Murray's refufal to furrender: he efeaped • the flames,: but was till
fortunately difcovered by a fparlc that fell on his helmet, and v l
flain, in telling Gordon of Buckie, who had wounded him in ¡kj
face, Tou have fpilt a better face than your awin.
iNViRKEiTHutc. Ride through Inverkeithing, a royal burgh; and, during J
time of David I. a royal refidence. It was much favored by P/iT
Bam, who in their firft charter extended its liberties from the watel
of Dovatt to that of Levin. The Mowbrays had large poflciTiotiJ
here, forfeited in the reign of [Robert II. The Francifcans had j_
convent in this town ; and, according to Sir Robert Sibbald, tie 1 Dominicans had another.
Separated from the bay of Inverkeithing, by a fmall headland, |
that of St. Margaret-, the place where that illuftrious princelij
afterwards queen of Malcolm the III., landed with her brothel
Edgar in 1068, after their flight from England, to avoid theconfJ
quences of the jealoufy of the conqueror, on account of the titlj
of the former to the crown. This paffage is alfo called the «tas’il
ferry, being afterwards her familiar palTage to Dunfermline, her ufuJ
refidence.
The village on this, fide is called the North-Ferty. At thil
place flood a chapel, ferved. by the monks of Dumfermlm, and enl
dowed by Robert I. Near it are the great granite quarries, whicfl
help to fupply our capital with paving ftones, and employ a nuntl
ber of vefiels for the conveyance.. The granite lies in perpenl
dicular flacks, and above is. a reddifh earth, filled with micaceoifij
friable nodules.
From Kinghorn to this place the firth contrails itlelf gradually a
but here, by the jutting out of the northern ihore,, almolt ini
w&h&fSsvWt-* '■ '■ ' ' . I I ■ ftantlj
L forrns a ftrait of two miles in breadth •, and beyond as fud-
opens in a large and long expanfe. About midway of this
t i t iies Jnchgarvie, with the ruins of a fort. This was a fine ftation
§0 review the ihores I had travelled, and to feaft the eye with the
[hole circumambient view. The profpefr on every part is beau-
liful: a rich country, diverfified with the quickefi fucceflion of
|wns, villages, caftles, and feats ; a vaft view up and down the
Jrth from its extremity, not remote from Sterling, to its mouth
(ear May ifland, an extent of fixty miles. To particularife the
|bje£ts of this rich fcene muft be enumerated, the coafts of Lo-
v-M and of Fife, the ifles of Garvie and Inch-colm, the town of Dum-
ftrmline -, the fouth and north ferries, and Burrowftonef, fmoaking
It a diftance, from its numerous falt-pans and fire-engines : on the
South fide are Hopetoun houfe, Dmdas caftle, and many other gen-
Ilemen’s feats; with Blacknefs caftle, once an important fortrefs : on
the north fide are Rofythe caftle, once the feat of the Stuarts-, Duni-
miflil, and, in the diftant view, the caftle and town of Bumt-ijlatid -, t ti.j, with its road often filled with ihips, and a magnificent view
Ipf Edinburgh caftle on the fouth, afiift to complete this various
liifture.
As I am nearly arrived at the extremity, permit me to take a
review of the peninfula of Fife, a county fo populous, that, ex-
Icepting the environs of London, fcarce one in South-Britain Cart
pie with i t ; fertile in foil, abundant in cattle, happy in collieries,
jin iron, ftone, lime, and free-ftone, bleft in manufactures, the
■property remarkably well divided, none infultingly powerful, to
jdiftrefs and often to depopulate a country, moft of the fortunes of 1» ufeful mediocrity. The number of towns is perhaps unpa-
E e 2 ralleled