COLINSBURGH, a market-town, in the parish of
KiLCONaugh, district of St-Andrew's, county of
Fife, 10 miles (S. by E.) from Cupar, and '2Si (N. E. by
N.) from Edinburgh; containing 482 inhabitants. This
place is pleasantly situated in the south of the parish,
and on the great road from the eastern to the western
part of the county along the southern coast. It is neatly
built, and inhabited chiefly by persons employed in trade
for the supply of the parish with various articles of
merchandise, and in weaving for the manufacturers of
Dundee, Kirkcaldy, and other towns. The currying
trade is also carried on, by a company who are proprietors
of the tannery at Kilconquhar, and who manufacture
leather to the amount of £15,000 per annum, and afford
employment to about twenty-four persons. The market,
which is a large mart for grain, is held on Wednesday,
and is numerously attended by farmers and dealers from
the neighbourhood; the corn is sold by sample, and
considerable quantities are forwarded to Edinburgh,
Glasgow, and other ports, for exportation. Fairs are
held in June and October, for cattle; and iu March, when
the East Fife Agricultural Society hold their meeting in
the town, there is a public market at which great numbers
of cattle are exposed for sale. Colinsburgh is a
burgh of barony under the family of Lindsay, Earls of
Balcarres, from whose ancestor, Colin, third earl, the
place derived its name. In the immediate vicinity is the
elegant residence of Balcarres House; and overhanging
it, appears the Crag of Balcarres, which confers the title,
and is a rock of considerable altitude. The present earl
is the acknowledged chief of the very ancient house of
Lindsay, many of the members of which have been interred
in the old chapel near the mansion. A school has
been established.