DUNFERMLINE, a city and royal burgh of Scotland, situated in the western district of the county of Fife, about three miles from Limekilns, the nearest point on the Firth of Forth. It is connected with Glasgow by railway via Stirling, and with Edinburgh, from which it is distant 16 miles, both via Thornton and by a direct line constructed in 1877 to North Queensferry. The town is situated about 300 feet above the sea, on the brow of a slope which ascends from the Forth, and it accordingly commands a very extensive view of the country towards the south. It is intersected from north to south by a deep ravine, at the bottom of which a small stream pursues its tortuous course; and this ravine is crossed by an earthen mound, on which an excellent street is built. At the east end of the town, on the south side of the turnpike road, is a public park comprising about 36 acres, partly the gift of the late Mr Ker of Middlebank; and to the north of the road, at a little distance, are the jail, the workhouse, a hospital, and a cemetery, all in close proximity to each other. The county buildings, with their tall and graceful spire 132 feet high; the new corporation buildings, at present (1877) in course of erection, at an estimated cost of £20,000; the new Assembly Hall, capable of accommodating 1500 persons, now being built by a private company at a probable outlay of £10,000; the Carnegie Public Baths, finished and opened in 1877, and presented to his native town by Mr Andrew Carnegie of New York; the Savings Bank; and the British Linen Company’s Bank are all worthy of notice. But the most interesting building in the town is the Abbey Church. The western portion is the nave of the cathedral of the Holy Trinity, originally erected in the massive Norman style by Malcolm Canmore ...about the middle of the 11 th century; it escaped destruction when the rest of the building was demolished by the Reformers on 28th March 1560, served as the parish church till the present century, and now forms a fine vestibule to the New Church. Extensive reparations have been made by the Commissioners of the Woods and Forests, and a number of stained glass windows have been contributed by private individuals. The eastern portion, or New Church—opened for public worship on 30th Sept. 1821—occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts, but does not agree in proportions or style with the original edifice. Exactly below the pulpit lie the remains of King Robert Bruce; in the north transept are buried seven other kings, two queens, and numbers of the nobility; and in the southern transept, above the vault of the Elgin family, are monuments in white marble to the Hon. Robert Bruce, tutor to the prince of Wales, and Charles Dashwood Bruce, cousin of the late Lord Elgin, as well as a bust in marble erected by Dean Stanley in memory of his wife Lady Augusta Bruce. The tomb of Queen Margaret, the wife of Malcolm Canmore, lies immediately to the east of the sessionhouse. Of the ancient abbey buildings there still remains the south wall of the Refectory, or Fraters’ Hall, with an entire window much admired for its elegant and complicated workmanship. The south-west wall of the palace still stands in testimony of its former stateliness, and an apartment is pointed out by tradition as the spot where Charles I. was born. There are also some slight traces of an ancient tower popularly ascribed to Malcolm Canmore, but in all probability not of so early a date.
Dunfermline has three Established churches, four United Presbyterian, three Free, one Congregational, one Episcopalian, one Evangelical Union, and one Roman Catholic, as well as several places of worship belonging to smaller denominations. The Queen Anne Street United Presbyterian Church was founded by Ralph Erskine, and the Gillespie church by George Gillespie. The former of these two great dissenters is commemorated by a statue in front of his church, and a sarcophagus over his grave in the abbey churchyard; to the memory of the latter a marble mural tablet is inserted above his resting-place within the abbey. The town is well supplied with means of education in all the ordinary branches; but there is no special provision for the higher departments of learning.
The staple industry of Dunfermline is the manufacture of table-linens, and in this department it has almost no rival. The weaving of damask was introduced into the town in 1718 by a Mr James Blake, who had succeeded in getting possession of the jealously guarded secret in workshops at Drumsheugh, near Edinburgh, to which he obtained access by feigning idiocy. Till about 1845 the bulk of the population were engaged on handlooms, but at present only a comparatively small number earn a scanty and precarious subsistence by the old method. The eleven power-loom factories in the town in 1877 give employment to about 5000 persons, of whom a large proportion are females. The annual value of the goods manufactured is about £850,000. Iron and brass foundries, soapworks, and dyeworks are among the minor industrial establishments, and in the vicinity there are about 22 collieries.
Dunfermline returns a member to Parliament in conjunction with Stirling, Inverkeithing, and Culross. The population of the town was 14,963 in 1871, and is now (1877) 15,839; that of the parish, which, besides the strictly rural district around, includes Limekilns and Charleston, with several colliery districts, was 23,123 in 1871, and is now 24,329. The town is governed by a council consisting of 22 members, including a provost, four bailies, and other officials. The revenue of the town, derived principally from coal-fields, was £7875 in 1876. The number of inhabited houses is 1638; the annual value of real property, £56,038. There are two newspapers published weekly, and four banks, besides the National Savings Bank.
In spite of the introduction in 1850 of an apparently abundant supply of spring water, a scarcity has since been felt in dry seasons; and accordingly at present (1877) works are in progress to effect a communication with the River Devon. It is anticipated that the cost of these will be nearly £60,000. Drainage works are also being constructed, at an estimated cost of £9000, to convey the sewage of the city to the sea at Limekilns. The situation of Dunfermline is very favourable to health: the birth rate is 40 per thousand, the rate of mortality 18 ’ 4, and the marriage rate 8 ’ 7 Dunfermline derives its name, “The Town or Fort on the crooked Linn,” from the ravine already mentioned. From an early period it was a favourite royal residence; and in 1070 Malcolm III. was there married to Margaret. The Culdees are supposed to have had an establishment in the place; and the Benedictine priory, founded by Canmore, was raised to the rank of an abbey under David I., who bestowed numerous privileges on the community. In 1244 the abbot received a mitre; and in 1249 Queen Margaret, the ι>ntron saint, was canonized. During the winter of 1303 the court t>f Edward I. of England was held in the abbey; and on his departure next year most of the buildings were destroyed by fire. In 1329 King Robert Bruce was interred in the choir of the church. The last royal occupant of the palace was Charles IL, who there signed the National League and Covenant. Shortly .«after the town was plundered by Cromweli⅛ soldiers.
DUNFERMLINE, Lord. See Abercromby.
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