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Pittenweem ( ) is a small and secluded fishing village and civil parish tucked in the corner of Fife on the east coast of Scotland. According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 1,600.〔 〕 At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 1,747. The name derives from Pictish and Scottish Gaelic. "Pit-" represents Pictish ''pett'' 'place, portion of land', and "-enweem" is Gaelic ''na h-Uaimh'', 'of the Caves' in Gaelic, so "The Place of the Caves". The name is rendered ''Baile na h-Uaimh'' in modern Gaelic, with ''baile'', 'town, settlement', substituted for the Pictish prefix. The cave in question is almost certainly St Fillan's cave, although there are many indentations along the rocky shores that could have influenced the name. ==History== Until 1975 Pittenweem was a royal burgh, being awarded the status by King James V (1513–42) in 1541. Founded as a fishing village around a probably early Christian religious settlement, it grew along the shoreline from the west where the sheltered beaches provided safe places for fishermen to draw their boats up out of the water. In due course a breakwater was built, extending out from one of the rocky skerries that jut out south-west into the Firth of Forth like fingers. This allowed boats to rest at anchor rather than being beached, providing a means for larger vessels to use the port. A new breakwater further to the east has been developed over the years into a deep, safe harbour with a covered fish market. As the herring disappeared from local waters and the fishing fleet shrank, this harbour and attendant facilities led Pittenweem to become the main harbour for the fishermen of the East Neuk of Fife. The white houses with red roofs illustrate the classic East Neuk building style, influenced by trade with the Low Countries (Belgium and the Netherlands). The East Neuk offered natural trading ports for Dutch and Belgian captains as they sailed up past the east coast of England. These ships brought red pantiles as ballast and the locals soon found them to be excellent roofing material. It is just possible to make out the "crow step (''corbie-steppit'' ) gable", where the gable ends rise in steps rather than the more normal smooth angled line – an architectural feature imported from the Low Countries. These and other vernacular features are common throughout the small town, which has one of Scotland's best-preserved and most attractive townscapes, with many historic buildings (some restored by the National Trust for Scotland). The 'organic' layout of the town centre, which grew up piecemeal over several centuries, with numerous winding streets and alleys, is one of its particular charms. Few Scottish towns have so well preserved their ancient character. At the shore end of the outer harbour wall, some of the paving stones have numbers engraved in them. The numbers are now randomly scattered, but once were vital to the smooth operation of the fish market. Before the pier was re-surfaced, the stones were placed in numerical order at the quayside running outwards from the shore. The first fishing boat to return with its catch placed its haul alongside stone number one, the second boat at stone two and so on. When the market opened, the fish was sold in strict order of landing. In 1779 John Paul Jones (otherwise known as the founder of the American Navy) anchored half-a-mile off Pittenweem in the USS ''Bonhomme Richard''. Despite bombarding Anstruther, Jones did not attack Pittenweem, but did make off with the town's pilot who had sailed out to meet Jones' squadron. There is a feudal Barony of Pittenweem, which, on the death of the last baron in 2011 is being offered for sale by the executors of William Ronald (Ronnie) Crawford Miller. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pittenweem」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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