VINTAGE LUNDIN LINKS AND LARGO
  • Blog

Post War Tourist Guide and Alexander Selkirk Book

10/12/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture

The previous post covered the annual guide booklet for tourists to Largo, which was produced in the 1930s by the Largo Parish Community Council. After the Second World War a new style of tourist guide was published covering a wider geographical area. Entitled the 'Tourist Guide to the Vicinity of Largo Bay', this guide was put together by Leven man George Dingwall and encompassed the area from Wemyss Castle in the west to St Monan's Kirk in the east. Like the earlier guides, this one featured Alexander Selkirk's statue on the front cover, contained many photographic illustrations and delved into the history of the area, as well as praising the many amenities and natural features along the coast.

Picture

The guide was published in 1946 and was heavily advertised in the local press. Above is an advert from the 3 July Leven Advertiser of that year. The guide book was advertised again after the end of the main summer season - this time being pitched as a Christmas gift for the "scattered natives" who might appreciate the 12 local illustrations and many stories of "native haunts". The advert below appeared in the 16 October 1946 Leven Advertiser. By this time more than two thousand copies of the guide had already been sold.

Picture
Picture

​The guide was re-advertised the following year, with a quote from a Daily Record journalist, stating that the guide was "packed as full as an egg with history, legend, romance and information" (2 July 1947 Leven Mail). Spurred on by the success of his tourist guide book, George Dingwall followed it up in 1951 with a new publication. This time it was a book about Largo's Alexander Selkirk, entitled "The Story of Alexander Selkirk: The True Robinson Crusoe". 

Picture
Picture

Of course, much had been written before then about Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721) and much more has been written since. It's unclear how successful Dingwall's publication was. This year is the 300th anniversary of the death of Selkirk, which follows closely on from the 300th anniversary two years ago of the publication of Daniel Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe'. In fact it was on 13 December 1721 that the eventful life of Alexander Selkirk came to an end. 

On 21 December 1720, the HMS Weymouth set off from Plymouth for the West Coast of Africa with Selkirk onboard. The purpose of the voyage was to seek out and destroy the pirates who preyed upon British ships there. At the end of May 1721 they arrived at what is now Ghana. Within weeks a tropical disease began to spread through the ship. As Rick Wilson put it in the book 'The Man Who Was Robinson Crusoe', "the sounds of distress emanating from the hammocks below grew lounder as the fever and jaundice took its toll. The doomed men vomited, shivered and bled from the eyes and mouth." By late October many men had been lost to what is now supposed to have been Yellow Fever. The ship's log of 13 December noted matter-of-factly that "at 8pm Mr Alexander Selkirk died". The ship lay off Ghana's Cape Coast at the time. He was buried at sea - one of 180 men to die on the voyage.
​
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    About

    This blog is about the history of the villages of Lundin Links, Lower Largo and Upper Largo in Fife, Scotland. Comments and contributions from readers are very welcome!

    Search

    There is no in-built search facility on this site. To search for content, go to Google and type your search words followed by "lundin weebly".

    Contact

    Categories

    All
    Antiquities
    Beach
    Boarding Houses
    Business
    Churches
    Clubs And Societies
    Drummochy
    Facilities
    Farming
    Fishing
    Golf
    Houses
    Keil's Den
    Largo Law
    Lower Largo
    Masseney Braes
    New Gilston
    People
    Railway
    School
    Shops
    Standing Stanes
    Streets
    Tourism
    Upper Largo
    Viaduct
    War

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Links

    Largo Baywatch Blog
    Fife Family History Society
    ​
    Polish Parachute Brigade Info​

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.