Hilderston, West Lothian

This article is about the disused Scottish silver mine. For the Staffordshire village, see Hilderstone.

Hilderston or Hilderstone in West Lothian, Scotland, was the site of the discovery of a vein of silver in 1606 and a mining operation that attracted international interest. King James used rumours of a silver bonanza to leverage a loan in the City of London. He took over the mine works, an act sometimes regarded as an example of nationalization.[1] The enterprise may have inspired a satirical stage play. On 8 May 1608 work commenced under royal supervision. Miners from Cornwall and Germany were employed in the works.[2] 55°55′33″N 3°37′00″W / 55.9259°N 3.6166°W / 55.9259; -3.6166

Sir Thomas Hamilton was the proprietor of the Hilderston silver mine until James VI and I decided to install his own management team

Hilderston is near Cairnpapple Hill in the Bathgate Hills. Contemporary descriptions of the silver ore seem to refer to native silver, mercury amalgams, arsenical content, and nickeline,[3] found in "native silver bearing carbonate veins".[4]

  1. ^ Alec Livingstone, Minerals of Scotland: Past and Present (Edinburgh, 2002), p. 127.
  2. ^ Photos-Jones, E., Hall, A., Pollard, T., Meikle, T.K. and Newlands, A., 'The manner of how it grew was like unto the haire of a man’s head: the early 1600's discovery and exploitation of native silver at Hilderstone in Scotland', Suzanne Young, Metals in Antiquity, BAR, 792 (Oxford, 1999), pp. 280–289.
  3. ^ Richard Smith & T. Kemp Meikle, 'The Smelting of Silver Ore from Hilderston Mine at Linlithgow', British Mining, 61, (NMRS, 1998), pp. 5–19
  4. ^ C. M. Rice, 'Metalliferous Minerals', Nigel Trewin, The Geology of Scotland (London, 2002), p. 446.