CALDER-MID, a parish, in the county of Edinburgh;
containing, with the villages of Mid-Calder and
Bells-Quarry, 1456 inhabitants, of whom 550 are in the
village of Mid-Calder, 12 miles (W.) from Edinburgh.
This place, which was in the extensive district of Calder,
obtained the appellation of Calder-Comitis, from its
having been the property of the Earls of Fife, in the
twelfth century. In the sixteenth century the barony
was part of the possessions of Sir James Sandilands,
whose descendant, Lord Torphichen, is the present proprietor.
The large parish of Calder-Coinitis was divided
by the presbytery of Linlithgow, in 1645, into the two
parishes designated Mid and West Calder. Mid-Calder
is about seven miles in length, and from two to three miles
in breadth, comprising 12,339 acres, of which about 200
acres are woodland and plantations, and of the remainder
about one-third arable and two-thirds meadow and
pasture. Its surface is generally an extensive plain,
bounded on the south by a ridge called the Cairn Hills,
forming a continuation of the Pentland range, and of
which the highest has an elevation of about 1 800 feet
above the sea, commanding an unbounded view of the
Firth of Forth, with the adjacent country towards Stirling,
the coast of Fife, and the Ochils. The principal
streams are, the river Almond, and the Murieston and
Linhouse waters, which latter unite their streams, and
flow into the Almond a little to the north of the village.
The scenery is pleasingly varied, and enriched with wood;
the ancient forest of Calder has been greatly diminished
in the progress of cultivation, but there are still considerable
remains of stately timber, and also extensive
modern plantations, consisting of common and spruce
firs, larch, oak, ash, beech, and elm.
The SOIL, along the banks of the river and its tributary
streams, is a rich, dry, and fertile loam, and in
some parts clay, which has been greatly improved by
draining and the use of lime. The arable lands produce
favourable crops of grain; but the principal reliance of
the farmers is on the dairies, which are well managed;
and on many of the farms a considerable number of
sheep are pastured. The annual value of real property
in the parish is £"667. The substrata are chiefly freestone,
limestone, and whinstone, all of which have been
extensively wrought. A quarry of limestone has long
been in operation, on the lands of Easter Murieston. In
Calder Wood is a quarry of freestone excellent for every
kind of building; and there are quarries of freestone
underneath the Cairn hills. Ironstone is found in the
beds of the rivers, but not in sufficient quantity to remunerate
the labour of working it. Lead-ore has been
discovered on several parts of the Harburn estate, but it
has not been wrought; and seams of coal have been
met with in the upper districts of the parish, one of
which is nearly four feet in thickness. Calder House,
the seat of Lord Torphichen, is a spacious and elegant
mansion, beautifully situated on the bank of the Murieston
water near its confluence with the river A.lmond, in
an ample demesne richly embellished with stately timber.
lu the more ancient part of the structure the walls are
seven feet in thickness; and in the old hall, now the
drawing-room, John Knox, for the first time after the
Reformation, publicly administered the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper, according to the protestant form: in this
room are portraits of the Reformer, and Mary, Queen of
Scots. In the centre of the kitchen is a deep draw-well,
from which is a subterraneous passage to the village.
Murieston Castle, another seat, has been repaired and
partly rebuilt by the proprietor; and the ancient mansion
of Linhouse, now Burnbrae, is an embattled structure,
with towers in good preservation. There are other
mansions in the parish. The village is pleasantly situated
on the road from Edinburgh to Glasgow, on an
eminence between the Almond and the Linhouse water,
and under the shelter of Calder Wood. There are two
paper-mills; and fairs are held on the second Tuesday
in March, and the Friday after the second Tuesday in
October, for the sale of cattle and horses, and for hiring
farm servants. Great facility of intercourse is aff"orded
by the Caledonian railway.
Ecclesiastically the parish is in the synod of Lothian
and Tweeddale and presbytery of Linlithgow. The
minister's stipend, including £8. 6. 8. for communion
elements, is £15S. 6. 8., of which £88. I7. 10. are paid
by the exchequer; with a manse, and a glebe of fortythree
acres, valued at £64 per annum: patron. Lord
Torphichen. Mid-Calder church, an ancient structure
in the pointed style, contains 438 sittings. There is a
place of worship for the United Presbyterian Synod.
The parochial school is well attended: the master has a
salary of £34, with a house and garden, and the fees,
&c., average £6.'i; he also receives the proceeds of a bequest
for teaching music, amounting to £11. The ancient
castle of Cairns, of which there are some remains,
consisting of a tower, is supposed to have been founded
by Sir William Crichton, lord high-admiral of Scotland,
in 1440. In the south-west part of the parish, on the
summit of an eminence called Castle Grey, are tolerably
perfect remains of a Roman camp, in which various Roman
coins have been found. There are also numerous
tumuli on the banks of the river Almond, and artificial
mounds, four of which, on its south bank, point out the
field of a battle between the Picts and Scots. John
Spottiswood, Archbishop of St. Andrew's, was a native of
the parish.