Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

LESLIE
eastward across the middle of the parish, then 9 fur-
longs along the Premnay border ; and in the extreme
E the surface declines to 524 feet above sea-level, thence
rising to 800 feet at Gallow Hill, 800 at the Hill of
Newleslie, 1181 at Salters Hill, 1355 at Knock Saul, and
1362 at Suie Hill, the last three of which rise close to
or on the southern boundary. The rocks include ser-
pentine, felspar, quartz, etc. ; and the soil of the northern
division is a light yellowish loam with a gravelly sub-
soil and a rocky bottom, of the southern division is a
rich loam overlying clay, but moorish and heathy on
the higher hills. Less than half of the entire area is in
tillage ; wood covers but a small proportion ; and the
rest is either pastoral or waste. Leslie Castle, or the
old House of Leslie, on the Gadie's N bank, opposite
the hamlet, is now a ruin. It was founded in 1661 by
William Forbes of Monymusk, whose father had acquired
the barony through marriage with the widow of the last
of the Leslies, its possessors since the 12th century. Of
a stone circle and a pre-Keformation chapel the sites
only remain. The property is divided between two.
Leslie is in the presbytery of Garioch and synod of
Aberdeen ; the living is worth £219. The parish church,
at the hamlet, was built in 1815, and contains nearly
300 sittings. Duncanstone Congregational church (1818)
stands 24 miles NNW ; and Leslie and Premnay Free
church, J mile E by N, just within Premnay parish.
The public school, with accommodation for 9S children,
had (1882) an average attendance of 62, and a grant
of £50, 13s. Valuation (1860) £2693, (1882) £3279,
lis. lOd. Pop. (1S01) 367, (1831) 473, (1S61) 577, (1S71)
532, (1881) 523.— Orel. Sar., sh. 76, 1874.
Leslie (Gael. lis-Zeven, 'garden on the Leven')is a
parish, containing a small post-town of the same name,
at the middle of the western border of Fife. The town,
situated near the SE border of the parish, is distant 12
miles E from Kinross, 12 SW from Cupar, 9 NW from
Kirkcaldy, and 3 W from Markinch, to which it is
joined by a branch line of railway, 4J miles long, which
was opened in 1861, and became a part of the North
British railway system in 1872. Carriers' carts ply
between Leslie, Kirkcaldy, and Markinch ; and an
omnibus runs between it and the last-mentioned place.
The town consists mainly of one long street of irregu-
larly-built houses, situated on the top of a steep bank,
and overlooking the valley of the Leven. Its position
is picturesque, and its beauty is not interfered with by
the presence of the mills, in which the majority of the
inhabitants work, as these stand on the river at a little
distance from the town. The town green is a fine open
expanse at the E end of Leslie. It was once used for
games and sports, and even, it is said, for bull-fights, a
stone still existing to which were fastened the animals
intended to fight, and hence called the ' Bull-stone.'
In the High Street are the town-hall, built in 1872 at
a cost of £1000, and containing one room 72 feet long
by 40 broad, with two ante-rooms ; the parish church,
built in 1820, renewed about 1872, and having accom-
modation for 850 people ; the Free church, rebuilt in
1879; 2 U.P. churches, the East and West; and a
Baptist church, founded in 18S0. Two public schools,
called the East and West, with respective accommoda-
tion for 250 and 550 children, had (1S82) an average
attendance of 217 and 489, and grants of £172, 19s. 4d.
and £427, 17s. 6d.
Leslie has a head post-office, with the usual depart-
ments, a branch of the Union Bank of Scotland, agents
for 9 fire and life insurance companies, an institute and
library of about 1000 volumes, a young men's Chris-
tian association, a ploughing society, and clubs for
skating, bowling, etc. The chief hotel is called the
Green Inn. The Leslie Cemetery Company was incor-
porated in 1862-67, and the Leslie Joint Stock Water
Company in 1833. It possesses a capital of £600, and
has paid 7£ per cent, of dividend. The water, which is
excellent and plentiful, is brought from Balgothrie, the
Countess of Rothes and the late Hon. Mrs Douglas of
Strathendry having been mainly instrumental in intro-
ducing it. The gas company has £1877 of capital.
500
LESLIE
Fairs are held at Leslie on the first Tuesday after 11
April and the first Friday in October.
The chief industries carried on in Leslie (town and
parish) are spinning, bleaching, and paper-making.
There are 3 flax-spinning works, the most extensive of
which at Prinlaws employs a large number of 'hands.'
Two of these also engage in bleaching. There are 2
paper-mills— Fettykil (started in 1848-49, and greatly
improved of late years) and Strathendry. Besides 2
paper machines, the former has also several bag and
label machines, the last being almost unique in Scot-
land. It employs about 200 hands, of whom nearly 70
are females. Strathendry Paper Mill has 1 paper ma-
chine, employs from 70 to 80 workers, and makes
writing papers. The municipal government includes 2
bailies, 1 chancellor, fiscal, treasurer, and town-clerk.
Eight police commissioners were appointed under the
General Police Act, and 1 of these acts as first magistrate
and 2 as junior magistrates. Pop. (1861) 3607, (1871)
3743, (1881) 3852, of whom 1637 were males and 2216
females, whilst 2341 were in Leslie proper, 259 in
Croftonterly, and 1253 in Prinlaws. Houses (1881) 823
inhabited, 52 uninhabited, and 4 building.
The parish of Leslie is bounded N by Falkland, E by
Markinch, S by Kinglassie, and W by Kinross-shire. The
Leven traces the southern boundary, and two small
streams, the Lothrie and the Cammie, drain the interior
of the parish. Its greatest length, from W by N to E
by S, is 5 miles ; its breadth varies between 7 furlongs
and 2| miles ; and its area is 5028 acres. The western
side of the parish includes part of the Lomond range,
and rises near Drumain to 1060 feet above sea-level.
The northern border is also hilly, attaining 89S feet near
Little Balgothrie, 766 at Ehind Hill; and so is the
ground on both sides of the Lothrie Burn. Along the
Leven the ground is generally much lower than in other
parts of the parish ; and at Cadham declines to 258 feet.
From W to E there is a gradual upward slope, and in
the lowlands the ground is, as a rule, highly cultivated
and covered with fields, while in the uplands it is com-
monly pastoral. Trap rock abounds in the W and N,
and has been extensively used for building. Limestone
and coal are found in the E, and are worked on a small
scale. The soil is mainly alluvial, or a mixture of sand
and gravel. About three-fourths of the entire area are
in tillage, some 312 acres are under wood, and the rest
is either pastoral or waste. Various antiquarian re-
mains, as standing-stones, etc. , have been discovered on
the hills of this parish, which is said to have been the
scene of some severe fighting between the Romans and
ancient Britons. Its records extend back for 300 years,
but do not contain anything noteworthy. David Pit-
cairn, M.D. (1749-1S09), chief among medical men of
his day in London, has been claimed as a native. The
Rev. Ebenezer Erskine (1680-1754) acted for a time as
tutor in the Rothes family ; and Adam Smith (1723-90),
the author of the Wealth of Nations, when a child of
three, was kidnapped from Strathendry by a band of
Gipsies, but recovered by his uncle in Leslie Wood.
The chief proprietors are the Countess of Rothes, the
heirs of the Hon. Mrs Douglas of Strathendry, and Bal-
four of Balbirnie. The connection between the Rothes
family and Leslie has always been a close one. Their
family name is Leslie, and it has been said that the dis-
trict was called after them, Leslie having been known
as Fettykil till 1283, when Norman de Leslie obtained
a grant of its woods and lands from Alexander III. In
1457 George Leslie of Rothes was created first Earl of
Rothes ; aud his fifteenth descendant, Henrietta-Ander-
son-Mosshead Leslie, fourth Countess in her own right
(b. 1832; sue. her brother, the twelfth Earl, 1859),
holds 3562 acres in Fife, valued at £7343 per annum.
Her seat, Leslie House, as built by the Duke of Rothes,
who was Lord Chancellor of Scotland in the reign of
Charles II., was originally a large mansion, quadran-
gular in form. Three sides were burnt down in 1763,
and the fourth, when repaired, was made the dwelling-
house, and still exists as such. Externally it is a plain
building, with no particular architectural features ; but