​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. 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.

The Robinson Crusoe Social Club evolved from the earlier 'Lundin Links and District Community Social Club' in 1946. The name change coincided with the club taking over the former Good Templar Hall (or Temperance Hall) on Mill Wynd, Lundin Links (pictured above). The hall had been built in 1886 for the Robinson Crusoe Lodge of the Independent Order of Good Templars. Membership of the local I.O.G.T. Lodge had dwindled by the Second World War and ownership of the hall passed to the Grand Lodge of Scotland before coming into the ownership of the social club. 
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After a quarter century at its original location, the social club made the move into the temperance hall, giving them a much larger space for their varied activities. They changed their name in the process, to the Robsinson Crusoe Social Club, in tribute to the former Robinson Crusoe Lodge of the I.O.G.T.. The advert below for a Sale of Work (11 Feb 1948) shows that the hall on Mill Wynd was still initially known as the 'Club House' before becoming more commonly referred to as the Crusoe Hall. At this particular sale is was stated that the club had grown from eleven members in 1946 to over over eighty within a year and another fifty new members since then. The main object of the club was "the social welfare of the community" and membership was open to all "irrespective of age, sex, religion or politics".
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Below is the notice of the 1947 Children's Christmas Party (10 December Leven Mail) - the first one in the Crusoe Hall. Two weeks later the paper reported that the hall was filled to overflowing with more than 270 children. After music and games, tea and cakes were provided and "Santa Claus, taking time off from his arduous duties, then handed each child an orange and a gift from the beautifully lit and decorated Xmas tree".
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The Robinson Crusoe Social Club was wound up in 2015 and a bench has been placed on Emsdorf Road (close to the two club houses but in a more prominent location) in memory of the Club that was such a feature of the local community over many decades. If you have memories of the club, Christmas parties, whist drives, etc - please do comment and share your stories.
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The above artwork depicting the Old Manor Hotel appeared as part of an advert for hotel receptionist placed in the East Fife Mail of 24 April 1996 (below). This and the following other local references were found recently in newspapers used to wrap up a set of crockery. When unpacking a box untouched for a couple of decades, it was an unexpected pleasure to be able to leaf through some old pages of the local paper.
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​April brought the opening matches of the local bowling clubs and below is the photo taken of the Lundin Links club's first game. Do you recognise anyone in the photograph?

Another Springtime event was the Fife Point to Point at Balcormo. The advert below let readers know that it was coming up the following weekend. Traditionally held annually at Balcormo Mains (since 1910), the event has origins dating back to 1892, originally taking place at Bruntshiels Farm near Ceres. Lately there has been another chance of venue, which you can read more about here: https://balcormoraces.org/

​Finally, an other advert - this time for the Crusoe Hotel. Part of a full page feature on the 'High Tea Trail' around the East of Fife, the advert highlights high teas and bar meals - with "flambe and seafood a speciality"!
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By 1871 John Miller was established as a cork cutter in Upper Largo, now with 7 children, 4 of whom were born in Largo. A decade later and he was still described as a 'cork top manufacturer' and had one further child. At some point, the Millers became involved with the Independent Order of Good Templars' Robinson Crusoe Lodge. John held various offices and appeared often in the newspaper archives as attending various meetings and events in connection with the movement. It's interesting that a bottle top maker, with connections to the brewing industry, went on to live by "total abstinence enforced by a life-long pledge, and the absolute prohibition of the manufacture, importation and sale of intoxicating drinks as beverages". The above programme for the local lodge from the "Good Templar Guide: North-East Fife District 1898-1904" notes John E. Miller as the Secretary at the time and shows that he and his wife were responsible for a number of the functions listed.

By 1891, John's occupation had evolved slightly to 'wood top manufacturer'. This was likely partly due to a general trend away from the use of cork to other materials for bottle closures but may also indicate that he wanted to cater for temperance drinks rather than alcohol. Below are images of a cork top (left) and a wood top (right). By this time, fellow cork cutter Edward Johnston had become bankrupt and had left Largo. John survived the changing fortunes of his trade but supplemented his income by having three boarders living in his household. Ten years later, aged 70, John Miller continued to host three boarders and was described as a 'wood top maker'. 
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John Edmonson Miller died on 19th June 1905 at Law Cottage, Upper Largo - his death registered by son James, who lived very close by at Broomfield's Buildings. As far as I can tell, this ended many decades of bottle top making in the Parish. Modern innovation had by then changed practices completely. Ebonite or Vulcanite screw stoppers (patented in 1880) were advertised as superior to corks due to the ease of opening by hand (no need for a corkscrew), robustness (won't break like a cork could), airtightness (contents won't go flat) and reusability (if used many times were a fraction of the cost of cork). India rubber was heated in a process called 'vulcanisation' to create a mouldable, durable material that was used for bottle stoppers for decades. The adverts below show these stoppers, which fitted into an internal screw thread in the bottle neck, in detail.

The opening of the Good Templar Hall in Lundin Mill was the result of years of planning and fund raising by members and friends of the Robinson Crusoe Lodge of the Independent Order of Good Templars. The above report from 28 May 1886 East of Fife Record tells us that it publicly opened on Saturday 22 May 1886. The builder of the hall was the Worthy Chief Templar Robert Gilchrist. Able to seat 200 people in the main space, there were also two ante-rooms and a stage. Heating was provided by a large stove in the basement, where coals were also stored. Gas lighting was installed both around the building and from a central gasalier (gas powered chandelier). The photograph below shows the interior of the hall a few years ago, prior to its conversion into a house.

The bazaar held in August 1886 cleared most of the outstanding costs of the hall. The Fife Herald (18 August 1886) above give some details of the stalls at the bazaar, which was opened by Dr Stuart Palm. The star items for sale were Robinson Crusoe related, recognising the name of the Lodge. After years of meeting in places such as the school room or a church, having a dedicated hall under the temperance banner was a great achievement for the Robinson Crusoe Lodge. Their "very substantial brick building" (see photograph below) was not only used by the Lodge but was made available for any other "good, moral and religious purpose". Some examples of the types of events that took place in the new hall are seen in the newspaper archives further below.

​In 1887, a concert was held in the hall in aid of Largo Reading Room (30 July Fife News). Also known as Lower Largo Library, the reading room came into existence around 1884, pre-dating the reading room at the Simpson Institute. Being the height of the summer season, concert performers were mainly visitors from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Cupar. There was a trend over many decades for summer visitors to put on performances - making their own entertainment before the days of cinema.
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In 1898 (25 June Fife Free Press below) young members of Kirkcaldy's Pioneer Lodge of the Good Templars used the hall as part of their outing to Lundin Links. The following year, the annual picnic of the Kirkcaldy Town Mission Workers, made use of the hall for tea (19 August 1899 Fife Free Press).
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The Independent Order of Good Templars (I.O.G.T.) originated in Utica, New York State in 1851 and was introduced to Scotland by Thomas Roberts of Philadelphia in 1869. Deriving their name from the Knights Templars (because they were also 'fighting a great crusade' and legend is that the Knights drank 'sour milk'), the Good Templars adopted a similar organisational structure and regalia to the Freemasons. The principles behind the movement were "total abstinence enforced by a life-long pledge, and the absolute prohibition of the manufacture, importation and sale of intoxicating drinks as beverages".

The I.O.G.T. motto (adopted in 1852) was Faith, Hope and Charity. Organised into 'lodges' at local, district and national levels, each lodge was given the flexibility to "act according locality, time and circumstances". Unusually for the time, both sexes were admitted and were "on a perfect equality as to eligibility for office".  Juvenile lodges could be formed for young persons aged from 5 to 18 years of age. The juvenile motto was Truth, Love and Purity. A fringed sash was worn by members (see illustrative photograph above of an unknown I.O.G.T. group) decorated to varying degrees with badges and initials to indicate office held. These sashes seem to have come in different colours including a purplish-blue and a red (see coloured examples below).

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In addition to the Saturday evening meetings, the lodge held picnics, open air meetings and cycle trips (the I.O.G.T. had its own 'Cycling Corps'). In 1906, the Order changed its name to the International Order of Good Templars. And in later years the elaborate ceremonies and distinctive regalia were phased out. The movement lost ground as society faced each of the World Wars. After the Second World War, the I.O.G.T. repositioned itself around peace-related work. Although internationally it did recover, in Largo it would not be able to rebuild.

You can read more about the history of the I.O.G.T. worldwide here.

As a follow-up to the recent post about the history of Largo Curling Club, I am grateful to a reader who has shared the above artefact. It is the programme for the Centenary Dinner of the club. Note that, although the actual centenary would have occurred in 1940, the Second World War disrupted life so greatly that it was not until a full seven years later that this event was finally able to take place. 

It certainly appears that, although delayed, the occasion was marked in style and with all the appropriate traditions. Below are the 'Bill of Fare' and the 'Programme and Toast List' - both rich in detail and with many interesting turns of phrase. Let's have a look at these in more detail....
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The layout and content of these pages closely mirrors the style used at key dinners from Curling history such as the Jubilee Dinner held for the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, in Edinburgh's Waterloo Hotel, on 28 Nov 1888. It was similarly "garnished with sundry curling phrases to help the digestion". Verses from the curling poets, such as Henry Shanks of Bathgate and Rev. J. Muir of Leith are also typically included. Even the food chosen for the menu is traditional. 'Beef and greens' in particular has been the traditional fare of the curling dinner for centuries.

Here are definitions for some of the curling phrases that pepper the menu:

"Soop, lads, soop" refers to sweeping (the ice) in the path of a curling-stone in order to assist its progress;
"Kiggle-Kaggle" means to cause the stone to make a succession of zig-zag movements or inwicks up a port or space between curling stones, to reach a certain object;
"Clap on a gaird" relates to playing a stone to lie in front of or “guard” the tee or another stone lying near it;
"On the pat lid" suggests a curling stone lying right on the tee.

Note also the reference to the temperance movement - "ginger brew for Templars sae true" - within the poem at the top. This was a significant movement nationally and locally in the late 19th century and early 20th century (more on this to come in future posts).

Below, the toast list includes all the customary toasts, including one to the Royal Caledonian Club (the sport's governing body), one to neighbouring clubs and others to new curlers, to skips and to presidents. Several songs are also included in the programme, which no doubt would have been sung with gusto!

More about the traditions surrounding curling can be found here - ​electricscotland.com/history/curling/.

Following on from the previous post about Largo Curling Club, it is worth pointing out that for a time there were three curling ponds in the villages. The 1912 O.S. map above shows these three ponds (ringed and numbered in green): 

1. Lundin Links Curling Club's pond by the 9th tee of the Lundin Ladies Golf Club
2. Largo House Pond (original home of Largo Curling Club)
3. Upper Largo's artificial pond (created in 1905 for Largo Curling Club

When Largo Curling Club moved to their new artificial pond in Upper Largo in 1905, many of the curlers that lived in Lundin Links decided the time was right to create a new pond in their village too. Lundin Links Curling Club was formed around this time (not to be confused with the pre-existing Lundin and Montrave Curling Club that had been around since 1885 and had a pond on the Montrave estate). 

The above story from the 10 August 1905 Leven Advertiser tells us that discussions around the creation of a "curling pond for Lundin Links, Drummochy and Lower Largo" had begun. Robert Gilchrist, the Lundin Mill builder responsible for the Temperance Hall, led the meeting, where it was "unanimously agreed to form a curling club". Interestingly, the initial idea was to convert the tennis courts into a pond in winter by spraying them. The tennis courts had only been officially opened the previous month. This plan must have been quickly discounted, as the following year a different scheme had been set in motion.

The 27 December 1906 Leven Advertiser (below) refers to both Montrave and Upper Largo ponds before noting that the folks of Lundin Links had "set about realising the ambition of having a pond" and that it was to be "at the side of Fir Park". Note that this was 1906, and therefore was three years prior to the move of the Lundin Ladies Golf Club to its present course. So the nearest landmark at the time really was Fir Park (the substantial cluster of trees close to the Lundin Links Hotel). The "ample water supply" mentioned is the Hatton Burn.

The more detailed 1912 map above shows that there was a small building to the west of the pond, presumably for storage of the curling stones and other equipment (which were of course too heavy to be brought along for every match). Most ponds had a 'curling house' for this purpose, of varying degrees of grandeur. The curling house at the Gosford Estate in East Lothian is shown below.
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From its 1905 origins, the Lundin Links club continued for several decades. Various fund raising efforts took place over the years. For example, the above 'Great Jumble Sale' (December 1921) was in aid of new artificial rinks. This suggests that the original 1906 pond was something basic and more natural - the flooding of a low lying dip perhaps rather than a man-made surface. Below is an advert for a 'Grand Concert' in the Montrave Hall in April (Leven Advertiser). This concert was to raise money to repair the curling pond. Artistes came from Kirkcaldy to perform - arranged by Mrs Nisbet of Beffens. She performed herself in an "amusing sketch". There were two one-act plays, violin selections, songs, piano playing and recitations (21 April Dundee Telegraph). 
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As well as regular fund raising events, there were 'curlers' dinners'. The 4 March 1933 Fife Free Press describes one of these below. On this occasion, the Lundin Links Curling Club invited guests from neighbouring clubs Largo, Leven and Montrave to the Lundin Links Hotel. But the heyday of the Lundin Links Club would soon be over. In 1937, the club approached Largo Curling Club to discuss amalgamation. It is unclear what the outcome of this was but references to the Lundin Links Club in the newspapers peter out around this time. Notably, 1938 saw the opening of Kirkcaldy Ice Rink, a facility which would have starkly contrasted with the Lundin Links curling pond. The Second World War would have likely signalled the end of the club had it survived into 1939. If you know more about the demise of the Lundin Links Curling Club, please leave a comment. 
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