History of the County of Fife, from the earliest period to the present time ... With numerous engravings ... on steel ... from original drawings ... by J. Stewart

Front matter

i "•■■ -^w^p»«B^-" \m jpi i^ '<?*W ' [FBFI DiLEL' ''UlAl'Eh. «.rwXVM>T*T .H0S15PH Mu-, v, l,KlX — <CSI a '>P,\ | < j - FROM hk.\»r.'(3S BI .i,\AMvS SfEWAKT;,, _ Wffl A Mi§T©i,lf œtff'K CD'UilTT; M'U,rAI'"L"n'"""^'/r//^ V n3 'a 1 - \J: |H z: TsFEKMlINZ GLASGOW;\Js ,'l j LONDON; HODGS03N k GRAVES i I MA.J.I, HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF FIFE, FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME, EY JOHN M. LEIGHTON, ESQ., AUTHOR OF ILLUSTRATIONS OF VIEWS IN GLASGOW, VIEWS ON THE CLYDE, LAKES OF SCOTLAND, SCENES IN SCOTLAND, &c. fSTOi Nmranms. (g^pafotajp. to tfœ Eton JEatriiTOt oro Ute!, BY JOSEPH SWAN; FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS TAKEN EXPRESSLY FOR THE WORK, BY JAMES STEWART, ESQ. VOL. I. GLASGOW:— JOSEPH SWAN. MDCCCXL. GLASGOW: GEORGE BROOKMAN AND CO., PRINTERS, MITCHELL-STREET. LIST OF VIEWS, SHOWING THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY ARE TO BE BOUND UP.

VOL. I. Abbey Porch, Dunfermline, to front Title-page. Page Fossil Organic Remains, . . . . . . . • 219 VOL. II. Monument of Bishop Kennedy, to front Title-page. Cupar, .....-••■• 5 Kilmaron Castle, .......... 35 Abbey of Balmerino, ........ 74 Collairnie Castle, . ... 3. .... . 93 Melville House, . . . . . . . • . 123 Interior of Bambreich Castle, ........ 143 Inchrye Abbey, ......... 150 Newburgh, . . . . . . . . . .160 Ancient Crosses, . . . . . . • . . 177 Auchtermuchty, .......... 213 Falkland Palace and Town, ........ 225 Falkland Palace from the Court-yard, ....... 230 Crawfurd Priory, ......... 243 Craighall, .......... 250 Darsie Church and Castle, ........ 262 VOL. III. The Island of St. Colme, to front Title-page. Ruins of the Cathedral of St. Andrews, ...... 17 Tower of St. Regulus, and part of the Cathedral of St. Andrews, . . .18 St. Andrews, ......... 33 Earlshall, .......... 54 Newport, .......... 63 St. Fort, .......... 64 Dura Den, ......... 74 Crail, ........... 86 Anstruther, ......... 97 Pittenweem, .......... 106 St. Monance Church, ........ 109 Balcaskie House, . . . . . . . . .114 Pitcorthie House, . . . . . . . . . 115 Balcarres Craig, . . . . . . • . .120 Upper Largo and Church, ...... . . 129 High Street, Kirkaldy, ......... 146 Kirkaldy Harbour, ......... 147 Raith House and Lake, . . . . . . . . 151 Dysart and Harbour, ........ 156 Ravens Craig, .......... 159 West Wemyss, ......... 163 Wemyss Castle, . . . . . . . • .167 Balbirnie House, ......... 181 Leslie House, .......... 188 Burntisland, . . . . . . . . . 201 Kinghorn, .......... 206 Dunfermline, . . . . . . . . . 211 Interior of Dunfermline Abbey, ....... 214 Broomhall, .......... 220 Abbey Church, Dunfermline, ........ 222 Donibristle, ..........

Vol. II Vol. Ill ERRATA. page 6, line 3 from bottom, for " He was," read " His father was." — line 2 from bottom, for " daughter," read " niece." page 10, in the last line of the note, for " world," read " nowt." page 16, line 10 from top, for " north," read " south." page 40, line 25 from top, for " Robert," read " Andrew." page 53, bottom line, for " annually," read " weekly." page 65, top line, for " all," read " some." page 79, line 13. In giving the amount of the stipend of Balmerino parish, the whole tiends of the parish were given instead of the stipend. The following is the correct amount: — Wheat 7 bolls ; meal 124 bolls, 2 firlots ; barley 124 bolls, 2 firlots; and money <£8 6s. 8d. sterling. page 105, line 12 from top, for " daughter," read " grandaughter." page 210, line 6 from bottom, for " Olynthius," read " Onesiphorus." page 77, line 15 from bottom, for " an old building," read "a building of recent erection." page 91, line 2 from bottom, for " Methven Kellie," read " Methven Erskine." — bottom line, for " Mr Kellie," read " Mr Erskine." INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF FIFE. INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF FIFE.

Section I

A. D. 80 TO A. D. 446. Aboriginal Inhabitants of Fife. — Horestii. — Their manners and customs. — Druidism. — Arrival of the Romans. — Campaigns of Agricola. Battle at Ardoch Moor.— Lollius Urbicus. — Departure of the Romans from the country of the Horestii. — Picts. — Scots. — Departure of the Romans from northern Caledonia. The whole of Europe was originally inhabited by various tribes of a Celtic people, having one common origin, a similar language, similar religious rites, manners, and customs. This position is established by the curious fact, that notwithstanding the variety of nations which now possess that portion of the globe, and the diversity of their languages, the names of the great proportion of the mountains, rivers, headlands, and even of many towns, throughout its entire extent, are derived from the language of that ancient people.

They have disappeared themselves from all the countries they formerly inhabited, with the exception of the Highlands of Scotland, a part of Ireland, Wales, and part of Cornwall, in the British dominions, and some small remains in corners of France and Spain ; but sufficient evidence is still left of their existence, and of the extent of their possessions. The aboriginal inhabitants of Fife were therefore Celts, and there, as in other parts of Europe, the names of the more remarkable natural features of the country, as well as of most of the towns demonstrate the fact. At what period this people first emigrated to North Britain from the south, it is needless now to inquire, as it is impossible to ascertain ; but at the period when the Romans invaded the northern portion of Great Britain, (the year 80) we find that district of country inhabited by twenty-one tribes of aboriginal Celts or Britons, which were populous and powerful in proportion to the greater or less fertility of the territory which they possessed.

These tribes, like all the tribes of this people, were entirely independent of each other, and only became united when a common danger called forth a common A. D. 80. 4 HISTORY OF FIFE. and united exertion for the general defence. At the early period we have alluded to, the peninsula between the Forth and the Tay was inhabited by the Horestii, one of these tribes who peopled ancient Caledonia. The district inhabited by this tribe included the modern shires of Fife, Clackmannan, and Kinross, the eastern part of Strathearn, and the country lying westward of the Tay as far as the river Brand. From the natural strength of their country, it has been presumed their British name was derived. The whole of North Britain is represented as at this time consisting of mountains and valleys, either covered with woods or interspersed with bogs and morasses ; and there is very little doubt that the country of the Horestii must have partaken in a great measure of this general character.

The hills of that portion of it which now constitutes Fife, did not, as in various other places, rise into mountains, nor were its valleys so deep and rugged ; but there is sufficient evidence to show, that it was much covered with wood, and more than enough supplied with waters, bogs, and morasses. The Caledonian tribes, at the arrival of Agricola, no doubt bore considerable resemblance to their brethren of South Britain when visited by Julius Cæsar in a previous age ; and from his account they Avould appear to have been little improved beyond the state of rude savages, deriving their subsistence from the milk of their flocks which roamed amid the glades of the numerous forests, or from the produce of their exertions in the chase. Dio, the historian, where he speaks of this people, distinctly states that they do not labour the ground, but live upon what they take from their enemies, what they get by hunting, and upon the fruits of trees ; and Herodian, even so late as the third century, agrees with him in his description of the state of the British tribes.

They are described, however, as very remarkable for bearing cold, fatigue, and famine. Their infantry, armed with slight shields, short spears, and daggers, was famous for speed in attack, and firmness in the field. Sometimes, however, they fought in cars or chariots drawn by horses, small but swift and spirited. In either manner of attack they were only to be repulsed by the superior arms and discipline of their enemies. Such is the description given of the state of the Celtic tribes of North Britain, at the time they were invaded in their fastnesses by the Romans ; but their hill forts, still seen over the country — their extraordinary stone monuments, the result of incredible labour, — and the powerful opposition they gave to the progress of the Roman arms, would lead us to view them in a light of greater civilization than that in which they are seen through the prejudices of classic authors.

Little has been said by these authors as to the civil polity of the Britons, though Dio seems to insinuate that their government was democratic. It is probable, however, that they had scarcely any political union ; and that they were like other early nations under the sway of the old men or fathers of the tribe. Nor is it improbable that they were more under the influence of religion than of direct law ; that in those early times the priesthood held the chief sway among them. Druidism, it is known, was the religion of the Celtic nations throughout Europe ; and there is sufficient evidence to A.D. 80. 5 HORESTII. DRUIDS. demonstrate that it was the religion of the Caledonian tribes, and consequently of the Horestii. The tenets of this system of religion are said by Diogenes Laertius to have been; to worship God — to abstain from evil — to exert courage — and, for the enforcing of these virtues, to believe in the immortality of the soul.

That the Druids inculcated an ardent love of country, is apparent from the strong resistance made to the Roman arms, by the Gauls, by the Britons, and above all by the Caledonians. From the ac counts of subsequent writers, however, it would appear that Druidism, like many other systems, had latterly miserably degenerated from its original purity. The Druids had great veneration for the oak, believing there was supernatural virtue in its wood, its leaves, its fruit, but above all in the misletoe. Indeed the origin of their name has been traced by Owen to the word Dar, an oak. The British word Dar-gwyz ; and the Celtic Derwys, both having their root in the word Dar, and importing one who has knowledge, are the originals through many changes of the modern word Druid. The Druids erected no covered temple for their public worship.

The sun being the great medium, though not the object of their worship, it would have been absurd in their eyes to shut out his light, or conceal his appearance from the votaries. Neither did they erect images of the Deity ; and in their refusal to communicate with the Greeks or Romans in the multiplicity of their gods, or in their general idolatry, we may find part of the cause of that enmity with which the system was viewed by the Roman con querors of the Celtic nations, and of the reason for its final suppression. Oak forests were the original places of Druid worship. Under the shadow of the branches of the sacred tree the stone of sacrifice was erected. Circles of stone were erected round the hallowed spot, within which sacrifices were performed on the altar. Within these pre cincts the people assembled for the purposes of devotion — of deliberation in matters of importance — and for public instruction.

Many of these stone circles remain in various parts of North Britain ; and it would be idle to suppose that they were not also to be found among the Horestii. Indeed it can hardly be doubted that the three standing stones of Lundin are the remains of some Druidical place of worship. These stones stand upright in the middle of a plain in the parish of Largo. They are rude blocks, without inscription, or any vestige of a character upon them. There are fragments of a fourth stone, equal in size to the others. The tradition of the country that they mark the graves of the Danes who fell in battle cannot be correct, as memorial stones are usually found single. There appears to have been two kinds of Druid altars ; large flat stones either lying or standing upright ; and the Cromlechs, consisting of a large flat stone, supported upon others placed on their edges.

Examples of both are still numerous. Within the sacred circle cairns were also sometimes raised, on the top of which a large flat stone was placed, where the Druid fires were kindled and sacrifices performed. The rocking-stone, or as it is sometimes called the Logan-stone, appears also to have been a Druid monument, and is an object of curious investigation with the inquirer into their antiquities. Monepenny, in his description of Scotland, says that one of these A.D. 80. 6 HISTORY OF FIFE. rocking stones stood at one time near Balvaird ; but that it had been destroyed by the soldiers of Cromwell when they were in Scotland. The mode of sepulture adopted by these aborigines, is also worthy of observation. During the existence of paganism they were in the practice of burning their dead; but after their conversion to Christianity, they appear to have relinquished this mode, and to have adopted that of inhumation.

Evidence of both of these methods still remains in different parts of Scotland, though the progress of agricultural improvement has recently rendered the appearance of this much less frequent than it formerly was. The Barrows, Cairns, Cistvaens, and Urns, which have been so often the subject of antiqua rian examination and research, are the sepulchral remains of these early Celtic tribes. These remains have been found in Fife as in other parts of North Britain; though in all probability its early advance in agriculture removed many of them, previous to the time when they became objects of attention. In the parish of Cupar, a barrow was opened some years ago, in which were found several heads of battle-axes, formed of a very hard white-coloured stone, neatly shaped, carved and polished. In the parish of Kettle, on a hill called the Knock of Cleish, a cistvaen was also found containing human bones and trinkets, with the brass head of a spear.

Near Elie there was a sepulchral tumulus which when opened was found to contain several human bones of a large size. Besides these cairns and barrows erected over the graves of their dead, the Horestii, no doubt, also erected stones of memorial, as was the practice of the other tribes of Celts. One of these stands near Dysart, which tradition affirms to be the memorial of a battle. It does not appear that the Horestii had any towns within the bounds of what now constitutes Fife. Their chief towns were Alauna, and Lindum on the river Allan, and Victoria, on the river Earn, and here the Romans afterwards had stations, on the great military way which led north-east towards Ptoroton or Burghead, on the Murray Firth. Hill forts, however, were numerous, all over the county, and the remains of several of these are still to be traced, which will hereafter be described in the topographical por tion of this work.

A few, however, may here be mentioned. On Dunearn hill there was a British fort of great strength, which soon yielded to the art of the Romans. Upon Car-neil hill, near Carnock, the Horestii had another fort, which had in all pro bability been in possession of the Romans ; as in 1774, upon opening some tumuli on the hill, several urns were found containing Roman coins. About a mile and a half north from Carnock there was a fort on a hill called Craig-luscar, and three miles north-north west there was one on Saline hill, and another at no great distance below. The situation of several others can also still be traced on the heights, in the northern part of the parish of Strathmigh, as well as on the hills near Newburgh. The weapons used by this people have occasionally been found in the graves of the warriors.

These are axes or hatchets, and arrow or spear heads. They are gener ally of flint ; but others of brass have also been found. That the flint hatchets, and arrow heads, usually called celts, were British, cannot for a moment be doubted ; and A.D. 80.] 7 ROMAN INVASION. — AGRICOLA'S CAMPAIGNS. that those formed of brass were also used by that people, is proved by their being found in the barrows and cairns in which their warriors were interred. The skilled in fairy lore will recollect, that to the arrow heads of flint, the superstitions of the more recent people of Scotland have given the appellation of elf-shots, from the supposition that they were shot by the elves or fairies at cattle. The greater portion of the diseases of cattle were attributed to the elf-shot ; and the remedy was, that the diseased animal should be touched with the elf-shot, and made to drink of water in which it had been dipped.

Be sides these arms, which were common to all classes, the chiefs wore helmets, and fought in chariots. For crossing lakes, arms of the sea, and rivers, the Caledonian Britons possessed canoes and currachs. The canoe appears to have been hollowed by fire from a single tree, as has been done in much more recent times by the North Ameri can Indians; and they were put in motion by a single paddle. Many canoes of this description, have been found at different times, in various parts of Scotland : in Locher moss, in Carlinwark loch, Loch Doon in Ayrshire, and Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire ; but the largest that has been found was found in 1726 near the mouth of the Carron, where it flows into the Forth. It was thirty-six feet long, four feet broad in the middle, four feet four inches deep, and four inches thick in the wood.

It was finely polished, being perfectly smooth both within and without; the wood was of extraordinary hard ness, and had not one knot in the whole block. The currachs are described by Cæsar as having keels and masts of the lightest wood, and the bodies made of wicker work, covered over with hides or leather. Lucan says that in these little ships the British navigated the ocean. Such as we have now described, in so far as can be gathered from the slight notices of classic authors, and the examination of their remaining antiquities, were the Celtic tribes who inhabited North Britain at the time of the invasion of the Romans under Agricola; and such consequently were the Horestii, the aborigines of the county of Fife. The notice of this early people, or of their manners and customs, which we have been able to give, is but meagre, and unsatisfactory; but a simple detail of facts is surely of greater interest to the lovers of truth than the most pleasant web of fiction which fancy could weave from them.

In the year 78 of the Christian era Agricola took the command of the Roman pro vinces in Britain. The year 79 he appears chiefly to have spent in subduing, and endeavouring to civilize portions of the south. In the year 80 he left Mancunium, the Manchester of the present time, with the intention of penetrating into the north by the western coast. It is not our intention here, to follow the course of his arms, or to give any detail of his campaigns among the various tribes who possessed the country between the Solway, and the firths of Clyde and Forth, as such a narrative would in the present work be out of place. Suffice it to say, that having overrun the whole of this country, and brought these various tribes under at "least temporary subjection, he began to turn his attention to the countries lying to the north of the Forth.

He ordered his fleet to survey the northern shores of the Forth, and to sound the harbours ; and setting A.D. 84. 8 HISTORY OF FIFE. out with his army, he by the aid of his fleet crossed the firth, at its most contracted part now known as Queensferry. He thus in the year 83 entered the country of the Horestii. The Caledonian Britons from the higher regions, aware of the object of the Roman general, began offensive operations by attacking the strengths which Agricola had left behind him ; and in doing so, created considerable terror in their enemies. Agricola being informed that it was the intention of the Caledonians to attack him on all sides in a country with which he was unacquainted, divided his army into three divisions. It seems probable that with one of these divisions he marched to Carnock, near which are still to be traced the remains of two Roman military stations.

From thence he pushed forward the ninth legion, which had been weakened by previous engagements, to Loch Ore, about two miles from Loch Leven. Here the Romans pitched their camp, having two ranges of hills in front, the Cleish range on their left, and Binnarty hill on their right. The remains of this military station are still to be traced. Its form is nearly square. Portions of it have been levelled and defaced ; but on the north and west sides, there still exist three rows of ditches, and a like number of ramparts com posed of earth and stone. The circumference of this work is about 2020 feet. During the night, a vigorous attack on the encampment was made by the Horestii ; and they had penetrated within the entrenchments, ere Agricola was made aware of their having marched. He instantly however advanced with the lightest of his troops for the pur pose of attacking the assailants in the rear.

At the gates of the camp, a furious engage ment took place ; but the Horestii, notwithstanding their bravery, were ultimately repulsed, and obliged to retreat. The Britons were not however discouraged by their defeat. They attributed the success of their enemies not to superior bravery, but to the better discipline of the Romans, and the greater skill of their commander. Resolved to defend the last defiles of their country, they sent their wives and children into places of safety; armed their youth; and in a solemn assembly of the various tribes, ratified a confederacy with solemn sacrifices and other religious rites. The Romans, proud of their victory, conceived that no force could withstand their valour, and were impatient to penetrate into the remote and unknown recesses of Cale donia. Agricola, taking advantage of the enthusiasm of his troops, immediately pro ceeded to subdue the Horestii, who, so far as appears from the pages of Tacitus, do not appear to have made much farther resistance.

The probability is, that having joined the confederation, this warlike tribe reserved their strength, for the purpose of aiding the general cause, and acting in concert for the defence of the whole, rather than ex pending it in resisting Agricola in their own particular territory. In his operations in Fife, and in securing his various stations in that country, Agricola spent the remaining portion of the year 83 ; and the commencement of the succeeding year was occupied in obtaining information of the movements of his enemies, and the nature of the country he was about to invade. During this period, he was supplied with provisions from his fleet upon the Forth; and by means of it had regular communication with his garrisons on the opposite shore. A.D. 138.] 9 BATTLE OF ARD0CH MOOR. LOLLIUS URBICUS.

In the summer of the year 84, Agricola left the country of the Horestii, on his pro posed expedition to the north, sending his fleet round the coast for the purpose of alarming his enemies. He appears in his march to have followed the course of the Devon, and turning from Glen-devon to the right, through the opening in the Ochil hills, to have passed through Glen-eagles. Proceeding between Blackford and Auch terarder, he advanced towards the Grampians, which he had seen at a distance as he defiled through the Ochils. Marching onward to the moor of Ardoch, he came upon the Caledonian army within the territory of the Damnii. The Caledonians, who were thus encamped at the foot of the Grampians, amounted to 30,000 men, under the command of Galgacus, a general who certainly is entitled to all the praise Tacitus has bestowed upon him.

Here an obstinate battle ensued, in which the greatest bravery was displayed on both sides. Night alone put an end to the engagement, but the victory fell to the side of discipline and skill, as it almost invariably does. The Caledo nians, forced to retreat, retired into the distant recesses of their nearly impervious country. Agricola, unable to make any important use of the victory he had obtained, led his army back to the borders of the country of the Horestii. Taking hostages from them, for their future tranquillity, he conducted his troops into winter quarters on the south of the Forth. The Roman navy he ordered to sail round the island, ostensibly on a voyage of discovery, but no doubt also with the view of intimidation. Having sailed as far as Richborough, the fleet returned to the Forth to winter.

Thus ended the campaigns of Agricola in Britain. The Emperor Domitian, envious of the fame his general had acquired, recalled him to Rome, in the year 85, under the pretence of promotion, which, however, was declined by the soldier, and not very earnestly pressed by the monarch. From the departure of Agricola, no notice is taken by the Roman historians of the affairs of Britain for about thirty years. The probability therefore is, that the Caledonians having felt the effects of the Roman arms, dreaded and submitted for a time to their power. Those situated south of the Forth and Clyde, had become a Roman province ; and those on the north had remained quiet amid the fastnesses of their country. At length, however, the recall of troops and commanders by the Em peror Adrian excited their hopes; and the misgovernment of proprætors provoked them to renewed resistance.

The Romans still possessed stations beyond the Forth and Clyde ; but these were in all likelihood intended more to preserve the peace of the southern provinces than for any other purpose. On the assumption of the purple by the Emperor Antoninus Pius, in the year 138, he appointed Lollius Urbicus to the command in Britain ; and granted the privilege of Roman citizenship over the whole Roman empire. The whole of the Caledonians therefore between the Forth and the Murray Firth, and among the rest the tribe of the Horestii, might have claimed this important right; but this people were too proud and independent, and must have felt the Roman yoke too keenly to render it probable that any of them ever took advantage of the right thus conferred upon them. The investigation of monumental stones which have B A.D. 211. 10 HISTORY OF FIFE. been dug from its ruins now render it certain, that the Roman wall between the Forth and the Clyde was erected by Lollius Urbicus, for the purpose of defending the southern provinces of Caledonia, which had began to acquire the arts of civilized life, from the incursions of their more warlike, and still unsubdued brethren of the north.

Roads were constructed throughout the whole of this conquered territory ; and from the wall in various directions northward as far as the Murray Firth. Stations were erected or strengthened on the line of these roads ; and several of these stations can still be traced in the country once inhabited by the Horestii. Every exertion was made by Lollius Urbicus to keep this brave people under subjection; as well as the whole of those inhabiting that portion of northern Caledonia which had been formed into the province of Vespasiana. In the year 161, on the death of the Emperor Antoninus, the able Roman general who had so long governed Britain ceased to be proprætor. Tranquillity seems for some time after this to have prevailed in Britain ; but at length the necessities of the Emperor Aurelian, who was preparing for a war with the Germans, and was obliged to recall many of his veterans, caused in the year 170 the evacuation of the whole of Caledonia beyond the wall ; a province of their empire which had been in reality but par tially subdued, and had not been of much utility.

The country of the Horestii was thus freed from the Roman arms, about seventy-eight years after the first invasion of Agricola. The whole of the northern tribes now resumed their independence; but such is the effect of subjection, that it appears they remained for a long time tranquil, and gave little disturbance to their more civilized neighbours south of the wall. During the misgovernment of Commodus, however, in 183, some of the northern tribes are said to have passed that strong boundary, and to have pillaged the country beyond ; and again at the close of this century the Caledonians invaded the Roman territory. Notwith standing a truce which they had entered into, the Caledonians in 207 again commenced hostilities with the Romans and the Romanized Britons, on learning which, the Em peror Severus came in person to Britain.