Largo Law is an eroded volcanic plug, 290 metres (953 feet) high. A walk to the summit and back will take between 60 and 90 minutes, from Upper Largo, depending upon how long you linger to enjoy the 360-degree views from the top. The starting point, shown below, is a gate between Upper Largo Cemetery and the Kirkton of Largo Primary School building. Next to the gate, there is a small car park and a noticeboard with some information about the hill.
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From the gate (marked 1 below), a narrow grassy path stretches to the north east. The path rises, passing Chesterstone Farm Cottages (marked 2 below) before skirting around the farm yard of Chesterstone (marked 3). From there signs direct you to turn left and follow the steep path that rises straight up towards the Law. Chesterstone Farm has been around for centuries and is present on the 1775 Ainslie map.
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Views in all directions can be enjoyed from the summit, including the whole of Largo Bay, the nearby islands of the Forth including Bass Rock and Isle of May, the East Lothian coast and inland towards New Gilston. Once you have had sufficient time to appreciate the vista or enjoy a picnic, you can return back to Upper Largo using the same route. 
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Largo Law was once a 'beacon hill'.  For thousands of years, all over the world, hill tops have been used for keeping watch and for signalling warnings with fire.  Over time, beacon warning systems would have become more co-ordinated and controlled.  An iron fire basket or stone built turret would have been filled with combustible material ready to blaze up when ignited. Someone would have manned the site, watching for contiguous warning signals to be lit.  The Largo Law site may have been looking towards the Lomonds or Kellie Law for signals.  The word 'Lomond' means beacon or blaze of light.  Sometimes codes (eg one, two or three fires) may have been used to show the level of danger or the type of action required. 

​During the 19th century and into the 20th century, 'Beaconmania' hit the UK, with the slightest excuse being used to light fires on top of hills.  Royal birthdays, Jubilees, anniversaries or military victories all triggered beacon lighting celebrations. Examples of such occasions, where a bonfire was lit at Largo Law include: 

• 1842 - Visit of Queen Victoria to Scotland (many coastal bonfires were lit as she sailed up the Firth of Forth)
• 1863 - Royal Wedding of the future King Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) and Queen Alexandra
• 1887 - Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee
• 1897 - Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
• 1902 - Coronation of Edward VII
• 1911 - Coronation of George V
• 1935  - Silver Jubilee of King George V 
• 1953 - Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

The top of the Law has also been the scene of Easter morning services and the objective of the annual 'Law Race' but mostly the hill attracts walkers eager to enjoy the view. The view has changed in some respects since the groups of well-dressed visitors toiled up its slopes to be met with rows of stooks (crops stood up in sheaves) and fishing boats laden with herring, as the 31 August 1848 Fife Herald below describes.
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An earlier post looked at the unification of Newburn Parish Church and Largo Parish Church. The two churches united in 1958, with the Newburn Church closing completely in January 1961. Before the church building at Newburn was converted into a private dwelling, a number of important artefacts were moved from there to Largo Parish Church at Upper Largo. One of the first things to be relocated was the Newburn Parish 1914-18 War Memorial Plaque, pictured above. In the images below, captured in 1963, the empty wall space and exposed brickwork indicates the place where this was once mounted on the church wall. This plaque is still proudly displayed within the church at Upper Largo.

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The Newburn communion silver (which included two cups dated 1772) was of course retained for use by the unified church. One of the cups can be seen in detail above (as featured in the book 'Largo Kirk' by Douglas Lister and James Gillies (1968)). A wider range of the Newburn communion silver can be seen in situ at Newburn Parish Church in the photograph below (from the book 'The Architecture of Scottish Post-Reformation Churches 1560-1843' by George Hay (1957)).
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​In fact, the installation of the Newburn pulpit at Largo was part of a wider programme of renovations at the time. This saw the communion table relocated from the east wall of the chancel to the axis of the cross, and the re-siting of the organ. The 29 September 1965 Leven Mail reported on the works and the extract below highlights the introduction of the Newburn pulpit and font. 

 Canmore Collection   http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1579039

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Now a listed building, the 1815 Newburn Church is described as follows:

Simple rectangular-plan Gothic church, with 2-stage square tower to east. Whin rubble, with yellow ashlar long and short dressings: upper stage of tower is ashlar; pointed and hood-moulded belfry opening to each face, corbelled and crenellated parapet and faceted spire. Symmetrical south elevation: glazed former doors to outer bays, low centrally placed piend-roofed projecting vestry, below 2 blind quatrefoil panels and flanked by 2 tall windows: all openings pointed-headed and hood-moulded with intersecting tracery. Piended slate roof with single central stack. North elevation: symmetry lost by insertion of 1 door and window, pointed window with intersecting tracery to each outer bay group of 4 symmetrical centre windows to ground and former gallery. Slated roof. 
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The 1815 Church replaced the Parish's earlier church (pictured above) which has a history dating back centuries. Part of the original structure was dedicated by Bishop Bernham in 1243. Newburn Old Parish Church was eventually considered too small and outdated, and fell out of use upon completion of the new building. The new church was much more commodious and was fitted out with many box pews (shown below in another image from the Canmore Collection). Upon its opening there were 180 people on the communion roll.
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The centre pews shown above had moveable divisions which were withdrawn for the celebration of the Sacrament - see photograph below from the book 'The Architecture of Scottish Post-Reformation Churches 1560-1843' by George Hay (1957). 
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The following week's Leven Mail reported on the "big turn-out" for the final service where the "pews were packed to capacity". While there would no longer be a church in Newburn Parish, the building itself would soon embark upon a new chapter and there will be more about that in the next post.
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​Crichton Place was the original name of the bay-windowed row of housing seen on the right of the images above. The top black and white image appeared on a postcard published by Upper Largo pharmacist James Bowie (who had taken over the business in 1917 from Peter Cowie). The postcard was posted in 1918. Crichton Place comprised eight dwellings across four semi-detached flatted villas. In recent decades they have been absorbed into Main Street, in terms of postal address. The development was named after the Crichton family who had taken over ownership of the Largo Estate in 1901, the year before its construction began.
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Above are two maps, showing the east end of Main Street, with and without the Crichton Place buildings (which are immediately to the east of the Simpson Institute).  The upper map dates to 1893 and shows the north side of the street ending at the Simpson Institute. The lower map is dated 1912 and shows Crichton Place to the right (east) of the Institute, along with an expanded range of leisure facilities adjacent (curling pond, bowling green and tennis court).
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​The first census taken following the building of Crichton Plan was in 1911. Records show that three dwellings were unoccupied but among the occupied homes, the tenants included: William Ritchie (a saddler), Margaret Potter (a knitting machinist), James Ferrier (grocer and provision merchant), James Balfour (retired farmer) and Robert Bell (platelayer with the North British Railway). Most of the dwellings had 2 or 3 residents but one had six. 

By 1915 there appears to have been an entirely different set of residents at Crichton Place, including a ploughman, a nurse, a chauffeur, a miner and a police constable (Alexander Webster). One of the flats became a police dwelling longer term. By the 1921 census police constable David Kinnear was in residence and his neighbours included John Cameron (a butcher who was employed by building proprietor William Simpson), Henry Probert (a chauffeur), William Simpson (a road surfaceman), Annie Anderson (who took in hand washing). 
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By 1925 Fife County Council took over the tenancy of one of the flats, formalising it as the official police residence. At that time police constable Thomas Moyes lived there. When William Bousie Simpson died in 1932, ownership of the Crichton Place properties passed to his widow Helen Simpson. Over the years the flats were gradually sold on to new private owners. The 1964 map below shows the development's layout in more detail. Further below is a view of the rear of the houses from the garden of the Simpson Institute. 
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Back in 1962 the inaugural 'Best Kept Village' competition was held across St Andrews District. Organised by the St Andrews District Council, the contest followed in the footsteps of Cupar District, where a successful event had been held the previous year (won by Strathmiglo).  Both districts were gifted trophies by J. & G. Innes Limited, proprietors of the Fife News and the St Andrews Citizen. By winning, Upper Largo became the first winners of the 'Citizen' trophy, represented in the sketch above. The nineteen competing villages had been visited on 25 June by the judges, who included the curator of St Andrews Botanical Gardens. 

Points were awarded for the appearance and condition of lands and buildings of a public nature, such as playing fields, open spaces, the village hall and surroundings, church and churchyard, bus shelter, war memorial and school. The cleanliness of verges, ponds and streams and the condition of hedges, fences and walls, the tidiness of flower and vegetable gardens, and the general appearance of the village were all taken into account. The suitability and orderliness of advertisements and notices, and the absence of litter and unsightly rubbish dumps also factored.

The following year, 1963, Strathkinness triumphed in the contest, which must have spurred on the community in Upper Largo, who won the trophy back in 1964 and again in 1965. When Upper Largo retained the title in 1965, they received 82 points from the judges, just pipping runners up Boarhills who scored 81. The photograph below appeared in the 5 August Leven Mail, showing the plaque mounted on an 8-foot pedestal. This was positioned prominently on the grassy area at the junction of Main Street and St Andrews Road, seen below, with Largo Law in the background. 

Councillor John Adamson (retired teacher and former headmaster of Lundin Mill Primary School) accepted the award and said how proud he was to see the village win again. He praised the hard work of the villagers, as well as their spirit of co-operation and civic pride. Some of the others featured in the photograph are detailed below.
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In fact, Upper Largo would go on to win the Best Kept Village title several more times over the years. The winners of subsequent years are listed below:

1966 - Upper Largo
1967 - Kingsbarns 
1968 - Kingsbarns
1969 - Upper Largo
1970 - Kingsbarns
1971 - Lower Largo
1972 - Kingsbarns
1973 - Upper Largo
1974 - Upper Largo

Note that Lower Largo also got in on the act - entering for the first time in 1967 and winning the crown in 1971 (beating Upper Largo into third place). Judges praised the new colour scheme of the Crusoe Hotel (shown below), the tidiness of the car parks at the Temple and the former railway station, as well as the well-kept gardens of the housing estates. They were less impressed with the general lack of litter bins around the village. The trophy on its tall pedestal was put up at Cellar Braes for the year. The 28 August 1971 St Andrews Citizen below provided the full report. John Adamson and Joseph Grassick were both present (as they had been in Upper Largo a few years before). As the list of winners above shows, however, before long the trophy was back in Upper Largo!
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Upper Largo's former bank was designed by the architect Archibald Scott. His plans for the building were first approved by the National Bank of Scotland in 1848, although their Largo branch did not open until some years later. The 1854 map of the village still shows the previous buildings on the site, which were loom shops associated with the once-thriving hand loom weaving industry.

Archibald Scott was born in 1796 in Dunbar, East Lothian. His architect practice was based at Teviot Row in Edinburgh. He became principal architect to the National Bank, and worked on many of their premises between approximately 1848 and 1860, including banks at Hawick, Castle Douglas, Grantown-on-Spey, Whithorn, Bathgate, Lochmaben and Dalkeith. Scott also designed the National Bank building at Elie, which was linked to the Largo branch and to which it bears some resemblance. The Largo and Elie banks are shown side-by-side below. Note their similar stonework and windows and the shared features such as carved stone shields towards to top of their gables and distinctive skew putts at the gable corners.
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The National Bank of Scotland was founded in 1825. Based in Edinburgh, it had national-level ambitions from the beginning. By 1850 it had 40 branches, growing to eventually to 137 branches. At its height it was second in size only to the Bank of Scotland. In 1959 a merger saw it become National Commercial Bank of Scotland and a decade later it was absorbed into the Royal Bank of Scotland. The bank's archives suggest that the Largo bank building cost £748.10 but that a later payment of £56 was made to Scott in connection with the building in 1860 (likely relating to alterations once operational). 
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The above notice appeared in the 12 March 1857 Fife Herald announcing that Alexander Robertson had been appointed as Bank Agent at Largo. This appears to mark the official beginning of the bank operation, as it is from that year that regular references to the Largo Bank can be found in the local newspapers. 1857 was also the year that William Robinson Ketchen came to Elie from Edinburgh to take charge of the National Bank there. Ketchen (pictured below from the Fife Illustrated News Almanac of 1902), along with other members of his family, would go on to feature prominently in the history of the Largo branch.

By 1858, William Ketchen's younger brother Thomas had become agent at Largo, effectively acting as assistant to William who had oversight of both branches. Thomas Ketchen remained in the role of agent at Largo for decades and is recorded as living in the bank house in four consecutive census records. In 1861 he was at the bank house along with his parents William and Harriet, as well as a servant. A decade later he was recorded with just his widower father and a servant. In 1881 it was only Thomas and a servant in residence but by the 1891 census Thomas had his retired brother Alexander and the latter's wife, living with him, plus a servant. 
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The extracts above from the 1866 Westwood's Directory show that there was also a Savings' Bank and Insurance Agency run by Thomas Ketchen. Below is a list of the various National Bank branch agents in the wider local area in 1858. Of course the agent was supported by a small team of bank clerks. In 1881, two teenage sons of Reverend David Malloch (John and David) were bank clerks at Largo. In 1884, Lundin Links born John Bremner came to work at the Largo branch. He was the younger brother of local postmistress Margaret Bremner and he would go on to manage the National Bank of Scotland at St Enoch Square in Glasgow for 25 years. In fact John Malloch went on to marry Ann Bremner (elder sister of John Bremner, his co-worker at the bank).
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In 1893, Henry Martin Ketchen, son of William Robinson Ketchen became joint-agent at Largo with his father. His uncles, Thomas and Alexander Ketchen, both died in 1894. Henry undertook legal work in the Largo area and was the Secretary of the Largo Granary Company. In 1897, W. R. Ketchen, now retired moved to Largo, where he took a great interest in public life and was elected to Largo County Council. He later moved back to Elie, where he died in 1901.

It was around that time that Ketchen's former apprentice, John More Dall, took over at Largo, remaining there until his retiral in 1930. The National Bank expanded its network of branches in the aftermath of the First World War and in 1921 the directors decided to open a branch at Lundin Links, as a sub-branch of Largo and to protect its business in the locality in the face of competition from the Commercial Bank of Scotland and the British Linen Bank. The sub-branch thrived and made a significant contribution to the profits of the Largo parent bank. During the 1930s there were three banks within the row of businesses on Leven Road, Lundin Links.

In 1930, Guy McConnell succeeded John More Dall, having moved to Largo from the chief office in Glasgow. He had previously worked in branches in Leven and Kirkcaldy. Like earlier bank agents, McConnell had a number of other roles within the community including auditor for the Largo Silver Band (see notice below from 7 Feb 1939 Leven Advertiser) and treasurer of the Largo and Newburn Nursing Association. He remained as Largo agent into the 1940s.

The Second World War had a huge impact on the National Bank of Scotland as a whole, and on the Largo branch in particular. Three members of staff from the Largo branch joined the war effort, one of whom was killed in action. Rival banks ended up closing their branches in Lundin Links, enabling the National Bank to take over the prominent corner site on Leven Road at Crescent Road. At the end of the war this branch was elevated to full branch status (and eventually would subsume the Upper Largo bank).
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​By 1950, Guy McConnell had left the Largo bank was living in Anstruther.  James M Johnston became agent at Largo but by now there had been a shift in the dynamics between Upper Largo and Lundin Links. The notice above appeared in the Leven Mail each week in May 1958, highlighting the imminent closure of the original branch. Its last day open was 31 May 1958, bringing a century of banking on the Upper Largo site to an end. The branch's business was transferred to the Lundin Links branch on Leven Road, pictured below. The bank building in Upper Largo became a private residence.
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John More Dall, pictured above, was born in 1863 in Elie to blacksmith John Dall and his wife Agnes More. He grew up at the smithy on the back dykes at Elie, but by the 1881 census John was living on the High Street with his maternal grandmother and two older sisters, while employed as a 'Law Clerk (apprentice)'. His employment was in the offices of William Robinson Ketchen (pictured below from the 1902 Fife News Illustrated Almanac). Ketchen was a banker and solicitor who had come to Elie in 1857 to act as National Bank agent for the branches at Elie and Largo. Ketchen was also prominent in public life, being instrumental in forming Elie Golf Club and acting as Provost of Elie for six years. Ketchen provided John More Dall with a firm grounding in both law and banking.

Dall also introduced a Savings Bank for Largo and District. This was overseen by a group of directors drawn from the local community and was available to locals at set times each week at locations across the three villages - the Bank in Upper Largo, the Baptist Church Session House in Lower Largo and the Temperance Hall in Lundin Links. The directors included local clergymen, builders and other prominent men who were active in the public sphere. This included Inspector of the Poor Robert Black and Largo Estate gardener Robert Smith.

In 1909, John remarried, to Margaret Graham. They went on to have four children together - Mary (b. 1907), John (b. 1909), Helen (b. 1913, d. 1914) and Christina (b.1916, d. 1917). The 1911 census records the family at Bank House. The household comprised, John, his wife Margaret, his three eldest daughters, two younger children (aged 4 and 1) and a servant. A decade later, the couple were in the same home together with four children and servant. John was then aged 57 and still described as a 'bank agent' with National Bank of Scotland Limited.

During his years in Largo, John became an active member of Largo Curling Club, Largo Bowling Club and Lundin Golf Club. He wrote the history of Largo Curling Club when he was club secretary there. He was joint secretary and treasurer of Lundin Golf Club for fourteen years. The 15 July 1924 Leven Advertiser told of how "Mr's Dall's minute book was as neatly kept as his cash and other books, and he grudged no time in the performance of the duties which came under the combined offices".

The pair of 'then and now' images above compare the Upper Largo Hotel (then named Largo Hotel) of circa 1970 with the hotel as it looks in more recent times. The hotel was acquired in the summer of 1969 by Sylvia and Bob Harbert, who went on to refurbish the establishment and add the stone extension. The hotel comprised rooms, a cocktail bar, a lounge bar and a restaurant, which gained a reputation for its good food. As the Harbert's son Ashley points out, this was the heyday of prawn cocktail, sirloin steak and Black Forest gateau, accompanied by a bottle of Liebfraumilch. That said, it was the haddock and chips that proved especially popular.

The images above are from a promotional flyer, highlighting the key features of the hotel, which the Harberts turned into a thriving business. Additional bedrooms were added in 1972. Note the hotel restaurant had a wine list on each table. The pictures on the restaurant walls showcased other establishments that the Harberts had run over the years, including the Clayhall Tavern in Bow, London and the Tudor Rose in Hemel Hempstead. 
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Bob and Sylvia can be seen standing proudly behind the bar in the photograph below. Notice the last orders bell on the left and the glass fishing floats hanging above the bar. If you remember the Harberts and the hotel during this era, please leave a comment. The pair moved on in 1974, to build a new hotel in Blairgowrie. They had a painting of the Largo Hotel made, which went on to grace the walls of their later establishments.

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Margaret MacDougall Nicoll was born in Largo in 1882, the second child of Kirkton schoolmaster Thomas Nicoll. and his wife Annie Morgan. The couple had five children - William (1880), Margaret (1882), Robert (1886), Mary (1888) and Annie (1892). Margaret and her siblings attended Kirkton of Largo Primary School, where their father was master for 35 years.

The above school group photograph dates to circa 1900 and features Thomas Nicoll and Mary, younger sister of Margaret. There are also some other Nicolls from another family. This photo appeared in the 25 May 1966 Fife Mail. At the time this photograph was taken Margaret would have moved on to Waid Academy in Anstruther, where she excelled in her studies and qualified for a Queen's Scholarship to study at St Andrews University (see 4 August 1899 East of Fife Record piece below). 

Margaret continued her career and by the 1921 census, she was living alone at Greycot (pictured above) on Upper Largo's Main Street, and was recorded as a 'School Teacher'. Subsequently she lived at Viewfield on South Feus (pictured in the centre of the image below) with her sister Annie (who was also a teacher) and it was there that she passed away on 10 June 1962 aged 79 years. Margaret had a long association with St David's Church in Lower Largo, and had been Treasurer there as well as honorary president of the Women's Guild. Below is the notice of her memorial service held 17 June 1962. Two years later, the recast bell of St David's Church was dedicated to her memory. 

The Fairy Bridge crosses the Keil Burn at the north end of Keil's Den, just south Balmain Farm and north of Pitcruvie Castle. The map below from 1857 shows that it was once between two quarries, suggesting both the reason for its creation and the source of the stone from which it was constructed. It is linked to the road that passes Auchindownie by a short farm track. The origins of the 'Fairy Bridge' name are discussed in the 1931 book 'Bygone Fife', where James Wilkie writes of the traditions, legends and folklore of the Kingdom. He describes Keil's Den as "that notorious haunt of witches" and "a haunt of fairies as well as witches". Referring to the fairies, he continues:

"They held their revels on the green haugh at the northern end, where the ruins of the castle, once a stronghold of the Lindsays of Pitcruvie, or the Byres, look down on the Keil Burn. The bridge that spans the stream is still known as the Fairy Bridge".
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The ambiguity around the age of the stone bridge is also touched upon by Wilkie. 

"Over the Fairy Bridge, whensoever and by whomsoever erected, the wayfarer may pass out of the haunted den to farms so well known in mystic lore as Balmain and Fairyfield, and climb the slopes of Norrie's Law, where the herd blew his fatal blast and foiled the attempt to solve the riddle of the buried treasure. There still lingers a vague memory of the days when the retainers in Pitcruvie Castle crossed the bridge to the spot where they exercised in arms....In fairyland seven years are as three days; time is after all an arbitrary conception, and it is difficult to fix dates dealt with in tradition. So the age of the bridge may be left to the imagination."

However, Wilkie also notes that this was the site of an earlier timber bridge. A wooden bridge was certainly built in the vicinity in 1760. It is recorded in the minutes of the Kirk Session that local wright, James Murray was paid £10, 13s, 4d for its construction. A footnote in Wilkie's book tells us that the name of Fairyfield Farm was changed, as the fairies "shrink from direct mention". The photograph below of the bridge was captured by local chemist Peter Cowie, who was also a keen photographer, like many in that profession at the time.
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The free-stone quarry by the Fairy Bridge was the source of the stone use to build the present Wood's Hospital (also known as John Wood's Houses) in Upper Largo. The advert above from 1831 is for the sale of the quarry after completion of the hospital. So the bridge must be older than that date. It's intriguing to imagine horses with loads of quarried stone navigating the bridge, as it made its way south to Kirkton of Largo for the construction of imposing James Leslie designed building (see map below for context and image of Wood's Hospital further below). There was said to be a stone on the bridge which states that it was restored by General James Durham in 1836.

The 'Suggested Walks and Places of Interest' pamphlet by Largo Field Studies Society describes the walk to the Fairy Bridge as follows...

From Upper Largo "take the road past the school. Go straight on at the cross road, downhill and across the road bridge over the Keil Burn. On the right view the remains of Pitcruvie Castle. Follow the road until the wood ends on the right. In spring a track skirting what was the wooded area can be traced to the Fairy Bridge but in summer it is liable to be overgrown."

This booklet also notes that the bridge was said to have been used by cadgers taking fish from Anstruther and other places in the East Neuk to the Royal Palace in Falkland, when the King was in residence. Whether that is true or not, the bridge is on the direct route as the crow flies from Anstruther to Falkland. The postcard image below suggests that the Fairy Bridge once provided a handy vantage point for recreational fishing. Nowadays access to the spot is more challenging, adding to the mystery of this forgotten source of folklore.
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