Dunfermline gained official city status in 2023. While it can't be denied the High Street has suffered since our shopping habits as a nation changed, the compact Heritage Quarter is a real asset to the new city and makes Dunfermline an ideal location for a day trip or short stay. The public transport connections are good, with bus links to many parts of Central Scotland and regular trains arriving from Edinburgh.
Dunfermline is an ancient royal capital and several monarchs were born here - the last being Charles the first in 1600, who reigned over the whole of Britain until Oliver Cromwell intervened. Seven Scottish kings are interred at the abbey site, although only the tomb of Robert the Bruce (1274-1329) has any identifying features. Dunfermline was the home town of Hungarian-born Queen Margaret (1045-1093), Scotland's only canonised Saint. Today I was heading to a book sale in the Carnegie Library and I wandered through the adjacent graveyard. It's an ideal place to take in the character of the old town and the City Chambers spire dominates the skyline. The modern abbey church (erected 1821) incorporates parts of the ancient worship site and many tourists come into the choir to view the resting place of Robert the Bruce (whose name is also carved into the exterior balustrade of the tower and is visible from afar). In the far corner of the churchyard stand the remains of the royal palace. The structure largely reflects the form in which the building was remodelled by James IV around 1500. Following the 1603 Union of the Crowns, the Scottish court upped sticks for London and Dunfermline rarely hosted royal guests. The palace was finally abandoned halfway through the 17th century during the Cromwellian occupation of Scotland. Abbot House (pictured below) adjoins the abbey grounds. The A-listed property is the oldest in the city and is steeped in a rich heritage, dating back to at least the 16th century. The distinctive pink colour was applied in the 1990s when the building was lime washed, although it may have sported a similar hue in the past. The house is now owned by a charitable trust and - following a recent period of uncertainty - finance has been released to carry out extensive renovations. The café on the ground floor is an excellent place to enjoy refreshments and you can sit in the walled garden if the weather permits. Dunfermline's most famous son in relatively recent times is Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) who emigrated to the United States as a boy. He amassed great wealth and donated large amounts in later life to his place of birth, in order to improve the quality of amenities for locals. Carnegie purchased the private Pittencrieff Estate and handed it over to the town. Known informally as "The Glen" - this stunning area of parkland abuts the Heritage Quarter and provides ample walking opportunities. One of Carnegie's passions was the availability of education to the masses. He had grown up in modest circumstances and eventually established over 2000 free public libraries across the globe, the original example being right here in Dunfermline.
Opened in 1883, the original premises were extended during the 20th century and a major new development began in 2014, when the library closed for two years to enable a museum and art gallery to be bolted on. The result is an excellent combination of old and new architecture and the galleries are perfect for a small city. Visitors can wander among the antique shelving units in the original library and proceed into the museum to learn about Dunfermline's history, or delve into one of the changing art exhibitions. The windows on the upper floors provide lovely views of the abbey and the surrounding land. Lending libraries have never stood still in a technological sense and you will find a computer suite nestled within the Victorian building. Today's book sale was located in one of the function rooms and a wide range of surplus stock from the Fife catalogue was offered at 50p per paperback and £1 for each hardback. I chose the option of picking up a cardboard box and filling it for a tenner. Items were disappearing quickly and it was fortunate that I'd arrived fairly early and was able to find enough titles of interest. Carnegie's fingerprints are all over Dunfermline and there is a museum dedicated to his life at the bottom end of the Heritage Quarter. The site includes the 18th-century weaver's cottage where Carnegie was born. His wife Louise Whitfield Carnegie (1857-1946) purchased the property in 1895 and visitors were first welcomed in 1908. A memorial hall was added in 1928 and now functions as the museum's main gallery. The displays focus on social history and admission is free. I have fully explored the Heritage Quarter over the years and today's mission was just a quick tour en route to the library. I now had to lug my box of books uphill to the bus station. If somebody reads this post and decides to visit Dunfermline for the first time, then the effort of writing has been worthwhile.
I found myself back inside the abbey the following weekend. I've been to a wide variety of concerts in my life - from heavy metal to classical, jazz and blues, but opera was a first for me. Four single performances of The Bruce were being staged around the country and the event was billed as a cathedral opera. The composer was 25-year-old Rahkhat-Bi Abdyssagin from Kazakhstan and the cast was drawn from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland - an elite music college based in Glasgow. Tickets were free and I booked a couple online. My mum and sister also planned to attend. There must have been some public funding in place to put on the shows and the singers most likely students. It would be something different and I had nothing to lose. On the eve of the event, I received an email urging patrons to arrive early as all the capacity (circa 300) had been sold. It politely requested that any reserved tickets no longer required should be returned in order to reallocate them to those on the waiting list. By this point, Nicole had decided she would give it a miss and I messaged the booking agency to say I no longer had a plus-one. The original communication also stated there was only one toilet in the church and I made sure I didn't drink anything before heading into town to meet up with Linda and Mum. We wandered into the abbey and, er, took a pew. The performance was scheduled to last an hour and the composer said a few words before the start. The piece had been written to commemorate the 750th anniversary of Bruce's birth and was described as a new genre, designed to resonate with the acoustics of a cathedral interior. Following a 10-minute organ overture with live recitation by poet Alan Riach - Professor of Scottish Literature at Glasgow University - the singers launched into action, performing in front of the pulpit in a largely static manner. The text was in 14th-century Scots and printed inside the programme (with contemporary translation alongside). However, it seemed the language was largely irrelevant from a listening standpoint as the booming operatic tones were difficult to decipher, even if one could comprehend the written version. I quite enjoyed the spectacle and the crowd rose to its feet at the end, with a few fans queueing for selfies with King Robert. Mum has seen quite a few professional opera productions on large stages and pointed out that tonight's show was more akin to choral singing. Mainstream opera is acted out, as well as voiced. Still, it was nice to see the old church bursting at the seams, something that rarely happens at regular Sunday services as the resident minister had joked as she introduced the proceedings. A meal afterwards at a Brewer's Fayre restaurant sealed a fine evening out.
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