FIFE FIG-TREE. 



191 



employment. So scrupulous was he in the obser- 

 vance of the rules of his monastery, that the pope, 

 perceiving how much his pious fasts and unceasing 

 labour affected his health, gave him permission to 

 eat animal food. He replied, with great simplicity, 

 " My prior has not granted me permission to do it." 

 Such was his submission, that he would undertake no 

 work for other monasteries, or for private persons, 

 without the consent of his superiors, to whom he al- 

 ways delivered the proceeds. On being reproached 

 for this conduct, he replied, " True riclles consist in 

 wanting little." He declined, with humility, the 

 Dignity of archbishop of Florence, offered him by the 

 pope, and which was bestowed, at his request, on 

 brother Antonino, who, he said, was more worthy of 

 it. He was contented with his little cell, in which 

 he devoted himself constantly to religious medita- 

 tion and the painting of subjects from sacred history. 

 He died in 1454, aged sixty-eight, at Rome, where 

 lie had painted the chapel of the Holy Sacrament in 

 the Vatican, and was buried in the church Delia 

 Minerva. He has been beatified by the church. 

 His only undisputed scholar, whose works still re- 

 main, is Benozzo Gozzoli, whose numerous and well- 

 preserved paintings are found in the Campo Santo in 

 Pisa. 



FIFE ; a wind instrument of the martial kind, 

 consisting of a short, narrow tube, with holes dis- 

 posed along the side, for the regulation of its tones. 



FIFE, or FIFESHIRE; an extensive county in 

 the eastern part of Scotland, is situated between 56 

 3' and 50 25' north latitude, and is peninsular in its 

 form, being bounded by the river Tay on the north, 

 by the German ocean on the east, by the Firth of 

 Forth on the south, and the counties of Perth, Clack- 

 mannan, and Kinross, on the west. Its medium length 

 from east to west is about thirty-six miles, and its 

 medium breadth from north to south about fourteen 

 miles. At an early period, Fife included the counties 

 of Kinross and Clackmannan, and was known by the 

 name of Ross, i. e. the peninsula ; Culross signifying 

 the lower part of the peninsula, Kinross, the head of 

 the peninsula, and Muckross, now Fifeness, the snout 

 of the peninsula. In these days, nearly the whole of 

 this extensive tract was subject to the thanes of 

 Macduff, whose principal residences were Cupar and 

 Falkland, which were confiscated and attached to 

 the crown of Scotland in 1424, on the execution of 

 Murdoc, the last chief. The county is now divided 

 into sixty-one parishes, distributed into four presby- 

 teries, which meet at their respective seats, St And- 

 rews, Cupar, Kirkaldy, and Dunfermline. 



Fife exhibits numerous inequalities of surface, but 

 contains no ground that can properly be termed 

 mountainous. It is divided into two parts by an ele- 

 vated tract, stretching eastward from the borders of 

 Loch Leven, in the adjoining county. The highest 

 hills are the Lomonds, by which it is partly separated 

 on the west from Kinross-shire; East Lomond being 

 1460 feet above the level of the sea. In the south- 

 east Largo Law, though a conspicuous object from 

 the other side of the Forth, has an elevation of only 

 952 feet. The hills on the north are a continuation 

 of the Ocliill Hills. The aspect of the county is 

 beautiful and populous along its shores, but on 

 ascending inland it becomes rather bleak in appear- 

 ance. The rivers of Fife are small. The chief is 

 Leven, which issues from the celebrated Loch of the 

 same name in Kinross-shire, and, after an easterly 

 course of twelve miles through a beautiful strath, 

 falls into the Firth of Forth at the port of Leven, 

 where there is safe shelter for shipping. On this 

 stream there are several mills, and it abounds with 

 salmon and trout. It is joined by the Lotkrie and 

 by the Orr, the latter of which receives the Lochty. 



The Eden is formed by the confluence of several 

 small streams in the parishes of Strathmiglo and 

 Falkland, and running mostly in a north-east direc- 

 tion by Cupar, the county town, it loses itself in the 

 German ocean, about two miles north-west of St 

 Andrews. It abounds with red and white trout, and 

 has a salmon fishery at its mouth. The Gair, or 

 Guard bridge over this river, consisting of six arches, 

 was built in the beginning of the fifteenth century. 

 The lakes in this county are small ; some have been 

 drained and the ground cultivated, but several still 

 remain. The Loch of Lindores in the north is a 

 beautiful sheet of water, about four miles in circum- 

 ference. Kil-Conquhar Loch in the south-east is 

 nearly of an oval form, and two miles in circuit. 

 Both these are frequented by water fowl. Lochgellic, 

 Camilla Loch, and Lochfitty are situated in the west. 



Fife abounds in coal, lime, ironstone, and free- 

 stone. The climate, as no part of the county ex- 

 ceeds nine miles from the sea, in general is much 

 milder and more favourable to vegetation than in 

 many districts farther south. The soil is of various 

 characters, including clay-loam, gravel, sand, and 

 moss. Along the Forth it is for the most part of an 

 excellent quality, and produces luxuriant crops of all 

 kinds, wheat, barley, beans, oats, grass, turnips, and 

 potatoes. The ground here, when enclosed and laid 

 out for pasture, brings a very high rent. Between 

 this division and the high land south of the Eden the 

 soil is inferior ; whinstones abound in it, and there 

 are several heathy and barren moors. The valley 

 on each side of the Eden, which as far east as Cupar 

 was formerly called Strath-Eden, or the How of Fife, 

 is very productive. Northward from this valley to 

 the river Tay the land has a whin-rock bottom, but 

 even in this hilly district the soil is in general excel 

 lent, and there are some uncommonly fertile valleys. 

 The south and east coasts of the county are skirted 

 in most places by links, which usually consist of sand 

 that has drifted from the sea shore, and has buried 

 the original soil often to the depth of several feet. 

 Rabbits are numerous in these tracts. The agricul- 

 ture of Fifeshire bears a high character. Many of 

 the hills are altogether arable, and four-fifths of the 

 county are stated to be under cultivation. Within 

 the last forty years many woods have been planted 

 in the county, and draining has been more extensively 

 practised here than in any other quarter of the king- 

 dom. Fife has been long distinguished for its breed 

 of cattle, both as fattening and dairy stock. 



The chief manufacture of Fife is linen, which em- 

 braces various kinds of the fabric, damasks, diapers, 

 ticks, &c. Brewing, distilling, and the fabrication 

 of leather, soap, candles, bricks, and tiles are also 

 carried on. Ship-building is followed in several of 

 the ports. The foreign trade of the county is chiefly 

 with the north of Europe; but its coasting trade is 

 of the most importance. The fishery both for her- 

 rings and white fish is also a source of wealth and 

 occupation to the inhabitants. Fifeshire contains 

 twelve royal burghs, with parliamentary privileges, 

 namely, St Andrews, Cupar, Anstruther Easter, 

 Pittenweem, Crail, and Anstruther Wester ; Kirkal 

 dy, Dysart, Burntisland, and Kinghorn; Dunferm- 

 line and Inverkeithing. (See notices of the more 

 important of these places under tlu-ir proper heads.) 

 Population of Fifeshire in 1801, y.5,743 ; in 1831, 

 128,800. 



FIFTH, in music; a distance comprising four dia- 

 tonic intervals, that is, three tones and a half. Fifth 

 sharp is an interval consisting of eight semitones. 



FIG-TREE (ficus carica) is a native of Asia, Afri- 

 ca, and the south of Europe, and has been cultivated 

 from remote antiquity in the countries surrounding 

 the Mediterranean, where it forms a principal articlo 



