When Largo had large deep sea fishing boats, these boats were made in boat building yards outside of the Parish. For example, the Ocean Bride (KY 4), was built by John Alexander Millar at West Anstruther in September 1882 for the Gillies brothers and David Ballingall's Forget-Me-Not (KY 2011) was built at Fulton's boatyard in Pittenweem the same year. The Osprey (KY 977) was built in Dysart and the British Queen (KY 1419) at Buckhaven. However, over the years many of Largo's smaller boats were made in Largo by local joiners and craftsmen. Below is a list of vessels known to have been built in Largo Parish. 

A more detailed list of the above boats, showing type, length, builder and year of build (where known) can be accessed as a PDF by clicking here. Note that most are ML registrations, rather than KY registrations. In 1904, a new regulation came into force that all new boats (and existing boats that chose to) could register in Methil rather than Kirkcaldy. The very first boat to do so was the Lizzie Cameron of St Monans, who became ML 1. Below is the report of her launch from 24 June 1904 East of Fife Record. Second was Sceptre of Cellardyke (ML 2), then Buckhaven's Thistle (ML 3 and ex-KY 622)). The first Largo-based boat to register at Methil was David Melville's Unity which was registered as ML 21 in 1905. By 1910, two hundred boats had been registered at Methil, one hundred of which had previously been KY boats.

Most of the vessels on the Largo-built list were probably built for Largo folk. For example, Lily (ML 56), was built in 1920 by Walter Horne for Alexander Simpson. Lily was a 1.16 tons sail boat (16.8 x 6.4 x 2.4 feet). However, some are known to have been built for people from other places. For example, in 1898, Thistle was built by Walter Horne for Alexander Thomson of Buckhaven. Thistle originally had the registration KY 468 but later became ML 70. All of the boats on the list (with the exception of the racing yachts) are under 20 feet in length reflecting the limited space in which their builders had to work.  Notable local boat builders were joiners Walter Horne and David Tait. Some vessels were also made by the Gillies brothers. 

The names of these local boats are predominantly female forenames - likely named after mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. The Marne was owned by Andrew Gillies of Goodsir House and was named after the battlefield where Tom Johnston of the 2nd Gordon Highlanders, won the Military Medal during the First World War. The Osprey was most likely named after the deep sea fishing boat Osprey (KY 977) - both vessels of that name being owned within the Gillies family. The Quaver and Semiquaver are also boats owned by the Gillies family but associated with racing rather than with fishing. Interestingly, the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther have recently placed another Quaver from Largo on display. Pictured below is the yawl from their collection, apparently built for David Gillies, of Cardy House in the 1870s.

Do you have information about (or pictures of) any of the Largo-built boats listed above? Do you know of other boats made over the years in the Largo area? If so, please do get in touch and let's add to the list.
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The postcard image above (and detailed zoom) features the fishing boat Lily - registration KY 675. For a time, boats under 15 tons burden were marked with their registration numbers first, followed by the letter code of their port of registry, hence the marking 675 KY.  Lily was owned by David Gillies. There was no record of Lily in 1901 but she did appear on the on the 1914 register as a 1 tonne vessel - double the weight of David Gillies's other older boat, Violet (KY 289). All the boats registered to Largo in 1914 are shown in the table below.

Given that there was only one Lily on the above list, we can only assume that this was the same vessel involved in the 13 January 1916 disaster where two Largo men lost their lives. As the report from the 20 January 1916 Leven Advertiser below tells us, Lily was "struck by a sudden squall, capsizing the craft, which immediately sank". On this occasion, Lily was crewed by Thomas Melville and Robert Guthrie. They were one of five crews out on the day working the trammel nets. Such nets (shown in the image further below) were anchored to the sea bed. The accident was seen from the shore and several men hastily "manned a yawl and raced to the rescue" (among them owner of Lily, David Gillies). However, nothing could be done to save the men. The body of Robert Guthrie was recovered, while that of Thomas Melville was not.
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In a very sad coincidence, Thomas Melville was the son of David Melville who had died twenty years earlier in similar circumstances, fishing in Largo Bay. Below is the headstone they share (along with other family members) at Largo Cemetery. Note that the same wording is inscribed for both father and son: "accidentally drowned in Largo Bay". The loss of Melville and Guthrie was acutely felt both in Largo and the wider coastal district where they would sell their catches to local households. Robert Guthrie was a widower, aged 57 who left behind a family of three. He had close connections to Largo Baptist Church and in fact had just been appointed as church caretaker prior to the accident. Thomas Melville was 51 and left a wife and three children. At the time of his death, his eldest son James was in hospital having been seriously wounded while serving with the 9th Black Watch. James survived but Thomas Melville's younger brother Peter Melville was killed in action in 1917.
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​The above painting dates to 1878 and is by William Ewart Lockhart R.S.A.. It depicts Largo Harbour, full of fishing boats with their sails aloft. The reddish-brown colour of the sails is the result of the white fabric being treated (or barked) with tar to make them more weather-proof. Among the vessels in this scene could well be the Largo-based fishing boat British Queen, registration KY 1419. British Queen was built in early 1877 for David Melville. Melville was born around 1842 and married Elizabeth Ballingall in 1862. He would have been in his mid-thirties when British Queen was completed. Details of her completion and launch at Buckhaven are given below (22 March 1877 Fife Herald). The clinker boat was built at the yard of John Kinnear. At the time it was reportedly the largest boat ever built in Buckhaven.

A few months after the British Queen arrived at Largo, the incident below took place, affecting fellow fisherman David Gillies's boat. In a small insight to fishing boat maintenance, this story tells of a fire resulting from the practice of tarring a boat. On this occasion, disaster was averted by the speedy intervention of fellow fishermen. Before modern varnishes, various tar-based mixtures were used to protect the wood and ropes of fishing boats. Further below is an 1873 painting by Edouard Manet, depicting the tarring process.
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The 43-feet British Queen was listed in the Mariners' Almanacs of 1887 and 1889 as still being owned by David Melville. However, the 1895 almanac (see below) recorded a shift in ownership to David Gillies (the fisherman mentioned in the above incident). Tragically, on 24 February 1896, David Melville was drowned in a fishing accident, along with two others - his brother Thomas Melville and his brother-in-law, Thomas Ballingall. The three men were out line fishing in Largo Bay, about 3 miles from shore, in calm seas and little wind. Their 16 feet vessel was found bottom up by the crew of another boat (William and John Ballingall and John Gillies), who righted the upset boat.

The Ballingall/Gillies crew returned to Largo with the only body that could be found, that of Thomas Melville. Clergymen Reverend David Malloch and Reverend William Pulford broke the news to the affected families. David Melville, who was 53, left a family of eight (mostly grown up and including Alexander Kirk Melville). His widow Elizabeth died in September of the same year aged 51. Thomas Ballingall was 38 years old, while Thomas Melville was 40 (both men also had wives and families). The British Queen disappeared from official records shortly afterwards. If you know more about the British Queen or have a photograph of her, please do get in touch.

The photograph above shows the Railway Inn on the left and part of the viaduct on the right. In the foreground, next to a bend in the Keil Burn, is a fishing boat. This is the Clarewood, with the Methil registration ML 46. One of the smaller "second-class" boats, the Clarewood was 3.4 tons and just over 25 feet in length. The vessel had both a sail and a motor and was built in 1920 at Anstruther. The owners were brothers James and David Lawrie and David Melville.

James and David were both sons of well-known and long-lived Largo fisherman Thomas Lawrie and his wife Isabella Clunie. James Lawrie was born in 1878 and David in 1892. At the time of the 1921 census, shortly after procuring the Clarewood, James Lawrie was aged 42 and living in Downfield with his wife Davina (nee Hutton) and a cousin. At this point in time, Downfield contained seven households within the one building and was home to 23 people. Younger brother David Lawrie was aged 28 and lived at Bower House (now 90 Main Street, pictured below) with his wife Janet (nee Baillie). Bower House contained three households, with a total of twelve individuals. In another part of Bower House lived David Melville, aged 29. He lived with his mother Sophia, whose mother had been a Lawrie before marriage.
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Take a look at the three postcard images below. What do you notice?

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

Scroll below the photographs to learn more...

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

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

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

You can see by careful studying of the pair of cropped images below, that the rowing boat and buildings to the right are the same, as is the railway bridge and the Belmont Hotel building beyond the roof of the Crusoe Hotel. However, the Crusoe Hotel with its new flat roof has been added to the version on the right-hand side. Some retouching has had to be done immediately above the flat roof to fill in the gaps left by the removal of the former chimney stacks. Some rework has also been done to the pier to disguise the join on this composite image.
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Central to the image above, with sail at half-mast, is KY 240 - Sultan. Owned by Thomas Lawrie (1853-1951), and 43 feet in length, mariners' almanacs show that KY 240 was active at least between 1887 and 1901. The photograph dates to before the 1894 construction of the footbridge over the railway line. The original Largo Station building can be seen in its elevated position in the background. There are several other boats in the harbour. The only other legible registration is KY 1837 - the middle of the three smaller boats to the left of the Sultan. This small boat is the Wilhelmina, belonging to David Ballingall. A wider-view photograph of this scene is shown below. Note the three smartly dressed gents standing at Cellar Braes close to the Net House (long before the construction of its raised sea wall). You can see how easy it would be to stumble into the water from here, particularly in the hours of darkness. Such an accident happened in 1935 to a Mr McNeil. He was visiting from Edinburgh and mistook the lights at Methil docks for the way back to his lodgings at Drummochy and fell over the edge onto the rocks below (while the tide was out). 

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KY 240 was not the only 'Sultan' to be based at Largo. The 1887 register shows both KY 240 and another Sultan with the registration KY 1427. The latter vessel, which likely predates KY 240, was owned by Alexander Gillies (1823-1898). He was a lifelong fisherman (and son of another fisherman, David Gillies). His mother was a Selcraig and so he was linked to Alexander Selkirk of Robinson Crusoe fame. The photograph below shows Alexander's Sultan in a scene dating to the 1880s. KY 1427 was out of register in 1888 and it appears to have been sold on and re-registered as A 503 on the Aberdeen register. Later this vessel was sold to a Stonehaven-based fisherman before finally being broken up in 1902. 

The name 'Sultan' was given to quite a number of vessels around the country over the decades - perhaps chosen because of its association with strength and power. Could the building of Largo's original Sultan have coincided with a news story of the time, such as the 1867 visit to the UK of the Ottoman Sultan or his subsequent death in 1876? There was famously a 'Turkish Fleet' of paddler steamers on the Clyde in the 1860s named the Sultan, Sultana and Viceroy. The name certainly seems to have been fashionable at the time. Repetition of local boat names was not uncommon. Could the newer Sultan have been viewed as a successor to the original? Was owner of the later Sultan, ​Thomas Lawrie (pictured below), a crew member on the original Sultan? If you know more about these two Largo fishing vessels and their owners, please leave a comment.
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Can you spot the boat hiding in the photograph above?  The image features the oldest of the buildings of Largo's former mill complex by the viaduct. The building with the brick chimney housed the gasworks, forge and cooperage. If you look closely at the trees on the left-hand side, obscured by foliage is the line fishing boat Jane, with its registration 940 KY just visible. For a short time, registrations of 2nd class boats such as this one were displayed with the port of registration after the number. The Jane belonged to William Ballingall who had a daughter named Jane born in 1869.

William Ballingall was born in Largo in 1847. He was already described as a fisherman in the census of 1861, aged fourteen years old, while living at the Temple. On 6 October 1867 he married Isabella Gillies, with Reverend David Malloch officiating. William was a fisherman and the fathers of both he and Isabella, John Ballingall and Alexander Gillies, were both also fishermen. Their daughter Jane was born in 1869, followed in 1873 by Margaret (who died aged 14 months), Annie in 1877 and Isabella in 1880 (who died aged ten months).

In June 1882, the couple had a son, John, however later the same year, Isabella died of tuberculosis, leaving William with three young children. Sadly, in 1883, aged just ten months, baby John died too. William was remarried in 1888 to Eliza Tivendale in Edinburgh. She was the daughter of Lundin Mill shoemaker Alexander Tivendale. The couple went on to have two sons, Alexander and William.

The fishing boat Jane appears on 'The Scottish Fishermen's Nautical Almanac and Tide Tables for 1889' but is absent from the 1901 edition. Willam did however have another vessel listed in the 1901 almanac, named the Tidy (KY 1830). Tidy was smaller than the Jane and may have been the boat in use when WIlliam, along with John Ballingall and John Gillies discovered a wrecked fishing boat in 1896. It was 24 February that year when a drowning accident took place in Largo Bay. The 28 February East of Fife Record below reported on how three Largo men (half-brothers David and Thomas Melville and David's brother-in-law Thomas Ballingall) had been line fishing in calm sea conditions in a 16-feet boat when tragedy had occurred.

William and John Ballingall who discovered the upset boat were cousins of Thomas Ballingall. They along with John Gillies had to provide evidence at the subsequent inquiry into drowning. William and his brother John had been fishing in Largo Bay on the day in question. Several boats were out including the one with the three men that lost their lives. William had observed them shooting their lines but later on his crew noticed a wrecked fishing boat and approached it. They drew in the mast and found the body of one of the men entangled in the ropes. The other two were missing. There was very little wind on the day and the witnesses could not account for the reason behind the accident.

William was still described as a Line Fisherman in the 1901 census and was living with Eliza and their two sons. ​Eliza died on 2 March 1911 and in the census of later the same year, William was a widower living on Lower Largo's Main Street (opposite the Crusoe Statue) with two sons, aged 19 and 14. Both William and his elder son were recorded as line fishermen. William died on 27 December 1923 aged 76, at his home on Main Street, Lower Largo. It seems likely that earlier in his life, William may have been among the crew members of one of the larger deep-sea fishing vessels, such as David Ballingall's Forget-Me-Not, which was crewed by family members with the surnames Ballingall, Gillies, Melville, Watson, Hutton and Wishart.
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The vessel in the image above is the Largo Bay, registration number KY 376. This 51-feet long fishing boat was built for George Wood and Alexander Simpson of Largo in 1885 at James Miller's boatyard in St Monans. Below is the report of her launch, from the 1 January 1886 East of Fife Record. The other boat referred to in the newspaper piece, which Mr Miller had on order from two other Largo fishermen, was the 55-feet Jane and Minnie (KY 400). George Wood had previously had another fishing boat named Welcome which was 44-feet in length but he sold this shortly after taking delivery of the Largo Bay (see advert further below from the Kirkcaldy Times of 5 May 1886).
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George Wood was born in Largo in 1850, the son of nail maker Robert Wood and Janet Ritchie. He married Ann Simpson (who was a net worker) in 1872. She was the daughter of fisherman James Simpson and his wife Hannah Lawrie and was the sister of Alexander Simpson (born 1855). So, co-owners of the Largo Bay, George Wood and Alexander Simpson, were brothers-in-law. 

The extract below from 'The Scottish Fishermen's Nautical Almanac and Tide Tables for 1889', includes Largo Bay within the list of fourteen Largo-based fishing boats. Five of those boats were "2nd class boats" meaning that they were smaller in size. These shorter boats were used for line fishing, as opposed to deep sea fishing. Note that George Wood has a small boat named Welcome, the same name as the larger vessel that he had sold in 1886. Among the large vessels are the Ocean Bride, Chance, Jane and Minnie, Osprey, Fortunatus and Forget-me-not. 

In 1891 George Wood, his wife and four children were living at what is now 34 Main Street, Lower Largo at the 1891 census. Meanwhile Alexander Simpson was also in Lower Largo with wife Helen (who we had married in 1875) and six children. By 1895 nine boats, including Largo Bay, were listed in the Nautical Almanac (see above). However, the size of Largo's fishing fleet was set to reduce and, by 1902, only the Ocean Bride would remain.

The 26-ton Largo Bay went to Aberdeen in 1898 and was re-registered as A 869. Ultimately, in 1907 she was broken up. Wood and SImpson continued to fish but on a different scale. At the time of the 1901 census, Alexander Simpson, living at Kincraig View on Main Street was described as a 'salmon fisherman' rather than a 'fisherman'.  George Wood's occupation had altered from 'fisherman' to 'line fisherman'. His 14-year-old son George was working as a grocer's message boy (likely for John Nicoll whose grocer shop was just two doors along). The 1901 issue of the Nautical Almanac (below) lists five large Largo vessels and ten line fishing boats. Neither Wood not Simpson were among the owners.

George Wood had a complete change in occupation in 1906, when he was appointed to the position of 'chaplain, caretaker and gardener' at Wood's Hospital (see note below from the 7 December East of Fife Record). The 1911 census finds George, Ann and two of their children, living in the caretaker's quarters at Wood's Hospital. This census also reveals that the couple had had ten children but that only five were living at that time.

Meanwhile Alexander Simpson continued working as a line fisherman. His wife Helen died in 1903. On 6 October 1905, he remarried. The bride was fisherman's daughter Margaret Laurie Melville. Interestingly on the very same day, also in Largo, the daughter of George Wood, Catherine was married - to fisherman Thomas Gillies (son of Robert Gillies one of the twin brothers who owned the Ocean Bride who themselves were related to Alexander Selkirk, of Robinson Crusoe fame). This provides an insight into just how tight-knit and interconnected the fishing community was.

Alexander Simpson died in 1928 aged 72 at Sunnyside, Lower Largo. George Wood lived to the age of 89, passing away in 1940 at Horne's Buildings. In 1932 his wife, Ann Simpson Wood had died at Wood's Hospital. Wood and Simpson had lived through the transitional period when Largo's links with the large-scale, long distance fishing trips died out and smaller scale line fishing and salmon fishing offered an alternative for those that chose to continue to earn a living from the sea.
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The previous post covered the life of Largo-born Alexander Ballingall, who spent most of his working life as an acclaimed artist in Edinburgh. Alexander and his elder brother engraver William Ballingall were well-known for their artistic accomplishments. However, these were not the only creative members of the family. John Ballingall their younger brother was also an accomplished painter, although art was not his main occupation. John worked in Largo as a cork cutter. The above artwork entitled "Entering Port" is an example of his work. It features Largo Harbour and Pier and several fishing boats. Like his brother Alexander, John frequently opted to portray marine and fishing scenes.

John was born in 1859, the ninth of the ten children of weaver and amateur astronomer William Ballingall senior and his wife Jane (Jean) Wilson. While the majority of his siblings moved away to Edinburgh for work, John remained in Lower Largo. At the time of the 1881 census, John was a journeyman cork cutter (perhaps having learned the trade from one of the other local cork cutters in Largo such as Edward Johnston or John Edmonson Miller) and the only of the siblings living at home with his parents. As a cork cutter, he likely had close ties with both the fishing community and the net factory.

In 1883, John married Annie McIntosh in Edinburgh and she joined him in Largo. The first of their eight children, William, was born the following year but he sadly died aged just two and a half. By the time of the 1891 census, there were four children in the household and John's occupation was described as 'cork manufacturer'. At this time, the family were living in part of Goodsir House. 
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Although John had probably always painted, it was during the 1890s that John's artwork received more attention. Several of his known paintings date to this decade - for example the work "Sailing Boats at Moonrise" above is clearly dated 1894.
It was also in 1894 that John featured in the newspapers when a message in a bottle he had set off on the sea at Largo on 22 November 1893 washed up five weeks later in Norway. Mid-November 1893 had brought the worst storms for many a year to the east coast and loss of life had been great (well over 200 persons). John had reflected upon the disaster with his young sons and had decided to send off a letter, along with his card and instructions for the finder. He was also moved to offer a watercolour painting with proceeds donated to the Lifeboat Institution, who had saved many lives during the storm. Full details are below, from the 20 January 1894 St Andrews Citizen. Note that the bottle has been corked and wrapped in cork. 
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John's role as an artist must have flourished, as the notice below from the 7 January 1897 Leven Advertiser below tells of the exciting news that he had moved to "new and commodious premises opposite the U.P. Church" where there was a large exhibition room for his oil and water-colour paintings. This premises was at Forthview Place in the part which would later become the Leven Reform Co-operative Society shop. In 1898 he also had a seascape displayed at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh.

The fascinating painting above, entitled Home from the North Sea, is the work of Alexander Ballingall , the Largo-born painter and brother of engraver William Ballingall. This piece depicts the return home of the Largo fishing fleet in the 1890s. The registration of the boat with the most prominent sail is KY 478 - Annie Johnston. This fishing craft was built in 1880 in Anstruther but spent several years in Montrose before being bought by Largo's David Gillies in 1889. Annie Johnston was part of Largo's fleet for over a decade before being sold to Shetland in 1901. The colourful scene is a welcome contrast to the usual black and white images of fishing vessels from this era. The reddish-brown colour of the sails is the result of the white fabric being treated (or barked) with tar to make them more weather-proof. 

Multiple boats from Largo would tend to leave in groups for a lengthy trip. Some trips might head up further north, off Aberdeen or Shetland, or perhaps south to fishing grounds around Yarmouth depending upon the time of year. Children would often be allowed time out of school to see their fathers off. Ships' biscuits would be given out before the boats sailed away. Eventually, word would be sent home of their planned return, so that families could watch with anticipation for their safe arrival back home.

The kind of scene depicted in the painting, with a crowded pier, would have once been a frequent one, where wives and children greeted the fishermen with joy and relief. Note the man in the foreground presenting his daughter with the gift of a doll. Her mother, who is dressed in traditional fishwife clothes looks on with affection. Gifts brought back from far afield trips would be the main presents given in the year.

Other men, perhaps unmarried, busy themselves sorting and unloading their gear. Some of these nets and other gear may well have been taken over to the other side of the Keil to be dried and stored in and around the Net House. Back home, the washing of the men's clothes would take several days. Six boats feature in this painting. Given the date of late 1890s, other vessels may have included the Forget-Me-Not, Sultan, Ocean Bride, Osprey and Jane and Minnie. Alexander Ballingall painted many scenes around Largo pier, harbour and coast but also depicted other locations. Below is an 1881 painting by Alexander named Troubled Waters, Stonehaven which illustrates a winter herring trip, with stormy waves crashing around the harbour.

Alexander Ballingall was born in Largo in 1847, son of weaver William Ballingall and his wife Jean Wilson. One of several brothers and two sisters, like many of his siblings Alexander had a creative streak. While at the age of 14 he was working as a weaver like his father, he was destined to follow more in the footsteps of his elder brother, William the artist and engraver. By the time of the 1871 census, in his early twenties, Alexander was living in Edinburgh with his brother and his family and both brothers were working as engravers. They were based at Cockburn Street, just off the Royal Mile. Over the years, Alexander seems to have progressed more into painting than engraving and in 1879 he exhibited at Kirkcaldy Fine Art Exhibition with a painting entitled "Newhaven Harbour".

In 1881 he first exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy. In the census that year Alexander was described as a 'landscape painter', still based in Edinburgh but now in Newington. ​The 9 March Dundee Advertiser described his 1886 work at the RSA as "always forcible and thorough in his sketches of sea-faring life". By 1891, he was married to silversmith's daughter Marion Wilson and living at 99 Montgomery Street off Leith Walk, now described as 'Artist - marine and figure'. The same year his RSA exhibits were, according to the Midlothian Journal of 17 April, "three crisp, clever realistic sea-scapes". One of those is the work shown above entitled Now then lads! All together. The newspaper noted the "caller seaside breeziness" and "the anatomy of the pullers...carefully studied, and sea, and rocks, and sky are as usual well done."
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In contrast to the painting at the top of the post depicting the fishermen's return from sea, the artwork above is entitled Getting Underweigh. This shows the fishing fleet setting off on calm seas and dates to 1902. By this time Alexander's wife had died (in 1898 from tuberculosis). The 1901 census had noted him as 'Artist - marine and landscape'. His works did include overseas landscapes, including Venice, as well as many Scottish coastal scenes, including such locations as Buckhaven, Pittenweem, Dunbar and Greenock. By 1911, now aged 64, Alexander was still living off Leith Walk and was slightly differently described as 'Artist (marine and architectural)'. 

Alexander died on 30 November 1913, at the age of 67 at Bangour Village Hospital in West Lothian. He was buried at Upper Largo cemetery with parents, William Ballingall (a keen amateur astronomer) and Jean Wilson. The gravestone, although now in poor repair, has many interesting features, including a globe (now displaced), a shining star, a moon, a coastal setting sun, a sand timer and a sun dial. This unusual and eye-catching memorial is fitting for such a creative family many of whom keenly observed the world around them, and beyond.
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