ABERLADY

Description(s) from The National Gazetteer (1868)

"ABERLADY, a parish and district in the county of Haddington, Scotland, 5 miles N.W. of Haddington, and 15 E. of Edinburgh. It is situated at the head of an extensive, flat, sandy beach, where the river Peffer, or Leddie, as it is conjectured to have been once called, falls into the Frith of Forth. David I. made a grant of the parish to the bishopric of Dunkeld, which he established. In 1522 it passed from Gavin Douglas, at that time the bishop, to his brother, Archibald Douglas. It was converted into a temporal barony by James VI. The village is large and clean. The soil near the sea is light and sandy, and a rabbit warren extends along the shore. The views from the village are very fine, embracing the Frith of Forth, the Pentland Hills, Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, with its churches, and spires, and castle, and the Grampian Mountains in the far distance. Gosford House, the seat of the Earl of Wemyss, and its beautiful grounds, are situated along the Forth, and extend to a distance of 2 miles west of the village. Ballencrief, the seat of Lord Elibank, and Luffness, the seat of Sir Alexander Hope, are in this parish. The living is in the presbytery of Haddington, value £281, in the patronage of the Earl of Wemyss. In the church is a monument to Lady North. It has been conjectured by some that an establishment of the Culdees once existed near this village; for a fortalice between the village and the shore, of which no traces are now left, bore the name of Kilspindy, which signifies "cell of the black-heads" or "blackhoods." This "cell" was probably connected with the Culdee monastery at Dunkeld."

"GOSFORD CASTLE, the seat of the Earl of Wemyss in the parish of Aberlady, and county Haddington, Scotland, near Aberlady. It is situated on the Firth of Forth, and includes the old castle. In the picture gallery are some fine works of the old masters, chiefly of the Italian and Flemish schools. There is another seat of the same name, belonging to the Earl of Gosford, in the county Armagh, Ireland, near Market Hill."

"LUFFNESS, a village in the parish of Aberlady, county Haddington, Scotland, 5 miles N.W. of Haddington. It is situated near the junction of the rivers Peffer and Leddie, on Aberlady Bay."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]