Livingston Village, Scotland

 Our name Levingston can be traced back from my great grandma Alice Levingston to her grandfather James Levingston from county Wicklow. Beyond that the name and its variations seem to be used interchangeably with Livingston.The branch that settled in America used Livingston, those who stayed in Ireland mostly used Levingston My siblings, most of my first cousins and myself, have retained Levingston as a middle name. 

Livingston Village gets its name from the Saxon named Leving or Leuing & from Old English tun or toun meaning settlement- put them both together and you get "Levings-Toun" and as time goes by the name was slowly changed to Livingston. 

The centre part of the Levingston family crest is found in several places around the site.

The grassy mound in the background is all that is left of the Peel of Livingston: a moated 12th century fortified castle.  It was the baronial residence of the family of Livingstones in the time of David 1, King of Scotland 1124-1153.
 These stone foundations remain from Livingston house, built on the site 500 years later.

 Livingston Village Kirk rebuilt 1732.There has been a church here since at least the 12th century. 

Livingston Inn built 1760, booked out until the end of 2024

L

Finding my way to what's left of Livingston village from the railway station, towing my bag on its wobbly wheels, was a major challenge. Firstly I was sent off in completely the wrong direction by a helpful bystander, then Google maps refused to connect and I made the mistake of asking a group of teenage boys in school uniform. They were full of conflicting advice, didn't know what was north or south, and again sent me off on the wrong way. The problem, but also one of the great things about Livingston once you know your way around,  is all the connecting walking paths where you can avoid roads and walk through lovely wooded areas to get to your destination. After almost an hour I succumbed to a 6 pound taxi ride.

My room in Livingston was the worst on this journey so far; grubby carpets, toilet that struggled to flush and a jamming door. However I thought the opening window would be compensation until I figured out that the strange smell wafting through the window was dog poo! They must have been thrown into the alley behind. There are so many dogs in the UK and they pee everywhere!