​The Photographic View Album of Lundin Links and District, pictured above, dates to around 1902. The 8 x 11 inch album contains twenty images captured by G.W. Wilson & Company Limited, photographic publishers, of Aberdeen. George Washington Wilson (1823-1893) was an artist turned photographer and his company captured images from all over Britain, as well as overseas, during the second half of the nineteenth century. After Wilson's death in 1893, his sons continued the firm, until it ceased trading in 1908. The album pictured was commissioned by postmistress Margaret Bremner. An order for the albums would have been placed with the company's travelling salesman. Many of the buildings featured in the Lundin Links album had been very recently completed, including the villas along Leven Road, the Lundin Links Hotel and the Post Office itself. 
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The above advert printed at the back of the album mentions the various services offered at the Post and Telegraph Office, including groceries and list of houses for let. The advert also notes that there were "a select variety of mounted views of places of interest on hand". There is no mention at this point of the picture postcards that would become extremely popular from 1902 onwards. Many of the images from the photographic view album went on to appear on G.W.W. trademarked postcards which Margaret Bremner sold from her Post Office to summer visitors.
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The red cover design with the gold floral embellishment on the album's hard-backed cover was a stock design, which can also be seen in examples of albums showcasing other vicinities - such as the one below containing views of Shetland. A great many localities had albums created by G.W.W. and by other photographic publishers, such as Valentine's of Dundee. Further examples are shown further below.

An early photographic view album was one of Kirkcaldy and District, published in 1896 by Valentine's of Dundee. It contained sixteen views of recent photographs and was advertised below in the 25 July 1896 Fife Free Press. There was also a 'Photographic View Album of Largo and District' - a variation of the Lundin Links one, published by John Welsh Postmaster at Lower Largo. If you have seen that one or have a copy, please do leave a comment.
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The Pitch and Putting Green in the above postcard view was laid out in 1923. The development was instigated by Robert C. Paxton of Homelands. He had been Captain of Lundin Golf Club 1907-08 and remained influential at the club, as well as within the wider community. The small piece below from the 26 April 1923 Leven Advertiser notes that Paxton was "again to the fore with an improvement scheme". He had provided and equipped a recreation hut for ex-Servicemen in 1920, among other public and private gifts.
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David Patrick lived and worked from his home on Golf Road overlooking the pitch and putting course. It can be seen on the right of the map extract below, where the short street named Golf Road meets the railway line. The site of the pitch and putting course is bounded by the railway to the south and the curve of Station Road to the north. The 18th hole of Lundin Golf Course is marked just below the railway line (and the 1st hole below that).

The 5 July 1923 Leven Advertiser below covered the inauguration of the pitch and putting course. The first ball was struck by Sheriff-Principal James Alexander Fleming K.C. of Strathairly House (who had been Captain of Lundin Golf Club 1919-20 and who had in 1921 unveiled Largo War Memorial). A total of 172 people went on to take part in a competition on the course that evening. The piece also notes that William Yule was appointed greenkeeper.

The above postcard is postmarked Leven 28 August 1912 and was addressed to Mrs William Wallace, 116 Easter Road, Edinburgh. The sender was Maggie of 2 Seagate, Leven and her message was as follows:

Dear Aunt, A little brother arrived here on Monday morning, both mother and baby are keeping well. Maggie 

On the front of the postcard was a faded image taken from the Links at Leven, looking towards Lundin Links and Largo. More interesting is the large "BB" written in blue pencil over the message side of the card.  Was this code for Baby Boy? Could this have been something added by the postal service - an annotation to indicate a special message?  If you know anything of this practice, please comment.

​Postcards specially designed for birth announcements did exist at the time. Some examples are shown below. Most of them consisted of imagery such as cabbage patches, storks and chimneys!
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Who was this "little brother" and who was Maggie?  The birth record below provides the answer. John McLean MacDonald was born at 2 Seagate, Leven on Monday 26 August 1912. His parents were Hector MacDonald, a dock labourer, and Isabella Doig. His elder sister Margaret Balfour MacDonald was born in 1898, so was aged around 14 at the time of his birth. The family (with five children) still lived at 2 Seagate at the time of the 1921 census. Baby John lived to the age of 84, passing away in 1996 in Leven.

The annotated image below picks out some recognisable features from the postcard image:

1. Aithernie House (Old Manor Hotel)
2. Lundin Links Station
3. Elmwood and Ravenswood
4. Lundin Golf Club House
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The above postcard is postmarked Lundin Links 21 November 1917 and was addressed to Mrs Bushell, 36 Kett's Hill in Norwich. The sender was Sergeant George Ballingall and his message was as follows:

Dear Mrs Bushell, I have arrived here all safe and glad to say found all my dear ones in the pink. I am pleased I am the same. Hoping that this P.C. finds you all well. I don't know how to thank you for the fruit etc as it came in very nice on the journey north. Note the cross on house where I stay. I remain yours sincerely, Sgt. G. Ballingall

This was during the First World War and George Ballingall was a joiner who lived at 3 Park Terrace in Lundin Links (in the house he had marked with a cross on the postcard - see detail below). George was the son of John Ballingall the cork cutter and artist. Having been in the volunteers when war broke out, George left Fife to serve with The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders). At the time he sent the postcard, in November 1917, he must have been on a visit home. The "dear ones" that he refers to in his message are his wife Elizabeth Horne and three children, Isabella (born 1908), Annie (born 1910) and John (born 1916). He must have been relieved to find them all "in the pink". The postcard had been produced by Young's newsagent of Emsdorf Street and conveniently featured the Ballingall family home at 3 Park Terrace in the centre of the image. 

The First World War ended in November 1918 but in 1919 George was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) for services in the field. This award was part of the King's Birthday Honours, which in 1919 were dominated by awards related to the recently ended war. The 3 June 1919 Dundee Courier below detailed the "Gallant Scots decorated by the King for services rendered in France and Flanders". Ballingall's name is highlighted below. The 14 June 1919 St Andrews Citizen piece further below notes his "considerable service in France" but few details are given of the nature of the distinguished service being awarded. If you know more about the events that led to his MSM award - please comment.

It must have been a huge relief for his family that George returned safely home at the end of the war, given that Largo Parish lost 51 men in the First World War. It must have been a source of great pride to see him awarded the Meritorious Service Medal after the war had ended. However, George Ballingall's story was not to have a happy ending. He became unwell shortly afterwards and was ultimately admitted to Glenalmond Sanatorium in Perthshire, a facility for patients with tuberculosis (a bacterial infection of the lungs which was common at the time). After serveral months as a patient there, George died on 23 June 1921, aged 32 years. 

George's wife had given birth to twin sons days before, on 10 June 1921 at the family home at 3 Park Terrace. In the days between the birth of twins Thomas and George and the death of their father, the 1921 census was taken. At 3 Park Terrace, Elizabeth was recorded as the head of the household, her five children were listed and in addition her sister Mary Ainslie (nee Horn) and niece Isabella were also living there. Meanwhile George was recorded as a patient at Glenalmond, where it was noted that he was a joiner with R.G. Galloway and had five dependent children. He died two days after the census was taken.

The 30 June 1921 Leven Advertiser below gave an account of the funeral of George Ballingall, which was a military and masonic funeral. Over 100 masons attended, along with representatives of the Black Watch and the pipe band. Largo Silver Band were also present. 

As a footnote, the purple pencil in which the postcard was written was likely an army issue copying pencil. Copying, or indelible, pencils were widely used during the First World War to assist officers in completing paperwork. They were used in the field as the non-erasable qualities of indelible pencils made them much more convenient than the alternatives.
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The above photograph features the Robinson Crusoe statue on Lower Largo's Main Street, on the day of its unveiling. The evergreen branches around the edges of the image are some of the many decorations around the village on that momentous day - 11 December 1885. The base of the statue (see detail below) is inscribed with the words T Stuart Burnett A.R.S.A. Sc. 1885 to indicate that the sculptor was Thomas Stuart Burnett, an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy, and that the piece was sculpted in 1885. Burnett was present on the day of the unveiling, along with his wife.

The day after the 1885 statue unveiling the Fife Free Press reported that...

"There has now been completed by Mr T. Stuart Burnett, A.R.S.A., a life-size statue, in bronze, of Robinson Crusoe. It is placed in a niche in the wall in front of the cottage where he is said to have been born, and stands about six feet high. It is spiritedly designed and perfectly executed, and it certainly tells its own story. There is no dubiety as to who the figure is intended to represent. To all who have read the romance of his first voyage, it looks like an old friend. Crusoe is clad in his rough coat of goat's skins, with torn and tattered breeches of the same material. His muscular legs are bare from knees down. His feet are enclosed in skin strapped down. His left hand is slightly pressed on an old rifle, while his right shades his eyes, which are looking expectantly to sea as if to snatch the glimpse of a passing sail. An old Scottish claymore hangs by the left side, while an old war axe hangs from his right side. The cap is also of skin. Altogether the figure is a satisfactory model, and a true representation of Robinson Crusoe". 

William Walkington's blog biography celebrates the productive life Thomas Stuart Burnett, cut short by his untimely death at the age of 34 years in 1888. Largo is fortunate to be graced by an fine example of Burnett's work, which continues to gaze down from the same location of its unveiling some 140 years ago.
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