Musselburgh

This article is about Musselburgh in Scotland. For Musselburgh in New Zealand, see Musselburgh, New Zealand

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Coordinates: 55°56′36″N 3°02′58″W / 55.94326°N 3.049555°W / 55.94326; -3.049555

Musselburgh
Musselburgh  Musselburgh shown within Scotland
Population	22,212 (2008 census)
Council area	East Lothian
Lieutenancy area	East Lothian
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MUSSELBURGH
Postcode district	EH21
Dialling code	0131
Police	Lothian and Borders
Fire	Lothian and Borders
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	East Lothian
Scottish Parliament	Edinburgh East and Musselburgh Lothians
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Welcome to the Honest Toun

Showing the Brunton Hall, from the west of the town

Musselburgh is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, six miles east of Edinburgh city centre.

History

It was first settled by the Romans in the years following their invasion of Scotland in AD80. They built a fort a little inland from the mouth of the River Esk and bridged the river here. In doing so they established the line of the main eastern approach to Scotland's capital for most of the next two thousand years. Musselburgh is the oldest town in Scotland and has the oldest golf course of its kind in Scotland.

The name Musselburgh is Old English in origin with mussel referring to the shellfish ^[1], and burgh derived from the Old English for 'town'. ^[2]

Rennie Bridge, River Esk

The bridge built by the Romans outlasted them by many centuries. It was rebuilt on the original Roman foundations some time before 1300, and in 1597 it was rebuilt again, this time with a third arch added on the east side of the river. The Old Bridge is also known as the Roman Bridge and remains in use today by pedestrians. To its north is the New Bridge, designed by John Rennie the Elder and built in 1806. This in turn was considerably widened in 1925.

The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh was fought south of Musselburgh.

The town motto "Honesty" dates back to 1332, when the Regent of Scotland, Randolph, Earl of Moray, died in the burgh after a long illness during which he was devotedly cared for by its citizens. His successor offered to reward the people for their loyalty but they declined, saying they were only doing their duty. The new regent, the Earl of Mar, was impressed and said they were a set of honest men, hence "Honest Toun".

According to his autobiography, Sir Harry Lauder's parents lived at Musselburgh after he was born, where Harry's brothers Matthew, John, and Alexander, and a sister, Isabella, were all born. They moved to Derbyshire sometime after April 1881.

The Musselburgh Silver Arrow is reputed to be the oldest sporting trophy in United Kingdom ^[3], and is competed for annually by the Royal Company of Archers. It dates back to at least 1603 [1], and perhaps even to 1603 [2].

Education

Schools include Loretto School, a private boarding school, and Musselburgh Grammar School, the local large comprehensive that is one of the oldest Grammar schools in the country, dating from the 17th century. Primary Schools include; Campie Primary School, Musselburgh Burgh Primary School, Stoneyhill Primary School, Pinkie St Peter's Primary School, Loretto RC Primary School and Loretto Nippers (Private).

Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University relocated all its schools from Edinburgh to Musselburgh as of 2007. The Queen officially opened the QMU campus in July 2008.

Musselburgh is known as "The Honest Toun", and celebrates this by the annual election of the Honest Lad and Lass.

Prior to 1975, Musselburgh was in Midlothian, not East Lothian. It became part of the East Lothian District following the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and subsequently East Lothian unitary council area in 1996. There is an anecdote that this caused disappointment within the rest of the county, as, prior to that point, East Lothian had no traffic lights.

Railway

Musselburgh is served by two railway stations Musselburgh railway station in the west of the town situated adjacent to Queen Margaret University which is served by regular First ScotRail services from Edinburgh to North Berwick. It is a relatively new station, opened in 1988. The other station serving the town is Wallyford railway station to the east of the town in the village of Wallyford , opened in 1994, serves the eastern end of the town. The town's original station was situated close to the town centre at the end of a short branch from Newhailes Junction. Passenger services from there ceased in 1964 and the line ultimately closed to all traffic in the early 1970s. It is now a road bypassing the Fisherrow area of the town.

Roads

The A1 road (Great Britain) goes round the town and joins up with the A720 Edinburgh City Bypass at the edge of the town before heading into Edinburgh city centre. The A199 goes through the High street to Edinburgh in the west and to Dunbar to the east

Sport

Musselburgh is home to both Musselburgh Racecourse and Musselburgh Links golf course. The links which are a former venue of golf's Open Championship have recently been acknowledged as the oldest continuously played golf course in the world. ^[4] Musselburgh Athletic F.C. are the town's junior football team playing in the Scottish Junior Football at Olivebank Park to the west of the town. Musselburgh Rugby Club play in the BT Scottish Premiership 2 at Stoneyhill.

Notable people

• Rhona Cameron comedienne

• Kenny Miller footballer

• Colin Nish footballer

• Kris Renton footballer

• John McGlynn football manager

• Jim Jefferies football manager

• Willie Ormond footballer and manager

• John White (footballer born 1937) footballer

• Scott Murray rugby player

• Alexander Carrick sculptor

• James "Jimmy" Martin Played Eric in Still Game

• Claire Knight Plays Iona McIntyre in River City

• Susan Deacon former MSP

Areas

Fisherrow

The Wimpys

Pinkie

Stoneyhill

Stoneybank

Monktonhall

Inveresk

Wallyford

Twin towns

• - Champigny-sur-Marne, France.
• - Rosignano Marittimo, Italy.

Fisherrow harbour at Musselburgh	Eskmills	Musselburgh railway station, showing a local east bound (North Berwick) train, and a west bound (Edinburgh) intercity (125) train	Showing the main entrance to the Brunton Hall
Scottish Episcopal church	Harbour Master's Office

Notes

1. ^ Musselburgh was famous for the mussel beds which grew in the Firth of Forth; after many years of claims that the mussels were unsafe for consumption a movement has been started to re-establish the mussel beds as a commercial venture.
2. ^ http://www.gwp.enta.net/scothist.htm#places
3. ^ Hugo Arnot, The history of Edinburgh, from the earliest accounts, to the year 1780, Edinburgh, 1816
4. ^ "Links play out onto record books". BBC News.co.uk. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7949045.stm. Retrieved 2009-03-18. 

See also

• Burgh
• John Muir Way
• List of places in East Lothian

External links

• Census data (PDF)