​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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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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These two Lundin Links street scenes featured on a multi-view postcard. The above (circa 1908) is the junction of Leven Road, Emsdorf Street and Links Road, looking down towards Peacehaven (originally Mr Gerrard's Villas) in the centre distance. It's a busy scene filled with people (not cars like today) plus a horse and cart. An aproned man is pushing some provisions in the direction of the cart - perhaps ready for the daily delivery of grocery orders from one of the shops. A lady with children is walking down near Crescent Road, while some very smartly dressed women are passing by Hogg's Pharmacy. Might they have been heading to the Lundin Links Hotel from the railway station? The Pharmacy and its neighbouring buildings replaced old cottages in 1903. The year 1903 also saw the telephone arrive in Lundin Links - note the huge telegraph pole on the right of the shot.

The second scene takes place at the junction of Crescent Road, Leven Road and Woodielea Road (not a place to linger in the middle of the road these days). Note the contrast between the playful school girls headed in the direction of Lundin Mill School and the prim looking ladies facing the camera, crossing the main road. The house on the corner to the right is Aldersyde (then occupied by the Gullands). There is a notice attached to the railings of this house - maybe advertising the Gullands' business along the street. Next to Aldersyde is Heatherlie. It's fun to imagine who all the people in these images were and what they were all doing on that one day from a bygone era.

As a follow-up to the post about Central Garage, the above postcard image (circa 1905) of the east end of Upper Largo's Main Street shows the site of the garage prior to its establishment. The house on the extreme right is where the Harris family lived before moving to Manelian in the mid-1920s. Next door to the left of that are buildings that were also owned by James Harris. These included a laundry, a draper's shop and a saddler's business around this time.

Meanwhile, on the left hand side of the road are an interesting set of businesses with some legible signage visible (see enlarged image below). On the far left of the image is a single storey cottage with a sign on the roof that reads CYCLISTS REST REFRESHMENTS. This may have been associated with the grocer shop which was located in the building around this time. The rising popularity of cycling, as well as the proximity to T.G. Wishart's cycle maker and repair workshop, made it a good business decision to target cyclists in need of refreshment. 

Next door, where the group of children are standing, was Peter Cowie's chemist. Then we come to Robert Melville the plumber (whose sign is visible high on the side of his shop). Beyond that, is Thomas Black shoemaker - some of his signage is still visible on the building today. The final building which can only just be seen at the end of this side of the street, with the group of three people standing by the door (one in a long striped apron), is the butcher. At the time this was run by William Bousie Simpson. Perhaps it is the man himself that stands at the door wearing his butcher's apron.

Clearly everyone was aware of the presence of the photographer when this view was captured. Perhaps it was in fact Peter Cowie the chemist who was responsible for the photograph, as he had a darkroom and sold photography supplies. Maybe he invited his neighbours to be part of the scene. Taken in winter with bare trees and well-wrapped up children, the inclusion of so many local people in the image really adds to its historic value.
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Following on from the previous post about Doctor's Vennel, it's worth revisiting a topic covered before - the Largo Pottery. Before the pottery moved into the Doctor's Vennel buildings, Anne Lightwood (pictured above) threw pots in an outbuilding in her garden at 57 Main Street Lower Largo. The products were then sold in a small shop at 68 Main Street (latterly the Baptist Church Hall but recently demolished - shown in the photograph below).

In 1978, the derelict Doctor's Vennel buildings were purchased and were remodelled over many months into a workshop, studio and showroom for the pottery. These upgraded facilities enabled output to increase significantly. Largo Pottery was now able to be sold, not just in Largo itself, but through many shops around Scotland. The increased space also allowed pottery demonstrations to take place. However, on the evening of 28 June 1984, fire broke out and gutted the entire premises. Much of the stock was destroyed in the blaze, including valuable porcelain stock and, sadly, many photographs, text books and glazing recipes. The photograph below of firemen at the scene appeared in the following week's East Fife Mail. 

The people of Lundin Links weren't short on banking facilities back in the 1930s. The photograph above shows three banks within the short stretch of Leven Road shops. From left to right these are:

1. National Bank of Scotland
2. British Linen Bank
3. Commercial Bank

The three banks were there from the mid 1920s until around 1940. The National Bank rented its premises from the Post Office proprietor (initially Robert Ferguson then James Duncan), while the British Linen Bank was a tenant of neighbouring Somerville the Grocer and the Commerical Bank was tenant of Emma Gulland (who had the shop next door). In addition, the National Bank had an office in Crescent Road for a spell while the Linen Bank had its office briefly on Emsdorf Street within the La Scala cinema building.

Below is a close-up view of the Banks plus an advert for both the Commercial Bank and the Linen Bank dating to this period (both listing a Lundin Links branch). 
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The outbreak of the Second World War was the beginning of the end for this banking stronghold. A front page notice from the 17 Oct 1939 Leven Advertiser indicates that all three banks were to operate reduced hours from the following Monday. By 1942 the 'old' National Bank premises were empty and being advertised to let (see 21 Oct Leven Mail clip). The National Bank moved into the Commercial Bank site at the corner of Crescent Road. It was the last bank standing on Leven Road, as the Linen Bank did not reopen after the war. In 1959 the National Bank merged with the Commercial Bank. A decade later it merged with the Royal Bank of Scotland - in which guise many will remember the corner bank at Lundin Links.
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Before you read any further - any idea where this Lundin Links butcher was located?



This particular butcher shop predates the building of the Leven Road shops.



The proprietor pictured (with a tool of the trade in hand) was Andrew Robertson. He was born in Leven in 1849 and that is where the story begins.  Below is an extract from the 1862 Westwood's Parochial Directory for the counties of Fife and Kinross, showing the bakers in Scoonie. At 4 Forth Street is master baker Andrew Robertson. He and his wife Ann Scott were the parents of the Andrew Robertson pictured above. Another baker in Leven at the time was Andrew Thomson - a man who would, soon after the Westwood's listing was published, relocate his business to Lundin Mill. 

The Thomsons and Robertsons were close and when Andrew Thomson moved his bakery to Emsdorf Street around 1865, the eldest son of Andrew Robertson the Forth Street baker (Robert Robertson) took over Thomson's vacated premises on Leven High Street. Robert Robertson's remained a thriving business there for decades and is pictured below circa 1908. So the with eldest son of Andrew Robertson senior following in his father's footsteps, the younger sons followed different career paths. One became a joiner, while Andrew junior trained as a flesher. 

Andrew junior started out in the butcher business in Inverkeithing where he was based for several years.  In 1870 Andrew Robertson married ​Elizabeth Douglas of Lundin Mill, daughter of linen weaver James Douglas and his wife Isabella Peebles. They were married in Lundin Mill by Largo minister William Davidson. There seems a strong possibility that they met through Andrew Thomson the baker now located in Lundin Mill, a community predominantly of hand loom weavers.

By the census of 1881, Andrew and Isabella had moved from Inverkeithing to Dunfermline and had four children. Ten years later they were still running a butcher in Dunfermline and their family had grown. By 1901, their son Andrew had joined the butcher trade and they remained running the business in Dunfermline. Meanwhile in Lundin Mill the butcher was David Simpson. He had a house, shop and slaughterhouse on Hillhead Street. However, in 1895 he fell to his death from the railway viaduct at Lower Largo, aged 49. His wife Janet continued the business until 1907, when she retired. The notice below from the 18 September 1907 Leven Advertiser shows both her message of thanks to the inhabitants of the district for their support and Andrew Robertson's announcement that he would be taking over the butcher from 24th September. Furthermore, Mrs Simpson auctioned off some of the contents of her home (Croft House, Hillhead Street) including a talking parrot.

So, the photograph at the very top of this post was taken on the west side of HIllhead Street at Croft House (number 5). The photograph dates to very soon after Andrew Robertson had taken over from Mrs Simpson. He ran the business for a number of years before retiring. Once retired he still owned the business but let it to Thomas Henderson, butcher. On 18 May 1916, Andrew Robertson died aged 65. This prompted the demise of the Hillhead Street butcher business and Thomas Henderson sold off the plant, fittings and other belongings of the shop (see foot of this post). The shop was advertised for sale the following year (see advert from 12 April 1917 Leven Advertiser below) but it was not destined to continue as a butcher shop and thereafter the village was served by G.W. Douglas the butcher on Leven Road (who also had a branch on Leven's Forth Street, which is where this story began).

Update 27/01/2020:

To clarify the location of Robert Anderson's Butcher Shop, see 1893 O.S. map below. It was adjacent to the slaughterhouse on Hillhead Street. This street was once (surprisingly) considered the main area for shopping:

https://lundinlinks.weebly.com/blog/hillhead

In the 1950s there was a Stuart's the Baker on Leven Road Lundin Links, a little further east than its current location. This earlier 'Stuart's' branch was situated adjacent to the Post Office in a premises that had earlier been occupied by the National Bank of Scotland and Jean Spinks Hairdresser. The shop would later become a hairdresser again (and still is today).

Above is a 1957 advert for the festive season (25 December Leven Mail) which notes that a Miss Brooksbank is in charge at the Lundin Links branch. This was, I believe, Jeanie Brooksbank who was daughter of a Leven plasterer. Perhaps some folks remember her and/or the shop from the 1950s?

Further below are a couple of Christmas ads from 1957 and 1953, followed by one from 1954 advertising the promise of Spring (as early as 13 January) and talking of lengthening days and the return of crocuses and daffodils. Finally, furthest below is a 4 February 1959 feature on wedding cakes, which was part of a wider page in the Leven Mail about weddings (rings, photographers, wedding gifts, etc).
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With Christmas just around the corner, here are some festive adverts from bygone days. All of the advertisements were featured in the Leven Advertiser. Above is a feature on G.W. Douglas the Butcher of Leven Road, Lundin Links, dating to 10 December 1903 - clearly it was time to order that festive turkey!

Next is Andrew Somerville's Grocery and a piece from 8 December 1928. Note that the Plum Puddings and Mince Meat were "actually made in our own kitchen". Bowls could be returned.

Back in 1907, phonographs (or gramophones) were a popular choice of gift - you could get yours at T.G. Wishart of Upper Largo - an interesting sideline to his usual cycle, motor and lawn mower repair work.

To keep ailments at bay over the festive season, Andrew Hogg could offer various treatments or a simple hot water bottle to keep you warm (21 December 1905).
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The curious advert above from 17 December 1903 asks folks to hand in their bowls to 1 Bridge House Lundin Mill in return for threepence worth of potted meat!

Finally, below is an advertisement for a Sale of Work by the Largo Parish Church Women's Guild - no doubt plenty of options for Christmas gifting to be had there.
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