Left at 6.8 (after having to get out through a window ( as the doors were all locked + I couldn’t find a key) + went via New Luce to Barhill [Barrhill]¹. After New Luce the road is very rough + steep until Glenwhilly. On the top there was a thin wetting mist + it was not a very enjoyable time. Got a middling [?] breakfast at Barhill. Ran down Duisk Burn to Pinwherry + thence by a good road following the railway to within a mile of Girvan³. There I turned S along the coast by Bennane Head⁴. It turned out a very pleasant day, though hazy + the slight S. wind, though against me, was only pleasant. Enjoyed the rock scenery around Kennedy’s Pass + Bennane Head. Tried to get some choc [?] at Ballantrae but failed. Inspected Ardstinchar Castle⁵. Found Glen App spoild [sic] + the road terribly cut up. Had a nice tea at Cairn Ryan + got home at 6.15 having run 67.2 miles. Had a stroll after dinner.

¹ Dr Muir has taken the minor road north via New Luce, grid reference NGR NX174,647, and Glenwhilly, NX174,713, to join the Newton Stewart to Girvan main road at Barrhill

² Dr Muir went northwards from Barrhill NX232,823 along what is now the A714 and until Pinwherry, NX197,869, also ran alongside the Duisk River until it joins the River Stinchar (which Dr Muir recrossed later in the day) heading westwards while he continued northwards through Pinmore and Pinminnoch

³ Dr Muir almost certainly turned south at the junction where a roundabout now stands at grid reference NX184,964 – the milepost immediately north of the junction states “Girvan …. 1” – see Ordnance Survey 6 inch Ayrshire Sheet LV.NE, published 1897

⁴ Dr Muir’s ride along the coat took him through Kennedy’s Pass, NX148931, Lendalfoot, Bennane Head, NX091,866 (where Dr Muir probably followed the then unfenced road west of Meikle Bennane Farm – then called Big Bennane – and very close to the headland – see 6″ Ayrshire heet LX.SE & LXI.SW, published 1909 – whereas the road now runs inland and east of the farm) to Ballantrae, NX083,826 and Ardstinchar Castle, NX086,824

⁵ The part of Glen App thus spoiled would probably been the glen itself (not to be confused with Glenapp House and its policies to the north) as the loop inland turns back towards the coast and Cairnryan, NX065,685, from where it must be pointed out Dr Muir still had a stiff run back to Glenluce via Castle Kennedy

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/22, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1919]

A day very like yesterday but with no sunshine to speak of. Breakfasted 9.3. Wrote Nancy¹ + Frank Muir². The latter is in London + Helen³, in a letter which I did not see till this morning, enclosed one from him. Sent P.C.s [postcards] to Jean + Dora⁴. Went to morning service in the U.F. [United Free] Church + took a walk to the old castle, House of Park. Had high tea at 4 + wrote Helen. Went to evening service at Parish church when a clergyman from Ayrshire preached. The choir sang “How beautiful upon the mountains”⁶. Was quite alone in the Hotel for a time in the evening.

¹ Agnes Amelia ‘Nancy’ Roberts née Muir (1878-1948), Dr Muir’s second daughter

² Assume Frank Logan Muir (1863-1923), J.P., railway employee and Dr Muir’s nephew; he was the son of James Logan Muir (1834-1914), East India Merchant and Euphemia Wight, brother of Isabel Scott Kippen née Muir (1867-1951) and Amy Wilson Muir (1872-1917) and brother in law of John Stewart Newbigging ‘Jack’ Kippen. He married Flora Isabella Rowbotham, 14 July 1890, Bombay

³ Helen Frances ‘Mousey’ Muir (1880-1963), Dr Muir’s third daughter

⁴ Jane Henderson Logan ‘Jean’ Muir (1877-1941) and Andrina Dorothy ‘Dora’ Muir (1882-1978), Dr Muir’s eldest and youngest daughters respectively

⁵ Castle of Park, just west of Glenluce and over the Water of Luce, a 16th-century L-plan tower house now maintained and run as a holiday let by the Landmark Trust

⁶ “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”, Isaiah 52:7.

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/22, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1919]

Wind round to W. but almost imperceptible. A rather chilly day but with sunshine at times. Perfect for cycling. Left about 10 + went to Sandhead (where I ascended the moat¹), Drummore, Mull of Galloway, Kirkmaiden, Port Logan + back the way I came. Saw beautiful pink Saxifrage + [?] (or were the latter Sedum!) on the seashore + several shrubs I did not know. It was a pretty rough + hilly road from Drummore to the lighthouse in contrast to the smooth level shore road. Kirkmaiden Church stands on a prominent height from there to Port Logan across the peninsula is very steep. Took my tea behind a dyke on the Mull + enjoyed the sea air + views. The journey near 48 miles + on the whole a very easy one. Got back to dinner before 7.

¹ There is a Motte at the north end of Sandhead

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/22, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1919]

Same fine weather: dry N.E. + a good deal of sunshine. Did no cycling. Wrote David [Graham, co-partner] + sent a P.C. to Helen [Muir] asking for the S.R. [Southern Reporter] + a [Selkirk] Bannock¹. Paid Straiton the tailor for putting hip pockets in my [cycling] knickers + breeches. Got ‘Redgauntlet’ from the Library. Had a walk to Carscreuch Castle 2¹/₂ miles away + read the Scotsman². Picked a bunch of Orchis mascula + [maculata?] + Habenaria viridis. Had tea at 3 + at 4 strolled out to the heights S of the village + sat in the shelter of a wood + read. The views over the mouth of the Luce [river] to the Mull [of Galloway] were very fine. Went to bed at 10.

¹ Evidence of how much Selkirk had adopted Dr Muir when he orders, while on his holiday and at a distance, the local paper the ‘Southern’ and Selkirk’s famous leavened tea bread

² Carscreuch Castle, approximate grid reference NGR NX222,599

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/22, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1919]

Meant to rise at 6.30 but got up by mistake at 5.30. Left a little before 7 + ran to Stranraer. Could not recall in the slightest any part of the road Baptie + I had gone in the tricar¹. It was a dull day but nice. Morning with the usual N.E. wind. Breakfasted at the King’s Arms where I got my thermos filled with tea. Got new blocks in the back brakes. Called for Mrs Fleming (Fairleigh Davidson²) who lives near the station at 20 Victoria Place³. Her husband is a railway porter + owns his house. Fairleigh knew me quite well + we had a pleasant crack. Back in the town I bought some lunch + a “Herald” + ran along the shore of Loch Ryan to Kirkcolm, a rather uninteresting village. Thence I went part of the road to Corsewall lighthouse [Corsewall Point] but turned back by a side road at a place where luckily there were some trees. I got a heavy but very localised shower. Going southwards I came to Lochnaw + went through the grounds getting a fine view of the Loch + Castle⁴. Then I ran to near Portpatrick + round by Stoneykirk, after which at the R.A.F. station⁵ I took a wrong turning + got back to within 3¹/₂ miles of Stranraer. Got home about 6.45 having run 53:85 54:25 [miles]. Bath + dinner + a crack with an Australian N.C.O. whose company commander was a brother of [Dr] Hiddleston.

¹ Thomas Baptie (1860-1929), Dr Muir’s driver

² Agnes Fairley Drysdale Davidson (1865-1951), born Alloa, Clackmannanshire, married James Fleming, November 1893 at Ontario, Canada, though by 1907 they were at Victoria Place, Inch (Stranraer) where he worked as a railway porter; the connection with Dr Muir is not obvious

³ Victoria Place is the extension of Lochryan Street at the back of Clenoch Hospital, see Wigtownshire Sheet XVII.NE, published 1909 https://maps.nls.uk/view/75679632/

⁴ At grid reference NGR NW992,629

⁵ RAF Luce Bay / RAF West Freugh / RNAS Luce Bay / West Freugh Aerodrome (1915-2002), approximately centred on grid reference NGR NX108,546

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/22, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1919]

This was a fine morning + I strolled up the road that runs N.E. + sat down behind a dyke to read the Scotsman. It was delightfully warm + after finishing the paper I strolled about 1¹/₂ miles further up the road + had some views but there was a haze. Had tea about 3 + then started to cycle to New Luce 5 miles away but when I got within a mile it looked so black + threatening to the N. I turned + went down the side of the Luce by the road Jack + I took last year. Found some plants that were new to me among them a lovely red geranium + a blue scabious. The vegetation generally is very luxuriant. Had bath + dinner + then I strolled out by the bowling green + school. Called for Dr Matthews but found he was from home for a few days. Wrote Helen [Muir].

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/22, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1919]

Rose at 3 had cup of tea + left in Swift at 4.15. It was a dull morning + a N.E. wind but the sun came out when we reached Moffat + the day was very fair. With yesterday’s rain the roads were in perfect order. We got to Moffat 6. + Dumfries 6.58 so decided to go on to Castle Douglas for breakfast. Called for Mrs McGill at Springholm¹ + saw her son + Mrs Miller her daughter. That lost us nearly half an hour + with 10 minutes to put on the Stepney² it was 9.22 when we got to Castle Douglas. 73 miles in 4 hours 7 minutes + deducting 38 minutes for stoppages it was almost 24 m.p.h., very good for the old Swift. Had a fine run to Glenluce which I reached about 3.30. Called for [illegible] + tried to find Dirk Hatteraick’s Cove but failed³. We had the pleasure, just beyond St Ann’s Bridge⁴, to see a Roebuck which cleared a wire fence most beautifully. Had a good hot bath + some supper + a stroll with a commercial traveller called Nelson who hails from Bladnoch⁵. 50 miles.

¹ Springholm, Dumfries & Galloway, between Dumfries and Castle Douglas

² A Stepney spare wheel was a proprietary solution to the problem that early cars did not have a spare tyre or wheel

³ Torrs Cave or Dirk Hatteraick’s Cave, Canmore ID63984, grid reference NGR NX 676,445, Kirkcudbright Parish, Stewartry, Dumfries & Galloway

⁴ St Ann’s Bridge, the Kinnel Water, Johnstone Parish, Dumfries & Galloway, grid reference NGR NY068,933

⁵ Bladnoch, Dumfries & Galloway, sits astride the River Bladnoch immediately south west of Wigtown

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/22, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1919]

Polished off a lot of town cases walking: tried the new B.S.A. bicycle which arrived on Saturday + didn’t like it + as I have no Velometer [?] for a 28 inch wheel I decided to take the old Singer for my tour¹. Sent away my trunk + bag in the morning to Glenluce. Dav. [Graham] came up + arranged things. Helen had Mrs Miller + her baby at ten. Attended public meeting in Victoria Hall about War Memorial at which all the reports of the sub com^ttee were read + remitted [illegible] to the full com^ttee with powers. Did not get to bed till 11. Some rain at night.

¹ The bicycle Dr Muir did not like was probably the B.S.A. Gent’s All-Weather Bicycle with a 28” wheel while his old Singer was probably the long-established Gent’s Roadster with 26” wheels (the same as the now increasingly obsolete mountain bike of that wheel size); it is a reasonable proposition that wheel size was a consideration in the accurate measurement of distance travelled pre-GPS, presumably because it counted rotations, and that the difference in wheel size would have rendered Dr Muir’s device unusable on his new bike

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/22, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1919]

Very cold for June + the same N.W. wind. It was a brilliant morning with unclouded sky but dull after + some heavy showers in evening almost like thunder plumps. I had a bad night with indigestion + felt rather seedy. Went down to Mauldsheugh 9.30 + gave Chlor[oform] for 6 cases viz. append[ix] (Peggy Rose), 2 adenoids: a hydrocele: tubercu… + [?]. Then David [Graham] motored Alice Smith + me to Sundhope + operated on Dorothy Barrie for appendicitis. We then went to Dryhope + I got back in time for evening service.

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/22, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1919]

Cold but dry day. Strong N.W. & W. gale: dust flying. Nancy, Jack, Mr + Mrs Birch + the boys left in the morn for St Abbs [Berwickshire]¹. I went down + said “goodbye”. Saw some town cases + crossed to Bridge Street + on to Yair: back by Sunderland Hall West Lodge where a huge aeroplane passed very near, circled round Selkirk + disappeared over Greenhead. Called at Bridgelands. David [Graham] came up at night + we arranged matters for my going away [on holiday]. Helen [Muir] was along at Te Whare in the evening².

¹ John ‘Jack’ Roberts junior (1876-1966), mill owner and Provost of Selkirk and Agnes Amelia ‘Nancy’ Roberts née Muir (1878-1948) and their boys John ‘Jock’ (1904-1950), Stewart Muir (1908-2003) and George Edward ‘Tim’ (1911-2005)

² George Roberts (1875-1952); tweed designer and woollen manufacturer lived at Te Whare, 19 Scott’s Place, Selkirk for many years

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/22, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1919]