Scotland: The One-Time Kingdom of Fife

Story and photography by
Nancy & Eric Anderson 

  

The Scottish County of Fife, a peninsula shaped like the head of a Scottie dog, juts into the North Sea just above the city of Edinburgh. The whole area occupies only 504 square miles but if most Scottish people are amused by the pretensions of a county that still calls itself "The Kingdom" they take care not to talk about it with the Fifers. To do risks listening to a discussion that could last days, the time a Fifer might take to prove the point that even today Fife is the true Garden of Eden and yesterday it was the original ancient Pictavia, the domain of the northern tribe of Picts, and a place hallowed in Scottish history.

Here in Fife for example is St. Andrews, home both of the oldest university in Scotland and the oldest game any country ever gave the world -- golf.

Here is Dunfermline Abbey where seven kings of Scotland lie buried, the last and most famous being Robert the Bruce who lies in his tomb with his sternum split open. Bruce, best known for his victory over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 is also remembered for his last request. He ordered his heart be cut from his body and taken as a talisman on the Crusades to free the Holy Land.

Here is Falkland Palace, the favorite hunting lodge of King James V who died there on hearing that the living heir his wife had finally given him was a girl. The child would become the ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots.

And here is the medieval royal burgh of Culross (pronounced Kew Ross), Brigadoon-like, a village untouched almost literally by the passage of time, a strange throwback to the year 1623. So authentic was Culross that in 1932 the newly formed National Trust for Scotland spent half its bequest on the Palace, its first purchase. Now the National Trust owns the entire village and rents out the houses provided the tenants accept some very tight rulings on the subject of outdoor colors, appearances and TV aerials. The people of Culross accept those strictures and go about their business as if unaware of the anachronism they have helped create.

Said Sandy Forbes, then the resident representative of the National Trust , "We are not a museum but a living community filled with simple people; we're couthie (friendly) but not daft." Forbes had the privilege of living in the so-called Study, the most photogenic of the old homes in the village. One summer evening he was sound asleep in his armchair when he was awakened by two faces peering through the window and a voice saying, "Look at that model in the chair. It almost looks human."

He was sitting in the same chair serving afternoon tea to his guests. "Culross," he said passing a cup to a visitor, "is thick with history but short on coffee. We have only one tearoom, and it opens only occasionally."

He's proud of his Middle Aces village but he feels he should warn tourists that like all of today's towns it has its difficulties with traffic. "We have rush hour traffic," he says, "from 8 AM. to 8:05 AM. every morning.'' Actually the pace was faster three and a half centuries ago. Then coal was king, a fuel needed domestically by Britain for its cold damp houses and industrially for the new business of glass-blowing and the old one of brewing beer. The British Isles were once described as a piece of coal surrounded by water and Culross was no exception. "Any place in Fife you dig a big hole," said Forbes, "you find coal."

But Culross was even luckier. Its great coal reserves ran a mile out to sea. About 1575 the first mine owner sank a shaft below the Culross high water mark. He built a strong circular wall of stone around it, then he could mine out at sea and, a canny Scot, bring his ships direct to the pit to avoid paying harbor fees. Culross prospered. The best coal went to Veere in Holland in trade For pan tiles for roofing; the second best coal was used to boil sea water in pans for the Royal Burgh's second industry, the manufacture of salt, a valued commodity in those days.

Asked why they had to heat salt pans, why couldn't they just lay salt water out to evaporate in the sun, Forbes replied, "What sun? This is Scotland. You'd wait a while.''

Finally competition from other communities overtook Culross. By the end of the 18th century most of the villagers had moved on leaving behind a spot, neglected, too poor to rebuild itself and not attractive enough to entice attempts at "improvement" by modern developers.

And so it was saved, like Rothenburg on Germany's romantic road, a medieval place for future generations.

Less intact, an hour's drive away on the other side of the peninsula is St. Andrews Cathedral. Founded in 1160 and consecrated in 1313, the ruins rise above the walled city, a city as proud of its history as much as its golf. In fact, eight other ancient monuments are on view to remind visitors of the one time importance of this little seaport. The University was established here in 1410 and golf was a –recognized pastime in St. Andrews as early as 1547.

Many who come to St. Andrews, however, visit just to enjoy a beach holiday: St. Andrews claims to have been a vacation spot for a thousand years and indeed the northeast part of Fife seems to escape the overcast and wet days that affect some areas of the British Isles.

A quiet drive south down the coastline from St. Andrews leads to the old world fishing villages and the summer resorts of the East Neuk (neuk means corner) of Fife. Crail, the first village the visitor reaches, is said to be the most photographed spot in the Scottish coastline but apart from its picturesque harbor, it has a 12th century church, a bell in its town hall tower bearing the date 1520, and a 17th century Customs House. There's also a small museum.

Ten minutes further south brings the tourist to Anstruther with its old harbor and well preserved old houses. Notice the strange architectural details of the homes: The "crowsteps" gables almost native to this part of Fife, the pan tiled roofs (the tiles often brought back from Holland in ballast and trade), and the odd "forestairs" which, built outside the house, lead to a front door one level above the ground floor. The Scottish Fisheries Museum here is well worth the modest cost of admission.

The next village in the chain is Pittenweem. Each place is different but the focus of interest is always the harbor and the narrow sometimes cobbled streets which always seem to lead to something different. For instance, at the east end of the High Street in Pittenweem sits the Tollbooth Tower built in 1588 and used to lodge "the Pittenweem Witches who were put here for the night before being burned to death in the Priory garden."

The village of St. Monan's, five minutes further on, boasts an ancient (1265) fisherman's church that has a large model sailing ship hanging from the transept. The last places on the tourist trail of East Neuk: Elie, Earlsferry and Lundin Links are more traditional seaside resorts but Lower Largo on this so-called Scottish Riviera has an additional claim to fame as the home of Alexander Selkirk, the true-life castaway who gave Defoe his model for "Robinson Crusoe." His statue is embedded in a wall here.

If you now feel you need a break from the salt smell of the sea meander west along the lovely leafy lanes bordered by hedgerows for half an hour to Falkland, another neat little village with historical connections -- its Royal Palace put up between 1501 and 1541, is now owned by the National Trust. The gardens contain the original Royal Tennis Court, the oldest in Great Britain, built in 1539.

A final swing past Loch Leven where Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned for eleven months leads into Dunfermline, the birth place of Andrew Carnegie. He didn't forget his humble beginnings and throughout this old town you can see his generosity in the libraries, museums and in particular the beautiful park in the middle of the city called The Glen. There peacocks strut through beautiful gardens and locals and visitors alike sit of a summer evening and listen to bands and musicians play in the grandstand Carnegie built for them.