Tag Archives: Ernie

Ernie was Arthur Linfoot’s elder brother. See also the Family page.

7 July 1915; Wednesday

July 1915, , , ,

Got up about 6 o’clock and went down to bathe. I went in but Ernie didn’t. Turned out a wild wet day. Read “Sky Pilot”1, had short walk in the morning, afternoon and at night with Hilda and Moira. Read a bit of Gardiner’s Prophets, Priests & Kings2. Went to pictures at night with Ernie and saw Charlie Chaplin amongst other pictures.

  1. “Sky Pilot”: probably the frontier adventure novel, The Sky Pilot, publ. 1899, by Ralph Connor, nom de plume of Rev. Dr. Charles William Gordon, 1860 – 1937, leader in Presbyterian then United Churches in Canada. ’Sky pilot’ was also Forces slang for ‘padre.’ See also The Sky Pilot and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

  2. “Prophets, Priests & Kings”: collection of short biographies, publ. 1908, by Alfred George Gardiner, 1865 – 1946, who also wrote “Pillars of Society”; and “The War Lords”, publ. June 1915, comprising 20 short biographical essays on kings, emperors, politicians, generals & admirals of some 10 combatant nations. See also Prophets, Priests and Kings and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

6 July 1915; Tuesday

July 1915, , , ,

Slept in and didn’t get up until after 8 o’clock. Walked along Kil Kel [sic] Braes1 in the morning and read Mr McKenna2 on the new War Loan. Spent the afternoon on the sea front and read a bit of Everyman3. Bought a teddy bear for Moira and some other presents for home. Met Ernie at night and spent the night with the photographs.

  1. See footnote on 29 June. ↩

  2. See footnote on 22 June. ↩

  3. Everyman: See Everyman and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

5 July 1915; Monday

July 1915, , ,

Got up about 6 o’clock and went for a bathe. Grand day again. Went along Kil-­Kel [sic] Braes1 in the morning and read Poison Island by Quiller-­Couch 2. Went down to the beach in the afternoon and listened to the pierrots a minute or two. Bought a doll for Dorothy. Walked round sea front at night with Ernie.

  1. See footnote on 29 June. ↩

  2. “Quiller-­Couch”: Arthur Quiller-­Couch, 1863 – 1944, Kt. 1910, Professor of English, Cambridge, 1912; edited ‘Oxford Books of ’: English Verse; English Prose; Ballads; Victorian Verse. Nom de plume “Q”. See also Poison Island and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

4 July 1915; Sunday

July 1915, , ,

Finished reading She1. Went to the Baptist chapel in the morning with Ernie. Walked along the golf links in the afternoon. Aggie Froxon and Alec Anderson to tea. Ernie said we were going to Hope Street church2, but we went on to the sea front. Grand night.

  1. See She and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

  2. Hope Street church: no church by this name now exists, but there is a Hope Park and Martyrs church in St Andrew’s, at the intersection of St. Mary’s Place and Hope Street. See also St Andrews map. ↩

2 July 1915; Friday

July 1915, ,

Resting so didn’t get a bathe. Up about 9 o’clock. British torpedo destroyer “Lightning”1 damaged by mine or submarine. Walked round by Mount Melville 2 in the afternoon. Had walk with Ernie at night.

  1. HMS Lightning was a Janus class destroyer of the British Royal Navy, later designated an A-class destroyer, built by Palmers (itself the principal target of the Zeppelin raid recorded on 15 June) and launched in 1895. She was sunk by a mine laid by submarine UC-1 on 30 June. ↩

  2. Mount Melville Estate, now Craigtoun Country Park. See also St Andrews map. ↩

1 July 1915; Thursday

July 1915, , ,

Got up shortly after 6 o‘clock and went down for a bathe. Walked round town in the morning and down to the sea side. Read some of Omar1 and a bit from “Everyman.”2 Ernie off in the afternoon. * took some photos and developed them. Smashed a lamp and had some trouble and fuss. Walked out last thing with Ernie.

  1. Omar Khayyám; see note on 29 June, Omar Khayyám and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

  2. Everyman: see Everyman and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

30 June 1915; Wednesday

June 1915, , ,

Got up shortly after 6 o’clock and went for bathe in the sea baths with Ernie. We were first in and I swam pretty well. Had walk along North Sands in the morning and spent afternoon on the sea front reading. Read Barry Pain’s1 “De Omnibus”2. Grand day. Posted little Navy book to Uncle George. Walked round with Hilda at night and she bought a bathing costume for me. Had walk with Ernie later to the south side of the harbour. Had chips3 for supper.

  1. Barry Eric Odell Pain (28 September 1864 – 5 May 1928) was an English journalist, poet and writer. ↩

  2. De Omnibus has long been out of print but may be found at various on-line locations including at archive.org; a digitised (by Google) copy from New York Public Library. See also De Omnibus and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

  3. For the benefit of American readers, “chips” does not mean the food more usually known as “crisps” in the UK. However, contrary to popular belief, it is not correct to consider British chips analogous to French fries either. Wikipedia has an explanation of sorts on its French fries page. ↩

29 June 1915; Tuesday

June 1915, , , ,

Got up about 8 o’clock. Walked round town and sea front. Read a bit of Omar Khayyam1. Walked round The Braes 2 in the afternoon. Had walk with Hilda and Ernie at night. Saw Ernie’s shop and got a few things there. Spent a pleasant day. Had walk with Ernie at night.

  1. Omar Khayyám (1048-1131 A.D.) was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and poet. He also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, mineralogy and music. It is not clear from this diary entry which of his writings had engaged ALL’s interest, but it may have been his most famous work, The Rubáiyát. See also Omar Khayyám at Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

  2. “The Braes”: Kinkell Braes, near the site of a castle which was a noted venue for conventicles in the period following the restoration of the House of Stuart. The Braes are now occupied by modern structures including a caravan park and camp site (position of map marker).

    ALL evidently visited the Braes on several further occasions during his 1915 visit to St. Andrews.

    See also St Andrews map. ↩

28 June 1915; Monday

June 1915, , ,

Got up about 7 o’clock. Drew pound at the bank and wired to tell Ernie I was coming. Got the 10.30 train. Uncle George travelled with me as far as Newcastle. Edinburgh express late and I missed the connection at Edinburgh. Walked round centre of the town. Had a cup of tea. Went up Scott Memorial1. Fell in with a little chap who invited me to have a drink. Arrived at St Andrew’s2, at 6.20 and Hilda met me at the station. Had walk at night with Ernie. Very nice clean town.

Went to St Andrew’s.

  1. The Scott Memorial (B) is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott which stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, near to Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station where ALL would have arrived from Sunderland (A) and caught his train to St. Andrews. ↩

  2. St. Andrews (C): a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, famous for its University, and for golf.

    See also St Andrews map. ↩