Serpentine Villa is located on the Temple at Lower Largo, at the point where a small road branches up to the beginning of the Serpentine walk to Upper Largo. The architect plans for the dwelling were drawn up in December 1876 by James Gillespie of St Andrews, for Captain David Watson. David Watson (1851-1939) was a ship master, like his father before him, Captain John Thompson Watson (1828-1892). Both men were Largo born and had long seafaring careers with the Empire Line of London (a topic that will be returned to in the future).

Watsons had lived at the Temple for some time and it seems likely that Serpentine Villa would have been built upon the site of an earlier cottage. It was constructed adjacent to 'Bombay Lodge', a dwelling that had been built several years earlier for another globe-trotter, civil engineer Thomas Craigie Glover. The year before commissioning the architect plans, David Watson had married Elizabeth Clark Philp (daughter of Benjamin Philp, commission agent and grain merchant who lived in Drummochy House). The couple were based in Anstruther while Serpentine Villa was built and finally moved into their Largo home circa 1880, in between the births of two of their sons. As David was usually on lengthy voyages, upon which his wife and family would sometimes accompany him, their Largo home was often occupied by friends and relatives. The 3 September 1891 Fifeshire Journal's list of 'summer visitors' below gives one example of this.

Census information shows that in 1881, Serpentine Villa was unoccupied. A decade later in 1891, Elsie Philp was living there with a servant and her nephews David and James Watson (ages 9 and 6). These were the two youngest of the four sons of Captain Watson. Elsie was one Elizabeth's maiden sisters. In 1901, the house was again unoccupied. Then by 1911, David, Elizabeth and two adult sons, David (now a banker) and James (a solicitor), were living at Serpentine Villa. David senior was described as "retired ship master" but in fact he did return to work for a spell during the First World War, before retiring for good. The newly available census data, for 1921, lists only David and Elizabeth at Serpentine Villa, with David being noted as "Shipmaster (Retired)". 

David Watson enjoyed his retirement years at Serpentine Villa. He played golf and was an elder of Largo Parish Church. He died at home on 19 December 1939 aged 88. His widow, Elizabeth Watson (nee Philp) remained there until her death in 1946 aged 97 and then the house was put up for sale. The advert below from 18 December 1946 Leven Mail states that the house would be "easily convertible into two flats or suitable for boarding house". The house was indeed flatted and had since been extended (see photograph above).
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Below we can see the original north elevation of the house as newly built. The rear of the house can be seen at the far left of the black and white image further below. At the foot of this post is an annotated image of the west end of the Temple, naming all the dwellings, from Temple Green to Serpentine Villa.  The Temple started with Burnside Cottages (the characterful white-washed buildings which were demolished in the late 1960s), then continued with the terraced row comprising Homelea, Thistle Cottage and Kincraig. The next dwellings were Temple Cottage (now Arndilly), Bay Cottage, Bombay Lodge (later Fernielaw Cottage and now Seascape) and finally Serpentine Villa - a building which has witnessed many changes in the past century and a half.
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Back in 1903, with Lundin Links rapidly expanding, new street signs were required to name new roads and identify existing streets more formally. An exercise took place to list which names were required, in what quantity and the number of letters involved (which would impact upon cost). The handwritten list below shows the output of that work (including some faint corrections where spelling mistakes were made). Organised by Mr Alexander Fraser the factor of the Lundin and Montrave Estate, most streets required two signs but the shortest streets - Golf Road and Norvil Road - required only one each, while Leven Road and Crescent Road needed 3 each.

The decision was made to go with enamel signage, which was a common choice for street signage between 1880 and 1950. The brochure below was consulted and the option at the top left (item no. 62) was highlighted as a good template. D.F. Wishart & Co, iron merchants of Edinburgh, were engaged to create something similar to this. This firm, established in 1857, are still going today.

Some of the signs were placed on building walls, others on metal railings and one or two on free-standing posts. The images above show examples of each of these. More of the enamel signs are evident in the old photographs below.  
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Of the 29 signs put in place in 1903, only a handful remain today and all of those are on buildings walls. The signs that were on free-standing posts are long gone. Those that were attached to metal railings lost their anchor points during the Second World War, when iron railings were removed in a drive to gather raw materials for the war effort. Some wall-mounted signs were removed when the black and white replacement street signs came along (which are larger and clearer to read).  

The sign at the east end of Emsdorf Street is still there but has recently been painted over. Two Leven Road signs remain - attached to numbers 12 and 54 (the latter being the farthest west that the street extended in 1903, just before where the Montrave Hall is now). One of the Mill Wynd signs is still there, on the former jewellery workshop. Hillhead Street has no sign but the old pin marks can be seen where it once was. If you spot any more examples of the old enamel signs, please comment. They are now well over a century old.
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On 14th July 1760 the British were victorious over the French in the Battle of Emsdorf, which is depicted in the above painting. This battle took place during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) - a struggle for world supremacy between Great Britain and France which is considered to be the first global conflict in history. At Emsdorf, the newly raised British 15th Light Dragoons, along with six battalions of Hanoverian and Hessian infantry and some irregular cavalry fought against the French side (which were five battalions of the Royal Bavière and the Anhalt regiments, German mercenaries, and a regiment of hussars recruited from Hungary). The two forces were roughly the same size at around 3,000 men. The British and Hanoverians wore red. 

Part of a campaign to disrupt the French line of communications, this particular battle's objective was to capture Marburg to the west of Emsdorf (a village in Hessen, Germany, north of Frankfurt) where a French supply depot was situated. The French force were settling down to lunch when the British alliance surprised them. The Anglo-Hanoverians ultimately captured over 1650 prisoners, mostly due to several charges by the British 15th Light Dragoons into the retreating French force. A map of the battle is shown below. 
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The fledgling regiment's victory at Emsdorf caused a sensation back in Britain. They were awarded the first ever Battle Honour (the right to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on flags, uniforms or other accessories), thus beginning a system that continues to this day. The 15th Light Dragoons began to wear the words “At Emsdorf” on their light dragoon helmets (see image below) and, as a result of this victory, the regiment acquired the new nickname of “The Fighting Fifteenth”.
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​William Erskine (pictured below) was knighted for his performance in Emsdorf by King George III. Nicknamed "Woolly" Erskine, he went on to be posted to America and spent three years participating in the American War of Independence. He later saw action in the wars of the French Revolution. The Erskine Baronetcy, of Torrie in Fife, was created in the Baronetage of Great Britain on 28 July 1791 for William. In 1793 the baronies of Torrie and Lundin were entailed by Sir William Erskine. When he died on 19 March 1795, he was succeeded by his eldest son William.

So by the beginning of the 1800s, General Sir William Erskine, second baronet of Torrie (1770-1813) was proprietor of the Lundin estate. With the death of his father was still relatively recent, when it came to forming plans for the development of a new village to the south of Lundin Mill, he decided to name it Emsdorf after his father's famous victory. The brief entry (no. 6334) in the Sasines of 1802, shown below, is the earliest reference to the name 'Emsdorf' within the Largo Parish. It records James Crawford as the first to take possession of a feu in the newly established village on charter by Sir William Erskine of Lundin. 

From then, further feus were taken up and Emdorf grew into the village seen on the 1854 map below. Many of the early residents of the village were linen hand loom weavers. At the time of the first census in 1841 there was a concentration of weavers in the streets of Emsdorf. The sound of the shuttle would have emanated from many of these houses, as a local nonagenarian commented in 1931.

The younger Sir William Erskine, the second Baronet, died in 1813. The title and estates passed first to his brother James, until his death in 1825 and then to youngest brother John, fourth baronet, who lived until 1836. The Baronet of Torrie title became extinct upon his death. The property of Sir John Erskine of Torrie then passed to the son of his late sister, Frances Erskine (1773-1798). This was Rear-Admiral James Erskine Wemyss of Wemyss (1789-1854), whose maternal grandfather was Sir William Erskine of Battle of Emsdorf fame. James Erskine Wemyss sold the Lundin Estate to the Standard Life Assurance Company in 1852, shortly before his death (see notice from 27 May 1852 Fife Herald below).
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Although Emsdorf no longer exists as a village, the street names of Emsdorf Street, Emsdorf Road and Emsdorf Crescent survive to this day within Lundin Links. The unusual name often prompts questions. Although like several other streets and settlements around the country the name recalls a long-ago battle fought in a foreign land (other examples being Waterloo, Trafalgar and Maida), the full story of Sir William Erskine and his role in this battle remains relatively unknown. 
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South Feus in Upper Largo is described as "a quiet byway of diverse, early 19th century properties, which enjoy the open view south across the Forth" in Glen L. Pride's 'The Kingdom of Fife: An Illustrated Architectural Guide'. However, this is not quite an accurate statement, as the oldest house on this street dates to 1790. Many properties are indeed early 19th century but others are of a different age. The top black and white postcard image above shows the west end of South Feus around 1900. The most obvious change, when looking at the same view today, is the invasion of parked cars.

Although the street features several architectural styles, a number of the houses share the distinctive feature of drum-shaped dormer windows (also found on a few Main Street properties). These are typical of the late Georgian period. Daniel MacCannell's 'How to read Scottish Buildings' tells us that "dormers that are round or oval (if viewed from directly above), each containing one standard sash window and slated around the rest of their circumference, are very frequently seen on Edinburgh buildings from the end of the eighteenth century". These remained in fashion until around 1840 when bay fronted dormers became the norm. So the properties with those features are most likely early 19th century.

When viewed from the south, you can appreciate variety of architectural styles that make up the grouping. The 'Upper Largo Conservation Area Appraisal and Conservation Area Management Plan' drafted by Fife Council in 2012 states that:

"In the early 1800’s growth occurred in response to the ferry at Lower Largo and later the railway station and its resort status together with adjacent Lundin Links. The villas and house along South Feus are a reflection of this. The 1861 Parochial Directory for Fife & Kinross notes: ‘Both Lower and Upper Largo are favourite resorts as sea-bathing quarters, a number of the inhabitants letting out a portion of their premises to summer visitors.’"

This suggests an early phase of development triggered by the establishment of a regular steam boat ferry service in the early 19th century and a later stage of new building on the back of the 1857 arrival of the railway.  However, the first dwelling on the street predates both of those events. Back around 1790, the house now known as The Grange, but formerly known as Bayview, was built for Adam Wilson. Wilson was the factor for James Calderwood Durham (1732-1808) of Largo House. The role of factor was basically to undertake the day-to-day management of the estate, often overseeing improvements, as well as ensuring the repairs and maintenance, collection of rent, etc were carried out. It was a position of some standing and in this case the factor was given a home in-keeping with the importance of the role.

There is a memorial stone to James Calderwood Durham in Largo Kirk, stating that he had "for many years directed the improvements of this county". His factor Adam Wilson would have facilitated many of those improvements. In 1800, Wilson married farmer's daughter Christian Edie but their union was to be short lived. Adam Wilson died the next year and was buried in Largo Churchyard on 30 September 1801. Christian went on to live to the age of 93, passing away in Upper Largo in 1866.

By the time of the 1854 Ordnance Survey map of Upper Largo (above), Bayview (now The Grange), in its sizeable plot, in the centre of the street (by the '150' contour line), had been joined by other houses on each side. Those included Largo Cottage to the west (left) with ground stretching back to the Main Street; and to the east (from left to right) Southview, Seafield and Carlton. There is evidence that many of these early homes would have originally had thatched roofs. Thackstanes can still be seen below several chimneys​. ​Known as 'New Feus' for a time after this phase of development, the name had evolved into 'South Feus' by the 1870s, although sometimes the term 'The Feus' was also used (as was the case in the 1891 census).

Carlton, 8 South Feus, was so named after the birthplace of Emma Clayton - i.e. Carlton, Huddersfield, Yorkshire. She was married to Robert W. Clayton who owned this property as well as Hallwells in Lundin Mill. Their son was William Clayton, a marine engineer, who died in WW1 and was married to Jessie Clayton, who began La Scala cinema after she was widowed. La Scala was run by her sons Bill and Thomas Clayton for many years. The gable end of Carlton can be seen in the postcard image below, looking west along South Feus.
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A later addition to the street was the building on the right of the above image - St Leonards. South Feus had long been home to the village doctor, with Dr George Lumgair settling there in the 1840s at Largo Cottage. He lived out the rest of his life there and his wife Frances died at Largo Cottage in 1900. Lumgair's assistant Dr Stuart Palm married his daughter and had St Leonard's built in 1880. Palm became the village doctor after Lumgair's death in 1884 and remained so until his own death in 1908. Palm's successor Dr William Eggeling also resided at St Leonard's. Another late 19th century building, which filled a gap to the west of Largo Cottage, is Viewfield (number 20), dated 1893. 

The newspaper piece below from 30 September 1908 tells of a day of celebration on South Feus. The newly installed doctor, Dr Eggeling, returned from his honeymoon with his wife Ellis Mitchell Wood. The couple were given "a right royal reception", their house was decorated with bunting and a crowd of well-wishers awaited their carriage. That evening the brass band marched along South Feus.

South Feus is said to "turn its back on the village to enjoy the uninterrupted views south across the Firth of Forth". Its elevated position with expansive views of Largo Bay made it a popular place for summer visitors to stay and the address often features in the newspaper archive lists of visitors coming from places like Edinburgh and Glasgow to enjoy the sea air. However, rather than turn away from the village, this street and its residents has always been an integral part of Upper Largo, being home to many people key to the local community from the estate factor, to a series of village doctors, and several local joiners. Peter Broomfield and his son Agnew Broomfield lived at the west end of South Feus, as did the Donaldson joiners in more recent times. The 1964 map of the street, below shows the properties in more detail. What the map conceals is the two centuries of village history connected to this short row of buildings.
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Postscript: Many thanks to John Band for leaving a comment pointing out that there is a blocked up access point to Largo House opposite the west end of South Feus (shown in the annotated photograph below). This would have allowed Adam Wilson (and subsequent factors) easy access from their own home on South Feus.  Look out for it next time you are passing!

The image above was one of a series taken by the George Washington Wilson studio to showcase the new buildings of Lundin Links around 1900. As well as this view of the approach to the village from the station, photographs were taken of the newly completed hotel, the smart row of shops, the golf club house and the many new villas. However, a slightly incongruous-looking part of old Lundin Mill can still be seen in the above image if you look closely. 

Shown more closely in the detail below, in front of the Lundin Links Hotel, is a row of old cottages. By the time that this image was captured these old buildings' days were numbered. By 1903, the cottages had been demolished and the corner of Emsdorf Street and Links Road (then Station Road) had been transformed, with the Pharmacy as the centrepiece.

The census information from 1901 and earlier decades, tells us a bit about these replaced dwellings. The cottage at the far west end (to the left in the image below) was unsurprisingly known as "West End Cottage". Next to it was an unnamed cottage occupied by none other than Jumpin' Jimmy Methven. Next came "Ivanhoe Cottage" (its later replacement kept the same name). And finally (just before Bellville) there was "Meldrum Cottage". It was so named because it belonged to Jean Hogg (nee Meldrum) who lived there with her daughter Julia. Julia Hogg later lived in Mill Wynd and met with a tragic death in 1897.
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The view looking along Station Road towards the Lundin Links Hotel was one that was often recaptured over the years and the examples below, taken not long after the one above, shows that the cottages have been replaced with the West Emsdorf Street shops and joined by the eight terraced houses of Park Terrace (now part of Links Road). The four shops and neighbouring tenements were built by Walter Horne and the newspaper piece further below from the 5 February 1903 Leven Advertiser shows that they were under construction early in the year. Later reports tell us that the shops were open by July and that a concrete footpath had been laid in front of them.

The road annotated on the aerial photo above is Durham Wynd, which runs down from the A915 close to Largo House to Lower Largo's Main Street near the Orry. Some folks will still know this road as 'Donaldson's Wynd', as that was how this road was referred to for around a century. Until recent decades there were almost no buildings on either side of this road - it was bounded by fields on both sides. As such, references to it in historical records are scarce. Below is a rare early reference to Donaldson's Wynd from the 4 April 1878 Fife Herald.

Occasional references to Donaldson's Wynd continue to appear in the newspaper archives from then up until the late 1950s. The alternative name of 'Durham Wynd' eventually began to appear in parallel, especially from around 1929, when some houses were build adjacent to it (see example further below from the 16 March 1929 St Andrews Citizen).

​In fact, as far back as 1892 the dual name of the road was acknowledged - see below from the 17 September 1892 St Andrews Citizen. This piece calls the road "Donaldson's or the Durham School Wynd". Of course, it makes sense for the road to be referred to as 'Durham School Wynd' as the new Durham School was built on it circa 1860 (more on that in a future post). But where might the original name of 'Donaldson' have come from?

A likely origin of the name Donaldson's Wynd would be that it was named after David Donaldson (or one of his forebears). Like many of the inhabitants of early 19th century Lower Largo he was a hand loom weaver but crucially he was one of the few inhabitants to actually live on this road. The only houses located on it then were those found at the foot of the wynd close to the Orry. David Donaldson lived in one of these. David also held an official position of importance within the community. His name appeared on advertisements for teaching staff at the original Durham School (located at the Temple car park). Applicants were to apply directly to him, suggesting that he was perhaps clerk to the school board or equivalent body. Notices below from 14 March 1839 Fifeshire Journal and 27 May 1841 Fife Herald respectively provide examples.
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David Donaldson died in 1852 aged 78. Perhaps when the new Durham School was erected on the wynd a few years later, close to his former home, a name was needed and his was chosen. Whether the wynd already bore his name before his death or whether it was named in his memory is unknown but the name certainly stuck long after his passing. If you know any more about the origins of the name 'Donaldson's Wynd' please comment.

The wynd is quite steep at its lower end and many of the mentions of it in the newspaper archives relate to accidents that have taken place there. A few examples of these are given below...

Anyway, over the last century, the road has become increasingly built up on both sides as the aerial view at the start of this post shows. Successive housing developments over several decades have seen it transform into something that would be quite unrecognisable to David Donaldson. In spite of the change to 'Durham Wynd' over time, the Donaldson name lives on both in the memories of many and in the name of the small housing development at the top end of the road - Donaldson's Court.

The previous post highlighted a painting which featured 'Doctor's Vennel'. This characterful corner of Lower Largo no longer exists in its original form but is remembered fondly by many. Found at 81a Main Street, tucked behind 'Court House', this former row of historic buildings was also known as 'Doctor's Wynd' and 'Court House Close' over the years. The 'Doctor' reference derives from the fact that the vennel was adjacent to (the still remaining) 'Goodsir' house, which was the home of Dr John Goodsir over two hundred years ago.

The above sketch of the vennel was created by Ken Lochead (1936-2006), the East Lothian-based watercolour artist, during the era when the Largo Pottery was located in these buildings. However, further back in time Doctor's Vennel accommodated four dwellings. The census extract below from 1901 shows the four households recorded then, between 'The Court' and 'Goodsir House'. At this time all four of the households were headed up by older, retired individuals - a former loom weaver, a former oil mill crusher, a former domestic servant and 74-year-old Isabella Lawrie (who lived with her net worker daughter).

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​Isabella Lawrie lived at the end of Doctor's Vennel for decades. Her dwelling was right next to the natural spring - located through the opening at the far end of the vennel (see photograph below from the book 'Seatoun of Largo' by Ivy Jardine).
Water emerged from the spring within a carved hollow in the vertical bedrock into a stone trough (a feature which remains to this day - see colour image further below). Having direct access to a natural spring that never ran dry made Isabella Lawrie (maiden name Sime) the ideal person to wash clothes for those without such an amenity. Indeed the 1891 census extract below lists her occupation as 'washerwoman' (as it also was in the census of 1871 and 1881). She was married to merchant seaman James Lawrie. Isabella died in 1912 aged 87.

In the late eighteenth century, there were at least three washerwoman in Largo Parish - each living next to a water source. In addition to Isabella Lawrie, there was Grace Cornfoot in Kirkton of Largo, close to the water pump at Church Place and Margaret Wallace, who lived right next to Pump Green in Lundin Mill. They probably all also made use of the communal bleaching greens that were common at the time.

Among the other residents of Doctor's Vennel were Andrew Drysdale - a carter who lived there in 1911, and further back in time several hand loom weavers, labourers and fishermen. The series of photographs below are from the 'Canmore' website, which is part of Historic Environment Scotland. Taken when the buildings were in a run-down state, these images pre-date the establishment of Largo Pottery at the site. More to follow on the pottery in the next post.
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The painting above (entitled 'Harvest in Largo') is a view from what is now Bourtree Terrace/Bourtree Brae, looking over the rooftops of Lower Largo to the south west. Painted around or before 1910 by John Blair, the artist was sitting in what was then a field between the old Durham School and the Main Street. The bellcote of Largo St David's Church dominates the skyline and there are many boats our in the bay. 

The annotated sketch of the same view highlights the following buildings: 
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1. Rear of Durham House                2. Goodsir House             3. Balfour Cottage (obscuring Comely Bank to the rear)
4. Grocer and Co-op Shops             5. Court House                  6. Downfield
7. Largo St David's Church              8. Doctor's Vennel

Also in the distance to the far right are the long-gone Butter's Buildings.

The 1912 map below helps to clarify where the painting was taken from and the direction of the view. Bourtree Terrace is shown on the map below but is absent from the artwork, showing it was created before the creation of the map. John Blair was a landscape artist born in Berwickshire in 1850, who died in Edinburgh in 1934. At the time of his death the Berwick Advertiser (18 Oct) noted that "his watercolours, well-known to connoisseurs all over the country, depicting often the quaint picturesqueness of fishing villages, met wide appreciation". It's wonderful when an old painting, taken from an unusual position, gives an insight to life in the villages in days gone by.

A comparison of Crusoe Buildings (on the right, looking west) - with a circa 1900 view at the top and a contemporary view below. Not much changed? On closer inspection the Crusoe Buildings have undergone a fair amount of remodelling over the last 120 years, with significant changes to the window arrangement and an attic conversion. It was modernised and reconstructed in 1936 according to the newspaper archives. Recent years have seen further renovation. Happily, the statue is unchanged - although it did enjoy a holiday in Glasgow in the 1980s.

Capturing this view without cars featuring in it, is impossible today and no longer does the road feature physical evidence of horses. A new window has appeared in the gable end of neighbouring number 97. The church bellcote has gone and indeed the church building is no longer in use as a church. 

​Below some small details are picked out. Note the child at the door of the former 'Very Crafty' shop. The buildings once housed a Barber's Shop (see announcement from 13 June 1912 Leven Advertiser further below).
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This circa 1905 postcard view looks along Emsdorf Street from the front door of David Lindsay's grocer shop at the junction of Hillhead Street. In the immediate foreground to the left is an old wall (long gone) and to the right, up high, a street lamp holder. Also to the right, on the ground, are a wooden barrel and box, typical of the era. Back in the 1970s local resident Esther Menzies recalling this shop said:

"Mr Lindsay sold everything nearly - bran, parings, oatmeal, dried big cod, doormats, salt herring from a barrel in front of the counter and of course the ordinary groceries not packaged as they are today."

She commented upon how this area was really the hub of the village with Cowie the chemist next door and Robert Forrester's painter and paperhanger shop opposite. There were other businesses both on Hillhead and Emsdorf Streets.