​The previous blog post traced the life story of Lundin Mill tailor James Gulland. Now attention turns to his second wife Emma. Born Emma Louisa Trimmer in Barnet Middlesex in 1869, daughter of a blacksmith who died while she was still a child. She was working as a domestic servant when she met James Gulland. They married in 1897 and had a daughter, Louisa May, in 1903. Emma was widowed in 1914 when James died suddenly. The small advert above appeared in The Scotsman newspaper eight days after James death, which occurred on 10 July. Ten days after the 18 July advert appeared, the First World War broke out.

And so, Mrs Gulland had to alter her plans. She kept the business on and ran it herself. So, James Gulland's tailor shop became Mrs Gulland's draper and outfitter (still renting the shop from John Somerville the grocer). At the time, the shop was the most westerly of the row on Leven Road and its gable end appeared as seen in the image below. Openings for cupboards and fireplaces could be seen - waiting over many years for further development. Finally, in 1923, it was Emma Gulland who had plans drawn up for new shops and houses to extend and complete the row of existing shops. Plans were revised a few times over the next few years before being executed in 1926.

The new extension to the block was owned in its entirety by Mrs Gulland. It housed, from east to west, her new draper shop, tea-rooms run by her daughter Louisa and the Commercial Bank of Scotland. All can be seen in the postcard view at the top of this post. The original tailor/draper shop (in the part of the row owned by John Somerville) became the British Linen Bank. Mrs Gulland named the dwelling above her new shop '​Jamesville' after late husband. James' daughter Rose from his first marriage had married George Kilgour, an Australian chemist, in 1918 and settled in Middlesex.
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The notice above from 18 June 1927 Leven Advertiser is an early advert for the new premises of Mrs Gulland, with a footnote mention to the 'comfortable tearoom adjoining'. Below is a later 1930s advert for the same but with slightly different descriptions, including 'a splendid selection of golf hose'. A separate advert from the same era is further below for Lundie Tea Rooms, which was run by Louisa. Cakes were delivered daily from Stuart's Electric Bakery in Buckhaven. Louisa herself was responsibly for the other 'choice confections' and speciality celebration cakes.

After two decades as a successful entrepreneurial duo, on 12 December 1944, Louisa May Gulland died suddenly at her home Aldersyde, aged just 41. Her mother Emma, now aged 75, continued the long-established businesses (both the draper and the tearoom) for many more years. The adverts below date to the late 1950s, including the one that appeared in the Leven Mail in 1958 to thank all her customers for supporting her 50 years in business, noting that her successors would be Mr and Mrs Menzies. Emma Gulland died on 21 May 1959, aged 90, at Aldersyde. 45 years after the death of her husband and having left a permanent mark on the village where she conducted business over so many decades.
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​James Gulland was born in Lundin Mill on 11 February 1863 to Janet Adam. Attending the birth was midwife Margaret Bethune, who recorded the event in her register. It was unmarried Janet's first child and the following year John Gulland was recognised legally as the father. James was brought up with the Adam family and In his teens he started work as an apprentice tailor. There were several tailors established in Largo at the time and quite a few young lads were engaged as apprentices.

James stuck with the profession and at the time of the 1891 census was living and working in St Andrews as a journeyman tailor. It was there that he met Elizabeth May Harding, who he married on 3 January 1894. They were married at Largo Place by Rev. William Pulford of Largo Baptist Church. Later that year, on 18 October, they had a daughter, Rose Adele Gulland. However, the following year Elizabeth died suddenly (reported below in the St Andrews Citizen of 9 Nov 1895) leaving James a widower with an infant child. 
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James returned to Lundin Mill, setting up as a tailor and clothier there. In 1896, his uncle, William Adam passed on a property jointly to James, and his own brother David Adam (a joiner). This was Millburnlea in the dip at Largo Road (see below the entry from the sasine register which describes the ground as "bounded on west by Highway and on north by Lundin Mill Burn").  The 1899 Valuation Roll further below shows the entries for James Gulland, Tailor, and David Adam, Joiner, (who let the shop part of his property to John Adam the house painter).

In 1897 James Gulland married his second wife, English-born Emma Louisa Trimmer. ​Rev. William Pulford once again officiated. On 26 July 1900, the Leven Advertiser (above) announced that Gulland was to move his tailor business from Millburnlea to a newly-built shop on Leven Road. The new shop was larger than his Largo Road shop and was situated "three doors west from Post Office" (in what is now the Premier Store). It was also next door (to the west) of Somerville's Grocer and John Somerville in fact owned both shops - renting one to Gulland. The original row of shops on Leven Road (briefly known as Gilmour Place) comprised Miss Bremner's Post Office, Douglas the butcher, Somerville the grocer and James Gulland, Tailor.

The 1901 census finds James and Emma, plus six-year-old Rose, living above the Leven Road shop. James Gulland was described as 'Tailor and Draper' and his wife Emma was 'Tailor's Wife and Shop Assistant (Drapery)'. This suggests that they were working in the shop as a team. The role of 'tailor' was a skilled one, involving making, altering and repairing clothes, while the role of 'draper' centres around selling clothes, cloth and haberdashery. Adverts for their shop show that they also sold fancy goods and postcards (in other words a range of items that would appeal to summer visitors). Their shop and upstairs home can be partially seen on the extreme right of the postcard image below (shortly after completion) to the right of Somerville's. In 1903, the Gullands' daughter Louisa May was born.
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The shop seemed to thrive over the years that followed in the growing village of Lundin Links. Above is an advert for the 1901 sale (7 March Leven Advertiser). ​Gulland continued to own Millburnlea and rented the shop there to fruiterer Peter Smith. Over the years, James Gulland was an active member of Largo Baptist Church, where he was a deacon and the Superintendent of the Sabbath School. He also was part of the 'Pleasant Sunday Afternoon' or P.S.A. Brotherhood attached to the Church. This movement originated in 1875 and spread throughout the country - its purpose to gather people together for spiritual objectives on Sunday afternoons. The Largo P.S.A. attracted attendances of up to 100 during the first decade of the last century and Mr Gulland was a regular speaker.
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The Durham Hall building started out as the Durham Female Industrial School, founded in 1859 by Mrs Dundas Durham of Largo House. The school provided girls with a curriculum that included both traditional education and training in domestic ‘industry’ (e.g. sewing, knitting and laundry). From the start the building was also used outside of school hours. For example, the Volunteer Force (established in Fife in 1860) held drills in the school and its grounds. When a company of the Boys’ Brigade was started in Largo in 1909, the Durham School was chosen as its meeting place. The Parish Council held meetings there and the Red Cross ran classes in first aid and home nursing.

The school did enrol both girls and boys for much of its existence and in 1911 the school underwent modernisation. A new chimney was built, a partition was added to divide the largest classroom, and a laundry room was created with washing tubs and a cooking range (these features are marked on the floor plan image further down the page). These works enabled new ‘practical instruction and continuation classes’ to take place covering laundry, cookery, dress-making, upholstery, woodwork, book-keeping and shorthand. 

​After a spell lying empty after the war, St David’s Parish Church bought the building in 1955. Tradesmen from the congregation worked to repair the roof, remove a wall to create the large hall and install an up-to-date kitchen. The architect-drawn floor plans show the layout before (above) and after (below) this work was carried out (source H.E.S.).

​Completed in August 1957, the renovated hall was formally dedicated the following month (see full report on that from 2 October 1957 Leven Mail below). In May 1958, a concert party took place to thank the men who had helped convert the former school. Around 150 people packed into the hall to be entertained by singing, monologues and music from the piano and oboe. Tea was then served and the evening was rounded off with a dance.

Over the years that followed, the hall was used for many activities including the Church Youth Club, Boys Brigade, Brownies and Guides, coffee mornings, jumble sales, meetings and as a polling station for elections. ​In the 1970s the hall was extended to provide further space. The new addition was named the Mackie Room after a church member who had left a bequest. This room originally had a flat roof (seen in the top black and white photograph) but this was changed to the present sloping roof in the 1990s - see far left part of the hall in the image below. This year, the Durham Hall will act as the hub for Largo Arts Week 2021 - for more on that see https://www.largoartsweek.com/.
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Over many decades, one of the notable activities that took place in the Crusoe Hall was the range of dance classes offered by Ida Ballingall's School of Dancing. Ida (pictured above in costume in her younger day) was born in 1930 to house painter Thomas Cunningham Ballingall and his wife Jessie Aitken Watson. Jessie was one of the daughters of local baker David Watson of Keilside Bakery (see photograph below from circa 1907).

​Her interest in, and talent for, dancing led to a three year course at Madame Ada's School of Dancing in Edinburgh. This qualified Ida to become a teacher of dance herself. In 1954, the opening announcement for the Robinson Crusoe School of Dancing appeared in the Leven Mail (25 August, below). Now a Member of the British Ballet Organisation, Associate of the United Kingdom Alliance (of dance, founded in 1902) and Professional Teacher of Dancing, Ida was fully qualified to teach a wide range of classes, some of which are listed on the notice below. Further details of classes were available from Keilside Bakery, where Ida was now living with her widowed mother. The venue for the classes was of course the Robinson Crusoe Club Hall - a place so well known to Ida and her family. 

​Over time the Dance School also offered classes in other towns, including St Andrews and Leuchars. In addition to teaching dancing, Ida was a well-known all round entertainer - singing, acting, playing piano and the accordion, as well as dancing, all over Fife and beyond. Below is an advert for the 1955 Leven Warden's Party where she led a party of 20 artistes. She was an active member of the Leven Amateur Musical Association.

From the very beginning, the Robinson Crusoe School of Dancing put on regular shows, displays and award ceremonies - opportunities for pupils to showcase their skills and entertain their parents, friends and community. In 1955 a 'Showtime' dancing display was put on in the Montrave Hall with all funds raised going to the Fife Society for the Blind. The above photograph may have been taken at this event (or a similar repeat performance) as the letters 'O W T' are likely to be part of a 'Showtime' sign.

Bright and colourful costumes were always an important part of these events - the result of many hours of hard work by the mothers and grandmothers of the performers. Many of the routines were set to classic tunes from theatre and cinema. Examples from my memory include those shown below - The Irish Washerwoman, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah and The Wedding of the Painted Doll.  
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​The Wedding of the Painted Doll was brought to life in 1981, at the Centre in Leven, shown in the photograph below. Dance pupils took on roles such as the bride, groom, bridesmaid, preacher man, photographer and the toys (who were wedding guests). A newspaper clipping from this event is also shown below, as is a piece on presentation of awards. Exam success results from the Dance School were another regular feature in the local papers for many a decade.

Also in 1981, Ida sat an important exam herself - to gain her Fellowship with the United Kingdom Alliance of Professional Teachers of Dancing - an award she had long dreamed of achieving (see photo below from the East Fife Mail). Around the same time, she became a life member of both the UK Alliance and the British Ballet Organisation (in recognition for 25 years' service to the teaching of dance). In 1985, Ida and some of her pupils had a key role in the celebrations for the centenary of the unveiling of the Robinson Crusoe statue - appearing on the 'Weir's Way' television programme. 

​Ida Ballingall inspired many pupils to go onto a career in dance themselves, both as teachers and as professional dancers. She kept in touch with many of them and hugely enjoyed hearing about their achievements and their travels around the world. Alongside her long teaching career, Ida entertained at many functions and weddings with her dance band. She also continued to travel around Scotland as an examiner into the early 2000s. Ida's life was filled with music and dance until she sadly passed away in 2010, aged 80. She will long be fondly remembered by the hundreds of young people that she taught to dance and those that she entertained over many decades.