FIFE, eastern county, Scotland, bounded north by the Firth of Tay, east by the North sea, south by the Firth of Forth, and west by the shires of Perth, Kinross and Clackmannan. The Isle of May, Inchkeith, Inchcolm, Inchgarvie and the islet of Oxcar belong to the shire. It has an area (excluding water) of 323,012 acres. Its coast-line measures 108 miles. The Lomond hills to the south and south-west of Falkland reach, in West Lomond, a height of 1,713 ft.; their summits show intrusive sheets of dole rite and basalt penetrating the lower Carboniferous rocks, as does that of Benarty, on the confines of Kinross. Volcanic structures of various ages occur widely : in the north they are of Old Red Sandstone age and form the higher ground bordering the Firth of Tay, The Howe (or Hollow) of Fife; south of this tract, and watered in part by the river Eden, is a lowland underlain by soft Upper Old Red Sandstones : the quarries in these rocks in Dura Den are famous for their fossil fishes. The Carboniferous forma tions occupy the rest of the county southward. Many necks of volcanoes of the Permian period are traced in east Fife, as at Largo Law and in the example of columnar basalt at Kincraig Point on the coast. Of the rivers the Eden is the longest ; formed on the borders of Kinross-shire by the confluence of Beattie burn and Carmore burn, it pursues a wandering course for 25 m. N.E., partly through the Howe of Fife, to the North sea. There is good trout fishing in its upper waters, but weirs prevent salmon from ascending it. The Leven and its tributary, the Ore, with the old and reclaimed loch Ore, and Motray water, are the other streams. The only large valley is the fertile Stratheden.
History.—The term Fife was once applied to the peninsula lying between the estuaries of the Tay and Forth and separated from the rest of the mainland by the Ochil hills. Its inhabitants were Picts of the northern branch, and their country was long known as Pictavia. Doubtless it was owing to the long continuance of an independent king that Fife itself came to be called dis tinctively The Kingdom. The Romans, probably only temporarily, occupied a few points, and left no impression on the civilization of the natives. Christian missionaries—especially St. Serf, St. Kenneth, St. Rule, St. Adrian, St. Moran and St. Fillan—have left memorials in the numerous coast caves between Dysart and St. Andrews, and in crosses and sculptured stones, some doubtless of pre-Christian origin, at various places. The word Fife, accord ing to Skene, seems to be identical with the Jutland Fibh (pro nounced Fife) meaning "forest," and was probably first used by the Frisians to describe the country behind the coasts of the Forth and Tay, where Frisian tribes are supposed to have settled at the close of the 4th century. The next immigration was Danish, which left lasting traces in many place-names (such as the frequent use of law for hill) . In 1426 the first shire of Kinross was formed, consisting of Kinross and Orwell, and was enlarged to its present dimensions by the transference from Fife of the parishes of Port moak, Cleish and Tulliebole. Although the county has lain out side of the main stream of Scottish history, Dunfermline, Falk land and St. Andrews were often the scene of pageantry and ro mantic episodes during the reigns of the earlier Stuarts. Seventeen out of the 7o royal burghs in Scotland are in the shire. Notwith standing the marked preference of the Stuarts, the Kingdom played the leading part in the dramas of the Reformation and the Cove nant, and by the 18th century the people had ceased to regard the old royal line with any but sentimental interest, and the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745 evoked only lukewarm support.
Agriculture and Industries.-.Only about 7 of the total area is mountain and heath land, and the yield of wheat and bar ley is high. Of the green crops most attention is given to turnips. Potatoes also do well. Cattle are mainly kept for feeding pur poses, and dairy farming supplies only local markets. Sheep farming, however, and the raising of horses, especially farm horses, are important. The horses are strong, active and hardy, with a large admixture, or purely, of Clydesdale blood. North of the Eden the soil, though generally thin, is fertile, and the sandy coastal waste of Tents moor is now planted with trees. From St. Andrews southwards all the coast land is very productive. That adjacent to the East Neuk is chiefly clay and rich loam. From Leven to Inverkeithing it varies from light sand to rich clayey loam. Excepting Stratheden and Strathleven, which are mostly rich, fertile loam, the interior is principally cold and stiff clay or thin loam with strong clayey subsoil. Part of the Howe of Fife is light and shingly and covered with heather. Some small peat mosses still exist, and near Lochgelly there is a tract of waste, partly moss and partly heath.
Fife is a great coal-producing county. The coal-field may roughly be divided into the Dunfermline basin (including Beath, Hal beath, Lochgelly and Kelty), where the principal house coals are found, and the Wemyss or Dysart basin (including Buck haven and the hinderland), where gas-coal of the best quality is obtained. Beds of ironstone, limestone, sandstone and shale lie in many places contiguous to the coal. Iron is smelted at Kirkcaldy. Limestone, sandstone and freestone are extensively quarried in the south, and whinstone of unusual hardness and durability is obtained in several places. Pyropes, a variety of dark red garnet, sold under the name of Elie rubies, are found in the trap ufa at Elie.
The staple manufacture is linen, ranging from damasks to ducks and sackings. Its chief seats are at Kirkcaldy and Dun fermline, but it is carried on at many towns and villages, espe cially those situated near the Eden and Leven, on the banks of which rivers, as well as at Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline, are found the bleaching greens. Flax is spun at Dysart, and Newburgh and Kirkcaldy are famous for oil-cloth and linoleum. Most of the leading towns possess breweries and tanneries, and there are distilleries at Cameron Bridge, Kirkcaldy and Auchtermuchty. Woollen cloth is made to a small extent in several towns, and fishing-net at Kirkcaldy and Buckhaven. Paper is manufactured at Guardbridge, Markinch and Leslie, and earthenware at Kirk caldy; there are engineering works and iron foundries at Kirk caldy, Dunfermline and Tayport; and shipbuilding is carried on at Anstruther and Burntisland. From Inverkeithing all the way round the coast to Newburgh there are harbours, mostly of moderate dimensions, the principal port being Kirkcaldy. Salmon fishing is carried on at Newburgh and the chief seat of the herring fishery is Anstruther, but most of the coast towns take some part in the fishing.
Communications, Population and Government.—The L.N.E.R. has a monopoly in the shire. From the Forth bridge the main line follows the coast as far as Dysart, and then turns northwards to Ladybank, where it diverges to the north-east for Cupar and the Tay bridge. From Thornton Junction a branch runs to Dunfermline and another to Methil, and here begins also the coast line for Leven, Crail and St. Andrews which touches the main line again at Leuchars Junction; at Markinch a branch runs to Leslie ; at Ladybank there are branches to Mawcarse Junction, and to Newburgh and Perth; and at Leuchars Junc tion a loop line runs to Tayport and Newport, joining the main at Wormit. From the Forth bridge the system also connects, via Dunfermline, with Alloa and Stirling in the west and with Kinross and Perth in the north. From Dunfermline there is a branch to Charlestown, which on that account is sometimes called the port of Dunfermline.
The population was 276,261 in 1931, when 810 persons spoke Gaelic and English. The chief towns are Buckhaven (17,643 with Methil), Burntisland (5,389), Cowdenbeath (12,731), Cupar Dunfermline (34,954), Inverkeithing (3,185), Kilrenny (3,325, with Anstruther-Easter and Anstruther-Wester), Kirkcaldy with Dysart), Leven (7,411), Lochgelly (9,297), Newport St. Andrews (8,269), Tayport (3,164). For parlia mentary purposes Fife is divided into an eastern and a western division each returning one member. It also includes the Kirk caldy district of parliamentary burghs (comprising Buckhaven, Methil and Innerleven, Burntisland, Dysart, Kinghorn and Kirk caldy), and the Dunfermline district (Dunfermline, Cowden beath, Inverkeithing and Lochgelly).