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

290
CUPAR FIFE.
both. The spire has always been considered hand-
some, and appears light and elegant when viewed
from the east or west. It was built by the prior of
St. Andrews in 1415, only up to the battlement: all
above that was added in the beginning of the 17th
century, by Mr. William Scot,* who was for many
years minister of Cupar. The church accommodates
1,300. Within it, in a niche in the west wall, is a
monument erected to Sir John Arnot of Fernie, who
fell in the last crusade. It presents the recumbent
figure of a knight in armour. In the same circle
there is a marble tablet to the memory of the late
Dr. Campbell, one of the ministers of the parish, and
father of the present attorney-general of England.
In the churchyard is a plain upright stone, bearing
the following inscription : " Here lies interred the
heads of Laur. Hay, and Andrew Pitulloch, who
suffered martyrdom at Edinburgh, July 13th, 1681,
for adhering to the Word of God, and Scotland's
covenanted work of reformation ; and also one of
the hands of David Hackston of Rathillet, who was
most cruelly murdered at Edinburgh, July 30th,
1680, for the same cause." On the other side are
the following rude lines : —
'• 1680.
41 Our persecutors filled with rage,
Their brutish fury to aswage,
Took heads and hands of martyrs off.
That they might he the people's scuff;
They Haekston's body cut asunder,
And set it up a world's wonder
In several places, to proclaim,
These monsters gloried in their shame !"
The charge is collegiate. The stipend of each
charge is £259 7s. 9d. ; but the 1st minister has a
glebe of the value of .£21, while the second has
neither a manse nor a glebe. Unappropriated teinds
£1,016 7s. Both livings are in the patronage of
the Crown. — A new church, called St. Michael's,
was erected in the burgh of Cupar in 1837, at an
expense of about £1,800, raised by subscription
shares. It accommodates 810 ; and public worship
is performed in it by the parish-ministers alternately.
— There are two Relief congregations within this
parish. The first was established in 1776, in which
year their church was built, which accommodates 750.
The minister's stipend is £100, with a manse and
garden. The church of the 2d Relief congregation
was opened in 1830. It cost £1,000; and has 454
sittings. Stipend £130. — A United Secession church
was built in 1796, at a cost of £1,100, and enlarged
in 1830, at a further cost of £250; sittings 480.
Stipend £120 A Free communion Baptist congre-
gation was established in 1815 ; and a place of wor-
ship for their use was built in 1821, at a cost of
£40; sittings 370. Stipend £50 An Original
Burgher congregation was established in 1817. Their
place of worship cost £900, and accommodates 540.
Stipend £100 An Episcopalian congregation has
existed here since 1688. Chapel built in 1820, at a
cost of £3,000. Sittings 152. Stipend £100, with
interest of a bequest by Dr. Bell of £450 There
are also small Glassite and Independent churches
There is no parochial school strictly speaking; there
were, however, two burgh-schools so early as the
reign of Charles I., which were, about 1822, merged
into the Cupar academy, conducted by four teachers,
with which the Madras academy, founded by the late
Dr. Bell, was joined in 1834. The united academy
has 7 teachers ; three of whom have a salary of £40
* This gentleman was of the ancient family of Balwearie,
possessed of a considerable estate, and a great favourite with
Archbishop Spottiavvood, with whom he passed much of bis
time in the neighbouring retreat of Dairsie. He died in 1642,
in his 85th year ; and his remains were interred in a handsome
tomb at the west end of the churchyard, the inscription on which
is no longer legible.
each; two others have £25; another, £30; and a
female teacher £15 per annum. f The patronage of
the academy is vested in the magistrates, and in sub-
scribers to the amount of £10, besides certain pa-
trons ex officio ; and the whole management and
direction is centred in the general body of the pa-
trons and their committee of directors. The school-
rooms are provided and half of the schoolmasters'
salaries are paid by the town ; the other half of the
salaries and all incidental expenses, out of the general
subscription fund. The school-furniture and a che-
mical apparatus, purchased at considerable expense,
belong to the subscribers. The teachers have been
appointed by the general body of management. The
regulations made for the academy at its institution
by the patrons and a committee of directors, have
been, from time to time, altered and improved ac-
cording to circumstances. No matriculation book is
kept ; but the number of scholars attending the aca-
demy varies from 150 to 200 annually. No funds
mortified for the purpose of education are under the
control of the council alone The late Dr. Gray of
Paddington, in the county of Middlesex, left £500,
the interest of which he directed to be applied in
payment of a salary to a female teacher in Cupar,
and the management is vested in the provost, clergy-
men, and schoolmaster of the parish for the time
being Dr. Bell conveyed Ms estate of Egmore to
trustees, consisting of the lord-lieutenant of the
county, the lord-justice-clerk, the sheriff of the
county, the provost, the dean-of-guild, and the two
established clergymen of Cupar, for the purpose of
founding an establishment for tuition on the Madras
system. There are two female boarding-schools ;
one of which is on the foundation of Dr. Gray.
There are also a female school of industry, an infant
school, and 8 other private schools.
The royal burgh of Cdpar is pleasantly situated
on the north bank of the Eden, nearly in the centre
of the parish, on the great road from Edinburgh to
Dundee; 10 miles west of St. Andrews; 22 miles
north-east of Kinghorn ; and 31 miles from Edin-
burgh by Kirkcaldy. It is a place of some antiquity,
but contains many new houses, and presents the ap-
pearance of a thriving modern town, well-built, and
cleanly kept. It contains three principal streets :
viz., the Bonnygate, running east and west; the
Crossgate, running north and south, in a direction
nearly parallel with the Eden ; and St. Catherine
street, which is a continuation of the Bonnygate.
Several lanes and alleys branch-off in various direc-
tions from these main lines ; and there is a large irre-
gular suburb on the north side of St. Mary's burn ;
besides a considerable line of houses on the Edin-
burgh road, on the east side of the Eden. All these
suburbs are included within the parliamentary boun-
daries of the burgh. The parish-church stands in
Kirkgate-street, at the entrance of the North road
from Ferry bank. St. Michael's church is at the
west end of the Bonnygate. The Episcopal chapel
is near, or upon, the site of the ancient monastery.
The town-house stands at the junction of St. Ca-
therine-street and Crossgate. It is a plain neat
+ The following are the quarterly fees which the teachers
receive in addition to their salaries: —
Latin £0 7 6
Latin and Greek, . . . . .0106
French, . . . . . 7 6
French, when Latin or Greek fee is paid, 5
Writing, . . . . .036
Writing and arithmetic, . * . 5
Mathematics, . . . . . 10 6
Geography, junior class, . . . 3 6
Geography, senior class, . . .050
English, . . . . . 4
English grammar, . . . .026
English, including grammar and the principles of
composition, . . . . 6