Pathhead, currently incorporated within the Royal Burgh of Kirkcaldy, was at one time a separate village with its own peculiar identity. With the Firth of Forth to the south, Kirkcaldy to the 'west', Dysart to the east, and Gallatown, Sinclairtown and Dunnikier to the north, it may well have been overlooked by the swift passage of history were it not for the vigour of its townsfolk in rising to the challenges of the industrial revolution.
One of the finer accounts of the history of Pathhead may be encountered in Robert Brodie's 'Historical Sketches of Pathhead and Vicinity', written by a feuer and native of the town in 1863. We take the liberty here of quoting at length from this title to set the scene.
"Whatever time it may have begun to appear as a town, we know from good authority that in 1666 there were eighty houses in it. The estate had passed through a number of hands; but, notwithstanding, the feuers had evidently been increasing in numbers. In that year, John Watson, sen., went to law with the feuers for the purpose of depriving them of their privilege of taking stones and clay, fail and divet, from the whole muir of Dunnikier, which they had enjoyed since the yera 1608; " [...] p.116
"In 1684 John Watson, se., gave the first piece of burying-ground for the use of the haill inhabitants of Dunnikier, and in 1707 they assessed themselves for the purpose of enclosing it, as noted in another part of our work. In 169-, John Watson, jun., received the first royal charter for the estate of Dunnikier, it being granted by Queen Anne, (commonly called Anne of Denmark,) with the consent of James IV., her husband; and in July 1695 the same gentleman obtained an Act of Parliament, authorising the holding of two annual fairs in the town, to continue three days each." [...] p.118
Pathhead's native charm was clearly not lost on John Buchan's narrator from 'The Free Fishers' either as he describes the hammers busy among the nailmakers of Pathhead; "the smell of a tan-pit came to his nostrils with a pleasing pungency; when he descended the long slope of the Path the sight of scaly fisherfolk and tarry sailormen gave him an inconsequent delight." qg
And we find the following story from the time of the Porteous Riots. The year is 1736.
"Andrew Wilson was a native of Pathhead, a baker by trade, son of Alexander Wilson, baker also, there, but who had died about three years previous to the commencement of our story. Andrew had been engaged in a number of smuggling transactions in the neighbourhood. He was a heavy, powerful man, and, withal, very daring and reckless. The officers of excise or customs had on several occasions made seizures of smuggled goods from him, which irritated him very much. He therefore determined that he would obtain satisfaction for the losses which he had sustained; if he could not get back the identical goods which had been taken from him, he would attack some of the government offficials, and take from them what he considered to be an equivalent in money. Accordingly, when in Edinburgh, ... he entered into a combination with George Robertson, who kept an inn at Bristo, and William Hall, also an inhabitant of Edinburgh, to waylay Mr James Stark, the collector of excise in Kirkcaldy, while on his round collecting in the eastern part of the county of Fife. [tbc]
An important further anecdotal source of evidence of life in Pathhead during the 1850s and onwards is provided by unpublished notes written by Andrew Beveridge, an Ironmonger, of Nether Street, available for borrowing from Kirkcaldy Central Library. Here are some excerpts of interest from the said work:
"Impressions and Memories by a Pathhead Laddie. B.1839. D. 1918."
"Mid Street. My earliest recollections of the west end of Mid Street was of an old tenement house being pulled down.
"It had just been undermined and a long rope put up at the chimney to complete its downfall -
"The whole of the West End folk were out to witness it _
"My Granfather & Grandmother began their married life in that same tenement before the End of the 18th Century _ Braehead Cottages were erected on that site, and in front was vacant ground down to the head of the Path, where was a low - wall - 2 to 3 feet high - where old men and women, after climbing the Path could take a rest - Bakers who then carried their bread on boards for delivery to customers, took a much needed breath after the steep climb. The vacant ground was called the "Knoule" and was used by the boys and girls as a playground, but later on the wall was built up higher.
"Mid Street had many outside Stairs and Porches onto the Pavement.
"The Causeway was laid with round boulders, and these very uneven, with many hollows & holes which, after a shower of rain was very convenient for the Ducks and Hens which were kept by the householders and the Street was their only run - Looking along the street at that time reminded you of a farmyard.
The improvement was made in the Early 50s, when granite sets were put down in the Centre of the Causeway, and the best of the boulders put at each side, The sidewalks were made up with an assortment of bits of pavement, bricks, and granite sets _ There was on Porch that took up al the space of the footpath in front. It was called the "Muckle Lum"
Many of teh houses were thatched & one of the old One Storey houses at the West End had a stable at one End and a family lived at the other. The roof fell in, and the horse had got out and was found in the Country unhurt
The street had only channels or Surface drains, it had 2 Pump wells, and 2 Draw wells.
The only one used for domestic purposes was the Iron Pump to the East of the Flesh Wynd: In Summer the demand for this Water was so great that the well often ran dry. and a lock and Chain was put on the handle for an hour or two until the water again gathered, and then you would see a Queue waiting with Stoops & Pitchers
The Wooden well at the West End, was not used for Cooking as it had rather a Peculiar taste, and some would have it that the reason was the Vicinity of the West Burying ground Some because of a Coal pit. A little to the East of West Wynd was a Draw Well, but it was not in use in my day.
Kirkcaldy entry in "The R.A.C. County Road Map and Gazetteer", No. 27, Cheltenham: Ed. J. Burrow & Co. Ltd., [c. 1932] p. 64
"Kirkcaldy (F[ife]) (R[oyal] B[urgh], 43,874 [population]; Wed. [early closing day]). "Lang toun o' Kirkcaldy" and active Firth of Forth industrial town and seaport of very long street and considerable extent, embracing Linktown, Pathhead, Sinclairtown, Gallatown, Abo#botshall and Burgh of Dysart (see "D"); centre of linoleum and oil-cloth manufacture, with harbour, docks, and great variety of industries, including linen-weaving on large scale, dyeing and bleaching, flax, tow and jute spinning, sail-cloth-making malting and tanning, engineering, coal-mining, and making of salt, pottery, brushes, furniture, etc. See mainly 19th-c. parish-church Kirk Wynd (Norm. tower, Morris--Burne-Jones windows); Thos. Carlyle's lodging (marked by plaque), in Kirk Wynd, where Carlyle lodged from 1816 to 1818; Museum and Art Gallery, forming part of war memorial, at Kirkcaldy Station (open weekdays 10-5 and 6-8, Tues, 10-5, Fri 10-5, and Sun. 2-4 adm. free); Town and County Bank, High St. (marked by tablet), standing on the site of birthplace (June 5th, 1723) of Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations; St. Brycedale United Free Church (Burne-Jones windows), St. Brycedale Avenue. Golf; second-division, Scottish League, football (Raith Rovers). (For Ravenscraig Castle see "R") (Ee6)"
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