Penicuik, town, police burgh, and par., in S. of Edinburghshire, on river North Esk, 10 miles by road and 15½ miles by rail S. of Edinburgh - par., 18,880 ac., pop. 5309; police burgh, pop. 3051; town, pop. 3793; P.O., T.O., 1 Bank. The town and police burgh extend into Lasswade par. Penicuik has extensive papermills, two sawmills, and an iron foundry; coal, shale, and iron-stone are worked in the neighbourhood; Penicuik House, seat, is 1½ mile to the SW.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))