Penicuik  Penicuik ( ) is a town and former burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk. It lies on the A701 midway between Edinburgh and Peebles, east of the Pentland Hills. Its population at the 2011 census was 15,926 computed according to the 2010 definition of the locality. The town was developed as a planned village in 1770 by Sir James Clerk of Penicuik. It became a burgh in 1867. The town was well known for its paper mills, the last of which closed in 2004. More recently the town was home to the Edinburgh Crystal works. Penicuik has two secondary schools, Penicuik High School and Beeslack Community High School. Crystal FM is the Community Radio Station serving Penicuik & S W Midlothian on 107.4FM. The town's name is pronounced 'Pennycook' and is derived from "Pen Y Cog", meaning "Hill of the Cuckoo" in the Old Brythonic language (also known as Ancient British and the forerunner of modern Welsh). Penicuik is Scotland's 50th largest town and the biggest settlement in Midlothian. Near Penicuik is Glencorse Parish Kirk, which formed part of the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's "Kidnapped" (1886). Some of the streets nearby are named after characters in the novel and its sequel, "Catriona" (1893). Penicuik is home to the Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, garrisoned in Glencorse Barracks. Penicuik is twinned with the town of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in France. In 1296 Thomas Rymer's "Foedera" mentions a "Walter Edgar a person of Penicok south of Edenburgh", which logically can only be what is now called Penicuik. Penycook appears as the name on John Adair's map of 1682. The ruined old parish church, in the centre of the graveyard, dates from the late 17th century. The site of Penicuik was home to the paper mill established by Agnes Campbell in 1709. A monument in the churchyard reads "1737, Annabel Millar spouse to Thomas Rutherford Papermaker at Pennycuik". Around 1770, the arrival of the Cowan family, and their expansion of the paper mill, led to the need for homes for their workers.