The above postcard is postmarked Leven 28 August 1912 and was addressed to Mrs William Wallace, 116 Easter Road, Edinburgh. The sender was Maggie of 2 Seagate, Leven and her message was as follows:

Dear Aunt, A little brother arrived here on Monday morning, both mother and baby are keeping well. Maggie 

On the front of the postcard was a faded image taken from the Links at Leven, looking towards Lundin Links and Largo. More interesting is the large "BB" written in blue pencil over the message side of the card.  Was this code for Baby Boy? Could this have been something added by the postal service - an annotation to indicate a special message?  If you know anything of this practice, please comment.

​Postcards specially designed for birth announcements did exist at the time. Some examples are shown below. Most of them consisted of imagery such as cabbage patches, storks and chimneys!
​ 

Who was this "little brother" and who was Maggie?  The birth record below provides the answer. John McLean MacDonald was born at 2 Seagate, Leven on Monday 26 August 1912. His parents were Hector MacDonald, a dock labourer, and Isabella Doig. His elder sister Margaret Balfour MacDonald was born in 1898, so was aged around 14 at the time of his birth. The family (with five children) still lived at 2 Seagate at the time of the 1921 census. Baby John lived to the age of 84, passing away in 1996 in Leven.

The annotated image below picks out some recognisable features from the postcard image:

1. Aithernie House (Old Manor Hotel)
2. Lundin Links Station
3. Elmwood and Ravenswood
4. Lundin Golf Club House
​​

John More Dall, pictured above, was born in 1863 in Elie to blacksmith John Dall and his wife Agnes More. He grew up at the smithy on the back dykes at Elie, but by the 1881 census John was living on the High Street with his maternal grandmother and two older sisters, while employed as a 'Law Clerk (apprentice)'. His employment was in the offices of William Robinson Ketchen (pictured below from the 1902 Fife News Illustrated Almanac). Ketchen was a banker and solicitor who had come to Elie in 1857 to act as National Bank agent for the branches at Elie and Largo. Ketchen was also prominent in public life, being instrumental in forming Elie Golf Club and acting as Provost of Elie for six years. Ketchen provided John More Dall with a firm grounding in both law and banking.

Dall also introduced a Savings Bank for Largo and District. This was overseen by a group of directors drawn from the local community and was available to locals at set times each week at locations across the three villages - the Bank in Upper Largo, the Baptist Church Session House in Lower Largo and the Temperance Hall in Lundin Links. The directors included local clergymen, builders and other prominent men who were active in the public sphere. This included Inspector of the Poor Robert Black and Largo Estate gardener Robert Smith.

In 1909, John remarried, to Margaret Graham. They went on to have four children together - Mary (b. 1907), John (b. 1909), Helen (b. 1913, d. 1914) and Christina (b.1916, d. 1917). The 1911 census records the family at Bank House. The household comprised, John, his wife Margaret, his three eldest daughters, two younger children (aged 4 and 1) and a servant. A decade later, the couple were in the same home together with four children and servant. John was then aged 57 and still described as a 'bank agent' with National Bank of Scotland Limited.

During his years in Largo, John became an active member of Largo Curling Club, Largo Bowling Club and Lundin Golf Club. He wrote the history of Largo Curling Club when he was club secretary there. He was joint secretary and treasurer of Lundin Golf Club for fourteen years. The 15 July 1924 Leven Advertiser told of how "Mr's Dall's minute book was as neatly kept as his cash and other books, and he grudged no time in the performance of the duties which came under the combined offices".

At first glance, the front elevation of the clubhouse of the Lundin Ladies Golf Club has changed very little from the 1897 drawing above. In fact, a few changes have occurred over the years, including the removal of the veranda's decorative balustrade, the enlargement of the windows, the repositioning of the front door and an extension to both the left and rear. The 10 May 1897 Dundee Advertiser announced the original construction of the building was underway. Details were provided of the internal layout and the contractors involved in the works (see below). 

The photograph above shows the clubhouse on its original site, with many smartly-attired lady golfers congregated around the veranda. The Ladies Club was based at this location until 1909 when the clubhouse and ladies course were relocated to 'Standing Stanes Park'. The minutes of the 12 November committee meeting stated that "It was arranged to have the Club-House lifted from the present Links to the new Ladies Links at once." The piece below from the 24 November Leven Advertiser confirms the removal of the pavilion. 
​

The proximity of the new links to the houses on Leven Road resulted in some complaints about balls going over garden walls. The note above from the 30th March 1910 committee meeting notes this issue (and the fact that some players even ventured over the wall into gardens). The solution was "to have barbed wire put up on the wall". The official opening of the new course took place on 15 April 1910 and the following year a house was built for the greenkeeper (seen to the right of the postcard view below).
​

In 1998, substantial alterations were carried out to the clubhouse, building out to the rear as shown in the images above and below. The front windows were also lowered, to enhance the view of the course from inside. The club house was now fit to face the new millennium. It continues to stand the test of time and remains a hub of activity. Find out more about the club today here: ​lundinladiesgolfclub.co.uk/
​

The Standing Stanes of Lundin are three tall, unsculptured, irregularly shaped pillars of red sandstone. Ranging from about 13'6" to 18' high, they are thought to date back around four thousand years. In a world that's forever changing, the Standing Stones of Lundin provide a reassuring familiarity. These megaliths are one of the few local landmarks that would be recognisable to our ancestors. The land use around the stanes has however changed with the times. Long gone are the sheep pictured in the etching above by local engraver William Ballingall circa 1870. Crops no longer grow around their bases. For the past century plus, golf has been played among and around them.
​

​This 1872 photograph by John Patrick shows a gentleman examining the stones while near rows of crops grow at his feet. It was likely a farm worker that discovered a "coffin built of loose slabs" on the site around 1844, which had been exposed immediately adjoining the standing stones. 

The 1908 image captured by Lady Henrietta Gilmour shows the stones shortly before the Lundin Ladies Golf Club moved to occupy the site and embrace the stanes as a feature of their course. The zoomed in detail below shows clear evidence of graffiti in the form of carved initials and messages. The 2 September 1908 extract from the Leven Advertiser further below explains how this vandalism led to the installation of railings that year. 
​

The newspaper piece below from a 1969 East Fife Mail shows a section of the railings. By this time they were looking a little buckled and worse for wear. 
​

The two images below, both from the Canmore Collection, show the stanes shortly before and after the railing removal. The first is from the mid-1970s and shows a wider scene of the second hole fairway (and third tee behind) with the railings still around the stanes. The second image dates to 1986, when the stanes had been recently released from their iron enclosures, enabling people to fully enjoy their ancient splendour from all angles.

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 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:
​
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).
​

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.
​​

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....
​