BERWICK-NORTH, a parish and burgh and market-town, in the county of Haddington,
10 miles (N. by E.) from Haddington, and '2'i (N. E. by E.) from Edinburgh;
containing I7O8 inhabitants, of whom 102s are in the town. It derives its
name of Berwick from its situation at the mouth of the Firth of Forth; and though
its origin is involved in obscurity, the manor appears to have belonged to the Earls
of Fife, in whose possession it remained till near the
close of the fourteenth century, and of whom Duncan,
who died in the year 1154, founded a convent here for
sisters of the Cistercian order. This establishment was
amply endowed by the founder, and by numerous other
benefactors, with lands in the counties of Berwick, Roxburgh,
Edinburgh, and West Lothian; and continued to
flourish till the Reformation, when the site and revenues
were conferred by James VI. on Sir Alexander Home, of
North Berwick. After the death of Isabel, the last
Countess of Fife, the manor passed into the possession
of William, Earl of Douglas, who in 13*3 obtained from
Robert II. a charter constituting this place a royal burgh,
with the privileges of a market and port, a custom-house,
and other advantages. In 1455, the manor became forfeited
to the crown, on the attainder of James, Earl of
Douglas; but it was restored by James III. to Archibald,
Earl of Angus, the heir male of the Douglas family, and
erected into a free barony in his favour. After the grant
of the monastery and part of its lands to Sir Alexander
Home by James VI., the barony, on the failure of that
family, passed into other hands, and in 1640 was confirmed
by act of parliament to Sir William Dick, from
whom it passed to Sir Hew Dalrymple, president of the
court of session, and ancestor of the present proprietor.
The TOWN is advantageously situated on the south
side of the Firth of Forth, near its junction with the sea,
and consists principally of two streets. One of these is
of considerable length, extending from east to west, and
is intersected near its eastern extremity by the other, a
shorter street, which is continued to the harbour. The
bouses in the first are irregularly built, and many of
them of antique appearance, while those in the other
street are of a superior class, and mostly inhabited by
the gentry and more opulent families. On both sides of
the latter street are rows of trees, giving it a pleasant
and cheerful appearance; and the scenery surrounding
the town combines many interesting and picturesque
features. A subscription library has been established,
which is well supported, and contains a good collection;
and a branch of the East Lothian Itinerating Library is
also stationed here. The waste or common lauds on the
west of the town are much frequented by the members of
a golf clnb, who hold meetings for the celebration of that
game, which is also the favourite amusement of the inhabitants.
The only manufactory is a foundry for the
construction of steam-engines, machines for making tiles
for draining, and other articles. The trade of the i-ort
consists mainly in the exportation of agricultural produce
and of lime, chiefly for the Newcastle and London
markets; and the importation of coal, rape and oil cake.
and crushed bones for manure: the exportation of grain
and lime has materially decreased, but that of potatoes
very much increased, within the last few years. There
are four vessels registered as belonging to the port, of
the aggregate burthen of 273 tons. The harbour is spacious
and secure; it is dry at low water, but is commodious,
and several sums have been expended on its improvement.
Fishing is pursued on a limited scale. The
market is chiefly for the supply of the town and neighbourhood:
fairs are held in June and November, and
facility of communication with the adjacent towns is
maintained by good roads, and by the North Berwick
branch of the North-British railway.
The inhabitants obtained their earliest charter in the
reign of Robert II. It was confirmed in 1568 by James
VI.; and the government of the burgh is vested in two
bailies, a treasurer, and nine councillors, elected according
to the provisions of the act 3rd and 4th of William
IV., cap. 76. The magistrates hold no regular courts,
but act as justices of the peace within the royalty
of the burgh; all criminal jurisdiction is referred to
the procurator-fiscal and sheriff of the county, and
petty misdemeanors are punished by temporary confinement.
A town officer is appointed by the magistrates,
who also choose a town-clerk and a shore-master. The
town-hall is a commodious building, and there is a small
l)rison. Since the Union the burgh has united with
Haddington, Dunbar, Lauder, and Jedburgh, in returning
a member to the imperial parliament; and by the act
^nd and 3rd of William IV., cap. 65, the right of election,
previously vested in the corporation and burgesses,
was extended to the £10 householders, resident within
the parliamentary limits of the burgh. The bailies are
the returning officers.
The surface of the parish is greatly varied. A range
of rocks of various hues intersects it from east to west,
presenting in some parts a barren and rugged aspect,
and in others being clothed with wood. About half a
mile south of the town is a hill of conical form, called
North Berwick Law, crowning a gently sloping eminence,
and rising to an elevation of 940 feet above the sea. It
was occupied as a signal station during the war; and the
remains of the buildings, which were suffered to fall to
decay, have the picturesque effect of an ancient ruin.
The hill is wooded near its base, and the other parts of
its surface, comprising an area of nearly seventy acres,
afford pasturage for sheep; the views from it are extensive
and strikingly diversified. In the mouth of the
Firth of Forth, and about a mile and a half from the
shore, is the well-known rock called the Bass, nearly a
mile in circumference, rising abruptly from the sea, in
a circular form, to a height of 420 feet. It is of very
rugged aspect, extremely precipitous on the north side,
on the south more resembling a cone in form, and accessible
only on the south-east, where are two landingplaces.
About half way up the steep are the remains of
an ancient chapel. The rock is perforated, from the
north-west to the south-east, by a cavern, which is dry
at full tide; and on the side commanding the landingplace
are the remains of an old fortress, and of the dungeons
formerly used for state prisoners, for which purpose
it was purchased from Sir Andrew Ramsay in 1671.
Its surface is estimated at seven acres, and it forms an
object both of scenic and historical interest. It is supposed
to have been the retreat of Baldred, the apostle of
East Lothian, in the sixth century; and in 1406 was the
temporary asylum of James I., in which he was placed
by his father, Robert III., previously to his embarkation
tor France, to avoid the persecution of his uncle, the
Duke of Albany. On its purchase in I671, it was converted
into a state prison for the confinement of Covenanting
ministers; after the Revolution of 1688, it was
no longer used for such a purpose. This rock, which is
let on lease to a keeper, affords pasturage for sheep,
which are in high estimation; and is frequented in great
numbers by Solan geese, which, when young, are taken
by a hazardous process, and conveyed to the opposite
shore. Opposite to the town, and about a mile from the
coast, is the island of Cragleith, a barren rock about a
mile in circumference, abounding with rabbits, and resorted
to by sea-fowl, of which the puffin is the most
conspicuous. The coast of the parish is boldly rocky,
and indented with bays, one of which, of semicircular
form, reaches from the west of the harbour to Point
Garry; and a still larger bay, about two miles east of
the town, and directly opposite to the Bass rock, called
Canty Bay, is the residence of the tenant of that rock
and his assistants. To the west the shore is a flat sand,
and towards the east a line of precipitous rocks, terminating
in a lofty eminence, on whose summit are the picturesque
ruins of Tantallan Castle, noticed hereafter.
The SOIL, though various, is generally fertile, and the
system of agriculture in a highly improved state; the
whole number of acres is estimated at 3456, of which
3'280 are arable, about 1*0 in pasture and in woods and
plantations, and the remainder common. The chief
crops are wheat, barley, oats, peas, beans, potatoes, and
turnips. The principal manures are lime and raperake;
furrow-draining with tiles has been extensively
adopted, and the farm-buildings and offices are generally
substantial and commodious. About 1000 sheep
are annually fed; and from 300 to 400 head of cattle,
mostly of the short-horned breed. The annual value of
real property in the parish is £1'2,967. The woods are
chiefly ash, elm, oak, beech, and plane. In this parish
the substrata are mainly trap, sandstone, and limestone;
the sandstone, which is usually of a reddish hue, is frequently
intersected with strata of limestone. The rocks
are principally of the secondary formation: the lower
part of North Berwick Law is trap tuOFa, above which is
a sonorous clinkstone, and near the summit the height
assumes the character of amygdaloid; the Bass rock is
generally a fine granular greenstone, abounding with
felspar, and strongly exhibiting the tabular structure.
At North Berwick Law are extensive quarries of excellent
building-stone; and at Rhodes, and on the
Balgone estate, limestone is quarried to a considerable
extent. North Berwick House is a fine mansion, erected
in 1777, and standing in grounds embellished with thriving
plantations; Balgone and Rockville are also handsome
mansions, finely situated.
The parish appears to have existed from a remote
period of antiquity, and its church was most probably
founded by St. Baldred: on the foundation of the nunnery
here, the church, with all its possessions, was given
by the noble founder to that establishment. For ecclesiastical
purposes. North Berwick is within the bounds
of the presbytery of Haddington, synod of Lothian and
Tweeddale. The stipend of the incumbent is £306. 2. =>.,
and the patronage is exercised by Sir Hew Dalrymple,
Bart.; the manse is a substantial and comfortable residence,
built in 1825, and pleasantly situated on an
eminence, and the glebe is valued at £35 per annum.
The church, erected in 1770, on the site of the former
edifice, was in 1819 thoroughly repaired, and the interior
renewed; it is adapted for a congregation of 550
persons, and has a spacious cemetery, planted with
stately avenues of elms. There are places of worship
for members of the Free Church and the United Presbyterian
Synod: the former was erected with a view to
honour the memory of the Covenanters imprisoned on
the Bass rock, and the expense was defrayed by special
subscription. The parochial school is but indifferently
attended: the master has a salary of £34. 4. i-., with
a house and garden; the school fees are very inconsiderable.
An infants' school has been estabhshed;
and on the lands of Tantallan is a sub-parochial school.
There are a bequest by Alexander Home, Esq., and a
donation of £450 called the Edwin fund, for the poor.
About a quarter of a mile to the w est of the town are
the remains of the Cistercian abbey, beautifully situated
on an eminence planted with trees, but so greatly dilapidated
as scarcely to convey a faint idea of that once
venerable and stately edifice: the vaults, which formed
the principal relic, were many years since destroyed.
Near the harbour are the remains of what is supposed
to have been the ancient church, consisting chiefly of
the entrance doorway, which is still entire; the sea is
constantly encroaching upon the cemetery, and laying
bare the remains of bodies interred there. Three miles
to the east of the town are the remains of the old Castle
of Tantallan, seated on a precipitous eminence projecting
into the sea. The outer walls, of hexagonal form,
are of massive thickness; and above the entrance is a
sculptured stone shield, bearing the device of its ancient
proprietors the Douglases. The interior consists of numerous
apartments, inaccessible from the dilapidated
state of the various staircases which formerly afforded
an approach; and the vaults contain many dark dungeons.
The original foundation of this castle is not
distinctly ascertained. It was the stronghold of the
Douglas family on their obtaining the barony of East
Lothian, at the accession of Robert II., and for centuries
the seat of their power. The fortress was always regarded
as impregnable, and was frequently assaulted
without effect: it was finally besieged, and, after an
obstinate defence, taken by the forces under Oliver
Cromwell; and, together with the lauds, was sold by
the Marquess of Douglas to Lord President Dalrymple,
by whom it was dismantled, and suffered to fall into
decay. About half a mile to the west of the castle is
St. Baldred's Melt, a spring of excellent water. Fenton
Tower, an ancient edifice, of which only the bare walls
remain, is situated on a commanding eminence; and
nearly adjoining are the remains of the palace of Sydserf,
so called from St. Serf, the instructor of Kentigern,
whose retreat was in this place.
John Mair or Major, author of the work De Gestis Scotoriim,
published in 1521, was born at Gleghornie, in the
parish, in 1469: he became a member of Christ's College,
Cambridge, where in 1518 he seems to have written
his learned history; and he subsequently taught theology
at Glasgow, and at St. Andrew's, dying about 1547.
Blackader, one of the martyrs of the Bass, is buried in
North Berwick churchyard.