Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

280
CULROSS.
assuring him that he was in perfect safety ; and,
pointing to an elegant pinnace that was made fast to
the moat, desired to know whether it was most
agreeable to his majesty to be carried ashore in it,
or to return by the same way he came ; upon which
the king, preferring the shortest way back, was car-
ried directly ashore, expressing much satisfaction at
what he had seen. It is certain, that at that time
the king was sumptuously entertained at the Abbey-
house. Some of the glasses then made use of in the
dessert are still preserved in the family ; and the
room where bis majesty was entertained retains the
name of ' the King's room. ' The great coal-pit of Cul-
ross was destroyed by a violent storm, which, in the
month of March, 1625, washed away the stone bul-
wark, and drowned the coal. From this catastrophe
the Culross collieries never recovered ; and the stones
of the rampart were afterwards sold to the magis-
trates of Edinburgh, who employed them in repairing
the pier of Leith. — Valleyfield house, in the eastern
part of the parish, is a splendid mansion ; as is also
the house of Blair. The house of Castlehill is built
on the site of an ancient castle of the Macduffs, called
Dunnemarle, where it is said Macbeth murdered the
wife and two children of that nobleman. There are
also the vestiges of two Danish camps in this parish.
Population, in 1801, 1,502; in 1831, 1,488. Houses,
in 1831, 263. Assessed property, in 1815, £5,497.
Besides the burgh of Culross, the parish contains
the villages of Valleyfield and Blairburn This par-
ish is in the presbytery of Dunfermline, and synod of
Fife. The charge is collegiate. Both charges are
at present in the patronage of Lady Keith and Lady
Baird alternately. Stipend of 1st charge, £156 6s.
10d., with glebe of the value of £20; of the 2d,
£116 9s. 2d., with glebe of the value of £25
Salary of parish-schoolmaster £34 4s. 4Jd., with
£28 10s. fees. There are two private schools.
Besides what are properly called the parish-funds,
there are the following hospitals and charitable foun-
dations belonging to Culross, or in which it has an
interest. In 1637, Thomas, Earl of Elgin, son of
Lord Bruce of Kinloss, founded and endowed an
hospital in the east part of the town of Culross, for
the maintenance of 12 aged persons of the borough
and parish of Culross, to be presented by him and
his successors, and commissioners appointed for that
effect, reserving power to him and his heirs to nomi-
nate others, though not of the parish of Culross.
In 1639, George Bruce of Carnock founded and
endowed an hospital in the west part of the town,
for the maintenance of 6 decayed poor and aged
women, widows of colliers or salters, some time
workers in Culross or Kincardine ; and, if these be
deficient, to other decayed poor and aged widow-
women in the parish of Culross. They had a house
and garden for their accommodation, and 24 bolls of
meal for their support Robert Bill, M.D., who
was born at Culross, and died in London in 1738,
mortified the sum of £600 sterling; the interest to
be applied to the relief of 4 decayed tradesmen, and
2 decayed tradesmen's widows; the education and
putting to apprenticeship young persons of the bo-
rough of Culross ; and the maintenance of a bursar
at the university. The trustees are, the ministers,
magistrates, dean-of-guild, and schoolmaster.
Culross, a royal burgh in the above parish, 4
miles east of Kincardine, 6 west of Dunfermline,
and 22 west by north of Edinburgh, is a place of
considerable antiquity. It was erected into a royal
burgh by James VI. in 1588; and was governed by
3 bailies, a dean-of-guild, a treasurer, and 15 coun-
cillors ; and is now governed by a chief-magistrate
and 19 councillors. The revenue, in 1832, amounted
to £118 lis. 5Jd., chiefly arising from feu-duties
and shore-dues; the expenditure was £93 9s. I0|d.
Revenue, in 1838-9, £52 13s. About 80 acres of the
common, muir are feued to Sir James Gibson Craig,
and upwards of 500 to the Dundonald family. The
amount of cess annually raised is £7 5s. 2Jd. The
burgh joins with Dunfermline, Inverkeithing, South
Queensferry, and Stirling, in returning a member to
parliament. Parliamentary constituency, in 1839,
22. The town is built on the face of a brae ; the
principal street running north-east from the shore,
and the other buildings being irregularly, scattered
along the shore. It presents a pleasing appearance
from the sea ; but the houses, with a few exceptions,
are of a mean appearance, though some of them
appear to be of great antiquity. It formerly carried
on a great trade in salt and coal ; at present this
trade is wholly annihilated. At one period there
were above 50 salt-pans here, which made about
100 tons of salt weekly; and before the Union, there
have been 1 70 foreign vessels in the roads at a time,
loading coal and salt. About 60 years ago, the Earl
of Dundonald erected very extensive works here for
the extraction of tar, naphtha, and volatile salt, from
coal; but, being an unproductive concern, it was
given up, and the works are now in ruins. The
remains of an old pier are visible; but the harbour
would never have been a good one, and now a laud-
ing can only be effected here at high-water. The
fishing on the coast has been nearly destroyed by
the floating down of peat-moss. Culross, by virtue
of two royal grants from James IV. and Charles II.,
enjoyed the exclusive privilege of making girdles, a
kitchen utensil well-known in Scotland for baking
cakes ; but in 1727 the court of session found that
no monopolies of this kind could be granted in pre-
judice of any other royal borough, and before this
decision, and the more general use of ovens, besides
the cheaper mode of casting girdles, the manufacture
has long since ceased to be of any value.* The chief
occupation of the inhabitants now is the weaving of
linen for the Dunfermline manufacturers, and of
muslins for the Glasgow merchants. The popula-
tion of the burgh is about 700. — At the north end
of the town, on the Kincardine road, is the parish-
church, which was formerly the chapel of the mon-
astery. The chancel and tower are still entire, but
the transept and body of the church are in ruins.
Adjoining to the north wall of the church is an aisle,
the burial-place of the Bruce family, in which is a
fine white marble monument of Sir George Bruce,
his lady, and several children. In this aisle was
found enclosed in a silver box, the heart of Lord
Kinloss, who was killed in a duel in Flanders by
Sir Edward Sackville, as related in the Guardian,
No. 133 At a small distance to the eastward of
the church stands the Abbey-house, built by Ed-
ward, Lord Kinloss, in 1590, and so called, perhaps,
from its being built in the vicinity and of the mate-
rials of the ancient abbey. It is a very large build-
ing, in a delightful situation, and commanding an
extensive prospect of the frith of Forth, Stirling-
shire, and the Lothians. This house was nearly
demolished after it became the property of Sir Ro-
bert Preston, but was afterwards rebuilt by him.
— The abbey of Culross was founded in 1217, by
Malcolm, Thane of Fife, and dedicated to the Virgin
Mary and St. Serf. It lies at the head of the town,
on a rising ground commanding a beautiful and ex-
tensive prospect of the frith. Considerable remains
of it are yet to be seen. On the north side was the
• The burgh of Culross had the custody of the coal-measures
of Scotland, by act 166:1, Charles II. c. 17. The chalder was uf
two kinds : the great chalder, which contained, as near as can
he computed, 405 stone Dutch, and the small, which contained
162 stone, or two.fifths of the great chalder.