Edinburgh used to be the county town of Midlothian but that was before "Local Authority re-organisation" - an oxymoron in anyone's language - in 1975 and 1996. With the Pentland Hills to the west to the Moorfoots in the east, Midlothian is a mixture of very rich farming land on one hand and old industrial mineworkings on the other. Historically, one cannot escape the fact that Midlothian soil was veritable battle ground for the defence of Edinburgh and many bloody battles took place here between the Scots and the English. One of the most famous was at Roslin in 1303 whan a 6,000 strong Scottish army partly led by William Wallace defeated a 30,000 strong English. Roslin features quite strongly in the history of Midlothian , the beautifully ornate Roslin Chapel was built by the Earl of Rosslyn who also helped to design it in 1486. In those days it was known as Collegiate Church of St Matthews. Nearby, the Knights Templar had their headquarters. They came to Scotland hav ... < more >