Old Balmullo

In 1830 Balmullo was a straggling village with a population of 250. The coming of Leuchars station increased the population.

Balmullo was situated on the main Cupar to Newport road.  The road was in a fairly good state, as the soil was dry, and it was easily kept in good repair. There were several turnpikes and alehouses on this road.  The coaches were drawn by four horses.  The horses were changed at stable Row (Grant’s Cottages).

It was recorded that the habits of the villagers had improved in cleanliness and dress.  They were a happy and contented people, industrious and religious.  By this time they could buy bread from the baker and have beer, milk or tea with it.   They ate pork and rabbit during the winter, and fish and cockles in the summer.

Balmullo House and Farm

Balmullo belonged to the estates of the Wemyss family, and Ardit to the Abernethy’s.  Both were descended from the Earl of Fife.  All this land was taken into the hands of the Crown during the 15^th Century, and Balmullo became part of Ardit estates only after 1620.  It was sold to John Scrimegeour of Dundee, by the 2^nd Earl of Rothes, who was descended from the Abernethy family.  Several families have owed Balmullo House and Farm and in 1909 it was bought by James Melville; the family have farmed there ever since.

The earlier house was there in 1675 and was lived in by Robert Meldrum of Bruckley and Seggie.  The front part of the house was added in 1864.

The old smiddy belonging to Balmullo Farm, is the first cottage on the left hand side of the road coming from Cupar.  At one time, most of the farms had their own smiddy.

‘Marchbank’, cross the road from the old smiddy, was originally three cottages, belonging to Balmullo Farm, and they are now converted into one house.  All the oldest houses in Balmullo, have their gable ends facing towards the road.

The Church

Balmullo at one time did have a church.  This was situated approximately where No 4 Smithy Road now stands.  This was a dissenting chapel – ‘The Associates Synod of Original Dissenters’.  They had a congregation of 70, many of whom came from Crail and Tayport.  The Minister was the Rev. James Beattie, who was ordained in 1826.  He left in 1852 to become a Free Churchman, and the congregation left with him.  The chapel was sold and it lay unused, and was finally demolished.  Balmullo Cottage in South Road, Cupar, is built from the stones of the chapel.  The old piggery at ‘Edenview Cottage’, School Road, is also build from the church stones.

The Manse

The Manse of the chapel is now ‘Mansfield’ on Smithy Road and the garage of the house was once the village hearse house!  The hearse was stated to be ‘well appointed’.

Many of the congregation used to stay all day at church, and they were provided soup at the house known across from the Manse, ‘Rosebank Cottage’ now known as ‘The Craigs’.

Mansfield was bought by a Mr Farmer in 1911 and the family were market gardeners there until 1981.

The Old School

By 1855 the school was already established. This could be the one referred to as Mr Bruce’s  School in the Fifeshire Journal of 1837. There is also a mention of the Balmullo Subscription School in 1858 however on the map below dates 1855, the school is already marked at the junction of the now Smithy Road and School Road. It is thought that this ‘school’s was a house, where the teacher also boarded. 1867 there was fundraising to build a purpose built School, and it appears that the original house was then extended to turn it into a larger school.  In 1874 the land was also purchased for Schoolhouse, and the Schoolmaster moved there.  David Murrie was appointed as the first Headmaster of the newly extended school, and moved there with his wife Mary, also a teacher, in August 1876.

It is hard to imagine that in 1925 there were 85 pupils in the school, the Schoolmaster at that time was Mr Miller who taught there from 1920 – 1935.  The number of pupils fell to about 40 in the 1950’s.  There were three classrooms, infants, junior and senior.  The older children were allowed off school when it came to harvest and berry picking time.

The boys had gardening lessons, which were done in the garden to the rear of Schoolhouse.  The boys did well in their gardening lessons and inspections were carried out by the Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture at regular intervals.  The older boys went to Guardbridge School for woodwork and the girls to Leuchars for cookery lessons.

In 1934, the school choir gained second place in the Fife Musical Festival and in the Dundee Musical Festival.  In 1935 they came first in the Fife Musical Festival.  During World War II, they won a wireless set, for having gathered the most waste paper of all the schools in Fife.

They were a hardy lot, even in winter they had their physical education in the playground.

They used to hold their concerts and Christmas treats in the Village Hall (Pitcairn Hall) at 9 Main Street (at the junction of Lucklaw Road and Main Street), now converted internally to a house, occupied by Mrs Reilly.  At prize giving time, Mr and Mrs Allan, who at that time lived at Invergreen Cottage, School Road, provided them with gifts of fruit and sweets.

The Schoolhouse is now owned by Mr and Mrs Redpath, who purchased it from Mr Robert Wilkie, who was the last Schoolmaster of the old school, in 1986.  The new school on Hayston Park was opened in 1976.

Industry

Balmullo, at one time, had 27 market gardens.  It was well known for its strawberries, and people came from miles around to buy Balmullo strawberries.

It was a common sight to see the Market Gardener perched on top of his horse-drawn cart, on his way to market.  There were occasions when it was just a well that the horse knew it’s way home at night, after the driver had called in at the ‘local’, which at that time, was St Michaels Inn.

Balmullo was also known for its quarries.  Quarrying at the Redstone quarry has been ongoing for well over 100 years.  It is thought that Castle Cynicus, the old school, Schoolhouse, as well as several of the older houses in the village, were built from stone quarried there.

There was also the Bluestone quarry.  The stones from this quarry were mainly used for the making of roads.  The reservoir built somewhere in the 1970’s- 1980’s was built on the site of the Bluestone quarry.

There are two unusual cottages on School Road, Laburnum Cottage and Yew Cottage, (No. 16 and 18). It is thought that they were built by two brothers, and that they each got stone to build from the two different quarries, the red stone and the blue stone. You can see the distinctive colouring as you walk past.

Weaving was also done in the cottages, as quite a lot of flax was grown in, and around Fife.  The retting pond for the village was where the new Telephone Exchange is (School Road next to Schoolhouse).  Some of the Balmullo 19^th Century Bird Linen can be seen in the Fife Folk Museum at Ceres.

The Smiddy

More than 100 years ago, a family called Geddes lived at the Smiddy.  A John Robertson married one of the Geddes family, and, as they had no sons to continue the business, it was left to him.

The original Smiddy House, which was thatched, was situated where the present Smiddy pigeon loft stands.  There was a terrible storm and the house was so badly damaged, that another house had to be built.  The present house was built in 1913.  The material for the house was driven from Leuchars station, by a horse and cart borrowed from Pusk Farm.

Old John Robertson died in 1919 and the business was continued by his son John, and then Will Auchterlonie.  During his time at the Smiddy, he had a journeyman and an apprentice.  The apprentice was called Willie Simpson, and he was a well known footballer.  Around 1911, a blacksmith employed there, called Will Shepherd, used to be given bed and board, plus £12 for six months wages.  When Will left Balmullo, he went to America and shod horses for Tom Mix, who was a cowboy film star from 1909 – 1935.  The man who replaced Will Shepherd was James Doig from Dundee.  He too went to America.

At one time, part of the Smiddy beyond the anvil, was for very obvious reasons, known as the ‘distillery’.  The price for shoeing a Clydesdale was 3/6 (about 18p).

The present Blacksmith, Mr David Wilson MBE came to the Balmullo Smiddy in 1962. There is a street names in his honour.

Castle Cynicus

Castle Cynics was a well known landmark in Balmullo.  It was built by Martin Anderson, who was the creator of the comic post card, publisher, satirical writer and artist.  He liked to be known as ‘Cynicus’.  He began building the castle in 1903.  The interior of the castle was most unusual, and was designed by Martin Anderson himself.  There was a spacious hall, the ceiling of which depicted the sunrise at one end and the sunset at the other.

The castle was the scene of much activity, concerts, dances and picnics were held regularly.  The tower contained a museum ad had many valuable items, many from the tombs of the Pharaohs.  There was also a mummy of an Inca Princess dating about 600BC.  He had many valuable coins and pieces of porcelain in his collection.  There was even the skull relic of the Black Plague of London ad well as the jawbones of two martyred monks of St Andrews.

He liked to take part in village life and used to be seen cycling around the village on his bike, which was made wholly from aluminium.  He dressed in a velvet coat with white frills and wore buckled shoes.

Unfortunately he was a poor businessman and lost most of his money.  The Sheriff Officer held an auction in the castle to clear arrears of rates and expenses.  300 people crowded into the entrance hall making bids for items.  Some of his possessions went for very low prices, a collection of old coins 5/- (25p) 2 x oil paintings 2/6 (13p), 2 x life size bronze statues 8/- (40p), a baby grand piano 10/- (50p).  When sufficient money to pay his debts had been realised, the sale was closed. Martin Anderson died at the caste in 1932.  The museum was sold, and in 1938 Mr Menzies of Magicwell bought the castle and it was razed to the ground in 1939.  The Redstone from which it was built was taken back to the quarry from where it had originated and was crushed into chips. 

Magicwell

Magicwell is another well known house in Balmullo.  It was built in 1913 by a Mr John Menzies.  It is thought to have been called ‘Magicwell’ because the well there never ran dry, like the other wells in the village.  There was a private drive to the house, and this ran from next to the Smiddy and up past ‘Jedmar’ right to the lodge gates.  The Gray family opened the gates at the Smiddy end and the chauffeur at the Magicwell end.

Mr Menzies was a good benefactor to the village.  During the depression, when so many men were unemployed, he gifted a billiard room to them, which had a full sized billiard table and all accessories.  The table was well appreciated as there were many billiard enthusiasts in the village.  The billiard room was behind the old Village Hall (Pitcairn Hall), in the car park.

Pitcairn Hall

The Village Hall was gifted to Balmullo by Mrs Pitcairn of Pitcullo Castle.  It was gifted to the village for religious purposes, and the story goes that the door was to remain open at all times, so that anyone stranded could spend the night in it.  The Sunday School was held there, and the evening services were conducted alternately, by the ministers of the three surrounding parishes of Leuchars, Logie and Dairsie.

The hall was also to be used for the purpose of physical and mental training and recreation.  Also, social and intellectual development through the medium of reading, recreation, library, lectures and classes.

The  cottage attached to the hall (now occupied by Mrs Stockton) was built for the Pitcairn’s Butler, who acted as hall keeper.

Recreation

Balmullo in no way lacked recreational facilities.  The most popular thing was the village club.  It began around 1919 and finally ended in 1952.  They had 120 members and played games such as dominoes, draughts, carpet bowls and table tennis.  They also held regular concerts and dances.  At the whist drives, the hall was so tightly packed that, when the players reached the table at the front door, they had to go out of it and in the back door to get to the next table!

Behind the hall on Lucklaw Road (now the rear garden at 9 Main Street) was an indoor rifle range and the billiard room.  In Murray Row was a quoiting rink and clubhouse.  One of the locals was such a good player, that he used to place his watch at the foot of the peg, before he threw the quoit.  At ‘Millbank’, School Road, there was a curling pond, a football pitch behind the reservoir (at the end of Burnside) and an open rifle range, where the Redstone Quarry is now.

The leaders of the Sunday School ran a Youth Club, but this eventually closed as they did not have enough members.  There was a Girls’ association, with over 30 members, but as the leaders came of age, there was no one to take it over, and it too closed.

One of the most important annual events was the Sunday School Picnic.  The main road was lined with horse and carts, and the children and their parents piled into these.  They went as far as Crail and Elie.

Piggeries

There were two piggeries.  One was situated near the old reservoir, and the other at the foot of Cynicus Place.

Shops

Balmullo had several shops.  At 23 School Road, a sweet shop was run by a Mr and Mrs Johnstone.  Across the road at ‘Edenview’, another sweet shop was run by a Mrs Kidd.  A bit further down School road, at No 15, Mr Grogan had a sweet shop and he also sold fruit and crockery.  He had a horse and cart and delivered goods to the surrounding farms.

At 21 Main Street, now occupied by Ms Duncan, Mattie Brown sold newspapers, sweets and lemonade.  She had a little hut in the garden for serving the lemonade.  This was a favourite place after a billiard session.  Near the corner of Stable Row (Grant’s Cottages) there was, a long time ago, a pub called ‘Lum Hat Johnnie’s’.  For a little while, stamps were sold by a Miss Thomson in Murray Row.  She sold these from her living room.  Stamps were later sold from a wooden hut in front of ‘Marchbank’.

John Caseby was the village cobbler, and he also acted as the Postman.  Where ‘Hilite Tone’ once was (opposite the bowling club), there was a joiner’s shop owned by John Motion.  It was said ‘Be it a cricket bat, cradle or cart, each was a piece of art’.

Along Burnside, a very enterprising woman called Kirsty Black, mangled your washing for you.  A beautiful job she made of it too.

Where the ‘Balmullo Inn’ is, a Mr and Mrs Jimmy Gray had a shop.  Jimmy was known as ‘genial Jimmy’.  As well as groceries being sold, it was a Post Office and also sold teas and wines.  At one time, it was also the Tailor’s shop.  Mr and Mrs Gray delivered groceries to Guardbridge, by horse and cart.  Mrs Gray died in 1938 and the shop was empty for 9 months and was taken over by Mrs Moncur in 1939.  Mrs Moncur was there for 40 years.

The licence the shop held for the sale of alcohol, permitted alcohol to be drunk outside the shop only.  When Mrs Moncur retired, it is believed that the licence she held was the last of that kind in Fife, if not Scotland.  Because drink could only be consumed outside, many an impromptu dance was held in the road.  It was a grand sight to see.  There were quite a few fine fiddlers in the village.

The original building of the present village shop and post office, was build about 1847.  There have been several owners of the shop through the years.  They were Andrew Melville, known as ‘Caunle Andra’ because of the candles he sold.  Then there was Mr McWalter, Mr Bruce, Mr and Mrs Patterson, Mr and Mrs Reid, Mr and Mrs Hamilton, it now operates as a ‘Spar’ shop.

What is now the shop store, was originally a stable.  In 1982 the cobbled floor and horse trough were still there.

In the corner window of the present Post Office and Shop stood a large earthenware teapot, and because of this, Murray Row was nicknamed ‘Tea Caddy’ or ‘Teapot Row’, opinions on the nickname differ.

Murray Row, was at one time the main road in Balmullo.  It ran up past the Smiddy and came out near St Michaels.  In the title deeds of No 2 Murray row, it states there must be enough room for a coffin and two bearers to pass.

A burn flowed from the retting pond, and the remains of the bridge it flowed under can still be seen at 2 Murray Row.  Lucklaw Road was known as Nowhere Road.

Rights of Way

There are two rights of way around the village.  One leads from Burnside to Logie and the other leaves the Newport Road near St Michaels Sand Pits and goes up past Brackmont Quarry and over Lucklaw Hill, to also join Logie.  The right of way over Lucklaw Hill was known a ‘Kirk Road’.  Two of the village stalwarts used to walk these roads once a year, and as they termed it, to keep them open for public use.

Characters of Old

‘Ba’ Bee Louie’ was a well known figure in the village.  She lived in Stable Row (Grant’s Cottages).  Her wide range of ba’bee sweets were a great favourite with the children.  She had only one eye, and this gave her a rather severe look.  She loved the children, and would slip them extra sweets.  Her home made cakes and scones were served with either tea or ginger ale.

‘Beenie Mitchell’ lived in Stable Row too.  How Beenie loved a good gossip.  Whenever she heard a juicy piece of news, she would hurry off, remarking ‘Goadalmichty me, a maun tell ma auld mither that’.

In Murray Row lived ‘Auld Annie’.  Her cottage is now demolished.  She lived near Jock Taylor, who was the village pig killer.  One night, Jock ‘slung’ a pig and went away and left it.  When he came back, a piece of pork was missing.  Auld Annie was so poor, that suspicion fell on her. The Police questioned Auld Annie but could find nothing.  Later the smell of pork frying came from Annie’s, and the Police were called again, but still found nothing.  It turned out that Annie had the piece of pork tied under her skirt!

David Foggie was an artist, and he lived where ‘Woodlands’ is now.  When he lived there, it was nicknamed ‘Glower ow’er’, because people, wanting to watch him paint, would climb the hill behind his house and stare into his studio.

The Reservoir

The reservoir was situated at the far end of Burnside.  It was built to supply the Guardbridge Paper Mill.  Even although Balmullo had a reservoir, the houses were supplied by wells.  Many of the houses had their own wells, but there were several communal wells.

It was the late 1940’s or early 50’s before all the houses had piped water.  The electricity supply was put in about the same time.  ‘Rosemount Cottage’ at the top of Smithy Road, was the last to have water piped in, however they were about the first to have electricity, as they had their own pump to supply the power.