The East Neuk of Fife: its histories and antiquities, geology, botany, and natural history in general

Preface

AND INDEX By the Rev. J. WOOD BROWN, A.M., Gordon EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS MDCCCLXXXVII Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty, at the Edinburgh University Press.

PREFACE.

. The Reverend Walter Wood, A.M., F.S.A. Scot., author of the work which now appears in its second edition from his hand, was the eldest son of Dr. James Wood, 19 Royal Circus, Edinburgh. His mother's family was so long connected with the particular district of Fife to which this book is devoted, that it may be thought not improper to give their pedigree here, following the style of those inserted in the body of the work. Alexander Wood 'in Carmurie,' descended of the house of Grange (v. p. 184), married, on the 23d April 1650, Agnes, daughter of John Pearson in Elie. Their children were — Agnes, born June 1654, married to the Rev. John Arthur, minister of Abercorn (v. p. 202. He was born in 1630, and died in 1708, as a marriage brooch in my possession, with the initials Mr. J. A., A. W., bears) ; William, to whom we return ; Christen, born 1658 ; John, born 1661, who married in 1690 Elspeth Henderson, and had by her a son James, born in 1693.

William Wood, shipmaster in Earlsferry (v. p. 196), son ofthe last, was born at Carmurie in 1656. He was engaged in the West India trade, and married twice ; first c. 1690, Elspath Smith, by whom he had John, to whom we return ; Katherine, born 1695 5 and Ann, who is mentioned in 1707. He married as his second wife Janet Wilson in Elie, and died after 1720. John Wood, shipmaster in Earlsferry, son of the last, was born 24th March 1692. He entered at Drumeldrie school

PREFACE.

. VI (v. p. 98) in 1705, was Bailie of Earlsferry in 1722 and 1725, and married, February 25th, 1721, Ann, daughter of James Carstairs, of the house of Muircambus and Cassingray (v. p. 149), by whom he had James, to whom we return ; William, born 13th December 1723 (from whom descend, in the second generation, William Wood, LL.D., President of the Board of Education, New York ; John Denniston Wood, Barrister-at-law, London, and the Misses Anna and Katherine Wood, to whom belongs the house in Elie mentioned on p. 201) ; John, born January nth, 1733 ; Margaret ; Jean ; and Ann. James Wood, merchant in Elie, son of the last, born 25th December 1721, married ist July 1746, Mary, daughter of Alexander Chalmers, merchant, Elie, and had by her Alexander, his heir, to whom we return ; Anna, born 7th June 1756 (married in 1774 to Walter Wood, a cadet of Wood of Wariston, by whom she had Dr. James Wood afterwards mentioned) ; John, born 1760, died unmarried 1788.

James Wood received the freedom of the Burgh of Paisley in 1779, and died at Elie October 17th, 1788. Alexander Wood of Grangehill (v. p. 192), merchant in Elie, son of the last, was born 2d March 1755, and married on December 25th, 1780, Ann, daughter of the Rev. John Nairne, D.D., of East Anstruther (v. p. 201), by whom he had James, born 1 78 1, died while travelling in Persia 1806, unmarried ; John, born 1785, died unmarried in 1813, and Mary his heiress, to whom we return. He married as his second wife, in 1807, Catherine Spens (v. p. 147), and died at Edinburgh in 1836. Mary Wood of Grangehill, born 18th February 17 83, was mar ried in 181 1 to her cousin Dr. James Wood mentioned above, and had issue — Walter Wood, younger of Grangehill, who was born at Dundee 31st October 1812, and married, first, Agnes, daughter of George Scott of Boundery Batik, Jedburgh, and second, Mar garet, daughter of Alexander Broadfoot, Esq., and died March 6th, 1882, s.p.; Marianne, born November 30th, 1814 (married in 1848 to the Rev. Thomas Brown, and had issue) ; Dr. Alexander Wood, born December 18th, 18 17 (married in 1842 Rebecca, daughter of R. G. Massey of Caervillahowe, and died February 26th, 1884, s.p. See Memoir, Edinburgh, 1887, Macniven & Wallace) ; Lucia Hall, born 14th October 1819,

PREFACE.

. VII and Eleanor, born August 28th, 182 1, both died unmarried. Dr. James Wood died in 1865, and his wife predeceased him in 1864. Walter Wood was educated at the Edinburgh Academy, joining in 1824, when the school was founded, under Archdeacon Williams. In 1828 he matriculated at the University of Edinburgh, where, as at school, he took a distinguished place, and obtained, on his graduation in Arts, besides other honours, the gold medal in the class of Natural Philosophy, then taught by Sir John Leslie. Passing to the Divinity Hall, he pursued with success his professional studies under Dr. Chalmers (his mother's first cousin) and Dr. Welsh, the Pro fessors of Theology and Church History. He also took vigorous part in the work of several societies — the Theological, the Exegetical, and the Church Law.

In the last he was chosen a member of the publishing committee along with James Crawford, W.S., after wards Deputy Clerk of the Free Church General Assembly, Henry Moncreiff, afterwards Baronet of Tulliebole, James Moncreiff, now Lord Moncreiff, Dr. William Laughton, and others ; the result of their collaboration being the useful volume entitled Styles of Writs, published by the Society in 1838. On leaving the Hall and becoming a probationer, he acted for a short time as assistant in St. Mary's, Edinburgh, and at Kilbride ; and in 1838 was pre sented to the parish of Westruther, Berwickshire. In this more responsible position he at once ranged

PREFACE.

. himself on the side of the evangelical party, and took a considerable share in the Ten Years' Conflict, giving help in supplying the places of the suspended ministers in Strathbogie, preaching and celebrating the Sacrament under civil interdict in the parish of Cairnie in 1840 (see Annals of the Disruption), and going on deputation through Dumfriesshire to hold meetings in favour of spiritual independence. A tract of his, entitled Present Duty, and addressed to his own parishioners, obtained a much wider circulation, and when he had signed the Deed of Demission, and led out his attached people in 1843 to form the Free Church of Scotland in Westruther, his earnest efforts over a large district of the neighbouring country served to give his church a position in that part of Scotland by which it is profiting to day.

His intimate acquaintance with Church Law, gained and used in the manner already alluded to, enabled him to render important service in the ecclesiastical courts, as well as in various committees of the Church, more especially the Committee for the Conversion of the Jews, to which for a considerable time he acted as secretary. The powerful influence of Edward Irving, under which he had early come (attending as a young student the famous morning lectures on Revelation delivered in the spring of 1829), not merely gave him a decided inclination to the ministry, but engaged his earnest attention in the study of the prophetic

PREFACE.

. IX Scriptures. The evidence of this appears in many articles contributed by him to the Presbyterian and North British Reviews, and the fournal of Prophecy, and most notably in The Last Tilings, a work upon the Resurrection, the Second Advent, and the Mil lennium, which he published in 185 1. He also wrote commentaries upon the Apocalypse and the pro phecies of Zechariah, which remain among his un published MSS. While the main current of his life took and kept this devout and strenuous course, and while at West ruther and afterwards at Elie, whither he was trans lated in 1845, he proved himself a thorough Church man, an acute polemic, and above all a fruitful preacher and evangelist, his leisure moments were in part devoted to the study of Natural Science, chiefly in the departments of Geology and Botany, but were mostly spent in a way which showed that peculiar bent of his mind towards antiquities, and especially genealogy, the ripest fruit of which is offered in the present volume.

When yet at Westruther he had occupied himself with research of this kind, and in 1847 he published a reprint of the spiritual diary of Walter Pringle of Greenknowe, with an appendix containing elaborate pedigrees of the Setons, Pringles, Homes, etc. Shortly after he was settled at Elie he began to make collections of the same kind relating to that district of the country. These saw the light in 1862 under the title of The East Neuk of Fife. The

PREFACE.

. X author continued to amass fresh material, and when the time came for preparing a new edition, he thought it desirable to recast the whole, making his progress pass from place to place, rather than from time to time as before, and incorporating the appendix of pedigrees with the body of the work. It is this monument of patient and successful research which is now sent out to the world. It would be a delightful task to collect and present from one's own memory and the testimony of friends who loved him, the impression of a character singu larly high toned, a rich culture, an ever active intellect, and (rare conjunction) a spirit touched with the deep mystery of things, which belonged in no common degree to the gifted author of this book ; but the limits of a preface, necessarily narrow, forbid the attempt.

The Editor only desires to add, in leaving what has been to him a labour of love indeed, that as he is in possession of the voluminous memoranda from which the work was compiled, he will gladly supply references from these should any one desire to verify the statements made in the following pages. The Free Manse of Gordon August nth, 1887. CONTENTS. CHAP. VAGE I. Early History, i II. Leven and its Neighbourhood, 27 III. Kellie and its Neighbourhood, 254 IV. Pittenweem and Lands of the Convent, . . . 279 V. Anstruther, Kilrenny, and their Neighbourhood, 330 Appendix : The Authorship of Lamont's Diary, . . 469 Geology of the East Coast of Fife, 477 List of Fossils, 52° Botany of the East Coast of Fife 525 Index, ...

Chapter I

early history. Various derivations have been given of ' Fife,' the name of this county. Sibbald suggests that it may be derived from the cotton-grass or Lanugo palustris, the name of which in the Scandinavian tongues is ' Fifa.' The ancient Pictish Chronicle, a work of the ioth century, relates that seven children of Cruithne divided Alban into seven sections : Cait, Ce, Cirig, Fib, Fidach, Fotla, Fortreim. These names answer to Caithness, Mearns, Fife, Badenoch, and Western Fife, Kinross, and Clackmannan. The second, Ce, has as yet baffled antiquarian skill. Fidach means ' forest,' and is somewhat doubtfully identified with Bade noch, while Fortreim or Fortrer is ' the kingdom along the Forth,' the capital of which was Dunfother or Forteviot. The names, no doubt, are true enough ; but the seven sons of Cruithne are probably mythical, and need not stand in the way of our adopting any other derivation.

It is, therefore, perhaps worth noticing that the Anglo-Saxons peopled the unknown or desert country beyond their borders with a race of monsters whom they called Fifelkin. In the Tale of Beowulf we read that : — A ' The grim stranger was Grendel hight — Mighty pacer of the March, who held the moors, Fen and fastness— land of the Fifelkin.' May it not be that the Saxon tribes, which settled in the Lothians, gave the name of Fife, or land of the Fifelkin, to the region north of the Forth, inhabited at that period by barbarous Celtic tribes ? During the time of the Roman occupation of Britain, Fife was inhabited by the warlike tribe of the Horestii. The Vernicomes possessed the eastern half of the county, and extended into Forfar and Kincardine. The only town mentioned is Orrea, which Skene places at or near the junction of the Earn with the Tay.

Possibly it may have been at Lochore, at which there seems to have been an important Roman station. The north of Fife was ravaged by Agricola in his third campaign. Towards the west, the remains of camps at Carnock, Dunfermline, Burntisland, and Dysart testify to the occupation of the Romans. No traces of them, how ever, are discoverable in the East Neuk, unless we suppose that the Roman town of Lindum was at Lundie or Lundin, as some think ; and that Roman stations are indicated by 'Chesterton,' on the slope of Largo Law, 'Chesterhill,' in the parish of Wester Anstruther, and ' Carnbee.' These stations, if they were such, may have been a line com municating to the westward with Carberly, in the parish of Dysart, where there is said to have been a Roman camp. Boethius relates that, in 152 1, many gold and silver Roman coins were found near the mouth of the Leven, enclosed in a brass vessel.

Of these, some bore a double-faced Janus, and on the reverse the beak of a ship ; others the effigy of a Roman emperor, with a legend, and on the reverse, Mars, Venus, or Mercury, or the wolf giving suck to Romulus and Remus; or the letters S.P.Q.R. Such hoards, however, generally consisted of coins and other articles which could not be connected with the Roman EARL V HISTOR V. 3 Empire. On a tumulus to the north of Largo House, called Norrie's Law, or Norroway's Law, and which tradition had long pointed out as the burial-place of a warrior, to whom it gave the name of Tammy Norie, some antiquities were discovered about the year 1819, which unfortunately were not preserved entire. A labourer digging sand at this place came accidentally upon a stone coffin, in which, he said, he found a complete suit of scale armour, which, like the shield, sword-handle, and scabbard, was entirely of silver.

A few portions of the armour were obtained by General Durham, and are still preserved at Largo House.1 These appear to have belonged to a period subsequent to the Roman occupation, though it is said that a number of small silver coins bearing the stamp of the earlier Roman emperors were found along with them. A description of the relics is given in Swan's Views of Fife; while figures of one of the silver leaf-shaped plates, bearing the ' spectacle ' symbol, crossed by a zig-zag sceptre, along with a dog's head, and of a long pin (which appears to have had on it the same ornaments, along with a small Greek cross patee), are to be found in the Proceedings of the Society of Anti quaries of Scotland, vol. x., May 12, 1872. The light of history first breaks dimly and uncertainly upon this portion of Fife in the midst of the troubles occasioned by the Danish invasions of the ninth and tenth centuries.

Constantine, who was King of Scotland from 864 to 882, encountered a large band of these piratical marauders somewhere on the banks of the Leven, and, having defeated one detachment, crossed the river to attack their camp, which was strongly fortified. In this attack the Danish leader was repulsed, and his army fled in shameful confusion. Not long after the fight at Leven Water, there was another at the East Neuk, where the Scots were overcome. During this invasion several of the Scottish 1 Through the liberality of Robert Dundas of Arniston these interesting relics are now in the National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh, 1885. ecclesiastics, taking refuge in the Isle of May, were slain by the Pagan Danes. Constantine is said to have been put to death in a cave, which is still pointed out near Crail under the name of the ' Devil's Cove ' ; and a rude rampart in the same neighbourhood, enclosing the extreme angle of the coast, still bears the name of the ' Danes' Dyke,' reminding us of a similar ' Danes' Dyke,' which separates Flamborough Head from the shore.

Another descent is said to have been made by the Danes, in 1033, during the reign of Duncan, when they were repulsed with great slaughter in the neighbourhood of Kinghorn. But there must have been many other invasions of the coast of Fife, besides those of which tradition has preserved the remembrance. One of these probably took place at Lundin, and the standing stones of Lundin are probably the memorials of the burial of the slain. An urn containing burnt bones was found near these stones.1 There is every reason to believe that another descent took place at Earlsferry. Stone coffins have been discovered at various points along the shore, and, in 1857, in lowering the level of the road at the north-west corner of Earlsferry House, a whole series of them was exposed to view. They lay side by side, and were formed of rough slabs of stone, evidently brought from the shore.

The bones which they contained were much decayed, and appeared to have belonged to men of mature age. The place of burial must have been at that time just above the high-water mark, as the land has been gradually gaining upon the sea all along this bay owing to the sand-drift. The only reasonable hypothesis to account for this mode of sepulture appears to be that the Danes had landed here, and that a battle had been fought. Victory must have been on the side of the invaders, or else they could not have had the opportunity of burying their dead. 1 See an article on Stonehenge in the Quarterly Review for July 1860, for an argument that this was the origin of such monuments. EARLY HISTORY. 5 Two lines from an old chronicle, describing a Dane's burial, may be appropriately quoted : — ' Upon the brink of the waves he lies, In the east, in his broad gory bed.' Most probably the survivors formed a settlement on the spot, for the inhabitants of Earlsferry, like those of all the fishing-towns on the east coast of Scotland, long exhibited a peculiarity of race distinguishing them from the aboriginal inhabitants of the district.

This event must have occurred before 1033, about which time the Danes, having met with so many defeats in Fife that it was commonly called their ' burial-place,' entered into a solemn engagement never to return thither. It is interesting to notice the number of unsuccessful expeditions made by the Danes to the Scottish Lowlands, compared with the great conquests which they effected in England. Very few places with Scandinavian names are to be found on the Scottish coast, and these chiefly on the English border. According to Worsaae, the Norwegians and Danes are not entitled to claim many of the number less monuments which are ascribed to them. He affirms that the entire eastern coast, from the Cheviot Hills to the Moray Firth, is destitute of undoubted Scandinavian ornaments. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that the people of Scotland should point with pride to the many victories which their forefathers gained over foreign invaders.

Stone coffins of a similar description to those already referred to have been discovered at various points along the coast. Thus, at Leven, on the east side of the river, on what was probably the scene of the battle just alluded to ; at Aithernie in the same parish, under a cairn, about twenty coffins were found, with a quantity of beads, but no weapons; and at various places in the neighbourhood of Elie. So late as 1863, in removing gravel for ballasting the railway, there was discovered, 10 or 20 yards north of the railway, and some 300 or 400 yards west of Elie bridge, a pit of a funnel shape, lined with slabs of stone about 3 feet long, and rudely covered with stones. It was about 3 feet wide at the top, and contained two small pieces of bone, belonging to a human tibia and thigh-bone.

A similar sepulchre was discovered, some years before, in the Quarry Park, north of Elie. At Ardross, in a subterraneous excavation, executed with care and lined with rough rubble work, first opened about 1760, several coffins were found ranged in the shape of a horse-shoe, along with bones of different animals ; at Balhousie, in the parish of Largo, similar remains were found, one containing the bones of a child ; at Chesterhill, in West Anstruther, two coffins with skeletons ; at Capelie, in the parish of Kilrenny ; at Castle haven, in the parish of Crail; at Swinkie Hill, in the same parish (probably a corruption of Sueno's knoll), seven coffins were dug up ; and at Wormiston, about thirty were found lying in regular rows, a full account of which is pre served in the archives of the Antiquarian Society at Edin burgh.

At Kingsbarns, also, many coffins have been found in the braes along the shore. In most of these places urns of various sizes have also been found, sometimes within the coffins, and often inverted upon a square slab of stone, and containing calcined bones. In one instance the calcined bones had been deposited in a very small hole which had been carefully flagged over. Various sculptured pillars are also supposed to be Danish monuments. Whether they be among the number of those which, according to Worsaae, have been erroneously supposed to be of Scandinavian origin we cannot say. One of these is described in our account of Crail church ; another stands on a plinth near the mansion-house of Largo, having been found in two portions in different parts of the estate ; two fragments of such stones are built into the north wall of the old church of Abercrombie ; there is' one at Sauchope ; and another stands in the parish of Kilrenny, called the ' Skaith Stone,' EARL Y HISTOR Y. 7 whence probably the ' skaith quarter ' of Kilrenny, of which we often read.

A monolith is still standing at Pitrothie, and a sculptured stone from Scoonie with an Ogham in scription is in the Antiquarian Museum. Shortly before the period at which we have now arrived Christianity appears to have been introduced into Scotland. The following is the account given by Wynton, in his Chronicle, of the arrival of the first missionaries : — ' This Constantine then regnand, Ower the Scots in Scotland ; St. Adrian, with his company, Came off the land of Hyrcany, And arrivit intil Fife, Where that they chused to lead their life. Then Adrian with his company Together came to Caplawchy. (Caiplie or Capelochy.) There some intil the Isle of May Chusit to bide to their end-day : And some of them chusit benorth, In steds sere (several) the water of Forth. At Inverye St. Monane,1 That of that company was ane, Chusit him so near the sea To lead his life : thair endit he.

The May, or the Green Isle, as the name is said to signify, was the seat of St. Adrian. His name was pro bably Odran, as we find a subsequent Bishop of St. Andrews called Macgilla Odran, i.e. son of the servant of Odran. The cave is still to be seen at Caiplie where the second of these missionaries took up his abode. The entrance has been carved into a rather handsome Gothic arch. On the one side a part of the stone has been cut away so as to form a place for the altar, over which are three crosses con spicuously carved in the rock. At the extremity of the cave is (or was) a flight of steps leading up to a small cell 1 There is a St. Munna or Finlan who founded a monastery in Wex ford, and died in 634. Possibly he may be the same as the Fife saint. above, in which the Culdee preacher had his dwelling place.

Inverye is the old name of what is now called St. Monans, and the cave is still to be seen in which Monan dwelt. It possesses, however, no feature of interest* Wynton goes on to narrate how these foreigners obtained leave to preach the Gospel : — ' At the king then asked they Leave to preach the Christian fay : That he granted with good will, And their liking to fulfill, And leave to dwell into his land, Where they could chuse it maist pleasand.' - St. Adrian was cruelly put to death by the Danes, in one of their invasions, about 875. A stone coffin, half of which is in the church of West Anstruther, and the other half on the island of May, is said to have contained his remains. His martyrdom is thus narrated by Wynton :— ' Hub, Haldane, and Hyngare Off Denmark this time coming were In Scotland with great multitude ; And with their power it over yude (over went).

In heathenness all lived they, And despite of Christian Fay, Into the land they slew mony, And put to dead by martyry. And upon haly Thursday St. Adrian they slew in May, With mony of his company. In that haly Ile they lie.' The Chronicle of the Picts and Scots, speaking of Kenneth MacAlpin, who died in 860 at his palace at Forteviot, says 1 Skene, however, suggests that as Adrian is said to have been accompanied by 6000 persons, and as his arrival is almost coincident with the invasion of the kingdom of the Picts by the Scots under Kenneth, the traditionary history is one of the immigration of a nation. EARLY HISTORY. 9 that his clan was Conall Cerr, ' who are the men of Fife in the kingdom '; so that even at that early period we have authority for the appellation ' Kingdom of Fife.' Modern historians are of opinion that Macduff, Thane of Fife, is a mythical personage.

Certainly his name does not appear in the annals which were compiled at the date nearest to the time when he is supposed to have lived. Robertson, in his Scotland under her Early Kings, remarks that since the days of Angus (820-832), Fife appears to have been connected with the royal family, the abbacy of the leading monastery of the district, as well as the earldom, having been held by sons of the sovereign. Malcolm Canmore bestowed the earldom of Fife on his son Ethelred, so that Macduff, Earl of Fife, must be regarded as a fabulous personage. About 970 we hear of Rohardus or Rodardus, Thane of Fife, who slew King Cullen, but whether he was of the royal family we have no knowledge. The first earl who cannot be traced to the reigning house was Duffagan or Duff, who is a witness to the foundation charter of Scone in the reign of Alexander 1.

(1107-1124) ; his immediate successors being Constantine and Gille michel Macduff. It has been suggested that Duff may possibly be the real Macduff, who received the earldom, not for his assistance rendered to Malcolm against Macbeth, but for his services in restoring the sons of Malcolm to the throne.1 1 It may be useful to insert here a list of the Earls of Fife, as throw ing light on certain parts of our narrative. a d. 970, Rohardus or Rodardus, Thane of Fife, is mentioned. Macduff, who slew Macbeth in 1056, but his existence is doubtful. Duncan, his son, who is also supposed to be a mythical personage. Constantine, who died in 11 29. Gillemichel Macduff, who died in 1139. He was the father of Hugo, from whom come the Earls of Wemyss. Duncan, who married Ela, and died in 1 154. Duncan, son of the last, in 1 175 was justiciarius along with Richard Comyn.

He married Ada, niece of the king, with whom he received Let us, however, content ourselves for the present with the legend and tradition, according to which Macduff was concealed in the cave at Kincraig which bears his name, and was ferried over the Forth by the inhabitants of Earlsferry. A tolerably substantial wall built across the recess of the cave is pointed out as having been erected in order to shelter the earl. But this wall is certainly of much later date than the times of Macduff, and probably owes its existence to the use made of the cave for smuggling. It may have been built either by the smugglers to protect their operations, or by order of the Government to prevent the cave from being any longer a harbour for contraband Strathmiglo, Falkland, Kettle, Rathillet, and Strathbran.

He died in 1203. Malcolm, son of the last, married Matilda, daughter of the Earl of Strathmore, with whom he received Glendovan, Cambo, Adie, and Fossoway. He founded the monastery of Blackfriars at Cupar ; and in 1216 the convent of Cistercian nuns at North Berwick. He died in 1229. Malcolm, who married a daughter of Llewellyn, King of Wales, and belonged to the English party. He died in 1266. Colban, who died in 1 270. Duncan, son of the last, who was eight years old at his father's death. He married Johanna de Clare, and was murdered in 1288. Duncan, son of the last, was a minor at his father's death, and under the guardianship of the Bishop of St. Andrews. Macduff, his grand uncle, seized the earldom, was dispossessed by the bishop, and rein stated by King Edward. He was then summoned to answer to Par liament for taking the estates, but was slain at Falkirk.

In 1306 Isabella, Duncan's sister, placed the crown on the head of Bruce. Duncan married Mary de Monthermer, niece of King Edward, and was probably slain at Halidon Hill in 1333. Duncan, son ofthe last, married Mary, and died between 1353 and 1356. Isabella, married, first, William Ramsay, styled earl in 1356 : second, Walter Bisset, second son of Robert II. : third, Thomas Bisset, to whom there is a charter of the earldom in 1362. She had no children, and resigned the earldom to Robert Stewart, Earl of Menteith, and afterwards Duke of Albany, brother of her second husband. EARL Y HISTOR Y. 11 goods. In Earlsferry the tradition is rife that the de scendants of the men who ferried the earl over are still known, and Saturday is counted a lucky day because on that day he is said to have crossed the Forth.