The name of John Durie of Buxley will be long remembered in Tranent. Farmer at Buxley, and coal lessee along with Richard Nisbet, under the firm of Durie & Nisbet, of Elphingstone Colliery, he was a well-known man for over half a century. He had to contend with and encounter many difficulties in the working of the Elphingstone coalpits, by the drowning of them with water, and the seams being intersected with whinstone dykes. Notwithstanding, such was Mr. Durie’s faith in the ultimate success of the coal field, which never forsook him, that he lived to see his energetic efforts consummated.
His son, the late Robert H. Durie, inherited his energy of character to a large extent. Bred to business from an early period of his life, his natural abilities soon displayed themselves in a quick discrimination in understanding intricate matters which occurred in the working and carrying on of the extensive coalfield of Elphingstone. He thus acquired a very intimate knowledge how to manage and work the hidden wealth of mineral fields. He became in his day a leading authority on coalmining matters.
Mr. Richard Nisbet, farmer, and long a partner with Mr. Durie at Elphingstone Colliery, was a well-known man in his day, and, next to Mr Aitken, a leading man in Tranent; he died in 1850. Charlie Robertson, grocer, and Laird Wilson, both characters, were daily friends of his.
Mr Nisbet was very fond of fiddling, and was an adept in playing Scotch tunes. His house was a meeting place for amateurs to play Tullochgorum and other favourites.
[Martine, John. Fourteen Parishes of the County of Haddington. Edinburgh, 1890, pp. 242–243.
Obtained from Google Books.]