the place in the reign of James VI. It afterwards became the
property of the Anstruther family, who, it is supposed, presented it to the
town, or exchanged it for a house in the _Pend Wynd_, now belonging to Mr
John Darsie, which was occupied for some time as the manse. At the time of
which we write, there was a fine old baronial mansion, called "Anstruther
Place," which stood near the present junction of the Crail and St Andrews
roads. It belonged to the above-mentioned ancient family, the Anstruthers
of Anstruther, whose progenitor was a Norman warrior that came to Britain
with William the Conqueror. It was a mansion as large as Balcaskie,
surmounted by a tower, and surrounded by fine old ancestral trees. A
magnificent hall graced its interior, large enough to contain a company of
volunteers, or local militiamen at drill, within its four corners. In
addition to these old buildings, which gave a peculiar character to the
place, there were a good many handsome new houses in the town of
Anstruther, for it was far from being in a state of decay. Many wealthy and
intelligent families chose it for their residence. It was the seat of a
custom-house and excise-office. There was a branch of the Paisley Bank
established in the town, under the management of a Mr Henry Russell, of the
customs, and the bank office was kept in that shop now belonging to Mr
James Reddie, ironmonger.[J] There was also a Greenland Whale Fishing
Company connected with the town, of which a Bailie Johnston was manager.
The company's place of business was situated in the East Green, and is now
the property of Mr Robert Todd, and it is still known to old people by the
name of the Greenland Close. There is, or was lately, an old stone placed
over the door at the southern entrance into the yard, indicating the
nature of the manufacture formerly carried on therein.[K] And before the
Reform Bill was passed, Anstruther-Easter joined with the other four
burghs of the district in sending a member to Parliament. Many thriving
and respectable trades-people, whose forefathers had resided there for
generations, and who looked upon the old buildings of their native town
with something of the same sort of feeling as the landowner surveys the
oaks which encircle his paternal hall, regarded it with pride and
veneration. Perhaps no town of its size in Scotland could be named where
so much good feeling prevailed among all classes. An eminent physician,
who came to settle in