The coalfields of Lothian and Fife fueled the growth of baking, distilling, printing, and machine-making industries, giving Edinburgh the epithet  Auld Reekie  (Old Smoky).
The city of Edinburgh never had a use for coal and did not see the benefit of it. 
mnli hypothesis: The city of Edinburgh never had a use for coal and did not see the benefit of it.  premise: The coalfields of Lothian and Fife fueled the growth of baking, distilling, printing, and machine-making industries, giving Edinburgh the epithet  Auld Reekie  (Old Smoky).