Willie Shand finds pirates, ghosts and treasure in the seaside village of Largo
Willie Shand finds pirates, ghosts and treasure in this seaside village in Fife’s East Neuk.
ABOVE the harbour and mouth of the Keil Burn in the Fife fishing village of Lower Largo is probably the only sign in the whole of Britain that points the way to Juan Fernandez Island.
That’s not surprising, either, since it lies in the South Pacific Ocean some 7,500 miles away.
The name of the hotel that occupies the old granary building beside the pier – the Crusoe Hotel – will surely give you a clue to the connection.
It was in Lower Largo, back in 1676, that one Alexander Selkirk was born. We may know him better, through the pen of Daniel Defoe, as Robinson Crusoe.
In a niche in the front of a main street house that stands on the site of his birthplace is a life-size statue of Crusoe looking out to sea dressed in goatskin and carrying his gun and cutlass. Today, I’m planning to explore a few places around Largo that Alexander no doubt enjoyed both before and after his adventures.
They call this corner of Fife’s East Neuk the Scottish Riviera and on a sunny day, the sandy beaches of the Forth and brightly painted fishermen’s cottages might easily hold their own against any Mediterranean port.
The main street is twisty and narrow and at its eastern end takes two sudden and blind 90 degree turns before reaching the beach car park.
Bypassed by the main coastal road, it’s a quiet wee village and well hides the fact that it wasn’t always so. At one time this was a busy herring port working as many as three dozen boats.
It was also the Fife terminal for the regular steam ferry service across the Firth to Newhaven. This ferry ended some time after the arrival of the railway of 1857, the station being at the beach car park.
Now, it, too, has gone, leaving Lower Largo with a somewhat relaxed, seaside holiday atmosphere.
On my walk today I’ll be visiting two Largos – Upper Largo, also known as the Kirktoun of Largo – and Lower Largo which, being down by the waterside, was home to the fishermen and
known as the Seatoun of Largo.
The two villages are barely half a mile apart, connected by the pleasant wooded Serpentine Walk – which is the way I’ll be returning.
Rising steeply behind both villages is Largo Law. At just 952 feet high, it’s fairly tame as hills go, but being the highest in the East Neuk, it definitely has a place on today’s agenda. A path between two high stone walls leaves from the rear of the car park and cuts off the bad bends of the road.
These walls bound Cardy House and what used to be a Victorian net factory established by one of Alexander Selkirk’s descendants.
With house names like Seashell Cottage, Fine Neuk and Beach House and with the salty air filling the lungs you just know you’re at the seaside. In fact, the water’s edge is only a stone’s throw away.
It doesn’t matter how often I pass the statue of Robinson Crusoe, I just have to stop and say hello. I never get an answer, though – he’s too busy gazing out to sea in the hopes of spotting a passing ship.
For four years and four months he was stranded on the Juan Fernandez island of Mas a Tierra, only 12 miles long by four miles wide.
Rescued by merchants in 1709, it was upon his eventual return to London that he happened to meet Daniel Defoe. Defoe was inspired by the story of his adventure and thus was born the character Robinson Crusoe.
The railway may be 50 years gone from Largo but it didn’t go without leaving its mark. Across from the Crusoe Hotel is the Railway Inn, and towering above the harbour and the Keil Burn is Largo’s massive stone railway viaduct.
With a keen interest in the seas, young Alexander would have spent much of his childhood watching the boats and playing around the harbour.
Returning from his lonely isolation in the Pacific, he still enjoyed seeking a bit of solitude. This he’d find in the Keil’s Den.
Two gulls perched on the ridge of a pantiled roof watch as I climb St Andrews Road and pass beneath one of the viaduct’s tall arches to make for the Den.
The entrance to the Den is through a wooden gate opposite a caravan site. You don’t need to spend four and a half years on an island, though, to appreciate the quiet beauty of the Den.
The track wends its way through the light-filled woods. It’s good to leave behind the sounds of traffic but, at the same time, the Den is anything but silent. The woods are filled with bird song.
A pigeon adds his chorus and every now and then a tone-deaf woodpecker decides to join in. Providing backing to them are the trickling sounds of the burn and the breeze rustling in the trees.
The track drops and crosses the burn before climbing again to enjoy fine distant views over Fife, across the Firth of Forth to the Pentlands and of course, to Largo Law.
For a short way, the track doubles back on itself to re-enter the Den, but now above the opposite bank of the Keil Burn. At a wooden marker post we leave the Den and strike east by a line of trees across the fields.
This pops out on to the road above the caravan park, virtually bringing us full circle from where we entered the Den.
The way to the Law crosses the road and continues east by the line of a stone dyke. Down on the right is an old lectern style doocot. Sheep grazing in the adjoining field take little notice of me.
The Law looms ever closer. A couple of walkers up near the top add a sense of scale. Down below me now is Upper Largo – the old Kirktoun.
It’s Sunday morning and the kirk bell is ringing. The kirk of Largo was consecrated as long ago as 1243.
Not to be outdone by Lower Largo, Upper Largo has its own famous seafaring son – Admiral Sir Andrew Wood. In the late 15th century, he was captain of the King’s ship, the Yellow Carvel.
Such was his infallibility in conflict that he became as feared south the border as he was celebrated north the border, gaining the reputation Terror of the English Navy.
In 1481, with only two ships, he successfully routed a couple of English squadrons from the Forth and the Clyde. The King was so grateful for his heroic actions that he was given a knighthood and presented with the lands of Largo, upon which he duly built his castle.
Henry VIII, however, wasn’t so enamoured with our Andrew and decided to rid himself of the problem.
He sent his best captain, Stephen Bull, north to the Forth with three of his finest war ships to intercept Sir Andrew upon his return from Holland.
Bull lay in wait behind the Isle of May, ready to pounce on his prey and take him unawares.
It didn’t quite work out like he’d planned, though, and in the end, after a fight that lasted “from the rising to the set of the sun”, it was Stephen Bull and his men who were taken prisoner.
Sir Andrew had a good use for them. They could help him dig a canal
– Scotland’s first. It was less than a mile long and ran between his castle and the kirk.
What better way, after all, for an old sea-dog to travel to the kirk on a Sunday than in his barge driven by eight oarsmen! Not a lot remains of Sir Andrew’s old house, but the line of that canal can still be clearly traced.
An impressive later mansion of 1750, designed by John Adam, now also stands in ruin. Sad that fine old mansions like this had to have their roofs stripped to avoid taxes.
This path joins a single track road and a few hundred yards downhill, between the cemetery and the school, another waymarked track points to Chesterstone Farm and the Law.
This is a particularly pleasant stretch of the walk, offering wide open views over the Forth and the wide sweep of Largo Bay. The Bass Rock and North Berwick Law are easy to identify.
The Law is looking quite colourful dressed in its yellow skirt of whin. Beyond Chesterstone Farm the track suddenly steepens with vengeance. Away down on the left, Pitcruvie Castle makes another appearance.
Largo Law used to be much higher than we see it now. What we see today is only the eroded plug of an ancient volcano.
Of course, you might prefer to believe the alternative theory that the hill was formed when the devil happened to drop a boulder and this was just where it landed!
It’s not only Auld Nick you’ve to watch out for when climbing the Law. This was a popular meeting place for the local witches who would sit on the hillside orchestrating all sorts of nasty storms across the Firth.
Look out, too, for the ghost of Tammie Norrie around Norrie’s Law. He’s not likely to be a happy chappie either since, around 200 years ago, a traveller came across his tomb and valuable hoard of silverware.
Unfortunately, the priceless artefacts, which must have lain there for more than 1,000 years, were sold to a jeweller who promptly melted them down. One or two items did survive, however, and are now in the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh.
If it’s a greater treasure you seek, though, you might still have come to the right place. Legend has it that beneath Largo Law is a rich mine of gold.
To find it you’ll need the assistance of another ghost but, as an old rhyme spells out, the ghost will only appear “If Auchindownie cock disna craw and Balmain horn disna blaw”.
This was just too tempting an invitation to one local shepherd who decided to try to find the treasure.
His friend was the Balmain cowherd, and he managed to persuade him not to blow his horn that evening.
He also took it upon himself to kill every cockerel in Auchindownie. Sure enough, the ghost appeared and, as had been promised, led the shepherd to the spot.
Unfortunately, his cowherd friend wasn’t the brightest star in the sky and forgot he wasn’t to blow his horn. As he sounded his horn, in an instant the ghost killed the shepherd and disappeared. So, by all accounts, the gold may still be there.
Two surprises greet me at the top. One, it’s a bit cooler and breezier than it looked from below and two, it’s not the top! The summit, crowned with a trig point and cairn, is down a dip and up another steep slope.
It’s worth it. Nowhere will you find a better 360 degree panorama over Fife and the Forth than from up here.
In his far-flung travels, Alexander Selkirk must have seen many wonderful sights, but I’m sure none of them, not even from the top of his Juan Fernandez Island, might better that to be enjoyed from the top of the Law, just a short walk from his own doorstep in Largo. n