This transcription and editing project is about to enter its eleventh year. It is time for a little reflection. With the 1914 edits we encountered Dr Muir at something like his peak, full of confidence and energy, with the rushed but consistent handwriting of a typical medic. As a sole practitioner he was at the heart of things. At 78 he has slowed down noticeably, with unsteady and variable handwriting. The single biggest change however was Dr Muir’s decision in 1920 to enter into a medical co-partnery, as he called it. Whether David Charteris Graham, the hard-charging young medic who liked spending time at Bowhill and travelled far-and-wide for shooting parties, was the right choice is moot. What is not was its impact on Dr Muir, who was very much playing second fiddle by 1923.
As a result, after much thought and some consultation, it has been decided to shift publication of the transcripts from 100 years ago to 120 years. One hundred years was an obvious decision at the time, as we received the diaries during the week before the start of the commemorations of the First World War. There is no such consideration now.
From reading the later diaries we already know that Dr Muir’s diaries prior to his death in 1938 are a study of someone in deep old age. This is important and interesting but we judge the medical content to be of greater historical significance. What is proposed therefore is to complete the 1923 diary and then shift to the 1904 volume and move forward from there. However, because there were important family and civic events in 1924 and onwards, the Editor proposes to publish occasional edits from the 100 year old diaries alongside the comprehensive publication of the 1 January 1904 to August 1914 series.
Do let the Editor know your views.
Rumbling Clint's Scottish Notes 