The Eagle Gates (pictured above) and Eagle Gates Lodge (shown below) are situated at the south east entrance to Largo House. This is a great example of a gate lodge which has outlasted the country mansion which it once served. A gate lodge is a small building at an entrance to a grand country house, where originally a gatekeeper would have lived and controlled access to the property. While many large mansions fall into disrepair, associated lodge houses can still survive, being of a much more manageable scale.

Situated where the road to Upper Largo from Lundin Links meets the top of the Serpentine Walk (see map above) both the lodge and the gates were listed in 1984. In its listing, the lodge is described as follows:

Late 18th/early 19th century, with alterations. Single storey. Pinned whin rubble with large droved long and short ashlar dressings. Bowed south end, originally with tripartite, now narrow outer lights blocked. East elevation with door and 3 windows (enlarged to right of door). Piended slated roof and 2 corniced ashlar stacks. Rubble and harled.

The gate piers are described as follows in their listing:

Later 18th century. 2 large square vermiculated ashlar piers with Greek key pattern bands below cornices capped by eagles. Very low rubble quadrant walls housing cast-iron railings.
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The dates given for the lodge and gates are estimated but the Greenwood and Fowler map below (which was surveyed 1826-7 and published in 1828) clearly shows a building on the site of the lodge and a driveway from it up to the main house.
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It was circa 1830 that James Durham (1754-1840) made a number of upgrades to Largo House. He had married for the second time in 1827 and shortly afterwards had two rear wings added to the main house as well as the conservatory built to the west. The Durham Coat of Arms was added above the main entrance (shown in the Canmore image above). This has a date of 1830 just visible to the lower right beneath the word 'terras'. It seems likely that the Lodge would have been upgraded around this time too. This may have included the addition of the pair of eagles - shown below as they were in 1973 (image from the Canmore collection) when both eagles were still in place. In recent times the eagle on the right has gone missing. 

The question is - why were eagles chosen to cap the gate piers?

The use of the eagle as a decoration for gate piers was not uncommon. The eagle symbolises power and strength and is visually striking. Duff House in Banff, Coneyhill House in Bridge of Allan and Thirlestane Castle near Lauder in the Borders had similar examples. However, there is usually a rationale for their use. The example shown below, at Thirlestane Castle, has gate piers capped with eagles for a specific reason. The Castle is the historic home of the Earl of Lauderdale, whose Coat of Arms includes two eagles with wings inverted as supporters. 

Is it possible that a similar reason applies at Largo? While there are no eagles on the Durham Coat of Arms, a pair of falcons appear on the Anstruther Coat of Arms - see image below. James Durham's 1827 marriage was to Margaret, eldest daughter of Colonel John Anstruther. Conceivably, Durham may have wished to represent her family in this way. In the absence of an obvious reason for the choice of eagles, could the stone carvings at Largo House actually portray falcons?  What do you think? Do you have further information about the origin of the stone carvings or their meaning? Please leave a comment. Likewise, if you know when one of the birds disappeared and where it went, please comment. The next post will look in more detail at the Eagle Gates Lodge and the people who inhabited it over the decades.

In the northwest corner of Largo Kirk churchyard is the headstone shown in the photograph above. It appears again below in a black and white image which featured in the East Fife Mail in July 1976. The gravestone stands out because of the shells which are scattered around its base. The stone features a carved "winged soul" effigy (representing the flight of the soul from one realm to another). The date appears to be 1817 and the fading words begin: HERE LYES ANDREW SELKIRK NOTAR PUBLICK. Notar Publick was a public official who would witness the signing of important legal documents - see Dictionary of Scots Language entry - https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/notar. This man must have been an important figure in the community. 
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On the other side of this same headstone are the initials of the parents of the famous Largo-born inspiration for the character Robinson Crusoe, Alexander Selkirk:

JS (for John Selcraig) and EM for his wife Euphan Mackie

Selcraig is a variation of Selkirk. This side marks an earlier burial as the pair likely died at least a century before Andrew Selkirk. Their side of the stone is shown above (image from the book 'The Story of Largo Kirk' 1990 edition). The J looks like an I because J was not differentiated from the letter I until comparatively recent times. For example, John and James appeared as Iohn and Iames (see examples below). The exact relationship of the Andrew Selkirk on the reverse side of the stone to John Selcraig and Euphan Mackie is unclear - he could be 3 or 4 generations further down the family tree.

The stills below are from an episode of Weir’s Way filmed in Largo in 1985, showing Tom Weir visiting the grave of John Selcraig and Euphan Mackie while on the trail of the life story of their famous seventh son, Alexander, who was born 1676. As there is no memorial to Alexander Selkirk himself (he was buried at sea in 1721), over the years people have brought shells to the grave of his parents, acknowledging the family's connection to the sea and to pay tribute to the man who inspired the famous Crusoe story. Comparing the 1980s image below to the more recent one at the top of the post, the number of shells seems to have grown in recent years.
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The 30 July 1969 East Fife Mail reported on the gift given to Largo Kirk of a model of The Yellow Caravel (the 15th century ship of Admiral Sir Andrew Wood). The man pictured working on the model is Dan Marshall, who lived in Westora on The Promenade, Leven. Sir Andrew Wood had been a boyhood hero of Dan's and his model making idea had begun as far back as 1934. It was then that he visited the Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street in Edinburgh, to view their model of the Yellow Caravel.  He gained permission to examine and sketch the model and take measurements, with a view to creating a replica.

Dan was home on leave from China and he intended to follow up the preparatory work by embarking upon his own model on his subsequent visit home. While in the museum, an older man sat down next to Dan and asked him about his plans. He turned out to be the maker of the museum's model, Richard Paterson of Lasswade. Mr Paterson had undertaken a number of commissions for the Museum. His other works included the Great Michael and a Viking longboat. Richard Paterson's original 1926 Yellow Caravel model can be viewed here.

Dan Marshall made a start on his version of the Yellow Caravel but progress was slow and, after some time had passed with only the hull completed, he scrapped the model and the project ground to a halt. More than three decades later, while working in the Gas Board Offices, Mr Marshall had a conversation with Upper Largo minister, Reverend Douglas Lister. Dan explained that he had long dreamed of making a model ship to hang in a church. Nothing happened for six months, until the pair talked again and Rev. Lister asked when Dan was going to start on his model.

Around 500 hours of intricate work later, Marshall's model was presented to Upper Largo Parish Church on 3 August 1969, at a service televised by the BBC for Songs of Praise. The Church still has this special memorial to Wood on display today. Built at a 1:48 scale, the Yellow Caravel is positioned on a small table against a wall next to the main dais so that all members of the congregation looking at the communion table and pulpit will see the little ship as well. The black and white photograph below shows the model (to the right) in context.
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Here is a description of the model:

Scale: 1:48
Length Overall: 1000mm
Breadth: 250mm
Height: 960mm
Material: wood, paint, cotton thread and metal fittings
Construction: Block built with built up topside
Description: Hull is painted black below the waterline and yellow and blue above. The stern castle and forecastles are both built up in the style of the fifteenth century warship, painted yellow, blue and red stripes with shields depicting the Scottish red lion rampant, the saltire and one bearing the oak tree family crest of Sir Andrew Wood. A saltire is also picked out in blue lines on the lugsail at the foremast and in decorations around the crows‐nest on the main mast. Two yellow metal carronades are on each side of the main deck.
Transom: painted blue, yellow and red stripes with two Scottish lion shields and a central saltire shield.
Masts and Spars: painted yellow with blue bands.
Rigging: fully rigged with sails set. Main sail is painted with two images of ships carrying saltires and a large oak tree, the family crest of Sir Andrew Wood.
Flags: Large tin saltires fly at the bow, stern and mainmast. 
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This model represents a typical armed merchantman of the 15th century rather than specifically the Yellow Caravel, no illustration of which survives. It carries seven guns, crossbows and pikes. The mainmast has a fighting top. The coat of arms on the mainsail are those of Sir Andrew Wood. Wood began his naval career as a privateer under James III and prospered under James IV. By 1489 he owned the Flower and the Yellow Carvel, both fighting ships, which fought and captured five English ships close to Dunbar.

The English launched a larger offensive the following year under Stephen Bull, which attacked Wood's ships in the Firth of Forth. After two days of fighting, Wood triumphed, capturing the English ships, despite having been outnumbered. James IV knighted Wood following this battle, granting him land in Largo. Wood built a fortified tower house there, married Elizabeth Lundie and had several sons. In 1511, he took command of the Great Michael, the flagship of the Royal Scots Navy, said to be the largest ship in Europe, weighing 1,000 tons and measuring 240ft (73 metres) long.
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The Upper Largo Church model is one of many ship models found in Scottish Churches. If you would like to find out more about ship models in Scottish Churches, click here, to read a thesis on the topic by Meredith Clare Greiling (June 2019).
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Incredibly, since writing the previous two blog posts about the ​Largo Field Naturalists' Society, instituted in 1863, a photograph of the five founders has surfaced. The image above, of five men surrounded by plants, is part of the St Andrews University Library Special Collection. The only named man is Charles Howie (seated in the centre) and the official record only speculates on who the others in the photograph are. Taken by St Andrews photographer Thomas Rodger (1832-1883), this photo would have been taken between before 1872 (when it was displayed on the wall at a complimentary dinner in honour of Howie).

Now, to deduce who's who in the photograph. The youngest of the founding members was Benjamin Philp, Commission Agent and resident of Drummochy House. I would speculate that he is the man on Howie's right holding a smart shiny hat. To Howie's left is a dapper-looking gentleman with a trimmed collar and a floral embellishment on his jacket - likely tailor and clothier William Wood. Holding a plant stem on the far left is most probably Balcarres gardener Robert Adamson. That would leave the man on the far right in the tweed jacket as farmer James Bardner. So looking in detail at the men below, these could be from left to right: Robert Adamson, William Wood, Charles Howie, Benjamin Philp and James Bardner. Any information to help confirm this would be welcome.
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After keen botanist Charles Howie retired to Upper Largo in 1862, these men, with a shared interest in the natural world, worked hard to establish their fledgling Society. In 1872 the first of the founding members was lost, when James Bardner, tenant farmer at Chesterstone died aged 55. Bardner was a well-known figure in the community, also being the first President of Largo Curling Club. Although this must have been a blow for the Society, it continued to flourish, despite having handed over the running of the annual floral fete to the newly-formed Largo Horticultural Society in 1875. The extract below from the 1877 Oliver and Boyd's New Edinburgh Almanac shows the office bearers of the Society at that time. As the previous post described, the Society opened its Museum in the old Parish School on Upper Largo's North Feus (in the foreground in the photograph below) in 1879. Just two years later, the field naturalists lost another founder - Robert Adamson, former gardener at Balcarres, who died in 1881 aged 69.
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Through the 1880s, the Society's monthly meetings, annual 'conversazione' and weekly museum openings continued. The newspaper report above from 2 June 1887 Fifeshire Journal shows that both long-standing members and newer faces were actively involved. Charles Howie continued to own the museum building, leasing it to the Society, while renting Eden Cottage as his residence. However, around 1890, Charles Howie and his wife Isabella (pictured below circa 1845) moved back to St Andrews, due to failing health. Letters written by Howie during the 1890s show that he was frequently under doctor's orders to stay in bed. Yet he still tried to support the Society from a distance. He donated his collection of ferns to the museum around this time.

The early 1890s also saw the loss of two more Society founders. Benjamin Philp died in 1892 aged 72 and William Wood in 1893 aged 83. Long-distance member and long-time supporter Charles Jenner also died in 1893. Isabella Howie died in 1897 and Charles Howie himself passed away in 1899. Before his death, Howie transferred ownership of the Museum building to the Largo Field Naturalists' Society. 

The piece below from the 20 November 1907 Leven Advertiser tells of how Charles Howie was "the cementing influence which bound others with less enthusiasm together" and that "with his death the activity of the Society ceased".  The article goes on to say that the museum had now "for some years been little visited". It was school master Thomas Nicoll who now acted as Society Secretary and keeper of the Museum. His role was seen as "extremely nominal". At this point the future of the Society and its museum seemed bleak, however, change was afoot.

The Gilmours of Montrave had long supported the Field Naturalists and their museum. So when Sir John Gilmour provided a new public hall for Lundin Links - now known as the Montrave Hall - he ensured that it included space for a museum at the rear. The plans above show a hall capable of holding 388 adults, a stage and behind that a museum, with its own entrance to the side of the building. The contents of the Upper Largo Museum were moved to the new hall, in the growing village of Lundin Links, where greater footfall could be achieved. The old museum building was put up for sale (see below from 20 July 1910 Leven Advertiser). 
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The previous post covered the origins of the Largo Field Naturalists' Society and the role of seedsman, florist and fruiterer Charles Howie in its establishment. The first decade of the Society's existence was focussed on monthly meetings, regular "conversaziones" and, most importantly, its annual horticultural fete. Contributors to these floral gatherings included several head gardeners, such as Largo House's Colin McTaggart, Robert Adamson of Balcarres, Mr Hunter from Charleton and Mr Christie of Kilconquhar House. The early horticultural fetes were held in Keil's Den (pictured above). The excerpt below from the 20 August 1863 Fifeshire Journal describes how people arrived by train in 1863 and were transferred by carriage to the entrance. Visitors enjoyed the "green slopes of the Keil" as well as the "shade of its lofty trees passing along its winding walks".

The inaugural event left the Society with a surplus of funds, which they used to form a "cottage and garden section". The intention of this was encourage local people to take pride in their outside spaces by awarding prizes for  the produce of cottage gardens. Over the next decade, this section of the fete thrived and became the leading feature of the annual event. A substantial prize fund distributed among winners and special prizes and medals were donated by such individuals as retailer Charles Jenner and Glasgow goldsmith James Mark, who were among the 60 strong membership of the Society. In 1872, a complimentary dinner was laid on for Charles Howie in recognition of his hard work on behalf of the Largo Field Naturalists. The description below from the 22 March East of Fife Record mentions that a photograph of the five original members (Charles Howie, Benjamin Philp, William Wood, Robert Adamson and James Bardner) hung on the wall at the dinner.

The marquee at the revamped fete in 1875 was visited by upwards of 1000 visitors per day, generating a good nest egg for the following year. Largo Horticultural Society (later Largo and Newburn Horticultural Society) continued to successfully run the annual fete every year for decades (in fact the Society still exists today and regularly puts on flower shows and plant sales). The venue for the annual show varied over the years, even returning to Keil's Den on occasion. As Lundin Links developed, the show moved there. The advert below is for the 1898 show held in Homelands Park. This was the first of many shows held in Lundin Links, much to the indignation of the traditionalists of Upper Largo. Sport became a popular addition to the show and over the years this included races, tug of war, treasure hunts, 'pillow fights', the 'slow cycle race' and the mind-boggling 'musical chairs on cycles'!  

While the Horticultural Society had its fun, the Largo Field Naturalists' Society continued its more academic pursuits. After 16 years in existence, the opportunity arose for the field naturalists to acquire the Old Parish School on Upper Largo's North Feus. This was vacated in 1879, with the completion of the new Kirkton School. In fact, it was Charles Howie who purchased the old school building - see 1885 valuation roll extract below. This afforded the Society a proper space in which to display the objects collected over the years and also the potential to expand their collection. The aim was now to build up a collection "illustrative of the Natural History and Archaeology of the county" at the Museum. A plan was also made to turn the garden area into a miniature Botanic Garden. 
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Following a refit, the opening of the museum was marked by a Loan Exhibition (advertised below). On display on two tables in the centre of the hall was a large collection of the flora of Japan, courtesy of Mr Charles Jenner of Edinburgh, who was present at the opening. Also on display were many flora of Fife, dried seaweeds, numerous cases of butterflies, fossils, crystalized rocks, shells, buffalo and tiger skins, a gold nugget and carved models in parrot coal. A star attraction was a flip can used by Alexander Selkirk while exiled on the Island of Juan Fernandez. 

Mr Gilmour of Montrave had loaned many items from Canada including stuffed seals, beavers, lynx and badgers as well as woodwork and oil paintings. Messrs David Russell and Co. of Largo and Burntisland donated samples of Calcutta and Azof linseed, American and Egyptian cottonseed and wild Danubian rape seed, with cakes made from the same as well as bottles of oil in the crude and refined states. Mr Mark the jeweller of Glasgow gave a large collection of coins and medals. 
Mr Jeffrey of Largo House showed a fine Indian shawl, while Mrs Rintoul of Lahill offered an olive wood cabinet which had been made in Jerusalem. Pot plants from the gardens of Largo House tastefully decorated the hall. At this time the Society President was Henry Petheram and the joint-Secretaries were Charles Howie and Benjamin Philp.

The Museum's permanent collection was made accessible to school pupils and the general public. New donations were regularly received and it soon contained "magnificent specimens of nearly all the birds and beasts indigenous to the county". Charles Howie continued his detailed botanical studies and in 1889 published his book "The Moss Flora of Fife and Kinross". A sample of his dried moss specimens, including some from Largo Law is shown below. However, as Howie and many other Society members aged, what would the future hold for the Largo Field Naturalists and their Museum?  More to follow in the next post.
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Have you noticed the plaque (pictured above and below) on the wall of a house on Lower Largo's Main Street?  Do you know what this was placed there for? Read on to find out the answer (or take some time to think about it first before reading on). The plaque sits between between two upper windows and has recently been painted gold and black. Previously it had a more grey-brown appearance (see image further below).

The house in question is shown in the Canmore collection photograph above, taken in the 1970s. The plaque can just be seen between the centre and left upper windows. This is 38 Main Street, known as Crampie, but once named Berwick View. Crampie is also the name of one of the named large boulders on Largo beach. Below are other examples of the same type of plaque - with the same sun symbol but varying number sequences. Do you know what these are yet?

To fully answer the question, let's go all the way back to 1666 and the Great Fire of London. This catastrophic event triggered the establishment of insurance offices. The first one was called the 'Fire Office' and started in 1680. At the beginning, it provided money for the restoration or reconstruction of buildings damaged by fire. However, insurance companies soon realised that it was cheaper to prevent and extinguish fires than simply to pay the cost of reconstruction. Insurance companies began to employ their own fire brigades.

The insurers created ‘fire mark’ plates, such as the one in Lower Largo, in order to identify which houses were insured by each company. These were installed prominently on an exterior wall facing the street. This identification was particularly important before the introduction of street numbering but they also served to advertise the insurance company's services. Sometimes, insurance companies had reciprocal arrangements with each other, so that if a fire brigade put out a fire at a house insured by another company then the brigade’s company would be reimbursed.

​The fire plaque or plate provided instant visual proof that the household was insured against fire-risk, and guaranteed attendance by the insurance company's fire-fighters should the need arise. The illustration below depicts fire fighters from the Sun Fire Brigade circa 1800 with their rudimentary equipment. The newspaper clipping from the Fife Herald of 21 Oct 1824 gives an example of their brigade putting out a fire in Edinburgh.
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In August 1984 a Largo Heritage Week was held, involving a range of events and exhibitions. The above photograph was taken at a Scots Night held on the lawn at Cardy House. Around 140 people took part in this particular event which featured highland dancing displays organised by local dance teacher Ida Ballingall. Ida can be seen in the centre of the photograph with her accordion, a portable source of backing music for the dancers. Other musical contributions to the night included harp-accompanied singing by Christine St Clair, who was there with her mother and well-known sister Isla St Clair.

The 1st Largo Brownies also played a part in the evening, under the leadership of Brown Owl, Joy Spence (standing second from far right in the photo). The Brownies served tea and some of their recent handiwork was also on display at the event. Organiser of the event, Ivy Jardine, can be seen to the left of the highland dancers, wearing a white blouse and long tartan skirt. Her eldest son Allan is on the extreme right of the picture, holding bagpipes. He played the pipes daily during the heritage week, and rounded off the Scots Night, piping from the roof of Cardy House next to the flagpole, which was flying the saltire. Below is another image from the evening, as printed in the East Fife Mail, showing the dancers in action and Ida in the right foreground, playing the accordion. 

A heritage photographic exhibition took place in the Durham Hall, attracting many visitors, with the ladies of the Largo St David's Women's Guild providing refreshments. This exhibition included entries for the joint East Fife Mail and Largo Heritage competition. The newspaper photograph above from the East Fife Mail shows the competition prize winners. 
The winner of the first prize was Margaret Smart of Durham Crescent, for her image of a friend examining an old milestone (see below). Second prize went to Craig Roberts for his close-up photograph of freshly caught fish, while the under-12 category winner was Catherine Kidd who had snapped fishing nets. With the 200th anniversary of the Crusoe Hotel building coming up next year, then the 350th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Selkirk in 2026, could another heritage week be a possibility? 

On 14 July 1971, under the headline "Face-lift at Granary", the East Fife Mail reported on the restoration of the former salt girnel/granary/net store building at Cellar Brae. The photograph above shows the work underway, at the stage when the roof was being replaced but the sea wall had yet to be heightened. Below are a few images taken in the mid-1970s, just a few years after completion. The conversion into a "seaside cottage" was carried out for "Mr John Gilmour, elder son of the Conservative M.P. for East Fife, Sir John Gilmour, Bt". Then aged 26, Mr Gilmour and his wife first decided to restore the granary in 1969 when they "noticed that it was literally falling to pieces and decided that we had to preserve it".  

In explaining the former uses of the building, Mr Gilmour said "in the past the Cellar Brae granary has been put to a variety of uses. At first it was of course a place where local grain was stored before being shipped across the Forth to Leith but that trade died out over a hundred years ago." He continued "for many years it was used by local fishermen as a storehouse for their nets and lobster pots but at one time it even housed a joiner's business." It's interesting that the real original use of the building as a salt girnel had at this point apparently been forgotten.

The building in fact had mixed use for long periods of time. Note that local joiner Alec Tait had workshop space within the granary building from around 1920 into the 1960s, his father David Tait having had the workshop there before him from the early 1890s. This overlapped with use as a granary and then a net store. It was the building's affinity with the village's fishing industry that Mr Gilmour was keen to maintain. At the time of the newspaper piece he was contemplating a suitable name for the finished dwelling. "Perhaps we will call it the 'Net House'. I think that would be an appropriate name for the cottage".  And so it came to pass that the house was given that name, when the restoration work was completed in 1972 - the name which it still goes by today. 

In 1984 the building was given a category B listing, in recognition of its architectural and historical interest. A great example of a mid-eighteenth century structure in a local style and with a varied past use, its listing description is given as:
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2 storey, boulder rubble with large sandstone lintels to ground floor, and low buttresses to long sides. South elevation has arched door near centre with stugged ashlar dressings and deep flanking buttresses, 2 windows left and 3 right; 3 small, first floor windows, window over door, raised through eaves with catslide roof, large modern studio window with gabled head. Glazed doors in east gable. North elevation irregular fenestration, 6 ground and 4 1st floor window. Pantiled roof with slate easing course, skews and 2 stacks. Curved boulder rubble wall to south remains of west pier, probably 18th century, with steps down to water, and low bastion enclosing circle of setts at site of horsemill.

The image below shows the setts at the site of a horse mill between the building and the sea wall. The date of this feature is unclear but likely aligns to the years when the site was used as a granary.
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The photographs above show the west-facing gable end pre- and post-conversion. The high window suggests the earlier presence of a forestair to an entrance at the upper level. The extent of the heightening of the sea wall can also be seen in the post-restoration image.  The conversion to a private dwelling was carried out by Leven architect firm L.A. Rolland and Partners and the project won a Civic Trust heritage award. The design by David Pirie sought to maintain the original character and tradition of this imposing structure. 

Described as a "derelict stone bothy" which had been neglected for years, one specific requirement of the restoration was that the external walls were left unharled. Commenting in the 25 June 1975 East Fife Mail, Mr Rolland noted that "five years ago people didn't do nearly so much of this type of restoration but people are now more aware of the value of such properties". He continued "there is more of this work done in Fife than other places, not only because of conservation societies, but because there are some very nice buildings in this part of Fife". The restoration was certainly a great outcome for this significant Largo building.
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The previous post looked at the life of General James Durham (1754-1840) and noted that one of the changes he made to Largo House was the addition of a coat of arms on the tympanum above the central upper windows. 'Coat of arms' is the popular term for what is more accurately a 'full heraldic achievement'. This post attempts to 'read' the heraldic achievement displayed on Largo House and understand the significance of the various elements of it. The component parts of the full heraldic achievement, including the shield, supporters, crest, and mottoes, will be described. 

Heraldic visual designs have been used by families, places and organisations for centuries to symbolise their identity. The origins of such designs date back to medieval times when a warrior dressed in a full suit of armour including a helmet would have been entirely anonymous without some visible symbol to identify him. His shield provided a large flat surface upon which to display a pictorial means of identification. A family's arms can evolve through the generations to reflect lines of descent, adoption, alliance, etc. General Durham registered his own coat of arms in 1792 and it carried variations from the arms of his Durham predecessors. It must have been after the death of his father in 1808 that he had his own arms mounted on the frontage of Largo House. Below is an annotated image of it as it appears on the tympanum of Largo House (which being stonework does not reflect colour aspect of the arms).

Below is a representation (from a medal) of General Durham's father's coat of arms. Its shield bears only the Durham and Rutherford quarters. This medal, which was awarded to James Durham for archery around 1752, is held at St Andrews University Special Collections and can be viewed on-line in detail here. General Durham's younger brother Philip Charles Henderson Durham had his own coat of arms registered in 1818. The full heraldic achievement featured the same shield layout as his father's (i.e. the one on the medal below) but had different elements added that were more personal to him. More on that some other time. 

​Despite all the variations in the Durham arms over the centuries, it is the arms of General James Durham (1754-1840) that has been displayed in Largo for around two centuries and can still be seen (albeit obscured by trees) on the tympanum of the ruins of Largo House. As it is difficult to view the ruins today, here is a link to a short drone film over the Largo House ruins from the Vintage Lundin Links and Largo YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/IS6jlq8dPAc

Two centuries ago, a hoard of silver was discovered at Norrie's Law - a cairn on the northern edge of the farm of Bonnyton within the Largo estate, close to the boundary with Teasses estate. The find is now known to be one of the largest hoards of Pictish silver ever to be found and has been dated to 500-600 A.D.. Unfortunately, back in circa 1819 the unnamed person who unearthed the finds was an unscrupulous individual who, rather than report the find to the appropriate authorities, sold the silver to an intermediary allegedly named Forbes who sold the pieces on to silversmiths. The objects, reportedly including a full suit of scale-armour, a shield, a helmet and a sword handle were melted down and recycled by the purchasers. Thus important historical artefacts, and the knowledge that they could have unlocked, were forever lost. 

Word of the event eventually reached land owner General James Durham of Largo House. He had the site rechecked and further silver items were recovered, having escaped the notice of the original finder. Although General Durham had succeeded in preserving an important subset of the hoard, a mix of intact objects and hacksilver (fragments for recycling), he did not immediately share the news of his discovery. It was not until around two decades later that a man named George Buist brought the story into the public domain. Buist was a journalist and keen antiquarian. While researching sculptured stones, he heard of a stone recently rediscovered by General Durham (now known as the Largo Pictish Stone). While learning about the rediscovered stone at Largo House, Durham presumably told Buist about the silver.
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So with General Durham deceased and Buist in India (where, aside from a couple of brief return visits to Scotland, he would live out the rest of his life), investigations into the hoard were discontinued. The surviving silver remained in the possession of the Durham family. In 1856 Mrs Dundas Durham sent the relics to an exhibition of antiquities and in 1864 she gifted part of the collection to the National Museum of Antiquaries of Scotland in Edinburgh. The remainder of the silver was donated to the same museum in 1883, following her death.

For over a century the 170-piece silver collection was assumed to be one cohesive group of medieval artefacts. The additional items 'rescued' by Buist's efforts in 1838-39 were treated as a genuine part of the hoard. However, in recent years the objects and their origins have been re-examined as part of the Glenmorangie Research Project on Early Medieval Scotland. Project findings have thrown up a surprise and cast doubt over the authenticity of a couple of the key objects. The writings of George Buist have played a key part in unravelling the truth.