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1960s Aerial View

26/4/2024

This circa 1965 aerial photograph is a familiar scene albeit with much more open undeveloped space than today. In this blog we will zoom in on a few features of interest and highlight some of the changes over the past six decades. Below is a more detailed view of the viaduct and Largo station with the caravan park and Station Park housing development behind. The first phase of council housing here was 22 homes in the late 1930s. A later phase after the Second World War saw a further fifty houses added. At the time of the aerial photograph, the railway line was reaching the end of its active use but it was prior to the demolition of the station buildings.

The disused Largo Toll House is also present in the image. In the detailed view below, the Toll House sits alone south of the war memorial cross road, close to a roundel of trees. It is those features that are remembered in the present day street names of Toll Court and The Roundel. The original Toll House was built in the 1840s and demolished in the late 1960s. More on this building to follow in the next post.

Among the other features of note below is the driveway up to Largo House, also known as rhododendron walk. and the garage/service station (the long roadside building on the far right) now known as Mercury Motors.

The final zoomed in area below is notable for the vast areas of undeveloped green space at the time. The field above the tree-lined burn is now filled by the houses of Keilburn, while the area below the trees is the site of Lundin Mill Primary School built 1973-74 to replace the Crescent Road school built in the late 1850s.

This space was once known as Puddock Mire - see extract from the 1750 Roy map. Puddock means toad or frog and Mire refers to boggy ground. A swathe of green space remains today on either side of the Keil Burn. The steps up to Largo Road from the mill can just about be made out, just left of centre above the tree line. Finally, the line of trees in the top right quarter of the image below marks the track leading to the one-time local landfill site, which closed in the 1970s.

This aerial view was captured by Aerofilms and Aero Pictorial Ltd. This company was the result of the 1958 merger between Aerofilms Ltd (founded in 1919) and Aero Pictorial Ltd (founded 1934). The extensive archive of historical air photographs was bought by Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), English Heritage (EH), and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) in 2007. The subsequent Britain from Above project conserved 95,000 of the oldest and most valuable photographs in the collection, those dating from 1919 to 1953. Those images were scanned into digital format and made available on this website.

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Largo Crusoe Football Club

19/4/2024

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Football had been played in Fife for some time before the game was formalised with the foundation of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1873. Above is the description of a chaotic sounding match played in 1845 in Cupar, where twelve writers took on twelve tradesmen (Fife Herald 13 March). As the popularity of football accelerated among the general population, the Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) was formed (in 1886). The word 'junior' indicated the grade of football played rather than the age of the players. The term 'juvenile' was used for young players aged under 21 years.

The top tier Scottish Football League began in 1890 and over the years that followed football flourished at all levels, senior, junior and juvenile. Numerous teams were established, including many in Fife. An East Fife Football Association was set up in the early 1890s for junior clubs, with a 'juvenile' section added in 1895. Around the same year Largo had formed its own juvenile team, named Largo Crusoe. For many years, 'The Crusoe' flourished, competing in various cup competitions as well as local leagues. They played their home matches in Lundin Links, specifically at the ground which was then referred to as Homelands Park but is now known as The Common.

The match report above from 6 March 1896 East of Fife Record tells of a game against the L. and C. (Largoward and Colinsburgh). This report lists the Largo players' names and includes some familiar surnames such as Horne, Ballingall, Kidd, Clunie, Simpson and Gillies. Such names suggest much of the team were drawn from families with fishing connections - perhaps the reason for the team taking the Crusoe name (in a nod to their sea-faring heritage).

In 1897, the new season kicked off with the Largo men taking to the field in an opening match against Kilrenny F.C. - a team that called themselves the ”K.Y. team”. A good game was anticipated, as the opponents were chiefly employees of Cellardyke boot factory and hailed from Dundee. Nevertheless, the K.Y. "could not withstand the rushes of the Crusoe and retired defeated 7 goals to 4. The Crusoe were aided by Kennedy, Leven, who did some smart work centre-forward". Alexander Kidd the Largo Crusoe Club Secretary suggested that those interested in spectating "should lose no time in writing for dates". Above are the type of football shirts that players back then might have worn (from an 1897 catalogue).

In 1897 a short history of the first 11 years of the SJFA was published. This included professional photographs of 98 of 170 clubs with membership of the association. This included the St Andrews-based Ancient City Athletic - featuring John Ripley (2nd from left in the back row) who went on to be awarded the Victoria Cross in 1915 and is buried at Largo Cemetery. Also included was neighbouring team Leven Thistle. If you have or have ever seen a photograph of the Largo Crusoe Football Club from any stage in their existence, please get in touch. If you know what their team colours were, or have any other information about them, please comment.

Players Horne and Thomson (mentioned in the 1896 match report against the L. and C. above) must have been Largo Crusoe's star players. Both were chosen in 1898 for the East Fife Association select team to play against Edinburgh Association. The same year, both Andrew Horne and Thomas Thomson moved from juvenile to junior level to play for Leven Thistle (the year after the photo of the team above was taken). Horne in particular distinguished himself at Leven Thistle, which led to further moves - first to Buckhaven and then to Cowdenbeath to play at senior level in the Northern League.

Horne went on to sign for Dundee F.C. in May 1903, where he was described as their "best reservist" (see 19 November 1903 Leven Advertiser excerpt above). "Horne played himself into the good graces of the crowd" according to the Dundee Evening Post of 25 November 1903, which also remarked that "the Lower Largo lad is as game as they make them". However, an injury, sustained against Partick Thistle, impacted the later part of the season and Horne found himself on the move again. Rejecting a good offer from Middlesbrough, he elected to return to Cowdenbeath, in a move that would allow him to continue in the family joinery trade. The Fife fans were delighted to see the return of their "crack forward", pictured below, from the 1 October 1904 Dundee Evening Post.

By the 1905/06 season, Horne had moved to Bayview to play for East Fife, where he remained for several years. In 1912 he emigrated to Canada to set up a business there. The East Fife team played a benefit match on his behalf shortly after his departure (see 17 October 1912 Leven Advertiser piece above). However, when the First World War broke out, elder brother Walter sent for him to help with the family business in Largo - most of his employees having joined the Army or Navy. Back in Scotland, Andrew was granted a conditional exemption from military service in July 1916 but joined the army later the same year, aged 37. His military service record described him as being 5 feet and 6 inches tall, with blue eyes and brown hair, tattoo marks on back of his left hand ("sailing ship and blue dots") and a weakness in the right knee. Andrew Horne died in 1945, aged 65, at Durham Terrace, Lower Largo. The Dundee Evening Telegraph noted his passing in their 25 January issue below.

Largo Crusoe Football Club, had their ups and downs during the years after Andrew Horne played for them. In 1910 they had "a respectable array of talent" according to local press and in 1911 the team made it to the final of the East Fife Cup. This closely contested match with Buckhaven Hawthorn (described below in the 14 June Leven Advertiser) ended in defeat, one goal to nil, for the Crusoe. The team considered contesting the result and requesting a rematch but this never came to pass.

Unsurprisingly, the Largo Crusoe team went into abeyance during the First World War. The local team re-emerged in the 1920s under the new name of Largo Rovers, who were later rebadged as Largo Thistle. The Second World War interrupted play once again, with Largo Villa being the team name thereafter. More on the exploits of those later teams another time.

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Lundin Estate Rent Receipts 1881-83

12/4/2024

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Pictured above is the receipt book for the rents, water rates and feu duties paid to Lundin Estate from Martinmas 1881 to 1883. The receipt stubs provide details of the individuals who made payments. Among them are the following:

Builder Archibald Muir White for water rates for three houses on Crescent Road (Firpark 1 and 2 and Elphinstone).
Misses Rigg for the water rates of Aithernie House (now the Old Manor Hotel).
Miss Mary Dalyell Haymes of Aithernie House rent of the "Old School House", which was the old Emsdorf School, at the corner of Emsdorf Road and Crescent Road where she ran her Sabbath School.
Colonel Alaric Robertson's widow for the water rates of Murree Lodge on Crescent Road.
Andrew Greig Anderson for the rent of Lundin Salmon Fishing Station for year 1883 (payable at Whitsun).
Robinson Crusoe Lodge of Good Templars water rates for the Good Templar Hall in Lundin Mill.
Henry Petheram for the feu duty and water rates for Haworth on Leven Road.
North British Railway £5 feu duty for half a year.
Rent of the Quarry at Carlhurlie.
Rents for the farms of Bankhead, Blacketyside, Nether Pratis and Annfield (below are notices of Lundin Estate farms for let from the Fifeshire Journal around the same time).

Note that Martinmas (11 November) was traditionally the day when contracts and leases began and ended, when rent was due and when staff were hired. Along with Candlemas (2 February), Whitsunday (15 May) and Lammas (1 August), Martinmas was one of the Scottish quarter days in the legal year.

Mr Mudie, mentioned in the notice above was the factor for Lundin and Montrave estates at the time. Theodore Eulenstein Mudie, was born in Nelson Street, Dundee in 1857, the son of a merchant's clerk. Interestingly, he was named after a neighbour of the family in Nelson Street - German microbiologist and talented musician Theodore Eulenstein. Mudie began his two decades as estate factor in the early 1880s and lived at Greenside House. He emigrated to Canada in 1905 with his wife and family and sought to establish a 160 acre homestead. He became Principal Assistant to the city engineer of Brandon, Manitoba in 1906 but became ill shortly afterwards and died in 1909 aged 52.

The stationery used by the Lundin Estate at the time came from A. & D Padon - Stationers and Account Book Manufacturers. Their premises at 13 St Andrew's Square, Edinburgh, is pictured above (from the Canmore Collection). Their account books, rent receipt books, etc. often featured classic marbling patterns such as the examples at the start and end of this post. To achieve the effect, paints are floated on water and swirled or combed before paper or card is laid on top. Marbling reached the peak of its popularity during the nineteenth century before increased mechanisation and availability of cheaper materials resulted in its decline. Read more about the technique here and here. Further peeks into these records from the Lundin Estate to follow at a future date.

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Gold Ribbon Torcs

5/4/2024

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The gold ribbon torcs pictured above were found at Lower Largo in 1848 but date back to 300 BC - 50 AD. On display at the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street in Edinburgh, they can be seen in the Scotland Galleries, in the Early People section (on Level -1). The term 'torc' usually refers to a necklet but can also be applied to smaller armlets or bracelets such as these. These three bracelets (and two fragments of another) consist of spirally twisted gold, finished with recurved ends.

The technique created simple but elegant decorative jewellery. The ends were curved backwards to form simple hooks for fastening. Expensive and high status items of jewellery, these torcs were worn to demonstrate the status and wealth of their owners. This style of jewellery was popular for a lengthy period of time and many similar examples have been found elsewhere, including Aberdeenshire, Ross-shire, Perthshire and Moray.

Below is an extract of information from the 'notice' of presentation of the objects to the museum. They were presented by Robert Dundas of Arniston, in 1883, the same year that his mother Lilias Dundas Calderwood Durham (former resident of Largo House) had died. Note that these were presented at the same time as the silver discovered at Norrie's Law, which is displayed alongside the gold torcs within the museum to this day.

The Largo discovery was highlighted on many local maps, including the 1912 example below, where the words Gold Armlets found (A.D. 1848) can be seen just north of Rollo Villa. As a site of antiquity, it is marked by the cross with small circles at the ends. The armlets were found together during the winter of 1848 "on the top of a steep bank which slopes down to the sea, among some loose earth, which was being dug to be carted away". It is fortunate that they escaped the melting pot, unlike the silver hoard discovered at Norrie's Law - most of which was illegally sold to silversmiths for reuse around 1819.

You can learn more about the techniques of ancient goldsmiths and the process of making a gold ribbon torc using early tools and technology here.

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1960s Aerial View

Largo Crusoe Football Club

Lundin Estate Rent Receipts 1881-83

Gold Ribbon Torcs

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