LESLIE  , a

police burgh of Fifeshire, Scotland . Pop . (1901) 3587 . It lies on the Leven, the vale of which is overlooked by the town, 4 m . W. of Markinch by the North British railway . The industries include paper-making, flax-spinning, bleaching and linen-weaving . The old church claims to be the " Christ's Kirk on the Green " of the ancient ballads of that name . A stone on the Green, called the Bull Stone, is said to have been used when bull-baiting was a popular pastime . Leslie House, the seat of the earl of Rothes, designed by Sir William Bruce, rivalled Holyrood in magnificence . It was noted for its tapestry and its gallery of family portraits and other pictures, including a portrait of Rembrandt by himself . Daniel Defoe considered its park the glory of the kingdom . The mansion sustained serious damage from fire in 1763 .

Norman Leslie, master of Rothes, was concerned in the killing of Cardinal Beaton (1546), and the dagger with which John Leslie, Norman's uncle, struck the fatal blow is preserved in Leslie House .