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

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

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

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

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

The Fife Herald of 14 December 1865 covered the monthly meeting of the Largo Field Naturalist's Society.  Henry Petheram of Haworth, Lundin Links was in the chair and the main topic of discussion was the forthcoming exhibition, in which there was much public interest.  The schedule of prizes was agreed  by attendees and printing was given the go-ahead.  Details were then given of several donations received by the Society.  Among them was "a large collection of minerals and specimens of curious rocks" provided by Charles Jenner. The next post will continue the story of the Largo Field Naturalists' Society.
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​The word 'Keil' is a very familiar one in Largo. The Keil Burn intersects the Parish, from Pirrwindy (where it forms at the confluence of the Gilston Burn the Boghall Burn), flowing south for a couple of miles before emptying into the sea at Largo Harbour (pictured above). For much of its journey, the burn flows through Keil's Den - the long, narrow glen of ancient woodland that stretches north to south. Several local buildings have had names that reflect their proximity to the burn and den, including Keil Bank Cottage, Keil's Den Cottage and Keilside Bakery. So what might the origins of the word 'Keil' be?

The Fife Place Name database makes a credible suggestion below in its entry for the Keil Burn. Essentially, this states that the name derives from the Scots word 'keel' meaning red ochre (see entry from Dictionary of the Scots Language further below). There are deposits of ochre in several places in the parish of Largo, While much of this is yellow ochre, it can be converted to red ochre by heating.

Old maps show that Keil's Den (shown in the two photographs below) was 'worked' in the past. Three quarries are marked on the 1854 OS Map, as shown further below. Perhaps ochre was extracted from somewhere within or close to the Keil Burn at some point in its history, bringing about the name (which is thought to have been in use since the late eighteenth century). The ochre trade was a notable old industry in neighbouring Scoonie Parish, with considerable quantities exported from Leven Harbour in the early nineteenth century, having been wrought on the Durie and Aithernie estates. Ochre was often used as a pigment in the external painting of buildings, giving them a distinctive yellow or orange appearance. Kennoway Den was also a source of red "keel", used in the marking of sheep (according to the Leven Advertiser, 11 May 1905). 
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The 1851 advert below for the sale of the estates of Lundin and Aithernie mentions a field of ochre (16 October Edinburgh Evening Courant). A document detailing an 1871 rental rise at Sunnybraes Farm includes an 'ochre rent' as part of the rental. The British Geological Survey notes ochre beds on the shore at Largo at a few different points in their report on economic minerals in Scotland. So ochre was/is certainly around the area. If you have thoughts on the ochre or 'keel' theory of the Keil name, or if you have an alternative theory, please comment!
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As Halloween approaches - a couple of appropriate local tales from the past....

Bats have long been associated with Halloween. They are, of course, nocturnal creatures. They leave their daytime roosts when the sun sets. Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' suggests that vampires are able to morph into bats (a small number of bat species worldwide are blood feeders). A more natural association with Halloween is related to the bat life cycle. They can swarm in the months of September to November as they look for mates and increase food intake ahead of hibernation. Below is a local bat-related story featured in the 17 March 1868 Northern Warder. On this occasion, bats were coming to the end of their hibernation period at Balcruvie Castle - now known better as Pitcruvie Castle . 
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Moving forward in time to the 10 November 1943 Leven Mail (below) - a war-time Halloween party provided Polish visitors with a taste of some of the Scottish traditions associated with the celebration - including a bit of a dunking in water it would seem!

​Happy Halloween!
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In the second quarter of the 19th century, George Duff would have been a prominent figure in Largo.  He had been born in Ceres in 1801 but moved to Largo from the St Andrews area around 1824.  It's no coincidence that this was the same year as the completion of the Largo Granary, as George would take on the inn within the building - known as the Harbour Inn or Duff's Inn.  He seemed to do well as innkeeper - one report of a dinner held there stated that "the very prompt and handsome manner in which the dinner was served up reflected great credit on Mr Duff".

Within a few years, inn-keeping would not be the only string to George Duff's bow.  In 1830, he began operating 'omnibus' services and acting as an agent for steamer services calling at Largo.  His omnibuses transported people on various routes to and from Largo over the years - including Cupar, Anstruther, St Andrews, Newport and Dundee - often connecting with steamboat services and linking up with other Inns.  Before the railway, these stagecoaches would have been the best way to travel over land for visitors, although not particularly pleasant.  Coaches would have been slow, uncomfortable and dangerous (accidents were common).  Coaching was a high cost, high risk business from which George Duff would probably not made much profit.  Most coach proprietors were innkeepers looking to boost their business.  They would also be encouraged by local businessmen who were looking to create links with other places and no doubt the members of the Largo Granary Company supported George Duff in his enterprise.

In July 1845 a customer calling himself "A Stranger in Lower Largo" wrote to the editor of the Fife Herald on the topic of the condition of the local roads:

"After you pass by Ceres towards Largo, there are but very short pieces of it good, although not so dangerous, until you come to that infamous part of it in Keil's Den, where it is a shame to be seen....whenever you come to ascend the very steepest and winding part of it - where either horse or harness, or the drag of a heavy coach, are most apt to give way - where would the lives of the people be?  They would be pitched over the den, and dashed to pieces, conveyance and all, as there is at this place no embankment at all: nothing but an old paling to hold them again, which has stood there until time has rotted it so completely."

The letter goes on to give various scenarios of accidents and the likely damages which the road trustees could incur, and appeals for either a better line of road to be found or for sufficient protection to be put up immediately.  While the writer points the finger at the road trustees, he praises George Duff as the "respected and enterprising coach-proprietor" who "fifteen years ago, first gave us cheap travelling upon this road" (ie Cupar-Largo and vice-versa at a fare of 1s). He also notes the "superiority of his cattle" and "his very excellent inn at Largo Pier".

The following year, however, everything would change.  George Duff fell ill and the Harbour Inn was advertised for let in April 1846 (see below from the Fife Herald) and in the August of that year George died from consumption (tuberculosis) and was buried in his native Ceres.  However, that was not the end of the story for the enterprising Duff family, for George left a wife and eight children and a new venture would begin for them in Kirkton of Largo.

Since it is the season of Flower Shows (including the Largo and Newburn Horticultural Society's Show last weekend), here's a quick dip into such events held in days gone-by.  The Largo Horticultural Society's Annual Exhibition was clearly a highlight of the social calendar in the 19th century with large attendances and an abundance of entries into a wide range of classes.  The above advert is for the 1870 show at Keil's Den, as run in the Fife Herald of 4 August.  The 1895 event (this time held at Largo House) was written up in detail in the 16 August Courier - here's a small extract....

"The weather was beautiful and a large number visitors passed through the Eagle Gates.  During the afternoon the Mars Training Ship, under the leadership of Mr Yettes, discoursed a splendid programme of  music.  At 2 o'clock the show was opened by Sheriff Lees, Edinburgh, who is at present residing at Westhall.  The marquee was replete with a rare collection of fruit, flowers, vegetables, &c.  On the whole, the show was admittedly one of the best that the Society has ever held."

The event took place at a range of venues over the years.  Interestingly by 1906, the summer visitors were claiming their share of the credit for the success of the event.  As the Edinburgh Evening News reported on 25 August...

"Lundin Links was today the venue for the annual show of the Largo Horticultural Society.  Alongside the same event has grown up a series of sports, &c, largely through the agency of Edinburgh visitors.  The show was scarcely so extensive a few years ago, but the games draw out the patrons." 

I'm quite certain that locals were just as instrumental in the event's popularity as the visitors, if not more so.  Anyhow, over the years the array of activities within the show seemed to expand and soon alongside the many classes of fruits, vegetables, plants and flowers, were other sections like needlework and baking.  The 'sports' over the years included races, tug of war, treasure hunts, 'pillow fights', the 'slow cycle race' and the mind-boggling 'musical chairs on cycles'!  For children was the less exciting 'best penmanship' competition.

Founded in 1863, the Largo Field Naturalist's Society was very active in the late 19th century.  At their 1864 AGM, Dr Lumgair presided and the treasurer reported healthy accounts following a successful exhibition at Kiel's Den.  Committee members were elected and among the new members was one Charles Jenner, Esq. of Edinburgh.  Jenner had founded the famous department store on Princes Street in 1838 with fellow draper Charles Kennington.  His connection to the Largo area, may have been through Charles Howie (a seedsman and florist), a fellow member of the Society with whom he took field excursions and published papers on botany.

Jenner regularly donated prizes to be awarded at the Society's annual exhibition.  The Fife Herald of 14 December 1865 covered the monthly meeting of the Largo Field Naturalist's Society.  Henry Petheram of Haworth, Lundin Links was in the chair and the main topic of discussion was the forthcoming exhibition, in which there was much public interest.  The schedule of prizes was agreed  by attendees and printing was given the go-ahead.  Details were then given of several donations received by the Society.  Among them was "a large collection of minerals and specimens of curious rocks" provided by Charles Jenner.  WIlliam Wood of Largo had given "specimens of fossil shells and sea urchins from the English chalk and two varieties of shale from the Methil oil works" and several other interesting items were also listed.      

Charles Jenner was born in Rochester, Kent in 1810, the son of an innkeeper.  He became a draper's apprentice and moved to Edinburgh in 1829.  He worked with Charles Kennington at the drapery firm of W R Spence in Picardy Place but the pair were sacked when they skipped work to attend Musselburgh Races.  They went on the co-found their own department store with Kennington leaving the business to Jenner when he retired in 1861.

Not only a successful businessman, Jenner, like many entrepreneurial Victorians, had great energy and a broad range of interests.  His intellectual pursuits included botany and geology. He also was a great benefactor and contributed to many charities and causes.  Jenner died in 1893.  His younger brother Sir William Jenner was personal physician to Queen Victoria.

Jenner's department store went on to become the oldest independent department store in the world before its acquisition by House of Fraser in 2005.

(watercolour and ink painting by Annie Lynch)

The ancient woodland of Keil's Den has centuries of history.  A delve into newspaper archives provides glimpses into some of this history. The London Standard of 9 December 1828 contained an article about the life of Alexander Selkirk, and in it was the following account of Selkirk's life around 1712 after his return from exile:

"...he soon felt averse mixing in society, and was most happy when alone.  For days his relations never saw his face from dawn until late in the evening, when he returned to bed.  It was his custom to go out early in the morning, carrying with him provisions for the day; then he would wander and meditate alone through the secluded and solitary valley of Keil's Den.  The romantic beauties of the place, and above all the stillness that reigned there reminded him of his beloved island."

The article went on to later describe how his "wanderings up the burn-side of Keil's Den to the ruins of Balcruvie Castle" (now known as Pitcruvie Castle) led him to encounter a young girl, named Sophia Bruce, who was tending her parents cow and picking wild flowers. Over time they talked, spent time together and eventually eloped to London and were married.

A feature in the Fife Herald of 30 July 1835 advises readers that "if you prefer solitude and retirement, repair to the leafy shades of Keil's Den where you will be screened from the burning rays of the sun by an umbrageous covering and where you may repose among multitudes of wild flowers or wander slowly along the side of the little burn." I'm not sure we experience the sun's 'burning rays' very often these days but the Den is still a great place to 'chill out'!

The Fife Herald of 10 August 1865 reported on the third annual floral fete held in Keil's Den.  By the next year, the Largo and Newburn Horticultural Society was formed and again a show was held in Keil's Den, with a marquee tent to house the produce on one bank of the burn while a band performed on the other side.  It sounds charming - I'd love to travel back in time to be there!  In 1874 the event moved to the front of Largo House for a spell.  In later years the same event was held in various fields in the locality until a decision was made in 1933 to alternate between the Simpson Institute and the Montrave Hall.  However, 1939 saw the last show until 1979 when a group of local people restarted the annual event.

Once a popular venue for many 'pleasure trips', society annual excursions, Sunday school outings and the like, Keil's Den may not see the same volume of visitors as it once enjoyed but nevertheless it remains popular with locals and visiting ramblers alike.  There are many more anecdotes in the newspaper archives, so the history of Keils' Den is definitely a topic to return to another day.

Keil's Den is an area of ancient woodland (meaning continuously wooded for over 400 years) in a narrow valley situated about one kilometre north east of Lundin Links.  It runs north to south for 1.3 kms and is only 0.5 kms wide at its widest point (see sketch below).  The Keil Burn flows through Keil's Den, draining the area to the North and flowing into the Forth at Largo Harbour.  The Den supports a variety of flora and fauna.  Now managed by the Woodland Trust, the main tree types include ash, beech, sycamore, oak, elm and birch.  From bluebells in the Spring, to beautiful autumn colours, there is always something of interest making this spot worth a visit all year round.  The fact that this wooded glen has been around for centuries means that there is plenty of local history relating to the site - more of that to follow....