Largo Bay

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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Largo Bay is the indentation of the N side of the Firth of Forth, at the top of which the parish just described lies. It is flanked on the E side by Kincraig Point, 12¾ miles in a straight line SW of Fife Ness, and on the W side by the point at Buckhaven harbour, measures across the mouth, in a line from point to point, 6⁵/₈ miles, and 2¼ miles from this line to the deepest part. The shores, formed from E to W by the parishes of Kilconquhar, Newburn, Largo, Scoonie, and Wemyss, are rocky on the E, W, and centre, and elsewhere low and sandy. There are several streams flowing into it, of which the chief are Cocklemill Burn, near the E side, Kiel Burn in the centre, and the river Leven on the W; within the bay, at the extreme E side, is a smaller rocky bay ⁵/₈ mile wide across the mouth, and ½ mile deep, with its sides formed E by Kincraig Point, and W by Ruddons Point. The bottom of the bay is mostly sandy, and forms excellent ground for line fishing, as witness the song of The Boatie Rows-

'I cuist my line in Largo Bay,
and fishes I caught nine;
There's three to Boil. and three to fry,
And three to bait the line.'

All along the coast extensive salmon fishings are carried on by fixed nets. Towards the E, beneath the sands, there are traces of a submerged forest.

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