a small town situated on the Frith of Forth, towards the eastern extremity of the county of Fife in North Britain. It takes its name from a small cave in the middle of it anciently called a woe, and is remarkable for nothing but the ruins of a religious house, which is sometimes called an abbey and sometimes a priory. Which of these is the proper denomination it is hardly worth while to inquire; but it appears from the arms of the monastery, still preserved over the principal gate, that the superior, by whatever title he was called, had the privilege of wearing a mitre. This edifice, which seems never to have been large, was, with other monuments of mistaken piety, alienated from the church at the Reformation; and what parts of it now remain are put to very different uses. Some of the cells of the monks furnish habitations tolerably convenient for the servants of him who, in the ceaseless change of property, has got possession of the lands which formerly belonged to them. That which seems to have been the granary is a decent parish church. The porch of the chapel, the only part of that building which exists, has been alternately employed as a stable and a slaughterhouse; and the meat killed there has been commonly exposed to sale in the lower part of the steeples of that edifice which is now dedicated to the offices of parochial devotion. Had the moralizing traveller*, who composed the beautiful and pathetic meditation on the ruins of Iona, condescended to visit Pittenweem, he would not have viewed the abbey without emotion. Insignificant as the place at present is, it seems to have been of some consequence in the last century; and we are led to infer, from the following extract from the records, that the inhabitants were opulent, and that the town was fortified.

"Pittenweem, decimo-quarto Feb. 1651. The bailies and council being convened, and having received information that his majesty is to be in progress with his court along the coast to-morrow, and to stay at Anstruther house that night, have thought it expedient, according to their bounden duty, with all reverence and due respect, and with all the same solemnity they can, to wait upon his majesty, as he comes through this his majesty's burgh, and invite his majesty to eat and drink as he passes; and for that effect hath ordained, that the morn afternoon the town's colours be put upon the bell-tent of the steeple, and that at three o'clock the bells begin to ring, and ring on till his majesty comes hither, and passes to Anstruther: And sickness, that the minister be spoken to, to be with the bailies and council, who are to be in their best apparel, and with them a guard of 24 of the ablest men, with partizans, and other 24 with muskets, all in their best apparel, William Sutherland commanding as captain of the guard; and to wait upon his majesty, and to receive his highness at the West Port, bringing his majesty and court through the town, until they come to Robert Smith's yeot, where an table is to be covered with my Lord's* best carpet: and that George* The Earl of Hetherwick have in readiness, of fine flour, some great of Kelly, buns, and other wheat-bread of the best order, baken with... with sugar, cannell, and other spices fitting; and that James Richardson and Walter Airth have care to have ready eight or ten gallons of good strong ale, with Canary, sack, Rhenish wine, tent, white and claret wines, that his majesty and his court may eat and drink; and that in the mean time, when his majesty is present, the guard do diligently attend about the court; and so soon as his majesty is to go away, that a sign be made to Andrew Tod, who is appointed to attend the colours on the steeple head, to the effect he may give sign to those who attend the cannon of his majesty's departure, and then the hail thirty-six cannons to be all shot at once. It is also thought fitting, that the minister, and James Richardson the oldest bailie, when his majesty comes to the table, show the great joy and sense this burgh has of his majesty's condescendence to visit the same, with some other expressions of loyalty. All which was acted." N. Lat. 56. 11. W. Long. 2. 49.