22 June 1921 diary of Dr John Stewart Muir (1845-1938) of Selkirk

Dull cold day: hardly a glint of sunshine. Inclined to rain at night. N.W. to W. Dav.¹ had 3 operations 1^st little George Piercy² with appendicitis + he nearly went under the Chlor[oform] 2^nd Mrs Palfrey jun^{r 3} curetting + stitching the cervix 3^rd Miss Thomson⁴ (from Haining) tubercular necrosis of [illegible]. I was at Viewfield from 11 to 2.15 + didn’t do much else. Saw Mrs Leslie⁵ + Bessie Nichol⁶, Oakhurst, twice. There is a case of appendicitis coming in from Middlestead (Snowie⁷). Mrs Robert Beattie had a son⁸ on the floor (placenta + cord entire) before I arrived.

¹ David Charteris ‘Dav.’ Graham (1889-1963), M.B., medical practitioner and Dr Muir’s business partner

² The best match is George Arthur Stenhouse Piercy, born 1911 at Ormiston, Haddington, but whose parents had lived at Clackmae, Melrose when they married at Earlston in 1894

³ Mrs Palfrey junior is likely to be Isabella Jarvie née Palfrey (1884-1957) who stayed at the Palfrey home Broomfield, Station Haugh, Selkirk

⁴ George Thomson, dairyman, was tenant at Bog Cottage, Haining, and Robert Thomson, shepherd, was Inhabitant Occupier not rated at the Stables, Haining [both 1921 Valuation Roll, VR011700009-/326, Selkirk County, page 326 of 611]

⁵ Lizzie Davidson Leslie née Douglas (1887-1941), wife of Robert Vair Leslie, warehouseman and tenant at 22 Forest Road, Selkirk; they had married 1912 at Selkirk [1921 Valuation Roll, VR007900012-/171, Selkirk Burgh, page 171 of 644; birth 1887, 778/ 73, Selkirk; marriage 1912, 778/ 28, Selkirk]

⁶ Elizabeth Dodds ‘Bessie’ Nichol née Elliot (1875-?1947), of Oakhurst, Viewfield Park, Selkirk, wife of John S Nichol, mill manager [marriage Elliot, Elizabeth Dodds, 1902, 803/ 2, Roxburgh]

⁷ Helen Wood Snowie, daughter of Alexander Snowie, ploughman, and Elizabeth Swan Snowie née Ruckbie; he was Inhabitant Occupier not rated of a house at Middlestead, Selkirk [1921 Valuation Roll, VR011700009-/327, Selkirk County, page 327 of 611]

⁸ Adam Beattie, born 22 June 1921 at 39 Kirkwynd, Selkirk, son of Robert Beattie, wool scourer, and Helen Beattie née Symington, married 28 April 1905 at Selkirk [birth 1921, 778/ 68, Selkirk]

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/24, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1921]