Towns & Villages - North Berwick

Population: 6,223

The name 'Berwick' is thought to be derived from the Old English for 'Barley Town' with the 'North' being added to distinguish it from 'Berwick Upon Tweed'.

Although its name suggests a tranquil rural past, in mediaeval times North Berwick attracted some attention as a ferry port for the pilgrims journeying towards St. Andrews to worship the relics of Scotland's patron Saint. The harbour remained a focal point in the town and as the number of pilgrims declined, it developed its fishing and trading potential, taking advantage of North Berwick's status as a Royal Burgh (1373).

The Bass Rock island is a volcanic plug which lies one mile to the east of North Berwick where it marks the point where the Firth of Forth joins the North Sea. This rocky crag has had a long history, as it is here that St. Baldred died in 757 AD. In 1316 it was given to the Bishop of St. Andrews. By 1651 it was in the possession of the government who turned the castle, which had been there since 1405, into a state prison. This prison was know as 'Scotland's Bastille'. One of its more famous inmates was the heretic John Blackadder who died on the island in 1685. Today it is world famous for its colony of gannets; indeed the bird takes its Latin name, Sula Bassana, from the island.

Robert Louis Stevenson lived for a short time in the second half of the 19th century in The Quadrant, North Berwick. Fidra, an island situated off the coast from North Berwick, is thought to have inspired his book 'Treasure Island'.

In the late sixteenth century the town gained unwelcome notoriety as a result of the North Berwick witch trials. This was primarily the culmination of the events of Halloween 1590 when the North Berwick witches danced through the ecclesiastical remains of St. Andrews church. This was apparently to conjure up evil against King James VI who was returning home from Denmark with his bride, Anne. The devil appeared and ordered them to raise a storm to destroy the king. Wax images had been moulded and other attempts made to harm him with magic. During the Witches Sabbath, the graves in the old cemetery were robbed for 'magical cookery' while a cat was baptised and thrown into the sea.

A volcanic plug of solidified lava in the vent of a volcano to the south of the town is known as North Berwick Law. During the ice age, the Law was shaped by the movement of ice. This left the western end, facing the direction from which the ice came, steep and craggy, while the eastern side forms a longer, gently sloping tail.

Its summit, 613 feet above sea level, provides a spectacular vantage point over the Firth of Forth. This was obviously exploited during the Iron Age, as North Berwick Law was the site of a palisaded fort. Later, the Law was used as a lookout point to survey the surrounding terrain. During the 12th to the 16th centuries it was owned by the Cistercian Nunnery and the prioress was responsible for the keeping of a watch beacon on the top. In 1544 a warning bonfire had to be lit as the invading English army, under the Earl of Hertford, moved towards North Berwick. During the Great War, the watches were revived when a concrete lookout house was erected on the summit which is still there today.

A whale's jaw bone was first erected on the Law in 1709, and when the original one blew down in 1933 another was put up two years later. The jaw bone might have first been taken from a whale brought back by the early whaling fleets.