Pathhead

   1) PATHHEAD, a village, in the parish of New Cumnock, district of Kyle, county of Ayr; containing 325 inhabitants. This is an agricultural village, not far distant from Afton-Bridgend, Castle, and Mansfield, also in the parish. It contains a place of worship for members of the Free Church.

   2) PATHHEAD, a village, in the parish of Crichton, county of Edinburgh, 4½ miles (S. E.) from Dalkeith; containing 843 inhabitants. This is a neat village, pleasantly situated on the high road from Dalkeith to Fala, and is of a remarkably cheerful appearance, on which account, and from the beautiful scenery in the vicinity, it is a favourite summer retreat. The principal street is broad and well built, and in the neighbourhood are several elegant residences. At the foot of the village is a handsome bridge over the Tyne water, lately erected on the Ford property, under the direction of Sir John Dalrymple; it consists of five arches, eighty feet high and fifty feet in span, and crosses the beautiful vale between Ford and the finely-wooded grounds of Preston Hall and Oxenford. A post-office has two arrivals and despatches daily, and several coaches run on the line of the turnpike-road. Many of the inhabitants are engaged in the collieries of the district. In the village is a Free Church; near it is a place of worship for dissenters; and there are two or three schools, one of them an infants' school under the patronage of, and supported by, Mrs. Burn Callender, of Preston Hall.

   3) PATHHEAD, lately a quoad sacra parish, in the parish of Dysart, district of Kirkcaldy, county of Fife, ½ a mile (N. E. by E.) from Kirkcaldy; containing 2946 inhabitants. This place derives its name from its situation at the head of a steep hill overlooking the Frith of Forth; the hill is at the western extremity of the parish, and, conducting to Kirkcaldy, is thence called the Path. The village is divided into two portions, named respectively Pathhead proper, or Dunnikier, and Sinclairton. The former is of very ancient date, and is built upon the lands of Dunnikier; the mansion inhabited for many generations by that family is still remaining, and forms a conspicuous object terminating the lower street. Sinclairton, the more modern part, is separated from the former by the great road to Dundee, and extends about a mile northwards, on the estate of the Earl of Rosslyn. The houses are regularly built: a considerable part of the population are sailors; but the majority are engaged in spinning and weaving, and the manufacture of dowlas, ticks, and checks. A post-office has been established under Kirkcaldy. The ecclesiastical affairs were placed under the presbytery of Kirkcaldy and synod of Fife, and the patronage vested in the male communicants. The church has been built within the last fifteen years, at an expense of £3000, raised by subscription; it is a spacious and handsome edifice with a lofty tower, and is a pleasing feature in the appearance of the village. There are places of worship for dissenters. A school for 150 children has been established, and is endowed for the maintenance of a master, who has a salary of £120 per annum. On a rock projecting into the sea, are the. massive ruins of Ravenscraig Castle: this castle was given by James III. to William Sinclair, or St. Clair, Earl of Orkney, with the adjacent lands, when he resigned the title of Orkney. It was inhabited during the usurpation of Cromwell, and was held by a party of his soldiers; but it has been since untenanted, and suffered to fall into decay.