I have lived and worked in Fife for more than 26 years. Over the past half century, Fife has changed from being a county that had more than 60 coal mines, thriving farming towns such as Cupar and a mix of land-holding aristocracy such as the Laird of Wemyss, Lord Elgin, Earl Lindsay, Sir John Gilmour, who owned the Montrave estate, and Sir David Erskine.