Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/163

 F I F F I G 153 several other hills. On a mound at Norris Law a complete set of silver armour was discovered about 1817, but it found its way to the melting pot before its antiquarian importance was recognized. Several relics found along with it have, however, been preserved, and they are graven with symbols similar to those of the oldest sculptured stones, one of which yet exists at Lindores, and contains no Christian figures. The standing stones of Lundin, near Leven, are, according to the tradition of the district, the burial stones of Danish chiefs who fell in a battle which took place in the immediate neighbourhood. Of the sculptured stones erected subsequent to the teaching of St Columba, which are either cruciform or graven with a large cross, there are, besides several fragments at different places, four standing in a pretty entire condition, viz., at Docton Kinglassie, at Abercromby, at Sauchopc near Crail, and at Mng lrum near Newburgh. Still more interesting memorials of tjie early Christian missionaries are the crosses and other figures graven on the walls of the numerous caves which exist along the coast from St Andrews to Dysart. 1 After the time of the Culdees the next archaeological relic of importance is the pedestal of the cross of MacdufF near Newburgh, erected by the thane of Fife after his escape from the vengeance of the usurper Macbeth. Monastic foundations were pretty numerous in Fife. On the island of Inchkolm there yet stand the cloister, prison, refectory, and chapter-house of an abbey of the Canons llwgular, founded in 1213; and the same order possessed priories at Pittenweem (of which there are yet interesting ruins), at St Andrews (founded in 1221), and in the Isle of May (1141). Convents of the Dominicans existed at Cupar, at StMonans(1369),andSt Andrews(1274). The Benedictines founded Dunfermline Abbey in 1214 ; and Lindores Abbey, which, from the few architectural details now left, must have been of great elegance, owed its origin to the Tyronenscs in 1178. Jialmerino Abbey, of which there yet exist the roofless walls of the chapter-house with the cloisters, was founded by the White Cister cians in 1229. The Franciscans had a monastery at Inverkeithing ; an Observantine convent was founded at St Andrews in 1478 ; and one of the only two nunneries of the Clarisses in Scotland existed at Aberdour. The churches of Crail (1517), Kirkheugh, and St Salvators (1450) were collegiate churches ; St Monans possesses a line Gothic church of the Middle Pointed style, built about 1365, and restored in 1828 ; a fine old Norman church still stands at Aberdour ; there are ruin.s of an old church at Abdie consecrated in 1242 ; ami the semicircular apse of an old Norman structure forms part of the present parish church at Lenchars. Further particulars regarding the ecclesiastical antiquities of Fife will be found in the accounts of the different burghs. Among the old castles not mentioned under the names of burghs the principal are the ruins of Balcomie Castle, near the East Nenk, where stress of weather compelled Mary of Guise to land in 1538; two square towers of an old building near East Wemyss, said to have been the residence of MacdufF ; the present castle of Wernyss a plain building with an old castellated wing where Queen Mary met her future husband Darnley ; the ruin of Ravenscraig, near Dysart, referred to in Sir Walter Scott s ballad of &quot;Kosabelle&quot;; the mined tower of the old castle of Balwearic, near Kirkcaldy, the birthplace of Sir Michael Scott the astrologer ; the square tower of the old castle of Rosythe, near Inverkeithing, visited by Oliver Cromwell when in Fife ; the castellated mansion of Aberdour, at one time the residence of James, fourth earl of Morton ; the fortress of Lochore, built in the time of Malcolm Canmore ; the old stronghold of Balgonie ; part of the round tower of the old castle of Creich, the residence of the Beatons, and the birthplace of Mary Beaton, one of the &quot;four Maries&quot; of Mary Queen of Scotland ; Ballinbreich Castle, in the parish of Flisk, for a long time the residence of the earls of Rothes ; and the ruined castle of Dairsie, where, it is said, Archbishop Spottiswoode wrote his history. Among the modern residences of the gentry may be mentioned Raitli House (Col. Ferguson), built by Lord Raith in the 17th cen tury, a plain building, finely situated on an elevated plateau ; Balcar- res House (Sir Coutts Lindsay), a baronial structure lately enlarged, with fine terraced gardens in front ; Balcaskie House (Sir Robert Anstruther) with terraced gardens in the French style ; Falkland House (Tyndall Bruce), a fine mansion in the Elizabethan style, and beautifully situated at the base of the East Lomond ; Donibristle (Earl of Moray), and Dysart House (Earl of Rossyln), both ro mantically situated close on the sea-shore ; Leslie House (Hon. G. Waldegrave Leslie), atone time one of the largest mansions in Scot land, but on account of a fire now only a fourth of its original sire, containing a gallery with portraits of the successive earls of Rothes and many of their contemporaries; Largo House, where at onetime was the patrimony of Sir Andrew Wood ; Inchdairnie (Roger Sinclair Aytoun), a fine mansion in the Scotch baronial style ; 1 See notes on the sculptured caves near Dysart, by Miss C. M Lagan, in vol. xi. of the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scot land; and Archaic Scutytures of Cups and Circles, by Sir James Y. Simpson, 1867. Crawford Priory (Earl of Glasgow), a castellated mansion lately greatly enlarged ; and Mount Melville (J. Whyte Melville). On account of its isolated situation, Fife, except at the Reformation and during the times of the Covenanters, has not been prominently connected with the eventful periods of later Scottish history, the only circumstances worthy of mention being the battle of Dalcearrens Field, near Lindores, in which Sir William Wallace, in June 1300, inflicted a heavy defeat on the English ; the capture in 1651 of Burntisland by the soldiers of the Commonwealth, who garrisoned the town for several years, and in this way kept a check on the Royalist sympathizers of the &quot;kingdom&quot;; the landing of the uarl of Mar atEliein 1715 to take part in the Jacobite insurrection ; and the arrival shortly afterwards of 4000 of the insurgents with the view of crossing from Fife in boats to join the southern army. Among the eminent persons connected with Fife maybe mentioned Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, Sir Michael Scott the astrologer, the parliamentary general Leslie, Lord Leven, Sir David Wilkie, Adam Smith, Thomas Chalmers, Lord Chancellor Campbell, Mrs. Somerville, and the seventh and eighth earls of Elgin. Sir Robert Sibbald s History of Hit SheriffJomt of Fife anil Kinron U chiefly of value for the Information it contains regarding the condition of Fife at the period of the writer. Varied Information regarding the history and antiquities of the shire will be found in Alex. Campbell s Journey from Edinburgh throiujh Fift- shire, ISO. i; Hev. A. Small s Roman Antiquities in Fifcshire, 1823; Hev. J. W. Taylor s Historical Antiquities of Fife, 1875; and Rev. W. Wood s East Xtuk of Fife, 1862. See aliw Swan s Vietrt of Fife; the beautifully Illustrated Xhorei of fife, edited by Win. Hallinpill, 1872; and an interesting article on the &quot; Kingdom of Fife,&quot; in Fraier t Uayuiine for January 1878. (T. F. H.) FIFTH MONARCHY MEN, a Puritan sect who supported Cromwell s government in the expectation that it was a preparation for the &quot; fifth monarchy,&quot; that is, the monarchy which should succeed the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman, and during which Christ should reign with his saints on earth for a thousand years. Being disappointed at the delay in the fulfilment of their hopes, they attempted to foment a political agitation against the government of Cromwell, but the arrest of Feake and Powell, two of the most violent of their number, was sufficient for a time to damp their ardour, and they were content to nourish their dreams in secret until after the Restoration, when, on January G, 16G1, fifty of them, headed by a wine-cooper named Venner, made a mad effort to attain possession of London in name of &quot; King Jesus.&quot; Most of the fifty were either killed or taken prisoners, and on January 19 and 21 Venner and ten others were executed for high treason. From that time the special doctrines of the sect either died completely out, or became merged in a milder form of millenarianism similar to that which still exists at the present day. FIG, the popular name given to plants of the genus Ficus, an extensive group, included in the natural order Moraccce, and characterized by a remarkable develop ment of the pear-shaped receptacle, the edge of which curves inwards, so as to form a nearly closed cavity, bear ing the numerous fertile and sterile flowers mingled on its. surface (see BOTANY, fig. 150). The figs vary greatly in habit, some being low trailing shrubs, others gigantic trees, among the most striking forms of those tropical forests to which they are chiefly indigenous. They have alternate leaves, and abound in a milky juice, usually acrid, though in a few instances sufficiently mild to be used for allaying thirst. This juice contains caoutchouc in large quantity. Ficus Caricn, which yields the well-known figs of commerce, is a bush or small tree, rarely more than 18 or 20 feet high, with broad, rough, deciduous leaves, very deeply lobed in the cultivated varieties, but in the wild plant sometimes nearly entire. The green, rough branches boar the solitary, nearly sessile receptacles in the axils of the leaves. The male flowers are placed chiefly i;i the upper part of the cavity, and in most varieties are few in number. As it ripens, the receptacle enlarges greatly, and the numerous single-seeded pericarps become imbedded in it. The fruit of the wild fig never acquires the succulence of the cultivated kinds. The fig seems to be indigenous to Asia Minor and Syria, but now occurs in a IX. 20