Fifeshire is also distinguished for its buildings of an earlier age. Among the religious houses, the most remarkable are the ruins of St Regulus's chapel and tower of St Andrews, said to have been built in the fourth century ; the cathedral at the same place, founded in 1161 ; the Abbey of Dunfermline, re markable for its being a royal cemetery, where the re. mains of Robert Bruce were lately discovered, and re-interred with becoming solemnity, the Abbeys of Lindores, Inchcolm, Balmerino, and the priory of Pittenweem : and among the secular, the palace of Falkland, originally a seat of the Macduffs, Earls of Fife, and afterwards a royal residence ; the castle of St Andrews, on the north side of the town, where Beaton was put to death by Norman Leslie in 1545 ; the castles of Rosyth, Lochorr, Ravenscraig, Easter Wemyss, Balgonie, and Scotstarvet ; and Craighall, the seat of Sir Thomas Hope, advocate to Charles I., from whom are descended the principal families of that name in Scotland. Near Easter Wemyss there is a number of caves, most of them 100 feet above high-water mark, and several of them of consider able extent ; one of them is visited by young people, with lights, on the first Monday of January old style, but the origin or object of the practice is unknown. A bulwark of stone, called Danes-dyke, may yet be traced across the east point of Fife.
The farms of this county are in general of a mo derate size ; few of them are what may be called large, the greater number are small, and the average perhaps about 150 acres. But there are many possessions from 50 down to 8 or 10 acres, some of them occu.
pied by their proprietors, and others by manufac turers, tradesmen, and mechanics. In all the new leases the rent is made payable in money, though in a few instances the amount may depend upon the price of grain, and vary from year to year accord ingly. The common endurance of a lease here, as throughout Scotland, is nineteen years. It was usual formerly to add the life of the tenant, under an idea that he would always hope to live a little longer, and thus continue to improve his farm instead of ex hausting it, as is too commonly done towards the end of a lease, when it is for a number of years cer. tain ; but this expectation has seldom been realized, and the practice of adding the life has therefore been discontinued. Farm-buildings present a great varie ty in regard to their materials and construction as well as their size; but such as have been recently erected are not unsuitable to the extent of the farms ; and the cottages are generally better now than many of the best farm-houses were fifty years ago. More than a third of the county is complete ly and substantially enclosed with dry-stone walls or thorn hedges, chiefly the latter ; the rest is either alto gether open, or so badly fenced as to afford neither security nor shelter; the hedges, in too many in stances, being full of gaps, and overgrown with weeds.
Of the agriculture of Fifeshire, it is only necessary to observe, that all the farm-crops common in the south of Scotland are cultivated here upon a large scale, for the greater part according to the most ap proved system, and with great success; and that this is one of the few Scottish 'counties where flax is Frown to some extent as a farmer's crop; though it is by no means a favourite with landlords, who, in some instances, have prohibited the tenants from sowing more than one acre in a year. The cattle of this county have long been in high repute, both as fattening and dairy stock. The prevailing colour is black ; horns small, white, turned up at the points; bone small in proportion to the carcase; weighing, when fat, from three to four years' old, from 40 to 60 stone. The cows, when well fed, yield from 10 to 14 Scots pints of milk daily (nearly half as many English wine gallons) during the best of the grass season, and continue long in milk ; yet the dairy is here but a secondary object. The oxen were for merly much employed in labour, and were in request for this purpose for the counties along the north-east coast, but they are now very seldom to be seen at work. There are very few flocks of sheep. The horses are much the same as are found in all the low lands of Scotland. Pigeons are very numerous, there being upwards of SOO pigeon cots ; the havoc they make among the grain has long been matter of complaint with the farmers, and they have been upon the decrease of late.
The staple manufacture of this county is linen. Dunfermline has long been famous for its damasks and diapers. Checks, ticks, osnaburgs, and other fa brics, are made in several towns. In 1812, 4,500,000 yards of linen- cloth were stamped, of the value of L.280,000; and in 1800, 600,000 yards of plain linen were supposed to be made by private families for their own use, which were not stamped. The number of hands employed in all the branches of this manufacture in 1800 was computed to be 23,192. Flax is spun into yarn almost in every family, and, since 1793, a number of mills have been erected, which supply yarn for the coarser fabrics. The other manufactures are spirits, at four distilleries, one of which works for the English market; shipbuild ing at Dysart, Kirkaldy, Wemyss, and Anstruther; salt at the two former places and other towns; leather at Kirkaldy, Cupar, Auchtermucbty, and Falkland ; and there are breweries in every town, and most of the villages. At Cupar, Kirkaldy, and Leven, bricks and tiles are made to a large amount; and vitriol or sulphuric acid at Burntisland. Had docks, cod, and in their season herrings, are caught in considerable quantities on the coast, and part of the salmon flahings on the Tay belong to this county.