The Fairy Bridge crosses the Keil Burn at the north end of Keil's Den, just south Balmain Farm and north of Pitcruvie Castle. The map below from 1857 shows that it was once between two quarries, suggesting both the reason for its creation and the source of the stone from which it was constructed. It is linked to the road that passes Auchindownie by a short farm track. The origins of the 'Fairy Bridge' name are discussed in the 1931 book 'Bygone Fife', where James Wilkie writes of the traditions, legends and folklore of the Kingdom. He describes Keil's Den as "that notorious haunt of witches" and "a haunt of fairies as well as witches". Referring to the fairies, he continues:
"They held their revels on the green haugh at the northern end, where the ruins of the castle, once a stronghold of the Lindsays of Pitcruvie, or the Byres, look down on the Keil Burn. The bridge that spans the stream is still known as the Fairy Bridge".
The ambiguity around the age of the stone bridge is also touched upon by Wilkie.
"Over the Fairy Bridge, whensoever and by whomsoever erected, the wayfarer may pass out of the haunted den to farms so well known in mystic lore as Balmain and Fairyfield, and climb the slopes of Norrie's Law, where the herd blew his fatal blast and foiled the attempt to solve the riddle of the buried treasure. There still lingers a vague memory of the days when the retainers in Pitcruvie Castle crossed the bridge to the spot where they exercised in arms....In fairyland seven years are as three days; time is after all an arbitrary conception, and it is difficult to fix dates dealt with in tradition. So the age of the bridge may be left to the imagination."
However, Wilkie also notes that this was the site of an earlier timber bridge. A wooden bridge was certainly built in the vicinity in 1760. It is recorded in the minutes of the Kirk Session that local wright, James Murray was paid £10, 13s, 4d for its construction. A footnote in Wilkie's book tells us that the name of Fairyfield Farm was changed, as the fairies "shrink from direct mention". The photograph below of the bridge was captured by local chemist Peter Cowie, who was also a keen photographer, like many in that profession at the time.
The free-stone quarry by the Fairy Bridge was the source of the stone use to build the present Wood's Hospital (also known as John Wood's Houses) in Upper Largo. The advert above from 1831 is for the sale of the quarry after completion of the hospital. So the bridge must be older than that date. It's intriguing to imagine horses with loads of quarried stone navigating the bridge, as it made its way south to Kirkton of Largo for the construction of imposing James Leslie designed building (see map below for context and image of Wood's Hospital further below). There was said to be a stone on the bridge which states that it was restored by General James Durham in 1836.
The 'Suggested Walks and Places of Interest' pamphlet by Largo Field Studies Society describes the walk to the Fairy Bridge as follows...
From Upper Largo "take the road past the school. Go straight on at the cross road, downhill and across the road bridge over the Keil Burn. On the right view the remains of Pitcruvie Castle. Follow the road until the wood ends on the right. In spring a track skirting what was the wooded area can be traced to the Fairy Bridge but in summer it is liable to be overgrown."
This booklet also notes that the bridge was said to have been used by cadgers taking fish from Anstruther and other places in the East Neuk to the Royal Palace in Falkland, when the King was in residence. Whether that is true or not, the bridge is on the direct route as the crow flies from Anstruther to Falkland. The postcard image below suggests that the Fairy Bridge once provided a handy vantage point for recreational fishing. Nowadays access to the spot is more challenging, adding to the mystery of this forgotten source of folklore.