River Eden, Fife

[4] In the latter case, this first two-mile stretch of the Eden (before Burnside) forms part of the border between Fife and Perth & Kinross.

From Burnside, the Eden slowly flows across the Howe of Fife (a flat and waterlogged basin drained in the 18th and 19th centuries) through the village of Strathmiglo, then south of the town of Auchtermuchty, and through the market town of Cupar to Guardbridge, where it enters the North Sea via the Eden Estuary, a nature reserve and an important conservation area for wading birds.

[5] The Eden Estuary is a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and, along with the Firth of Tay, was designated a Ramsar site on 28 July 2000.

The Eden estuary, being significantly smaller than the Tay, has few boating opportunities, but is an important recreation site for birdwatchers and naturalists, foreshore shellfish collectors, fishing enthusiasts and wildfowlers.

The upper stretch of the river was, before the early 19th century, called Miglo, which is a Pictish name with the similar meaning to the Celtic ituna[8].