A better day : fair amount of sunshine but still the same cold N. wind. Cycled round the town + then out to West Essenside.1 Felt rather fagged + stopped in the Dryden quarry2 for a rest + a smoke. Had to go [to] Hospital a 2 time to see a boy McWilliam who had been delirious + got out of the ward quite naked + cut his head.3 Went to a performance of ‘A Nicht’s Wark’ in Victoria Hall4 with Mrs Mack5 + Erskine6. Sent truss away to Salt + Son.7
1 Dr Muir had been attending the Heard family at West Essenside, Ashkirk, grid reference NGR NT442,201.
2 Signs of the quarry are visible on the east side of the A7 as one travels northwards up the hill past Ashkirk and the Dryden farm entry, see image below.
3 Assume Robert James McWilliam (1917-1983), see Dr Muir’s diary entry for 13 September 1922.
4 A Nicht’s Wark, a “very clever little Border sketch” had been produced previously the winter before and on this occasion preceded the Cricket Club Jubilee Ball at the Victoria Hall [Southern Reporter, 21 September 2022].
5 Agnes Mackintosh née Watson, formerly Harper (1859-1946), of Elm Park, Selkirk.
6 James ‘Erskine’ Harper (1887-1953), barrister, son of Ebenezer Erskine Harper, sheriff substitute, and Agnes Harper née Watson, later Mackintosh; brother of Agnes Durnford née Harper.
7 Salt & Son were medical suppliers in Edinburgh and Glasgow from whom Dr Muir had acquired a celluloid truss which was uncomfortable, see diary entries for 6 and 8 September 1922.
[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/25, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1922]
Rumbling Clint's Scottish Notes 