Dalkeith is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the
River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of
regality in 1540. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from
its 12th-century castle (now Dalkeith Palace). Dalkeith has a population
of 12,342 people according to the 2011 census.
The town is split
into four distinct areas: Dalkeith proper with its town centre and
historic core, with Eskbank to its west and Woodburn to its east.
Eskbank is the well-heeled district of Dalkeith with many large
Victorian and newer houses. To the south of Eskbank is Newbattle with
its abbey. Woodburn is a working class council estate.
Dalkeith
is the main administrative centre for Midlothian. It is twinned with
Jarnac, France.
One of the earliest historical references to
Dalkeith is found in the Chronicles of Jean Froissart who stayed at
Dalkeith Castle for fifteen days. He writes of the
Battle of Otterburn
and the death of James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas:
"I, author of
this book, in my youth had ridden nigh over all the realm of Scotland,
and I was then fifteen days in the house of earl William Douglas, father
to the same earl James, of whom I spake of now, in a castle of five
leagues from Edinburgh which is called in the country Dalkeith. The same
time I saw there this earl James, a fair young child, and a sister of
his called the lady Blanche."
Dalkeith Coat of Arms
Official
blazon
Quarterly: 1st, Or, on a chief Sable, three escallops of the
field; 2nd, Argent, three piles Gules, on a chief of the Last, three
mullets of the First; 3rd, Or, on a bend Azure, a mullet of six points
between two crescents of the field; 4th, Vert, a castle of two towers
Or, masoned Sable, port and windows Gules, in chief two open crowns Or.
Above the Shield is set a coronet suitable to a Burgh, and on a
Compartment below the Shield with this Motto "Olim Custodes Semper
Defensores" are set for Supporters two men in complete armour each
holding in his exterior hand a halbert Proper.
Origin/meaning
The arms were granted on February 28, 1930.
Dalkeith was created a
Burgh of Barony in favour of Sir James Douglas, 1st Lord Dalkeith, in
1401, and was raised in 1540 to a Burgh of Regality in favour of Robert
Douglas of Loch Leven.
The arms are related to the device on the
Burgh seal. The first three quarters recall the three famous families
which have been so closely connected with Dalkeith, and show the arms of
Graham, Douglas (represented by the arms of Douglas of Dalkeith and
Lochleven as conjoined by the Earls of Morton, but with three stars in
chief instead of two) and Scott; on the seal Douglas had been wrongly
represented by the more familiar Douglas arms showing the crowned heart
below a chief with three stars.
The 4th quarter is for the Burgh
itself; it shows a castle to recall the old Castle of Dalkeith and the
later Dalkeith Palace, built in the eighteenth century by Anne, Duchess
of Buccleuch and Monmouth.
The two crowns above, the supporters
and the motto are in reference to the occasion in 1637-38 when the
Scottish Privy Council removed from Linlithgow to Dalkeith, taking the
Scottish Regalia with them for safety.
The Latin motto means
"Once the keepers, always the defenders" and comes from the old seal.
See also:
• Dalkeith Castle
•
St Nicholas Church
• History of
Dalkeith House
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