1810.—CHAPEL KIRK.—Rev. John
M'Whir inducted minister of the Chapel Kirk on 18th
January, 1810, as successor to Rev. Peter Brotherston, who
was translated to the Second Charge of Dysart Church, 34th
August, 1809.
ENTRY-MONEY OF THE
INCORPORATED TRADES.—"Owing to the great decrease in the
value of money, the several incorporated trades petition
the town council to allow each corporation respectfull to
raise their entry money." As a specimen of the good old
times, we give a few of their figures:—The Hammermen to
raise their fees of entry to strangers to £7 10s.; for his
essay, 15s,; for banquet at his admission, £2; for
members' sons and sons-in-law to pay into the box £1 1s.;
and for their essay, 7s. 6d. (Burgh Records.)
HIGH SCHOOL.—Mr. Archibald
Haxton appointed Master of the High (or Grammar) School of
Dunfermline, as successor to Mr. Bathgate. (MS. Note; see
An, Dunf. date 1850.)
THE COUNTESS OF ELGIN died
this year, aged seventy-one, and was interred at
Dunfermline. (M.S.)
PATRONAGE OF RECTOR OF SCHOOL
AND PRECENTOR OF PARISH KIRK.—The Marquis of Tweeddale
resolved that in future the presentation to the Rectorship
of the Grammar School, or to the Precentorship to the
Church of Dunfermline, shall be granted to competent
persons, recommended by the Town Council. {Burgh Records,
igth March, 1810.)
PRINTING BY DAVID PATON.—In
the year 1810, David Paton constructed a very simple and
powerful hand printing press; he procured a quantity of
old types, and commenced the printing of Funeral Letters,
Advertisements, Songs, Small Books, &c. (MS. Note.)
FIRE ENGINES.—In consequence
of recent destructive fires in the town, and
"fire-alarms," the Magistrates, &c., ordered two fire
engines from London in 1810, along with a full "complement
of fire-buckets." These two fire engines—a large and a
smaller one—are worked by the hand. They arrived in
Dunfermline early in 1810, (MS. Note.)
THE REV. JOHN ALLEN, minister
[first] of the Secession Church, Crossgates, near
Dunfermline, died on 6th June, 1810, in the thirty-eighth
year of his age, and sixth year of his ministry. (See An,
Dunf. date 1804.)
SOUTH-WEST TOWER OF THE ABBEY
CHURCH FINISHED.— The old tower which fell in 1807, was
rebuilt in 1810-1811, according to the plan of Mr. Stark,
a talented native architect, the son of Mr. Mark Stark,
manufacturer. The plan is in close keeping with the aspect
of the original tower. (MS. Note.)
LITERATURE.—"A Short Account
of the Laws mid Institutions of Moses," published in 1810,
by the Rev. Henry Fergus, of the Relief Church,
Dunfermline ; 8vo vol. pp. 107.
PROVOST OF DUNFERMLINE.—Major
David Wilson of Dunfermline was re-elected Provost, Sept,
1810. (Burgh Records.)
WATER SUPPLY AND FILTERING
PITS.—" In order to purify the Cairncubie water before it
was received by the inhabitants, filtering-pits were
formed—two, near the source of the springs ; and another,
a larger one, was sunk in the area in front of Queen Ann
Street Church, about 70 yards north of the Reservoir.
These filtering-pits were formed by Mr. Andrew Johnstone
of Glasgow during the summer of 1810." (Fernie's Hist.
Dunf. p. 15.) At this period it was ascertained that
21,600 gallons water was discharged into the Reservoir
every 24 hours. (Histories of Dunfermline, &c.)
FIRE, AND THE NEW
FIRE-ENGINES.—"The apartment in the Old Mason Lodge,
Collier Row, in which Thomas Peebles, slater, resided,
took fire and burned vehemently. The Town-house bell rang,
the new fire-engines were brought out, and, the dam being
at hand, a plentiful supply of water was obtained for
them; they did their duty well. The fire was got under.
This was the first trial made of the engines."—December,
1810- (MS. Notes.)
1811.—CENSUS—Population of
Dimfermline, &c.—The following return, taken from the
second Government Census, shows the state of the
population, &c., of Dunfermline this year ;—Population of
Dunfermline and Suburbs, 6,492; population of Burgh and
Parish, 11,649; families in the Parish, 2,690 ; males,
5495; females, 6,154; inhabited houses in Burgh and
Suburbs, 874; inhabited houses in Burgh and Parish, 1810;
increase of population of Burgh since 1801, 670; increase
of population of Parish, 1669; increase of houses in the
Burgh, 169 ; increase of houses in the Parish, 312.
DR. DAVIDSON.—This eminent
medical practitioner in Dunfermline was elected Professor
of Natural History in Marischal College, Aberdeen, vice
Rennie resigned April 29th. (Gentleman's Magazine; MS.
Notes.)
MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENT ACT.—"an
Act for Paving, Lighting, Cleansing, Widening, and
otherwise Improving the Streets of the Burgh of
Dunfermline; Increasing the Supply of Water; Extending the
Royalty of the said Burgh; and/or other Purposes therein
mentioned relative thereto."
Such is the title of an Act
of Parliament passed in May, 1811, for the improvement of
the burgh. Copies of this Act are now extremely rare. The
writer has a copy. It is a folio of forty pages, and
contains about eighty enactments, and about the same
number of explanations affixed to them.
The Act refers to the
Choosing of Commissioners for the carrying out of the Act,
to the Superintendent of Police, Salaries to Officers,
Repairing of Streets and Causeways, Roof Water to be
carried off by Pipes, Foot Pavements, Lighting the
Streets, Duties of the Sheriff, Removing Old Houses, How
to Build Houses in Future, Common Sewers and Drains,
Magistrates and their Duties, Markets, Water Committee,
Public Wells, Watchmen, Fire Engines, Bleaching Green,
Boundaries of Extended Royalty, Guildry, Funds raised for
Purposes of the Act, Assessors and Assessments,
Proprietors of Ale Houses, Travelling Merchants, Duties of
the Procurator-Fiscal, Public Books to be kept and
properly Balanced, Powder Magazine, Assize of Bread, &c.
The Act is too long for insertion in the Annals. We shall,
however, give that part of it which refers to the extended
boundaries, and direct the reader for further information
to the Act itself, or to histories of Dunfermline;—
New Boundaries of the
Burgh.
And be it enacted, that from
and after the First Wednesday of June, One thousand eight
hundred and eleven, the Royalty of the said Burgh of
Dunfermline shall be extended over and comprehend the
Lands and others after mentioned, and the said Lands and
others shall be, and they are hereby annexed to and
included within the said Extended Royalty accordingly, for
the several Purposes of this Act, videlicet. The Grounds
or Lands known by the Name of the Abbey Parks and
Bleachfield, as the same are lying, situated, and bounded
between the New Row Street of the said Burgh on the East,
the Streets called Canmore and Abbot Streets (along which
the Wall of the Monastery of Dunfermlirie extended), and
May Gate Street on the North, the Street or Wynd called
Saint Catherine's Wynd, with the Houses and Gardens on the
West Side of the said Wynd, to the Tower Bum, on the West,
and the Street or Lane called Priory Lane, extending from
the said New Row Street to the North-East Comer of the
Glebe of the First Minister of Dunfermline, on the South
Parts.
Also, All the Grounds and
Tenements situated between the present Royalty and the
said Tower Burn, excepting the Glebe before mentioned, and
such Parts or Portions of the said Abbey-Grounds as may
eventually be awarded as a Grass Glebe or the Site of a
Manse for the said First Minister. And also, excepting the
Whole of the Policy or Pleasure-Grounds of the Estate of
Pittencrieff, lying within the aforesaid Boundary, which
Tower Bum, from where it conjoins with or is united to the
Bum or Rivulet called Baldridge Burn (afterwards
mentioned), to the Bridge over the said Tower Bum, at the
West End of the Nethertown Street of the said Burgh, is
hereby declared to be the Boundary of the said Extended
Royalty in that Quarter (excepting that Part or Portion of
the Grounds of Pittencrieff lying on the West Side of the
said Tower Bum), to be included in the said Extended
Royalty, as the same is afterwards particularly described.
Also, the Houses and
Gardens, or Yards, lying North from the Conduit lately
rebuilt by the Town of Dunfermline over the Cut or Gully
called the Goat, with the Street or road leading therefrom
to Baldridge Burn aforesaid, by Castle Blair, and to where
the said Street or Road is intersected by the said Bum,
which said Burn or Rivulet, and the Tower Burn aforesaid,
from where it joins to or unites with the said Rivulet,
immediately on the North of the House belonging to and
presently possessed by the Reverend Allan M'Lean, First
Minister of Dunfermline, are hereby declared the Boundary
of the said Extended Royalty in that Quarter.
Also, The Lands and others
lying on the South and East of the Rivulet or Burn known
by the Name of Castle-Blair or Broomhead-Burn, and from
where the said Burn unites with Baldridge Bum aforesaid,
and extending in an Easterly Direction, through or by the
Lands of East Baldridge, belonging to Robert Wellwood,
Esquire, the lands of Broomhead, belonging to Alexander
Moncrieff, Esquire, and the Lands of Venturefair,
belonging to John Syme, Esquire, and along the North Dyke
or March of the Lands of Head-Well, belonging to John
Stenhouse, to where the said Lands march with the Lands of
the Town of Dunfermline (excluding the said Lands of
Head-Well), on the East, which said Rivulet or Bum is
hereby declared the Boundary of the Extended Royalty in
that Quarter.
Also, Generally, All the
Lands belonging to the Community of the Town of
Dunfemline, lying contiguous to the said Burgh.
Also, The Houses, Gardens,
and others, on both sides of Bridge Street and Chalmers
Street, to and including the House and Garden, or Yard,
belonging to and possessed by David Trail, on the West,
and the Well lately erected under the Authority of the
Water Committee, on the East Side of the said Chalmers
Street, to a Line running East from the said Well to the
Tower Bum aforesaid, which Line is hereby declared the
Boundary of that Part of the said Extended Royalty on the
North, and on the West Side of the said Chalmers Street,
at and including the House and Garden, or Yard, belonging
to David Trail aforesaid, to the Pigeon House, Park Wall
of Pittencrieff, as the said Wall runs South, and forming
an Angle in the South-West corner of the Garden belonging
to Charles Hunt, Esquire, terminates at the Tower Burn
aforesaid, which said Park Wall is hereby declared the
Boundary of the said Extended Royalty in that Quarter.
Also, The Lands of Briery
Hill and Hawbank, belonging to Henry Scotland, Esquire,
the Lands or Park on the East Side thereof, belonging to
John Couston, Esquire, the Lands called Rhodes, Almery
Lands, Elliot's Hill, Miln Hill, and Spittal, belonging to
David Black, Esquire, and the Lands of Spittal Hill,
holding of the Hospital of Saint Leonards, but excluding
the Planted or Policy Grounds belonging to the said David
Black.
Provided always, and be it
enacted, that the Houses and Pieces of Ground forming Part
of Bridge Street, holding of the Proprietor of
Pittencrieff as Superior, and the Whole of Chalmers
Street, and the said Streets called Saint Catherine's Wynd
and Monastery Street, comprehending therein the Milns,
Kilns, Dwelling-House, and other Houses and Office-Houses,
at present in the Occupation of William Baird, with the
Ground adjoining, partly occupied by him, and partly
unoccupied, and the House and adjoining Garden, in the
Occupation of David Betson, Esquire, as also the whole
Lands and Estates of Pittencrieff, and all Houses and
Grounds wherever situated, held of William Hunt, Esquire,
as Superior, shall not be comprehended within the Royalty
of the said Burgh, nor shall the same, nor the Superiors,
Proprietors, or Occupiers of any Houses erected and built,
or may be erected and built thereon, enjoy any of the
Advantages or Privileges, or be subject to and liable to
any of the Provisions of this Act, unless One-half of the
Feuars or Proprietors having the Dominun Utile of the
Pieces of Ground and Houses on the said several Streets,
shall respectively signify their Consent in Writing under
their Hands, duly executed according to the Forms of the
Law of Scotland; nor shall any of the Lands, Houses, and
others above described, of which the said William Hunt is
Proprietor or Superior, be Comprehended within the Royalty
as aforesaid without the Consent of the said William Hunt,
or the Proprietor of Pittencrieff for the Time being,
signified in like Manner, such Consents to be recorded by
the Person or Persons making the same in the particular
Register of Seisins, kept at Cupar for the County of Fife
:
Provided, also, that in
estimating the numbers of the said Feuars or Proprietors
who shall give their Consent as aforesaid, or who shall
withhold the same, the Number for each of the said Streets
shall be computed separately, and not in Conjunction with
the other Streets, so that the said Four Streets may be
Comprehended within the said Royalty, separately and
successively on the necessary Consents in each being
completed.
And be it enacted, That the
Magistrates and Town Council of Dumfermline shall
henceforth have and enjoy the same Rights, Privileges and
Jurisdictions over the said Lands, Houses, Gardens, and
Grounds hereby annexed to and comprehended within the said
Royalty, and the inhabitants thereof, as they now enjoy
and exercise over and within the Limits of the present
Royalty; and shall, and they are hereby empowered to levy,
for the Purposes of this Act, the same Mails, Customs, and
Duties, and other Taxations, within those annexed Lands
and others, in the same manner and by such Means as the
said Magistrates and Town Council are entitled to levy and
recover such Mails, Duties, and Customs and Taxations,
within the said Royalty, excepting where provided against
by this Act.
Provided always, and be it
enacted, That the Extension of said Royalty shall not be
held to alter or affect the present Nature of the
Holdings, or Right of Superiority and Property of the
Lands, Houses, Gardens and other Grounds over which the
Royalty is by this Act extended, but that the Tenures of
such Property shall continue and be as they were before
this Act was passed; nor shall this Act be deemed to
convey any Thirlage or Claim ofThirlage over the Lands and
other Property hereby annexed; and provided also, that the
Inhabitants, Merchants, Traders or Mechanics resident in
the said Extended Royalty, shall not be obliged to become
Members of the Fraternity of the Guildry, or Corporations
of the said Burgh, but shall be at Liberty to become
Members of, and enter with the said Guildry and
Incorporations if they shall be disposed, and shall have
all the Privileges thereto belonging, on Payment always of
the usual and accustomed Fees of Admission to such Guildry
and Incorporations.
And be it enacted, That in
order to facilitate and assist the Execution of this Act,
the said Burgh and Extended Royalty shall be divided into
Ten separate Districts or Wards, and a Commissioner or
Commissioners elected for each, as shall be hereinafter
directed; and the said Burgh and Extended Royalty is
hereby divided accordingly into the following Districts or
Wards; videlicitt—
The First District or Ward,
to commence at the West End of the High Street, that is to
say, at and including the House life-rented and possessed
by Barbara Adie, Widow, on the South, and the House lately
belonging to John Fothringham, Grocer, now to James
Russell, Writer, on the North Side of the said Street, to
include South Chapel Street, and the Lanes and Closes on
both sides, and to terminate at the Cross of the said
Burgh, at and including the House of David Black, Town
Clerk of Dunfermline, on the South, and the House of
William Buchanan, Merchant, on the North of the said
Street; and for which said District or Ward, Two
Commissioners shall be elected.
The Second District or Ward
to commence at and include the new Building called the
Guild Hall, on the South, and the House belonging to the
Heirs of the late John Bewgo, Minister of the Gospel, and
presently possessed by William Beveridge, Chamberlain of
the said Burgh, on the North Side of the said High Street,
to include the Lanes and Closes on both sides, and to
terminate at the East Port, at and including the House of
Michael Hunter, Baker, on the South, and the House
belonging to Robert Bonner, Wright, on the North Side; and
for which said District Two Commissioners shall be elected
:
The Third District or Ward
to include the Collier Row, commencing at and including
the House belonging to John Wilson, and possessed by John
Miller, Bookseller, on the West, and the House, lately
Property of John Stenhouse of South Fod, Esquire, now of
Robert Taylor, on the East side of the Collier Row; the
Streets called Rotten Row, North Chapel Street, the Black
Row, at the North Side of the High Dam; all the Houses and
others from the Termination of the Ancient Royalty, and on
the North and West of the said Black Row, hereby annexed
to and included within the said Royalty; and for which
said District or Ward One Commissioner, shall be elected:
The Fourth District or Ward
to include the Kirkgate, commencing at and including the
House of Henry Rutherford, Merchant, on the East, and the
House of ——— Glass, Widow, on the West Side of the said
Kirkgate, the Maygate, and Abbot Street, to the Houses of
James Douglas, Writer, on the South, and of David Morris,
Wright, on the North Sides of the said Street (neither of
which Houses are included in the said District), the
Closes or Courts in the said Maygate and K-irkgate
Streets, and Saint Catherine's Wynd, to the Abbey Close;
and for which said District or Ward One Commissioner shall
be elected :
The Fifth District or Ward
to include Queen Ann Street, from and including the House
of William Campbell, Surgeon, on the North, and the Malt
Barn belonging to Henry Bardner, Writer, on the South Side
of the said Street; the Cross Wynd, School-End Street, the
Knabbie Row, or Reid Street, to and including the House
belonging to Andrew Reid, on the North, and the House
belonging to Henry Thomson on the South Sides of the said
Row or Street; The Back Street, from the East End of Queen
Ann Street to the East End of the Town, and all the Houses
and others to the Eastward of the Row of Houses running
North from the West End of the Black Row, and to the
Northward of the said Knabbie Row, or Reid Street, and to
the Termination of the Royalty on the North and East, and
for which said District, or Ward, One Commissioner shall
be elected :
The Sixth District or Ward
to include Guildhall Street, Canmore Street, to the House
possessed by the Reverend John Fernie, Second Minister of
the Church and Parish of Dunfermline, inclusive; Abbey
Park Place, and Saint Margaret's Street, to the House and
Gardens inclusive, belonging to and possessed by Henry
Scotland, of Briery Hill, Esquire, on the South End of the
said Street; and for which District, or Ward, One
Commissioner shall be elected:
The Seventh District or Ward
to include Monastery Street (from the Abbey Close), Gibb
Street, Priory Lane, Moodie Street, and all the space
between the said Street and the Wall, or Dyke, by which
the Reverend David Black's Property is bounded on the
West; and for which said District, or Ward, One
Commissioner shall be elected ;
The Eighth District or Ward
to include East Port Street, and all the Space to the
Eastward thereof, to the Limits of the Extended Royalty
and Shadows Wynd, and the New Row to the East End of the
Nethertown ; and all that Part or Portion of Lands, and
others to be annexed to and included within the Royalty,
in virtue of this Act, situated on the South of the
Kirkcaldy Road, and on the East of the Road or Street
leading from the said New Row Street to the Pitbauchlie
Road, or Spittal Cross Head; and for which said District,
or Ward, One Commissioner shall be elected;
The Ninth District or Ward
to include the Nethertown Street, from the Bridge over the
Tower Burn, at the West End of the said Nethertown Street
to its Termination on the East, and Bothwell Haugh Row
(formerly called Gutter Side) to the Spittal Bridge; and
all that part of the Spittal Lands to to the Southward and
Westward of the Queensferry Road, to the Limits of the
Extended Royalty, and to where the Royalty shall extend,
in virtue of this Act, to the Southward of the said
Spittal Bridge; and for which District, or Ward, One
Commissioner shall be elected :
The Tenth District or Ward
to include Bridge Street from the House belonging to and
possessed by Provost John Wilson inclusive, on the North,
and the Town House of the said Burgh on the South Sides of
the said Street, to the North End of Chalmers Street to
where the Extended Royalty of the the said Burgh ends and
determines; and for which said District, or Ward, One
Commissioner shall be elected.
For a complete copy of this
Act, see MS. Charter in the Charter-Chest of the Burgh. It
will be observed that the whole of Bridge Street and
Chalmers Street, and the western half of Bridge Street,
were excluded. (See the introductory part of this Act,
which gives power to a majority of the feuars on the
estate of Pittencrieff to be embraced in the new extended
royalty; for names of streets, and their changed names,
see An. Dunf. date 1809.)
PRICE OF PROVISIONS.—In the
summer of 1812, the quartern loaf was 1s, 6d.; peck of
oatmeal, 2s. 10d,3S., 3S. 4D.;1 Ib. rice, 70.; 1 Ib.
barley, 4d.
BANK OF SCOTLAND.—Major David
Wilson, Provost, and William Beveridge, Esq., writer, were
appointed joint-agents for the Dunfermline branch of the
Bank of Scotland, Guildhall Street. (See An. Dunf. date
1822.)
HIGH SCHOOL PRIZES.—" 10th
August, 1811: This day "the Provost laid before the
Council an account for Books and Medals purchased by him,
and distributed as prizes at the examination of the school
on the 7th curt., amounting to Ten Guineas, which the
Council authorize the Chamberlain to pay." (Burgh
Records.)
LITERATURE.—A small work, a
32mo of forty-two pages, was this year published by David
Paton, entitled, "A Dialogue Betuext the Old and New
Burgar Kirk of dunfermline over hard by a benighted
Travler, to which is Aded An eledgie on the Much Lemented
death of The R'v. Mr. Campblle, A.M., 1811." It is
illustrated by no fewer than 19 woodcut representations of
the "New" and "AuldLicht" Kirks in Dunfermline, &c. The
engravings are small and roughly done.
They were cut by the author.
It may here be remarked that a common error has long
prevailed in Dunfermline as to the author having made the
types from which this and his other works were printed. He
could not make printing types. The woodcuts, however, he
did make ; they were designed by himself on plane-tree,
then cut with the aid of a sprig-bit (brug), a small
chisel, an awl, and a penknife. This "Dialogue" is a
singular production. It has been long out of print, and is
now very rare. The last few pages of the work are taken up
with a sort of Elegy on the death of the Rev. John
Campbell, minister of the "auld-licht kirk," then lately
deceased, and of whom he has a front-view likeness. In
introducing his Elegy, the author says—"my None
Aquaintance with the man, Maks Me the Less Able To Do The
Justice That I Ould wish wpon This Subject." He
notwithstanding, does his reverend subject ample justice.
As far as is known, there are only three copies of this
unique little work extant, the writer having one of them.
It would appear from one of our notes, that two editions
of thirty and fifty copies each of this work were
published during the year 1811. (A copy of this curious
and rare work is in the possession of the writer.
PROVOST OF DUNFERMLINE.—Major
David Wilson, Dunfermline, re-elected Provost. (Burgh
Records, September, 1811.)
FRIENDLY SOCIETY.—The
Maltmen's and Whipmen's Friendly Society formed. (Fernie's
Hist. Dun}, p. 52.)
THE COMET.—As in all other
places, Dunfermline inhabitants satiated themselves to the
full in gazing on the splendid comet of 1811. During the
month of October of this year it was all the talk;
ministers spoke of it in their sermons, and many outre
remarks were made as to its use and destination. (MS.
Note.) The length of the tail of the comet of 1811, as
measured on 15th October, was found to be very nearly
100,000,000 miles; the solid nucleus, 50,000 miles in
diameter, and 113,750,000 miles from the sun.
POST-OFFICE AND STAMP REVENUE
IN DUNFERMLINE IN 1811.—Revenue derived from the
Post-Office, .£950; from sale of stamps, .£1,685.
GUILDHALL STEEPLE
COMPLETED.—The Guildhall Tower terminated with the
circular stone ledge above the bell-hole pillars in 1808.
As it had a stunted appearance in this form, the pillars
and coping above them were known as the guildrie-table [it
somewhat resembled a table.] A public subscription in the
end of 1810 raised a sum sufficient to erect a spire 37
feet in height "upon the Guildrie
Front View of the Guild Hall,
1811
Table." This spire, ball, and
vane, were erected and all finished in November, 1811. The
height from the foundation, including the top spindle, of
the now completed steeple, according to Fernie's Hist.
Dunf. p. 20, is 133 feet. (MS. Note; An. Dunf. dates 1807,
18o8, 1849, &c.) The engraving on the preceding page
represents the front view of the "Guildhall" when
completed in 1811. For the new name of "County Buildings"
(see An. Dunf. date 1850.) Referring to the Guildhall in
his Rhyming History of Dunfermline, the author (P.) says:—
"At the Cross some houseing
stood,
their importance was small,
In place of which within this
short
they've builded tile
Guild-Hall,
"This house it fronts both
north and south,
on the south side of the
street;
The Spire that stands on the
north front
in height a hundred feet.
"It is compos'd of storey?
four,
most elegant to see;
Kuch buildings in tliy young
days
would be right Etrang to see."
CROSSGATES CHURCH.—Rev. Thomas
Wilson, ordained minister of this church, 26th Nov. 1811.
(MS.)
