Fine up till midday + then showery. Mild S.E. to S. Had a very busy day, there were 9 or 10 new messages. I saw some 20 town cases: dressed Mrs Nichol, Miss Lunn, Miss Jenkins + F Roberts + went to Beechwood, Thirladean, Bowhill N. Lodge, Black Andro + Newarkburn. At 9 Mrs Dewar, Prieston sent for me + the baby was born a long time before I arrived¹. Guy¹, Helen + Dora came up from Newstead + spent the day. Bk [?] Holiday + Kelso races.

¹ Beatrice Dewar was born at Prieston, Bowden, Roxburghshire, 19 April 1920

² Assume Gavin Struthers ‘Guy’ Muir (1846-1927), Dr Muir’s brother

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/23, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1920]

Heard Willow Wren¹ near Greenhead.

Not such a brilliant morning as yesterday but the sun shone out by 9 + it was a glorious day up till 4 or 5 when it became darker. S.E. + then S.W. [wind] + glass dropping again. I went to bed only partially undressed last night expecting to be called up for Mrs Murray but nothing happened. Cycled to Yarrow Terrace + saw D. [Dr Graham] dress Mrs Nichol: then went on to Bannerfield, Ravensheugh + Broomfield where I a ‘Phone [sic] had come for me to see Mrs Murray, Backfeus² + I found all over when I arrived³ . Mrs Colville⁴ had managed. Walked out to Greenhead. Went to evening service with Do. [Dora Muir]. David [Graham] left for London, motoring to Gala to catch the Pullman. Lumgair motored him in the afternoon to Rinkhope, Ramseycleuch + Borthwickbrae.

¹ The Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus; Dr Muir is anachronistic in naming it a Wren (the name was standardised in the 1840s), though it may have been what he was taught as a young boy with an interest in nature

² Back Fues, Selkirk, almost opposite Viewfield

³ Assume Charles Baxter Murray, born 1920

³ Mrs Colville may be Mary Colville née Douglas of Bridge Street, Selkirk, the wife of Alexander Colville

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/23, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1920]

A glorious morning: brilliant sunshine which continued all day though there was some cloud in afternoon. It wasn’t too warm however with an E. to S.E. wind. Still it was a delicious change from the weather of the last 3 weeks. Was called ^bef to Mrs Murray, Backfeus, but nothing happened. Saw her again before I went to bed. Cycled to Bannerfield, Broomfield, + Henhouse. Finished addressing + arranging the town accounts. Helen in Edinburgh with Nancy, Louise + Esau¹. They were at a theatre.

¹ This appears to be a family joke, see also diary entry for 15 April 1920

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/23, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1920]

Breakfasted at 7.15 as Mr Brown had to leave by the 8.13. It seems that Brown had a great deal to do with the Concerts arranged by the Vair Turnbulls during the war + sang here on the occasion when Miss. F. T. recited¹. It was dull, calm + mild but fair in forenoon. Some rain at 2. Motored to Ettrickhaugh Road, Bannerfield, Ettrickbank Mill + Faldonside. Forgot Bridgelands so cycled there + up by the Butts to Greenhead, an awful road². Gave Chlor[oform] to Mrs Nichol, Yarrow Terrace at 5 when David opened a septic abscess in the abdomen wall. Helen [Muir] was all day at Elmpark. Dora³ came at 7.30 fatter than ever!

¹ It is probably this concert of Friday 23 October 1914 that Dr Muir is referring to “… In the evening we all went to a concert got up by Mrs Allan and Mrs Turnbull. Mad(ame) Annie Gray & her husband Mr Wade, a Mrs Summers, soprano, Mr G Brown, baritone and Miss [Oliver], pianist took part. Miss Vair Turnbull recited in costume and I recited “Dae ye Mind” and “Wilhelm the Only”. Lady Dalkeith presided: Boy Scouts assisted and there was a group of children dressed as characters. The hall was crammed, and the proceeds came to £85: all the performers and the Charlie Roberts went to supper at Mauldsheugh, the Vair Turnbulls being the entertainers.”

¹ The Butts are on the Selkirk Hills; Dr Muir has cut across to the north east of Selkirk

³ Andrina Dorothy ‘Dora’ Muir (1882-1978), nurse and Dr Muir’s youngest daughter

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/23, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1920]

Was knocked up shortly after going to bed about 11 drunk + at 12.30 got message to a confinement at Greenhead (Mrs James Hermiston). Walked out. It was fair + some stars visible. Got the case over at 6.15¹ + walked home in drizzle. It rained more or less all day. S.W. [wind] mild. Motored to Dunn, Ravensheugh, Bannerfield + Bridgelands (James Hardie). Saw one or two others. Put up a section of the Town accounts + had a snooze. Went to performance of Joshua² in Church which was crammed. Was disappointed not with the performance but with the oratorios. Mr Brown, the bass soloist, a very nice fellow stayed here. “Esau” went with us³.

¹ Jessie Hardie Hermiston, born 15 April 1920, daughter of James Baxter Hermiston, ploughman, and Jessie Nicol Gresson, woollen millworker, married 24 April 1914, at Selkirk Manse

² Joshua (HWV 64), an oratorio by George Frideric Handel

³ Esau was the favoured child, so perhaps this is a quirky biblical reference to one of his grandchildren, otherwise the allusion is lost on the Editor

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/23, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1920]

Wind S.E., S. + finally S.W., but very little improvement. No sunshine and some rain in afternoon: clouds low. Roads filthy. I saw 5 cases + went to Gib. + Lum¹. D. [Graham] was to have come up at 2 to help address the accounts but was prevented. I addressed, stamped + sorted all the County ones, 75 in number. The income for 1919-20 will not be under £2,233. Helen went with Nancy to the meet at Borthwickbrae + at night went down to Mauldsheugh. I had a letter from Jean² saying she is going to acquire the business of a cooked food depot for £235 + get married.

¹ Gibson & Lumgair, woollen manufacturers, of St Mary’s Mill, Selkirk

² Jane Henderson Logan ‘Jean’ Pike née Muir (1877-1941), Dr Muir’s eldest daughter; she married in June 1920

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/23, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1920]

Clouds a little higher this morning + fair in forenoon but very wet one O’clock onwards. The sun milder. Wind E. to S. Cycled round town, Ettrickhaugh, Ashybank +c + saw some cases walking. Altogether saw 18 cases before 2. Finished the accounts + made out the list to [the letter] M. D. [David Graham] was up Ettrick + did Crook Cottages when there was a message. He was called to see Agnes Durnford’s baby¹ + prescribed Paraffin.

¹ Stanley John Harper Durnford (1920-1995), son of Norman Stanley M Durnford and Agnes Durnford née Harper, he married Pauline Hansford 1946 and died Bath, Somerset 1995; an army officer, he was a prisoner on the Burma Railway and a volume of Captain Durnford’s war poems ‘A Form of Consolation: poems 1942-1945’ was privately published by the author in 1985 [Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030010795%5D

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/23, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1920]

Another dull sunless day cold east windy day with slight drizzle in the morning + heavy rain from 5 onwards: most depressing. Was called out after breakfast to Mrs Lauder, wife of a mugger in the Backrow. The child¹ was born in my absence at 9.30. D. [David Graham] operated on one of the Lunns, Ivybank² for Hallux valgus + I gave chlor[oform]. Saw a few cases + settled down to the accounts. Wrote out dietary for Mrs J Stenhouse³ who I find has Diabetes. A jackdaw tumbled down my chimney last week + today Helen [Muir] found another in the spare room which must have been there at least a week + had made a smell.

¹ Maggie Lauder was born 12 April 1920, her father was a potter or person who peddled pots

² Walter John Lunn, clerk, was living at Ivybank, Hillside Terrace, Selkirk, 1920 Valuation Roll

³ Not identified, there are two people called John Stenhouse in Selkirk in the 1920 Valuation Roll

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/23, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1920]

Snowing or at any rate sleeting this morning. + snow visible on Greenhead. It was cold + wet all forenoon but faired towards evening. No sun. Was at both services. A Mr Costain¹ from Colwyn Bay preached in the morning. The only County work was to Black Andro to which D. said he would walk.

¹ The Reverend Alfred James ‘A J’ Costain (1881-1963) Methodist minister, sometime headmaster of the Rydal School, Pwllycrochan Avenue, Colwyn Bay with “very liberal views and Liberal political inclinations”, he was related to the Costain family building company and an obscure fact about him is that he contributed to naming Dolphin Square, Pimlico, London at one time “the largest self-contained block of flats in Europe” [Sir Nikolaus Pevsner] when he mentioned that the school magazine was called ‘The Dolphin’ and proposed Dolphin Court though in the end the layout of the buildings prompted Costains to settle on Dolphin Square [Sources: R Loudon and E G S Paige ‘Alan Frank Gibson. 30 May 1923-27 March 1988’, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society Vol. 37 (Nov., 1991), pp. 220-244 [via http://www.jstor.com]; Births Dec 1881, Costain, Alfred James, W. Derby 8b 507 and Deaths Jun 1963, Costain, Alfred James, Pwllheli, 8a 180 and here]

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/23, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1920]

Back to cold + wet. Actually a sprinkling of snow on hills. Pretty wet in afternoon. Fair in forenoon. Meet of hounds at Bowhill. Helen cycled with Nancy. I saw 6 town cases + then stuck at the accounts all day.

¹ Agnes Amelia ‘Nancy’ Roberts née Muir (1878-1948) and Helen Frances ‘Mousey’ Muir (1880-1963), Dr Muir’s second and third daughters respectively

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/23, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1920]