Sky cloudless at 7.30 but soon got overcast + there was a short but heavy fall of snow which degenerated into a drizzling rain. About 2 there was a blink of sunshine. Strongish E. to N.E. wind. Saw 7 town cases. A case of suspected Diphtheria from Sinton1 was sent in by Dr Haddon, Hawick.2 Freezing at night. Went to concert organised by the Ex. Serv. Assoc.3 Bell of Gala4 : Miss Menhilay5 a contralto + a chap on the dulcimer were good. I came out before the end. Miss Wallace6 + Mrs Mack7 came over + had a bite [?]. Barometer : 29.0. 29.64
1 There had been a significant outbreak of Diphtheria in the Selkirk area very early in the 1920s.
2 David Alexander Ross Haddon (1890-1979), medical practitioner, at Buccleuch Street, Hawick, 1921 Census.
3 Assume Ex-Servicemen’s Association.
4 Bell of Gala appears occasionally in Dr Muir’s diaries but he has not yet been identified.
5 Miss Mentilay is unidentified but may well be Catherine Mentiplay, an operatic contralto performing at this time – including in 1922 in Elijah for the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union.
6 Miss Jane Wallace (1874-), nurse to the Roberts children, Dr Muir’s grandchildren [see diary entries for 6 April 1915, 22 October 1916 and 7 April 1918 and 1911 Census].
7 Agnes Mackintosh née Watson, formerly Harper (1859-1946), of Elm Park, Selkirk.
[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 