MUSSELBURGH  , a municipal and

police burgh of Midlothian, Scotland, 51 M . E. of Edinburgh by the North British railway . Pop . (1901), 11,711 . The burgh, which stretches for a mile along the south shore of the Firth of Forth, is intersected by the Esk and embraces the village of Fisherrow on the left bank of the river . Its original name is said to have been Eskmouth, its present one being derived from a bed of mussels at the mouth of the river . While preserving most of the ancient features of its High Street, the town has tended to become a suburb of the capital, its fine beach and golf course hastening this development . The public buildings include the town-hall (dating from 1762 and altered in 1876), the tolbooth (1590), and the grammar school . Loretto School, one of the foremost public schools in Scotland, occupies the site of the chapel of Our Lady of Loretto, which was founded in 1534 by Thomas Duthie, a hermit from Mt Sinai . This was the favourite shrine of Mary of Guise who betook herself hither at momentous crises in her history . The 1st earl of Hertford destroyed it in 1544, and after it was rebuilt the Reformers demolished it again, some of its stones being used in erecting the tolbooth . In the west end of the town is Pinkie House, formerly a seat of the abbot of Dunfermline, but transformed in 1613 by Lord Seton .

It is a fine example of a Jacobean

mansion, with a beautiful fountain in the middle of the court-yard . The painted gallery, with an elaborate ceiling, too ft. long, was utilized as a hospital after the battle of Pinkie in 1547 . Prince Charles Edward slept in it the night following the fight at Prestonpans (1745) . Near the tolbooth stands the market cross, a stone column with a unicorn on the top supporting the burgh arms . At the west end of High Street is a statue of David Macbeth Moir (" Delta," 1798-1851), Musselburgh's most famous son . The antiquity of the town is placed beyond doubt by the Roman bridge across the Esk and the Roman remains found in its vicinity . The chief bridge, which carries the high road from Edinburgh to Berwick, was built by John Rennie in 1807 . The principal industries include paper-making, brewing, the making of nets and twine, bricks, tiles and pottery, tanning and oil-refining, besides saltworks and seed-crushingworks . The fishery is confined to Fisherrow, where there is a good harbour . The Links are the scene every year of the Edinburgh race meetings and of those of the Royal Caledonian Hunt which are held every third year . Archery contests also take place at intervals under the auspices of the Royal Company of Archers . Most of the charitable institutions—for instance, the convalescent home, fever hospital, home for girls and Red House home—are situated at Inveresk, about 12 m. up the Esk .

About 1 m. south-

east is the site of the battle of Pinkie, and 21 M. south-east, on the verge of Haddingtonshire, is Carberry Hill, where Mary surrendered to the lords of the Congregation in 1567, the spot being still known as Queen Mary's Mount . Musselburgh joins with Leith and Portobello (the Leith Burghs) in returning one member to parliament .