Welcome to the Kingdom of Fife

Posted on by Stephen Edwards

Historic County of Fife, Scotland

Driving from our Airbnb to the south and east, we came across signs that read, “Welcome to the Kingdom of Fife.” They made me ask several questions. What exactly is the Kingdom of Fife? When did the Kingdom of Fife exist? Why is this kingdom being celebrated today?

We saw multiples of this sign as we were driving into this area of Scotland. Since I was usually driving, I did not think to stop and take a photo of my own. This photo is credited to the following website.

The Kingdom of Fife and the Historic County of Fife have roughly the same borders. Fife forms a peninsula, with the Firth of Forth to the south, the North Sea to the east and the Firth of Tay to the north. The Council Area of Perth and Kinross is to the west. Today, the Fife Council Area is the third most populated local council area in Scotland, behind only Glasgow and Edinburgh. The area’s historic capital was Dunfermline, and it includes towns such as St. Andrews and villages such as Culross.

The caption on Flickr for this postcard reads,”1980’s vintage postcard from Scotland. The Kingdom of Fife, an illustrated map. Original printed by Whiteholme of Dundee, Scotland.” We stayed just west of Fife, in the Ochil Hills.

The term “Kingdom of Fife” comes from the historic Pictish Kingdom of Fibh or Fif, an actual kingdom that predates the country of Scotland. The Kingdom emerged after the Romans left, and because the area was historically fairly isolated, it was able to grow and develop separately from other parts of Scotland. This area became the backbone of the new Kingdom of Alba and later Scotland. Fife was not first referred to as a kingdom, but the title reflected how important the area was to the Kingdom. Fife housed Dunfermline Abbey and Palace, the historic burial place of many Scottish Kings and Queens, and St. Andrews Cathedral, the most important cathedral in Scotland. 

This marker in the Culross car park highlights the pride people take in this part of Scotland.

Fife still plays an important part in Scotland’s impact on the world. Few places worldwide can claim to be the historic birthplace of a kingdom, one of the world’s oldest universities, and the birthplace of the world’s greatest sports. As a North Carolina native, it is wild that this great history is attached to the name of Fife, when this is the greatness that we most often associate with Fife.

Barney Fife was the court jester to Sheriff Andy Taylor. The Andy Griffith Show is still syndicated daily on TV stations across North Carolina. Although Don Knotts was from West Virginia, his portrayal of Mayberry’s Deputy Sheriff cemented his legacy in North Carolina pop culture history.

One of my favorite things about traveling is the random rabbit holes that you can disappear down to thanks to something as random as a roadside sign. Fife is a beautiful region of Scotland, and I’m glad we encountered it so often on the first leg of our epic journey across the country.

Fife today still seems like an island to itself. Most of the peninsula includes a path that follows the coastline, as seen here in Culross.