Leith - History

History

The earliest evidence of settlement in Leith comes from several archaeological digs undertaken in the Leith area in the late 20th century. Amongst the finds were medieval wharf edges from the 12th century.

Leith has played a long and prominent role in Scottish history. As the major port serving Edinburgh, it has been the stage on which many significant events in Scottish history have taken place. Mary of Guise ruled Scotland from Leith in 1560 as Regent while her daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots remained in France. In that year Mary of Guise left her temporary palace on the Castlehill, in use since the burning of Holyroodhouse in the Hertford raid of 1544, and moved the Scottish Court to Leith, to a site that is now Parliament street, off Coalhill. According to Maitland, her own palace was situated on Rotten Row, now Water Street. Artifacts from the demolished palace are held by the National Museum of Scotland. This move was made to take advantage of the protection provided by the large French garrison stationed in Leith which resisted attacking Scottish Protestant lords, reinforced by troops and artillery sent from England by Queen Elizabeth I. In June 1560, the Siege of Leith ended with the departure of the French troops in accordance with the Treaty of Leith (also known as the Treaty of Edinburgh). Mary of Guise died during the siege.

Two mounds on Leith Links, known as "Giant's Brae" and "Lady Fyfe's Brae", identified as Somerset's Battery and Pelham's Battery respectively, are Scheduled monuments as artillery mounds created for the siege in April 1560. However, the historian Stuart Harris is of the opinion, based largely on the contemporary Petworth map, that Pelham's Battery was built on the slope to the south of Leith Links and Somerset's Battery was located adjacent to the present Pilrig House. He also notes that the "tradition" that these batteries were situated on Leith Links is spurious, going no further back than Campbell's "History of Leith" 1827. Lent authority by the Ordnance Survey 1852, this attribution saved the mounds when several other hillocks on the links were removed in the 1880s. The best documented day of the siege was 7 May 1560, when the English and Scots charged the walls of Leith with ladders that turned out to be too short. John Knox records the delight of Mary of Guise at the failure of the attack, and English sources report 1000 casualties.

Late in 1561, Mary, Queen of Scots, arrived in Leith and, finding no welcoming party to receive her, made a brief stop at the "house of Andro Lamb ... beit the space of ane hour", before being collected and escorted by coach to Holyrood Palace, to begin her ill-fated six-year-long reign. The Protestant reformer, John Knox, explained the lack of preparation thus,

"The ninetein Day of August 1561 Yeirs, betwene seven and eicht Hours Befoirnone, arryved Marie Quene of Scotland, then Wedo, with two Gallies furth of France... Becaus the Palace of Halyrudehous was not throuchly put in Ordour (for hir cumming was more suddane then many luiked for), sche remained in Leyth, till towards the Evening, and then repaired thither". .

A century later, Leith was a prospective battleground when the Army of the Covenant, led by General David Leslie, threw up an earthen rampart between the Calton Hill and Leith to defend the northern approach to Edinburgh against Oliver Cromwell's forces, under the command of General Monck. This rampart became the line of one of Edinburgh's longest streets, Leith Walk. After Cromwell's victory at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 and subsequent occupation of Scotland, a fort known as Leith Citadel was erected in 1656 to regulate the port traffic. All that remains of the fort today is a vaulted trance in Dock Street which was its main entrance.

The links are the site of an early five hole golf course built in the 18th century. What bolsters Leith's claim to being "the home of golf" is the fact that the official rules of golf, initially formulated at Leith in 1744 by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, were later adopted by St Andrews. The only difference introduced with those rules (which remain the rules of golf) was the omission of one rule to do with hazards such as trenches. Leith Links also has one of the longest established cricket pitches in Scotland, at 1820 (late by English standards, but early for Scotland).

During the American War of Independence the Scot John Paul Jones, who is credited as founder of the US Navy, set sail on 14 August 1779 as commodore of a squadron of seven ships with the intention of destroying British commerce in the North Sea. He intended to capture the port of Leith and hold it for ransom, but his plan was thwarted when a gale on 16 September kept him at the mouth the Firth of Forth. The scare he caused led to the hasty erection of Leith Fort, designed by James Craig, the architect of Edinburgh's New Town, and built in 1780. It was similar in scale and design to Fort George near Inverness (see Fort George, Highland). A fine Georgian terrace to the north-east served as officers' quarters, and was known as "London Row" because, being brick-built, it looked more like a London terrace than any in Edinburgh. The fort was in active use until 1955, latterly serving for National Service training. Most of the barracks were demolished to build a Council housing scheme centred around Fort House and enclosed by the old fort walls. The Council development was an award-winning scheme in its day (1955), but is now intended for demolition. A pair of the old fort's gatehouses survive at the southern entrance to the scheme.

There is a long history of worship in Leith which can be dated back to at least the 12th century. After the Scottish Reformation the principal parish kirk for Leith was South Leith Parish Church, originally constructed in 1483. In June 1811 a statistical population census gave the population of South Leith as 15,938; North Leith 4875. With a procession and ceremony, the foundation stone of the new church for the parish of North Leith was laid on 11 April 1814.

Leith was the port of entry for the visit of King George IV to Scotland, and The Old Ship Hotel and King's Landing was then given its new name, to mark the King's arrival by ship's boat at Leith Shore for this event, which is remembered most for popularising and decriminalising symbols of Scottish national identity.

Leith Docks became known as the port for Edinburgh and modest shipbuilding and repair facilities grew. On 20 May 1806, there was a procession of the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Magistrates (Baillies), and Council, along with a numerous company of ladies and gentleman, for the opening of the first new Wet Dock, the first of its kind in North Britain. The Fife packet called The Buccleuch was the first to enter the dock, with the civic dignitaries on board, amid discharges of artillery from the Fort and His Majesty's warships in the Roads. The foundation stone for the second (middle) wet dock was laid on 14 March 1811, which was completed and opened with due ceremony in 1817 by Lord Provost Arbuthnot. The same year the Trinity House in Kirkgate was erected in Grecian architectural style at an expense of £2500.

The docks at Leith underwent severe decline in the post-Second World War period, with the area gaining a reputation for roughness and prostitution, with an official 'tolerance zone' until 2001. In recent years Leith has undergone significant regeneration and is now a busy port with visits from cruise liners and the home of the Royal Yacht Britannia, Ocean Terminal, and administrative offices for several departments of the Scottish Government. The council and government's 'Leith Project' provided a further economic boost. The shore area of Leith, once unattractive, is now a centre for a range of new pubs and restaurants in charming surroundings. On 6 November 2003, Leith was the location for the MTV Europe Music Awards, with a temporary venue being built next to Ocean Terminal.

Historically Leith was governed by the Town Council of Edinburgh, with separately organised baillies appointed by various bodies without contact with each other. The result became vary unsatisfactory, and half of Leith was provided with no municipal government whatever or any local magistrates. An 1827 Act of Parliament arranged for municipal government and administration of justice in the town, providing watching, paving, cleansing, and lighting, with Edinburgh Council responding to the views of Leith townspeople. In 1833 the Burgh Reform Act made Leith a Parliamentary Burgh, which jointly with Portobello and Musselburgh was represented by one member of Parliament. On 1 November 1833, Leith became a separate Municipal Burgh, with its own provost, magistrates, and council, and was no longer run by bailies. In history the Right Hon. Lord Provost of Edinburgh is virtue officii Admiral of the Firth of Forth, the Provost of Leith is Admiral of the port thereof, and his four bailies were admirals-depute. Until 1923 there was no through tram service between Leith and Edinburgh; at the boundary in Leith Walk it was necessary to change from a Leith tram (electrically powered) to an Edinburgh tram (cable hauled) until the electrification of the Edinburgh Corporation Tramways in the early 1920s.

Continued growth meant that Leith and Edinburgh formed a contiguous urban area. Leith was merged with Edinburgh in 1920 despite a plebiscite in which the people of Leith voted 26,810 to 4,340 against the merger.