BURNTISLAND, a small seaport town, and a royal and parliamentary burgh in the district of Kirkcaldy, in the county of Fife, on the opposite shore of the Frith of Forth from Leith, from which it is about six miles distant, in Lat. 56. 4. N. Long. 3. 13. W. The town is pleasantly situated on the sea-coast, and is clean and well built. The beach is sandy and admirably adapted for bathing, and the town is on this account much frequented by the people of Edinburgh and other parts of Scotland during the summer months. A large proportion of the inhabitants are engaged
in the herring and whale fisheries; and there is a considerable though decreasing trade in ship-building. The quantity of spirits manufactured at the distilleries is very large. The general aspect of the town has greatly improved since the completion of the Edinburgh and Northern railway, which connects Burtisland with Edinburgh on the one side, and the more important towns of the north of Scotland on the other. Steamers pass and repass between Burtisland and the opposite shore every hour. There are no public buildings of any importance in the town except the town-hall, the church, a dissenting chapel, and the school-house. The town is governed by a municipal council, consisting of a provost and twenty-one councillors, and its revenue amounts to £1,022. It is in the presbytery of Kirkcaldy; and the living, which is worth £1,180 per annum, is in the patronage of the crown. There is a lighthouse at the end of the pier, erected in 1845, which is seen at the distance of eight miles. Pop. (1851) 2329.