Above is a partial photograph of the frontage of Mackie's Glasgow chemist shop (image from Glasgow City Council's Virtual Mitchell). Note the elaborate window display of branded and mass produced goods, which increasingly became a part of the offering of chemist shops during his years in the business. However, Mackie would also have been using old-fashioned dispensary tools and pill-making machines - such as those shown below.

James Bowie, Mackie's predecessor, had been local chemist throughout the 1920s and early 1930s.  On 25 May 1935, the Fife Free Press reported that "Mr Bowie, who has carried on a chemist's business at Upper Largo for a great many years, is leaving the district.  The premises will be opened soon under new management."  Prior to James Bowie there had been a chemist named Peter Cowie in Upper Largo, who had died in 1917 at the age of 46. Mackie sold more besides typical chemist products - the advert below highlights that cigarettes and tobacco were available, along books and stationery.

After six years in Upper Largo, George Mackie died, aged 77, in 1941. Outside of his profession, he had been "an authority on music, having one of the finest collections of high-class musical recordings in the District", according to the Kirkintilloch Herald, which reported his death on 14 May 1941.  It also noted that Mackie made musical instruments as a hobby and "for some time conducted the Players' Club Orchestra with great success".  He was also an elder at Largo St David's Church. The Upper Largo Pharmacy continued to operate under his name for many years and it was only in 1975 that the business was wound up. Betty Mackie, who continued the chemist shop, died in 1983. The shop at 14 Main Street, Upper Largo, became a hairdresser, see below, before being converted into a dwelling.

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 above photograph shows Harbour Wynd, heading south towards Lower Largo. The building at the corner with the black and white half-timbering was once Largo's Gas Showroom. Also once known as Gasworks Wynd or Toll Road, the Harbour Wynd showroom opened in 1935. The facility was adjacent to the gas retort house and cylinder and was owned by the Kennoway and Largo Gas Company, who quickly set about ingratiating themselves with the locals and the visitors in Largo. The piece below from the 20 August 1935 Leven Advertiser tells of how the manager installed a seat outside the showroom, overlooking Largo Bay, upon which were the words "to use more gas and enjoy more leisure".
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​Note the small cartoon character at the foot of several of the gas adverts above. This was 'Mr Therm' - a jolly character designed in 1933 by graphic designer Eric Fraser, which was used in the gas industry's advertising for around four decades. Mr Therm explained how gas worked, highlighted the benefits of using modern products and reminded people of the savings they could make by switching to gas. The slogan "Mr Therm burns to serve you" was often used.
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Many small town and village gas showrooms was in inconspicuous, modest buildings such as Largo's and the example below from Biggar (which still exists as a museum). As well as being a place to view and order gas appliances (available for rent, hire-purchase or sale) the gas showroom was a place folks went to pay their gas bills or to have appliances repaired.
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In 1965, Largo Gas Showroom was converted into a house and it is now known as Friday Cottage. These days, it is hard to imagine that this once had a shop front, a range of innovative home appliances on show and a queue of people waiting to pay their bills. If you have memories of the gas showroom, please leave a comment.
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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.

The above postcard image is entitled High Street Lundin Mill. It predates the development of Leven Road, further to the west. This street (Emsdorf Street), along with Hillhead Street, was where the majority of village shops could be found. The date of the photograph can be narrowed down to between 1895 and 1899. It was captured after the 1895 completion of Bellville, the railings of which can be seen on the far right foreground, yet before the 1900 completion of the Lundin Links Hotel.

The construction of the hotel involved the demolition of the two cottages in the left hand foreground (also shown in more detail below) to make way for gated access to the hotel grounds. The photograph further below, entitled Emsdorf St Lundin Links, was captured a few years later. Note the absence of the old cottages on the left but also the fact that the street lamp holder that was once attached to the demolished cottages has moved to the opposite side of the road. The old dwellings date to the establishment of the village of Emsdorf from 1802.

The cottages looked neglected in the photo, having been unoccupied since before the 1891 census. The three-storey house beyond them belonged to William Dick the coachbuilder. His property incorporated a pend for carriages to go through and a workshop at the bottom of the garden. Local resident Esther Menzies recalled:

"It was a fascinating place to be sent to.  There were wheels all over and upended gigs and such like with the shafts up in the air.  He also sharpened lawn mowers and knives.  Next to this were two cottages or maybe one and a byre.  There wasn't much difference. Two old women stayed there.  Maggie Drummond sold sweets which were displayed in her window on a table....when you were in the shop or room and looked along the passage you could see the cows flicking their tails.  The Seaway is there now."
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Indeed beyond Dick's property was another tumbledown cottage, occupied by sisters Isabella and Margaret Drummond. It was demolished and replaced with La Scala cinema. Looking a decade further back, at the 1881 census, it appears that the residents of these run-down properties were largely linen handloom weavers, bobbin winders for the net factory and paupers. Their simple dwellings were cleared away to be replaced with a hotel of unimaginable modern luxury. The transformation of old Lundin Mill into Lundin Links was dramatic for those that lived through it, such as nonagenarian Mrs Wallace.

There are several details worth highlighting in the circa 1897 image at the top of this post.  Looking at the zoomed in version below, note the water tap to the left, next to the people peering into the baker's shop window. On the opposite side of the street, it looks like a coal delivery has been deposited onto the road and a hand barrow is being used to transfer this through the cottage to be stored round the back. In the distance, to the left of centre, is David Lindsay's grocer shop. Careful inspection shows the letters Y'S PROVISIONS visible behind the row of houses. David Lindsay was the original proprietor of this shop, built not long before the photograph was taken. Esther Menzies recalled this shop saying:

"Mr Lindsay sold everything nearly - bran, parings, oatmeal, dried big cod, doormats, salt herring from a barrel in front of the counter and of course the ordinary groceries not packaged as they are today."

Later owners would include James Turbayne and Robert Leishman. To the right of centre is the wall surrounding Pump Green. As Esther Menzies wrote in her memoires, the green was... 

"surrounded by a high stone wall following the line of the posts and chain there at present but protruding in an arc for several yards at the south end.  There was a gap of about four yards with an iron pump with a turning knob....The washing was laid out to bleach in the curved end and we did not play on the green if the washing was there.  At other times it was a playground.  The grass patch beyond was near oblong.  It was crossed by paths - one leading round by the curved wall to Emsdorf Place Houses, another at the east edge in front of their doors and another from Woodlands Road cutting through to meet the one passing alongside the Pump Green wall and leading up to the Hillhead."
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The annotated map (dating to 1893) below points out the main features mentioned above. Note that there are four water taps (marked W.T.) within this small area. 

1. Site of new Lundin Links Hotel
2. Site of Bellville
3. Old Cottages (demolished)
4. William Dick's Coachworks
5. Drummond sisters' cottage
6. Baker's Shop
7. Site of Lindsay's Grocer
​8. Pump Green

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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Above is a 1960s view taken from Largo Pier, across the Keil towards Drummochy. Some of the detail is shown below on what was clearly a warm summer day. Note the old shelter at Cellar Braes, the people sitting on the bench next to it and the towels left on the lower part of the sea wall. Two beautiful boats are central to the image. The boat to the rear is W. Ewan Bryden's 'Greenmantle'. This photogenic vessel was a Largo fixture for a couple of decades. If you know the name of the second boat, please comment.
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The second image below was taken on the same day but orientated towards the viaduct and road bridge. In this photograph the caravan park can be glimpsed through the arch of the viaduct along with the gasworks. The three houses standing prominently behind the Fish Restaurant are, from left to right, Bellvue, Gullane View and Drummochy House (see map further below). 

Interestingly, the Scottish colourist, George Leslie Hunter, produced an artwork featuring Bellvue and Coventry Cottage (see below). Captured from an interesting vantage point down at water level in the harbour, this 1920s watercolour looks up at the houses while fishing nets dry on poles to the right. The tall yellow object to the left could well be a hayrick.
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The previous five blog posts have charted the history of Lower Largo's Crusoe Hotel, from its 1824 origin as a granary to the more modern era of the 1970s. The years from the 1980s to the present day will remain fresh in many people's memories. If you have your own stories or photos that you would like to share, and add into the archive of the hotel's history, please do get in touch, either by commenting on this post or hitting the 'contact' link on the sidebar (or footer on mobile version of site). 

The circa 1980 photograph of the hotel above shows the building returned to a creamy-white colour after its mustard-yellow 1970s incarnation. The newspaper photograph below shows the 'Flying off the Pier' event, which took place on 27 July 1980, with the hotel in the background. These events always drew huge crowds despite the fact that little actual 'flying' was achieved.

Nationally, the period 1980 to 1983 saw what was considered to be the most severe recession since the Second World War. So it was a challenge, in 1982, when the state of the pier became a concern. A 31 March 1982 East Fife Mail report stated that then Crusoe Hotel proprietor, Lockhart Bruce, owned the pier. Mr Bruce explained that the economic recession made it impossible to direct money to pier repairs. So discussions took place with the Community Council on potential ways to use the hotel to raise money for a pier fund. Repairs were carried out later that year.
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The most significant alteration to the hotel building in recent decades was the extension added above and behind the seawall between the main building and the pier (see below). The photograph above was taken in 1989, the same year that then owner Bob Jurgensen submitted a planning application to the District Council for alterations and extension to the hotel. Permission was granted with some conditions (such as a requirement to use traditional materials in the build and to ensure that the façade of the existing building and the extension matched). The works were completed in 1991. The images below show the extension shortly after completion from the front and just over a decade later from the rear.
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A couple of years after the hotel was extended, Bob Jurgensen decided to create a tourist information point and exhibition within the hotel. This was to mark 300 years since Alexander Selkirk went to sea in 1693. The exhibition consisted of six panels which outlined the life of Selkirk and highlighted other figures of interest such as Daniel Defoe and William Dampier. The exhibition space was designed to provide the ambience of the galley in which Selkirk sailed and there was originally even a hatch through which visitors could view his desert island.

The mid-1990s advert below for the hotel notes that it had recently featured on TV programme 'Wish You Were Here'. If you remember that - please comment. The advert draws heavily on the desert island theme. At this time the restaurant was named the 'Castaway Restaurant' while the 'Juan Fernandez Bar' continued alongside the 'Crusoe Bar'. The 'Man Friday's footprint' in the floor is also mentioned. Even with the extension, the total number of bedrooms (12) was fewer than it had been in the past, due to the fact that en-suite facilities had been introduced.

The photograph above shows the Crusoe Hotel fenced off while up for sale in the autumn of 2020, having been placed in administration. It was purchased by the present owners in the spring of 2021 and in the last couple of years, the hotel has been significantly renovated and refreshed. The images below show a selection of before and after images to provide a flavour of the most recent round of changes. The Crusoe Hotel has emerged looking fit for the future, while acknowledging its past (and of course retaining the Robinson Crusoe theme). As the building approaches its bicentenary next year, the story of the former granary looks set to continue for many years to come.
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In the early 1920s, the Crusoe Hotel building approached its centenary looking more modern than before. Now with more bedrooms and varied catering options, including a tearoom, the once old-fashioned hostelry was enjoying popular appeal. The 'stables' that existed within the building in 1920 had become a 'garage' by 1925. This was also the heyday of entertainment at the pier pavilion. Both the pavilion and the hotel even featured several times in sketches and paintings by Scottish colourist George Leslie Hunter (see examples below).

​In the book 'Hunter Revisited' by Bill Smith and Jill Marriner it is noted that: "The little town of Lower Largo provided another favoured painting ground for Hunter. This tiny stretch of the Fife shoreline - its cottages and large, square granary block (now part of the Crusoe Hotel) backing in to the sea, its sandy shore dotted with large outcrops of rock, its jetty and small harbour at the mouth of the Keil Burn and people enjoying the sea air - provided a constant source of challenge for Hunter." The painting above is 'Summer's Day, Lower Largo' dated 1921 which depicts a bustling beach scene.

The 1921 census lists 14 people in residence at the Crusoe Hotel on the night of 19 June. Proprietor, Howard Barnes Moss, his wife and eight-month old son, headed up the list, followed by three 'servants' (on-site members of staff). The hotel guests were a civil engineer, two tweed manufacturers with their spouses and children and a spinning mill manager. Three years later, in 1924, the Barnes-Moss family emigrated and the hotel was bought by Miss Marion Brown. She had run the Royal Hotel in Comrie with her sisters Jessie and Elizabeth for the previous seven years (St Andrews Citizen 19 April 1924). The Ayrshire-born sisters continued the recently-established tearoom element of the hotel.

However, in April 1926, the hotel was sold once again - this time to Robert Dick. He had been a joiner by trade but, owing to an injury in the First World War, he was unable continue in that profession. Having gained experience in the Victoria Inn in Lochgelly, he became owner of a public house on High Street, Innerleven, in 1924 at the age of 31. When he and his wife Margaret Guild and their children relocated to Largo two years later, a long period of unchanged ownership at the Crusoe began.

During Bob Dick's time at the hotel, he possessed Alexander Selkirk's gun. He made this available for handling, fascinating his guests. He managed to attract the attention of the national press several times over the years, regaling tales of the "exploits of the old mariner who made Largo famous". It would appear that much of his information came from a descendent of Selkirk's who was at the time residing in Lundin Links and also from an old acquaintance from Bob's days in the west of Fife, the late Dr Selkirk of Cowdenbeath.

The proprietor was also happy to tell of the building's history. He described the hotel as standing "solidly on the edge of the North Sea" where "wild winter gales" and "certain tides" would on occasion "whirl surging seas round it and leave it as an island". Its role "as a warehouse for distribution by sea of Fifeshire's potatoes and grain before the railway came out from Leven" was also celebrated. Bob Dick liked to speculate about how the original Robinson Crusoe might have found his establishment "a haven of comfort" and a "paradise". Certainly, locals and visitors of the time flocked to the hotel and pier. Scenes like the 1930s one below were a regular occurrence in high season.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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