Raspe, R. E; Dirom, A; Horner, J.

The monks of Newbattle Abbey in Midlothian have been credited with starting the first coal mine in Scotland in the 13th century, and coal fields in the east of Scotland generally - in Fife and Midlothian - were the first to gain importance in the country. Mining was conducted with a scatter of bell pits and with primitive technology, an exception being the workings at Culross in Fife. There, from 1617 the colliery of George Bruce may have been the first to use a wheel mechanism for drainage. With a rise of coal-using industries in the 18th century - lime preparation, glass and vitriol making, and coke-fired ironworks such as that at Carron - the demand for coal increased, and output rose from around 400,000 tons in 1700 to 2,000,000 tons in 1800. Many of the early coal mines were operated by the landed gentry, often on their own estates, but with the rise of iron-making and the building of hot blast furnaces, and the coming of the large coal and iron enterprises, the old estate mines lost their importance.

As far as lead workings are concerned, the Romans may first have exploited this mineral in Scotland. Re-discovery of the resource near the village communities of Leadhills in Lanarkshire on the estates of the Earls of Hopetoun and Wanlockhead in Dunfriesshire on the estates of the Dukes of Buccleuch is credited to Matthew Templeton in around 1517. Lead was also worked just west of Tyndrum in Perthshire. The activity was carried out in fits and starts in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Gold has also been worked at Tyndrum, and gold and silver at Leadhills and these minerals from the latter have been incorporated into the Scottish regalia.