Inverkeithing
Inverkeithing is a coastal town, parish and historic Royal burgh in Fife, Scotland. The town lies on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, northwest of Edinburgh city centre and south of Dunfermline.
A town of ancient origin, Inverkeithing became an important centre of trade and pilgrimage during the Middle Ages. Inverkeithing was granted Royal burgh status by 1161 and was the meeting place of the Parliament of Scotland in 1354 and the Convention of Royal Burghs from 1487 to 1552. The town witnessed the Battle of Inverkeithing in 1651, a conflict in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Following the Industrial Revolution, Inverkeithing developed industries including distilling, ship breaking and quarrying.
Inverkeithing town centre is a conservation area following a medieval town plan, home to 55 listed buildings including the best-preserved medieval friary in Scotland and one of the finest examples of a medieval Mercat Cross. The town's annual highland games and Lammas fair are among the oldest in Scotland. Inverkeithing lies on the Fife Coastal Path, one of Scotland's Great Trails, and the Fife Pilgrim Way.
Inverkeithing railway station is a main stop for trains running over the nearby Forth Rail Bridge, and the town is home to the Ferrytoll Park & Ride. Around half of Inverkeithing's workers commute to Edinburgh city centre or Dunfermline. The town has a population of 4,820 and the civil parish has a population of 8,878.
Toponymy
The name is of Scottish Gaelic origin, Inbhir Céitein. Inbhir is a common element in place names with Celtic roots and means "confluence, inflow", thus "mouth of the Keithing/Céitein". The Keithing is the name of a small river or burn that runs through the southern part of the town. Simon Taylor notes that the name Keithing probably contains the Pictish *coet, "wood", so the Keithing burn would have meant "stream that runs through or past or issues from woodland". William Watson in 1910 hypothesised an etymological link between the hydronym Keithing and the Welsh cethin, "dusky".Geography
Inverkeithing lies on the north shore of the Firth of Forth at its narrowest crossing point. Inverkeithing is almost contiguous with the neighbouring settlements of North Queensferry, Rosyth and Hillend village, and Dalgety Bay. The nearest cities are Dunfermline, northwest, and Edinburgh, southeast.Topographically, Inverkeithing is situated on a raised terrace sloping down towards Inverkeithing Bay, which cuts in to the south of the town, separating it from the North Queensferry Peninsula. The town is bounded to the west by Castlandhill and to the east by Letham Hill, a 324 ft coastal hill and broadleaved woodland.
The Keithing Burn is a small river that flows through Inverkeithing. The river falls into the Inner Bay of Inverkeithing Bay south of the town centre at Inverkeithing Harbour. The Inner Bay of Inverkeithing is an inlet of Inverkeithing Bay.
Inverkeithing lies on the Fife Coastal Path, a long-distance footpath designated as one of Scotland's Great Trails. Coming from North Queensferry, the path winds around the Inner Bay, through Inverkeithing town, and past Ballast Bank park. The Fife Pilgrim Way also passes through Inverkeithing. Inverkeithing has two small sandy beaches.
Inverkeithing is adjacent to three sites of special scientific interest : Carlingnose Point Nature Reserve to the south, the Firth of Forth to the east and St Margaret's Marsh to the southwest.
History
Prehistory
The earliest known finds from Inverkeithing are Neolithic, including stone axeheads, suggesting people were clearing woodland and establishing a settlement in Inverkeithing during the fourth millenium BC. The discovery of collared urn in Inverkeithing indicates burial activity in the second millenium BC.Ancient origins
There is some evidence that during the Roman conquest of Britain, Roman governor Agricola established an encampment in the area between AD 78–87 during his war against the Caledonians. Roman Road in Inverkeithing is believed to be of Roman origin, and a bronze Roman coin dating from AD 218 - 222 was found in Inverkeithing.The town's early history is tied to the founding of a church by a holy man named St Erat, supposedly a follower of St Ninian. Local tradition holds that St Erat founded a church in Inverkeithing in the 5th century, but he might be identical to a "St Theriot" venerated in nearby Fordell, who is thought to have lived in the 8th century. Because the first written references to St Erat come from the 16th century, they do not provide hard evidence for Inverkeithing's early history, or even for the existence of the saint.
Medieval Inverkeithing (12th to 16th century)
Inverkeithing is first documented in 1114, when it is mentioned in the foundation charter of Scone Abbey granted by King Alexander I. In 1163 it appears—as "Innirkeithin"—in Pope Alexander III's summons of the clergy of the British Isles to the Council of Tours. Inverkeithing was made one of Fife's first royal burghs—which brought with it legal and trading privileges—in the 12th century. While the precise date is unknown, its burgh status may have been bestowed during the reign of David I, and it is mentioned as an existing burgh as early as 1161 by Malcolm IV. The settlement was an obvious choice to be created a burgh, as its location at the narrowest crossing point of the Firth of Forth and its sheltered bay were both strategically important.Throughout much of the Middle Ages, Inverkeithing was an important resting place and staging post for pilgrims. Travelers on their way to the shrines of Saint Margaret in Dunfermline and Saint Andrew in St Andrews would often stop in the town after crossing the Firth of Forth via the Queen's Ferry. A hostel for pilgrims in Inverkeithing is documented as a possession of Dryburgh Abbey as early as 1196. A Franciscan friary was established in Inverkeithing in the mid-14th century, which was also intended to serve religious travelers, and survives to this day as Inverkeithing Friary, one of the few remnants of a house of the Greyfriars to have survived in Scotland, and one of the key sights on the Fife Pilgrim Way.
Inverkeithing's medieval church was consecrated to St. Peter by Bishop de Bernham on 24 August 1244. One of the earliest accounts of life in Inverkeithing comes from the 14th-century Lanercost Chronicle. At Easter 1282, the Chronicle relates, the parish priest of Inverkeithing had "revived the profane rites of Priapus, collecting young girls from the villages, and compelling them to dance in circles to the honour of Father Bacchus, singing and dancing himself and stirring them to lust by filthy language." When the priest exhibited similar behaviour during Lent, a scandalised citizen stabbed him to death. The incident was used by influential archaeologist and folklorist Margaret Murray in her 1931 book The God of the Witches as support for her hypothesis of the survival of British paganism into the Middle Ages.
Inverkeithing was the last place that King Alexander III was seen before he died on 19 March 1286. The King had crossed the Forth from Dalmeny in a storm to pay a birthday visit to Queen Yolande, who was staying in Kinghorn. On arriving in Inverkeithing, the party was met by one of the burgesses of the town, Alexander Le Saucier, who tried to convince the King to stay the night. However, the pleas fell on deaf ears, and Alexander set off into the rainy night with two local guides. The group lost its way near Kinghorn and got separated from the King, who was found dead at the bottom of a steep embankment on the next day, having presumably fallen from his horse.
All the 14th century Scottish monarchs had a connection with Inverkeithing. Edward I stayed in Inverkeithing on 2 March 1304 on his return to Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence. This is evidenced by letters written here as he made his way from Dunfermline to St Andrews. King Robert I sentenced Roger de Mowbray, baron of Inverkeithing, to death for treason after he sealed the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, causing the town to be forfeited to the crown. In 1429, authorities of the Burgh were reimbursed for expenses from landing and passing through the town subjected by Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King James I. In November 1504, a plague scare at Dunfermline Palace saw four African women including Ellen More, with John Mosman, the court apothecary, stay in Inverkeithing.
Inverkeithing became an important meeting place in medieval Scotland: the Parliament of Scotland met in Inverkeithing in April 1354, during the reign of David II. In 1487, an Act of Parliament during the reign of James III specified that the Convention of Royal Burghs would be held annually in Inverkeithing. Evolving in parallel to the Parliament of Scotland, the Convention was an important representative assembly of trading towns. While the Act specified Inverkeithing as the host, it is unclear how many meetings were held there before the Convention moved to Edinburgh in 1552.
By the end of the medieval era, Inverkeithing remained an important settlement. The town was one of the few Scottish burghs to have four stone gates—known as "ports"—around its medieval settlement; stone walls were added in 1557. Inverkeithing enjoyed a successful trade in wool, fleece and hides, and served as a hub of commerce for Fife. The town's flourishing was evidenced by its weekly markets and five annual fairs. Inverkeithing was granted a charter of confirmation as a Royal Burgh by James VI in 1598.
Early Modern Inverkeithing (17th to mid-18th century)
The Scottish Reformation deeply touched Inverkeithing. Inverkeithing Friary had been sold off to a private buyer as part of the reformation in 1559. In 1611, the parishes of Inverkeithing and Rosyth were united, with the union being formally decreed in 1618. Most significantly, Inverkeithing was a hotbed for witch trials in the 17th century. In 1621 six local women were tried for witchcraft in the Tolbooth and between 1621 and 1652, at least 51 people were executed for witchcraft in Inverkeithing, an unusually large number for a town of this size; the much larger Kirkcaldy only saw 18 executions in the same period. The reason is believed to be a combination of cholera outbreaks, famine, and the appointment of Rev. Walter Bruce—a known witch hunter—as minister of St Peter's. Bruce also played a pivotal role in initiating the so-called Great Scottish witch hunt of 1649–50. The executions were carried out at Witch Knowe to the south of town.A pivotal battle during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms took place at Inverkeithing. 20 July 1651, the Battle of Inverkeithing was fought on two sites in the area, one north of the town close to Pitreavie Castle, the other to the south on and around the peninsula of North Queensferry and the isthmus connecting it to Inverkeithing. The battle took place during Oliver Cromwell's invasion of the Kingdom of Scotland following the Third English Civil War. It was an attempt by the English Parliamentarian forces to outflank the army of Scottish Covenanters loyal to Charles II at Stirling and get access to the north of Scotland. This was the last major engagement of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and led to Scotland passing into Cromwell's control. Cromwell's 4,500 troops defeated a Scottish force of roughly equal size, forcing the Covenanters to abandon Stirling and march south to support Charles II. Of the estimated 800 MacLean clansmen who fought in the battle, only 35 were said to have survived, although Covenanter officer Sir James Balfour estimated the clan's losses at around 100. An apocryphal account states that the Pinkerton Burn ran red with blood for three days afterwards. This was a significant episode in the history of Clan MacLean, and the 20th century poet Sorley MacLean mentions Inverkeithing in one of his poems.
In 1707, James Spittle representing Inverkeithing voted in favour of ratification of the Treaty of Union.
Daniel Defoe, writing of Inverkeithing in his Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain in 1724, relates that Inverkeithing had briefly become known in England in the early 1700s for a crime of passion in which Robert Balfour, 5th Lord Balfour of Burleigh, murdered an Inverkeithing schoolmaster who had married a woman Balfour loved—the nobleman was later sentenced to death, but escaped captivity by exchanging clothes with his sister.
Inverkeithing was in decline following its prosperity during the medieval era. Trade had begun to decrease by the 16th century, and Inverkeithing slowly became poorer than its neighbouring settlements. Due to political and social instability, caused by both plague and war, this downward trend continued in the 17th century. In 1654, Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu mentions Inverkeithing as "formerly a flourishing market" in his Nova Fifae Descriptio. Daniel Defoe found the town to be "still populous, but decayed, as to what it has formerly been", sentiments echoed by Sir William Burrell when he toured Scotland in 1758, who found it a "mean, miserable, paultry town, teaching us what to expect from its neighbouring villages". At the time, the parish had a population of over 2,200, and industry had become both smaller in scale and more diverse.