Parish of Crichton

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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1791-99: Crichton
1834-45: Crichton

Crichton, a parish on the E border of Edinburghshire, containing, at its northern extremity, the village of Pathhead, on the road from Edinburgh to Lander, 5 miles ESE of Dalkeith, and 37/8 N of Tynehead station. Tynehead itself and Fala Dam hamlet (2¾ miles SE of Pathhead) also belong to Crichton, which is bonded NE by Cranston and by Humbie in Haddingtonshire, SE by Fala, the Blackshiels section of Humbie, the Cakemuir section of Cranston, the Cowbraehill section of Borthwick, and the Falahill section of Stow, SW and W by the main body of Borthwick. Its utmost length, from N to S, is 4½ miles; its width, from E to W, varies between 32/3 furlongs and 3½ miles; and its area is 4821½ acres, of which nearly ¾ acre is water. Tyne Water, rising close to Tynehead station, meanders 3 miles north-north-eastward along all the western border; the interior is drained by several sub-affluents of Humbie Water. The surface, sinking near Pathhead to close on 400 feet above sea-level, and to 600 at Costerton, attains 804 feet at a point 7 furlongs ESE of the church, and 900 upon Crichton Moss. The rocks belong mainly to the Carboniferous Limestone series, with a patch of basalt on the higher ground; limestone has been largely worked; and coal occurs, though not under conditions to be profitably mined. The soil over fully four-fifths of the area is rich and deep, accessible most of it to the plough, and yielding abundant crops; the high lands are sheltered by belts of thriving plantation. A rising-ground at Longfaugh, commanding a wide and beautiful prospect, is Crowned by remains of a fort, supposed by some to be a Roman camp; but Crichton's chief antiquity is Crichton Castle, a magnificent massive ruin, which forms the grand feature in the landscape, as it rises from a projecting terreplein within a hundred yards or so of the top of the hill on the Tyne's right bank, ¼ mile S of the church. A Turstan de Creichton is one of the witnesses to the charter of foundation of Holyrood Abbey (1128); his most famous descendant was Sir William Crichton, the founder of both castle and church, who, as chancellor of Scotland, was alternately rival and friend of Sir Alexander Livingston, and who in 1440 at Edinburgh Castle beheaded the young Earl of Douglas and his brother-an act of treachery for which his own fortress was taken and dismantled by the Douglases. (See Douglas Castle.) In 1445 Sir William was made Lord Crichton, the third holder of which title lost his estates in 1484 for joining Albany against James III. After four years' tenure by the minion Ramsay, they were granted in 1488 to Patrick Hepburn, first Earl of Bothwell, by whose great-grandson, Darnley's murderer, they were once more forfeited in 1567. Nine years later James VI. bestowed them on his ill-starred cousin, Francis Stewart, fifth Earl of Bothwell; and subsequently they passed through the hands of a dozen proprietors, from one of whom, Hepburn of Humbie (c. 1649), the Castle was nicknamed Humbie's Wa's, till at last they came to the Callendars. Queen Mary feasted in the castle hall, on occasion of the marriage here of her natural brother, Sir John Stewart; but Crichton's chief interest lies, with most readers, in the visit paid to it by ` Marmion.' Scott's lines describe the ruin faithfully:-

'Crichton ! though now thy miry court But pens the lazy steer and sheep; Thy turrets rude. and totter'd keep, Have been the minstrel's loved resort. Of have I traced within thy fort, Of mouldering shields the mystic sense, Scutcheons of honour or pretence, Quarter'd in old armorial sort, Remains of rude magnificence. Nor wholly yet has time defaced Thy lordly gallery fair; Nor yet the stony cord unbraced. whose twisted knots, with roses laced, adorn thy ruin'd stair. Still rises umimpair'd below The courtyard.s graceful portico Above its cornice. row and row Of fair hewn facets richly shoe Their pointed diamond form.'

'Crichton,' he adds in the Notes, 'is a large ruinous castle on the banks of the Tyne, built at different times, and with a very different regard to splendour and accommodation. The oldest part of the building is a narrow keep or tower, such as formed the mansion of a lesser Scottish baron; but so many additions have been made to it, that there is now a large courtyard, surrounded by buildings of different ages. The eastern front of the court is raised above a portico, and decorated with entablatures bearing anchors. All the stones in this front are cut into diamond facets, the angular projections of which have an uncommonly rich appearance. The inside of this part of the building appears to have contained a gallery of great length and uncommon elegance. Access was given to it by a magnificent staircase, now quite destroyed. The soffits are ornamented with twining cordage and rosettes; and the whole seems to have been far more splendid than was usual in Scottish castles.' So that Crichton still offers a signal contrast to its grim square neighbour, Borthwick, even although, since Sir Walter's day, its courtyard has been encumbered by the fall of a huge portion of the massive north-eastern tower. Costerton House, 3½ miles ESE of Pathhead, at the eastern extremity of the parish, is the principal mansion, the seat of David Ainslie, Esq.; and the property is mostly divided among 5 heritors. Crichton is in the presbytery of Dalkeith and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale; the living is worth £353, exclusive of manse and glebe. The collegiate church of SS. Mary and Kentigern, 1¾ mile SSW of Pathhead, was founded in 1449 for a provost, 8 prebendaries, a sacrist, and 2 singing boys. Second Pointed in style, it was to have been Cruciform, but never received the nave, so now comprises a chancel, with sedilia; transepts, the northern of which is blocked up with an unsightly vault; and a massive, snared, saddle-backed tower. The chancel, which, serving for parish church, contains 500 sittings, is disfigured by a gallery, and several of the windows have been blocked up; but the whole might at no great cost be restored to its pristine beauty. A public school, with accommodation for 209 children, had (1880) an average attendance of 183, and a grant of £174,11s. Valuation (1882) £8343, including £532 for railway. Pop. (1801) 923, (1831) 1325, (1861) 1364, (1871) 1223, (1881) 1094.—Ord. Sur., shs. 32,33,1857-63. See Billings' Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities (1845); Sir Thos. Dick Lander's Scottish Rivers (new ed. 1874); and J. W. Small's -Leaves from my Sketch Books (1880).

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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