Royal Burgh Of North Berwick
[Coat of Arms]

19th Century
Biarritz of the North
Early Settlers
Pilgrim Ferry
Royal Charter
Nunnery and Witches Coven
Landowners
Town Council
Parish Kirk
Education
Harbour and Fishing
Times of Change
Between the War Years
Coastguard and Lifeboat

[*]
Coat of Arms 1373

'' A quaint and quiet little place, its houses were chiefly thatched and had outside stairs and picturesque outshots overhanging the street on beams of wood and pillars of stone. - 'The White Cockade' by James Grant

[Berwick Law]
  18th Century


During the eighteenth century the Royal Burgh of North Berwick was separate from the Westgait. The Royal Burgh comprised of two streets Trongait (Quality Street) and Eastgait (High Street). While the area known as Westgate stretched westwards from the Clarty Burn which flowed down Kays Wynd (Law Road) and across what is now Market Place to the sea. Westgate ended at School Alley (Church Road) where the buildings there gave way to open fields on the Glebe and West Links. The only building standing in what is now Forth Street was the Dirleton Granary owned by John Baillie in 1609 and John Oliver in 1634 before the ownership transferred to Alexander Nisbet of Archerfield Estate. There was no road to the harbour, access was across the sands.

Beyond Westgate there were two tracks, one leading south to the ruins of the old Abbey (Abbey Road) and the other following what is now Pointgarry Road leading through open ground to Whin Stone Quarry, the remains of which can be traced on the West Links. From this point outside the town boundary, the post road to Edinburgh, maintained each spring by ploughing, rolling and harrowing, cuts through the fields of Abbey Farm to Dirleton.

Many of the family names associated with North Berwick in the seventeenth century continued to dominate the Town Council in the eighteenth century including the Home, Lauder, Dalrymple and Nisbet families. The Town Council consisted of an Elder Bailie, a Junior Bailie, a Treasurer and 9 Councillors. In 1727 the Council included Elder Bailie Sir Robert Dalrymple, Alexander Home (Bailie), George Graham (Treasurer), Councillors William Hogg, John Lauder, James Jack, James Miller, William Whitsone, Alexander Burton, Nathaniel Robertson, John Withall, and Alexander Nisbet. The Bailies were paid £4 Scots each, and the Treasurer was allowed 5/- per annum.

Dalrymple Dynasty

The Elder Bailie later known as the Chief Magistrate, was Sir Robert Dalrymple of Castleton, the eldest son of Sir Hew Dalrymple of North Berwick. Sir Robert Dalrymple was a practicing advocate and lived at Castleton in the shadow of Tantallon Castle where he died on 31st August 1734. Sir Robert Dalrymple married into the Hamilton family and fell heir to their Bargany Estate in Ayrshire. His son Sir Hew Dalrymple 2nd Baronet of Bargany and North Berwick adopted the family name Dalrymple Hamilton which was later altered to Hamilton-Dalrymple.

Judge and politician Sir Hew Dalrymple (1652-1737) was a Commissioner for the Articles of Union between England and Scotland, and an architect of the Union of the Parliament in 1707. He planted beech trees at the east side of Berwick Law to celebrate the union. A portrait of Sir Hew Dalrymple painted by William Aikman in about 1720 hangs in the Museum.

The Dalrymple dynasty was a dominant force in the Scottish legal system during the 18th century. Sir Hew Dalrymple, the 1st. Baronet of North Berwick, was Lord President of the Court of Session from 1698 to 1737 and was the third son of James, 1st. Viscount Stair. His eldest son, Sir Robert Dalrymple of Castleton, was a member of the Town Council in 1727. His younger brother Hew was also a member of the Council and appointed a Judge of the Court of Session in 1726, taking the title of Lord Drummore. Sir James Dalrymple of Hailes, elected MP for the Haddingtonshire Burghs in 1727 was the 2nd. Baronet of Newhailes, near East Linton, his father being the fifth son of Viscount Stair. The Dalrymples had representatives on the Town Council for over a century, and in the year 1785-6 there were no less than four of them.

The early Town Council minutes were dominated with setting a date for the annual election of the Magistrates, Bailies and Councillors, and the opening of the town common in May for grazing the animals. Selecting the person to represent the Town Council at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was also a priority, and the Annual Meeting of the Royal Burghs in Edinburgh. No expense was spared to celebrate the King's birthday on 30th October and the records show that £8-12/- was spent by the town to celebrate the coronation of King George II in September 1727.

During the 10th century the Earl's of Fife owned the land at North Berwick and David, Earl of Fife established a ferry from North Berwick to Earlsferry and built a hospice for the pilgrims travelling to St Andrews. Duncan, 4th Earl of Fife established a Cistercian nunnery around 1150, but there was no mention of North Berwick in the mid 13th century Gough map. The earliest reference to North Berwick was in 1177 when the town was the southern part of the sea passage of which Earlsferry formed the north terminus. At that time a stone quay was constructed at North Berwick harbour but shortly after the Earl's moved away to Threave (Kirkcudbright) and shipping from the port declined. The last of the Earls of Fife to own the North Berwick estate was Isabel, Countess of Fife who lived through the revolutionary reign of David II.

In 1344, King David II appointed William Chalmers keeper of the port at North Berwick. To challenge the growing influence of the Earls Of Douglas at Tantallon, King David appointed his law officer, Adam Cissour as coroner of Berwickshire and keeper of the 'winter port' at North Berwick in 1358. David also installed Walter Bell, the St Andrews trained Chaplin as vicar of North Berwick in 1365. This was to strengthen his control over the swelling pilgrim traffic passing through the chapel dedicated to St Mary at Whitekirk, the ferry crossing at North Berwick and the St Monans shrine in Fife. By 1413 over 15,000 pilgrims travelled this spiritual route, raising 1422 merks annually.

Scottish Saltire

The story of the Scottish Saltire dates from 832 when the King of Alba fought on an East Lothian battlefield and allegedly, a white cross appeared set against the blue skies above Athelstaneford. It is unknown when St Andrew officially became patron saint of Scotland although by 1286 seals showed an X shape and inscriptions noted his name.

However, it was 1385 before we see any mention of the symbol to be committed to cloth. A Parliament decree that year, as Scots prepared to raid England stated that everyman would bear St Andrew's cross but set against black cloth. Later in the century this symbol began to appear on coins. However blue was still not a feature. Indeed the Douglas standard carried into the Battle of Otterburn (1388) had a green background and also contained the lion as a predominant symbol. It might have been 1460 before the white Saltire against a blue background first appeared in the standard of the Edinburgh Incorporated Trades although the Saltire cross was not the predominant symbol and was vertical and on one side of the banner.

Harbour Trade

The harbour was at it's peak with foreign trade in the last half of the 14th century. In the Exchequer Rolls for 1374, the customs duties paid to the Crown amounted to £ 115-12s-0d. In 1377 the duties increased to £171-17s-11d and the following year to £ 270-13s-0d. The largest payment was in the year 1393 when the sum was £539-16s-7d. After 1401 when the amount was £168-2s-9d the payments fell considerably, and in 1454 ceased entirely. They recommenced in 1488 at greatly reduced figures. At this time the ships at the port averaged about six, and the boats four. North Berwick and Leith were the only ports at which English malt could be imported.

In December 1380 a ship while on the high seas bound from North Berwick to Flanders was captured and taken to Newcastle and the goods distributed to the loss of the owner William Fawsyde. The Mayor and bailiffs of Newcastle were ordered to levy a sum of £75-15s (English money) on those who had taken possession of the goods and hand it over to the Warden of the Marches for payment to Fawsyde.

In 1434, the land was divided between the prioress and nuns of the North Berwick Abbey and the burgesses of the town. The land granted to the burgesses stretched along the East Links to the Millburn (Glenburn) while the land to the south west was owned by the Abbey. Pont's map of the Lothians in 1600 showed North Berwick as a small line of buildings hugging the coastline. To the west was Ferry Gate and to the east the Rhodes, a rocky outcrop with an anchorage in the bay.

Lauder's Protocol Book dated 1540, lists the roads in the town as Trongait or Cross Street (Quality Street), Eastgait (High Street), Nungait (part of the High Street from Market Place to Westgate); Calendar's Wynd; The Vennel (Melbourne Lane); North Road (Forth Street); the Common Square (Southern part of Quality Street) and Clarty Burn (Law Road).

In 1633, Patrick Home sold the estate of North Berwick to Sir William Dick of Braid, a merchant and Provost of Edinburgh (1638-1640). Dick was so wealthy it was said he could ride a horse from Linlithgow to North Berwick on his own land. He established a beach fishing station in the town and funded a herring works in 1642. By 1649 the ownership of the lands at North Berwick were divided into two parts. The first part to Sir William Dick and the second part was jointly owned by John Inglis of Nether Cramond and John Jossy of Westpanes.

Sir William Dick rented out his portion of the town lands to Robert Lockart a merchant and burgess of Edinburgh. In 1649 the land was described as Fermelandis or Fermeaikeris of North Berwick, with links thereof extending in all to 15 husbandlands, west part of the town of North Berwick called Nungait, on west of burn called Clartieburn, 4 crofts on south side of town and St Seybastian's alter in parish kirk of North Berwick, teind sheaves and teind fishing of part of North Berwick, meadow called the Law Medow and North Berwick Law, crofts of mill Kinkeith, lands called Horscruik, Pontoun, Myrefauld, Stingaback, Pontoun Rig, Pontoun Myre, North Medow of the Heuch near North Berwick Law and lands of Bonningtoun and Greinsyd which are part of said lands of Heuch, all in parish of North Berwick. A Charter in favour of Robert Lockart was signed in 1652. The part owned by John Inglis and James Jossy was rented to a James Gram and Sir Thomas Stewart of Coltness. In Tucker's account of the Scottish ports in 1655, no harbour was mentioned at North Berwick. The feudal baronies of North Berwick and The Bass were two separate entities. In 1694 the Dalrymples bought both superiorities, resigned them into the hands of the Crown and had a new single barony issued encompassing both.

A horse race meeting was established in North Berwick in 1695. The races took place on the board sands west of the Eil burn with the spectators watching from the top of the dunes. The prizes were donated by the laird Sir Hew Dalrymple and the Town Council and the annual race took place on Hansel Monday, the first Monday in the new year.

To the south of the town was Berwick Law and the Mains Farm where a stable and byre were built by James Hogg in 1727. The Glebe (Law Road to Nungate) was granted to the Parish Kirk and the revenue used to provide for the poor and minister's stipend. The hill on the Glebe was mentioned in the 16th century as 'Colles Procorum' (Swine Hills) and there was a waterfall in the area now Brentwood Hill. On the east side of Quality Street (Trongait) was the Town Barn, then moving south, the Arms Houses built by Lauders of the Bass and then the Great Tenement, on land now occupied by 10-12 Quality Street. West of the foundry in the East Bay was a cooperage where tubs, bickers, cogs and various other wooden domestic utensils were made.

Jessie Law (Dairy Keeper) and the McKellar family were the last to graze their animals on the Coo's Green which stretched from the Quadrant to the Glenburn. In the 1920s Miss Jenny McKellar lived in Quadrant Cottage and the byre was at the corner of Balfour Street and East Road. In 1925 John McKellar (Plumber and Ironmonger) applied to the Dean of Guild to build 3 blocks of houses on the site of the old byre (now 22, 23, 25 East Road).

Royal Burghs, were essentially privileged communities granted rights by the king to enable them to develop internal and external trade. Within this only the burgesses could carry on any kind of retail trade even in native commodities. Prior to 1469 the Council was elected by the burgesses, but by an Act passed that year it was deemed expedient that the election should be yearly. This system continued till 1888 when it was abolished and election by vote of owners and occupiers of premises in the burgh substituted.

In 1833 the Scottish Burgh Reform Act removed the guilders from many Town Councils. By 1846 the Incorporated Guilds across Scotland came to an end and Parliamentary Reforms empowered the Town Council to carry out much of the administration duties previously provided by the guilds. The merchant would petition the Town Council to be admitted a burgess of the Royal Burgh and on payment of an annual fee of £3 Scots and reading over the Act against Bribery and Corruption, the new burgesses took the Oath of Office, and where given their Burgess Ticket.

In the seventeenth century new burgesses were either the sons or the sons-in-law of existing burgesses. The result of these privileges held by a small clique of interconnected families inevitably lead to corruption. Town Council contracts went to the Councillors friends, the property of the burgh was let at derisory rents to relatives, and burgess rights were sold for private gain. Some of this exclusiveness the royal burghs had experienced waned after 1660, when fairs and markets began to proliferate where there were no burghs at all, and after 1672 the royal burghs lost practically the whole of their monopoly of foreign commerce.

The earliest recorded distillery in East Lothian was 'Mr Swinton's Distilling House' in North Berwick which dates to 1740. Robert Swinton's distillery was situated between Captain Dalrymple's Town House and his stables in the area where the aviary now stands in the Lodge grounds. Beneath the distillery was 'Miller's Cellars and Granary' and opposite was Swinton's house beyond the wall of the memorial garden at 2 Quality Street. Baillie Robert Swinton was elected to the Town Council in 1734 and was followed on the Town Council by his son Baillie William Swinton in 1778.

Life in the Royal Burgh

The Toun Green was opened at the end of May for grazing the cattle owned by the burgesses. To graze a horse cost half-a-crown, and a cow two shillings. The Treasurer and Town Clerk attended on the opening day between 8am-9am to receive the annual payment. The Council minutes of 27th March 1728 read 'As also the ordain that intimation be publicklie made that non person or persons suffer there horse, not, sheep or suyn to pasture upon the common green until the same be broken up. Under the penalties mentioned in the Acts of Council made thereanent, and that non play at the gouff nor go throng with carts or horses with loads, and that non gather the purels of the common green to prejudice the growing of grass.' Signed: John Millar, Baillie. Anybody caught grazing their animals before 5am was fined 20 shillings.

In 1745 the Town Council could only appoint honorary burgesses and that year saw a dramatic increase in requests. The Town Council were petioned by James Smith (Coldinghame), William Forbes (Aberdeen), Andrew Fletcher (Saltoun), John Heyes (Liverpool), Thomas Hogg (Edinburgh) William Waugh (Selkirk Town Clerk) and in North Berwick John Home, (Coach-builder) Robert Mackenzie (Sailor) Hew Miles (Sailor), Charles Crawford (Farmer) Rhodes, Alexander Walker (Slater), James Smith (wright) Westgate. Patrick Warrender (later MP for the Haddington Burghs). Robert Kellie servant to Andrew Fletcher and Andrew Laurie servant to Sir Hew Dalrymple and George Miller (Dunbar). In April 1923 Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple presented the Town Council with a Burgess Ticket given to the Duke of Argyll in the 18th century.

The markets were held in Quality Street and a paved circle in line with the High Street once marked the place where the Market Cross and Tron or Weigh-House formerly stood. During paving operations in 1901 there was deposited in a cavity beneath the circle a bottle containing newspapers and coins of that year. The trade was carried out by stances given off to the merchants by the town council. In a table of customs prior to 1743 these entries appear - Shoemaker is to pay maill (rent) for each daill (board) 3s (Scots); Shopman or merchant's stand is to pay for each daill length 3s (Scots). A board or stand was a table for displaying their wares.

The High Street had buildings irregular in appearance, with access to the upper floor by an outside stair jutting on to the street. The 'lums' were also built out from the building. The properties on the north side of the High Street extended to the sea. In 1750, a proprietor on the south side was allowed to enclose a space of ground in front of his property by way of a railing. Thus encroachments were made which explains the narrowness of the street today.

(Left) Ballie Balgraftie's House, known as the 'Cats Close' © Cranmore. [High
Street]

Halfway along the High Street a narrow passage on the north side known as the 'Cats Close' led into a court built round with old houses. In 1906 this was considered the oldest part of the town. The house immediately above the passage was formerly known as the Jacobite Chapel having probably been an Episcopal meeting-house in the days of the penal laws. Next to it on the east was a house of about the same period in the 16th century which had an outside turnpike stair. This was the Manse of the Auld Kirk or the priest's house. The isolated house at the crossing of Market Place and High Street was the Burgh School with Flesher's Market underneath.

There were two town officers who acted as police, sheriff officers, bellringers, scavengers and labourers. One of the officers, John Dobie was allowed for 'ringing the bell', three pound of candle during the winter season of 1727. The salary for ringing the 'big' bell morning and evening was £12 Scots. Among the other Town Officer's were Andrew Patterson (1740); John Affleck (1746); Archibald Briggs (1755) and Thomas Tait (1790). In 1729 the Council paid John Dobie 6/- for maintaining a poor women in the Tollbooth and for carrying documents to Leuchie and Balgone. Dobie rang the town bell at sunrise and sunset and each year took the oath of office, swearing allegiance to King and Country. The officers uniform was a blue coat and waistcoat with dark velveteen breeches and a hat with a cockade. In 1740 a town piper was appointed at a salary of £5 Scots which was paid as his house rent. When the Chief Magistrate called a meeting of the Town Council he instructed the Town Officer to summon the Councillors. The meeting was held in the Council Chambers on a Saturday between one and eight o'clock in the evening.

In 1754 the Council allowed him the privilege of making advertisements and the crying of all roupings and things that were lost. The roupings was an annual auction of certain privileges in the burgh. The highest bidder gained the exclusive right to sell such items as sand from the beach, seaweed, and the removal of dunghills from the streets. The earliest recorded reference to the public roupings was when George Patersone, a burgess of North Berwick paid £40 Scots for a tack of the 'leckes' set to him after public roup in 1681. This refers to the removal of stone from the East Bay for building purposes. New rules to the rouping was posted on the Church Door twenty days before the new rules come into effect.

Burgh Treasurer's Accounts - July 1734. 'Ten Shillings was paid to Robert Swinton for six sollen geess furnished to the good town of North Berwick'
In March 1728 a bond for 1000 merks was granted for the erection of a new Tolbooth. This refers to the present Council Chambers and shop below. The older part of the building was probably erected at the end of the 16th century as the Tolbooth is mentioned as far back as 1638. The contract to build the new Tolbooth was given to Archibald and John Brouns, masons in North Berwick and Patrick Forgan mason at the Heugh. There is an entry in the accounts 'To the masons a quart of ale, 4s' - a custom known as a 'founding pint'. In the older part of the Tolbooth was two prison cells, one on the ground floor entered from the High Street, and lit by a slit in the north wall. The other directly above was accessed by the stair to the Council room. In 1749 the shop below was occupied as a dwelling house.

The earliest reference to the Mercat Cross was in September 1751 when the Magistrates decided to remove the Cross to a more appropriate location. Nothing more was recorded until December 1770 when the following entry appears: "Taking into consideration the ruinous condition of the Cross and inconvenient situation of it, the Council have agreed that it shall be removed and put up a new at the east end of the Toune House, also that the stair up to the Council Chamber being much failed, agree that it should be completely made up and repaired." As the account paid to the mason was for rebuilding the Tolbooth stair and taking donne the Cross, the probability is that the remains of the Cross will be found built in the stair. A sum of 6d. was paid to workmen for carrying away rubbish from the Cross.

The earliest surviving Town Council minute book commenced 5th September 1727. The previous minute books from 1639 -1727 are missing. The first of many repairs to the harbour was carried out in 1728 by the Town Council. In 1731 the Treasurer warned the neighbours and burgesses that each house was to send a man able to carry out the clearing of the channel out of the harbour, under penalty of half a merk Scots. The Council wrote to Sir Hew Dalrymple as superior in Westgate, requesting that the inhabitants there should also assist in clearing out sand in the harbour. The Town Council also requested any tenants with carriages to help remove the debris.

In 1728, the bakehouses were thatched and the whins and other fuels stacked close by were causing the neighbours to be 'holden in continual fear and dread of fire'. The Magistrates instructed that all bakehouse roof's should be constructed of slate or tiles and that no stacks of heather, broom, whins and other fuels be kept adjacent to the bakehouse under penalty of £10 Scots. Following a number of complaints to the Town Council regarding the under weight of the bread being sold, the bakers formed a committee to supervise the weight and price of bread. In April 1794 they agreed on the fixed price of 32/- per boll of wheat and each baker was requested to put his name or mark on the bread as there had been complaints of light weight. In December 1765, the Town Council wrote to the Members of Parliament to prohibit the exportation of wheat and other grains and stop the importation of cheap wheat from America.

An increased number of 'debased persons' were causing a nuisance in 1739 by gathering daily in the street and on the common. Again in 1773 there was a multitude of beggars and vagrants passing through the town, knocking on the doors and asking for charity. The Town Council used an Act of Council from 1754 to remove the beggars from the town. An entry in the burgh accounts refers to at least eight cripples visiting the town in 1742. The Rhodes was a dumping ground for vagrants as there frequently appears -' To carriage of a cripple to the Rhodes 4 pence'. Sometimes they were taken to the Heugh, while another entry reads, 'Carrying a blind woman from ye toun, 2 pence.' The Council ordered that no beggars could pass through the town except on Wednesday (Market Day) and if the rules were disobeyed the officers were to imprison all vagrants. This Act of Council was published through the town by tuck of drum and copies thereof affixed to the Cross and Kirk door.

Jacobite Uprising

There was only meagre reference to the 1715 and 1745 Jacobite rebellions in the Town Council minutes. But the following note discovered on the flyleaf of an old leather book, chronicled by the Town Clerk makes for interesting reading. Brigadier General William Mackintosh of Borlum landed his forces here after crossing from Fife on 6th October 1715. The militia went out to Haddington - 40 days pay each man. - 13th October 1715, being Thursday about ane acloach in the morning the Highland men ran a shoar att this harbour, and att Aberlady, Dirleton and Adam (Auldhame) they war reckoned to be about three thousand under the command of Mackintosh of Borlum, my Lord Nairne, and two of the Duke of Athol's sones was with them; they proclaimed the King here and then went to Haddington and proclaimed him yr. and then went to Seton hous and upon the Saturday went to Leith and upon the Sabbath day cam back to Seton hous and went away upon the Tuesday to the North.

During the 1745 uprising North Berwick High Street rang with the clatter of the hoofs of Fowke's dragoons in their headlong flight from the Prince's Highlanders at Coltbridge. Home, the author of "The Rebellion of 1745" says "they galloped to North Berwick and being now about twenty miles from Edinburgh they thought they might safely dismount from their horses and look out for victuals". The sheep and turkeys of North Berwick paid for this warlike disposition, but just as the mutton was to be put on the table they heard the same cry of 'the Highlanders' and they got on horseback and cleared the town.

An entry in the Town Council accounts for 1714-5 reads - 'To spent when Highlanders were here £14.14s (for refreshments). These entries support the inference that the town was on the side of the Old Pretender. The only reference to the 1745 rebellion reads 'Boats coming into the harbour are to be detained.' The accounts mention two pound candles to soldiers keeping guard and billeting some soldiers. Bailie Lauder for an express to Edinburgh in the late troubles - 3s; for Mr Vetch himself going to Dunbar for news at that time - 7s; To 4 men for watching the approach of the Highlanders - 1s. 6d; and billeting some soldiers - 6d.

Balderstone Wynd

In 1755, the population of the Parish of North Berwick was 1,412. That year John Simpson wrote to the Town Council complaining that it was impossible to earn a living in the cloth business in North Berwick and asked if he could sign up with one of the battalions being raised in the town. In 1777, Matthew Balderstone assisted the Town Officer to maintain the Council property such as making good the staircase leading to the Council Chambers and cleaning out the sluce at the harbour for a salary of 15/- per year. He is remembered today in the name of Balderstone's Wynd. In 1779, the Scots born John Paul Jones, founder of the American navy, mounted several raids on Scotland during the American War of Independence. Spain joined France to fight the Americans and the privateer John Paul Jones anchored five ships off North Berwick much to the consternation of the local inhabitants, but a storm blow up and his ships was forced further out into the North Sea.

There were fourteen burgesses admitted between 1785 and 1816. honorary burgesses were admitted from all parts of Scotland and included, a Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, Lord Advocate Grant of Prestongrange, Sir William Maxwell of Monrieth, Robert Blair, advocate, afterwards Lord President of the Court of Session: merchants from Edinburgh, Leith, Dundee, Aberdeen, Selkirk, Coldingham and one from Liverpool.

In 1799 the Town Council decided that any whisky landed at the harbour or coming into the Town or Westgate will pay one farthing per gallon duty. One penny on coal entering the harbour and one farthing per boll of corn. The Custom & Shore Duty in 1815 included Wine and Spirits 3/6, Foreign Salt 1/6, British Salt 6d, Iron or Lead 1/-, Bulk Wool and Linen Cloth 2/-, Slates per hundred 2/-, Great Coal 1 and 1/2 d, Bricks per thousand 6d, Ton of Potatoes 5d, Chalk or Whitning 6d, Load of furniture 2/-, Large Boat anchorage 6d, Small Boat 3d.

[*]
[Council
Chambers]
  19th Century


The first mention of Forth Street was in 1785, although there had been a track there named North Road or Back Street for the previous forty years. This area was the dumping ground for dunghills and the Council resolved to have the streets swept and dung collected in heaps every Thursday and Saturday ready to be carried off by the tacksman who paid the sum of £53 for the refuse. In 1817, the Town Council constructed a stone wall on the north side of Forth Street at the high water mark. Built by James Grieve & Son the wall can been seen today between the westbeach and the houses.

It was reported in April 1800 that the weights used by the Traders to measure oat meal was deficient. The magistrates fined James Manderson (one guinea), Charles Murray (one guinea) and James Ogilvy (five shillings). The Town Council purchased new weights and anybody not adhering to the new order would be subject to a penalty of two guineas each. The order was placed on the church door on Sunday so that no man could pretend ignorance.

In January 1800 the Clarty Burn which flowed from Law Road across Market Place to the sea was covered with a drain and a new Slaughter-House constructed in the area where the Hope Rooms now stand. Built by Andrew Walker and John Grieve using Law Stone and the door surround was from Castleton Quarry. In 1822 a Fleshers Market was constructed in Market Place (now 66 High Street) with a bake house to the north. The Fleshers (butchers) included John Wilson, John Galbraith, Andrew Thomson, William Hay and Richard Glass. The position were auctioned during the annual Town Council roupings.

The road to the harbour was made up in 1799 and the land in Shore Street (Victoria Road) was feud in 1801. Toll bars were installed in 1805 at the Clartyburn (Law Road), Abbey Toll (Pointgarry Road) and Heugh Brae, but the townspeople were exempt from payment of the toll. At this time the land now between West End Place and Station Hill was occupied by three piggeries.

The Toun Barn where the burgesses kept their animals during the night and throughout the winter was situated in what was Captain Brown's garden at No. 2 Quality Street (town carpark). In 1800 the property was leased to Vice-Admiral Paul Minchin who retired to North Berwick and was elected Chief Magistrate in 1802. During his naval career Minchin was in command of the 50-gun HMS Severn before transferring to HMS Hebe which went out to the West indies. He was an all-round sportsman, and member on the All England Eleven for cricket. Vice-Admiral Minchin died in 1810 and is buired in St Andrews Churchyard, North Berwick with no headstone.

Captain William F. Brown who owned the property known as the 'Bee Hive' where Paul Minchin was the tenant, served with the Inniskillen Dragons and married Margaret Dalrymple, daughter of Sir Hew Dalrymple Bart. Captain Brown was severely wounded at Waterloo and his wife kept the shirt her gallant husband wore on the day of the battle. This same amazing lady was credited with the feat of having driven a four-in-hand to the end of the harbour and turning it there! The Toun Barn and Malt Kiln built by Sir Hew Dalrymple was moved to the east wall of the present town carpark where it was used to garage Hunter's Haulage vehicles until the 1960s when the timber building was demolished and the carpark enlarged.

There were several friendly societies in the Burgh, and for those wishing to join, they had to be under the age of 35 years, in good health, had the ability to pay and was supported by two members. The Benevolent Society was divided into two distinct funds. The 'Funeral Fund' for allowances upon death of a member, their wife or widow and the other the 'Cow Fund' for giving mutual relief and assistance to members losing their cow by death. No member was permitted to kill their cow, even when rendered useless by accidental injury.

In 1829, Robert Emond, a grocer and draper in North Berwick was charged with the 'barbarous' murder of his wife's sister and her daughter in a cottage near Haddington. Among the witnesses called to the Sheriff Court in Edinburgh were James Paterson, teacher at North Berwick, John Dunbar, a barber at North Berwick, Charles Ramage, a constable and Major-General Dalrymple. Robert Emond was convicted of the murders and executed at the head of Liberton Wynd (260 High Street, site of the present City Chambers) on 17th March 1830 and his body was delivered to the Professor of Anatomy for dissection.

In 1831 the population of North Berwick numbered 1,824, the Royal Burgh and West Gate (1100) and the landward area (724). During 1832, sixteen cases of Asiatic Cholera were diagnosed in the town, the first seven died and the others survived with primitive medicine and prayer. During the cholera epidemic the Council Chambers were utilised as a hospital. The same year the Surveyor of Taxes described North Berwick as a small decayed Burgh with little or no trade, situated on a low sandy plain on the shores of the German Ocean. In 1834 the North Road (Forth Street) and South Road (Kirkports) were constructed and laid out with tarmacadam.

Laying of the Railway Line

The laying of a single-track railway line from Drem to North Berwick by the North British Railway Company in 1850 was to herald a dramatic change in the Burgh's fortunes. The town became more accessible to visitors, attracted by the healthy aspect of sea-bathing, golfing and the scenic views. At this time the only other connection with Edinburgh was a coach with two horses.

The plans for the branch line were drawn up in 1846 and a single-track line was opened in August 1849 which terminated at Williamstone Farm where a temporary wooden platform was erected. The passengers were then conveyed by horse drawn carriage to North Berwick. The cutting beyond Williamstone was completed the following year and the rock used to construct new railway stations at Dirleton and North Berwick.

The North Berwick station had a single platform virtually on the same site as the present station. The facilities were rudimentary including a small track engine shed and a private siding for the lime works at the Rhodes Farm. The only train for businessmen was at 8am which arrived in Edinburgh at 9.40am. The evening train stopped at Drem where the passengers had to wait for 30 or 40 minutes. Suitcases and golf clubs where secured on the roof of the carriage. The goods yard was gradually improved with a cattle loading bank, and a coal store. The outward trains carried large quantities of fish, grain, potatoes, and even guano from the Bass Rock.

In 1845, The Scottish Direct Northern Junction Railway and Ferry Company were in discussions with the Town Council to extend the railway line from the station to the harbour where the passengers could board the ferry to Elie in Fife. The company surveyors identified the route a new railway line would take and the properties to be demolished. After months of negotiation between the company and the Town Clerk Alex Crawford, the Town Council decided not to proceed with the plans.

In the early years the line was losing money and by 1856 the steam engines were withdrawn and a horse drawn service known as the 'Dandy Car' introduced. This was nothing new as the engine attached to the first train which left here for Drem was unable to pull the carriages up the hill and had to be taken off and replaced by horses. The Dandy Car only lasted six months before the steam service was reinstated. The popularity of the journey to North Berwick increased dramatically following the visit by rail of the Prince of Wales in 1859 and again when he returned as King Edward VII in 1902. To encourage people to reside in the town the railway company gave free life passes to Edinburgh and back to anyone who built a cottage or a villa on the links. A few took advantage of this offer and travelled to Edinburgh every day during the summer months.

In 1914 the branch line was finally upgraded to enable steam traction to be used was the end of the 'Dandy Car'. On retirement the body of No.1 became the pavilion for the local Bowling Club and No.2 going to the Tennis Club until it was rescued in 1925 by London, North Eastern Railways. The No.2 car was later installed on the east end concourse of Waverley Station where it remained there for several years until it was taken to the Railway Museum at York.

In 1894 the North Berwick station was extensively rebuilt with a second platform, waiting rooms, telegraph office, concourse and new frontage constructed. Together with a goods shed, weigh house, stables, engine shed and signal box situated beside the bridge over Ware Road.

On 28th June 1838 the Magistrate's and Councillors invited the community to join them in celebrating the Coronation of Queen Victoria with a glass of wine in the Council Chambers. As the Town Council had no funds everybody was charged 2 shillings for a ticket.

In 1840 the Town Council called a public meeting to discuss the supply of gas for the first time. The Gas Company proposed to erect their gas works adjacent to the burgh coal yard on the Anchor Green (Seabird Centre), but permission was refused. In 1845 the gas works were constructed at the westend of Pointgarry Road, and that year the town was lit by twenty gas lamps which were extinguished at 10.30 pm. They were not lit on moonlight nights.

At the purging of the Town Council in 1746 the new Councillors were John Paterson (cooper) and David Denholm (weaver), Sir Hew Dalrymple and Alexander Lauder were elected Bailie's and before taking office they swore allegiance to His Majesty King George II. That year the new burgesses included John Dobie (weaver), Alexander Cannon (maltman), Thomas Grieve (weaver), and Alexander Hall (wigmaker). They were presented with their burgess ticket by Alexander Watt, Town Clerk who remained in that position for 32 years. He was followed by George Sibbald (1777-1782) Writer to the Signet in Haddington and then by James Gibson a solicitor at 22 Princes Street, Edinburgh (1782-1801).

In 1857, the Town Council adopted the Police (Scotland) Act which compelled Scottish Burghs to form a police force. Although the first police constable in North Berwick was appointed in 1832, assisted by the Burgh Officer. The uniform was a blue jacket with red collar, corduroy breeches and English-style helmet. Later a copper-coloured metal badge was worn, the origin of the slang word 'copper'. By the 1890s the helmet was discarded for the military type peaked cap but it was not until 1932 that the now familiar 'Sillitoe' chequered cap band was introduced.

The Police (Scotland) Act also covered civil maintenance such as drainage, cleaning streets, lighting, paving and removing ruinous or dangerous buildings. When the Act was enforced it had to be funded locally, and by May 1861 the Town Council had completed the laying out of Quality Street and High Street in causeway stones. No longer would the inhabitants risk being drowned in a sea of mud while crossing the roads during wet weather. A new pavement of Caithness stone was also laid , each proprietor paying for the laying opposite their own property. A new sewerage system was installed which added to the clean and well kept appearance of the town.

Other roads and tracks formed during this period included Graham's Close (Tigh Mhor, 83 High Street), Russell Square (Creel Court), Heriot Place (Lower Quay), Forrest's Court (5, Beach Road), Manse Road, Park Place or Crombie Place (17-25 Old Abbey Road) and Bass View Terrace (Marine Parade). Travellers entering the town from the west, until 1869, paid road tax at the Abbey Toll House while on the east the Lochbridge Toll was situated at the foot of Heugh Brae. There was one police officer Alexander Hay and a watchman at both the west end and east end during the night.

The roads in East Lothian were maintained by each parish utilising 'statue labour' which was an obligation on landowners and tenants. In the 18th century a turnpike system was developed which allowed trusts to be established to levy a toll on road users to pay for improvements and maintenance. The Trustees were drawn from the landowner and they appointed clerks and surveyors who in turn administered the operations of road contractors and toll keepers. Each toll place was let annually to a named individual for an agreed sum.

The properties at the west entrance to the town (Westgate) had been in a dilapidated state for many years and several rickety buildings were being replaced by new dwellings, to be sold by public auction. A branch of the British Linen Bank was established on a vacant piece of ground west of Charles Cunningham's brewery in Westgate, and a new road constructed leading to an elevated terrace. The feuing of a row of houses on the west side of Quality Street was in hand and the construction of a new street of working-men's houses by Sir Hew Dalrymple, leading from Shore Street towards Melbourne Park was also in progress (named after Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne,1834-1841). The term 'feu' in Scottish Law is a right to the use of land in return for a fixed annual payment (feu-duty).

[High
Street] At the heart of the community was the Dalrymple Arms Hotel (10-12 Quality Street) with James Yorkston as the innkeeper in 1793. He was followed by David and Anne Blair. The first floor ballroom was used by many societies and associations in the town including St Baldred's Lodge who held their masonic meetings there from 1825, and North Berwick Golf Club who held their monthly meetings from 1832. The Blair's also supplied the Provost and Town Councillors with refreshments during their meetings in the Council Chambers.

Anne Blair continued to run the business after the death of David Blair in May 1830 when he was buried in the St Andrews Kirk graveyard. James McDonald from Inverness took over as innkeeper of the Dalrymple Arms Hotel in the 1839. The North Berwick and Tantallon Golf Clubs hired a marque from James McDonald for their spring and autumn meetings which he erected on the West Links. McDonald also prepared the Luncheon and Dinner for the members in the marque which was also used by the congregation at North Berwick and Dirleton for their Church Bazaar. James McDonald remained until 1854 when Richard Reid was innkeeper.

At this time the High Street (Quality Street to Market Place) had undergone a series of improvements which had entirely changed its character. During an eighteen month period from June 1869, the work included the Town Council ordering the pulling down of an unsightly building known as 'Somerville's Turnpike' or the 'Roundal'. It had a round staircase which stood at the front protruding into the street. The staircase or turnpike was removed in 1834. The old tenement that stood at the corner of Law Road was gutted in the 1860s in order to make way for a large shop at No.1 Westgate (now No.59 High Street). Mr. Edington was in the process of enlarging the Commercial Hotel (County Hotel) with the addition of an upper floor and attics, the latter commanding a splendid view of the sea. The amount of building work in the town added £300 to the rental accommodation in the Burgh.

St Andrew's Well which provided the major source of water for the burgh was situated close to the Wall or Well Tower in the Lodge Grounds. This would have been a focal point in the town for hundred's of years, and the Well can still be located. There is a spring of the finest water in the same area which has to be pumped daily from the Ship Inn cellar. Other wells can be found between the buildings at 29-31 Westgate, 21 Westgate, Westgate Court, 58 Forth Street, 8 Victoria Road, 1 Quadrant, Oatfield House in Windygates Road which supplied the Abbey Nunnery. There was also a well behind the Coastguard Cottages and inside 1 Tantallon Terrace, site of a stableyard and blacksmith's forge.

Lorne Square and Lorne Lane were started in 1872, named after James Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll (1845-1914). He was better known by the courtesy title of Lord Lorne. He married Queen Victoria's fourth daughter Princess Louise and was the 4th Governor General of Canada from 1878-1883.

23-25 High Street

The property at 23-25 High Street is unique, not only in the design of the stonework but the ownership by only two families can be traced back to 1704. The ground now occupied by the buildings at 23-31 High Street was purchased that year by William Graham from Sir Hew Dalrymple. It passed to his son George Graham and then to his daughter Elizabeth who married David Dall, headmaster at Gifford school in 1760.

In the novel 'The White Cockade' written by James Grant (1822-87), which was based during the 1745 rebellion he describes North Berwick as a quaint and quiet little place, its houses were chiefly thatched and had outside stairs and picturesque out shots overhanging the street on beams of wood and pillars of stone. James Grant was familiar with the town and although the characters are fictional the novel has a historical basis and is the only descriptive account of the High Street during the eighteenth century.

The land at 23-31 High Street was inherited by James Dall, the youngest son of David and Elizabeth Dall. In 1804 at the age of 20 years, James Dall was described as a Merchant of the Burgh, when he established an ironmongery business on that site. In 1814, Dall constructed the present three storey building which is one of only three in the town using the same masonry. The stone was quarried from Berwick Law where a unique vent of black carboniferous basaltic rock was found and used to pin the reddish brown blocks in the stonework. The others are at No.2 Quality Street and Nos.15-17 opposite.

James Dall was elected Chief Magistrate (Provost) of the Royal Burgh (1839-51), his son James Dall Jnr was also Chief Magistrate (1855-66) and his youngest son Thomas Dall was Town Clerk (1863-80). James Dall Jnr. continued the ironmongery business and when he died in 1868 the property passed to his daughter Janet, the sixth generation of the Graham / Dall families. Janet Dall sold the ironmongery business to John Wightman in 1897. He presented a trophy to the North Berwick Horticultural Society in 1907 and the John Wightman Cup continues to be presented to the present-day North Berwick Gardening Club. John Wightman retired in 1930.

In 1846 plots of land were feud in the Quadrant to plans drawn up by John Mason surveyor in Dunbar. The auction took place in the Council Chambers with Chief Magistrate James Brodie, acting as judge during the public rouping. The properties were sold to No.1 and No.2 John Swinton (architect and builder in Haddington), No.3 James McDonald (Inn Keeper), No.4 George H. Girlie (Tanner) and James Bridges (Mill Wright). A new road leading to the seafront was laid out and Dunbar Road was mentioned for the first time. Annie Abel's Tantallon House (4 West Bay Road), was the original guest house and continued to be very popular with visitors. Accommodation in the town had greatly improved since the opening of the Royal Hotel in 1861 and the Bradbury Hotel in 1870 (1 York Road).

Visitors were now supplied with a card indicating the high and low tides, railway timetable, departure times for posting letters and a list of the colours used on the funnels of the passing steamers plying up and down the Forth. These included the General Steam Navigation Company (London) - Blue paddle boxes and painted ports; Aitken's Leith and London Company - Black funnel with red stripes; Miller & McGregor (Rotterdam and St Petersburg) - Red and black top; Inkster & Gibson ( Hamburg and Hull) - Black and white strips and cream and black top; Grangemouth-London - All black.

By 1870 the Water Company was in the process of installing running water to every property. The Town Council purchased Hopes Reservoir situated in the Lammermuir Hills and laid a water pipe the eighteen miles to North Berwick. The storage tank can be seen on the east ridge of Berwick Law on the former Heugh farmland. For many years the Town Council were able to supply the lowest water rates for any town in the county. Previously in 1845 water pipes were laid from Greenheads Road to two public wells, one at the Town Chambers and the other at the Burgh School (Market Place). In 1873 the Town Council placed fire-plugs at intervals around the town, with a length of hose attached in case of fire. Although there had been several serious fires in the town, the first fire engine was not purchased until 1894.

East Links

The East Links or Coo's Green, where golf was originally played prior to 1798, was the property of the town, a common for the burgesses to graze their animals at a charge of 2/- per cow. In 1728, the town herder was paid £5 Scots, with 24 shillings for cutting the weeds and extra for each cow grazing on the green. The burgesses supplied him with food. In 1731, rabbits were destroying the green to such and extent that authority was granted to the burgesses to shot and destroy them. In 1834 an area near the present tennis courts was drained from the bog to supply drinking water for the animals. Every person with cattle on the common was charged 2/6d extra to cover the expense of supplying the water trough. In 1749, Sir Hew Dalrymple offered to give the old Wash House at the Millburn to the Town Council and following extensive repairs it was opened in 1855. It was reported to the Town Council that the Old Dyers house on the town common behind Tantallon Terrace was in a dangerous state in September 1888.

In 1852 the ground between the foundry at the foot of the Quadrant and Castle Hill (Bass Rock View) was feud to plans drawn up by David Bryce Snr. and David Bryce Jnr. Architects, 131 George Street, Edinburgh. No.1 was sold to Colonel G.A.Underwood in 1853, No.2 Mr Fraser; No.3 Mr Duncan; No.4 George Girlie; No.5 Dr.Robert Reid No.6 Free Church Manse; No.7 Colonel Richard Seton; No.8 Richard Whitecross (Builder); No.9 Mr. Blair; No.10 Dr. Alexander Keiller (Dundee); No.11 Miss Keiller; No.12 James Grieve builder North Berwick and Peter Brown joiner in Aberlady; No.13 Francis Farqharson (Builder Haddington). Colonel G.A Underwood and Colonel Seton served with the East India Company and also Major Buchan who resided in a property where the Post Office in Westgate now stands. Colonel Underwood was made an Honorary Burgess in 1853 and that year he was elected the first captain of Tantallon Golf Club. In 1856 a row of poplar trees lined the town common and that year a path was opened through the Glen.

In 1862 the road from Castle Hill to the Millburn (Tantallon Terrace) was made up with material being removed from Quality Street while it was being laid out in causeway stones by W.A Jardine surveyor and engineer to the Edinburgh Paving Board, 271 High Street, Edinburgh.

In 1863 Colonel Richard Seton wrote to the Town Clerk James Crawford complaining about the danger of golf being played on the Town Green. He was concerned over the safety of the animals grazing and the Council agreed to stop the playing of football, cricket, lawn tennis, and golf on the East Links. Alex Forrest, the town herder was instructed to report anyone breaking the rules to the Chief Magistrate. In November 1862 Coastguard Officer Captain Agnew applied for ground to the east of Castle Hill to build a row of Coastguard Cottages but the Town Council refused permission. The cottages were built on ground west of the foundry in 1868.

During the nineteenth century with the abolition of the system of election of burgesses the Town Council could only appoint honorary burgesses. These included James Crawford Jnr. W.S. (1836) Town Clerk 1833 -1863; Robert Stewart M.P (1841) who represented the Burgh in five successive Parliaments; Sheriff Substitute Riddell (1842); G. H. Girlie (1848); Allan Wilson engineer to the North British Railway Company when the branch line was formed (1849); Sir Hendry R. Ferguson Davie Brt. M.P.(1868) and Robert Lyle (1874) Town Clerk 1872-1892. The East Links stretched to the ruins of a public washing-house and bleaching-green, near the Burgh boundary at the Glen Burn. At this time the East Links were lined with poplar trees planted in 1853 and provided a safe play-ground for children. Professor Frederick Orpen Bower resided at 6 Tantallon Terrace (Lot 7) He was Professor of Botany at Glasgow University where they named the Bower Building after him. The properties in Tantallon Terrace did not have a bathroom and in 1896 the Bowers built an extension to accommodate this facility.

[RLS]
This glass plate photograph of the Stevenson family was taken at Anchor Villa, North Berwick in 1862 where they spent many summers, the photograph shows young Robert Louis Stevenson (middle row second from left), his mother Maggie behind him (in the hat) and his father Thomas next to her. His cousins Davie and Charles are in the frilled collars at the front. The original Anchor Villa at 10 West Bay Road was demolished when Cranston house was built. The property at 12 West Bay Road is now called Anchor Villa.

During the 1860s the family of Robert Stevenson, the famous engineer whose work included the Bell Rock lighthouse, spent many summers at Anchor Villa (West Bay Road), North Berwick. Three generations of his remarkable family, shared the holiday home, including his grandson Robert Louis Stevenson. The town made a lasting impression on the young Robert Louis and his first journey by train was from Waverley to North Berwick in 1862. He often recalled playing as a child with his friends as smugglers and pirates in a small cave at Point Garry, learning to ride a donkey on the broad sands, and climbing Berwick Law with his cousins. In the 'Lantern-Bearers', a short essay first published in February 1888 in the Scribner's Magazine, he described the town as ' A fishing village with drying nets, scolding wives, the smell of fish and seaweed and the blowing sands. He remembered the small shops with golf balls, lollipops in jars and penny pickwicks (a delightful small cigar) and the stationer selling the London Journal with illustrations and short stories.' Many of the local landmarks were the inspiration for his writing in such books as Kidnapped and Catriona.

Hansel Monday, the first Monday in the New Year was the main festival in the town when all the inhabitants turned out to compete in games on the West Links. The highlight each year was a horse race and in 1862, Peter Brodie's ' Great Unknown ' was first past the winning post. The day finished with a dance in the Burgh School room. The other two annual fairs were held on the first Thursday after Whitsuntide, and the first Thursday after Martinmas, both described as old style.

Employment in the town was increasing, although most positions were seasonal. The main areas of work were at the Iron Foundry in the East Bay, agricultural labouring, domestic staff employed in the various villas, caddying and herring fishing, with 25 boats and over 60 men. The Iron Foundry was established in 1821 by Robert Bridges (Engineer) and his father James Bridges (Mill Wight) situated at the foot of the Quadrant. They manufactured moulds for drainage tiles, iron castings for tools and steam engines used on farms. The workforce numbered over 30 employees and when the business expanded in 1839 a bond was secured from his patron the Marquess of Tweeddale, witnessed by George Syme, the School Master. Robert Bridges purchased No.9 Quadrant as his residence and the foundry continued in the ownership of Provost David Meikleham an engineer to trade. The lime kilns on the Rhodes Farm also employed a number of men. An advert in 1802 suggests that the lime produced was of the highest quality and had extensive sales not only in the Lothians but also in Fife and beyond.

Telegraph Line

In 1862 the Town Council contacted the Railway Company requesting the telegraph line be extended from Drem to North Berwick which became the first town in the county to have telegraphic communications. The information was passed along a telegraph line in Morse Code using a standard alphabet with long and short signals (Dots and Dashes) to stand for different letters and numbers. The telegraph poles were situated next to the railway tracks and the messages received at the Telegraph Office situated in the Post Office at 9, High Street. Previously there was no direct post to North Berwick as it was a sub-office to Haddington.

John Martine was appointed County Postmaster in Haddington in 1782. He was followed by his son Peter Martine who took over as Postmaster in 1812 working from his father's ironmongers shop in Sidegate. In 1840 the Penny Post was introduced and pre-paid stamps provided by the sender were payable at a uniform rate. In 1881 the Post Office moved to the High Street in Haddington. In the 1780s James Yorkston walked every day except Sunday, from Haddington to North Berwick with the post bag on his back. That year the town's first Post Office was established in the foyer of the Dalrymple Arms Hotel (12 Quality Street). The following year Yorkston, was granted permission from the Town Council to increase the cost of sending a letter to and from Haddington to one penny-and-a-half penny. In May 1793 James Yorkston was the Inn Keeper of the Dalrymple Arms and that year he was made an Honorary Burgess and Freeman of the Burgh. In 1894 the Post Office moved to 96 High Street and in 1896 the National Telephone Company applied to the Board of Trade to establish a Telephone Exchange in North Berwick.

Johnnie Bowers was the Town Crier and during this period the town bell was worn through and had disappeared. Bowers took two earthenware bowls and clashed them together making a noise to attracked the public's attention. His glasses and case are stored in the John Gray Centre, Haddington. Johnnie was born in 1829 in Edinburgh living at East Hamiltons Close, 67 Grassmarket with another thirteen people. He moved to Dunbar in the late 1840s with his brother William and sister Helen Fisher. He was described as a Hawker of Crockery Ware. In 1870 Johnnie Bowers was living on North Berwick High Street as 'Town Assistant'. He died in 1878 aged 53 years and a headstone was raised by public subscription in the Kirkports churchyard.

By 1871, the population of the Royal Burgh numbered 909, the total population in the Parish of North Berwick was 1,427. Life expectancy in Scotland was 42 for men and 45 for women. More than one in every four children died before the age of five, and around 40% did not make it beyond the age of 25.

[*]
[Poster]
  Biarritz of the North


The railways in Scotland began as wagonways which transported coal and minerals from Lanarkshire and Fife to the coast. In 1842 a passenger line was running between Edinburgh and Glasgow. In England in the 1850s only one train a day carried third class passengers but in Scotland nearly all carried them and the working class were able to make a regular pilgrimage to the seaside. By the 1880s, the express railway engines and plush carriages served the well-to-do, with travelling time from London to Edinburgh reduced from 17 to 8 hours.

In 1874 the Town Council wrote to the Railway Company asking them to restrict the cheap excursion tickets as the town was being over run with visitors. On Easter Monday 1895, 1500 visitors arrived in North Berwick on regular and special excursion trains. When added to those already in the Burgh for the weekend, this amounted to over three thousand visitors. Some notable families who spent the months of August and September in the town included the McAlpines of Accrington, Weirs of Glasgow, Forrester-Patons of Alloa and the Coats of Paisley whose summer residence was 34, Dirleton Avenue (Golf Hotel). Peter H. Coats also owned the land to the south known as Smiley Knowe.

One of the earliest references to North Berwick being called the 'Biarritz of the North' was included in article written by Edmund Yates, editor of 'The World' a weekly society journal. In November 1889, Yates wrote an article about Arthur Balfour when he used the term Biarritz of the North to describe the town. The slogan was used as part of an advertising campaign instigated by the North Berwick Town Council in 1902. The North Eastern Railway Company displayed the posters, which featured many of their most popular destinations to increase the number of passengers using the railway.

These wealthy families would bring their entourage of housekeepers, butlers, footmen and nannies to manage the household and the local merchants and shopkeepers would supply all their sundries. The residents included Captain Francis Grant Suttie - Royal Navy (Hyndford House), Robert Chambers - Publisher (St Baldred's Tower), Eduardo de Zoete (Ormesdene, Fidra Road), Sir George Berry - Ophthalmic Surgeon (Kings Knoll), Professor Edward Sharpey-Schafer - Physiologist (Marly Knowe 1902), Walter de Zoete - Stockbroker (Blenheim House), Astor family (Shipka), John Blair Balfour - Lord Advocate for Scotland (Glasclune), Alexander, Isabella and Barbara Keiller of Dundee (12, Marine Parade), Sir Patrick Ford - Solicitor General for Scotland (Westerdunes), J. G. Thomson - Wine and Spirit Merchant, The Vaults, Leith, Deuchar family (Inchdura House, Hamilton Road), John R. Dale - Farmer (Abbots Croft), and Shaw-Stewart family - Ardgowan Estate on the Forth Of Clyde (Redholme), Samuel Peploe the Scottish Colourist (Cheylesmore Lodge); Robert Craig - Papermaker Newbattle Mill (Bunkershill), James Hislop a local shoe and boot maker built Normanhurst, 16 Westgate.

Arthur James Balfour, Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister was a regular visitor to North Berwick. In 1887 Balfour was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland and as such was given round-the-clock protection. While playing golf on the West Links Balfour was shadowed by two armed detectives discreetly following among the sand dunes. During September each year Balfour would take rooms in the Bradbury Hotel from where he played two rounds of golf each day and in the evening he attended to the affairs of State. His regular bodyguards were John Sweeney, Detective Inspector at Scotland Yard and his boss Sir Robert Anderson. They also provided an armed guard for Queen Victoria, Empress Frederick, President Loubet, the Czarina of Bulgaria, and the German Kaiser while they visited Great Britain.

Since 1849, challenge or brag matches between the best golf professional's of the day, attracted large crowds to North Berwick. In 1899, Willie Park Jnr. who owned the property at the 'Garve' in Beach Road, challenged Harry Vardon to a match for 100 pounds over the West Links, with the return at Ganton; 36 holes played on each course. In June 1899, a deputation from the Merchants met with the Town Council and asked them to recommend the partial closure of the shops on the occasion of the Park v Vardon Golf Match. Provost John McIntyre granted permission for the shop-keepers to close in the afternoon to allow their staff to follow the match. In July at North Berwick over 7,000 spectators arrived by train to watch the game.

In the summer the 'Rose' a paddle steamer owned by the Galloway Saloon Steam Packet Company would bring daytrippers on a round trip from Leith to North Berwick, tieing up at Galloways Pier on the Platcock Rocks, where passenger would board for Elie in Fife before returning to Leith.

In 1879 the Council instructed Peter Whitecross to draw up a specification for the construction of a sea wall between the Auld Kirk and Melbourne Place. The wall was to be built to the same design as the sea wall at Portobello and the ingredients were listed as six parts broken whinstone, three parts clean sharp sand and one part Portland cement, tested to 220lbs at 7 days. The work was completed the following year and cost £160. That year Whitecross built the stairs leading from the Auld Kirk to the harbour at a cost of £10.

North Berwick Freemasons

The earliest recorded society in the town were the Freemasons, instituted by former members of the dormant Lodge of Gullane and Dirleton founded in 1738. The St Balldred's Lodge in North Berwick was established at a meeting attended by thirteen Freemasons in James Grieve's Inn (15-17 High Street) on 17th March 1825. During this early period the Lodge held their meetings in David Blair's Dalrymple Arms Hotel (10-12 Quality Street) where a large function room still exists on the first floor. In 1830 John Carmichael, the Burgh School teacher was admitted a member because of his wonderful performance in ventriloquism.

In May 1833, the members were invited to attend the laying of the foundation stone for the new County Buildings in Haddington. The deputation from North Berwick made the journey in one long cart with two horses. The St Baldred Lodge also attended the laying of the foundation stone at the New Harbour at Dunbar in 1842.

In 1837 the first Masonic Ball was held in the Granary at the North Berwick harbour where the monthly meetings of the Lodge were conducted. They also met in The Lodge in Quality Street, residence of Sir Hew Dalrymple while a member stood at the front of the building with a drawn sword during the meetings. The Freemason's also met in the Town Council Chambers, County Hotel, Ship Inn, Burgh School Room (Victoria House, 66 High Street), and in 1874 they used the facility of the Tantallon Lodge of Oddfellows, No.3739 at 10 Forth Street, North Berwick.

At the annual roup in March 1854, Peter Smith secretary of Tantallon Lodge and Oddfellows offered to pay £5-half-yearly to rent the Burgh School room for their meetings. In July 1880 the Lodge held a meeting on the Bass Rock and in 1898 they secured the use of premises at 97 High Street (now 88 High Street) and in 1948 the members purchased the Oddfellows Hall. In December 1894 the laying of the foundation stone for the High School in Law Road was given full Masonic Honours with Willie Struth RWM and John R. Whitecross, a member and also Provost of the Royal Burgh in attendance.

The memorabilia held in the Lodge was collected by Davie Cochrane, the maltman living in Westgate, this included a square of wood from the old Lodge Room in the Dalrymple Arms, a level of wood from Baillie Balcraftie's old house, a plumb rule made of wood from Tantallon Castle and the Wardens' columns coming from the Bass Rock in 1907. In May 1929 during the Open Championship at Muirfield a Special Meeting was held for members talking part in that Championship and a dinner was held in their honour. The champion golfer that year was American Walter Hagen.

Volunteer Rifle Corps

The Volunteers 'F' Company, (7th V.B.R.S) Rifle Corps. was raised by Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple in 1860 when Queen Victoria accepted the offer of their services. The Volunteers later held their meetings in the Foresters Hall, situated in the area now occupied by Tigh Mhor in the High Street. The hall owned by the Ancient Order of Foresters was opened in 1887 by Richard Haldane, member of parliament for East Lothian who was appointed Secretary of War in Asquith's 1905 Liberal government. The hall accommodated 800 persons and was the centre of activity in the town. In 1895, Colour-Sergeant Dodds from the Scots Guards succeeded Sergeant Crawford as drill-inspector. He also drilled the pupils at the High School and Public School. The Volunteers carried out their weekly drills on the East Links, with their firing range at Canty Bay. They had 60 members and a Band which played every Saturday evening on the Auld Kirk Green. To the right of the entrance door to the Foresters Hall was Methven & Simpson's music shop where instruments and piano's could be hired by the session.

The North Berwick Golf Club was established in 1832 in Seacliff House, when the Westgate feuars granted the use of the links for the annual sum of £4. Among the founder members were Sir David Baird of Newbyth, Sir Robert Hay whose father was tenant of The Lodge in Quality Street, George and John Sligo of Seacliff, Robert Stewart of Alderston Mains Farm, John Campbell of Glensaddell, a Kintyre laird and Captain Brown of the Inniskillen Dragoons and Waterloo fame, who lived in Quality Street. Tantallon Golf Club was established in 1853 by the businessmen in the town and the artisan Bass Rock Golf Club was founded in 1873 by the tradesmen, teachers and office clerks. At the centre of the social activities was the Marine Hotel (1875), where among others, Field Marshall Roberts and Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, resided during the summer season. Prince Edward Saxe-Weimar served in the British Army and fought with the Grenadier Guards at Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol in the Crimean War. He was Commander-In-Chief of the troops in Ireland (1885-1890). He lost his Royal rank in Germany by marrying the daughter of the fifth Duke of Richmond, but she was accorded the rank of Royal Princess at Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887. They lived in a large house in Portland Place in London and each year they spent several months at the Marine Hotel in North Berwick. It was reported at the time that they alone were responsible for increasing the popularity of North Berwick and thereby laying the foundations for its future prosperity. They also rented The Knoll in Clifford Road where they entertained King Edward V11 in 1902.

During the visit of King Edward VII to North Berwick he watched the golfers playing 'Perfection' and the children playing on the Ladies course while he toured the town in an open top carriage with two horses. Ben Sayers was presented to his Majesty by Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar who hosted the King's visit and as such Prince Edward was later awarded the freedom of the Burgh. The King ordered a set of clubs from Ben Sayers who played the West Links with the King's Equerry.

Field Marshall Earl Roberts was one of the most successful commanders of the Victorian era. He fought in the Indian campaign and the 2nd Boer War. He lived at Englemere in Ascot, Berkshire and was a friend of Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar. In 1903 it was reported that playing golf on the West Links on the same day were four MPs, the Speaker of the House of Commons, two bishops and the Prime Minister. Later they were joined by Lord Kitchener and HMS Dreadnought on passage to Rosyth, fired a ten-gun salute over the course.

Football Club

The Victoria Football Club was instituted in February 1888 playing on ground provided by Sir Walter Hamilton-Dalrymple at Abbey Park (Redcroft). Football was extensively played in this district in the seventeenth century and was mentioned in the Session Records of Tynninghame Parish. In May 1619 there was a game of football played on the Sabbath afternoon at Scoughall links between that parish and Whitekirk against the North Berwick parishes. In November 1919, John Lambie tenant of Rhodes Farm offered a field east of Tantallon Hotel for playing football (now Rhodes Park). Angus Football Club (Miss Lucy Hope's team), Primrose Football Club (W.H.Montgomery Secretary) and the Continuation Classes Football Club, were charged an annual rent by the Town Council but allowed to keep their goal posts. In 1924 Mr Glover the headmaster took over the lease on behalf of the School Football and Hockey teams. In 1926, Rev. Leonard Small secretary of the reconstituted Bass Rock Football Club requested permission to use the football pitch which was granted.

In September 1929, the Bass Rock Football Club requested the use of the new Recreation Park every second Saturday from 1.30 until dark. The following year the BRFC asked permission to charge 'gate' money for a friendly match with Rutherglen Ladies's Football team. The club also requested a timber hut for changing and the Council offered an old Bathing Box as a temporary solution.

Swimming Pool and Yachting Pond

In April 1888 Matthew Galloway whose company erected the pier suggested to the Town Council that a salt water bath could be formed at the east end of the harbour by using part of the flushing pond. Gallway instructed civil engineer Robert Henderson to investigate. Using the excavation plans drawn up by D & T Stevenson in 1862, Henderson was able to calculate the depth of the rock base which would be required for a swimming pond. In July 1899 James R. Jenkins, secretary of the Swimming Club, wrote to the Town Council requesting permission to have the occasional race in the harbour during the summer evenings. Jenkins said the swimmers would be in proper bathing costumes. The Swimming Club and Humane Society held their annual aquatic gala in the harbour from 1895. At this time the Swimming Club also suggested a Safety Bathing Pool should be constructed at the east end of the harbour, paid for by subscriptions raised by the Swimming Club including contributions from Prince Edward Saxe-Weimar and the MP's Robert Haldane and Arthur Balfour. The Pool was constructed by civil engineers Belfrage & Carfrae and opened on 8th August 1900.

James H. McCraken was appointed Pond Keeper and Swimming Master on 17th April 1920. He resigned after his request for two assistants during July and August was turned down. In October 1922 the Eastern Counties Amateur Swimming Association voted in favour of mixed bathing in Corporation swimming ponds, if proper dressing facilities were provided. McCracken moved to Troon and Fred W. Lemmon was appointed Pond Master in April 1932, Three years later McCracken was reinstated as Pond Master. The peripheral buildings were completed in 1930 and spectators at the swimming pool had to pay for the first time in 1964.

The pond initially was run by the swimming club but in 1905 when enough money was raised to pay off the capital cost the North Berwick Town Council took control. In 1917 the Town Council appointed a pond mistress Ethel Baillie to take over from Mr Hope who was called up for military service. In 1920, Jim McCracken was pond master during the summer and the rest of the year he taught at Portobello School.

Scottish speed champions Ellen King and Jean McDowall (both Olympic swimmers) were coached at North Berwick at a time when a daily ticket cost six pence. Ellen King (1909-1994) was a winner of two Olympic medals, three Commonwealth (Empire) Games medals and a dual world record holder. Every swimmer of repute appeared in exhibitions at the pool, including regular visits from world famous American high board divers.

The first mention of the North Berwick Cricket Club was in March 1884 when George Hamilton, a grocer and club secretary requested permission from the Town Council to play cricket on the East Links, which was approved. The Yachting Pond was constructed in 1924 supervised by John C. Miller Burgh Surveyor and laid out below the high water mark, north of Melbourne Road costing £45. In August the Town Council provided prizes for the first yachting competition

Bowling Club

In May 1854 Councillor William Walker intimated that several individuals had approached him to form a Bowling Club. They suggested a site on top of Castle Hill and Councillor Walker said he would submit plans to the Town Council. The following month when the subject was raised again, the Chief Magistrate David S. Meikham intimated he had received numerous complaints about the proposed site and suggested an area east of Castle Hill would be more acceptable.

The Bowling Club was founded in 1865 with the green laid out on ground south of Kirkports provided by Sir Hew Hamilton Dalrymple. Among the founder members were Alex McKenzie (Grocer), Andrew Wallace (Solicitor) and Peter Brodie jnr. (Post Office). In May 1902, Donald Jackson, honorary secretary of the Bowling Club requested permission from the Town Council to lay out a bowling green on the East Links. The Town Clerk advised the Council that residents in Marine Parade had objected to the application and there were also legal objections. Sir Walter Hamilton-Dalrymple offered ground in Clifford Road and in June 1903 the Bowling Club requested the installation of a water supply which the Town Council agreed at £1 per annum. A second green was added in 1923.

In 1853, William Walker mentioned above, was a Town Councillor and a carpenter to trade, employing four men. He purchased land on the northern site of Shore Street (24 Victoria Road) and built the existing house and stables. In 1858 Walker had a disagreement with the Town Council, and was instructed to remove the buildings erected on the ground not conveyed to him and which formed an encroachment on the sea beach. In 1860 William Walker emigrated to New Zealand with his wife and five sons. The family resided on Clyde Street in Dunedin where William Walker died in 1862, aged 40 years. His youngest son Andrew Walker, born in North Berwick in 1855 became a prominent union leader before joining the United Labour Party and was elected to the New Zealand Parliament as MP for Dunedin North in 1914.

Tennis Courts

In January 1914, the Town Council decided to layout four tennis courts and a pavilion on the East Links. The courts were constructed by Messrs Maxwell M. Hart (Glasgow) Ltd. and the blaise supplied by Portobello Brick Company. The pavilion designed and built by F.D. Cowiesons & Co. (Glasgow) cost £49-15/-. An advert carried in the Courier during the month of May suggested the best place to buy a racket was at Ben Sayers shop at 21 and 27 Station Hill where he had a large selection by the world's best makers costing between 4/9d and 31/-.

At the opening ceremony on 10th June 1914, Provost MacIntyre presented Miss Swan of St Baldred's Tower with a racket and ball suitably inscribed for her to play the opening shot. An exhibition match followed, arranged between Miss Swan and the Secretary of the East Of Scotland Lawn Tennis Association with eight players taking part.

Miss Beatrice Swan was the daughter of James Swan director of John Swan & Sons Ltd. Auctioneers of Live Stock. Her father owned property at 24 Eglington Crescent, Edinburgh and St Baldred's Tower, North Berwick with its own tennis court. The Town Council thanked Miss Swan for entertaining the players and visitors on the opening day. The following year David Matheson, Balfour Street was appointed caretaker and attendant. In October 1919, the Burgh Surveyor John C. Miller drew up plans to modify the tennis courts to championship dimensions. They were laid out by John McNulty & Co, 14 Atholl Place, Dunfermline on a north to south direction at a 26 degree angle, on flat ground. Hugh Pow the Honorary Secretary of the Tennis Club submitted their draft rules and regulations for the approval of the Town Council and the North Berwick Lawn Tennis Club was founded on 4 May 1920. A family ticket cost 15/-, monthly 12/6, daily 2/-. Hamilton Dunn was appointed caretaker. There was a request to use the facility as an artificial Curling and Skating pond in the winter as the courts flooded, but this was refused.

In December 1926, the Town Council contacted the Scottish Lawn Tennis Association requesting their permission to organise a tournament. They gave their approval and the authority to use the title 'The East Lothian Open Tournament' held for the first time on 13-18 June 1927.

In 1994, Andy and Jamie Murray played tennis at North Berwick. This was in the days when brother Jamie was considered the better prospect. At North Berwick Gordon Scott partnered nine-year-old Jamie in the handicap doubles tournament while six-year-old Andy teamed up with dad Willie. Mother Judy, a former Scottish women's champion was in the gallery. The brothers also played Dunbar in 1998 and went on to be number one tennis players in the world in November 2016.

Putting Greens

The first mention of a putting green in the town was in April 1919 when David M. Lewis, Duneaton House, 1 Pointgarry Road, North Berwick wrote to the Town Council suggesting the laying out of a putting green on Elcho Green. Later that year the Town Councillors visited St Andrews to discuss the laying out of their putting green. They were met by the Provost of St Andrews and Mr. Watson the Burgh Surveyor who supplied the original drawings for the Himalayas Putting course. The North Berwick Town Council asked Ben Sayers Jnr. and Andrew Gilholm the head greenkeeper at the Glen course to layout an eighteen hole putting green. Baillie George Nelson offered his disused bathing box as the starters hut, erected on the putting green. Willie Robertson the blacksmith at 33 Forth Street made the metal flag posts and cups and the posts on Beach Road were supplied by David Stevenson, Rosehall, Haddington. Tom Irvine a former greenkeeper was appointed caretaker and the putting green was officially open on Monday 14 June 1920. A second eighteen hole putting green was laid out the following year when Councillor Loftus Calder offered a trophy for a putting competition known as the Calder Cup. The decorative compass beside the stair leading from the harbour to the pier was gifted by Loftus Calder in 1932. The first Daily Record putting competition was held in 1926 with competitors from all over the country taking part. In 1921 the putting green was featured in a painting by Sir John Lavery called 'Putting Course'. Lavery spent several summers in North Berwick living in Westcliffe, 14 York Road, and also as a guest of Sir Patrick Ford at Westerdunes. The first mention of a putting green on the East Links was in September 1921.

North Berwick Yacht Club and Curling Pond.

The original North Berwick Yacht Club was founded in 1900. The curling pond was situated at the foot of Berwick Law with access from Glenburn Road which was used by very active clubs at North Berwick (1855), Balgone (1887) and Tyninghame. The North Berwick Dowcate Curling Club was founded in 1909 with the Curling Pond off Nungate Road until it closed in 1957. The Boys Brigade meetings were held in the Foresters Hall and on 12th August 1908 the 1st North Berwick Scout troop was founded, one of the earliest in the country. In 1905, Major General Baden Powell spent a holiday at Leuchie as a guest of Colonel Sir William Gardiner Baird. He was greeted by a large cheering crowd when he arrived at the North Berwick railway station. The North Berwick Brownies certificate of incorporation was signed by Lady Baden Powell on 13th December 1921.

[Tennis Courts]
Dowcate Curling Club, Nungate, North Berwick, with the overhead lighting in 1930.

In 1877 there was a large fire in William Auld's timberyard situated between Balderstane Wynd and the Abbey Church. John Forrest, coach hirer in Beach Road sent an express to Haddington for the Fire Engine. The Town Council discussed purchasing a fire engine similar to the engine at Archerfield but the decision was defered for another ten years.

Throughout the early years of the twentieth century the sound of music and laughter could be heard from the open-air ' Pierrots' variety show on the esplanade while crowds of over three thousand watched the aquatic gala's at the swimming pool. The controversial subject of mixed bathing was passed by the Town Council in 1905.

Hugh Kirkwood, a ship's wright from Govan was the original boat hirer in North Berwick. In July 1886 he asked the Town Council for permission to erect a sign-board on the new quay at the harbour. Kirkwood may have constructed his own fleet of rowing boats which he hired out on the West Bay. He complained to the Town Council that he paid 10/- harbour rates for each boat per year and his boats were only in the water for five months. Unfortunately the Council could not see their way to reduce his rates. In December 1886, the Rowing Pleasure Boats Hire Company as Hugh Kirkwood advertised his business requested permission to remove a section of leck rock on the West Bay, situated 80 yards west of the west quay stairs. He also requested permission to make a wooden platform for the visitors to access the rowing boats. The Town Council granted permission as long as the work was carried out at his own expense and George Lumsden, Inspector of Works was instructed to supervise the works.

St Baldred's Lady's Cycle Club

No records have survived from the formation of the North Berwick Cycle Club but by 1900 there were cycle clubs catering exclusively for men in Haddington, Dunbar, Musselburgh and North Berwick. There were two attempts in North Berwick to establish a Ladies Cycle Club firstly in April 1902 and again in February of 1905 when the St Baldred's Lady's Cycle Club was born. There are no records surviving from that period only the year the club disbanded in April 1912 when their funds were donated to the Bowling Club Bazaar. The Bass Rock Cycle Co. at 8 High Street, North Berwick offered Cycles for Hire and teaching was a speciality.

Photographers

The earliest photographer in North Berwick was James Abbott Jnr. who rented property in the Dalrymple Buildings in 1883. His father also James Abbott was a photographic artist at 57 Constitution Road, Dundee. In June 1889 the Town Council received a request from Sam Scott in Elie for a piece of ground where he could erect a photo tent approximately 18 feet x 9 feet. He suggested a site on the opposite side of the road north of the Lifeboat House, adjoining the wall of the Auld Kirk green. The photo tent was to be in place for 12 weeks and he offered to pay a rent of 5/- per week which the Town Council accepted. Another photographer David H Ross also requested permission to construct a timber photographic studio in the same area. David H Ross was the son of John Ross who had a photographic business at 41 George Street, Edinburgh. The Ross family also owned the photographic studio at 7 Station Road, North Berwick until 1915 when James C.H. Balmain a photographer from Edinburgh took over the property. Ross took the official photographs at the Open Golf Championship at Muirfield in 1896. In 1921 E.W.Parker had a photographic studio at 25 Station Road, Messers Whyman & Gray had a studio in Church Road, and in 1925 George W. Day and James Govan, photographers at 58 High Street, Dunbar, opened a studio in Market Place, North Berwick. In 1930 the British Photomation Trading Company applied to the Council to have their kiosk situated on the sea front, but the application was refused.

In 1923 a group lead by Messers Hunter and Laidlaw were in negotiations with Colonel Nisbet Hamilton Grant owner of Archerfield Estate to purchase land in the area of Yellowcraig and establish the Fidra Golf Club. They proposed to erect a clubhouse in the grounds of Link House Wood west of Invereil House and that year they made enquires to North Berwick Town Council regarding the cost to supply gas and water to the premises. Former Provost John MacIntyre was also involved in this project. He had previously been in lengthy negotiations to purchased the ground on behalf of North Berwick Town Council for a relief golf course. In 1922, Grant benevolently gave a piece of ground to the villagers of Dirleton where a nine-hole course was laid out and tended by a band of 30 local enthusiasts. It was known as the Fidra Golf course and survived until 1940 when the land was commandeered by the Ministry of War.

Fidra Golf Course

Among the duties carried out by the Police Sergeant James Snowie was the ringing of the curfew bell. In September 1894 he expressed his desire to refrain from carrying out this demeaning task. David Ross the gravedigger was appointed at 2/6d per week and Mr. A. Paton, the Tacksman of Customs wrote to the Council offering his services as the curfew bell ringer at 2/- per week. In August 1896 a travelling circus camped on the eastern portion of the West Links and erected a marquee without permission. The previous week a booth for preaching was erected in the same place, again without permission. Sir Walter Hamilton Darymple wrote to the Town Council requesting this practice be stopped.

In 1893 Sir Walter Hamilton-Dalrymple feud an acre-and-a-half of land to the Commissioners of North Berwick for an Isolation Hospital south of the Newhouse Road (Gilsland). Construction started in 1898 and the building consisted of two wards with 16 beds and the opening ceremony was carried out by Lord Trayner (The Grange) on 29 March 1900. The hospital closed in October 1931.

Hope Rooms

In May 1898 the trustee's for Miss Lucy Hope purchased the old Slaughter House in Forth Street and applied to the Council to erect a building to be known as the 'Caddie Institute' or the Hope Rooms. John Muirhead Builders, Dalkeith were awarded the contract and he offered to remove the adjacent town byre and use the materials in the construction. For many years the community spirited Miss Lucy Hope provided a building where the caddies could meet during the winter months. Lucy was born 1856 daughter of George William Hope MP, Luffness, Aberlady and his wife Caroline Montagu Scott. In 1890 Lucy resided in Angus House, 7 West Bay Road (now No.16) North Berwick. She not only assisted in the regulation of the Caddie Institute but had a sympathetic ear for the welfare of the men's families when times were hard. There was a billiard table, card games, daily newspapers and a roaring fire in the winter. The Institute closed in June and re-opened in late October.

An annual golf match was played between Tantallon Golf Club and a team representing Lucy Hope's Angus Golf Club which included a number of local golfers who emigrated to America. Ben Sayers (North Berwick); David Grant (Biarritz GC, France); James Souter (Tuxedo GC, New ); James Ferguson ( Spring Lake GC, New Jersey) ; George Sayers (Merion GC. Philadelphia); George Livingstone (Belle Meade GC, Nashville); James L. Fowler; William Hunter; George Pearson.; P.eter Purves, (Essex Falls Country Club); G. Thomson (Scarsdale NY) and William Hunter (Onwentsia, IL). The Tantallon team included John Gardener and two former Amateur Champions Johnny Laidlay and Robert Maxwell. In 1937 she was conferred with the Freedom of the Burgh for her work in the community. Lucy Georgina Hope died 14th March 1946, North Berwick aged 90 years.

In 1898, George Fowler purchased the old Dirleton Granary on the corner of Forth Street and Market Place and applied to the Dean of Guild to build a stables and coachouse. The stables were on the first floor accessed by an outside ramp. In June 1898 the Council approved a request from Harry Crawford to erect a temporary stand on the East Links for refreshments on the occasion of day trips. Campbell also organised the stand on the West Links serving the golfers with aerated water and bars of Duncan's Chocolate.

In 1927, George Souter resigned his post as Lamplighter, a position which became ceremonial. That year the Town Council built public toilets at the junction of Quality Street and Melbourne Place including a Tourist Information Centre and garden. The final Public Roup took place in the Council Chambers on 29 April 1930 when five ice-cream stances were auctioned on ground east of Heriot Place (Victoria Road) The successful bidders were (Stance 1) George R. Thomson, (2) T. Di Rollo, (3) Luca Scappaticcio, (4) Benedette Di Rollo, (5) F. Di Rollo, but were not permitted to open on a Sunday. Mr. J. D'Ambrosio did not bid for a stance but continued to produce ice-cream in the Duchess Cafe at 95 High Street with a pianist playing in the window. The following year U.L.De Marco requested a stance at the putting green.

Harbour Pavilion and One-way Traffic System

In 1927 East Lothian County Council identified ground on the High Street owned by former Provost John MacIntyre for the new Police Station. The widening of Beach Road was in progress and the Council purchased part of the Rhodes Farm and Steading from the farmer John Lambie. The deputy Harbour Master Robert Russell died in 1930 and was replaced by George Kelly. Dr. Laurence C.M.Wedderburn, established his medical surgery at 1 Dirleton Avenue. In December 1929 the Town Council submitted plans for a Harbour Pavilion drawn up by architects Mears & Carus-Wilson, Edinburgh and the main contractor was Glasgow-based D.McKellar. The building was leased to James C. Lumsden who organised dances and other entertainments.

Following a trail period of a one-way traffic system on Forth Street, High Street and Beach Road during the summer months, the new one-way regulations were implemented in May 1931. That year there was no cattle or horses owned by the Burgesses grazing on the Town Common (East Links) a tradition dating back to before the written records of the town. In 1931 the grazing was leased out to Messers William & David Wright, Heugh Farm who had 12 cows on the common. Dundas Thomson, Mains Farm grazed stock on the Recreation Park. In 1930 the Town Council requested that H.M.Postmaster General establish a telephone kiosk on the corner of Dunbar Road and Lochbridge Road. The Telephone Company agreed if the Town Council guaranteed revenue of £16 a year.

1931 was the first year a list of summer entertainments were organised by the Town Council. Starting in July with the Daly Mail 'Sand' Competition, Model Yacht Competitions, Daily Record 'Putting' Competition, Fancy Dress Parade in aid of Edinburgh Infirmary, Tennis Competitions, Seaside Mission finishing in September with a Swimming Gala. The first mention of a second Putting Green adjacent to the Tennis Courts was minuted in November 1931.

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[West Bay, North
Berwick]   The Early Settlers


The formation of the landscape around North Berwick dates back over 340 million years, when this area was desert. Berwick Law and the islands of Craigleith, Fidra, Lamb and Bass Rock are composed of igneous fire work formed during the early carboniferous era.

This was the site of many volcanic eruptions and these famous landmarks are the result of the mouth of the volcano being choked with its own molten lava, forming a plug when extinct. During the ice-age, Scotland was covered in a frozen glacial blanket that rubbed and wore away the volcanic ash and soft sedimentary layers. When the glacier receded it exposed the black rock visible today. The oldest rock in the area can be seen at Smiley Knowe. In both the East and West Bays, there is evidence of lava-flow of the most extensive nature with enormous deposits of volcanic ash or scoriae, forming the flat red tuffs visible at low tide. Farther east the colour changes to green and a basalt dyke of considerable length appears on the shore opposite the Leithies. Tuff is much easier to work than basalt and the resulting Red Leck in Milsey Bay was quarried for building and oven lining in the late Middle Ages. There is documentary evidence that red leck from the East Bay was used to line the ovens in Edinburgh Castle. Professor Fleming of Edinburgh University was the first to observe the marks of glacial action on the striated rocks at the Auld Kirk in 1846.

According to some writers the first inhabitants of North Berwick came from the Elbe, they settled on the coast where water was available and their principal food was shell fish gathered from the rocks. In 2001, the remains of a Mesolithic round house was discovered at East Barns near Dunbar, dating from 8,000 BC. This is the oldest house to be unearthed by archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It is believed the inhabitants survived on a diet of seafood, deer from the inland forests and gannets from the Bass Rock which they could reach in a day using their currachs. The early settlement at North Berwick would have been similar, constructed on the high ground on the south of Berwick Law, where there is evidence of at least eighteen hut circles, rich middens and a field system dating from 2000 years ago. There is also the remains of a defensive stone dyke and ramparts which were not just military artifacts but show that farming and a peaceful settlement was a feature here. Activity in more recent times can also be found near the summit, notably a rare example of a stone-built Napoleonic period watch-tower with the outline of a garden.

There are traces of four such settlements in the district, first and most important was on the hill, above the west beach. In 1907 the remains of two Neolithic or Bronze Age middens were discovered under the stone floor of Tusculm, 8 York Road. Their burial ground was between that house and the shore, which was discovered when the gasworks were being erected close to what is now the eighteenth fairway on the West Links. A medieval pottery in the shape of a jug was dug up in this ancient tumular cemetry. It measured eleven and a quarter inches in height and about five and a half inches in diameter and was covered in a geeenish glaze common on pottery of that early period. Since ancient times there was a burn in this area which flowed into the sea and was crossed by a timber footbridge, still being used in 1854.

There was another settlement east of the Eil Burn where several internments and urns were found. These internments are believed to date from the beginning of the Christian era. The fourth settlement was above the Leithies on the Rhodes Farm where a kitchen midden was found, it contained a stratum of shells, pieces of broken pottery, fragments of bones and wood ashes. A similar site was also detected on Castle Hill, the grassy mound between Marine Parade and Tantallon Terrace, where a castle once stood owned by the Earls of Fife.

While excavating the lake in Balgone Estate, workmen discovered several wooden plies hidden beneath the surface, as if fixed there to support a habitation. Near them was found parts of a skull, and other items in keeping with an early settlement such as bones, flints and charred stones.

When the foundations of Silverbank (41 Westgate) were being taken out, the workmen found hundreds of coins, a large number of these being silver pennies of the reigns of Alexander II of Scotland and Edward I of England and in 1896 several similar coins were found when laying a new drain in the 'Cats Close' off High Street. Theses finds show that the English forces had been in North Berwick prior to the battle of Bannockburn. It is known that 2000 marks were sent by ferry from here to Earlsferry in March 1304 to Edward I at Dunfermline.

During the upgrading of the town water mains in October 2002 deposits of animal bones, shellfish and fragments of pottery were discovered buried beneath the High Street. Several midden layers were traced less than half-a-metre below the surface, dating from the 14th century. The material contained a variety of shellfish, mediaeval pottery and bones from sheep and cattle lodged between layers of sand. The largest concentration was found west of the Council Chambers, consistent with a midden pile where the inhabitants would discard their waste into the street.

Town Eastern Boundary Wall

In May 2003, the foundations of a 15th century wall was discovered in Melbourne Place, leading to speculation that this was the town's eastern boundary wall. This theory was reinforced when the shell and bone fragments discovered in East Road came to an abrupt end opposite the Vennel in line with what may have been the boundary wall leading to the beach.

The remains of an old metal road made up of large red sandstone blocks was exposed 30cm beneath Victoria Road. According to the archaeologists, the road from Quality Street to Victoria Road is the oldest road in the burgh, and among the artefacts unearthed in Quality Street was a whale bone scarred with the marks of a sharpe implement similar to a cooking knife.

During Roman times, a Welsh-speaking Goddodin tribe dominated the area from their hill forts on Traprain Law, Berwick Law and the Garletons whose King Loth gave his name to the whole region. By the seventh century after heavy defeat at Catterick they fell prey to Northumbrians surging north from their capital at Bamburgh.

Despite becoming a Christianised province of Northumbria, sealed by a monastery founded by Baldred their rule was weak, explaining survival of many Brythonic place names such as Pencaitland, Aberlady, Tranent and Longniddry. During the next 300 years most of the county's main settlements appeared with names of Anglian origin such as Tyninghame, Haddington, Kingston, Sydserff and Linton. The Vikings raidings introduced their influence as they settled and created the origins of Dunbar leaving Norse local names Ð Fidra, and Scoughall. A key moment was the Battle of Carham in 1018 when Malcolm I lead an army into Northumberland and defeated the English Earl of Uhtred to secured Lothian as part of Scotland.

Royal Scottish Geographical Society

The Royal Scottish Geographical Society came about as a result of a conversation between a young mapmaker and the daughter of a famous explorer during a walk along the beach near North Berwick. Inspired by what they had discussed, John Bartholomew and Agnes Livingstone-Bruce drew up an outline for the proposed Society and took it to James Geikie, professor of geology at Edinburgh University. And so it was that the Society was established in December 1884.

The name North Berwick (Bearaig a Tuarth) means 'North' barley farmstead. Bere in Old English means 'barley' and wic in Old English is 'farmstead'. The word North was applied to distinguish this Berwick from Berwick-upon-Tweed, which throughout the Middle Ages the Scots called South Berwick. It was recorded as Northberwyk in 1250.

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[Harbour]
  The Pilgrim Ferry


In the middle ages people would travel vast distances to worship and pray in the presence of holy relics at sites such as St Andrews in Fife. Ever since St. Rule was washed ashore with the remains of the apostle St Andrew in 365 AD, the town has been a place of Christian teaching and worship. The relics consisted of the bones from three fingers, a kneecap and a bit of skull, and the pilgrims thought they had super natural powers and praying in their presence would heal their illness.

Three ferries crossed the Forth at Queensferry, Leith and North Berwick, despite the later being the widest and most exposed it was the shortest route from England. The ferry was established in 950 AD between North Berwick, Dirleton and Earlsferry in Fife, and more than 15,000 people made the trip in 1412 alone. The town of Earlsferry was named after MacDuff, Earl or Thane of Fife who also owned lands at North Berwick and used a ferry to cross the Firth of Forth. The Kings and Queens invested heavily in promoting the monastery at St Andrews. They also built the church of St. Rule, its enormous square tower was like a beacon and could be seen for miles around.

In 1362, King David II narrowly escaped being shipwrecked in the Forth Estuary while sailing from North Berwick to Earlsferry. To show his gratitude he expanded the existing cult and built a chapel to St Monan close to the point where he came ashore in Fife. The original St Monans shrine and Ardross hospice was under the patronage of the Cistercian Nunnery at North Berwick during the period when the Earl's Of Fife prevailed.

To serve the needs of the Catholic pilgrims using the ferry at North Berwick a hospice and church were built. The ruins of the church can be seen on the Anchor Green and the hospice was situated to the north west of the church. Inside the church was an alter to the Virgin Mary, lime washed walls and a floor decorated with tiles made by the nearby nunnery kilns.The nuns from North Berwick Abbey also looked after the hospice at Earlsferry. There were guest-houses built by the Lauder family at North Berwick harbour to accommodate the pilgrims on a site now occupied by the granaries. Robert Lauder later built and was patron of the famous Hospital of Poor Brethren (commonly known as Lauder's Hospital) at North Berwick circa 1540 sited in the area presently occupied by the Housing Association flats in Quality Street. The chaplain of the hospital was James Cowan.

St Andrew's Well situated close to the Wall or Well Tower in the Lodge Grounds was possibly a holy well, and a meeting place for the pilgrims before they continued their journey by sea from North Berwick. The journey to a shrine was not only spiritual but a holiday, particularly for the peasant farm workers as their landlord was obliged to grant time off work to take part in a pilgrimage and the church looked after their procession while they were away.

Pilgrims meant money, they were the tourists of their day, producing prosperity in their wake in souvenirs and trade at the market stalls. A clay mould for casting lead pilgrim badges was unearthed on anchor green. The cast depicted the figure of St Andrew on his diagonal cross. These lead badges or tokens were sold to pilgrims by the nuns as a souvenirs to be sewn onto a pilgrim's clothing as a token they had undertaken the arduous ferry crossing. Often the nuns would light lamps on the rocks to guide the travelers when the Fife coast was shrouded in thick mist and the sea was running high.

Whitekirk

In the 12th century the ancient church of Whitekirk became famous due to its holy well dedicated to St Mary the Virgin which attracted pilgrims from far and wide. Whitekirk was on the route of the pilgrims from St Andrews to Santiago de Compostela and they used to stop here for food and prayer. In 1356 King Edward III of England plundered the church, desecrated the shrine of Our Lady at Whitekirk and took away the offerings left by the pilgrims. In contrast, King James I of Scotland placed the church under his personal protection, also having hostels built near by to shelter the growing number of pilgrims.

In 1294 the Countess of Dunbar built a chapel and chantry at Whitekirk. The Countess dedicated the chapel to 'Our Lady' in gratitude to the miracle she received from a nearby well, securing Whitekirk's position on the pilgrim route to and from Santiago de Compostela in Spain. In 1413 over 15,000 pilgrims passed through North Berwick, stopping at the chapel dedicated to St Mary at Whitekirk before crossing by ferry to the St Monans shrine in Fife and on to St Andrews, raising 1422 merks annually.

In 1435 Aeneas Silvius Piccolini later became Pope Pius II was travelling to Scotland on a diplomatic mission as a Papal legate when his ship was beset by a severe storm, after the crew said a solemn prayer to Our Lady the ship made it safely to Dunbar. The ferry depicted in the North Berwick Coat of Arms was also used by James VI in 1592. By the mid 16th century, pilgrim numbers had dwindled and had ceased altogether by the end of the century due to the king's separation from the pope and dissolution of the monasteries.

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[North Berwick Law]
  The Royal Charter


William, Earl of Douglas, acquired the barony of North Berwick in 1371 and laid the foundation of the long, extensive and powerful influence of the Douglas family in East Lothian. It was forfeited in 1455 by James, Earl of Douglas; but in 1479 it was granted by James lll, with most of the forfeited estates of that Earl, to his heir Archibald, Earl of Angus and erected into a free barony. It was sold by the Marquis of Douglas to Sir Hew Dalrymple, Lord President of the Court of Session in 1694 and remains in the ownership of his descendants. The original charter of Royal Burgh was granted to the town in 1373 during the reign of Robert II, but this was suppressed by William, Earl of Douglas who held the barony of North Berwick during that period. The Earl refused to implement the charter because he might lose his right of superiority over the port and burgh. Although at this time the main trade was wool and only small amounts were being exported. Even at its peak in 1429 only ten tons of wool were exported yearly.

The charter now in existence was granted by James VI and 1, on 18th September 1568 although this particular ruler was born in 1566 and inherited the throne of Scotland at the tender age of 13 months old. The charter would have been granted by a regent acting in his name. In that charter mention is made of the original document being destroyed by fire. It narrates 'calling to mind that our predecessors of good memory did of old erect and make our burgh of North Berwick into a free royal burgh, and that the ancient infeftment thereupon granted to them by our said predecessors in the time of the burning of the said burgh by the English was burnt and destroyed, and so cannot readily be found. We with consent of our Regent foresaid (James, Earl of Murray) have erected, made, and confirmed, as by the tenor of our present charter we erect, make, and confirm, the said town of North Berwick into a free royal burgh.' A ratification of this was passed again in 1609.

In 1391 Robert III visited North Berwick as shown by the following extract from the Exchequer Rolls for that year :- Et solute pro expensis domini regis factis apud Northberwyk in mense Januarii ultimo preteriti. In 1404, Prince James with his protector Sir David Fleming passed through North Berwick on his way to the Bass Rock, where he was to embark for France for his education and safety. In 1491, Bothwell accompanied by the Bishop of Glasgow also found North Berwick a convenient port of embarkation when on a mission to the continent to find a queen for James IV at the Courts of France and Spain.

Included in the privileges and status of being granted a Royal Burgh was the right to levy the King's custom duties and have a market-cross where the sale of leather, skins, wool and other merchandise was permitted. This was the exclusive preserve of the town's burgesses. One of their principal roles was to prosecute illegal trade, and to enforce the king's charters. The town was also allowed to return a representative to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh but according to the records, no member from this district attended until 1481. North Berwick was one of sixty-six royal burghs in existance at the time of the Union in 1707. No new royal burghs have been created since. The Burgh Charter worked effectively for over 600 years until 1975 when government legislation disbanded the Town Council in favour of local authority regionalisation. Part of this restructuring was to elect a Community Council to represent the views of the town and whose first priority was to enlist the assistance of Lord Lyon, King of Arms and successfully reinstate the Royal Burgh title.

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[Coastguard Station]
  Abbey Nunnery and Witches Coven


The priory of Cistercian nuns was founded by Duncan, Earl of Fife between 1147 and 1153. This house may have been founded as a Benedictine house, and later claimed to be Cistercian. The church was dedicated to St Mary by David de Brenham, Bishop of St Andrews in 1242. By 1587, the abbey was described as being in a ruinous state.

The remains of the nunnery are the oldest buildings connected with the town and the total length of the building was 170 feet. Its founder also bestowed on the convent the patronage of the Auld Kirk of North Berwick. In 1296 the Prioress submitted to the power of Edward 1, ensuring protection and for a while the female inhabitants of the nunnery were safe. But with the turbulent violence during the reign of James lll, the nunnery was plundered.

In 1336 the prioress was Elena de Carrick; and in 1463 the prioress was Marion Ramsay. The later died in 1474 and was succeeded by Elizabeth Forman. In 1482 she applied to Parliament for protection and redress, and the Lords decreed the restoration of the property and the repair of the damages that the assailants had inflicted. Alison Home followed as Prioress and after her Isobella Home, who in 1539 was in charge of seventeen nuns. The gravestone of Isabella Home is displayed in the local museum. Isabella was third daughter of Sir Alexander Home of Polwarth and she was followed in 1580 Margaret Home with the last two remaining nuns named Renton and Donaldson. Thus, previous to the Reformation, the nunnery had become part of the Home family estate. After the Reformation, the untransferred were erected into a lordship for Sir Alexander Home of North Berwick, a special favourite of James VI.

The site of the church, which formed part of the Abbey buildings cannot now be traced but several very interesting stained floor-tiles, seemingly connected with it, have been dug up in the adjoining fields, along with a finely carved font.

A charter of the Great Seal of Scotland which was confirmed at Edinburgh on 28th September 1549, mentions Robert Lauder of The Bass in occupation of the lands of Balgone, and Farm-acres, in East Lothian, the superior landlord being the Monastery of North Berwick. In this charter, signed at the monastery on 24th June 1548, Margaret, Prioress of North Berwick, sold the superiority of these properties to Alexander, brother of Patrick Home of Polwarth.

A letter dated 9th April 1565, from Mary, Queen of Scots, to Mr John Spens of Condy, her advocate, ordering him to stop registration of the confirmation of Alexander Hume's feu of 80 acres of lands of abbey of North Berwick following complaint by Robert Lauder of The Bass that he and his predecessors had been kindly tenants of these lands. Several Lauders were still resident on the farm-acres in 1690 when there was a dispute about the rentals due by all the various tenants.

The earliest record of land being rented by Margaret Home, the prioress at the Abbey was in 1561 when 80 acres of 'ferme lands of Norberwick' were rented to John Baillye. The Abbey Farm lands surrounded the convent and during the laying of the railway line in 1848 workmen came upon two stone cists on the farmland. Measuring a little more than four feet in length, each contained a human skeleton. In one of them an iron sword and dagger lay together and at the sides of the skeletons in both cists were urns of rough grey ware. Also in the neighbourhood was found several remarkable relics of mediaeval pottery and leaden pipes of considerable extent, which were used to draw water from higher ground to the convent. Several tobacco-pipes were also discovered from the Jacobean and Caroline periods.

There are two roads remaining from those times which lead from the beach directly to the Abbey Farm. Ware Road 'ware' meaning seaweed, which was extensively used as a fertiliser and the other is the path crossing the west putting green over Beach Road through West End Place to Abbey Road which leads to the Nungate or the nun's road. Seaweed was harvested in February and spread on the land in spring as a manure for such crops as corn, barley and later potatoes. Tangle was also used especially for cabbage, while brown kelp was used as a general fertiliser.

The grain from Abbey Farm was milled at the Glen, where the ruins of the Mills of Kintreath are situated. They were first mentioned in 1434, but letters inscribed on the doorpost of the middle mill suggest they were built in the 1300s and occupied until the 1840s. In 1738 a Waulk Mill was established at the foot of the Glen. 'Waulk' means preparing cloth and this mill provided fabric for local weavers. It was short lived and converted into a Wash House (1755). There was a large Mill Pond situated at the entrance to the Glen where the culvert now passes under Dunbar Road. This gave the name Lochbridge to the bridge over the reservoir. The water was controlled by a sluice gate and water lades provided overshot power for the mill wheels. The water then flowed into the Mill Sea, hence the name Milsey Bay. The Abbey was entitled to a percentage of all grain milled and was also known for it's wool, a staple export of North Berwick in mediaeval times. The wool from the Nunnery was known in Italy in the 13th century.

Following the reformation the mills were the property of Patrick Home. In dry periods the water supply was insufficient to power the wheels and the grain was transferred to the mill at East Linton also owned by Home. In 1739 Sir Hew Dalrymple with the permission of the Town Council built a kiln on the burgh land. He also arranged for the construction of a waulkmill for the weavers who worked the looms at Horse Crook.

The wool was exported to Bruges in Flanders where the Scots had a special agreement with the merchants of Bruges who gained a monopoly on all Scottish wool and in return the Scots paid lower custom duties. During the 15th century Bruges was the centre of the wool trade and merchants came from all over Europe to purchase their goods, so Scottish wool had a ready market. The wool was woven into fine materials for clothes, tapestries and Flemish cloth.

The most famous person connected with the Scottish trade in Flanders was Anselm Adornes, governor of the Scottish privileges in Bruges. He became ambassador of James III to the Low Countries, but when King James got into trouble with his nobles, Adornes took the flak and was murdered near North Berwick in 1483. Fortunately trade with Europe continued and during the 16th century, Veere in Flanders became its centre after the river to Bruges silted up. The port of Leith dominated the Scottish trade and the merchants of Edinburgh became very wealthy.

Farming came to East Lothian during the period from 1050 to 1250 through Northern Europe where the monks helped train local communities in agricultural skills. The district climate favoured arable farming which flourished until the 17th century when land was devastated during the wars with the English. In the 1690s there had been five years of famine when two Scots in every ten died of hunger. The parliament was weak and the customs and excise system notoriously corrupt. Scotland's only manufactured export was linen. The Act of Union in 1707 opened up access to markets in England but the only beneficiaries were the landlords who profited from free export of grain and cattle.

Within ten years of the Union, Scottish grain exported to England had increased to unprecedented levels. But these successes produced much suffering for ordinary Scots as grain and beef supplies either ran out in Scottish markets or prices rose dramatically. In the winter of 1719, the markets along the east coast of Scotland were looking empty and ordinary people feared there would be a return to the famine. This led to enormous unrest and great bitterness among the Scots with riots, seizures of grain, burning of ricks and sabotage of landlords water supplies. Gradually the situation stabilised and during the Napoleonic wars there was more land under the plough than at any other time in history.

The Prioress at North Berwick Abbey was also the owner of the tidal island where the ruins of the Auld Kirk of St Andrew are situated. Two walls from the original Romanesque church can still be seen, made up of small stones and constructed facing east to west, typical of the Celtic churches of the period. In the 13th century the church was substantially enlarged with a bell-tower added. The Auld Kirk and graveyard extended to a considerable distance eastwards but the sea gradually nibbled it away until a violent storm in 1656 reduced the buildings to ruins.

During the excavation of the Auld Kirk Green in 1951 an upright slab bearing a cross on both sides was discovered which may have been a marker to indicate the church's right of sanctuary. This was important to protect those fleeing their pursuers till the due process of law could be brought into effect.

For many years the Auld Kirk was used by pilgrims on their journey to St Andrews, but by the 16th century the public belief in pilgrimages had declined due to the pressures of the Reformation throughout Europe and by 1692 there were no ferries at North Berwick. The last Prioress before the reformation was Margaret Home in 1578.

The Auld Kirk remained in the patronage of the nuns until the Reformation and was acquired with all their possessions in the 17th century by Lord President Dalrymple in the hands of whose lineal descendants it remained until the Act of the Abolition of Patronage came into operation at 1st January 1875. The Auld Kirk Green was an island until the end of the 18th century when the road to the harbour was made up.

[Skeleton] In February 2000, during the construction of the Seabird Centre over 30 skeletons were discovered on the site of the Auld Kirk graveyard. The skeletons ranged from a new born to an elderly woman and were in a remarkable state of preservation, the oldest is thought to date back to the 7th century. The density of the burials with the coffins laid inches above each other and intercutting made it a complex archaeological project. The unearthed graves, sited on the eastern portion of the old graveyard date from mediaeval times. It was not until the 17th century that the church authorities insisted that all future burials should be on the north side, as interments on the east and south were exposed to storm damage and ground erosion. The last burial at the Auld Kirk was between 1649-1656 when the church fell into ruin.

The Douglas and Lauder families are believed to be buried at the Auld Kirk. In a vault in 1788, a stone coffin was found containing a metallic seal with the legend 'Sigillum Williehmi de Douglas' marking the grave of Lord Douglas who lived about the year 1353. A large flat stone lying in the centre of the green enclosed by the Kirk buildings is said to mark the burying place of Lauder of the Bass. The skeleton on the left is over 500 years old.

The Witches Coven

During the 16th century there was reputedly a witches coven practising in the town and a well publicised trial of the North Berwick Witches took place in 1595. Accused of conspiring to do damage to King, James VI during his voyage from Denmark with his new bride. Their ship was caught in a terrible tempest and although the royal couple escaped, the storm was later blamed on a group of witches who met in North Berwick.

The town's connection with the plot to shipwreck the king seems to have begun with a poor maidservant from Tranent, Gelie Duncan. Employed in the house of a wealthy local man, Chamberlain David Seton. Gelie Duncan had an exceptional gift for healing and comforting the sick. In an atmosphere of fear and misgiving it was not long before her skills aroused suspicion and fearing that she possessed supernatural powers, her master put her to torture, using the 'pinniewinks' thumbscrews, designed to extract quick confessions from suspects. When Gelie Duncan kept her silence, Seton had her body examined for marks of the devil, a popular method of identifying witches. As the devil's signs were identified on her throat, she confessed and was thrown into prison.

Under torture and interrogation, Gelie Duncan claimed that she was one of 200 witches, who at the behest of the Earl of Bothwell, one of James's greatest enemies, had tried to overshadow the king. Some of their most extraordinary plotting she said took place in North Berwick. At Hallowe'en in 1590, Gelie Duncan revealed, the witches sailed to North Berwick and gathered at the Kirk. On a dark and stormy night the devil appeared to them in the church. Surrounded by black candles dripping wax, he had preached them a sermon from the pulpit. While in the churchyard, Gelie Duncan played a Jew's harp and the throng danced wildly, singing all the while.

The king had everyone named by Gelie brought before him. Among those put to death were Agnes Sampson from Humbie and John Fian, a Prestonpans schoolmaster. Both were 'convicted of divers pyntis of witchcraft and brynt'. Historians dismiss the witchcraft at the Auld Kirk as a myth, the story being tortured out of poor servant girl Gelie Duncan and in the end she was burnt as a witch on Castle Hill, near what is now the castle esplanade in Edinburgh.

Research suggests that the trials were brought about by the efforts of the minister of Haddington, James Carmichael, working in consort with James VI and David Seton of Tranent. Basically, it was a royal and clerical outrage that was committed against ordinary people, which furthered their own political and clerical ends. There had been witch hunts before these trials, but they had the effect of unleashing a national terror that lasted until the repeal of Witchcraft Act in 1735.

The victims were tortured in the most terrible ways until they said what their inquisitors desired. Bothwell was the one they implicated, not as the devil, but as one who attended their 'conventions'. This happened at a time when Elizabeth of England had asked James VI to deal with Bothwell, only a few years after she had his mother executed. Bothwell stood trial in 1593 and was found not guilty. There were no conventions, pacts with the devil, or witchcraft practises, just ordinary people trying to survive in an age of unbelievable horror - caused by the kirk and crown.

In 1650, six women were brought before the congregation of the St Andrews Old Kirk on the Anchor Green for practicing witchcraft in the ruins of Tantallon Castle. According to the Kirk Session Book the women were listed as Agnes Lumsden, Elspeth Thomson, Marion Patterson, Helen Nicolsone, Margaret Yule and Alison Hale. In April 1650 they faced the congregation, and listen to the ranting of the minister William Walker against them and their sins. Due contrition was shown by the penitents as they fell to their knees at the feet of the minister and prayed for atonement for their misdemeanors and after a suitable number of humiliating appearances, they were forgiven. It has been suggested that this may have inspired Robert Burns to write Tam O' Shanter.


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