Dunfermline

Dunfermline ( listen (help·info); Scots: Dunfaurlin, Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Phàrlain) is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground 3 miles (4.8 km) from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. The town’s name comes partly from the Gaelic word "dun" which means a fortified hill. The other parts, "ferm" and "lyn", are unclear, although "ferm" may have been an alternative name for the tower burn and "lyn", a pool or cascade. The area around Dunfermline became home to the first settlers in the Neolithic period, but did not gain recognition, until the Bronze Age as a place of importance. The town was...