INTRODUCING THE DISTRICT

The name Midlothian has been in use for more than 200 years and there is a reference to it in the Statistical Account of 1793. In some cases it was duplicated with the name Edinburghshire, referring to the same area, but the passing of the Local Government Act of 1947 saw the name Midlothian officially replace Edinburghshire.

Lothian, or the Latin form LODENEIA originally applied to the area between the Forth and the Tweed. In the sixth century it was annexed by Northumbria but in 1018, Malcolm II, after the battle of Carham, recovered the area and it became part of Scotland.

In the course of time the boundaries became further curtailed to that which is now called Lothian --- East, West and Mid, along with Edinburgh.

Midlothian has shown over recent years that it is a pleasant place in which to live and work and has much for the visitor to enjoy. It can offer the pleasures of the countryside and at the same time is close to an internationally famous city with its many shopping and cultural facilities.

The Midlothian District Council was formed under the terms of the re-organisation of Scottish Local Government and came fully into operation on the 16th May 1975.
Its area comprises the former Burghs of Bonnyrigg and Lasswade, Dalkeith, Loanhead, and Penicuik, along with the Landward Area of the former Midlothian County Council and forms part, along with the city of Edinburgh, East Lothian and West Lothian District Councils, of the Lothian Region.

The areas prosperity was at one time based on coal mining, paper making, and argriculture, but with a big reduction in the number of pits and men employed, the near disappearance of the paper mills, and fewer farm workers, the District has a much broader industrial base. Firms now providing employment include printing and stationery, electronics, precision engineering, crystal glass manufacture, clothing manufacture, photo processing, and whisky bottling and blending.

Historically Midlothian has strong links with Edinburgh but in its own right it has a place in history with a wealth of places of architectural and historic interest, forts and castles, villages of character, and many ancient churches.

Dalkeith

Meaning of the name : hard to be sure; it may come from Gaelic ( a Celtic language ) or from British ( another Gaelic language ). It could mean "the narrow valley", "the valley of the woods", or the "valley of battle".

Dalkeith existed in 1142 when DALKEID is mentioned in a Charter of the Abbey of Holyrood.

The town grew around the Castle, which is now incorporated within Dalkeith Palace ( also known as Dalkeith House ). The Castle was built in the 12th century ( the 1100s ) and originally belonged to the Graham family. It was captured by the English in 1339 and again, after a long siege, in 1547 after the Battle of Pinkie. At this time the castle belonged to the Earl of Morton.

In 1641 the castle was bought by the Duke of Baccleuch ( head of the Scott family ) and in the early 1700s Anne, Duchess of Baccleuch and Monmouth built Dalkeith House around the original castle.

The town itself grew slowly as a mainly agricultural settlement. In the late 18th and during the 19th and 20th centuries coal-mining expanded greatly and contributed to the growth of the town.

By the 19th century Dalkeith had become the main grain market in Scotland and in 1878 it obtained a Town Council and Provost; it lost these with the re-organisation of local government in 1975.

Today Dalkeith is a busy shopping centre for surrounding areas; it is also one of the main administrative centres for the Midlothian District.

St Nicholas Church is mentioned as early as 1372. By 1420 it was a Collegiate Church. Although it was damaged at the time of the Reformation much of the original building exists within the present church rebuilt in 1945. In an unroofed part of the old church are the tombs of the early 16th century Earl of Morton and his wife Princess Joanna ( daughter of the King of Scots ).

Today, with outlying districts, Dalkeith has about 15,000 people.

It has a very active twinning arrangement with the small town of Jarnac in Western France and the main square is called Jarnac Court in honour of this.

Rosslyn Chapel.

Rosslyn Chapel is famous for the number, variety and beauty of its carvings, the most notable of which is the Apprentice Pillar said to have been carved by an apprentice mason while the master mason was in Rome to get plans.
On his return, far from being pleased with the apprentice's work, the master mason is reputed to have been enraged and slain the young man.

Newbattle Abbey College.

On the outskirts of Dalkeith, an Abbey was founded in 1146 by Cistercian Monks who were responsible for digging "black stanis" -- or coal as we know it -- from the earth about the thirteen century.

NOVEMBER 1999 - Scottish Mining Museum Find Old Workings In Grounds Of Newbattle Abbey College. -- Pictures Here.

Newbattle Abbey College.

Work started on the present building about 1580, but the area of the crypt was probably completed in the fourteenth century.
After being the home of the Lothian family for nearly four centuries, Newbattle Abbey, or Newbattle House as it was for long called, was given in trust to the Scottish nation by Philip Henry Kerr, the 11th Marquess of Lothian and, until his death, a much-respected British Ambassador to the U.S.A. The historic building and beautiful grounds were opened as a Residential College of Adult Education on 12th January 1937, the cost of adaptation being largely met by the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust. The College was open, for a one year course, to men and women over twenty who had left school at fourteen or fifteen and lacked any recognised educational attainments, the curriculum being modelled on that of Ruskin College, Oxford and Coleg Harlech in Wales. On the outbreak of war the College was immediately under military occupation and continued so for eight years. After an unsettled interim period, it re-opened as a residential college in the Autumn of 1950 and continues to serve that purpose. Today, however, the College is available not only to students with the staying power to last out a course equivalent in length to that of a university session and rivalling the university work in the amount of reading and writing demanded.