DAIRSIE, a parish, in the district of Cupar, county of Fife,
2 miles (E. N. E.) from Cupar; containing,
with the village of Osnaburgh, or Dairsie-Muir, 669
inhabitants. This place is of some antiquity, and appears
to have belonged to the see of St. Andrew's till
the year 1520, when it was granted by charter of
Archbishop Foreman to the family of Learmonth of
Clatto, in whose possession it remained till the year
1616. It then became the property of Archbishop
Spottiswood, from whose descendant. Sir John Spottiswood,
it was conveyed to Sir George Morrison, Knt.;
and it was subsequently purchased by Thomas, Earl of
Kincardine. The estate was sold by the earl in 1772
to General Scott of Balcomy, whose daughter conveyed
it by marriage to the Duke of Portland, by
whom it was afterwards disposed of; and it is now
divided among several proprietors. Dairsie Castle, the
residence of Archbishop Spottiswood, and in which it
is said he wrote his History of the Cliurcli of Scolldiid,
though now a ruin, is in good preservation; it is situated
on an eminence near the banks of the river Eden,
and has an air of venerable antiquity. It was selected
as a place of security and retirement, during the minority
of David II., by the regents of Scotland, who held a
parliament in the castle in the year 1335.
The PARISH, which is bounded on the south and
south-east by the Eden, is of irregular form, nearly
three miles in length, and of almost equal breadth, comprising
an area of 2300 acres, of which, except about
fifty acres in woodland and plantations, the whole is
arable. Its surface rises gently to a considerable elevation,
and, towards the centre, into two conspicuous
hills called respectively Foodie and Craigfoodie, the
latter of which is 500 feet above the sea. Both these
hills are cultivated to their summit; and Foodie, which
is the less elevated, is crowned with plantations. The
river, over which is a handsome bridge of three arches,
erected by Archbishop Spottiswood, abounds with salmon
and trout; and the Middlefoodie burn, a fine troutstream,
intersects the parish, and eventually flows into
the Eden. The soil is mostly fertile, in many parts of
great depth, and the system of agriculture is excellent,
the parish being one of the best cultivated in Fifeshire;
the crops are wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips,
with the various grasses. The substrata are chiefly
whinstone and freestone; the former is quarried on the
hill of Foodie, and the latter is found in abundance on
the lands near the river. The annual value of real property
in the parish is £4752.
In this parish the principal mansion-houses are Craigfoodie,
Pitormie, and New-Mill, all modern buildings.
^Voodend Cottage, a small but handsome residence, surrounded
with wood, was occupied for some time by Lord
William Russell, who was inhumanly murdered in London
by his valet Courvoisier. The manufacture of dowlas is
carried on under the direction of Mr. Inglis, in whose
establishment about thirty-five persons are engaged;
and there are two mills for the spinning of flax, one
belonging to Mr. Annan, in which 5200 spindles, and
one to Mr. Michael Smith, in which 31,250 spindles,
are employed. Great facilities of intercourse are afforded
by the Dundee section of the Edinburgh, Perth, and
Dundee railway. Ecclesiastically the parish is in the
presbytery of Cupar and synod of Fife: the minister's
stipend is about £250, with a manse, and a glebe valued
at £11 per annum; patron. Captain McDonald. Dairsie
church, situated near the remains of the old castle, was
erected by Archbishop Spottiswood, about the year 1621,
and was originally an elegant structure in the later
EngUsh style, of which it is said to have been one of
the most beautiful specimens in the country. It underwent
much mutilation, however, in the time of the
Covenanters, who, in their zeal for the demolition of
idolatrous monuments, in 1645 destroyed most of its
richest details. The members of the Free Church have
a place of worship. The parochial school is attended
by about sixty children; the master has a salary of £34,
with a house and garden, and the fees average £25 per
annum.