great coal formation of the district, and consists also of sandstone, clay-slate, and argillaceous ironstone, with boulders of green or whin stone. Numerous fossils are found in the shale above the seams of coal, including some very fine specimens of forest-trees. The coal is extensively wrought; four pits have been opened, and are still in operation. The Wemyss coal-works are on the principal seam, which is nine feet in thickness, and has been wrought to a depth of 300 feet below the level of the sea; the annual produce is about 40,000 tons, and several powerful steam-engines have been erected for draining the water, and expediting the working of the mines, in which more than 200 persons are employed. Some pits for the parrot or gas coal are worked without the assistance of machinery, and employ twenty men; and the two other coal-works, the produce of which is principally for the supply of the neighbourhood, employ together about eighty persons. The ironstone has also been wrought with success, and affords occupation to about forty persons; and a vein of yellow ochre has recently been discovered, and brought under operation. The rateable annual value of the parish is £7802.

The weaving of linen employs a great portion of the population, and works have been established at Kirkland, Buckhaven, and other places, the particulars of which are given under their respective heads in other parts of the work. A very extensive salt-manufacture was once carried on at Methill, and at West Wemyss, which, since the removal of the duty, has been altogether discontinued at the former place, and at the latter very greatly diminished; the whole quantity made at both places was formerly 50,000 bushels annually. The quantity now made at the latter is about 6000 bushels, of the average value of £500; the salt is of excellent quality, and finds a ready sale in the neighbouring markets. A fishery, also, is carried on at Buckhaven, which has long been celebrated as one of the most important fishing-stations on this coast; and at West Wemyss, a very convenient harbour has been constructed for the accommodation of the vessels employed in the coal-trade. The sole proprietor of the parish is Captain James Erskine Wemyss, R.N., whose magnificent mansion, Castle Wemyss, is situated near the burgh of West Wemyss, on the summit of a cliff rising abruptly from the rocky shore of the Frith, and commanding an interesting and extensive view of the sea, and the adjacent country, which abounds with picturesque and romantic scenery. Near it is the residence of the agent for the estate, beautifully situated among the woods and plantations on the demesne surrounding the castle. The village of West Wemyss, which stands pleasantly on the sea-shore, about a mile distant from East Wemyss, is a burgh of barony under the government of two bailies, a treasurer, and council; it is chiefly inhabited by persons employed in the coal-trade and the manufacture of salt. A subscription library has been established, which is well supported, and contains a good collection of volumes; and a savings' bank has also been opened. The village of East Wemyss is likewise situated on the coast, and is principally inhabited by persons engaged in the weaving of linen, for which it has been long distinguished. There are four extensive factories established here, which, including one at Buckhaven, consume nearly 250,000 spindles of yarn: the chief articles at present manufactured are, ducks, dowlas, and sheeting. The annual produce on the average is more than 1,200,000 yards, which are partly used for home consumption, and the remainder exported; and the amount of wages paid annually to weavers and winders exceeds £10,000. The church and the parochial school are situated in this village: the former, a venerable and ancient structure, forms an interesting feature in the scenery. A subscription library has been established for more than thirty years; it contains about 300 volumes, and is well supported. A savings' bank has also been long established, in which the deposits amount to above £2000. A post-office has been opened in the parish; and facility of intercourse with the neighbouring towns is afforded by good roads kept in repair by statute labour, and by a turnpike-road from Kirkcaldy by Kennoway to Cupar, which passes through the northern part of the parish.

Wemyss is in the presbytery of Kirkcaldy, synod of Fife, and patronage of the Town-council of Edinburgh: the minister's stipend is £253. 11.3., with a manse, and the glebe is valued at £25 per annum. The church, a cruciform structure, is in the early English style of architecture, displaying some interesting details, and is adapted for a congregation of 1000 persons. A church was recently erected in the village of Methill; it is a handsome edifice of stone, raised at an expense of £1030, and is adapted for 853 persons. There are also places of worship at East and West Wemyss for members of the Free Church, at Buckhaven for the United Associate Synod, and near Methill for the United Christian Congregation. A catechist for the instruction of the colliers and the persons engaged in the salt-works in the parish, is appointed by the family of Wemyss, according to a bequest of the Earl of Cromarty, who, in honour of the memory of Margaret, Countess of Wemyss, and afterwards of Cromarty, appropriated a sum of money from which the catechist derives a salary of £50 per annum. The parochial school affords a liberal course of instruction; the master has a salary of £34. 4., with £25 fees, a house, and a garden, for the deficiency of which last he has an equivalent of £1. 15. 7. There is also a school in Kirkland, the master of which receives, in addition to the fees, a salary of £30 per annum, paid by Messrs. Neilson and Company, proprietors of the linen manufactory of that place. The late Mr. Archibald Cook, of Kirkcaldy, a native of this parish, bequeathed property to a considerable amount, which, after the decease of his widow, is to be vested in the presbytery of Kirkcaldy, in trust for the education of children of Wemyss. There are also Sabbath schools, the children attending which are supplied with books. A society called the Generous Society was established in 1793, for the relief of sick and indigent members; its funds are ample and well administered, and it has contributed greatly to diminish the number on the poor's list. There are some remains of chapels at Methill and near West Wemyss. To the east of East Wemyss are the ruins of an ancient castle said to have been built by Macduff, created Earl of Fife by Malcolm, King of Scotland, about the year 1061; they consist chiefly of two square towers, and portions of the walls of the fortress, and are situated on an eminence overlooking the Frith. Sir Michael Wemyss, of this place, was sent, in conjunction with Sir Michael Scott, of Balweary, as ambassador, on the decease of Alexander III. in 1290, to Norway, to escort Margaret, his grand-daughter, and heiress to the Scottish crown, on her return to Scotland: the princess died at Orkney, on her passage. In Castle Wemyss is still preserved a silver basin which was presented by the King of Norway to Sir Michael Wemyss on that occasion. The Earl of Wemyss and March takes the former of these titles from this parish.

Thornton Fife Scotland

Pipers at the Thornton Highland Games, Fife, Scotland. Tour Thornton, Fife, Scotland, on an Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Best Scottish Tours, Best Scottish Food, Best Scottish Hotels, Small Group Tours of Scotland, Rent a Cottage in Scotland. Thornton in 1846. Thornton, a village, and lately a quoad sacra parish, partly in the parishes of Dysart and Kinglassie, but mostly in the parish of Markinch, district of Kirkcaldy, county of Fife, 4 miles (S. by E.) from the village of Markinch; containing 844 inhabitants, of whom 674 are in the parish of Markinch. The village, which contains 545 persons, is chiefly inhabited by those engaged in the neighbouring collieries or employed in the various spinning-mills, bleachfields, and other works in the vicinity; it presents but little claim to description. There are vitriol works established here, in connexion with some works at Glasgow. The church was erected in 1836, at an expense of £450; it is a neat plain structure containing 450 sittings. The minister's stipend is £60 per annum, derived chiefly from seat-rents and collections.

Strathmiglo Fife Scotland

Strathmiglo is a village in Fife, Scotland on the River Eden. The tollbooth of 1734 is a prominent landmark. Tour Strathmiglo, Fife, Scotland, on an Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Best Scottish Tours, Best Scottish Food, Best Scottish Hotels, Small Group Tours of Scotland, Rent a Cottage in Scotland. Strathmiglo in 1846. Strathmiglo, an ancient burgh of barony and a parish, in the district of Cupar, county of Fife, 2 miles (W. by S.) from Auchtermuchty; containing, with the hamlets of Westercash and Edenhead, 2187 inhabitants, of whom 1304 are in the town or village of Strathmiglo. This place derives its name from the river Miglo, which, flowing through the parish, divides it into two nearly equal portions, and afterwards assumes the name of the Eden. The lands anciently formed part of the demesnes of the crown, and were granted by Malcolm IV., in marriage with his niece, to Duncan, Earl of Fife, whose descendants, in 1251, gave them to the family of the Scotts of Balwearie, in whose possession they remained for many years. The estate was erected into a burgh of barony in 1600, and its privileges as such were confirmed by charter of James VI., in 1605. The superiority in 1730 became the property of the Balfours, of Burleigh, whose armorial bearings are placed on the front of the town-house, which was built with the materials of the old castle of Cairney-flappet, granted for that purpose to the burgesses by Margaret Balfour, who was then superior of the barony. After the rebellion in 1745, and the consequent abolition of heritable jurisdictions, the burgh lost its privileges; and the lands are now divided among various proprietors, of whom P. G. Skene, Esq., of Pitlour House, is the principal.

The parish, which is bounded on the south by the Lomond hill, and on the north by a branch of the Ochils, is about six miles in length, and varies from two to four miles in breadth; comprising an area of 5000 acres, of which 350 are woodland and plantations, 600 meadow and pasture, and the remainder arable. The surface is partly level and partly hilly, rising on both sides of the river by gentle acclivities; on the south to the Lomond range, which has an elevation of 1700 feet above the sea; and on the north to a ridge of inconsiderable eminence, forming a continuation of the Ochil range. The Miglo has its source in two small streams, the one at the north-west, and the other at the south-west, angle of the parish: these, uniting in the valley of Strathmiglo, form the river Eden. The soil, on the south side of the river, is light and thin, but on the north side deeper, and of richer quality, chiefly a fertile loam; the crops are, grain of all kinds, turnips, potatoes, and the various grasses. The system of agriculture is improved, and according to the nature of the land, the four or six rotation plan is adopted: the farm-buildings are substantial and commodiously arranged, and on most of the farms are threshing-mills, several of which are driven by water. The substrata are mainly sandstone and whinstone; and on the side of Lomond hill is found white freestone, of very durable texture, and susceptible of a high polish. Pitlour House is a handsome mansion, situated on an eminence overlooking the town in grounds tastefully laid out.

The town is pleasantly seated in a fine plain on the north side of the Miglo, and consists chiefly of one irregularly built street, from which several smaller streets and lanes diverge at right angles: in the centre of the principal street is the town-house, a good building, with a square tower surmounted by a spire. On the opposite side of the river stands the small village of Westercash, and between it and the town is a level meadow called the Town green. The chief business carried on by the inhabitants is the weaving of linen; there is a bleachfield; and the river in its course gives motion to several corn and flour mills, a lint-mill, and a mill for spinning flax. Among the articles made are, diaper, damask, dowlas, checks, and table-linens, in making which from 500 to 600 persons are employed at handlooms, mostly for the manufacturers of Dunfermline, Dundee, and Kirkcaldy; many of the weavers, however, manufacture these articles on their own account. There is a post-office in the town, subordinate to that of Kinross; and facility of communication is afforded by roads kept in excellent repair. Fairs, chiefly for pleasure and general traffic, are held on the last Friday in June and the first Friday in November. The rateable annual value of the parish is £9330. Its ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Cupar and synod of Fife. The minister's stipend is £217. 11. 10., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £12 per annum: patron, the Earl of Mansfield. The old church, which was collegiate, belonged to the abbey of Dunkeld; the present church, situated at the east end of the village, is a plain edifice erected about the year 1785, and contains 750 sittings. There are also places of worship for members of the Free Church, Reformed Presbyterians, and the United Associate Synod. The parochial school affords instruction to about eighty children, the master has a salary of £34. 4. 4., with a house and garden, and the fees average £22 per annum. The schoolroom has recently been enlarged by the heritors, and will now accommodate 150 children; a play-ground also, has been purchased by subscription. A female school has been built by Mr. Skene, who pays the teacher a small salary; and three other schools are supported by subscriptions and donations. The poor have the interest of a bequest of money, yielding £10, and the rent of land, £19 per annum. There are some remains of what are supposed to have been Druidical monuments; also numerous barrows and tumuli in the parish; and human bones, ashes, and various military weapons, have been found at different times.

Springfield Fife Scotland

Springfield, Fife, Scotland. Tour Springfield, Fife, Scotland, on an Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Best Scottish Tours, Best Scottish Food, Best Scottish Hotels, Small Group Tours of Scotland, Rent a Cottage in Scotland. Springfield in 1846. Springfield, a village, in the parish and district of Cupar, county of Fife, ½ a mile (N.) from the town of Cupar; containing 480 inhabitants. It is situated in the western portion of the parish, on the high road from Cupar to Rathillet, and is chiefly inhabited by persons connected with the trade of the town of Cupar and the several manufactures carried on in the parish: the houses are neatly built, and the village is rapidly increasing in extent and population.

Scoonie Fife Scotland

Scoonie, Fife, Scotland. Tour Scoonie, Fife, Scotland, on an Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Best Scottish Tours, Best Scottish Food, Best Scottish Hotels, Small Group Tours of Scotland, Rent a Cottage in Scotland. Scoonie in 1846. Scoonie, a parish, in the district of Kirkcaldy, county of Fife, 9 miles (N. E.) from Kirkcaldy; containing, with the town of Leven, 2836 inhabitants. This place, which is of considerable antiquity, and of which the church at a very early period was granted by Malduin, bishop of St. Andrew's, to the Culdees of Lochleven, was formerly in part the property of the family of Gibson, who held the lands of Durie. Of their descendants, Lord Durie was one of the commissioners sent in 1652 to treat with the English parliament on the projected union of the two kingdoms; and another of the family sat in the first Scottish parliament after the restoration of Charles II. to the throne. The parish is situated on the Frith of Forth; it extends for four miles in length from north to south, and two miles in breadth from east to west, and comprises about 4000 acres, of which 3250 are arable, 250 woodland and plantations, and 350 pasture and waste. The surface is gently undulating, rising from the south to the north till it attains an elevation of about 700 feet above the level of the sea: from the higher grounds is an extensive prospect of the Frith and the country on the southern shore, embracing numerous objects of romantic appearance and much beautifully varied scenery. The river Leven, which washes Scoonie on the west, has its source in the loch of that name, and, after flowing through a luxuriant valley, and receiving many streams in its course, falls into the bay of Largo near the town of Leven. The river abounds with trout, pike, and eels; and near its mouth was formerly a lucrative salmon-fishery, which, from some alterations that prevented the fish from ascending the river, and owing to certain deleterious substances from some bleach-works in the town mingling with its waters at this place, has been destroyed, and for many years totally discontinued. There are few good springs in the parish, and only one deserving of notice, "the boiling well." The general scenery is agreeably diversified; the surrounding country is richly cultivated, and the plantations on the demesnes of the principal seats add much to its embellishment. The soil of the parish is fertile; and the system of husbandry, which consists of successive rotations of white and green crops, is in a high state of improvement. The crops are, wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and turnips, of which large quantities are grown; and considerable exports of grain and potatoes are made from Leven for distant markets. Great attention is paid to the rearing of cattle, which are generally of the black Fifeshire breed; and formerly great numbers were sent in a lean state to London, but at present they are all fattened in the parish, and mostly sent to Edinburgh and Glasgow, with only a few occasionally to London by the Dundee steamers. Several oxen of the Old Fifeshire kind bred in the parish have gained the prizes at the Highland Society's cattle-shows. Few sheep are reared; but many are purchased by the farmers at the neighbouring fairs, and fed on turnips during the winter. The farm-buildings are generally commodious, and some, of recent erection, are very superior; threshing-mills are attached to most of the farms, one of which is driven by steam; and the latest improvements in agricultural implements have been adopted. Much progress has been made in draining; and from the advanced state of agriculture, and the vicinity of the town and port of Leven, which affords a facility of disposing of the produce, the lands have greatly increased in value. The rateable annual value of the parish now amounts to £8988.

The substratum is chiefly whinstone, of inferior quality, and consequently not quarried to any extent; the materials for building are generally brought from the quarries of Inverkeithing and Blair. Strata of coal are found in various parts, especially on the lands of Durie. The mines were formerly wrought on a larger scale, and great quantities were shipped from Leven to Holland and other continental ports; the quality is very superior, and it was once in such high repute that the best description of Scottish coal is still called Durie coal. Upon the death of the proprietor in 1802, the works were for a time discontinued: and coal, even for the supply of the parish, was sometimes brought from the pits of Wemyss and Kilmux. There is a bed of ochre four feet in thickness on the lands of Durie, which has been wrought for many years, and of which great quantities are exported. Several mills are in operation for spinning flax and tow, one for crushing bones for manure, and one for grinding ochre; and about 150 persons are employed in weaving with hand-looms at their own dwellings. The chief seats are, Durie, the property of C. M. Christie, Esq., a handsome mansion erected in 1762, and situated in an extensive demesne embellished with thriving plantations; Kilmux, the residence of J. B. Fernie, Esq., erected in 1832, in grounds tastefully laid out, and sheltered with some fine trees; and Montrave, a handsome mansion erected in 1836, and also pleasantly situated in improved grounds. Scoonie is within the presbytery of Kirkcaldy and synod of Fife, and in the patronage of the Crown: the minister's stipend is £257. 19. 5., with a manse, and the glebe is valued at £50 per annum. The old church, situated about a quarter of a mile from Leven, has been for some time a ruin, and the only part of it which is still preserved forms the family vault of the proprietor of Durie. The present church, erected in 1776 near the town, and repaired and enlarged in 1823, is a neat and well-arranged edifice adapted for a congregation of 996 persons. There are places of worship for Independents, the Free Church, and Relief Church. The parochial school affords a liberal education, and is well attended; the master has a salary of £34, with £70 fees, a very good dwelling-house, and an allowance of £2 for deficiency of garden-ground. A society for religious purposes, under the management of a committee of ladies, distributes about £20 per annum in promotion of its object; and there is also a ladies' charitable society, which distributes about £24 per annum. Several friendly societies existed formerly; but from injudicious management few of them were able to become permanent establishments. Numerous stone coffins, supposed to have been deposited after a severe conflict between the Scots and the Danes, have been dug up in various parts of the parish; and within the last thirty years, a cairn on the summit of a hill, about forty yards square at the base, was opened, and found to contain twenty stone coffins, rudely formed of slabs placed on their edges and covered with a superincumbent slab of stone. In two of the coffins were small urns of clay, rudely ornamented, and five of them contained each a larger urn, fourteen inches in diameter and twenty-four inches high; great numbers of human bones were scattered about, and in one of the smallest coffins were found beads of charred wood. The urns were all in an inverted position, with their mouths resting upon a square slab of stone. Mr. Jerome Stone, an eminent linguist, was born in this parish in 1727; he died in 1757, leaving an unfinished work entitled An Enquiry into the Original of the Nation and Language of the Ancient Scots, and a finished manuscript of an allegory entitled The Immortality of Authors.

North Queensferry Fife Scotland

North Queensferry is a village in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth, between the Forth Railway Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge. Tour North Queensferry, Fife, Scotland, on an Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Best Scottish Tours, Best Scottish Food, Best Scottish Hotels, Small Group Tours of Scotland, Rent a Cottage in Scotland. North Queensferry in 1846. North Queensferry, a village, in a detached part of the parish of Dunfermline, district of Dunfermline, county of Fife, 2 miles (S.) from Inverkeithing, and 6 (S. E. by S.) from Dunfermline; containing 461 inhabitants. This place is situated on a promontory on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, and derives its name from an ancient ferry connecting it with the town of Queensferry, on the south side of the Firth. It once belonged to the abbots of Dunfermline, who had a chapel here endowed by Robert I.; and is noticed by the Scottish historian Buchanan under the appellation of Margaritæ Portus, from its having been the place where Margaret, queen of Malcolm III., frequently embarked and landed on her passage to and from her palace of Dunfermline. After the Dissolution, the ferry became the property of the Earl of Rosebery and Sir Archibald Dundas, of Dundas, the latter of whom erected a strong castle on the rocky island of Inchgarvie, in the Firth, which subsequently was converted into a place of confinement for prisoners of state. The fortifications were repaired during the last war, and the battery mounted with cannon; but since the peace it has been altogether neglected, and is now in a state of ruin. To the west of the castle, and near the extremity of the rock on which it is built, are the remains of a circular redoubt, and to the east are those of a battery, both of which are said to have been erected by the forces of Cromwell while encamped on the Ferry hills. The Firth is here a mile and a half in breadth. The passage has been greatly facilitated by the erection of a commodious low-water pier, and other improvements, effected partly by means of a grant from government of above £13,000; and the ferry has been vested by act of parliament in trustees. At one period subsequently to these improvements, it produced an annual rental of £2300, which, however, afterwards diminished to £1500. The village, which is beautifully situated, directly opposite to Queensferry, is small but neatly built, and is principally inhabited by boatmen and persons connected with the ferry. It has an excellent inn for the accommodation of passengers from the opposite shore; and from the salubrity of the air, and the numerous objects of interest in the immediate vicinity, it has become a place of great resort for sea-bathing during the summer season. The surrounding scenery is strikingly beautiful and romantic; and the Ferry hills, which stretch into the Frith, command extensive and diversified views. Facility of communication is afforded by good roads; and steam-boats to Leith, Stirling, and all the intermediate ports, sail regularly from the pier; the landing-place is well constructed, and is accessible to vessels of considerable burthen during spring-tides. A signal-house has been built on the rocks on the north shore, containing an apartment, also, for the meetings of the trustees above-mentioned, and the requisite accommodation for the boatmen and superintendant of the ferry.