The barometer has not been above ‘12 o’clock’ for weeks till today but for all that there were one or two slight showers in the forenoon otherwise it was a fine bright day with very little wind N. I went to morning service in the Victoria Hall1 which was fairly well filled. Before that I cycled to Ettrick Terrace, Raeburn Place + Hospital. Spent the afternoon doing book work + in the evening made preparation for a possible run tomorrow. I was able to allow Bella2 out for the first time since Helen3 left.4
1 At a meeting of the Session it had been decided to worship at the Victoria Hall for the five to seven weeks it was going to take for the church to be painted, see Dr Muir’s diary entry for 19 August 1923.
2 Isabella ‘Bella’ Paulin (1873-?1952), the Muir family housekeeper, daughter of James Paulin, groom, and Grace Paulin née Cranston, born Ladykirk, Berwickshire [Sources include: ‘A Souter’s Bairn, recollections of life in Selkirk’ by Jenny Corbett with Avril Jack, published Selkirk Common Good Fund, 1993].
3 Helen Frances ‘Mousey’ Muir (1880-1963), Dr Muir’s third daughter and sometime housekeeper.
4 The Editor finds in outrageous that Dr Muir’s housekeeper hasn’t had a day off, as seems to be reported here, since Helen travelled south to Haslemere with Dr Muir on 16 July 1923.
[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/26, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1923]
Rumbling Clint's Scottish Notes 