Scotland/Scots > Black's picturesque tourist of Scotland

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EDINBURGH TO ABERDEEN BY STEAMER.
Largo Law rises to the height of 966 feet above the level of the sea. A
short way to the west of Largo, in the midst of a park, are three straight,
sharp stones, several yards high, called “ the Standing Stanes o’ Lundie,”
supposed to be of Danish origin. A considerable quantity of silver
armour and other relics were found beside these stones in 1817, by a
pedlar, and were unfortunately sold by him piecemeal and melted.*
Four miles east from Largo are the village of Elie, and Elie
House, formerly the seat of the Anstruther family, now the property
of William Baird, Esq. Two miles further on is St. Monance,
noted for its curious little old Gothic church. The ruins of Newark
Castle, the seat of the celebrated General Leslie, stand on a bold part
of the shore, about a mile to the west of the village. A mile to the
east is the ancient royal burgh of Pittenweem. Here are the ruins of
some curious antique religious buildings. Pittenweem contains the house
in which Wilson and Robertson committed the robbery upon the collector
of excise, which led to the famous Porteous Mob. A mile from Pitten¬
weem is Anstruther (population, 1626), commemorated in the popular
song of “ Maggie Lauder.” “ Anster Fair,” also, has been made the sub¬
ject of an amusing poem by Mr. Tennant, late Professor of Oriental
Languages in the University of St. Andrews.
Opposite to this part of the coast is the Isle of May. The lighthouse
was built in the reign of Charles I., on the site of a considerable religious
establishment. It is about three miles in circumference, and is now in¬
habited only by the persons who attend upon the lighthouse. A fine
view is obtained here of North Berwick Law, the Bass, and the coast of
East Lothian. About a mile further down the coast stands Kilrenny,
another royal burgh, with a population of about 1862.
In the church of Grail (the next town to the east; population, 1247)
John Knox, on the 29 th of May 1669, preached a sermon against popery,
which so inflamed the populace that they immediately rose, and in a very
short time demolished all the monasteries and ecclesiastical buildings in
Crail, Anstruther, and the adjacent towns along the coast. The well-known
Archbishop Sharpe, by the interest of the Earl of Crawford, was appointed
minister of Crail, where he conducted himself, it is said, in an exemplary
manner; his handwriting is still to be seen in the session records. Crail
was a town of some note as early as the ninth century. David I. had a
palace here, now entirely demolished, except a fragment of a wall. It was
anciently the seat of a priory, the ruins of which are still to be seen below
the east end of the town, and some of the old houses of Crail are of that mas¬
sive and antique description which indicate better days. About a mile from
Crail is the East Neuk of Fife, which gives name to a popular Scottish air.
Beyond this promontory is the Carr Rock, on which there is a beacon of
iron, after rounding which the coast stretches away towards the north-
* See Dr. Daniel Wilson’s Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, p. 512.