Cardenden () is a
Scottish town located on the south bank of the
River Ore in the parish of
Auchterderran,
Fife
Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
. It is approximately northwest of
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...
. Cardenden was named in 1848 by the
Edinburgh and Northern Railway for its new railway station. A former mining town, Cardenden had a reported population of 448 in 1891 that had increased to 5,533 as of 2011.
Areas of Cardenden include Auchterderran, Bowhill, Dundonald, the Jamphlars, New Carden and Woodend.
Last Scottish duel
It is reported that the last duel on Scottish soil took place in a field at Cardenbarns to the south of Cardenden. On 2 August 1826, a Kirkcaldy merchant named David Landale fought a duel with George Morgan, a Kirkcaldy banker and retired
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
from the
77th Regiment of Foot
The 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot (The Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a Line infantry, line regiment of the British Army, raised in 1787. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot to form the ...
. Morgan was killed by wounds received from a pistol ball. Landale was tried and subsequently cleared of his murder at Perth Sheriff Court.
The original pistols that David Landale used in the duel are housed in the
Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery. The duel was the subject of an episode of
Timewatch on
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
television, broadcast on 9 February 2007 entitled "The Last Duel".
The site is now the location of the Fife Community Off Road Motorcycle Club.
Sport
Cardenden is home to the
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club
Dundonald Bluebell, who play in the
East of Scotland League.
Also in the area is the Bowhill Leisure Centre, which has a swimming pool, sauna, steam room and gymnasium. The Auchterderran Golf Course was founded in 1904.
Notable people
*
Joe Corrie
*
Tommy Hutchison
*
Willie Johnston
*
Willie Mathieson
*
William McLaren
*
John Thomson
*
Ian Rankin
See also
*
Cardenden railway station
*
List of famous duels
*
List of places in Fife
References
External links
Gazetteer on Cardenden
{{Authority control
Towns in Fife
Mining communities in Fife
Cardenden