The view looking towards Lundin Golf Club House is shown above. The top image from circa 1900 features a newly-completed club house set in a somewhat untamed and sandy landscape. The recent photograph, taken around a century and a quarter later, shows a club house which has been extended and modernised on multiple occasions. A sizeable pro shop stands in the place of a simple starter's hut. The original golf shop was the tiny building on the left in the black and white photograph (shown in detail below). The gravel track leading up to the club house has long been replaced with a tarmac road. Many cars arrive daily to deliver the players that once made their way to the course on foot or by train. 

​The Lundin Golf Club House was officially opened in May 1896 and two months later the 'rustic fence' of varnished undressed tree trunks was added around it (see detailed image below). This late Victorian club house replaced a simple two room forerunner, which no longer met the needs of the growing membership. Designed by Edinburgh architect Peter Lyle Barclay Henderson, summer visitor and keen golfer, the new club house shared features with some other Henderson's other work. Inside the new club house was as tasteful as the exterior, with an open timber ceiling, panelled walls, fireplaces and ornate lighting.

Celebrating a Golden Wedding Anniversary is a landmark achievement. Back in the 1940s, to reach that milestone and have a parent present at the occasion was newsworthy. When Robert Imrie and his wife Isabella (nee Mitchell) marked 50 years of marriage, the above feature appeared in the 1 September 1945 Daily Record. Mrs Imrie's mother Helen Mitchell (nee Swan) appears with the golden couple in the photograph above.

In fact five generations of the family were represented at the event, including Isabella's sister, Margaret Honeyman (nee Mitchell) of Kennoway who was bridesmaid at the wedding. At the time of the celebration, Mr and Mrs Imrie had two daughters and five sons (one of whom lived in Canada). They also had fourteen grandchildren and one great grandchild. The couple, who lived at Watson Cottage on Mill Wynd, received many gifts and messages of best wishes, including a cablegram from Canada.

Robert Imrie was born in Strathmiglo and married Isabella in Kennoway on 30 August 1895. He had a long career in agriculture, becoming a farm grieve like his father George before him. He started out at Gateside, followed by a spell at Stanley in Perthshire, before completing the remainder of his working life in Fife. He worked at Hayston Farm near Balmullo and at Luthrie Bank, ahead of twenty years as grieve at Lundin Mill Farm (where he oversaw the other farm workers, when George Bell was the tenant farmer). The family lived in Broadlea Cottage on Cupar Road during that era.

Later, Robert spent thirteen years as farm grieve at Cassingray Farm, near Largoward, on the Kilconquhar Estate, working for Lady Lindsay. Above is an image of the farmhouse at South Cassingray where the family were based (image from the Canmore collection). Below is an advert for the lease of the farm in 1939, with Robert named as the grieve who would show round interested parties. It must have been soon after this point that Robert returned to Lundin Links, a place to which he obviously felt a strong connection. ​The Imries were members of Upper Largo Church for forty years and Robert had a spell on the District School Board.

The newspaper article at the top of this post describes Robert as "green keeper on the Lundin Ladies' Golf Course". This was late career shift brought about by the Second World War. Having returned to Lundin Links, where son Jimmie was green keeper at the Ladies' course, Robert was well placed to step into his son's shoes when Jimmie joined the Auxiliary Fire Service full time in 1941. At Jimmie's suggestion, Robert took over as greenkeeper while his own wife Christina acted as starter and looked after the clubhouse. Jimmie and Christina lived in the greenkeeper's cottage (the 1911 built cottage pictured above to the right of the club house).

Wartime had a significant impact upon the Ladies' course with much ground given up for agriculture. The War Cabinet instructed that portions of golf courses had to be leased to increase food production. By special arrangement, the Ladies Club gave up more than its quota (two thirds of its area) so that the main Lundin course could remain intact. The much reduced course comprised six holes with the added feature of some grazing sheep (which both supported food production and kept the grass short at at time when there was little fuel for green keeping).

​When Jimmie returned to post after the war, he set about the restoration of the course (shown below) including re-seeding and the re-laying out of the lost greens, tees and bunkers. As the book published for the club's centenary by Alan Elliot said of Jimmie Imrie:

"He was an excellent worker, conscientious and thorough. When it is realised that he put the course back from its wartime ploughing to its former state almost single-handed, it may give some idea of what he did. He worked with the minimum of equipment....a spade, a shovel, a barrow, a roller, an elderly tractor and mowers of great age: an awesome lot of effort. He achieved much in a remarkably short time after the war, and overall he provided the club with a course again when it mattered most."

In the years following the end of the war, all three of the family members featured in the photograph at the top of this post passed away. Helen Mitchell died in 1946 aged 94, Robert in 1947 aged 75 and Isabella in 1950 aged 70. Jimmie Imrie lived until 1985, reaching the age of 79. This remarkable and hard working family left their mark on the community in several ways over many years. Their descendants must be very proud of them.

The photograph above of the former Church Rooms associated with Largo Parish Church was taken in 2021. Dating back to the early 18th century, the facility was for much of its history an ancillary building linked to Largo House. Note the traditional forestair leading to the upper entrance and the thackstane at the chimney base (suggesting an original thick thatched roof). The building was given to the Largo Kirk Session in 1935, by then owner of Largo Estate David Maitland Makgill Crichton. Presumably the building had become surplus to the requirements of the estate. During this era, Largo House had been let to a series of long-term tenants and at the time was occupied by John Key Hutchison, flour merchant.
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When Largo Parish Church completed the renovation of The Stables in 1970, the Church Rooms became a secondary hall space and was less in demand. In 1984 it was designated a category B listed building. Its listing description is as follows:

​Early 18th century with alterations. 2 storeys, 3 bays. Harled with some ashlar dressings. Entrance front originally 2 doors in left ground bay, one now window; central forestair to 1st floor door. 2 later 1st floor windows. South front altered fenestration to ground floor, 3 windows in weathered stone architraves to 1st. Straight skews with simply moulded skewputts, crowstepped skew to south-east. End stacks. Pantiled roof with straight skew and skewputt left and right (mutual with adjoining building). Rendered left and brick right end stacks.

Below are two 1970s black and white images of the property, front and back, from the Canmore Collection.
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Largo Cricket Club made use of the facility as a pavilion in more recent decades before switching to a portacabin adjacent to their ground. When the Church undertook significant renovation work during 2016-17, it was recognised that the Church Rooms were not being used. Plus, when Largo Parish Church came into being on 15 November 2017, a result of a union between the linked charges of Largo and Newburn and Largo St David’s churches, the Church had the use of both The Stables and the Durham Hall. Accordingly, the Church Rooms building was handed back to Largo Estate. After nine decades of community use, the Church Rooms were in need of maintenance. The estate applied for planning permission to convert the facility into a dwelling house, replace the roof and carry out a series of renovations inside and out. Now residential accommodation for estate workers, the building has moved into the next chapter in its story.

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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​The Largo Field Naturalists' Society was instituted on 27 May 1863. The five founders were: Charles Howie, Benjamin Philp, William Wood, Robert Adamson and James Bardner. As the extract from the Society's rules below indicates, its purpose was to facilitate the study of Natural History. The full set of rules can be viewed by clicking here. Arguably the main driving force behind the Society was Charles Howie, the Nursery and Seedsman.

​Howie was born in St Andrews in 1810, the son of a domestic gardener. After a spell in London, Howie returned to St Andrews where he had a house and shop on South Street and a nursery at Lawpark. However, by 1862 his mind was on retirement and he soon relocated to Upper Largo, taking a long-term lease of Eden Cottage. It was from there that he devoted himself to his favourite studies. In his garden at Eden Cottage he had a fine display of different varieties of primroses, collected from Keil's Den.

Charles Howie (pictured below from the 18 December 1891 Dundee Evening Telegraph) was a member of the Edinburgh Botanical Society (established 1836) long before the creation of the Largo Field Naturalists' Society. A fellow member was Charles Jenner, proprietor of the famous Edinburgh department store. A keen scholar of natural history too, Jenner became president of the Edinburgh Botanical Society. Howie and Jenner travelled together around the Highlands and Europe, collecting botanical specimens.

It was Howie that laid out the eight acre grounds of Jenner's home at Easter Duddingston Lodge in Joppa. The press commented that few private gardens in the country could boast such a collection of valuable plants. Botanical experts considered it to be as fine as could be found in Europe. Jenner's garden included a woodland arboretum, a rock garden, alpine beds, a fernery, an iris garden, a kitchen garden and a climber garden. Charles Jenner presented Charles Howie with an inscribed gold watch as a token of his appreciation.

One of the first actions of the newly-instituted Largo Field Naturalists' Society was to plan a grand horticultural fete. The notice below from the 23 July 1863 Fifeshire Journal alerts the public to what would be the first of many annual fetes put on by the Society. The event took place outdoors in Howie's beloved Keil's Den. The public event sought to encourage others to take interest in horticulture and improve the gardens of the district. The 20 August Fifeshire Journal reported that "a number of the nobility and gentry of the district, and from a distance, as well as ministers of various denominations, showed by their presence their interest in the movement".
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Below are the notices of the first three annual Horticultural Fetes organised by the Society. Note how the location is described as the "lower part of the romantic shades of Keil's Den". There was a marquee, a brass band and refreshments supplied by David Ireland the baker from Upper Largo. Tickets could be purchased on the day at the entrance to the Den. At the Society's 1864 AGM, Dr Lumgair presided and the treasurer reported healthy accounts following the successful fete and exhibition at Keil's Den.  Among the new members elected that year was Charles Jenner, Esq. of Edinburgh, who regularly went on to donate prizes to be awarded at the Society's annual fete.  

The Fife Herald of 14 December 1865 covered the monthly meeting of the Largo Field Naturalist's Society.  Henry Petheram of Haworth, Lundin Links was in the chair and the main topic of discussion was the forthcoming exhibition, in which there was much public interest.  The schedule of prizes was agreed  by attendees and printing was given the go-ahead.  Details were then given of several donations received by the Society.  Among them was "a large collection of minerals and specimens of curious rocks" provided by Charles Jenner. The next post will continue the story of the Largo Field Naturalists' Society.
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The golf club pictured above features a silver plaque inscribed with the words From Nicol Malcolm Leven Golf Club to his brother Andrew. A previous blog post has covered the life of Nicol Malcolm, the Dubbieside farmer who was well known in golfing circles. A member of several local clubs, Nicol had a hand in the setting up of Lundin Golf Club in 1868. The golf club in the photograph was made by Alex Patrick, who was the great-nephew of Nicol Malcolm. However, exactly who 'brother Andrew' was is more of a mystery, as Nicol did not (as far as records show) have a brother.

Nicol Malcolm had two older sisters - Christina and Isabella. Christina married Alex Patrick (grandfather of clubmaker with same name) and Isabella married an Alexander Thomson in Largo. So, there is no known brother or brother-in-law named Andrew. It could well be that the inscribed golf club was given to someone whom Nicol considered 'as a brother' or who he knew through a fraternal organisation such as the masons.

One potential candidate might be Andrew Wilkie, Captain of Leven Golf Club in the 1870s. He was R.W.M. at Leven's Elgin Lodge of the Freemasons. Another possibility is Andrew Thomson the master baker - once of Kirkland, later Leven and then Lundin Links (not closely related to the Alexander Thomson married to Isabella). Both men were involved in the creation of Lundin Golf Club shortly after Andrew moved his business there in the mid-1860s. That however is merely a theory and other theories would be welcomed on who the Andrew in the inscription could be.

The photograph above shows Alex. Patrick's shop at the junction of Links Road and Balfour Street in Leven, adjacent to the golf links. The picture below shows the shop in context to the left of the Leven Thistle Clubhouse. Alexander Patrick was born in 1845 in Leven, two years before his cabinet maker father John Patrick (nephew of Nicol Malcolm) began making golf clubs. When John died in the 1866 cholera outbreak, eldest son Alex inherited the business, which he soon afterwards relocated from Branch Street (near the Shorehead) to the location near the links. He employed younger brother, Nicol Malcolm Patrick, as an apprentice. Later on brothers John Patrick and David Murdoch Patrick also became golf club makers. 

Alex Patrick left Fife for a time, heading to Wimbledon in 1886, to become golf professional (and sell golf clubs) at the club there. He returned to Leven five years later, leaving his brother David to take over the role at Wimbledon. David too headed back to Fife a few years after that, and both brothers set up premises in Lundin Links, as further outlets for their golf clubs. Alex had his name over a small shop to the rear of the 1896-built Lundin Golf Club House (see below) while David had a house with integral workshop built between the railway station and the club house on what is now Golf Road.

Below are a range of adverts for Alex Patrick's business, covering not just golf clubs, but golf balls and even the restringing of tennis rackets. Patrick clubs gained a great reputation, initially in Fife and soon across Scotland, the UK and overseas. Alex retired in 1909 but seems to have returned to work during the years of the First World War before retiring for good. The business carried on under his name, with Mr David James Sellars at the helm into the 1930s. Alex died in 1932 aged 86 at his home Wimbledon Villa in Leven. Singing was the main leisure pursuit of Mr Patrick and he was a leading member of Leven Choral Union (later Leven Amateur Musical Association). 

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 two images above, taken on Leven Links with Largo Law in the background, appeared in the 25 March 1892 edition of Golf Illustrated. The two men are Archibald Smith (dark jacket) and James Kerr, who were both one-armed golfers belonging to Leven Thistle Club. One of the images also includes two young caddies. These men were proficient one-armed golfers well before the days of the First World War and the Society of One-Armed Golfers which later came into being because so many men lost limbs in that conflict.

Archibald Smith, son of local blacksmith John Smith, was born in Leven in 1852. By the age of 19 he was working as an apprentice boiler maker. This line of work took him to Glasgow for a spell before the depression of trade brought about by the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank in 1878. That year, he returned to his native Leven and found employment attending to the breaker machine at Hawkslaw Mill. Shortly after his return, an accident took place there involving that machine, which required the amputation of his right arm at the age of 26. Mill owners Messrs Boase continued to employ Archibald as a timekeeper. Having been a keen golfer, he was keen to continue to play and became a prominent member of Leven Thistle Club.

Coincidentally, James Kerr had lost his right arm in an accident on the very same breaking machine several years earlier. As a boy of 13 in 1871, James was already working at Hawkslaw mill. His income was important for his family, as his father had drowned in the River Leven in 1868 while trying to rescue a small boy. The young James Kerr's right hand was severed in the machine and an amputation was carried out above the elbow. However, the resourceful lad learned how to write with his left hand and in time rose to a position of trust at the Durie Foundry.

Having mastered the pen, James took up golf and to the surprise of his friends proved to have great dexterity in wielding the driver and the cleek. He had worked as a golf caddy as a younger boy and recalled the move of the Innerleven Golf Club from Dubbieside to the green at Leven when he was about nine years old. In 1877 he joined Leven Thistle Club, becoming Secretary the following year. He went on to be Captain on three occasions. In spite of his injury at such a young age, James Kerr went on to have thirteen sons and a daughter, and the poem below was written about him by club mate David Jackson (29 Sept 1909 Leven Advertiser).
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The Society of One-Armed Golfers was formed on 12 November 1932 in Glasgow, when sixteen men met at the inaugural meeting, held the offices of solicitor Archibald Pollock. The previous year had seen the first national meeting of one-armed golfers, when a contest at Moor Park attracted 38 competitors. Initially established for golfers who had lost limbs in the First World War, the Society, which is still active today, has since evolved to include those who have been affected by any condition, accident or incident resulting in the person being able to play with only one arm. 

Membership of the Society had reached around 75 people when events were paused during the years of the Second World War. Activity resumed in 1946 with a full meeting at St Andrews, involving 34 players. A pattern was established whereby an annual World Open Golf Championship was played in June on rotation between England or Wales, Scotland and Ireland. ​Back in 1949, the championship was held at Lundin Links. The photograph shows the competitors with one of trophies being played for, with Lundin Golf Club House in the background. Circled in the version of the photograph below is James Hunter Aitken (1896-1982) who was aged 54 in 1949. He lost his right arm in the First World War. It was his grandson who kindly shared this fantastic image.
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The 15 June 1949 Leven Mail reported on the occasion and some key results are given above. Mr G. Jackson of Kent triumphed in the main championship, while Australia's J.B. Todd won the President's Prize. A Team Championship Cup was also played for, and Scotland triumphed in that (see 9 June Dundee Courier below). The whole series of events was rounded off with a dinner at the Lundin Links Hotel, at which the awards were handed out by the then Captain of Lundin Golf Club, Fred Horne. Present at the award ceremony were representatives from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and 'Golf Monthly' magazine.

The Team Championship Cup was displayed in the window of a Kinghorn butcher's shop, as local councillor John McDougall had captained the Scottish winning team. Councillor McDougall was also elected President of the Society for the year ahead. Below are more-detailed images of the group. The British One-Armed Golf Championship returned to Lundin Links fifty years later in 1999.  If anyone has further information about either event held at Lundin Links or any of the individuals seen in the photograph, please do comment or get in touch.

Interestingly, half a century before this 1949 event, earlier one-armed golfers had been photographed on these links. More on that in the next post....
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