Portal:Scotland/Selected article/Week 38, 2009

Kirkcaldy (Cathair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth and is the largest settlement between the cities of Dundee and Edinburgh. The name of the town is believed to have derived from the Pictish words Caer and Caled and may translate as "place of the hard fort" or "place of Caled's fort". Kirkcaldy has long been nicknamed Lang Toun (Scots for 'long town') in reference to the 0.9 mile (1.4 km) main street of the early town, depicted so on maps as early as the 16th and 17th centuries.

Towards the end of the 11th century, Malcolm III purchased the land around the modern town to gift to the monks of the Holy Trinity (now known as Dunfermline Abbey to fund for the building of their new church. A linear settlement began to form around a harbour on the East Burn. Early industries which soon prospered in the town included the production of textiles, nailmaking and salt panning. The passing of feu-ferme status in the middle of the 15th century meant the town became semi-independent from the monks of Dunfermline Abbey. Full independence was achieved by a charter for royal burgh status granted by Charles II in 1644.