![Water of Leith above Dean Village](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Water_of_Leith_above_Dean_Village.jpg)
The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Uisge Lìte'') is the main
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
flowing near central
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Scotland, and flows into the port of
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
where it flows into the sea via the
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south.
Name
''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...
.
Name
The name ''Leith'' may be of
Brittonic
Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to:
*Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain
*Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic
*Britons (Celtic people)
The Br ...
origin and derived from ''*lejth'' meaning 'damp, moist' (
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
''llaith'').
It is less likely that the name derives from the
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
''lodda'' meaning a river. The
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
form of the name is ''Lìte'' (Leith), with ''Uisge Lìte'' being the full translation of "Water of Leith".
The ''
Dictionary of the Scots Language
The ''Dictionary of the Scots Language'' (DSL) ( sco, Dictionar o the Scots Leid, gd, Faclair de Chànan na Albais) is an online Scots-English dictionary, now run by Dictionaries of the Scots Language, formerly known as Scottish Language Dicti ...
'' defines the term "water" here as "''A large stream, usu. thought of as intermediate in size between a
Burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...
and a river''"
Course
It is long and
rises in the
Colzium Springs
Colzium House and Estate (pronounced Coal-Zee-Um) is about 500 metres to the north-east of Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The present house dates from 1783 and was extended and modernised in 1861. The name may mean "defile leap".
W ...
at
Millstone Rig
Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones.
Millstones come in pairs: a convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and ...
of the
Pentland Hills
The Pentland Hills are a range of hills southwest of Edinburgh, Scotland. The range is around in length, and runs southwest from Edinburgh towards Biggar and the upper Clydesdale.
Etymology
The name is first recorded for the farm of Pentla ...
. It travels through
Harperrig Reservoir
Harperrig Reservoir is a reservoir in West Lothian, Scotland, to the north of the Pentland Hills, south of Mid Calder. The Water of Leith flows through it, and nearby are Harlaw Reservoir and Threipmuir Reservoir. It has been proposed that th ...
, past the ruins of
Cairns Castle, through
Balerno
Balerno (; gd, Baile Àirneach, IPA: paleˈɛːɾʲnəx Scots: Balerno or Balernie) is a village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland situated south-west of the city centre, next to Currie and then Juniper Green. Traditionally in the cou ...
,
Currie
Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...
,
Juniper Green
Juniper Green is a village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated about south-west of the city centre. It bridges the city bypass, and extends along the foothills of the Pentlands. It is bordered by Colinton to the east, Baberton ...
,
Colinton
Colinton ( gd, Baile Cholgain) is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated south-west of the city centre. Up until the late 18th century it appears on maps as Collington. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north ...
,
Slateford
Slateford ( gd, Àth na Sglèata) is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is east of the Water of Leith.
The former village of Slateford lies on the Lanark Road where it crosses the Water of Leith, south west of Slateford Sta ...
,
Longstone Longstone or Long Stone may refer to
Places
*Longstone, Edinburgh, a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland
* Longstone, County Armagh, a townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland
*Longstone, Cornwall, a hamlet in Cornwall, England
*Longstone, Isles of Sc ...
,
Saughton
Saughton () ( sco, Sauchtoun) ( gd, Baile nan Seileach) is a suburb of the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, bordering Broomhouse, Stenhouse, Longstone and Carrick Knowe. In Lowland Scots, a "sauch" is a willow. The Water of Leith flows by here. ...
,
Balgreen
Balgreen ( or ) (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile Griain)'' is a suburb of Edinburgh, located approximately two miles west of the city centre, most commonly known for its primary school, Balgreen Primary. It is located to the west of Murrayfield and ...
,
Roseburn
Roseburn is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.
The area lies in the west of the city, approximately a 20-minute walk from the city centre, west of Haymarket and close to the Murrayfield area (and Murrayfield Stadium). It is imm ...
,
West Coates
West Coates or Wester Coates is a residential district of central Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is on the A8, in proximity to Haymarket railway station and Roseburn, west of the city centre, bounded by the Water of Leith on its nort ...
and on to the nearest it gets to the Edinburgh city centre at the
Dean Village
Dean Village (from ''dene'', meaning 'deep valley') is a former village immediately northwest of the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is bounded by Belford Road to the south and west, Belgrave Crescent Gardens to the north and below the ...
, on the site of old
watermill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...
s in a deep gorge. This
ravine
A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.[Dean Bridge
The Dean Bridge spans the Water of Leith in the city of Edinburgh on the A90 road to South Queensferry, Queensferry on the Firth of Forth. It carries the roadway, long and broad, on four arches rising above the river.H Coghill, ''Discover ...](_blank)
, designed by
Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...
, which was built in 1832 for the road to
Queensferry, and lies next to the
New Town
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
.
![St Bernards Well - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/St_Bernards_Well_-_panoramio.jpg)
The river flows on past
Stockbridge,
Inverleith
Inverleith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Lìte'') is an inner suburb in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include Trinity to the north and the New Town to the south, with Canonmills ...
,
Canonmills
Canonmills is a district of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It lies to the south east of the Royal Botanic Garden at Inverleith, east of Stockbridge and west of Bellevue, in a low hollow north of Edinburgh's New Town. The area was forme ...
and
Warriston
Warriston ( ) is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It lies east of the Royal Botanic Garden in Inverleith. The name derives from Warriston House, a local mansion house demolished in 1966.
In July 1600 John Kincaid, the Laird of ...
where it passes through shallows at a place known as Puddocky which is commonly thought to refer to "puddocks", the
Scots language
Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonly ...
term for frogs, but actually took its name from the former Paddock Hall which was sited nearby. The river continues past
Bonnington
Bonnington is a dispersed village and civil parish on the northern edge of the Romney Marsh in Ashford District of Kent, England. The village is located to the south of the town of Ashford on the B2067 ( Hamstreet to Hythe road).
Bonnington h ...
, the site of another watermill, to
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
where it widens into the old harbour and port at the Shore. Leith Docks have been extended considerably out into the
firth
Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. In the Northern Isles, it more usually refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to ''fj ...
from the old shoreline, and there are now plans to discontinue their use as a port and use the area for
housing redevelopment.
There is a
Water of Leith Walkway
{{coord, 55, 53, 9.73, N, 3, 20, 23.31, W, display=title
The Water of Leith Walkway is a public footpath and cycleway that runs alongside the small river of the same name through Edinburgh, Scotland, from Balerno to Leith.
The concept of a p ...
beside the river for the from Balerno to Leith, with approximately half a mile of the route on roads.
The route forms an attractive haven for wildlife, passing through areas of woodland, often well separated from roads. For some distance the walkway follows the route of former railway tracks, and the remains of tunnels, bridges and other features of more than one railway may be seen at many places along the route.
A visitor centre is open to the public where the
Union Canal
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
passes over the Water of Leith via the
Slateford Aqueduct
The Slateford Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Union Canal over the Water of Leith at Slateford, Edinburgh, Scotland. Completed in 1822, it has eight arches and spans a length of .
History
It was designed by Hugh Baird with a ...
at Slateford, in south-west Edinburgh. The Water of Leith Conservation Trust is dedicated to the conservation and enhancement of the river. The Trust provides education programs about the river and the environment.
Wildlife
![Water of Leith resident - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Water_of_Leith_resident_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1302527.jpg)
The river is stocked with
brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...
, and also contains wild
grayling,
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
s,
stone loach,
minnow
Minnow is the common name for a number of species of small freshwater fish, belonging to several genera of the families Cyprinidae and Leuciscidae. They are also known in Ireland as pinkeens.
Smaller fish in the subfamily Leusciscidae are c ...
,
three-spined stickleback
The three-spined stickleback (''Gasterosteus aculeatus'') is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N. It has long been a subject of scientific study for many reasons. It shows great morphological variation throughout its ra ...
and
flounder
Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuaries.
Taxonomy
The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related species, thou ...
. A few sea-trout run the river, and occasional Atlantic salmon are reported, although those from which scale samples have been obtained have turned out to be from other catchments. Until the weirs are either demolished or furnished with effective fish-passes, there is little chance of a population of salmon establishing themselves in this river again. Roe deer, badgers, otters and other mammals are occasionally seen.
The river and its environs are the haunt of a wide variety of woodland and water birds, including
kingfisher
Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...
,
grey heron
The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern ...
,
pied wagtail
The white wagtail (''Motacilla alba'') is a small passerine bird in the family Motacillidae, which also includes pipits and longclaws. The species breeds in much of Europe and the Asian Palearctic and parts of North Africa. It has a toehold in ...
,
great spotted woodpecker and
white-throated dipper
The white-throated dipper (''Cinclus cinclus''), also known as the European dipper or just dipper, is an aquatic passerine bird found in Europe, Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. The species is divided into several subspecies ...
.
See also
*
Rivers of Scotland
This list of rivers in Scotland is organised geographically, taken anti-clockwise, from Berwick-upon-Tweed. Tributaries are listed down the page in an upstream direction. (L) indicates a left-bank tributary and (R) indicates a right-bank tribu ...
*
River Almond, which flows through
Cramond
Cramond Village (; gd, Cathair Amain) is a village and suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth.
The Cramond area has evidence of Mesolithic, Bronze Age and Roman ac ...
and
Kirkliston
Kirkliston is a small town and parish to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, historically within the county of West Lothian but now within the City of Edinburgh council limits. It lies on high ground immediately north of a northward loop of the Al ...
*
River Esk, Lothian
The River Esk (Brythonic: Isca (water), gd, Easg (water)), also called the Lothian Esk, is a river that flows through Midlothian and East Lothian, Scotland.
It initially runs as two separate rivers: the North Esk and the South Esk.
Route
Th ...
*
Water of Leith
The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Uisge Lìte'') is the main river flowing near central Edinburgh, Scotland, and flows into the port of Leith where it flows into the sea via the Firth of Forth.
Name
The name ''Leith'' may be of Britt ...
, a river which flows through
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
, New Zealand
References
External links
Water of Leith Conservation Trust: The River, Visitor Center, Education, Conservation Scottish Government, 16/03/07: Water of Leith Flood Prevention Scheme The bid was successful and paid for new sections of the Walkway and the Visitor Centre.
"Forth District Salmon Fishery Board""River Forth Fisheries Trust"
{{authority control
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
Lothian
Leith
Nature centres in Scotland
Tourist attractions in Edinburgh
0WaterofLeith