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

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DIR
6 feet square at the base. It was erected by George,
1st Earl of Cromarty, and was intended to distinguish
the burying-place of the family About a mile to
the north of the town is the finely-wooded hill of
Tulloch, rising to the height of 800 feet; and be-
tween it and the town is Tulloch castle with its
pleasure-grounds.
DINLABYRE, an ancient chapelry in the parish
of Castletown, Roxburghshire. The chapel is de-
molished, but many grave-stones remain near its site.
It is on the eastern side of the Liddel.
DINWOODIE. See Applegarth.
DIPPEN. See Killmory.
DIPPLE, an ancient rectory, now comprehended
in the parish of Speymouth ; 1 + mile west of Focha-
bers. The church, which is now demolished, was
dedicated to the Holy Ghost ; but the churchyard is
still in use. At the stile of the churchyard, there
formerly stood a small house commonly called ' The
House of the Holy Ghost ;' around which, following
the course of the sun, the people usually made a
tour with the corpse at burials, nor could they be re-
strained from this superstition, until the walls of this
edifice were quite destroyed. The parson of Dipple
was titular of Rathven in the district of Strathbogie.
Here is a mortification of .£666 13s. 4d. to the poor;
and of £333 6s. 8d. to the school, together with 2
bolls of meal annually, by the late William Duff, Esq.
DIRLET CASTLE. See Halkirk.
DIRLETON, a parish in East Lothian, on the
south coast of the frith of Forth, measuring from the
mouth of the Peffer burn, at the head of Aberlady
bay, its extreme western point, to its junction with
North Berwick parish, at a point of the coast oppo-
site Lamb islet, its extreme eastern point, 5.1 miles
in a direct line. Its coast-line, however, is much
greater, owing to its sinuosities. Its greatest breadth
from north to south is 44 miles. It is bounded on
the north by the frith of Forth ; on the east by the
parishes of North Berwick and Preston ; on the
south by Athelstaneford and Aberlady ; and on the
west by Aberlady bay, and the frith. Along the
coast, and within a short distance of the shore, are
three little rocky islets, viz., Fiddrie or Fetteray,
Eyebrocky, and the Lamb. The coast presents a
broad strip of flat sandy holms or links, edged on the
landward side by richly-cultivated fields, and to sea-
ward by a fine sandy beach. Dirleton common, which
lies between the village and the sea, is perhaps the
finest coursing-field in Scotland. The soil is a dry
sand, covered with a smooth short sward, without
any admixture of stones. It is likewise free of fences.
The greyhounds of this parish, and the neighbouring
one of North Berwick, are highly esteemed by sports-
men. Towards Gulane point, the coast is rocky ;
and considerable encroachments have been made
upon the arable land in this quarter by the blowing
of the sand. The total superficial extent of the par-
ish is 7,500 Scots acres,, of which about 5,300 are
arable, and nearly 2,000 are occupied with links and
sandy hillocks. The valued rent is £10,262 Scots.
The real rent, towards the end of last century, was
£6,000. It is now nearly double of that sum. As-
sessed property, in 181.5, £16,768 The village of
Dirleton, situated near the centre of the parish, on
the road from Edinburgh to North Berwick, is one
of the most beautiful in Scotland. Mrs. Hamilton
Nisbet Ferguson, the principal proprietor in the par-
ish, has rebuilt the greater number of the houses
here in the cottage orn&e style. Each cottage is
surrounded with its own plot of flowers and shrubs ;
and the whole are scattered along two sides of the
village green, of which a third side is occupied with
the magnificent remains of Dirleton castle, and its
fine garden and bowling-green. Dirleton has a po-
pulation of 92 families The next village in point ol
importance is Gulane, or Golyn, which gave name to
the parish until 1612. It lies about 2 miles to the
west of Dirleton, and is nearly surrounded with
sandy links. It is well-known to gentlemen of the
turf for its training establishments for race-horses.
— The other hamlets are Fenton, Kingston, and
Congleton In the 12th century, the Anglo-Nor-
man family of De Vallibus or De Vaux, obtained a
grant of the manors of Golyn and Dirleton, with
part of Fenton. During the reign of William the
Lion, William de Vaux bestowed the church of
Golyn — rated at 80 marks in the Taxatio— on the
monks of Dryburgh. In the same reign there was
a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas on Fiddrie isle in
this parish. In 1298, De Vaux's castle at Dirleton
was besieged by Antony Beck, the martial bishop of
Durham, in behalf of Edward I., to whom it surren-
dered after a desperate defence. During the reign of
Alexander III., a chapel was founded at Dirleton by
Alexander de Vallibus ; and, in 1444, a collegiate
church was founded at Dirleton by Sir Walter Haly-
burton, who, in 1392, had succeeded his father in the
estate of Dirleton, which had passed into the family
by a female heiress during the reign of David II. Sir
Walter married the daughter of the regent Albany,
and, in 1440, was created Lord Dirleton. The eldest
daughter of Patrick, 6th Lord Dirleton, who died in
1506, carried the title and estate into the family of
Ruthven. The castle and estate, says Sir Walter
Scott, in his -Border Antiquities,' " was the bribe
which the last unhappy Earl of Gowrie held out to
the cupidity of Logan, his associate in the memorable
conspiracy. It seems to have been coveted by that
person in the highest degree. ' I care not,' says
Logan in his correspondence, ' for all the other land
I have in the kingdom, if I may grip of Dirleton, for
I esteem it the pleasantest dwelling in Scotland.'
But Dirleton, included in Ruthven's forfeiture,
passed to other hands, and was bestowed on Sir
Thomas Erskine, who had lent the King active as-
sistance against the efforts of the conspirators. He
was created Viscount Fenton and Baron Dirleton. In
the civil wars, Dirleton was for a time occupied by a
party of the Scottish guerilla, called then moss-
troopers. Monk marched against them with four pieces
of ordnance and a mortar ; he was joined by Lam-
bert, and besieged the place, which having surren-
dered at discretion, the captain of the moss-troopers — .
one Waite — and two of his followers, were executed
by martial law. This was in the year 1650. Dirle-
ton castle, became, after the Restoration, the pro-
perty of Sir John Nisbet, king's advocate. His male
line having become extinct in the person of the late
Mr. Nisbet of Dirleton, the property descended to his
daughter, the present Mrs. Ferguson of Raith." Its
massive structure, and the peculiar and praiseworthy
care taken to preserve it from rude encroachment,
by the tasteful proprietor, are likely to preserve this
noble and graceful relic of feudal ages to many future
generations. The whole has been enclosed with a
handsome wall, which includes within its circuit, not
only the whole of the ruins, but also a fine bowling-
green, and a handsome flower-garden, to all of which
access is readily granted to visiters of respectable ap-
pearance and deportment. Grose has given a poor
view of Dirleton castle. It has had more justice done
it in the ' Border Antiquities.' We know not a love-
lier scene than is presented by this village, — with
its fine green, its noble pile of ivy-clad nuns, and the
distant rock-gemmed frith, — especially in a summer
eve, or when the light; —
11 The .silver light, which, hallowing tree and bower,
Sheds beauty and deep softness on the whole,"—
is resting upon the fading landscape. The castle