WINCHBURGH, a village, in the parish of Kirkliston,
county of Linlithgow, 2^ miles (W. by N.)
from the village of Kirkliston; containing 222 inhabitants.
This place, which at one period was celebrated
for its culture of bees, lies in the western part of the
parish, on the high road from Linlithgow to Edinburgh,
and near the Union canal. It is also close to the Edinburgh
and Glasgow railway, which here proceeds through
a tunnel 330 yards in length, twenty-six feet in width,
and twenty-two in height. There is a station on the line,
at one extremity of the tunnel. The inhabitants are for
the chief part engaged in agriculture. A fair is held in
the village on the first Friday in June, but it is wholly
for pleasure, no business being transacted. Here,
Edward II. first drew his bridle in his flight from Bannockburn;
and in the vicinity is Niddry Castle, formerly
a possession of the Earls of Wintoun, and at which
Queen Mary halted after her escape from the castle of
Lochleven.