Old Photograph Burntisland Scotland

Old photograph of shops, houses and people in Burntisland, Fife, Scotland. Burntisland developed as a seaport, being second only to Leith by Edinburgh in the Firth of Forth, and shipbuilding became an important industry in the town. In 1633 one of the barges, the Blessing of Burntisland, carrying King Charles I and his entourage's baggage from Burntisland to Leith sank with the loss of Charles' treasure. In 1601, King James VI chose the town as an alternative site for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. This was when a new translation of the Bible was first discussed, a project which James brought to fruition a decade later in the King James Bible. Burntisland was held by the Jacobite army for over two months during the rising known as the Fifteen. The Jacobites first of all raided the port on 2 October 1715, capturing several hundred weapons, then occupied it on 9 October. They held it until it was recaptured by the Government on 19 December. Burntisland became an important port for the local herring fishing and coal industries, and in 1847 the Edinburgh and Northern Railway opened from Burntisland north to Lindores and Cupar.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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