​The previous blog post traced the life story of Lundin Mill tailor James Gulland. Now attention turns to his second wife Emma. Born Emma Louisa Trimmer in Barnet Middlesex in 1869, daughter of a blacksmith who died while she was still a child. She was working as a domestic servant when she met James Gulland. They married in 1897 and had a daughter, Louisa May, in 1903. Emma was widowed in 1914 when James died suddenly. The small advert above appeared in The Scotsman newspaper eight days after James death, which occurred on 10 July. Ten days after the 18 July advert appeared, the First World War broke out.

And so, Mrs Gulland had to alter her plans. She kept the business on and ran it herself. So, James Gulland's tailor shop became Mrs Gulland's draper and outfitter (still renting the shop from John Somerville the grocer). At the time, the shop was the most westerly of the row on Leven Road and its gable end appeared as seen in the image below. Openings for cupboards and fireplaces could be seen - waiting over many years for further development. Finally, in 1923, it was Emma Gulland who had plans drawn up for new shops and houses to extend and complete the row of existing shops. Plans were revised a few times over the next few years before being executed in 1926.

The new extension to the block was owned in its entirety by Mrs Gulland. It housed, from east to west, her new draper shop, tea-rooms run by her daughter Louisa and the Commercial Bank of Scotland. All can be seen in the postcard view at the top of this post. The original tailor/draper shop (in the part of the row owned by John Somerville) became the British Linen Bank. Mrs Gulland named the dwelling above her new shop '​Jamesville' after late husband. James' daughter Rose from his first marriage had married George Kilgour, an Australian chemist, in 1918 and settled in Middlesex.
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The notice above from 18 June 1927 Leven Advertiser is an early advert for the new premises of Mrs Gulland, with a footnote mention to the 'comfortable tearoom adjoining'. Below is a later 1930s advert for the same but with slightly different descriptions, including 'a splendid selection of golf hose'. A separate advert from the same era is further below for Lundie Tea Rooms, which was run by Louisa. Cakes were delivered daily from Stuart's Electric Bakery in Buckhaven. Louisa herself was responsibly for the other 'choice confections' and speciality celebration cakes.

After two decades as a successful entrepreneurial duo, on 12 December 1944, Louisa May Gulland died suddenly at her home Aldersyde, aged just 41. Her mother Emma, now aged 75, continued the long-established businesses (both the draper and the tearoom) for many more years. The adverts below date to the late 1950s, including the one that appeared in the Leven Mail in 1958 to thank all her customers for supporting her 50 years in business, noting that her successors would be Mr and Mrs Menzies. Emma Gulland died on 21 May 1959, aged 90, at Aldersyde. 45 years after the death of her husband and having left a permanent mark on the village where she conducted business over so many decades.
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​James Gulland was born in Lundin Mill on 11 February 1863 to Janet Adam. Attending the birth was midwife Margaret Bethune, who recorded the event in her register. It was unmarried Janet's first child and the following year John Gulland was recognised legally as the father. James was brought up with the Adam family and In his teens he started work as an apprentice tailor. There were several tailors established in Largo at the time and quite a few young lads were engaged as apprentices.

James stuck with the profession and at the time of the 1891 census was living and working in St Andrews as a journeyman tailor. It was there that he met Elizabeth May Harding, who he married on 3 January 1894. They were married at Largo Place by Rev. William Pulford of Largo Baptist Church. Later that year, on 18 October, they had a daughter, Rose Adele Gulland. However, the following year Elizabeth died suddenly (reported below in the St Andrews Citizen of 9 Nov 1895) leaving James a widower with an infant child. 
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James returned to Lundin Mill, setting up as a tailor and clothier there. In 1896, his uncle, William Adam passed on a property jointly to James, and his own brother David Adam (a joiner). This was Millburnlea in the dip at Largo Road (see below the entry from the sasine register which describes the ground as "bounded on west by Highway and on north by Lundin Mill Burn").  The 1899 Valuation Roll further below shows the entries for James Gulland, Tailor, and David Adam, Joiner, (who let the shop part of his property to John Adam the house painter).

In 1897 James Gulland married his second wife, English-born Emma Louisa Trimmer. ​Rev. William Pulford once again officiated. On 26 July 1900, the Leven Advertiser (above) announced that Gulland was to move his tailor business from Millburnlea to a newly-built shop on Leven Road. The new shop was larger than his Largo Road shop and was situated "three doors west from Post Office" (in what is now the Premier Store). It was also next door (to the west) of Somerville's Grocer and John Somerville in fact owned both shops - renting one to Gulland. The original row of shops on Leven Road (briefly known as Gilmour Place) comprised Miss Bremner's Post Office, Douglas the butcher, Somerville the grocer and James Gulland, Tailor.

The 1901 census finds James and Emma, plus six-year-old Rose, living above the Leven Road shop. James Gulland was described as 'Tailor and Draper' and his wife Emma was 'Tailor's Wife and Shop Assistant (Drapery)'. This suggests that they were working in the shop as a team. The role of 'tailor' was a skilled one, involving making, altering and repairing clothes, while the role of 'draper' centres around selling clothes, cloth and haberdashery. Adverts for their shop show that they also sold fancy goods and postcards (in other words a range of items that would appeal to summer visitors). Their shop and upstairs home can be partially seen on the extreme right of the postcard image below (shortly after completion) to the right of Somerville's. In 1903, the Gullands' daughter Louisa May was born.
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The shop seemed to thrive over the years that followed in the growing village of Lundin Links. Above is an advert for the 1901 sale (7 March Leven Advertiser). ​Gulland continued to own Millburnlea and rented the shop there to fruiterer Peter Smith. Over the years, James Gulland was an active member of Largo Baptist Church, where he was a deacon and the Superintendent of the Sabbath School. He also was part of the 'Pleasant Sunday Afternoon' or P.S.A. Brotherhood attached to the Church. This movement originated in 1875 and spread throughout the country - its purpose to gather people together for spiritual objectives on Sunday afternoons. The Largo P.S.A. attracted attendances of up to 100 during the first decade of the last century and Mr Gulland was a regular speaker.
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Tucked in behind Church Place in Upper Largo, Broomfield Buildings (now Broomfield Gardens) was built circa 1895 by Broomfield the joiner. Containing four flatted dwellings, the building can be seen in the above aerial photograph to the right of the Church (with the grey roof and white walls). Below shows the other side of the building from ground level. The garden area associated with the flats can be accessed from a vennel at 10 Church Place. The vennel can also be seen on  the map further below.

Joiner Peter Broomfield was the son of a farmer, born in 1836 in Fala, Midlothian. As a young man, he had been one of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War, having enlisted in the famous cavalry regiment in his teens. He was wounded in the campaign and was invalided home. Later, Peter spent time working as a joiner in Edinburgh before moving to Upper Largo around 1873, with his wife Elizabeth Hogg and their three youngest children (none of whom survived childhood). The couple went on to have further children - Margaret in later in 1874, Agnew in 1876 and Christina in 1878. In 1878, Peter received the contract for the construction of Kirkton of Largo School which was completed the following year. Agnew followed his father into the joinery business. Elizabeth died in 1893 and Peter in 1898 (just a few years after the construction of the buildings named after him).

The family, who lived on South Feus, continued to own Broomfield Buildings for many years. At the time of the 1901 census, the tenants of the four flats were: a retired gardener and family; a postman and family (son of John E. Miller the cork cutter); a plumber and his family; and a retired lighthouse keeper (with his wife and two grandchildren). Some of these tenants (and others later) sublet their homes for the summer to visitors. Over the years, both births and deaths occurred in the buildings. One life that ended at Broomfield Gardens was that of William Mackie, a gardener at Largo House. He died in 1924 (see 16 September Leven Advertiser below) after becoming ill at work.
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The property was eventually sold by the Broomfield family. Below is a For Sale notice that appeared in the Leven Advertiser on 27 October 1936. Another more recent For Sale advert (26 Nov 1987 Courier) is further below. Agnew Broomfield, who was President of Largo Curling Club on more than one occasion, Vice-President of Largo Bowling Club and member of the Parish Council, died aged 89 in 1965.
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Hopefully many of you managed to watch 'Scotland's Scenic Railways' on Channel 4 the other evening, featuring Largo and Lundin Links stations, vintage railway footage and present day local scenes. For anyone that missed it, the programme is currently on All 4 catch-up here.  One of the content contributors, who appeared on the programme, was Robert Drysdale. Robert has kindly written up detailed memories of his many childhood holidays to Lower Largo and Lundin Links and has included several photographs in the attached PDF document. Among the images are pictures of both Largo and Lundin Links stations after the railway line closed and the tracks had been lifted, plus a view from the former road bridge over the line at the top of Drummochy Road.  

To access this evocative description of holidaying in Largo in the 1950s and 1960s, please click here and enjoy! Above is a picture of Robert (right) with his baby sister and mother in the garden of 'Kincraig' (number 15 the Temple). Below is a view of the closed Largo station with the tracks recently lifted, taken from the footbridge over the line. These and many more images appear in the document.

Back in the nineteenth century (and likely before then too), one of the occupations carried out in Largo was cork cutting. Among the men who described themselves as 'cork cutters' over the years were John Ballingall, Edward Johnston, Henry Kirk, John Edmonson Miller, Thomas Rankin and James Rodger. In addition, there were several boys employed to assist in this line of work.

Henry Kirk was a cork cutter based on the upper part of Kirkton of Largo's North Feus, shown in the above postcard image. At the time of the 1861 census Henry Kirk employed '1 man and 1 boy' in his cork cutting business. He was listed in the 1862 Westwood Directory (above) under 'miscellaneous'. It's likely that the cork cutters' main output would have been stoppers for bottles and other containers, such as the stoneware containers shown in the advert below for Henry Kennedy and Sons of Glasgow.

This increase in production could well be linked to the opening of Cardy Net Works in 1867. Floats would have been required for the edges of the nets and cork was the material of choice for that at the time. In 1876, the Johnston family moved to a property on the south side of Upper Largo's Main Street. They named their home 'Norwich House' after Edward's home town. The house (later changed to 'Norwich Cottage') is shown in the centre of the map below.

Robert Gilchrist was born in Largo in 1840 - the youngest son of Elspeth Selkirk and James Gilchrist (a hand loom weaver at the Temple). His was one of several houses at the Temple at the time that included a 'weaver's shop' as part of the property. In 1859 Robert joined the 'Lundin Mill Total Abstinence Society'. This was a prelude to his long-term involvement in the Good Templar movement. Although he was away from home when the charter was signed for the institution of the Robinson Crusoe Lodge of the Independent Order of Good Templars in 1872, he joined a few weeks later.

Over many years, Robert filled all of the offices at the local lodge as well as many at East Fife District Lodge level. In 1879 he was elected to lead the latter - a role he carried out by travelling around the district on his pony trap. Eventually, he served on several committees of the Grand Lodge, rising to its Assistant Grand Secretary. The "Good Templar Guide: North-East Fife District 1898-1904" stated that "the bicycle was neither fast nor fashionable in those days but with his pony, to and fro throughout the district he went, instituting new, resuscitating dormant, and encouraging existing lodges".

On 11 March 1861 Robert Gilchrist (then a post messenger) married Jane White (daughter of mason Robert White, who was partner with Archibald White in a well-known local building firm). The couple settled in Lundin Mill and Robert himself soon joined the building trade. By the 1871 census the pair had three children - Catherine, Elspeth and James. A decade later, in 1881, Robert was an established builder and his son was his apprentice. The family were living in Emsdorf House and, on the day of the census, had a 'Scottish Coast Missionary' staying with them as a visitor (no doubt in connection with the Good Templars). 

Above is a piece from the 24 November 1883 Fifeshire Advertiser describing the celebration following completion of building work on a new farm steading at Pratis led by Robert Gilchrist. In 1885, Gilchrist was convener of the committee responsible for the events associated with the Crusoe Statue unveiling.  The following year, he completed the building of the Good Templar Hall (later known as the Crusoe Hall). Over the next three decades Robert continued in the building trade, still residing at Emsdorf House, playing a significant role in the development of Lundin Links, along with fellow builders such as Archibald White and Walter Horne. He was the builder of the Simpson Institute in Upper Largo, opened in 1891. His daughter Elspeth married painter Robert Blair Forrester in 1893. In 1894, Robert Gilchrist and Son were the builders of the striking Colinsburgh Town Hall. 

In 1911, Robert and Jane Gilchrist celebrated their ​Golden Wedding. Two of their children and seven grandchildren were present. Their daughter Catherine had died in 1889 aged 27. The 15 March 1911 Leven Advertiser gives an account of the event below, along with further details of Robert's life. He was chair of the Parish Council, an elder of the Parish Church, President of Largo Curling Club and active in the bowling and tennis clubs. However, he was best known for his tireless work in connection with the temperance movement. Robert Gilchrist died, aged 85, at Emsdorf House in 1926. His wife Jane had predeceased him in 1913.
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​The old walled garden of Largo House, which sits between the main mansion and the Largo Home Farm, is a 2.7 acre area that once contained formally laid out working gardens (see 1854 map above). The garden included an orchard, glasshouses, extensive fruit and vegetable beds, hedges and neat paths lined with herbaceous borders (see image below from Canmore collection, captured in 1901 by Lady Henrietta Gilmour Montrave).

A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls. While the walls provide protection from animals and intruders, they are primarily there for horticultural reasons. They protect the produce from wind and frost and can raise the temperature within the garden by a few degrees. The walls absorb and retain heat from the sun and release it slowly. South-facing high walls create their own microclimate and are suited for growing more tender plants that wouldn't survive in an unenclosed garden. Many estate mansion houses had their own walled garden, suppling fresh fruit and vegetables to the household and providing a pleasant place to walk and grow flowers. Many had glasshouses, some with artificial heat from stoves or similar, enabling exotic plants to be grown.

A series of highly-skilled gardeners cared for Largo House's walled garden over the decades, including Thomas Stewart, Thomas Blair, Colin McTaggart, Robert Smith and Peter Keay. These men regularly took part in horticultural competitions, winning prizes for their produce. Above is just one of many examples that can be found in the newspaper archives. This piece from the 5 September 1861 Dunfermline Press shows Colin McTaggart securing prizes at the Fifeshire Horticultural Society Exhibition in many categories. These included 'Stove or greenhouse plants, in pots', French marigolds, African marigolds, hand-bouquets, plums, greengages, Jargonelle pears, baking apples, gooseberries, cauliflowers, red cabbage and onions.  Such reports provide a useful insight to the varieties being grown and consumed at Largo House at the time.
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Over the years many day excursionists enjoyed a visit to the gardens, often guided by the gardener. For example in 1852, 180 workers from the Haugh spinning mill in Windygates were shown round the "blooming and richly adorned" gardens by the "very attentive" Thomas Blair (2 Sept Fife Herald). The steps which lead off the walled garden to the west (see postcard image above) are still there today (see below). The Largo Village Book of 1932 refers to this "long flight of steps" that leads up to the "old garden" close to Sir Andrew Wood's Tower. At the top of the steps "one walks round a broad grass walk, high above the other garden and the present house. The centre of this old garden slopes down to the middle on all sides".
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The main walled garden seems to have been in active use for a couple of centuries. The aerial photograph below (held by Historic Environment Scotland) shows it in the 1930s, when there are signs of planting and of an intact glasshouse. Further below is another image showing the walled garden from outside its north edge. A walled enclosure and further glasshouses seem to have been located here on the outside of the wall.
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Many historic walled gardens have been restored to their former use in recent times and, excitingly, there are plans to make the Largo House walled garden productive again and allow access for visitors and volunteers. The plan is to produce flowers, fruit and vegetables once again. For more information and updates see:

www.facebook.com/largoestatefife

To see a nearby comparable walled garden restoration project, which has been in progress for a number of years, see Amisfield Walled Garden in East Lothian. Also a late 18th century garden, this garden had been long neglected before work began in 2006 on its restoration. Progress since then has been impressive and it is now a thriving community garden. See image below and here for more details:

https://www.amisfield.org.uk/

The above photograph will bring back memories for many who remember the shop at the west part of what was Defoe Place (now 3 Main Street), Lower Largo. Thomas Potter had the shop prior to Max Jurecki and this picture shows him standing at its door. There are some great details in this image. Note the advertising signs at each end of the premises - promoting 'Golden Virginia' hand rolling tobacco on the left and 'Wall's' ice cream on the right. Above the door is 'Player's Cigarettes' sign and to the right of the door an advert for 'Ilford' film.

This building housed the village Post Office for many years prior to this time, with three generations of the Welsh family running it. It was still the Post Office at the time of the photo, as can be seen from the sign to the left of the door. This was the standard old sign displayed at all Post Offices. The same one hung on the wall of Miss Bremner's Post Office in Lundin Links and is shown in more detail below. The Lower Largo Post Office later moved along to 91 Main Street.
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Postcards were clearly a big seller at this shop with an elaborate outdoor display board showcasing 'Valentine's' postcards. You can almost work out which vintage postcards are on show from the detail below from the photograph. There is a selection of novelty postcards in the lower right corner of the display (Scottie dog, lucky heather, etc). Hundreds of visitors must have purchased and sent postcards from here.

The Daily Record newspaper headline board has the enticing headline "Meet the Beatles in Person!" (dating the image to after they rose to fame in late 1962). The shop also had a Public Telephone (see sign above the door). I wonder whether that facility pre-dated the telephone box at the Orry. Finally to the right of the picture is a wonderful vintage car with the registration OSP 4. Does anyone recognise it?  Please share any memories of this shop if you can by commenting. Changes to the property over the years shown below.
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Looking at the empty and unused buildings of Largo Home Farm today, it's hard to imagine this as a bustling place of work and thriving community of residents. Yet for a couple of hundred years, this would have been a hive of activity and a home for estate employees and their families. It was the scene of births, deaths, marriages and all sorts of other occasions. Many of the residents were long term ones - living out decades of their lives there. Lots of children grew up on the farm and walked the short distance to Kirkton of Largo School for their education. Archives such as census records show the successive coachmen, foresters, game keepers, agricultural labourers, gardeners, dairy maids and others that lived on site. Examples of just a handful of these people are given below.

Eleven births were recorded in the register of births kept by midwife Margaret Bethune as taking place at either 'Largo Place' (the cottages at the south of the steading) or 'Eagle Gate Lodge' (the south lodge house) between 1853 and 1887. Three of those were the 11th, 12th and 13th children of John Sibbald and his wife.  The written record of child number 13 (a female born on 5 January 1872) is shown above. John Sibbald was a forester on the Largo estate. He was born in Largo in 1829. Several of his daughters worked at the Cardy Net Factory. In fact, his eldest daughter Maggie Campbell Sibbald was married to fisherman James Simpson by the Reverend David Malloch at Largo Place in 1872 - the same year as the birth of her youngest sister Janet shown above. A 14th child, William Bruce Sibbald, followed in 1875. 

William Bruce was also the name of the gamekeeper on the estate, who also resided at Largo Place at the time. It would appear that John Sibbald either named his youngest son after him or after the minister of the United Free Church in Upper Largo, who also shared the name. The birth of the first child of William Bruce the gamekeeper and his wife was also recorded in the register of Margaret Bethune - in 1875, the same year as the last of John Sibbald's children. Further Bruce children were also born at Largo Place, including twins (a boy and a girl) in 1884.

​Another family which saw several of their children born at the home farm was headed by Alexander Anderson. Alexander was initially a forester on the estate but became the 'Estate Overseer' by 1891 (see census entry below). The census extract below shows the four cottages of Largo Place listed beneath Largo House itself and the Coachman's House (unoccupied on the day of the census). The only residents of Largo House that day were the sewing maid and the laundry maid. Of the four cottages of Largo Place, one was unoccupied, one filled by the 'farm manager' and his large family, another was occupied by Anderson the overseer and the other by Robert Smith the gardener and his wife Annie.
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Robert Smith was a long serving gardener on Largo Estate who lived at Largo Place for decades. In 1886 he married Annie Greig Welsh, daughter of Lower Largo Postmaster Alexander Welsh. The pair were both extremely active in the Good Templars. Mr Smith was the 'Deputy Grand Chief Templar' of the Robinson Crusoe Lodge and Mrs Smith (pictured further below) was the 'Superintendent of the Juvenile Templars' at the time that the North East Fife Good Templar Guide of 1898 was published (see extract below). 
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Of the many events that took place at Largo Place, a couple of examples are given below. A Grand Floral Fete in 1899 was opened by architect of the Lundin Links Hotel, P.L. Henderson (advertised on the front page of the 17 August Leven Advertiser). In August of 1905 the Juvenile Templars were entertained at Largo House, assembling at Largo Place before marching to an estate field for games, tea and treats. See 17 August Leven Advertiser piece below. Various estate folks were present for the occasion, which surely took place thanks to the Smiths.  Robert Smith died at Largo Place in 1919. More on the Smiths and the Good Templars organisation to follow in the near future. 
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Leading on from the previous post, let's take a closer look at the layout and buildings of Largo Home Farm. The steading was arranged around a square courtyard with a byre at its centre. With some parts dating back to the late 18th century and with multiple alterations over the years, Largo Home Farm is a fine example of agricultural development through three centuries. Most of the buildings have served more than one function over time. Below is the detailed 1964 O.S. map of the farm, with numbering to show the main component buildings, plus a recent aerial view of the site. 

1. Building associated with the sheep dip
2. Horse mill (or horse gin)
3. West range of steading
4. Cart shed
5. Inner courtyard byre
6. East range of steading
7. Row of farm cottages
8. Farmhouse
​9. Sir Andrew Wood's Tower

Building 1 is a post-war structure that was clearly associated with the adjacent sheep dip. It is of brick construction and does not appear on earlier maps. Structure 2 is the horse mill or horse gin (short for horse engine house), which adjoins the north end of the west range of the steading. Horse gins were used on many farms to drive threshing mills. These generally consisted of a rotating wooden frame to which a horse was harnessed. As the horse pulled the frame round, it drove a shaft geared to the threshing mill next door. ​These took over from hand threshing from the 1780s. The engines were initially made of wood, and houses such as this one were built to protect the engine and the horses from the weather. This structure is typical of the area, with a polygonal roof (that originally would have been pantiled) supported on stone piers. The engine would have been removed when new technology took over in the late 18th century and the building would have been repurposed. Read more about the workings of a horse gin here and here. Below is the horse gin as it was in the mid 1970s. The roof has since collapsed.
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The horse-shoe shaped byre (5) can be seen below. The black and white photograph is from around 1975 while the colour one is present day. This unusually shaped single storey structure and seems to have contained a water pump. Its main purpose was to provide shelter for livestock, usually cows. Even in its dilapidated state, it is an attractive and characterful building with its pantiled roof, dark whin rubble walls and golden sandstone window dressings.  The 1854 O.S. map (further below) indicates that this was not always in its later horse shoe shape but earlier consisted of a north edge and a small square building in the south east corner. It was built-up into the horse shoe arrangement before 1893. 

The east range of the steading (6) is pictured above as it is today (with much of the roof collapsed) and as it was circa 1975. It had high arched entrances at either end and was clearly designed to accommodate large pieces of farm equipment. The row of farm cottages (7) are shown below at circa 1975 (before the preservation work was carried out on Wood's Tower), in 1989 and as they are now. ​These dwellings for farm workers were located to the south of the main steading, set back from the working area and closer to the gardens and to Largo House. The main farmhouse (8) was located further east. It is shown in the previous post. Coming in the next part - the people who lived and worked at Largo Home Farm.