Humbie

The following lengthy quotation about the parish of Humbie comes from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, edited by Francis Groome, published in London, 1903.

Humbie, a parish in the south-western extremity of Haddingtonshire. It comprehends the ancient parishes of Keith and Humbie called at the end of the 17th century Keith-Symmars and Keith-Hundeby. The Boundary Commissioners in 1891 transferred a detached portion of the parish to the parish of Fala and Soutra, and so to Edinburghshire. This detached portion was situated at Blackshiels, about a mile SW of the western boundary of the parish, and comprised 450 acres. The parish is bounded NW by Ormiston, NE by Salton and Bolton, E by Yester, SE by Channelkirk in Berwickshire, SW and W by Fala and Soutra in Edinburghshire; and it contains the post office of Upper Keith. It has an utmost length from NNW to SSE of 5 1/8 miles, an utmost breadth from E to W of 4 miles, and an area of 8866 acres. The drainage is carried northward to the Tyne by Keith, Humbie, and Birns Waters; and the surface, declining to 370 feet above sea-level in the extreme N, thence rises southward to the Lammermuirs, attaining 600 feet near Humbie House, 616 near Upper Keith, 1158 near Blegbie, and 1431 at the south-eastern border. The southern district, as part of the Lammermuirs, approaching within ¾ mile of Lammer Law (1733 feet) in Yester parish, is mostly heath or upland pasture; but the central and northern districts, comparatively low and level, share the general character of the great plain of Haddington, and contain a great aggregate of park and wood. One stretch of forest, bearing the name of Humbie and Salton Wood, begins near the parish church, and extends 1½ mile northward to the northern boundary, and ½ mile farther into Salton parish. Silurian rocks predominate in the uplands, and rocks of the Carboniferous formation extend beneath the plain. Traces are found of iron ore and coal. The soil on the uplands is much of it mossy; in the eastern parts of the low grounds, is a fine light gravel, well adapted to the turnip husbandry; and in the northern parts, is variously rich clay, loam, and light gravel. Faint vestiges of a Roman castellum are on Whitburgh estate, and in front of Keith House are remains of a pre-Reformation chapel. Humbie House, about a mile S of the left bank of Birns Water, is a seat of Lord Polwarth, his grandfather early in the present century having succeeded the Hepburnes in this estate, as great-grandson of Helen Hepburne, Countess of Tarras. (See HARDEN.) Keith House and Whitburgh are noticed separately; and the chief proprietors are the Earl of Hopetoun and Lord Polwarth. Humbic is in the presbytery of Haddington and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale; the living is worth £335. The parish church, 6½ miles NE of Tynehead station on the Waverley section of the North British railway, was built in 1800. There is also a Free church; and a public school, with accommodation for 101 children, has an average attendance of about 50, and a government grant amounting to over £40. Valuation (1860) £9247, (1879) £11,283, lls., (1883) £10,141, 10s., (1891) £8438, 10s., (1892) £7734, 15s. (1893) £7666, 15s. Pop. (1801) 785, (1831) 875, (1861) 997, (1871) 967, (1881) 907, (1891) 791.