Linlithgow

The name Linlithgow comes from the Old Welsh lynn llaith cau meaning "lake in the moist hollow".[5] Originally "Linlithgow" referred to the loch itself, the town being known as just "Lithgow" (hence the common surname).[5] Folk etymology associated this name with the Gaelic liath-chù meaning "grey dog", likely the origin of the black bitch on the burgh arms.[5] Evidence of Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements has been found around Linlithgow, in the form of Crannogs in Linlithgow Loch.

Linlithgow gained its royal status as a burgh in 1388 under a charter from Robert II of Scotland.[6] Linlithgow developed in the Middle Ages as a royal residence for Scottish Kings on the raised hill beside the Loch, as the site was a logical stop between Edinburgh to the east and Stirling to the West.[7] Linlithgow Palace remains the chief historic attraction of the town. The present palace was started (on an older site) in 1424 by James I of Scotland. It was attacked by Oliver Cromwell in 1650 and later burnt in 1746,[8] and, whilst unroofed, it is still largely complete in terms of its apartments, though very few of the original furnishings survived. The palace was the birthplace of James V and Mary, Queen of Scots, and has been described as Scotland's finest surviving late medieval secular building.[9] In the courtyard of the Palace, an elaborately carved hexagonal fountain and well survives.[10]

Linlithgow Palace from the public park surrounding it, known as The Peel (August 2005)

Besides the palace, a second attraction, standing adjacent, is the primarily 15th century construction of St. Michael's Church. Its western tower originally had a distinctive stone crown spire, of the type seen also on St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, and Newcastle Cathedral, but it was damaged in a storm in 1768 then removed in 1821.[11] In 1964 a controversial replacement spire in aluminium in a modern style by Geoffrey Clarke, representing Christ's crown of thorns, was added to the tower.[12][13][14] The church was used in the early 17th century as host for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and one of the national covenants was signed within.[10] The church was extensively altered and renovated in the 19th century, with James Gillespie Graham demolishing the chancel arch and added fake-masonry plaster vaults, and then later Honeyman and Keppie rebuilding the chancel arch and added a choir vestry.[12]

A Carmelite Friary was located in the southern part of town from the 13th century until 1559, when it was destroyed during the Scottish Reformation.[15] The grounds of the friary are split between a public park (Rosemount Park and Friar's Well) and a private woodland (Rosemount woods) and estate, occupied by a 19th-century villa, Nether Parkley.[16][17]

The first murder using a firearm in Scotland took place in the High Street of the town on 23 January 1570 when James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray was assassinated by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, a supporter of Queen Mary.[18] As Moray was passing in a cavalcade in the main street below, Hamilton fatally wounded him with a carbine shot from a window of his uncle Archbishop Hamilton's house.[19]

Cross Well, Linlithgow

Many historic buildings line the High Street that follows the original route from the East (High and Low Ports) and West (Ports) Gates.[20] On the south side, ground levels rise and several historic wynds and closes, as found in Edinburgh, still exist. The most prominent historical space is the Kirkgate, a processional route to the palace from the High Street.[20][21] This contains the Cross Well of 1807 (redesigned by James Haldane[22]) which is said to be replica of its 1628 predecessor.[23]

North of the well stands the former civic home of the Burgh Council, the Town House of 1668 which was created under the direction of the master mason John Smith and now forms part of the complex known as the Burgh Halls.[24] This replaced a previous hall or Tolbooth demolished by Oliver Cromwell's army in 1650. Much of its original interior was removed in a modernisation project of 1962.[25] In June 1622 Katherine Rannald (alias Broun) from Kilpunt and her daughter Barbara Home (alias Winzet) were imprisoned in the Tolbooth on suspicion of witchcraft.[26]

Linlithgow was also the site of the Battle of Linlithgow Bridge at the western edge of the town. The bridge no longer stands. The roadway to Linlithgow over the River Avon is described by scholars as a lifted road.

By 1799, Linlithgow was described as a large town with about 2300 inhabitants, whose primary industries included the tanning of leather, refining cotton cloth, the making of Tambour lace and Stockings, and shoemaking, as well as acting as a market town for the surrounding agriculture.[27] From the 17th until the late 19th century, the two largest industries in Linlithgow were leathermaking and shoemaking.[28]

County Buildings: now home to the Linlithgow Partnership Centre

In 1847, a pharmacist in the town, David Waldie is credited as being the first to produce a sample of chloroform for medical use, presenting it to James Young Simpson who later tested it and had it produced again on his return to Edinburgh, popularising its use as an anesthetic in medicine.[29][30][31] In the mid 20th century, the chemists became a restaurant and is now the Four Mary's pub (a plaque records the history).[32]

In December 1887 a new events venue was completed in a castle style with turrets and named the Victoria Hall.[29] In 1956, the Hall was sold for use as a Ritz cinema and later was used as a theatre, before falling out of use in the 21st century and subsequently being demolished, despite a public effort to save the facade.[33][34] Other prominent Victorian buildings in the town include the turreted Royal Bank (erected in 1959), the Star And Garter Hotel (converted in 1847) and the Scots revival styled St. Michael's Hotel (1886).[35][36][37]

Animal glue was produced at the Gowanstanks works for many years, on the site now occupied by St. Josephs primary school.[32] Linlithgow has been cited as the location of the first petrol pump in Scotland.[38] A plaque on the High Street records that Scotland's first petrol pump was installed at a garage here in 1919. In 1940, the Neo-Georgian County Buildings were completed in the town and became the home of Linlithgowshire Council.[39][40] They were later renamed as the Tam Dalyell House and are now the Linlithgow Partnership Centre, home to the town library and museum.[41]

The south side of the High Street was spared the demolition inflicted upon the north side in the 1960s.

In 1967, two large tracts of land on the northern side of the High Street (with their associated pre 19th century buildings) were demolished and replaced by 90 flats, garages and public buildings (including a library and health centre) in a brutalist style project named the 'Vennel redevelopment'.[42][43] The name Vennel coming from the term for a passageway between the gables of two buildings. While the development won a Saltire Housing award in 1969, it was and still remains controversial, especially as the style contrasts starkly with the character of other buildings in the town and significantly altered the street layout.[42][44] After many decades of discussion, the partial demolition and redevelopment of the Vennel area was agreed by West Lothian Council, subject to consultation, which began in 2021.[45][46][44][47]

The town has continued to grow, not only because of its transport links with Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling, but also because of the perceived quality of its schooling and local amenities. The town grew considerably during the 1990s with the completion of several housing developments on the east side of the town. Development in the town is carefully controlled, as it is now bounded by green belt to the south and east, the M9 to the north, the river Avon and county boundary to the West.

Following the formation of the Territorial Force the town was allocated, for recruiting, to the Lothians and Border Horse and 10th Battalion, Royal Scots. Today 1 SCOTS recruit from the area keeping the traditions of the area from the Royal Scots.[48]

In the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster, Linlithgow has been represented as part of the Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency since 2005. Linlithgow was a safe Labour seat until the 2015 when sitting MP Michael Connarty was defeated by Martyn Day of the SNP. Day remains the MP having successfully defended the seat at the 2017 and 2019 elections.

In the Scottish Parliament, Linlithgow is represented by the SNP's Fiona Hyslop, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs. Prior to the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the town was represented by Mary Mulligan of Labour. It is also part of the Lothian electoral region, which elected 3 Conservative, 2 Labour and 2 Green MSPs under the additional member system in 2016.

At the county level, Linlithgow is represented locally under West Lothian Council. In both the 2012 and 2017 local elections, Linlithgow ward elected one Conservative, one Labour and one SNP councillor. In the 2022, Linlithgow ward elected one SNP, one Labour and one Liberal Democrat councillor, namely Pauline Orr, Tom Conn and Sally Pattle, respectively. 2022 was the first election which saw Linlithgow ward elect any female councillors to West Lothian Council.

At the local level, the Linlithgow and Linlithgow Bridge Community Council is the local Community council.[49]

Linlithgow's Black Bitch

The burgh's coat of arms features a black bitch chained to an oak tree on an island, and those born within the town are known as "black bitches".[50] In his account of a tour of Scotland, published in 1679, an English gentleman, Thomas Kirk, described the arms of the town as "a black bitch tied to a tree, in a floating island. We enquired for a story about it, but could meet with none: their schoolmaster told us it proceeded from the name of the place. Linlithgow, in Erst [Gaelic], is thus explained: Lin signifies Lough; Lith, black; and Gow, a hound."[51]

A more recently recorded legend relates that the bitch was a black greyhound whose master was sentenced to starve to death on an island in the loch. She used to swim from the town every day with food for him. When this was discovered she was chained to a tree on a different island to suffer the same fate as her master. The townspeople took the animal's loyalty and bravery as symbolic of their own.

Linlithgow has several parks and recreation grounds across the town. The largest public area is the Peel and Palace Royal Park beside Linlithgow Loch and palace, including a large open grassland (the Peel), a circulatory walk around the Loch and mature trees to the south.[78][79]

Linlithgow Rose Garden is a mature rose garden in the area adjacent to the Kirk grave yard and the rear of the Burgh Halls and contains a large bronze statue of John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun and Marquess of Linlithgow (created in 1911).[80] As of 2021, the rose gardens are in the process of being improved.[81]

Learmonth Gardens and doocot, gifted to the town in 1916

Learmonth Gardens is located on the south side of the railway across from the canal basin and were given to Linlithgow in 1916 in memory of Alexander Learmonth, who was Provost of Linlithgow from 1802 to 1807.[82][83] The key feature of the gardens is a 16th-century beehive type doocot that was originally part of the tail of a run rig from the house of Baron Ross of Halkhead on the High Street (the rig was split when the railway was created in 1842).[82][83] The doocot has 370 nest boxes in 18 tiers and a lantern on the top although access inside is closed.[82][83]

Rosemount Park is a large open public park in the centre of southern Linlithgow containing a Friar's Well.[17] The well originally provided water for the former carmelite priory, destroyed during the Scottish Reformation and is now covered with a stone arch.[17] The park contains several mature trees.[84]

Kettlestoun Mains is a woodland walk beside the Avon Lagoon and near the former site of the Battle of Linlithgow Bridge.[85] Just outside of Linlithgow, there are several country parks, including Beecraigs Country Park (a 370 hectare park between Bathgate and Linlithgow with forests, a visitor centre and a loch)[86] and Muiravonside Country Park between Linlithgow and Torphichen (170 acres of woodland and grassland).[87]