DUN 



199 



DUN 



nnftnn- whom receive instruction two years at the academy free 

 line. O f expence : 2dly, A grammar and an English school, at 

 ~Y~~' which about 300 youths of both sexes are educated ; 

 exclusive of various private schools. Every branch of 

 useful and polite education is taught here with success 

 and reputation. There are two libraries well supplied 

 with Books, and there is a weekly newspaper publish- 

 ed, of which about <y'0 copies are circulated. There is 

 a weekly market on Friday for corn ; on Tuesday and 

 Friday there are ordinary markets, and every 'day there 

 is a butcher market, all of which are well supplied. In 

 August and September annually, there are two great 

 cattle markets. 



The harbour of Dundee is at present inconvenient ; 

 but a survey has been taken, and a report made by Mr 

 Stevenson, engineer, for its improvement. He recom- 

 mends the conversion of the upper harbour of Dundee 

 into a wet dock, to the extent of 3\ acres, to serve the 

 double purpose of keeping ships always afloat, and of 

 occasional! v scouring the lower part of the harbour 

 through sluices. This it is estimated will cost 

 L.34,902, 10s. (kl. Subordinate to this radical improve- 

 ment, an extension of the quays is projected ; and it is 

 extremely probable that, to a certain extent at least, the 

 plan will be adopted. See Statistical Account of Scot- 

 land ; Laing's History oj Scotland, S^c. (A. P.I 



DUNFKRMI.IXE, a considerable manufacturing 

 town in Fit'eshire, Scotland, is situated about three 

 miles north of the Frith of Forth at Queensferry, on a 

 rising ground, with a declivity towards the south, and 

 commands a fine view, not merely of the Forth and its 

 banks, but of the higher lands in fourteen different coun- 

 ties. Ft is a royal bur^h. By a charter dated 24th 

 May 1588. James VI. ratified various deeds of John 

 :ind Kolx-rt, abbots of Dimfermline, and particularly 

 an indenture, 10th art 139.5, by which the holding of 

 the town from the abbey, until it was erected into a 

 royal burgh, is regulated. The government of the 

 burgh is vested in a provost, two bailies, and dean 

 of guild, chosen annually by a council of twenty- 

 two, consisting of twelve guildry or merchant council- 

 lors, eight deacons of incorporations, and two trades 

 councillors. The burgh revenue exceeds L. 500 per an- 

 num. In 1791-2, the population of the town, suburbs, 

 and adjoining feus of Pittencrief, appears, from the sta- 

 tistical account, to have been 5192. In 1801, accord- 

 ing to the census then taken, the number of inhabi- 

 tants was 5484, occupying 705 houses ; of which 506 

 were within the royalty, and contained 4702 souls. 

 In 1811, the number of houses was 554, and the num- 

 ber of inhabitants 43 1 5, being, in ten years, a decrease 

 in the burgh of nearly 400 ; but during the same pe- 

 riod, the suburbs have increased nearly 1000, the num- 

 ber of houses being 843, and of inhabitants in all, 6352. 



Dimfermline is remarkable chiefly for its antiquities, 

 which connect it with the history of Scotland ; and for 

 its manufactures. At a very early period it was a 

 royal residence. Malcolm Canmore (III.) usually re- 

 sided, it is said, in a tower on a small hill in the glen 

 adjacent to the town. A fragment of this tower still 

 remains, and is now included in the romantic grounds 

 of F'ittencrief, belonging to Mr Hunt. A little to the 

 eastward of the tower, on the brow of the glen, the 

 remnant of a j>alace, afterwards built, and long inha- 

 bited by the kings of Scotland, still exists. One wall 

 is pretty entire, and affords a specimen of its ancient 

 magnificence. Charles I. and the Princess Elizabeth, 

 liis sister, from whom the House of Hanover derive 

 their title by descent, were bom in this royal residence. 



The Abbey, of which nothing but the ruins now re- 

 main, is another interesting relict of other times. It 

 was one of the earliest and richest religious houses in 

 Scotland. It was founded as a monastery by Malcolm 

 Canmore, for the monks of the Benedictine order, com- 

 pleted by his son Alexander I. and dedicated, with its 

 church, to the Holy Trinity, and St Margaret, the queen 

 of Malcolm. It was governed by a prior till the reign 

 of David, who converted it into an abbey ; and was at 

 one time so magnificent and extensive, that " three 

 sovereign princes, with all their retinue, might have 

 been lodged conveniently within its precints." Its re- 

 venues were derived from places at a considerable dis- 

 tance ; but it suffered amidst the ravages of war and 

 reformation, with the other monuments of superstition 

 and royal prodigality. The Abbey was nearly burnt 

 down in the 14th century. Edward I. wintered at 

 Dunfermline in 1303. The church and some cells 

 which had been spared, were, however, nearly demo- 

 lished in 1560, by the reformers; and the Abbey be- 

 ing erected into a temporal lordship in 1593, and be- 

 stowed on Queen Anne of Denmark, all that now re- 

 mains of this once splendid ecclesiastical edifice, is a 

 part of the great church, built by Malcolm, and the 

 rubbish and ruins which surround it. The part of the 

 church which is still preserved, is occupied as a place 

 of worship. Adjacent to the church, the cemetery of 

 many kings of Scotland is pointed out ; and we learn 

 from Sir Robert Sibbald's History of Fife, that the fol- 

 lowing royal personages are here interred : Malcolm III. 

 Queen Margaret, King Edgar, Alexander I. Sibilla 

 his queen, David I. his two wives, Malcolm IV. Alex- 

 ander III. his queen Margaret, Robert I. his queen 

 Isobel, Edward II. son of Malcolm III.; his brother 

 Etheldrade, earl of Fife ; M'Duff, earl of Fife ; Con- 

 stantine, earl of Fife ; William Ramsay, earl of Fife ; 

 Thomas Randel, earl of Murray, governor of Scotland. 

 Robert the Bruce, the most illustrious of our Scottish 

 kings, is also said to be buried at Dunfermline. But 

 all marks of royalty are obliterated from their graves. 



The manufactures of Dunfermline are principally 

 diaper and damask, for which this town has long been 

 distinguished A few years ago, the annual receipt 

 from the sale of these kinds of cloth was calculated to 

 amount to L. 150,000 ; but of late, a great diminution 

 has taken place. The manufacturers in Dunfermline, 

 and its immediate vicinity, who, in September 1813, 

 amounted to 1114, were, until within the period allu- 

 ded to, employed exclusively in the manufacture of 

 diaper and damask, but many of the operative weavers 

 now receive work from Glasgow, and other places, 

 and some are still altogether unemployed. Great im- 

 provements have been made in the Dunfermline branch 

 of manufactures, and there are at present many persons 

 employed in it. For a long period, the goods manu- 

 factured were chiefly bought for the London market, 

 by people who came and purchased them on the spot ; 

 but for the last twenty years, great quantities of them 

 have been disposed of in the usual way, by the manu- 

 facturers going to London, and other places, and re- 

 ceiving orders. Previously to 1749, it was customary 

 to weave ticks and checks during the winter months ; 

 but since that time, until of late that the cotton goods 

 for manufacturers in Glasgow, &c. have been woven, 

 nothing, comparatively) but damasks and diapers have 

 been made in Dunfennline. 



Dunfermline is the seat of a presbytery ; and recently 

 a sheriff-substitute has been appointed, and holds courts 

 for the administration of justice in the western district 



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Dunferm- 

 line. 



