Elie and Earlsferry is a coastal town and former

royal burgh A royal burgh ( ) was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

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 ...

, and parish, Scotland, situated within the

East Neuk The East Neuk () or East Neuk of Fife is an area of the coast of Fife, Scotland. "Neuk" is the Scots language, Scots word for nook or corner, and the East Neuk is generally accepted to comprise the fishing villages of the most northerly part o ...

beside Chapel Ness on the north coast of the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

, eight miles east of Leven. The burgh comprised the linked villages of Elie ( ) to the east and to the west Earlsferry, which were formally merged in 1930 by the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ( 19 & 20 Geo. 5. c. 25) reorganised local government in Scotland from 1930, introducing joint county councils, large and small burghs and district councils. The Act also abolished the Scottish poor law s ...

. To the north is the village of

Kilconquhar Kilconquhar (, locally also ) is a village and parish in Fife in Scotland. It includes the small hamlet of Barnyards. It is bounded by the parishes of Elie, Ceres, Cameron, St Monans, Carnbee, Newburn and Largo.Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotl ...

and Kilconquhar Loch. The civil parish has a population of 861 (in 2011).Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by National Records of Scotland. Web site http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved March 2016. See "Standard Outputs", Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish 1930

Ancient times

Earlsferry, the older of the two villages, was first settled in time immemorial. It is said that MacDuff, the Earl of Fife, crossed the Forth here in 1054 while fleeing from King Macbeth. In particular the legend tells of his escape being aided by local fishermen, an act which may have led directly to the village being promoted to royal burgh status due to MacDuff's later influence over

Malcolm III Malcolm III (; ; –13 November 1093) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Alba from 1058 to 1093. He was later nicknamed "Canmore" (, , understood as "great chief"). Malcolm's long reign of 35 years preceded the beginning of the Scoto-Norma ...

. By the middle of the 12th century, the Earls of Fife had instituted a ferry for the use of pilgrims en route to the shrine of

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Church stems from the Gospel of Jo ...

the

Apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

. The ferry crossed the Firth of Forth to

North Berwick North Berwick (; ) is a seaside resort, seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holi ...

, a distance of 7 miles, and it is this ferry that led to the naming of the place. There are the remains of a small chapel on Chapel Ness, built for the use of these pilgrims. King Robert II made Earlsferry a royal burgh in 1373 but its original

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

was destroyed in a fire. Earlsferry became a trading port for merchants and remained so until the 18th century, and was also an important calling point on the pilgrims' route from the south to St Andrews. A new charter was granted in 1589 by

James VI James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

. In 1871 Earlsferry had a population of 406. Little is known of the foundation of Elie, but in 1599 it was made a burgh of barony by King James VI and it had become sufficiently important to merit the building of Elie Parish Church in 1639. Its harbour was more sheltered than that of Earlsferry, it began to poach trade away from Earlsferry and after a great storm in 1766 filled it with sand, Earlsferry harbour was no longer used. The etymology of the name Elie is unclear. The name may derive from the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

''ealadh'' which means 'tomb', or ''èaladh'' which means 'a passage for boats between two rocks', or ''ail'' plus the suffix ''in'' which means 'rock-place'.

Buildings

Elie has an unusual parish church, dating from 1639. It has a tall octagonal tower, topped with a belvedere detail, centrally located on the church. It is approached on axis from the High Street, increasing the drama of its architecture, and surrounded by a churchyard burial ground. Elie House is an interesting Scots vernacular extended tower house, standing close to the waterline. It dates back to 1697 with additions in 1770. In the 1770s the ''Lady's Tower'' was built in Ruby Bay, on the east side of Elie Ness, for Janet, Lady Anstruther. It incorporated a vaulted chamber at sea level as a changing room. It is said that Lady Anstruther would bathe in the nearby waters, a servant ringing a bell all the while to ensure locals stayed away. The daughter of Provost Charles Fall of

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...

, she was mentioned by

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...

as Jenny Faa ("Faa" being purportedly the Fall family's ancient name) "a coquette and a beauty". She caused the hamlet of Balclevie, to the north of Elie House, to be razed ostensibly "to improve the view" but widely thought to be because the tinker inhabitants reminded her of her own family's origins. This may have been

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

's inspiration for a similar incident in

Guy Mannering ''Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer'' is the second of the Waverley novels by Walter Scott, published anonymously in 1815. According to an introduction that Scott wrote in 1829, he had originally intended to write a story of the supernatural, ...

. A curse is said to have been placed on the Anstruther family by an old woman whose house had been demolished. Elie Primary School dates to 1858 and is in a Category C

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Elie and Earlsferry Town Hall was completed in 1873 but contains elements of an earlier town house.

Post-Reformation

After the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Fr ...

, pilgrimages and other traffic waned in Earlsferry.

Sport

Golf and tennis

Elie and Earlsferry are about ten miles due south of St Andrews. Golf is believed to have been played on Earlsferry Links as early as the 15th century, and the layout evolved over time into the current 18-hole course which has remained largely unchanged since 1895. There has been a formal golf club here in Elie and Earlsferry since 1832. The current club, the Golf House Club, was founded in 1875 with the building of the clubhouse. An unusual feature is the periscope from the submarine HMS ''Excalibur''. It was installed in the starter's hut after the submarine was scrapped in 1968; players and visitors may use it to view the golf course. Golfers, clubmakers and course designers James Braid, Archie Simpson, Bob Peebles and Isaac Mackie were born in Earlsferry. Neighbouring the Golf House Club is the Elie Sports Club, which encompasses a multi-sports facility. Its facilities include a 9-hole golf course (2080 yards long), a putting course, a driving range with covered bays and outdoor hitting areas and a short game practice area with two bunkers and a 50-yard pitching fairway. There are also five full-size tennis courts and four short tennis courts along with a bowling green.

Cricket

Elie has a cricket club, which is based at The Ship Inn pub on the beachfront. The team arrange all their home fixtures in line with the tides and play them on the beach when the tide is out.

Modern times

Elie's harbour was expanded in 1850. The nearby railway, part of the Fife Coast Railway, was built in 1857, and extended through Elie to

Anstruther Anstruther ( ; ) is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland, situated on the north-shore of the Firth of Forth and south-southeast of St Andrews. The town comprises two settlements, Anstruther Easter and Anstruther Wester, which are divided by a st ...

in 1863. The villages opened up to the affluent tourist trade of Victorian times in the 1870s, which saw regular steamers from

and

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

. The explosion of modern communications saw the nature of the local economy change. Coal mining dwindled after the railway came to the area. Linen weavers abandoned their trade when cheaper imported cotton fabrics from the overseas colonies of the British Empire swamped the domestic market. Fishing gradually declined. The growing tourist trade caused a local building boom, which would have provided work for stonemasons. There were also golf club makers in the village for many years. Various support trades existed in the villages over the years and persisted until the advent of modern road transport around 1970. Elie and Earlsferry were formally merged in 1930. In recent decades, the town has become a very popular destination for wealthy residents of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. In the summer months the town's population is several times higher than it is during the winter. A survey in 2018 found that half of the houses in the town were not the owners first residences. Attractions include the beach, golf, restaurants, surfing and sailing. Elie won an award as one of the best managed beaches in Scotland in 2018. The railway line fell under the Beeching Axe in the 1960s and the station and tracks were subsequently closed and dismantled, leaving Elie with only road and sea transport links. ''The Times'' included Elie and Earlsferry as one of the best places to live in the UK in 2020.

Elie Chain Walk

On the coast, 1 km west of Earlsferry, beneath the Fife Coastal Path, the Elie Chain Walk passes down the cliff faces to the tidal beaches.Fife gov, Fife Coastal Path, Elie Chain Walk, March 2022
/ref> The route, which should only be used during low tides, has chains fixed to the cliffs and rocks of the shore to assist progress, and is sometimes referred to as Scotland's secret

via ferrata A via ferrata (Italian language, Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other Alpine locations. The protection includes steel fixtures such as ...

(iron path). The chains were first installed in the 1920s, and were replaced in 2010.

Notable events

The film ''

The Winter Guest ''The Winter Guest'' is a 1997 drama film directed by Alan Rickman (in his feature directorial debut) and starring Phyllida Law and Emma Thompson. Plot Set in Scotland on one wintry day, the film focuses on eight people; a mother and daughter ...

'', starring

Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. Emma Thompson on screen and stage, Her work spans over four decades of screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Emma Thompson, her accola ...

and Phyllida Law, directed by

Alan Rickman Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his distinctive deep, wikt:languid#Etymology 1, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and b ...

, was filmed here.

Bus services

The two main bus services are provided by Stagecoach East Scotland. These are: * 95 from Leven to

via

and

Crail Crail (; ) is a former royal burgh, parish and Community council#Scotland, community council area (Royal Burgh of Crail and District) in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. The locality has an estimated population of 1,630 (2018). Etymology The ...

* X60 from

via

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 ...

, Leven and

Notable residents

* James Braid, Scottish professional golfer, five-time winner of

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

and renowned golf course architect, was born in Earlsferry in 1870. * Catherine Calderwood, Northern Irish consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and Chief Medical Officer for Scotland from 2015 to 2020. * David Cunningham Greig geologist, retired to Elie and died there. * John Currie, architect and builder * William Dudingston, Rear Admiral, Royal Navy. Dudingston was commander of the schooner HMS ''Gaspee'', which after interfering with smugglers in the Colony of Rhode Island was led aground and burned by American patriots in June 1772. This is referred to as America's "First Blow for Freedom" and a spark to the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. * James Horsburgh, hydrographer. * William Quarrier Kennedy, Scottish Geologist, resided in Elie between 1967 and 1977. * Bob Peebles, Scottish-American professional golfer was born here circa 1883. * Jean Redpath, eminent interpreter of Scots song. *

Walter W. Robertson Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...

, architect. * Robert Traill, author and prisoner on the Bass Rock.

Clock

The famous " floral clock" in Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens was originally constructed (1903) using the clock mechanism salvaged from Elie Parish Church.Monuments and Statues of Edinburgh, Michael T.R.B. Turnbull (Chambers) p.5

References

* Wilkinson, M. and Tittley, I. 1979. The marine algae of Elie, Scotland: a Re-assessment. ''Botanica Marina'' 22: 249 - 256.