The previous post described a period of transition for the Crusoe Hotel - from a small inn within a granary to an expanding hotel, playing host to fashionable functions for the the many summer visitors and golfing fraternity. The hotel already had its iconic picture of Robinson Crusoe in goatskins on its landward gable end and it had become a popular destination. When John Harris bought the Crusoe Hotel in April 1898, seven decades of Largo Granary Company ownership came to an end.

Harris set about upgrading the premises and the 19 July 1898 Dundee Courier notice above told of "entirely new management" and "redecorated and refurnished" rooms. The hotel now filled a large section of the old granary building and had its own stables. Yet, despite seemingly favourable circumstances, Harris advertised the hotel for sale the year after buying it. The advert below from 25 August 1899 Glasgow Herald provides scant description of the hotel but makes a point of stating that "a good business is being done" and that there were "satisfactory reasons for selling". Could the truth be that the seller had concerns about the future of the business?
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The timing of the decision to sell is interesting because, at this point, the Lundin Links Hotel was under construction. The building of the new hotel in Lundin Links had become a protracted affair. The old village inn had been bought in 1897 by James McTavish, the son-in-law of keen golfer and Edinburgh-based tailor, Sam Duncan. Duncan was an associate of architect of the new hotel, Peter Lyle Henderson. Indeed it was Duncan and Henderson, together with former owner of the old inn, William Bethune, who had the vision of demolishing the old establishment and building a modern, up-market hotel to cater for golfing summer visitors. 

James McTavish had married Margaret Duncan in 1896. The intention was that they would own and run the hotel. Construction of the new hotel was advanced when, in March 1899, McTavish was declared bankrupt.  The bankruptcy was connected to the infamous ‘Pattison crash’.  McTavish had previously worked as a clerk for the firm of Pattison, Elder & Co – a whisky distiller and wholesaler that was mismanaged and collapsed taking many other businesses and individuals with it (McTavish held many shares in the company and was liable for some of its debts). 
 
The Lundin Links hotel "in the course of erection" together with "the old building" was advertised for sale in April 1899 (see 8 April Scotsman notice below). The two buildings were purchased by the three individuals mentioned above (Duncan, Henderson and Bethune) and the Leven Advertiser on 27 April reported that following the sale of the hotel "the operations at Lundin Links Hotel will likely proceed on the same lines as originally intended, the purchasers being, it is believed, gentlemen who from the first had an influence in starting the enterprise". With the Lundin Links Hotel's construction back on track, John Harris knew he would be facing competition - not least because Peter Henderson, the architect, now co-owner of the new hotel, and former Captain of Lundin Golf Club was an influential figure, once hailed in the golfing songs performed at annual smoking concerts in the "good old Crusoe Hotel".

​In 1901 the dispute was settled out of court and Cessford did not remain at the Crusoe for much longer. Aside from the court case, complaints had been made about how the house was conducted. The St Andrews Citizen reported that "every Sunday intoxicated persons had been seen to come out of the premises". Mr Cessford had also apparently left his young niece in sole charge of the hotel on a number of occasions. The result was that his 'hotel licence' was cut down to a more restrictive public house one.

A fresh start was made in the Spring of 1902 when Dura Den-born Thomas Lumsden purchased the Crusoe, although it took until October 1903 for the hotel license was restored. Lumsden brought a period of stability to the hotel and catering for pic-nic parties became a speciality. The hotel managed to co-exist with the Lundin Links Hotel (now run by Sam Duncan junior). The advert below from the 12 June 1906 Courier shows that both hotels aimed to appeal to golfers, offering 'moderate' charges.

In January 1911, Thomas Lumsden suffered a set back, when a serious fire caused £1,000 worth of damage to the hotel. As the 14 January Fife Free Press above noted, the fire was spotted as the Lumsdens were retiring to bed in the evening and ultimately flames shot dramatically from the roof. The Buckhaven Fire Brigade attended more than an hour after the alarm was raised and were hindered by the tide being out. The roof had to be cut away to enable water to access the source of the flames. The upper storey was completely gutted. The lower floors were saved, as was the adjoining band hall, but water damage to furnishings and stock was great. The fire was extinguished by 4am the following morning. No clear cause for the blaze was found. Extensive rebuilding would be required. On 2 April 1911, the census recorded Thomas and Catherine Lumsden and their two daughters Catherine and Susan living at neighbouring Rock View, while the hotel was denoted as 'B' meaning being built (or in this case rebuilt).
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The hotel emerged from the incident with seven extra bedrooms and a modern-looking new flat roof. Around the same time the ​Pier Pavilion became a feature on the adjacent pier. However, the hotel's march into a new era was impacted firstly by the outbreak of the Great War and then, in July 1916, by the death of proprietor Thomas Lumsden died aged 65 years. His widow Kate continued the business until 1919, before deciding to retire.  In March 1919, the hotel was once again advertised for sale, this time highlighting the "splendid summer trade". 

The purchaser this time around was Yorkshire man and ex-RAF officer, Howard Barnes-Moss. With pre-war experience in both running a hotel in Falmouth, Cornwall and a Turkish Baths with Billiard Room in London (see below), he wanted to conduct the business as a proper hotel, with greater emphasis on catering and intended creating a new tea-room within part of the former granary. The move north to Scotland coincided with Barnes-Moss starting a new life with his second wife, Maria. Their two youngest children would be born in the hotel in 1920 and 1922. In Part 4, we will pick up as the hotel approaches its centenary.

In Part One of this series, on the history of the Crusoe Hotel, the origins of the building as a granary in the 1820s were covered, as well as the establishment of an inn. Early innkeepers included George Duff and Alexander Selkirk but it seems probable that James Gilchrist was the innkeeper to introduce the 'Crusoe Hotel' name to the establishment in the early 1870s. In 1881, former farmer John Forrester began his long run as hotelkeeper. Born in Newburn in 1820, to William Forrester and Jane Hodge, John was a farmer until the age of 60.

He had just completed a seven year lease at Auchendownie Farm prior to taking over the Crusoe Hotel. Perhaps it's no coincidence that a former agriculturalist should take over an inn within a granary building that he would have known well. Hotel-keeping offered an alternative occupation for his later years, as well as employment for his wife and children (some of whom would continue in hospitality for the rest of their lives). A number of changes to the building took place during Forrester's tenure. Looking at the pair of photographs above, there are several differences.

The top image dates to circa 1880 and the lower one to closer to 1900. As demand for granary storage space declined, but the need for visitor accommodation rose, the hotel expanded into the attic floor of the seaward end of the building. New larger dormer windows were created, a new slate roof put on and new chimney pots added. The hotel exterior was freshly painted and its sign spruced up. The later image features the 1888-constructed fishermen's bothy set into the wall by the pier as well as the 1894 station building (elevated to the left). The chimneys of the circa 1890 Edina View can been seen just about the Hotel roof.

The shift in use of the building from granary, to hotel and other leisure pursuits, didn't end there. In 1890 a 'smoking concert' or 'smoker' took place in the granary loft. In aid of the Lundin Golf Club building fund, this event saw a "bevy of ladies" convert the space into "a beautiful apartment decorated with flags and bannerettes, floral devices and trophies of clubs and cleeks". Over 150 visitors and residenters were present. The Dundee Courier of 26 August elaborated further and included an accompanying sketch (below) of the scene at Largo pier:

"For the first time in its existence, Largo indulged one night last week in the luxury of a "smoking concert." ...The old Crusoe Hotel was gaily decorated with flags, and the interior...was very prettily set out with floral decorations, mottoes, and lanterns.....It is fully expected that the proceeds from the concert will free the clubhouse from debt."

Such was the success of the event that it evolved into the "Annual Festival of the Lundin Golf Club" running over a few days in what was now being referred to as the "Hall of the Crusoe Hotel Buildings". The 1891 festival involved not only a smoking concert in the granary but also a 'children's frolic' for 200 youngsters and a dance for adults. The song below, composed by a golf club member, was sung at the concert. Note the people mentioned in the song include architect and regular visitor Peter Lyle Henderson (who did go on to become Captain of the Lundin Golf Club) and William Hearsey Salmon of Homelands, who was Captain of the Lundin Ladies Golf Club in 1891. The 'good old Crusoe' is honoured in the final verse.

The following year, 1892, the Crusoe was decorated with "Moorish Temple decorations" for the Golf Club Festival. Each evening's entertainment saw the railway viaduct "illuminated by lime lights". Large flags were supplied by Mr Clapperton of Edinburgh. A new golfing song had been composed by club poet Robert Johnstone. Again there was a concert, a children's frolic and a golfers' dance. The new song for '92 includes reference to "Crusoe's charming hall" and the "jolly golfers". The final verse, printed in the 1 September 1892 Fifeshire Journal, was as follows:
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Now let all the wide world know
That the charms of Largo grow
Ev'ry year there are new "beauties" to behold; 
Since our Ladies Links were made
There is quite a grand parade
Of our charmers, who at Golf can ne'er grow old

By 1893, the hall in the Crusoe Building, was referred to as the "Band Hall" because the Largo Brass Band had taken a lease there. Other tenants of the granary portion of the building were Thomas Buttercase (Potato Merchant) and Gordon the Poulterer from Leven. For the smoking concert in the Band Hall, once again a new golfing song was composed. The lyrics are shown below and once again feature Peter Lyle Henderson and the old Crusoe.

The present-day Crusoe Hotel occupies the entirety of a building that was originally built as a granary in the 1820s. Constructed so that local landowners and farmers had a safe and secure place to safely store grain, close to transport links (i.e. the harbour), the granary originally comprised two levels. Storage facilities that protected produce from damp and vermin, as well as theft, went a long way to ensuring a good price could be obtained for crops. Granaries of a similar design were springing up along the Fife coast around this time, including at neighbouring Elie and Pittenweem. The images below show the similar style of the Elie structure (top) and the Largo granary. 

In 1846, George Duff became ill and eventually died of consumption (tuberculosis). His wife Ann, moved up to Kirkton of Largo to run the inn there, while the inn at Lower Largo harbour was advertised for let (see below from 30 April Fife Herald). It transpired that the man named in the advertisement, village grocer Alexander Selkirk, took over the lease of the eleven-apartment inn. He continued to rent the inn from the Largo Granary Company for many years. 
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Meetings of shareholders and tenants of the Largo Granary Company often took place in the inn (now sometimes referred to as 'Selkirk's Inn'). The 13 December 1855 Fifeshire Journal above details one such meeting. On this occasion, the focus was on the imminent arrival of the railway. The success of the East of Fife Railway was toasted at the event and those that had not already subscribed to the scheme were encouraged to do so. Note also the reference to the Crimean War and British allies France and Sardinia. The principal tenant at this time was Robert Hutchinson of Kirkcaldy. In 1830, at the age of 21, Robert Hutchison opened an account in the name of Robert Hutchison and Company and began trading in wheat, barley oats, flax, butter and flour. By 1856 the company would own all the land in East Kirkcaldy where the present flour mill now stands.

The arrival of the railway and the increasing popularity of Largo as a visitor destination would have further boosted the inn. In the 1860s and 1870s, David Russell of Silverburn, owner of Largo Mill, was a major tenant at the granary. He used the building to store imported seed for crushing, as well as oil and oilcake for export. At some point around this era the granary seems to have acquired a third storey in the form of an additional loft space.  

Alexander Selkirk died in 1867 aged 67 and the advert above for 'inn to let' dates to the 30 Jan 1868 Fifeshire Journal. Shortly after this, James Gilchrist is recorded as the innkeeper at the harbour. His mother was a Selkirk too. I strongly suspect that James could he have introduced the Crusoe name to the inn. The name first appears around the mid-1870s. It was in 1872 that James's brother Robert Gilchrist was involved in the creation of the Robinson Crusoe Lodge of the Independent Order of Good Templars. Clearly the family were keen to commemorate their Selkirk relative and make use of the well-known Crusoe name.

James Gilchrist died in 1873. His wife Margaret appears to have been in charge for a short while but in 1875 the tenant innkeeper was James Methven. The next innkeeper, John Forrester, had the inn for a much longer period. The next post in the series will pick back up by looking closely at his time in charge of the inn - now styled the Crusoe Hotel (see advert below from the 2 April 1875 East of Fife Record).
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Serpentine Villa is located on the Temple at Lower Largo, at the point where a small road branches up to the beginning of the Serpentine walk to Upper Largo. The architect plans for the dwelling were drawn up in December 1876 by James Gillespie of St Andrews, for Captain David Watson. David Watson (1851-1939) was a ship master, like his father before him, Captain John Thompson Watson (1828-1892). Both men were Largo born and had long seafaring careers with the Empire Line of London (a topic that will be returned to in the future).

Watsons had lived at the Temple for some time and it seems likely that Serpentine Villa would have been built upon the site of an earlier cottage. It was constructed adjacent to 'Bombay Lodge', a dwelling that had been built several years earlier for another globe-trotter, civil engineer Thomas Craigie Glover. The year before commissioning the architect plans, David Watson had married Elizabeth Clark Philp (daughter of Benjamin Philp, commission agent and grain merchant who lived in Drummochy House). The couple were based in Anstruther while Serpentine Villa was built and finally moved into their Largo home circa 1880, in between the births of two of their sons. As David was usually on lengthy voyages, upon which his wife and family would sometimes accompany him, their Largo home was often occupied by friends and relatives. The 3 September 1891 Fifeshire Journal's list of 'summer visitors' below gives one example of this.

Census information shows that in 1881, Serpentine Villa was unoccupied. A decade later in 1891, Elsie Philp was living there with a servant and her nephews David and James Watson (ages 9 and 6). These were the two youngest of the four sons of Captain Watson. Elsie was one Elizabeth's maiden sisters. In 1901, the house was again unoccupied. Then by 1911, David, Elizabeth and two adult sons, David (now a banker) and James (a solicitor), were living at Serpentine Villa. David senior was described as "retired ship master" but in fact he did return to work for a spell during the First World War, before retiring for good. The newly available census data, for 1921, lists only David and Elizabeth at Serpentine Villa, with David being noted as "Shipmaster (Retired)". 

David Watson enjoyed his retirement years at Serpentine Villa. He played golf and was an elder of Largo Parish Church. He died at home on 19 December 1939 aged 88. His widow, Elizabeth Watson (nee Philp) remained there until her death in 1946 aged 97 and then the house was put up for sale. The advert below from 18 December 1946 Leven Mail states that the house would be "easily convertible into two flats or suitable for boarding house". The house was indeed flatted and had since been extended (see photograph above).
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Below we can see the original north elevation of the house as newly built. The rear of the house can be seen at the far left of the black and white image further below. At the foot of this post is an annotated image of the west end of the Temple, naming all the dwellings, from Temple Green to Serpentine Villa.  The Temple started with Burnside Cottages (the characterful white-washed buildings which were demolished in the late 1960s), then continued with the terraced row comprising Homelea, Thistle Cottage and Kincraig. The next dwellings were Temple Cottage (now Arndilly), Bay Cottage, Bombay Lodge (later Fernielaw Cottage and now Seascape) and finally Serpentine Villa - a building which has witnessed many changes in the past century and a half.
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Take a look at the three postcard images below. What do you notice?

Which features are common across the three and which are different?

Scroll below the photographs to learn more...

The first and oldest image is the one marked 'Cowie, Upper Largo and Lundin Links' in the lower right corner. This relates to Peter Cowie, the chemist and dates the postcard to circa 1905. It shows the Crusoe Hotel with its original roof style prior to the 1911 fire which resulted in extensive repair work including the creation of a new flat roof. This flat roof is evident in the second postcard scene. But close inspection of the second postcard, entitled 'Largo from Lundin Pier', shows that many elements of its scene are exactly the same as the first postcard - including the fishing boat tied up at the pier with the tall masts to the left of the hotel, the old footbridge in front of the viaduct, the people standing on the end of the pier and the two boats either side of them. 

The fishing boat rounding the pier end is KY 56, which is Fisher Lass. This was not a Largo boat but belonged to Andrew Taylor of Buckhaven. So striking was the image of Fisher Lass, that it was reused again in the third postcard scene. This final image dates to a time after the roof of the Crusoe Hotel had changed once again. The flat roof proved to be leaky and so a pitched roof replaced it in the mid 1930s. In this image you can also see the road bridge over the Keil burn. 

All the photographs were taken for Valentines of Dundee - the printing company that became Scotland's largest manufacturer of picture postcards. Valentines hired a team of photographers to travel the country capturing local views for postcards, which would then be sold directly to local newsagents, Post Offices and other businesses, such as Cowie the chemist. A team of travelling salespeople used catalogues to promote the images to every town and village. But, of course, local scenes did not remain unchanged over time. The addition of a new building, for example, would require a photographer to be dispatched to take new photos. Sometimes a new image would not be as appealing as the one it was replacing and so an amalgamation was created in an early form of image editing. 

You can see by careful studying of the pair of cropped images below, that the rowing boat and buildings to the right are the same, as is the railway bridge and the Belmont Hotel building beyond the roof of the Crusoe Hotel. However, the Crusoe Hotel with its new flat roof has been added to the version on the right-hand side. Some retouching has had to be done immediately above the flat roof to fill in the gaps left by the removal of the former chimney stacks. Some rework has also been done to the pier to disguise the join on this composite image.
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