Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 3

HADDINGTONSHIRE
synclinal trough, the axis of which runs from the shore
at Port Seton S by Tranent to Elphinstone Tower. Hence
on the E side of the basin the coal seams dip to the W,
only to reappear with an E dip along the anticlinal arch
of the Roman Camp Hill. In tlie centre of this trough
at Port Seton, there are two thin bands of limestone
belonging to the highest division of the Carboniferous
Limestone.
The Lower Limestone series in Gosford Bay is tra-
versed by a sheet of intrusive dolerite, and similar
sheets are met with to tlie N of Aberlady in the Calci-
ferous Sandstones. A few basalt dykes, probably of
Tertiary age, pierce the Haddingtonshire coal-field, of
which the most important is that extending from Pres-
tonpaus E by Seton Mains to near Longniddry.
The trend of the ice flow during the glacial period
over the low-lying portion of Haddingtonshire was E
and ENE, but a portion of the ice sheet surmounted the
chain of the Lammermuirs, and moved in a SE direction
towards the Berwickshire plain. That sucli was the
course of the ice sheet is not only proved by the ice
markings, but also by the transport of tlie materials in
the boulder clay. This deposit varies considerably in
character, according to the nature of the underlying
rocks ; in the Silurian area it is a stiff fawn-coloured
stony clay, while in the Old Red and Calciferous Sand-
stone districts it is sandy and has a reddish tint. The
sands and gravels are found partly flanking tlie hills in
the form of more or less continuous sheets or ridged up
in mounds, and partly in connection mth the 100 -feet
terrace. The 25-feet beach is visible at various points
on the coast, though its development is but limited.
It occurs at North Berwick, where it is partly obscured
by blown sand, and also near Seacliff Tower. Tracts of
blown sand are met with at the nioutli of the Tyne,
near Tyninghame, and again between GuUane HUl and
North Berwick.
East Lothian is not rich in coal, although the coal
beds at Prestoupans are said to have been worked by
the monks of Newbattle so early as the beginning of the
13th century. Limestone is abundant throughout the
county. In 1866 a rich deposit of hematite of iron was
discovered in the Garletou Hills, and for several years
was worked successfully. Iron is found in Gladsmuir
parish, where the Macmerry Iron-works are situated.
As is to be expected, the soils in the various parts of
the county differ much from each other. On the hills
much of it is thin and mossy ; but of late years crops
of turnips and oats have been obtained on what was
before unfilled land, covered with whins or heather.
Along the base of the hills stretches an extent of rich
and valuable grain and pasture land, from which heavy
crops are reaped that contribute no small amount to-
wards enhancing the agricultural reputation of the
county. To the N of this, and extending across the
shire is a band of heavy tenacious yellow clay, resting
on a basis of till or boulder clay, and presenting some
of the worst agricultural land in Scotland. This soil,
however, is not unfavourable to the growth of such
timber as oak, beech, larch, and fir. The most fertile
parts of the whole county are in the E, near Dunbar,
where rich loam is abundant, and clay and light sand
not rare. Wheat and beans, and the famous kind of
potatoes kno^Ti as ' Dunbar Reds,' are the heaviest
crops of this district. The farms of W Haddingtonshire
have lighter loam soils and mixtures of clay and sand
that are annually made to yield very excellent harvests.
The climate of Haddingtonshire is also well suited for an
agricultural district. The proximity of the sea and the
extent of coast-line prevents the extremes of either heat
or cold being experienced in the shire, though a cold
and searching E wind prevails in late spring and early
summer. The rainfall is exceedingly small, and the
county is more exposed to agricultural loss from too
little than from too much rain, though the Lammer-
muirs are often covered with cold and wetting mists that
are not taken into account in calculating the rainfall.
According to observations at seven stations extending
over several years the annual rainfall is 25 '12 inches ; at
HADDINGTONSHIRE
the town of Haddington it is 25 inches. The extremes
were observed at Yestcr, in the SW, 420 feet above
sea-level, where 3272 inches were registered ; and at
Smeaton, in the NE of Midlotliian, 100 feet above sea-
level, where the return was 18 '62. The temperature is
on the whole equable. The annual mean observed at
Yester for thirteen years ending in 1869 was 46 '5°, and
at Smeaton, 47 '2° ; whilst at East Linton, 90 feet above
sea-level, it was 47 '4° during 1882, when the rainfall was
27 '25. Snow, though not infrequent, seldom lies many
days in the lowlands of Haddingtonshire. The spring
is, in general, dry, with only occasional severe showers
of hail and rain from the NE ; in summer and autumn
the only rainy points are the S and E.
The natural advantages of soil and climate in East
Lothian are of themselves almost enough to ensure its
agiicultural prosperity ; but its present pre-eminence,
as perhaps the richest grain-producing district of Scot-
land, is also due not a little to the industry, enterprise,
and skill of its farmers and landowners. East Lothian
has been an agricultural county for centuries, and the
monks of the Middle Ages may perhaps be regarded as
the founders of its agricultural greatness. A cm'ious
fact is that, along the coterminous line of the uplands
and lowlands, the parishes were anciently, just as at
present, so distributed that each, while stretching into
the fertile plain, had attached to it a section of the
Lammermuirs, as a necessary adjunct to its agricultural
practice of summer pasturage. Mills were numerous,
and their number and activity are proofs of the quantity
of grain raised in the district. The Lammermuirs at
all times fostered the pastoral calling. Hay also was
raised in abundance, and so early as the 13th century
was subjected to tithes ; and in 1298 the English sol-
diers, who were besieging Dirleton Castle, found a means
of sustenance in the pease that grew in the neighbouring
fields. Although the troubles and wars of the succeed-
ing centuries inflicted a check upon the arts of peace in
Haddingtonshire as well as in the rest of Scotland, the
shire recovered its former position ; and, according to
Whitelocke, the English soldiers who entered Scotland
with Cromwell in 1650 were astonished to find in East
Lothian ' the greatest plenty of corn they ever saw, not
one of the fields being fallow.' The real beginning of
the agricultural pre-eminence of Haddingtonshire dates
from about the period of the Union of the parliaments
of Scotland and England in 1707. Lord Belhaven con-
tributed to improve tlie theory of agriculture by his
Advice to the Farmers in Hast Lothian, piublished in
1723 ; while Thomas, sixth Earl of Haddington, im-
proved its practice by introducing skilled labour from
England. James Meikle, a mechanic who had been
despatched to Holland in 1710 by Fletcher of Salton to
acquire the art of making decorticated barley, intro-
duced from that country the use of fanners in sifting
grain ; and in 1787 Andrew Meikle, his son, invented
the thrashing-mill. Improvements came in thick and
fast after the introduction of fanners ; landowners vied
with each in adopting new inventions and new ma-
chinery, and their farming tenants zealously co-operated.
Lord Elibank, Sir Hew Dalrymple, the Marquis of
Tweeddale, and Sir George Suttie deserve to be men-
tioned in the former class ; and Wight, who introduced
horse-hoeing in 1736, Cunningham, Hay, who first raised
potatoes in the fields about 1754, John Walker of Pres-
tonkirk, who was the first to adopt the English practice
of fallomng, and George Rennie of Phantassie, are worthy
representatives of the second class. John Cockburn of
Ormiston, a politician who had in his later years turned
his attention to ' agricultural improvements, the classic
diversion of a statesman's care,' founded about 1743
perhaps the earliest farmers' club in Scotland. In 1804
General Fletcher of Salton organised another farmers'
society, which in 1819-20 was amalgamated with a more
extensive association, under the name of ' The United
East Lothian Agricultural Society.' Under such aus-
pices and supported by such enterprise, the agriculture
of Haddingtonshire has made rapid and sure advances
in every department. In 1811 steam power was first
237