Still raining this morning but faired about 10 + was moderately fine all day with some sun in afternoon but still cold. N.E. + N. Went round the town in the car. Got my hair cut. Message to Mrs Kemp, Rock Cottage.¹ Dined at Elmpark². Letter from Helen.³ Wrote her + also to Jack⁴ to ask if he could take me for a couple of nights.

¹ Assume Elizabeth Linton Kemp née Hope (about 1861-1933), wife of George Kemp (about 1862-1939), woollen pattern weaver, married 8 February 1884 at Rock Cottage, Forest Road, Selkirk (her address but a property of which Henry Otto Kemp was the Proprietor – he was a woollen pattern weaver and presumably a relative, though there were many men named Henry Otto Kemp in Selkirk so precise identification has proved impossible) [sources: marriage, Kemp, George and Hope, Elizabeth L, 1884, 778/ 4, Selkirk; 1922 Valuation Roll, VR007900012-/295, Selkirk Burgh, page 295 of 644].

² Helen Frances ‘Mousey’ Muir (1880-1963), Dr Muir’s third daughter and sometime housekeeper.

³ Elm Park, Selkirk, home of Agnes Mackintosh née Watson, formerly Harper (1859-1946).

⁴ John ‘Jack’ Roberts junior (1876-1966), Dr Muir’s son-in-law, on holiday with his family at Alnmouth, Northumberland from 30 August (it is not clear where his wife was), see diary entries for 30 August and 19 September 1922.

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/25, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1922]

A wretched day with cold N.E. wind + almost constant rain. I walked to Viewfield, Castle Street, W: Port + Forest Mill where I got a message to McWilliam, Glebe Terrace¹ (found a boy with S.²), [illegible], Cannon Street, Dunsdale, Hospital, [and] Goslaw Green. Was in the house all afternoon. Did some work at Summary cards.

¹ Assume Robert James McWilliam (1917-1983) though he had an older brother John McWilliam (1906-1986) the Editor suspects that the latter would not be described as a boy in Dr Muir’s world.

² This is another sign that the outbreak of Diphtheria and Scarlet fever in Selkirkshire through 1921 and early 1922 was not yet over.

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/25, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1922]

I was lucky having such a good day yesterday as it was raining this morning. There were some slight showers in the forenoon but it was dry though dull after. Helen¹ + Peter² left this morning. Helen is going to Buttermere with Nancy³. I felt a little stiff today but otherwise well. Had a number of things to attend to that turned up yesterday. Attended poor little Dora Stewart, Ettrick Terrace, who had an illigit. d [daughter] at 8 p.m.⁴ Chlor. +c.

¹ Helen Frances ‘Mousey’ Muir (1880-1963), Dr Muir’s third daughter and sometime housekeeper.

² Peter Allan was evidently a charge of Dora’s but is not (yet) identified.

³ Agnes Amelia ‘Nancy’ Roberts née Muir (1878-1948), Dr Muir’s second daughter.

⁴ Betty Scott Stewart, born 12 September 1922 at 6 Ettrick Terrace, Selkirk, the daughter of Dorothy Muir ‘Dora’ Stewart (1902-), woollen millworker; no putative father is identified [1922, 778/ 92, Selkirk].

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/25, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1922]

Rose 4.45 : breakfasted 5.30 + left at 6.35 to cycle to Berwick. It was a fine calm mild morning but rather hazy. There was a slight S. wind + I had a splendid run via Mertoun Bri[dge], Stitchill, Eccles to Paxton.¹ Stopped at the Bridge over Whiteadder² + had a smoke. I had quite forgotten the road from Paxton to Berwick where I arrived about 11. Bought a Mutton pie + ate it on the ramparts looking over the sea. Left Berwick about 12 + took the road by E Ord, Allerdean + Duddo to Twizel.³ It was painfully hilly + the wind had got much stronger. I stopped at Duddo + ate some cakes I had got at Berwick. Took the road from Twizel to Crookham + then by Sprouston⁴ to Kelso. At the Kelso Railway Bridge⁵ about 8 miles from here I stupidly took about 2oz of whisky neat + I could scarcely get home⁶. I got back a little after 8. = 91 miles.

¹ Mertoun Bri[dge], NT610,320, Stichill, NT716,385, Eccles, NT763,414, to Paxton, NT935,530 (presumably taking the direct route via Swinton).

² The bridge over Whiteadder must be the one at NT957,526 which was washed away in the 1948 floods.

³ East Ord, NT989,510, Allerdean NT966,465, Duddo, NT938,426 and Twizel, NT885,432.

⁴ Crookham, NT917,381, and Sprouston, NT756,352.

⁵ Kelso railway bridge is to the west of Kelso railway station on the south edge of Maxwellheugh, grid reference NT731,331, see Ordnance Survey 6 inch Selkirkshire Sheet n X, published 1923); the road crossed the railway almost exactly where the roundabout is now, below Sainsbury’s at Kelso, the old rail track these days being the route of the Kelso bypass.

⁶ This is not the first time that Dr Muir has experimented with combining cycling and whisky; on 10 September 1915 he noted that “The whisky & soda at Bridgend was a mistake. I had too little food having eaten nothing after breakfast at Moffat till I got home but a single biscuit at Borland [Boreland].“ [Scottish Borders Archives SBA/657/18/45].

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/25, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1922]

A most deliciously summer like day, calm + warm but a falling glass – alas! Walked to Tait’s Hill, Hospital, Dunsdale Road + Curror Street + went to morning service. Had nothing to do afterwards. Wrote Mary¹ thanking her for some things of James² she sent me = a dress wallet + 2 light waistcoats which will need altering. Helen³ gathered 1¾ lbs of strawberries! Nancy, Barb.⁴ + Joan Robinson⁵ came to supper.

¹ Mary Jane Wallace née Muir (1836-1933), one of Dr Muir’s sisters.

² James Wallace (about 1841-1922), Dr Muir’s brother-in-law, who had died in July 1922, the husband of Mary Jane Wallace née Muir.

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

⁴ Agnes Amelia ‘Nancy’ Roberts née Muir (1878-1948), Dr Muir’s second daughter, and Andrina Barbara Henderson ‘Barbara’ Roberts, later Thwigg (1902-1996), her eldest daughter.

⁵ Joan Robertson’s arrival in Selkirk was recorded in Dr Muir’s diary of 30 August 1922 but she is (so far) unidentified.

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/25, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1922]

Very cold today N.E. wind. I was half frozen watching the Cricket Match between Sam Steel’s XI¹ + a Border team to celebrate the Jubilee of the Cricket field. There was a turn out of the County. Lord Douglas², Lord Dalkeith³ +c were playing. I came away at 1 when they stopped for lunch + Mrs Mack⁴ gave me a lift up. I was at the Hospital in the morning + had to go back in the afternoon for a case of Diphtheria from Kirkwynd. Geo. Leithead⁵ who has not been out of the house for years was there + I had to relieve him for retention on his way home.

¹ Samuel ‘Sam’ Strang Steel (1882-1961), 1st Baronet, M.P., J.P., T.D., Lord Lieutenant of Selkirk 1948-1958.

² Lord Douglas is not identified.

³ Walter John Montagu Douglas Scott (1894-1973, at this time Earl of Dalkeith he became 8th Duke of Buccleuch and 10th Duke of Queensberry in 1935.

⁴ Agnes Mackintosh née Watson, formerly Harper (1859-1946), of Elm Park, Selkirk.

⁵ Assume George Leithead (about 1850-1929), woollen winder, who was was Tenant Occupier at 5 or 6 Curror Street, Selkirk; his wife Mary Anne Leithead née Turnbull had died at 6 Curror Street in 1913 and Dr Muir had certified her death [Census, 1911, 778/ 6/ 14; wife’s death, 1913, 778/ 10; 1922 Valuation Roll, VR007900012-/315, Selkirk Burgh, page 315 of 644].

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/25, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1922]

Nice warm morning but there came an extraordinary sudden change about 1 O’clock. The sky was black + a cold N.E. wind blew. It looked like rain but it didn’t come. I had to go to West Essenside¹ + cycled there. I had on a new celluloid truss I had got from Salt & Son² but it wasn’t at all comfortable. I went to Bla’wearie + on Esdaile Law³ in hope of seeing the aeroplanes competing for the King’s Cup⁴. They were flying from Newcastle to Renfrew + a line between the two crosses Peel Fell, Chisholme and Redford Green⁵. I got so cold that I left before they could have appeared + I had a punctured back tyre going down to Burnfoot⁶ + had to blow it up 6 times on the way back.

¹ West Essenside, Ashkirk, grid reference NGR NT442,201, where Dr Muir was attending Robert Heard, see diary entry for 7 September 1922.

² Salt & Son were medical suppliers in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

³ Blawearie, Roberton, grid reference NGR NT441,167, with Esdale Law to the NNE.

⁴ The King’s Cup air race is an annual British handicapped cross-country air race, established by King George V as an incentive to the development of light aircraft and engine design; it was first contested on 8 September 1922 covering 810 miles from Croydon to Glasgow via Manchester and Newcastle (Day 1) and back via Manchester and Cardiff (Day 2) [source: Kings Cup Winners].

⁵ The route appears to have entered Scotland at Peel Fell, grid reference NGR NY626,997 and crossed south of Hawick past Chisholme, NT418,122 and Redfordgreen, NT366,161.

⁶ Burnfoot, Ashkirk, NT458,201.

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/25, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1922]

The most summerlike day since the beginning of June. Constant sunshine: slight S. wind + no rain. Cycled to Cannon Street. Waited till Kennedy¹ rang me up about 12 to report on Geo. Heard’s Swab.² He found a few D.B.³ I had to go to Essenside to see the other boy⁴ who had indigestion + feverishness. Had a very nice run there + returned by Henhouse. Sat in the bower a good while + read in the afternoon. Got a good few strawberries. Victoria Keeling⁵ died at Newarkburn this morning. Her uncle David Baillie⁶ called.

¹ William Nicol Watson Kennedy (1888-1961), O.B.E., M.D., D.P.E., medical officer of health and school medical officer for Selkirkshire, 1921-about 1924.

² George Heard junior (1917-2006), of Essenside, Ashkirk had been ill at the turn of the year, see for example Dr Muir’s diary entry for 4 January 1922, and appears to have relapsed; he was the son of George Heard, farmer, and Lizzie Davidson Heard née Bulman, married March 1914, Hawick [birth, 1917, 773/B 4, Ashkirk; parents’ marriage, 1914, 789/ 27, Hawick].

³ D.B. is unidentified but is presumably an indication of some sort of positive test for a medical condition.

⁴ Presumably Robert Heard (1920-), born Wester Essenside, Ashkirk, 1 June 1920, younger son of George Heard, farmer, and Lizzie Davidson Heard née Bulman, married March 1914, Hawick [birth, 1921, 773/B 4, Ashkirk; parents’ marriage, 1914, 789/ 27, Hawick].

⁵ Victoria Ann Keeling (1887-1922), daughter of Mary Potts Baillie and John Keeling, died 7 September 1922 aet 35 at Newarkburn, Selkirk, the home of her maternal grandfather Sandy Baillie, of Graves Disease (hyperthyroidism) certified by Dr J S Muir M.B.; in 1911 Mary P Keeling, widow, aged 53, was living at Newark Burn [sic] with her parents [source: 1911 Census 778/ 13/ 1, page 1 of 8].

⁶ David Baillie (1874-), scholar, aged 7, living at Newark Burn [sic] with his parents and siblings including Mary Potts Baillie (1881) and joiner’s apprentice, aged 17, living at Newark Burn [sic] with his parents (1891) but not traced thereafter [source: 1881 Census 778/ 11/ 6, page 6 of 12].

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/25, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1922]

Another nice day with just a threatening [?] of rain about 11.15. Message to see Vict. Keeling¹ at Newarkburn. Took Peter + came back by Bowhill. Found the upper lake entry + the road by the under one² + along to Carterhaugh³ very muddy + cut up. Came home by Gib. + Lum.⁴ + Hospital. Vict. Keeling very ill. Ailie Boyd Wilson⁵ at lunch. Ordered a Celluloid Truss from Salt + Sons.⁶

¹ Victoria Ann Keeling (1887-1922), daughter of Mary Potts Baillie and John Keeling; her mother was the daughter of Alexander ‘Sandy’ Baillie, carpenter of Newarkburn, and Ann Potts while her father was from Ingestre Village, Staffordshire and at his marriage in November 1884 he had been described as “Usher of the Hall Domestic Servant” (very possibly at Ingestre Hall, a house belonging to the Chetwynd-Talbot family, Earls of Shrewsbury and Viscounts Ingestre) [Victoria’s birth June Quarter 1887 Stafford 6b 24; her death 1922 778/ 71 Selkirk]

² The Upper Lake and Lower Lake (Loch on some maps) on the Bowhill estate are SE of the house and may be seen at grid reference kilometre square NGR NT4227 and on Ordnance Survey 6 inch Selkirkshire Sheet XI.NE and Ordnance Survey 6 inch Selkirkshire Sheet XI.SE, both published 1900.

³ Carterhaugh is ESE of Lower Lake at grid reference NGR NT437268 and is visible on Ordnance Survey 6 inch Selkirkshire Sheet XI.SE, published 1900.

⁴ Gibson & Lumgair Ltd., woollen textile manufacturer, at St Mary’s Mill, Selkirk.

⁵ Ailie Brack Boyd Wilson or Boyd-Wilson, later Ailie Brack Boyd Wilson Milne (1890-1955).

⁶ Salt & Son were medical suppliers in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/25, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1922]

Cycled to Galashiels + took the 7.28 to Tynehead. It was a misty morning but turned out a lovely day. From Tynehead¹ I went to Blackshiels via Fala Dam², a lovely little hamlet which I had never seen before. Then via Humbie, Gifford to Stenton. Between the 2 latter I punctured my front tyre but was able to get on with some pumping to Dunbar where I got it repaired. Then along the main road³ to Cockburnspath + Grantshouse intending to take the road from there to Duns but passed [it] + had to go on to near Reston + take another road. Got to Duns about 4.30 + reached home at 8.20 pretty tired. I had a glass of beer at Gordon. It was a most delightful run of 87.35 miles. Helen⁴ + Peter⁵ were over at the Patons.⁶

¹ Tynehead Station, grid reference NGR NT394,591, see also Ordnance Survey 6 inch Edinburghshire Sheet XV.SW, published 1895.

² The whole route from Tynehead was to Fala Dam, NT429,616, Blackshiels, NT437,609, Humbie, NT459,627, Gifford, NT534,681, Stenton, NT621,742, Dunbar, NT676,788, Cockburnspath, NT777,713 and Grantshouse, NT812,657 where he should have turned south for Duns but instead appears to have turned south and then WSW past Auchencrow NT851,607 and Marygold NT813,601 to regain his intended route at NT796,588.

³ The main road at this time ran north of the railway from Dunbar to Bilsdean just short of Cockburnspath see Ordnance Survey 6 inch Edinburghshire Sheet VII.SW, published 1908; Ordnance Survey 6 inch Edinburghshire Sheet XII.NE, published 1908 and Ordnance Survey 6 inch Berwickshire Sheet I.SW, published 1909.

⁴ Helen Frances ‘Mousey’ Muir (1880-1963), Dr Muir’s third daughter and sometime housekeeper.

⁵ Peter Allan was evidently a charge of Dora’s, but is not (yet) identified.

⁶ Isabella Clementina ‘Isa’ Paton (about 1838-1929) and Marion Agnes Paton (about 1841-1940), sisters living on their own means at Selkirk [1901 Census] before they flitted to Galashiels in May 1918.

[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/25, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1922]