The church building that preceded the Largo St David's Church in Lower Largo was built in 1771 as the Largo Relief Church. As far as I am aware there is no photograph or painting depicting this original church, which was demolished and replaced a century after its completion. The old church was however sketched multiple times by the children of James Gillies in the 1850s. These sketches still exist in the St Andrews University Library Special Collection. Although these are the drawings of children, and there is quite a bit of variation between them, the do provide a sense of the basic features of the church.

All depict some form of tower or steeple, topped with a weathercock (a weather vane in the form of a cockerel). Each shows that there was an upper level to the building. There also seem to have been quoins (external corner stones) which would have added strength to the walls, which were made of inferior rubble, as well as providing some simple aesthetic detail. This all tallies with the written records of the building which suggest it was a simple rectangular structure with entrance porch and internal balcony or 'gallery'. This gallery was originally supported by wooden pillars, until those were replaced with iron pillars in 1852.

We know that the construction of the 1771 church was a community affair, from the account given in an 1884 letter written to the editor of the Dundee Courier, signed "A United Presbyterian Member", and published on 15th November:

"men, women and children were alike zealous, and when the masons towards the end of their day's labours left off their work for the want of material, they were often surprised next morning to find an abundant supply - the men with barrows, the women with their aprons, and children with creels, having procured it for them overnight from the beach which skirts the village."

The weather cock (as well as being ornamental) would have been valuable in showing the wind direction. Wind changes made a big difference to the activities of local farmers and fishermen. The tail would catch the wind and the beak would point towards the direction from which the wind was blowing. Such weather vanes had been placed on churches for centuries. I wonder who made this feature and what happened to it when the church was taken down. 

It was a vacancy at Largo Kirk in 1768 and subsequent controversial appointment of Reverend David Burn, that led to the establishment of Largo Relief Church. The portion of the congregation that were strongly opposed to this choice protested by leaving the church. These folk initially met in the open air to worship as an independent group but in 1770 they applied for (and were granted) pulpit supply from the Relief Church of Edinburgh. Soon afterwards, the newly formed congregation were given land from Mr Durham of Largo House upon which to erect a Church. The site was immediately to the east of the later Largo St David's Church.
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We also know that at least one person was buried within the old church building - that being it longstanding minister Reverend James Gardiner. It is probable that there was some form of memorial tablet within the church to remember him. Over the century that it existed, there would have been many baptisms, marriages and funerals held within the church. An example baptism is shown below. This is for William Rodger, one of the Rodger family of Lundin Mill. See the words "in the presence of the Relief Congregation at Nether Largo".

The Largo Relief Church would have been uncomplicated but it would likely have reflected the church architectural style of the time. Perhaps it wouldn't have been dissimilar to other nearby churches of the era. A comparable example is shown in the images below, just across the Forth in North Berwick. This was the St Andrew's Kirk Ports Church, the tower of which was also completed in 1771. Note the irregular rubble walls, the simple memorial plaque on the interior and the stone internal staircase which would have provided access to a gallery.
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In August 1984 a Largo Heritage Week was held, involving a range of events and exhibitions. The above photograph was taken at a Scots Night held on the lawn at Cardy House. Around 140 people took part in this particular event which featured highland dancing displays organised by local dance teacher Ida Ballingall. Ida can be seen in the centre of the photograph with her accordion, a portable source of backing music for the dancers. Other musical contributions to the night included harp-accompanied singing by Christine St Clair, who was there with her mother and well-known sister Isla St Clair.

The 1st Largo Brownies also played a part in the evening, under the leadership of Brown Owl, Joy Spence (standing second from far right in the photo). The Brownies served tea and some of their recent handiwork was also on display at the event. Organiser of the event, Ivy Jardine, can be seen to the left of the highland dancers, wearing a white blouse and long tartan skirt. Her eldest son Allan is on the extreme right of the picture, holding bagpipes. He played the pipes daily during the heritage week, and rounded off the Scots Night, piping from the roof of Cardy House next to the flagpole, which was flying the saltire. Below is another image from the evening, as printed in the East Fife Mail, showing the dancers in action and Ida in the right foreground, playing the accordion. 

A heritage photographic exhibition took place in the Durham Hall, attracting many visitors, with the ladies of the Largo St David's Women's Guild providing refreshments. This exhibition included entries for the joint East Fife Mail and Largo Heritage competition. The newspaper photograph above from the East Fife Mail shows the competition prize winners. 
The winner of the first prize was Margaret Smart of Durham Crescent, for her image of a friend examining an old milestone (see below). Second prize went to Craig Roberts for his close-up photograph of freshly caught fish, while the under-12 category winner was Catherine Kidd who had snapped fishing nets. With the 200th anniversary of the Crusoe Hotel building coming up next year, then the 350th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Selkirk in 2026, could another heritage week be a possibility? 

The above photograph was captured by John Patrick the Buckhaven-born photographer. The image dates to around 1870, by which time Patrick had moved his photography business from Leven to Kirkcaldy. The photograph may have been commissioned in connection with the sale of the Lundin Estate at the time, as a visual indication of the boundary between the Lundin estate and the Largo estate. Drummochy to the left (west) of the Keil Burn fell within the Lundin estate. Note that at this time a couple of houses still featured thatched roofs.
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In the 'then and now' pair of images above, the half-thatched building to the right of Drummochy House (the tallest house with bay windows in the newer image) has been replaced with garages. For a time, the space where the old house once stood was a gap site. The photograph below shows that in that space there was a distinctive statue - the bust of a man on a plinth. 

Among the changes were the replacement of two ruinous cottages on feu number 40 with the detached villa 'Fernbank'. The photograph below shows the contrast between the remaining older houses at the lower level and the new villas of Woodlands Road at the top, and 'Fernbank' in the centre.
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Other lost buildings are the dark coloured ones to the left of centre in the background of the George Washington Wilson photograph below. Remains of the old walls of these structures can still be seen at the site on Cellar Brae by the benches. The tall building looks virtually identical Drummochy House being the same height, design and orientation. The modern day aerial image at the foot of this post shows the continued evolution of this area on both sides of the burn, with many old buildings replaced and gap sites filled, including some across the former path of the railway line, the old gas works and the former mill site.

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

Interestingly, the Scottish colourist, George Leslie Hunter, produced an artwork featuring Bellvue and Coventry Cottage (see below). Captured from an interesting vantage point down at water level in the harbour, this 1920s watercolour looks up at the houses while fishing nets dry on poles to the right. The tall yellow object to the left could well be a hayrick.
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The 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 workers of Cardy Net Factory in December 1885, on the day of the unveiling of the statue depicting Robinson Crusoe (the fictional character inspired by local man Alexander Selkirk). In the picture there are 37 women and 3 men. The men could well be brothers of factory owner David Gillies. Two of his brothers (William Gillies and John Gillies) were both described as 'Net Machine Mechanics' in the 1881 census. However, John died in 1882 aged just 25.

A younger brother, Robert Gillies, was a joiner, while another brother, James, was a ship's carpenter. The three men in the back row above (potentially William, Robert and James), appear in several other photographs taken on the same day. They seem to have had a key role in the decoration of the village for the occasion, including erecting the platform beneath the statue, upon which the 'platform party' would assemble for the unveiling (seen in the image below). The many arches of evergreens along the route of the parade were likely also their handiwork. 
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In the above photo, we can clearly see the same three men. The one on the left has a lighter shirt with dark waistcoat, the man in the centre has a distinctive wide brimmed hat and the man on the right has no beard but has a small hat perched high on his head and a visible pocket watch chain. The latter two are prominent in the scene below, standing adjacent to White Cottage on the right. The beardless man with the dog, holding the hammer, appears to have been securing the finishing touches prior to the event getting under way.

All three can be seen below to the left of centre, resting by the railings of St David's Church. Many other local people are out on the streets observing the goings on, even those not formally involved in proceedings. Of course many local folk, particularly the tradespeople, were part of the procession along the Main Street. The following description is from the Fife Herald of 16 December:

"...the bobbin winders, the guarders and other net workers in Cardy Works; the fishermen and fisher lasses of Largo; the former accompanying the fishing boat "Robinson Crusoe" mounted on a cart....the nimble fingers of the fisher lasses as they sat "baiting the line" attracting much attention.  Then came the fish-cadgers, the boat-builders, the cork-cutters...oil workers...bakers...bedecked with white caps and aprons....Masons, joiners, plasterers, blacksmiths, bottle-top makers and others followed - all busily engaged in practical illustrations of their respective handicrafts."

The fishing boat named Robinson Crusoe mentioned above was registered KY 527, was 33 feet in length and belonged to another David Gillies. 

Finally, we can see in the photograph below, the man on the right is holding flags, while chatting to some older gentlemen. In the image further below, we can see later in the day that the same flags are aloft at the same spot. Could the dressmaker sister of David Gillies - Agnes Gillies - have been behind the beautifully sewn banners and flags? Or perhaps many female hands collaborated on this element of the day. To see a range of 'then and now' images from this special day in 1885, click here and here.  As one of the eldest villagers was quoted in the Fife Herald article "There was never a day like this in Lergie'". 

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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The previous five blog posts have charted the history of Lower Largo's Crusoe Hotel, from its 1824 origin as a granary to the more modern era of the 1970s. The years from the 1980s to the present day will remain fresh in many people's memories. If you have your own stories or photos that you would like to share, and add into the archive of the hotel's history, please do get in touch, either by commenting on this post or hitting the 'contact' link on the sidebar (or footer on mobile version of site). 

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

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

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

The photograph above shows the Crusoe Hotel fenced off while up for sale in the autumn of 2020, having been placed in administration. It was purchased by the present owners in the spring of 2021 and in the last couple of years, the hotel has been significantly renovated and refreshed. The images below show a selection of before and after images to provide a flavour of the most recent round of changes. The Crusoe Hotel has emerged looking fit for the future, while acknowledging its past (and of course retaining the Robinson Crusoe theme). As the building approaches its bicentenary next year, the story of the former granary looks set to continue for many years to come.
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The previous post covered the inter-war years at the Crusoe Hotel, ending with the period when the hotel was owned by the Dick family. In April 1947, Samuel Maxwell Nicoll was granted a hotel license for the Crusoe and became the next long-term owner. Sam was born in Glasgow in December 1916 and had been in the R.A.F. during the Second World War. He married Sheila Betty Beable, in 1942, in London and the couple went on to have two children. During his time at the Crusoe, Mr Nicoll was involved in the wider hotel trade, as a director of the Licensed Trade Association and a committee member of the Fife and Kinross division of the British Hotels and Restaurants Association. A feature of his era was the Juan Fernandez Cocktail Bar (shown below with its barrel, lanterns, clay pipes mounted behind the bar and rustic wooden panelling). At the time the 14-bedroom hotel, with dining room for 80 people, marketed itself as being modern yet retaining old-time character. Like the Lundin Links Hotel, the Crusoe Hotel bought into the concept of being located on the 'Scottish Riviera' and used the phrase in advertising in the 1950s.
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In 1961, Sam Nicoll made some alterations to the hotel. Notably the arched doorway to the former cart shed and stables was replaced by a window and the backdoor entrance to the bar was blocked up. Meanwhile, inside, a number of modernisations took place to the ground floor bar and lounge areas. These included building up old fireplaces, removal of some partition walls, and the creation of new vestibules inside the front entrances (see plan above).

Shortly afterwards, in 1962, plans were set out for two garages to be added to the hotel, abutting the seawall. The plan below shows how these were arranged to fit in between the main building and an existing shed. The fact that the postcard image above shows the new windows fitted in 1961 but not the garage proposed in 1962, dates the image precisely to one of those two years.
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Having trained at Edinburgh School of Cookery at Atholl Crescent, Crawford enjoyed creating unique dishes using local ingredients. Often his dishes had local names such as 'Saute Beef Montrave', 'Braised Duckling Balcormo' and 'Steak Selcraig'. Another innovation of his was the creation of the Man Friday Gourmet Club.  Meeting around five times per year, dining club members were invited to a specially themed meal. However, as the 5 February 1975 East Fife Mail reported, the tantalising aspect was that the guests only saw the detailed menu once they arrived.

The Club proved to be very popular, attracting people from far and wide and gaining a membership of around 120. With only 40 places on offer each time, members had to reply to invitations quickly to secure a place. The 1974/1975 season included the themes of 'Food Through the Centuries', 'French-Style' and 'Roman Orgy'. The Latin-sounding menu for the latter is shown below, the highlight being suckling pig roasted over charcoal (see photograph). The food was presented theatrically and at this event guests sat on the floor eating food from wooden platters that had been dished up from large cauldrons. 
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Crawford Horne also became actively involved in promoting Fife as a destination. He can be seen in the photograph above with Duncan Dewar, Fife's assistant tourist officer, promoting Fife as 'Scotland's Holiday Kingdom' at a tourism event in Manchester in 1976 (25 February East Fife Mail). In the summer of the same year, the hotel and pier became a focal point for the 'Crusoe 300' celebrations. The ambitious 10-day event took place in Largo to mark the tercentenary of the birth of Alexander Selkirk (the Largo-born inspiration for the character Robinson Crusoe). The Crusoe Hotel's role included hosting the opening Barbecue and Dance, a Radio Forth Disco, a 'Bothy Night' after 'Its a Knockout' and a Gala Ball. Below is the Christmas offering from 1976 - all on a Caribbean theme.

Note in the two black and white photographs above, from the Canmore collection, the rustic outdoor seating area. The 1973 advert below echoes the 'fine-dining' reputation of the hotel, with the "famous Crusoe menus, seafood caught daily and superb wines". If you recall sampling the delights of the hotel's menus from this time, please leave a comment. In the next and final post in the series - a few selected highlights from the more recent decades of the hotel.