The Royal Burgh of Earlsferry .....
The
Royal Burgh of Earlsferry
The
following introduction to Earlsferry has been taken from The Ordnance Gazetteer
of Scotland Volume2 (1896)
Earlsferry, a decaying coastal village possessing
the status of a Royal Burgh, in Kilconquhar Parish, Fife, until 1891, when,
with all the coast district of the parish south of the railway line and the
Cocklemill Burn, it was transferred to the parish of Elie. It is traditionally said to have been
constituted a Royal Burgh by Malcolm Ceannmor at the request of Macduff, the
Earl of Fire, who, in his flight from the vengeance of Macbeth, was concealed
in a cave at Kincraig Point, and thence ferried over the Firth to Dunbar by the
fishermen of the place. The legend on
the face of it is false; but whatever the date, the original Charter having
been destroyed by fire in Edinburgh, James VI granted a new one in 1589, which
speaks of Earlsferry as “of old, past memorie of man, erected into ane free
Burgh”! Then and afterwards it seems
to have been a place of considerable trade, with two weekly markets and two
annual fairs, the privilege of levying dues and
customs, and the right of returning a member to parliament. These are all things of the past; but Earlsferry is still governed by a
Provost, who has a seat in the County Council, a Baille, a Treasurer, and six
Councillors, and has it’s own town-hall (1872), with quaint old steeple, a
gaswork, golf links, and a public school.
A abundant supply of gravitation water was obtained in 1882 from near
Kellie Law at a cost of £11,000, conjointly with Elie and St Monance, followed
by an extensive system of drainage. The
old custom of ringing the curfew bell still exists in the ancient Burgh. Pop.
1891 304. See
Elie (Appended at bottom).
Earlsferry – history
Today most people think of Earlsferry as an
extension of its bigger neighbour Elie, but it never has been, and even today the
tiny number of locals still regard themselves as ‘Ferry folk’! It was not until 1929, when the two villages
united, with one local council running both, and calling the new ‘bairn’ “The
Royal Burgh of Elie and Earlsferry”, that the two became one so to speak. The proper name for the villages, which is
now being used more and more, is “Elie
and the Royal Burgh of Earlsferry”. However
this is recent history, let’s go back a bit before 1929.
The village of Earlsferry came into 'being' at the end of the 11th century
when it became the landing place for pilgrims crossing the Firth of
Forth on their way to St Andrews, and beyond. Although the story of Macduff’s escape is
often credited as the reason for
Earlsferry being so named, it was more probably called Earls ferry for the same
reason as the crossing further up the Firth was called the Queen’s ferry: that is, after the benefactor who donated the
ferry. ‘Queensferry’, named after the
good, and saintly Queen Margaret; and ‘Earlsferry’, after the Earl of Fife (Macduff). Macduff was King Malcolm’s ‘right hand
man’, with the right to lead the Scottish army into battle being one of the (dubious) perks! The saying, “lead on Macduff”... is a misquote from Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'.
Most , if not all of the ancient Scottish Royal
Burghs became so because of a connection with the pre- Reformation Church
.... in Earlsferry’s case the ferry from North Berwick, which was run by
Cistercian nuns based there; Macduff
(Earl of Fife) not only owned land in Fife, but also land around North Berwick,
some of which he donated to the nuns.
As the northern end of the ferry link it is reasonable to surmise that,
because of the huge number of pilgrims travelling, benefits would accrue to
those helping them on their way, pilgrims were the forerunners of today’s tourists. In fact when you really think of it the Old
Church organised, and ran a very lucrative ‘pilgrim trade’, (very much like the
modern tourist trade) – that benefitted not only those ‘in the know’ but all
those around them. The pilgrims, and
there were many of them, were making for the Shrine containing relics of St
Andrew, in the cathedral town of that name .... St Andrews. In those days the fear of hell and damnation
was very real. Pilgrimage, prayer, and
donations (a ferry for instance), were all ways to avoid the deadly drop into
hell! One has to remember that this
movement of pilgrims was going on all over Europe, especially from the 12th to
the beginning of the 16th century’s, when the influence of the old church was
at its peak.
The only evidence that remains in Earlsferry today
are the ruins of the Chapel/Hospital on Chapel Green, the name ‘Grange’ (as in
Grange farm, Grange Road) and, at the West end of the beach a ‘rickle o’
stanes’ and slabs, all that remains of Earlsferry’s ancient “Pilgrim’s
Pier”. This pier would have been
repaired a few times over its long lifetime;
if you look closely you can make out the baseline, which is
probably as it was when originally built
some 800 years ago.
Unfortunately, stones and slabs
of the ancient pier were used, in a vain attempt to manufacture sea defences by
a resident of Earlsferry, in 1996, after a storm had removed much of the sand
dunes.
‘Grange Farm’ is where the nuns, and their lay
helpers, would grow the vegetables, herbs and grain used to provide themselves,
and the many poor pilgrims passing through;
the Church was duty bound to provide food and accommodation for the poor
pilgrims. Muircambus Mill, on the
Cadgers Road, would be where the grain was milled. The Cadger’s Road ran from Earlsferry to
the Royal Palace at Falkland, traces of this ‘road’ can be seen where it crossed
what are now the 4th and 17th fairways of the golf course. The fishermen of Earlsferry supplied the
Palace with ‘sea-foods’. It would also
have been the start of the ‘Pilgrims Way’ that went over by Rires and Lathallan to St Andrews. I remember, in the mid 1950’s, when the
local farmer ploughed up the old Right of Way (it had been used as the road to
the Colinsburgh ‘dump’) that passed through the field, just to the West of Colinsburgh. Maggie and I retraced that part of the
‘Way’ a few years ago; it was still
recognisable as such, right up to the farm cottages at Rires .... even traces
of the last Rires Castle can be seen in what is now a field dyke just south of
the cottages. In the 1950’s stiles,
to allow easy passage, still existed beyond Rires, but they are all gone now,
having been lost when new fences were put in.
With the Royal Burgh having good connections in
Edinburgh and with the other Royal Burghs of Fife and the Lothians, a
thriving trade in wool was begun with
the lowlands of Holland. Culross, in
the West of Fife was the centre of this trade in Scotland, with Veere being the
partner in Holland. The ‘Scottish
House’ in Veere was the centre of the European trade. The title of
‘Honorary Conservator of the Scottish Privileges in the Low Countries’ was
revived when Veere celebrated its 700th anniversary in 1996; the title was
granted to Mrs Winifred Ewing, Member of the European Parliament. Maggie and I were at this celebration when
we spent a week in Veere as part of the Fife Craft Association Exhibition. Veere is well worth a visit by anyone
interested in the trading links of medieval Fife. With the decline of the wool trade, and the
unrest in the Church, things started to change by the end of the15th century .... upheaval
that would bring complete change to much of Europe, not just our Royal
Burgh. The Reformation!
Earlsferry – now
After the Reformation, Earlsferry fell
into steady decline, as did most of the towns and villages associated with the
old Church. Fishing, weaving were the
main occupations of the ‘Ferry folk’ initially, then coal mining in the 1800’s.....
but the old village was dying. The town of St Andrews was also in this state ....
so much so that plans were afoot to have the University moved to Perth. St Andrews was saved by the astounding
energy and efforts of Provost Playfair: Earlsferry by the arrival of the railway
line which reached, and terminated at Kilconquhar Station in 1857. The ‘Royal Burgh’ was about to enter a new phase
in its long history, as, along with neighbouring Elie the villages became
favourite places for sea bathing .... a get-away from city life, especially
after the Forth Rail Bridge was opened in 1890;
by this time the East Neuk Railway line had been extended and there was
a station at Elie .... the centre of Edinburgh was only a couple of hours away.
The
following entry for Elie is from The Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland Volume
2 (1896)
Elie or Ely, a small police burgh and a parish on the SE coast of Fife.
The town stands close to the shore at the head of a bay of its own name, and
has a station on the East of Fife section of the North British, 4 3/4
miles WSW of Anstruther, 14 ENE of Thornton Junction, and 44 3/4 NE of
Edinburgh (via the Forth Bridge). In bygone times a place of some
importance, it retains a few antique mansions in a street near the beach, but mainly
consists of modern well-built houses. It has for a long time been a
place of considerable resort for summer sea-bathing, and is even claimed by
some as one of the best health resorts, particularly in winter., of any place
in Scotland; but carries on little trade, although it possesses an
excellent natural harbour, much improved by quays and a pier, and affording
safe and accessible shelter during gales from the W or SW.
The bay is 7 furlongs wide across the entrance, and thence measures 3 1/2 to
its utmost recess; it is flanked on the E by Elie Ness, and by Chapel
Ness on the west. Wadehaven, a little to the E of the harbour, has
depth of from 20 to 22 feet of water at ordinary tide, and is said to have been
named after General Wade, who recommended it to the government as a suitable
harbour for ships of the Royal Navy. Immediately to the west
is the small old Royal Burgh of Earlsferry, on whose capital links an elegant
golf clubhouse has been erected; and Elie itself has a post office, with
money order, savings bank, and telegraph departments, a branch of the National
Bank, Elie and Earlsferry Savings Bank, 2 hotels, a gaswork, waterworks
(conjointly with Earlsferry and St Monance), a subscription library of 4000
volumes, the old parish church (1630, re-seated 1885), with a spire and two
stained glass windows, the Wood Memorial Free Church (1887), with a tower, a
public school, and a coastguard station, curling, lawn tennis, and golf clubs,
and an excellent system of drainage. Having in 1865, along with the
villages of Liberty and Williamsburgh, adopted the General Police Act, the
united burgh is governed by a provost, 2 baillies, and three police
commissioners, with a town-clerk and a treasurer. Pop. (1881)
625, (1891) 723.
The parish down to about 1939 formed part of
Kilconquhar. It is bounded W and N by Kilconquhar and Carnbee, NE
by St Monance, and SE by the Firth of Forth, which here has a minimum width of
8 1/4 miles. The Moorcambus detached part (containing 650 acres)
situated to the north-west of the parish, and lying naturally into the parish
of Kilconquhar, was in 1891 transferred by the Boundary Commission to
Kilconquhar parish; but in return all the coast district of Kilconquhar
south of the railway line and of the Cocklemill Burn was transferred to the
parish of Elie. This addition to the area of the parish includes
the Royal Burgh of Earlsferry and the villages of Liberty and Williamsburgh,
and places the united burgh wholly within the parish of Elie. The
surface is generally flat, and rises nowhere to a hill.
Kilconquhar Loch (4x3 furl.) touches the northern boundary on the east, and the
Cocklemill Burn traces the north-western border of the extended
parish. The rocks belong chiefly to the Carboniferous formation,
but include, on the coast, greenstone, basalt, clinkstone, and
trap-tufa. The carboniferous rocks, too, are traversed by
trap-dykes; and they comprise sandstone, limestone, shale, coal, and
clay-ironstone. Some 50 acres are under wood; and nearly all the
rest of the land, excepting the links, is in tillage. Natives were
Robert Traill (1642-1716) a Divine of The Church of Scotland, and James
Horsburgh. F.R.S. (1762-1836) the eminent hydrographer. Elie
House, to the NNE of the town was built towards the close of the 17th century,
and is a large edifice in the Renaissance style, with beautiful
grounds. Its owner is William Baird, Esq. (born 1848; suc.
1864). Elie is in the presbytery of St Andrews and Synod of
Fife; the living is worth £70. The public school, with
accommodation for 160 children, had (1891) an average attendance of 101, and
grant of £94, 16s. Valuation (1866) £6136, (1882)
£7234, (1892) £8587, 13S, 6D. Pop. (1801) 730,
(1831) 1029, (1861) 826, (1871) 775, (1881) 670,
(1891) 1172. Ord.Sur., sh.41, 1857.
