Haddingtonshire

Haddingtonshire, or EAST LOTHIAN, a maritime county of Scotland, washed on the north for 32 miles by the German Ocean and the Firth of Forth. Its utmost length is 26 miles, its utmost breadth 19, and its area 280 sq. m. In the south are the Lammermuir Hills, culminating in Lammer Law (1733 feet); whilst isolated heights are North Berwick Law (612), Traprain or Dumpender Law (724), and the Garleton Hills (594), on which stands a conspicuous column, erected in 1824 to the fourth Earl of Hopetoun. The Tyne, flowing 16 miles north-eastward through the county, is its only considerable stream. The rocks are variously Silurian, sandstone, volcanic, and carboniferous, and yield coal, iron, and limestone, the coal having been mined near Tranent since the 13th century. The annual rainfall is 25 inches, and the mean temperature 46° F. Thanks to a long series of skilled agriculturists, from John Cockburn of Ormiston to Mr Hope of Fenton Barns and onwards, Haddingtonshire has for two hundred years enjoyed high agricultural fame, having been the first Scottish county to adopt the sowing of turnips in drills (1734), the thrashing-machine (1787), and the steam-plough (1862). About 64 per cent. of the entire area is in cultivation, and more than one-seventeenth is under wood. The county returns one member to parliament. Its towns are Haddington, Dunbar, North Berwick, Prestonpans, Tranent, and East Linton; and under these and the Bass Rock are noticed the chief events in its history. The antiquities include the ruined castles of Dirleton and Tantallon. Pop. (1841) 35,886; (1881) 38,502; (1891) 37,491. See LOTHIAN, and works by D. Croal (3d ed. 1885) and J. Small (1883).