The Kingdom of Fife and Scotland

Céad Míle Fáilte

“A Hundred Thousand Welcomes”

When it comes to visiting or exploring Scotland, there are relatively few places offering close proximity to Edinburgh, Dundee and Perth with good road and rail links to Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness. As such, Fife makes an ideal base in which any traveller or resident is blessed with the ability to explore Scotland more easily than from many other locations within the Scottish Nation. Given that there are many other web sites about Fife and Scotland, ours is one with a more radical path and viewpoint and in which typical repetition is minimal and often based on personal experience. In most cases, descriptions are often equally personal with photographs copyright of this author or else attributed to others as mentioned in the text. Welcome to the Kingdom of Fife, a modern part of Scotland and a modern part of the United Kingdom!

Welcome To The Kingdom Of Fife

The earliest written account we have of the Kingdom dates back to about 550CE and attributed to St Columba of Iona. In this text, the seven Pictish KIngdoms are named with the Kingdom of Fib referring to current day Fife and at a time preceding any national identity. Indeed, within the Roman Empire, Scotland was identified with lands of the 'Scoti' and ascribed by Roman and Latin scholars to what is now called Ireland. Much later in time, when the Gaels of Ireland progressively invaded Pictland that 'Fib' became 'Phyffe' in Gaelic and anglicised to ''Fife' in the wake of the Norman invasion of England in 1066. As a national identity emerged, the land we now call Scotland was called 'Alba' in Gaelic.

From early times, the massive cathedral at St Andrews had a massive influence on the region with pilgrims from afar making the long journey to this site. These days, the 'pilgrims' are more likely to be golf enthusiasts in search of where the sport began, and even if it's not always possible to get a round on the Royal And Ancient Golf Course; the third oldest golf course in the World is just ten miles away and there are over forty other golf courses to choose from in the region.

Not surprisingly, St Andrews established one of the oldest universities in 1411CE, and it remains as a well renowned learning centre of international status and reputation in modern times.

In current times, Fife is the smallest administrative region in Scotland with about 2,500 miles of roads and a population of about 345,000 people and access to region is easy whether travelling by road, rail or air. Edinburgh Airport lies just twenty-seven miles from central Fife. Glasgow Airport is sixty-three miles from central Fife. There are no cities in Fife and one third of the populace resides in the three largest towns of Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline. The region is located between the cities of Edinburgh, Dundee and Perth with a typical road distance to these cities from central Fife of about thirty miles or less. Glenrothes is the administrative captital town of the region with two rail stations at Thornton to the South and Markinch to the East.

Stirling and the famous battlefield of the Bannockburn lies about forty-five miles west of central Fife. Aberdeen lies ninety-two miles to the North and the old Pictish capital of Inveness lies one hundred and forty miles from central Fife yet well connected by modern road and rail systems. The Forth Rail Bridge (pictured left by kind courtesay of George Gastin) is an iconic structure virtually unique and instantly recogniseable as a symbol of Scotland.

In terms of climate, we're blessed with moderate rather than radical extremes of weather. In mid-winter, it rarely gets colder than about five degrees below zero and snow tends to be occasional. Daylight hours reach less than eight hours at Christmas but then progressively expands towards summer and where temperatures can sometimes exceed several Mediteranean destinations. In mid-summer, sunrise is about 3.30am with sunset at about 10.30pm - more than enough time for golf, sightseeing and visiting many interesting venues and entertainments on offer within the local community.

The old traditions of live theatre, museums, castles and palaces contrast with modern discotheques, a Sea World Centre and the incredible 'must see' alternative reality of the Secret Nuclear Bunker: something for both old and young!

Of course, there must be thousands of Internet web sites about Fife and Scotland but there is no desire on our part to merely repeat what has gone before although some degree of repetition is unavoidable. By contrast, we'll often be presenting lesser known venues, places of interest and often from a personal and different perspective. We naturally hope that you will enjoy this different and honest approach.