Midlothian (historic)

Following the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, Lothian was populated by Brythonic-speaking ancient Britons and formed part of Gododdin, within the Hen Ogledd or Old North. In the seventh century, Gododdin fell to the Angles, with Lothian becoming part of the kingdom of Bernicia. Bernicia united into the Kingdom of Northumbria which itself became part of the early Kingdom of England. Lothian came under the control of the Scottish monarchy in the tenth century.

In the Middle Ages, Lothian was the scene of several historic conflicts between the kingdoms of Scotland and England. The Battle of Roslin took place in 1303 at Roslin as part of the First War of Scottish Independence. A Scottish army led by Simon Fraser and John Comyn defeated an army led by English commander John Segrave.

Along with other parts of the Lothians, the county was involved in the Rough Wooing when Roslin Castle, seat of the Earl of Caithness, was destroyed in 1544 by forces of Henry VIII of England.

In the 17th century, the county featured in the War of the Three Kingdoms, where General George Monck had his base at Dalkeith Castle as the Commonwealth's Commander in Scotland.^[3] Following the Restoration of the monarchy, the "Pentland Rising" in the region culminated with the Battle of Rullion Green in 1666, a decisive victory for the Government forces against Covenanter rebels.

In 1650, Oliver Cromwell's army came to Dalkeith. His officer General George Monck, was commander in Scotland, and the government of the country was based out of Dalkeith castle.^[4]

The 1878–1980 Midlothian campaign by British Liberal politician William Ewart Gladstone entered history as an early example of modern political campaigning, resulting in Gladstone taking the Midlothian constituency from the long-time Conservative member of parliament William Montagu Douglas Scott and going on to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The origins of the historic county of Midlothian are obscure; it emerged as a shire (the area controlled by a sheriff) in the Middle Ages, and was certainly in existence by the reign of David I (reigned 1124–1153). It covered the central part of the former kingdom or province of Lothian, and was formally called the "shire of Edinburgh" or "Edinburghshire", although the alternative name "Midlothian" was also used from a very early date. The burgh of Edinburgh became administratively independent from the surrounding county in 1482 when James III granted the burgh the right to appoint its own sheriff and coroner, making it a county of itself.^[5]

Commissioners of Supply were established for each shire in 1667, and served as the main administrative body for the county until elected county councils were created in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, taking most of the commissioners' functions.^[6] The commissioners for Edinburghshire, and the county council which followed them, did not have jurisdiction over the city of Edinburgh, which was administered by the town council of the burgh.^[7]

From its creation in 1890 the county council called itself "Midlothian County Council".^[8] However, the legal name of the county remained the "county of Edinburgh" or "Edinburghshire". In 1913 the county council petitioned the government to formally change the name to Midlothian.^[9] The government responded that it would direct all government departments to use Midlothian rather than Edinburghshire, but that a formal change of name needed to be done by statute and it could not justify the parliamentary time to make such a change.^[10] The statutory change of name from Edinburghshire to Midlothian eventually took place in 1947, under section 127 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 43).^[11] Midlothian County Council was based at Midlothian County Buildings, built in 1904 on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh on the site of the earlier County Buildings.^[12]

Midlothian County Council was abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which abolished Scotland's counties and burghs as administrative areas and created a new two-tier system of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Most of Midlothian's territory went to a new district called Midlothian within the Lothian Region. The Midlothian district was smaller than the area of the pre-1975 county, parts of which went to the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian and West Lothian districts within the Lothian region, and to the Ettrick and Lauderdale district in the Borders region.^[13][14]

The boundaries of the historic county, including the city of Edinburgh, are still used for some limited official purposes connected with land registration, being a registration county.^[15] For lieutenancy purposes, the last lord-lieutenant of the county of Midlothian was made lord-lieutenant for the new district of Midlothian when the reforms came into effect in 1975.^[16] The Midlothian lieutenancy area corresponds to the current council area rather than the historic county.^[17] The former county council's headquarters in Edinburgh became the offices of the new Lothian Regional Council, whilst the Midlothian District Council established its headquarters in Dalkeith.^[18]

The Lothian region was abolished in 1996; its four districts, including Midlothian, became unitary council areas, sing the 1975 names and boundaries.^[19]

The historic county has a roughly trapezoidal shape; it consists of a fairly flat area along the Firth of Forth, which is heavily urbanised and dominated by the Edinburgh conurbation. Off the coast lie the small islands of Inchmickery and Cramond Island. The land gradually rises to the south, with the Pentland Hills in the south-west, Moorfoot Hills in the centre-south and the Lammermuir Hills in the far south-east. Blackhope Scar on the border with Peeblesshire is the highest point in the county at 651 m (2,136 ft). The county contains no lochs of any size, though there are many reservoirs, most notably Gladhouse Reservoir, Rosebery Reservoir, Edgelaw Reservoir, Loganlea Reservoir, Glencorse Reservoir, Threipmuir Reservoir, Harlaw Reservoir, Harperrig Reservoir, Crosswood Reservoir, Morton Reservoir and Cobbinshaw Reservoir.

(Unitary authority indicated where not Midlothian. Boundaries defined by Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973)^[20][21]

• Borthwick
• Carrington
• Cockpen
• Cranston
• Crichton
• Currie (Edinburgh)
• Dalkeith
• Fala and Soutra
• Glencorse
• Heriot (Scottish Borders)
• Inveresk (East Lothian)
• Kirkliston (Edinburgh)^[22]
• Kirknewton (West Lothian)
• Lasswade
• Mid Calder (West Lothian)
• Newbattle
• Newton
• Penicuik
• Ratho (Edinburgh)
• Stow (Scottish Borders)
• Temple
• West Calder (West Lothian)