Central to the image above, with sail at half-mast, is KY 240 - Sultan. Owned by Thomas Lawrie (1853-1951), and 43 feet in length, mariners' almanacs show that KY 240 was active at least between 1887 and 1901. The photograph dates to before the 1894 construction of the footbridge over the railway line. The original Largo Station building can be seen in its elevated position in the background. There are several other boats in the harbour. The only other legible registration is KY 1837 - the middle of the three smaller boats to the left of the Sultan. This small boat is the Wilhelmina, belonging to David Ballingall. A wider-view photograph of this scene is shown below. Note the three smartly dressed gents standing at Cellar Braes close to the Net House (long before the construction of its raised sea wall). You can see how easy it would be to stumble into the water from here, particularly in the hours of darkness. Such an accident happened in 1935 to a Mr McNeil. He was visiting from Edinburgh and mistook the lights at Methil docks for the way back to his lodgings at Drummochy and fell over the edge onto the rocks below (while the tide was out). 

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KY 240 was not the only 'Sultan' to be based at Largo. The 1887 register shows both KY 240 and another Sultan with the registration KY 1427. The latter vessel, which likely predates KY 240, was owned by Alexander Gillies (1823-1898). He was a lifelong fisherman (and son of another fisherman, David Gillies). His mother was a Selcraig and so he was linked to Alexander Selkirk of Robinson Crusoe fame. The photograph below shows Alexander's Sultan in a scene dating to the 1880s. KY 1427 was out of register in 1888 and it appears to have been sold on and re-registered as A 503 on the Aberdeen register. Later this vessel was sold to a Stonehaven-based fisherman before finally being broken up in 1902. 

The name 'Sultan' was given to quite a number of vessels around the country over the decades - perhaps chosen because of its association with strength and power. Could the building of Largo's original Sultan have coincided with a news story of the time, such as the 1867 visit to the UK of the Ottoman Sultan or his subsequent death in 1876? There was famously a 'Turkish Fleet' of paddler steamers on the Clyde in the 1860s named the Sultan, Sultana and Viceroy. The name certainly seems to have been fashionable at the time. Repetition of local boat names was not uncommon. Could the newer Sultan have been viewed as a successor to the original? Was owner of the later Sultan, ​Thomas Lawrie (pictured below), a crew member on the original Sultan? If you know more about these two Largo fishing vessels and their owners, please leave a comment.
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Margaret Baird Paxton was born on 17 February 1902 at Drum Lodge, shortly after her parents and elder sister Jessie had returned to Scotland from Texas, where her father was a rancher. Two years later her younger sister, Isabel, was born and in 1907, the fourth sibling, Emily, completed the family. The Paxtons bought their long-term home, named Homelands, in 1908. As a young teenager, during the First World War, Margaret would have been involved in the Red Cross Work Party which was based in her home and co-ordinated by her mother. The piece below, from the 17 September 1914 Leven Advertiser, tells of an early consignment of gifts from the local group. By the end of the war, over 12,000 garments had been supplied by the work parties in Largo.

The Paxtons were involved in many charitable activities and supported several improvements to the district. For example, Mr and Mrs Paxton provided and equipped a hut to act as a social club for ex-servicemen in 1920 and funded a pitching and putting course at Lundin Golf Club in 1923. The Paxton ladies frequently ran stalls at fetes for various causes. The Royal National Lifeboat Institute was a cause that they supported regularly. Margaret was a frequent cast member in the productions of the Lundin Links Amateur Dramatics Group and was active in Largo S.W.R.I. One cause that was especially close to Margaret's heart, however, was the Girl Guiding movement. She was captain of Largo Girl Guides for many years, going by the name "Eagle Owl", and was for a spell Girl Guiding's 'Camp Secretary' for the whole of Scotland.

In 1926, Margaret's parents gifted the community a cottage for the residence of the Largo and Newburn District Nurse. The cottage stands behind the Parish war memorial (in a location chosen because it was as close as possible to the centre of the nurse's district). Robert Paxton passed away in October 1926 before the building was completed, so Mrs Paxton and her three daughters saw the project through to completion. 

When the District Nurse's Cottage opened in March 1927, the Leven Advertiser (12 March) noted the sunny southern outlook towards the Bass Rock, the telephone which was installed "so as to facilitate communication with doctors and patients" and the way in which the nurse's rooms had "been furnished with a completeness and comfort which leaves nothing to be desired." The report continued "the forethought and care which Mrs Paxton and the Misses Paxton have lavished on the cottage are evidence of how much it has been a labour of love to them". Two small gardens were laid out - one for the nurse and the other for the caretaker. The nurse's garden was tended by the Largo Girl Guides, under Margaret's direction.
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Margaret was very close to her sisters, so when elder sister Jessie set up a pioneering nursery school in Methil in 1935, Margaret supported her. Having gained experience in the nursery, Margaret was inspired to take action to meet another great need - for residential accommodation for children. She set about planning a children's home. Such a home would be for those requiring full-time care, perhaps because their parents were ill or because they had been rendered temporarily homeless. 

Margaret enlisted the help of a large committee to support her plan and in due course an Executive Committee (see above) was set up to administer the business of the home. Upper Largo's Dr William Eggeling acted as honorary medical officer. A large dwelling close to Homelands had become vacant, called Aithernie House (today known as the Old Manor Hotel). This was owned by Silverburn's Sir David Russell. Aithernie had four public rooms (all facing south), ten bedrooms, three bathrooms, electric light, modern central heating and a wash house with laundry. The map below shows how close Aithernie was to Homelands. 
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In December 1936, Margaret wrote to Sir David Russell to say that she was "very anxious to start a children's home in Largo" as "there is no place in Fife to which necessitous children may be sent and there is a very great need for such a home". She stressed that she had "come across some very deserving cases recently". ​The initial plan was to accommodate up to 36 children. The first year's expenses were covered by friends of the Paxtons, and the hope was that wider public support would be secured once the home was up and running and could demonstrate its worth. 

In turn David Russell wrote to his lawyer enclosing the letter from Margaret Paxton. In it he emphasised that he had known the Paxtons for many years and found them to be reliable. He also referenced Jessie's good work with the Methil Nursery. He closed by saying that with regard to the proposition "he was inclined to consider it favourably". Soon afterwards, all was signed and sealed. The 11 September 1937 St Andrews Citizen below tells of the imminent opening of Fife Children's Home. 
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Six months after opening, there were twenty children in residence between the ages of 2 and 11, along with six staff (Miss Paxton, her assistant, a cook and three nurses). Margaret and her assistant Miss M. Scrymgeour Wedderburn were voluntary workers. Below are descriptions of some 'typical cases' at that time. 
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Above is a photograph of some of the early residents of the children's home. Meals were taken outdoors, when possible, to get the benefit of fresh air and sunshine. The benches and tables were no doubt hand-made by local people and the children's bibs hand-made too. One of the glasshouses in the Aithernie garden can be seen. The grounds would have been carefully nurtured over many decades and at one time would have produced a great variety of produce.
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The piece above is from 19 February 1938 Fife Free Press. The work of both Jessie and Margaret Paxton was innovative and was followed with great interest. Of course, in the 1939, the outbreak of war brought new pressures on both ventures. At Fife Children's Home there were new reasons for children requiring assistance, as fathers were called up to join the armed services. One example was a widower with six children who went to serve in the Navy on a minesweeper. Three of his children went to stay with grandparents, while three came to reside at Aithernie. Two refugees from Austria, aged 2 and 4 also came to the home. Their fees were paid by two members of the home's committee.

In July 1940 another brochure was created to highlight the work of the home in the hope that further support would be forthcoming from farther afield. Below is an extract from this brochure. While daily life had continued much as before, gas mask drills and air raid precautions were now required. 
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1941 proved to be a difficult year for Margaret. The headline above, from 6 August Leven Mail, reports on the Annual Meeting of the committee. The clear message was that the home may have to close if not better supported. In the October of the same year Margaret's mother, Margaret, died at Homelands aged 78. Unsurprisingly, all those circumstances combined, took their toll on Margaret's health and in 1942 she had to spend some time in a nursing home to recuperate.

The sixth AGM for Fife Children's Home took place in 1942. The health of Miss Paxton was referenced, as were the direct and indirect impacts of the war. Ongoing challenges included food rationing, meeting blackout requirements and air raid precautions, staffing shortages and financial issues. While day nurseries were eligible for a war-time grant, the home was not. Yet somehow the home continued to function.

However, early in 1943 the home had to close for a six-month period. This had come about because Margaret had suffered a breakdown, having had do the cooking and attend the children at night, on top of her usual role as superintendent, due to staff shortages. In July 1943, Fife County Council made a grant of £100 to Aithernie Home and it was able to reopen. At the seventh annual meeting a few weeks later, Margaret expressed her regret at the circumstances which had necessitated the closing of the home. Now, however, the home was full up and had a long waiting list. Thirty-eight cases had been dealt with during the year, nearly all being the children of service men. The health of the children had been good and they had been vaccinated against diphtheria. 

​At the eighth annual meeting of the subscribers to Fife Children's Home in 1944 it was once again noted that Miss Paxton's health had not been so good. It was likely that Margaret continued to be overworked and was unable to give herself the time she really needed to rest and recover from earlier ill health. There had also been "very serious staffing issues". Above is an advert from 1944 for a cook for the home. Nevertheless, splendid work had been done with a considerable number of children benefitting from a stay. The war was still ongoing and sadly two key committee members had died during that year - ex-Provost Barron of Leven and Mrs Rowand of St Andrews. 

The ninth annual meeting took place in 1945. In the summary of the year, it was noted that several valuable subscribers had been lost by death and that staffing difficulties persisted. There were a few vacancies on the General Committee. Seventy children had been cared for over the year, with the waiting list remaining long. The "absence of so many men overseas had produced a very serious social problem" and many mothers found themselves having to work. The clipping below from the 12 September 1945 Leven Mail shows some of the year's highlights. An insight into the support given by local people was also given when Margaret described a "constant supply of vegetables" from Mrs Fleming and the "many friends who darn and re-foot socks and make and mend the clothes" as well as knitting, sending food and holding fundraising events.

Each year this blog pauses to remember the men of Largo who fell in the two world wars. Rather than focus on any one particular individual or story this year, below is the full list of names that appear on the Largo War Memorial, as unveiled in 1921. There are 51 names upon the Celtic cross-topped monument, designed by Sir Robert Lorimer.
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After the Second World War, panels were added to a wall behind the original memorial, containing the names of those who were lost between 1939 and 1945. These two panels contain 16 names between them.

We will remember them.

Above is a 'then and now' comparison of the corner of Hillhead Street and Emsdorf Crescent in Lundin Links. The top image features the former shop, as it was in the 1940s, during the tenure of James Terris Turbayne. He was proprietor from 1920 into the 1950s. The ground floor was in fact two shops - the grocer to the right, and the fruit and confectionery shop to the left, each with its own entrance. Previously, the corner shop had been David Lindsay's grocery and the smaller shop had been the chemist belonging to Peter Cowie.

The black and white postcard image is entitled "St Helen, Lundin Links", as this is the name of the home above the shops. The upstairs dwelling was built above a pre-existing single-storey shop during David Lindsay's time. Helen was the name of the mother of David's wife, Isabella Horne. The Lindsays also had a daughter named Helen (known as Nelly) who died in 1901 aged 12. A further dwelling behind the shop was named Nellfield.

The building set back to the right of the shop was likely the original stable and cart shed connected with the business, at a time when grocery deliveries were fulfilled by horse and cart. By the Turbaynes time, the shift to motor vans had taken place and one can be seen in the 1940s image. The advert for Turbayne's below states "orders called for and delivered daily by motor van".

Round to the right of the front door to the grocer shop is an external sign for the Woodburn Laundry (for which Turbayne was an agent). Above is an advert for the same from 30 March 1935 St Andrews Courier. This facility was in St Andrews and boasted "open-air drying - right on sea front". Below is a photo of the actual laundry, adjacent to the Lifeboat Station at St Andrews (image courtesy of University of St Andrews, Special Collections). 

Close inspection of the Turbayne postcard photograph shows that there is a person tucked in at the left side of the motor van and that a selection of wines and spirits are on display in the shop window facing the van. The crates and boxes stacked up outside the shop may have just been taken out of the van, ready to restock the shop shelves. The person doing the unloading appears to be hiding from the photographer.
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The two adverts below illustrate the range of wines and spirits that were stocked by James Turbayne once he had secured his license in Lundin Links. He also stocked soft drinks such as the aerated waters produced by Leven based Christopher Adamson.