KIRKCALDY, a royal and parliamentary borough and seaport in Fife-shire, about 12 miles N. from Edinburgh, lying along the margin of a bay on the N. shore of the Firth of Forth. It consists chiefly of one street, nearly 2 miles long (whence the name Lang town), with smaller streets and lanes opening into or running parallel with it. To the W. of the royalty, but within the parliamentary boundaries of the town, are the villages of Linktown, in the parish of Abbotshall, and the village of West Bridge, in the parish of Kinghorn.
In 1334 Kirkcaldy was mortified by King David II. to the Abbey of Dunfermline, the commendator and monastery of which sold it in 1540. On 5th February 1644 it received a charter of erection and novodamus as a royal burgh from King Charles II., and in this charter he conveyed the burgh to the bailies, councillors, and community, along with the harbour and about 487 acres of land.
The government of the burgh is vested in a provost, two bailies, a dean of guild, and sixteen councillors. There are also still seven incorporated trades. In 1811 an act of parliament was obtained for its improvement, and since that time great changes have taken place on the exterior of the town.
The revenue, under the charge of the magistrates and council, for 1855-6, amounted to L.700, 10s. 10d.; the ordinary expenditure was L.530, 19s. 5d.; the nett debt, L.535, 19s. 8d.
The port, situated near the E. end of the town, consists of an outer and an inner harbour, both of which have been of late deepened and improved. The depth of the water at the entrance in spring tides is 15 feet. The management
Kirghiz. of the harbour is vested in commissioners, who pay £1,300 a-year for municipal purposes, and engage to clear off the debt of the town, amounting to £11,096, 13s. 10d. The harbour revenue for 1855-56 amounted to £1,594, 5s. 11d., the expenditure to £1,351, 0s. 8d., leaving a surplus of £243, 5s. 3d. The nett debt of the commissioners is £1,14,355, 15s. 3½d.
The Kirkcaldy custom-house includes under its superintendence all the ports from Aberdeen on the W. to St Andrews on the E. On 31st December 1855 the number of vessels belonging to these ports was ninety-eight, and their tonnage 8646. The vessels employed in the foreign trade for the year ending 5th January 1856 numbered—inwards, 135; and outwards, 285. The tonnage of those inwards was 15,892; and outwards, 27,283. The number of vessels employed in the coasting trade during the same period was 490 inwards, their tonnage 24,928; and outwards 1059, and their tonnage 54,262. The Kirkcaldy custom-house revenue for the year ending 5th January 1854 was £9060; 5th January 1855, £7020; and 31st March 1856, £10,040.
Kirkcaldy is now the principal seat of the spinning department of the linen trade in this county. The value of goods manufactured in Kirkcaldy in 1815, when the trade was depressed, was estimated at £125,981. It is now considerably increased. There were, in 1836, ten spinning-mills within the parliamentary limits of the burgh, turning upwards of 4895 spindles, and within these limits this trade is now greatly enlarged. There are also four bleachfields connected with the town, four iron foundries, and one coal-work near the town, at which are raised upwards of 15,000 tons of coal annually.
Among its commercial and literary institutions may be mentioned the chamber of commerce (founded in 1825), two public libraries, two news-rooms, &c.
Besides the public schools in the burgh, frequented by about 300 scholars, the parochial school in Linktown for the parish of Abbotshall, and adventure schools, which receive about 700 scholars, there is a provision for gratuitous education in schools founded by Mr Robert Philp, merchant in Kirkcaldy, who died in 1829, and left a sum of money, now amounting to upwards of £74,500, for their support. The gross revenue of the charity for the year ending in 1856 was £2382, 2s. 4d. The scholars at present educated on this foundation number, in Pathhead, 280; in Kirkcaldy, 100; in Linktown and Bridgetown, 180; and in Kinghorn, 73.
The Sailor Guild, or Prime Gilt Box of Kirkcaldy, for the relief of destitute sailors and their families, has existed since 1590. Its average revenue amounts to £110 yearly.
Dr Adam Smith, the author of the Wealth of Nations, was born in Kirkcaldy, and his bust, along with that of Sir Robert Peel, is placed in the town-hall.
Kirkcaldy unites with Dysart, Burntisland, and Kinghorn in returning one M.P.; parliamentary constituency, 400. Pop. 10,475.