Newburn is a civil

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

in the

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of Fife in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It is located on the north coast of the Firth of Forth and bounded by the parishes of

Kilconquhar Kilconquhar ( or ; sco, also Kinneuchar, from the gd, Cill Dhúnchadha or gd, Cill Chonchaidh, Church of (St) Duncan or Conchad) is a village and parish in Fife in Scotland. It includes the small hamlet of Barnyards. It is bounded by the paris ...

and Largo. It was originally a rural parish with no major settlement, but with the development of

Leven Leven may refer to: People * Leven (name), list of people with the name Nobility * Earl of Leven a title in the Peerage of Scotland Placenames * Leven, Fife Leven ( gd, Inbhir Lìobhann) is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central ...

as a seaside resort in the late 19th century, the population of the parish grew considerably. According to an 1857 description, "The parish is bounded on the north & east by Kilconquhar, on the south by Largo Bay and on the west by Largo. It is from north to south and in breadth. Its area is , all under cultivation except 350 under pasture and 130 under wood. The land surface near the shore is sandy, forming extensive links which are kept in pasture. The land ascends from the shore to the northwards, reaching its greatest height at Gilston. The soil, with the exception of the links, is very fertile. The rent of land averages £2-12-0 per acre. The parish schoolmaster's salary is £30, plus £14 of fees, besides which there is an allowance for teaching a certain number of Poor children, from a fund left by John Wood of Orkie in 1659. There is 1 public house in the parish; sobriety and industry prevail. The nearest market towns are

Colinsburgh Colinsburgh is a village in east Fife, Scotland, in the parish of Kilconquhar. History The village is named after Colin Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Balcarres (1652–1722), who gave the land on which it was built. It was here that the first meeting of ...

and Largo. Balchristie is the only hamlet in the parish, containing a few houses".

Etymology

The name ''Newburn'' was first recorded in 1150 as ''Nithbren'' and may be of

Pictish Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographica ...

origin. The second element may be either ''*bren'' meaning "hill, hill-side" (c.f. Welsh ''bryn''), or ''*pren'' meaning "tree" (Welsh ''pren''). The first part, ''*nith'', could be a Pictish ethnonym. Early documents refer to it as "Newburn of Old Drumeldrie" an ancient parish north of Largo in the control of

Dunfermline Abbey Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland Parish Church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was sacked in 1560 during the Scottish Reforma ...

. There is no strong reason to think the settlement is of Pictish origin and the village name seems simply English: New Burn (the stream is artificially straightened); New Barn; or New Berm.

Newburn Churchyard

The church was dedicated to St. Serf in 1564. Its ministers were: Thomas Jamieson (1564-1566); George Lundie (1568-1574); Andrew Hunter (1588-1592); David Mearns (1588–89); John Carmichael (1595-1603); John Dykes (1604-1610); Ephraim Melvill (1611-1617); John Foreet (1619-1628); George Hamilton (1628-1650); James Fleming (1650-1651); Robert Honyman (1653-1657); George Hamilton (1659-1662); John Auchenleck (1663-1665); William Ogilvie (1666-1679); William Syme (1679-1681); Andrew Youngson (1682-1685); James Hay of Naughton (1685-1690); George Hamilton (1692-1696); George Cleland (1696-1700); Arthur Fairfoul (1700-1704); David Myles (1705-1734); James Smith (1734-1768); John Richardson (1769-1778); Archibald Bonar (1779-1783); James Brown (1783-1786); James Mitchell (1787-1793); Thomas Laurie DD (1793-1843); Alexander Urquhart (1843-1885); George Geekie (1883-1913); William Neil (1914-?).Fasti Ecclesistae Scotia p.224/5 The tiny and long-abandoned church acts as a magnet to burials of note. These include: * Sir Raymond Patrick Hadow * Prof

James Lorimer (advocate) James Lorimer of Kellyfield, FRSE LLD (4 November 1818 – 13 February 1890) was a Scottish advocate and professor of public law. He was an authority on international law. Life Lorimer was born in Aberdalgie House in Perthshire. He was t ...

* Sir

Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Got ...

architect * John Henry Lorimer artist * Leonora Jeffrey Rintoul ornithologist, a rare female Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Notable residents

* Rev George Hamilton (1635-1712)

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states t ...

in 1699 * Mr Andrew Hunter, (d. 1638) Minister of Newburn and chaplain to

Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...

* Rev Prof John Cook FRSE (1739–1815) Professor of Moral Philosophy at

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, co-founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783 * Rev Prof George Cook FRSE (1772–1845), son of the above, Professor of Moral Philosophy at

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

(following in his father's footsteps), Moderator of the

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray, ...

in 1825.

References

{{reflist Parishes in Fife