An independent visitor’s guide to the county — unaffiliated with any museum or council service

EAST LOTHIAN HERITAGE

an independent survey of the museums, history & coast of the county

The Bass Rock and the mouth of the Firth of Forth under a great evening sky, seen from the East Lothian shore

A volume of fifteen papers upon the

Museums, History &
Shore of East Lothian

in four parts, with plates, tables & a chronology

❦

set down independently · read in order, or not

frontispiece — the Bass Rock & the mouth of the Forth

Contents

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Fifteen papers on the county’s five museums, its battles and its harvests, its coal and its shore — each anchored by a plate, and every one free to read.

Part the First — Museums & Collections

  1. I.The Tolbooth Keeps the TownA sixteenth-century civic landmark now holds Dunbar's story, from prehistoric flint tools to the herring fishery of its harbour.Dunbar · 7 min read
  2. II.The County's Paperwork Made PublicThe John Gray Centre, Haddington — where East Lothian's memory is open for businessHaddington · 7 min read
  3. III.The Old School by the SeaA volunteer-kept museum tells North Berwick's story — fishing, golf, Victorian holidays, and the sea. Housed in the town's former school.North Berwick · 4 min read
  4. IV.Eight Hundred Years UnderfootPrestongrange Museum and the Long Life of an Industrial ShorePrestonpans · 12 min read
  5. V.A Field That FlewThe National Museum of Flight at East Fortune Airfield, East LothianEast Fortune · 11 min read

Open part the first →

Wide shot of Cornish engine house from shoreside, Forth visible behind
plate iv — from “Eight Hundred Years Underfoot”
Wide shot of the Bass Rock from the sea showing white gannet coverage
plate vi — from “The Gannet City”

Part the Second — The Coast

  1. VI.The Gannet CityA volcanic fortress in the Firth of Forth whose tenants have outlasted every jailer: the Bass Rock, Covenanter prison and last Jacobite stronghold.North Berwick · 8 min read
  2. VII.The Forth LightsA Family and a Firththe Firth of Forth · 7 min read
  3. VIII.Herring SilverThe Silver Harvestthe East Lothian coast · 7 min read
  4. IX.Links Laid Along the SandA Shore Made for the GameNorth Berwick / Gullane · 5 min read

Open part the second →

Part the Third — History & Battles

  1. X.Cromwell Below Doon HillThe battle that should never have been a battleDunbar · 8 min read
  2. XI.The Quarter-Hour ChargeGround, Army and ApproachPrestonpans · 7 min read
  3. XII.A Boy of the High StreetThe Making of a NaturalistDunbar · 8 min read
  4. XIII.Silver on the LawThe Hill and Its PeopleTraprain Law · 5 min read

Open part the third →

View from Doon Hill ridge looking north-west toward Dunbar and the Firth of Forth
plate x — from “Cromwell Below Doon Hill”
Wide-angle view of ripe barley or wheat fields near East Linton in late July
plate xiv — from “The Market Garden of Scotland”

Part the Fourth — Table & Custom

  1. XIV.The Market Garden of ScotlandLand Made to GrowEast Lothian · 7 min read
  2. XV.Belhaven AleThe Oldest Pint in LothianDunbar · 4 min read

Open part the fourth →

The List of Plates

a second way through the volume — every plate leads to its paper

the remaining plates appear with their papers

Appendix — A Chronology of East Lothian

from the Traprain treasure to Concorde — every entry leads to its paper

Era
Theme
  1. c. AD 400The Traprain treasure buried on the LawPrehistory · History & BattlesPaper XIII →
  2. 1184Monks first cut coal at PrestongrangeMedieval · Table & CustomPaper IV →
  3. 1650Battle of Dunbar — Cromwell's victory below Doon HillWars & Union · History & BattlesPaper X →
  4. 1745Battle of Prestonpans — the Jacobite charge, over in a quarter-hourWars & Union · History & BattlesPaper XI →
  5. 1838John Muir born on Dunbar High StreetIndustrial · History & BattlesPaper XII →
  6. 1902The Bass Rock light first shows — a Stevenson lampIndustrial · The CoastPaper VI →
  7. 1919The R34 leaves East Fortune — first east–west Atlantic crossing by airIndustrial · Museums & CollectionsPaper V →
  8. 1962The last shift at Prestongrange — eight centuries of coal endModern · Table & CustomPaper IV →
  9. 1975The National Museum of Flight opens at East FortuneModern · Museums & CollectionsPaper V →
  10. 2004Concorde G-BOAA arrives at East FortuneModern · Museums & CollectionsPaper V →

No entries under that era and theme together — loosen one of them.