3 February 1922 diary of Dr John Stewart Muir (1845-1938) of Selkirk

A raw cold day with so rain + a little sleety snow at night. East [wind]. I had several morning consults: + at 11 gave Chlor[oform] to Miss Barton¹ (cousin of And. B.²) for appendectomy + to Mrs Jeffrey³ for Colporrhaphy⁴. This took till 2. I was going to motor round town after but David⁵ asked [sic] the Swift⁶ for Lilliesleaf so I walked + finished at 7. Dobie⁷ ex constable died at Victoria Hall.

¹ Miss Barton has not been identified

² Andrew Barton (about 1849-1927), farmer, born Castleton, Roxburghshire but at Morningside Farm, Logiealmond, Perthshire, 1901 Census and tenant at Oakwoodmill, Selkirk with James Barton, 1920 and 1930 Valuation Rolls; he married 1892, Stirling, Rebecca or Rebekah Monti Garden Grant, he died aet 78 in 1927 and his tenancy was taken over by his son William

³ Mrs Jeffrey is unidentified

⁴ Colporrhaphy is a surgical procedure to repair pelvic organ prolapse

⁵ David Charteris ‘Dav.’ Graham (1889-1963), M.B., medical practitioner and Dr Muir’s business partner

⁶ The Swift Motor Company made Swift Cars in Coventry; it is not clear which model Dr Muir owned of this small motor manufacturer’s many products but it had been the ‘workhorse’ car for the practice since Dr Muir had acquired it some time before August 1914

⁷ John Dobie (1234-1922), police constable, retired, died of “pneumonia after influenza” at the Victoria Hall, Scott’s Place, Selkirk, where he was caretaker and lived in a house adjacent (according the the Valuation Roll, though it seems more likely that he stayed in one of the flats on site) that was, along with the Hall itself, part of the Common Good; born 1859 at Prestonkirk, Haddingtonshire, he was in 1901 at the Police House, Caddonfoot, with his family [birth, 1859, 689/27, Inveresk and Musselburgh; death, 1922, 778/15, Selkirk; 1901 Census 774/A 3/ 7, page 7 of 13; 1921 Valuation Roll, VR007900012-/123, Selkirk Burgh, page 123 of 644]

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/25, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1922]