LINLITHGOW, a royal burgh, parish and county town of West Lothian or Linlithgowshire, Scotland. Pop. (1931) 3,666. It lies in a valley on the south side of a loch, 171 m. W. of Edin burgh by the L.N.E. railway. In the 19th century its antique appearance was much changed by rebuilding. About 4 m. S. by W. lies the old village of Torphichen where the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem had their chief Scottish preceptory. The parish kirk is built on the site of the nave of the church of the establishment, but the ruins of the transept and of part of the choir still exist. The industries include shoe-making, tanning and currying, manu factures of paper, glue and soap, and distilling. There are shale works and stone quarries in the neighbourhood. An old tower-like structure near the railway station is traditionally regarded as a mansion of the Knights Templar. There are some fine fountains including the Cross Well in front of the town house, originally built in the reign of James V., but rebuilt in 1807; and one sur mounted by the figure of St. Michael, the patron-saint of the burgh.
The fine ruins of Linlithgow palace rise above the green knolls of the promontory which divides the lake into two nearly equal portions. In plan it is almost square, enclosing a court in the centre of which stands the ruined fountain of which an exquisite copy was erected in front of Holyrood palace by the prince con sort. At each corner there is a tower with an internal spiral stair case, that of the north-west angle being crowned by a little octagonal turret known as "Queen Margaret's Bower," from the tradition that it was there that the consort of James IV. watched
and waited for his return from Flodden. The west side is supposed to date in part from the time of James III., who later took refuge in one of its vaults from his disloyal nobles; but the larger part of the south and east side belongs to the period of James V., about 1535; and the north side was rebuilt in 1619-1620 by James VI. The palace was reduced to ruins by General Hawley's dragoons, who set fire to it in 1746. A few yards to the south of the palace is the fine church of St. Michael, a Gothic (Scottish Decorated) building with an embattled tower, probably founded by David I.
in 1242, but mainly built by George Crichton, bishop of Dunkeld (1528-1536). In it are to be found some fine stained glass, includ ing a window dedicated to the memory of Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (1830-1882), the naturalist, who was born in the parish.
Linlithgow was made a royal burgh by David I. Edward I. en camped here the night before the battle of Falkirk (1298), win tered here in 1301, and next year built a castle which in 1313 was captured by the Scots. In 1369 the customs of Linlithgow yielded more than those of any other town in Scotland, except Edinburgh. Robert II. granted it a charter of immunities in 1384. The palace became a favourite residence of the kings of Scotland, and often formed part of the marriage settlement of their consorts.