Carrington, a village and a parish in the S of Edinburghshire. The village, sometimes called Primrose, stands 3 furlongs from the South Esk's left bank, 2 miles WSW of Gorebridge station, 3 SE of Hawthornden, and 5¼ S by W of Dalkeith; at it are a post office under Gorebridge, the parish church, and a public school. The parish is bounded N by Cockpen, E by Borthwick, SE by Temple, S by Penicuik, and SW, W, and NW by Lasswade. Its greatest length, from NE to SW, is 4³/8 miles; its breadth, from NW to SE, varies between 1 and 2½ miles; and its area is 4403¼ acres. The South Esk traces the boundary with Borthwick; Fullarton Water, or Redside Burn, on to its confluence with the South Esk, traces the boundary with Temple; and Dalhousie Burn traces part of the boundary with Lasswade and Cockpen. The surface has a general south-westward rise from less than 400 to over 900 feet above sea-level. Along the streams the land is for the most part good, but elsewhere it is hilly and moorish. Whitehill, in the extreme N of the parish, is the principal mansion; and most of the property is divided between its proprietor, Rt. Balfour Wardlaw-Ramsay, Esq-, and the Earl of Rosebery. Carrington is in the presbytery of Dalkeith and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale; the minister's stipend is £158,7s. 5d., with a glebe worth about £20 a year. The school, with accommodation for 130 children, had (1880) an average attendance of 81, and a grant of £69,6s. 6d. Valuation (1882) £7281. Pop. (1801) 409, (1831) 561, (1861) 681, (1871) 712, (1881) 606.—Ord. Sur., sh. 32,1857.

(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)