Dunfermline - Eric Simpson

Dunfermline is an ancient royal burgh which has played an important role in the history of Scotland. With its medieval abbey and attached royal palace, it was for long a seat of royalty. The royals with a close association with Dunfermline included the saintly Queen Margaret and King Robert the Bruce, and Charles I was born there. When handloom weaving gave way to the power loom and the factory system. the auld grey toun underwent a veritable revolution. In the twentieth century, the town has undergone further significant change. In the early part of that century it benefited from the generous benefactions of its most famous son Andrew Carnegie. Thanks to its proximity to booming Edinburgh, the auld grey toun has grown in size and population. The images in Dunfermline Through Time illustrate some of the many ways that social and industrial change has transformed the auld royal burgh.