The Fife Pilgrim Way: In the Footsteps of Monks, Miners and Martyrs

by Ian Bradley

Overview

This book is the essential companion for anyone exploring the new Fife Pilgrim Way, whether on foot, by car or bicycle or simply as an armchair traveller.

Packed with history, vivid anecdote and nearly 100 colour illustrations, it brings to life the fascinating communities and the characters along the route in whose footsteps modern pilgrims are treading. Setting off with Celtic saints and St Margaret from Culross and North Queensferry, marching with miners through the West Fife coalfields, carrying on with Covenanters and Communists, and ending among the martyrs, relics and ghosts of the haunted city of St Andrews, this gripping narrative presents a journey through Scottish history, ancient and modern, with spiritual reflections along the way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780275925
Publisher:	Birlinn, Limited
Publication date:	08/06/2019
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.85(w) x 7.80(h) x (d)

About the Author

The Rev. Dr Ian Bradley has written over 40 books and is well-known as a broadcaster, journalist and lecturer. He is also a Church of Scotland minister and a respected academic whose enthusiasm shines through in all that he does.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7

Introduction 13

Part 1 Setting out with three saints: from Culross and North Queensferry to Dunfermline

1 Setting out from Culross with Serf and Kentigern 33

2 Setting out from North Queensferry with Margaret 48

3 Inverkeithing: a staging post and changing place 62

4 Dunfermline 74

5 Fife's medieval religious communities 99

Part 2 Carrying on past coal mines, churches and conventicles: from Dunfermline to St Andrews

6 Marching with the miners 115

7 Ancient and Modem: from Kelty to Kennoway via Glenrothes 142

8 Bloody deeds along the way: from Kennoway to St Andrews 167

Part 3 Reaching the destination: St Andrews, the haunted city of relics and reformers

9 St Andrews: the pilgrim city 197

10 St Andrews: the Reformation city 219

11 Under the archways and through the gates of the haunted town 241

Conclusion: the end and the beginning 271

Select bibliography 273

Useful Information 277

Index of People and Places 283

Editorial Reviews

Not a walking guide but an ideal illustrated companion to the rich historical background of the area, ancient and modern. An excellent introduction to a wide landscape of Scottish Christian and social history'

Church Times

An excellent guide to the Fife Pilgrim way, captures the fascinating history…in a light and almost chatty tone which makes it enjoyable to read and understand. We thoroughly recommend it to anyone thinking of walking the route'

WalkFife

In this essential companion, Ian Bradley brings to life, in great detail, the rich history of the religious buildings and communities encountered along the way. Well-researched, the book is not a walking guide, but an in-depth insight into the lives of the pilgrims in whose steps walkers follow. For those attempting the entire 64-mile route or merely dipping into a section at a time, this read will be an enlightening precursor to a trip or perfect for post excursion reading'

Scottish Field