Friday 1st January
Langholm hosted its annual New Year’s Day district carpet bowling tournament. One of its teams beat 45 others, including participants from Lanarkshire, Dumfries, Annan and Carlisle.
The competition involved nearly 13 hours of play in the hall of the Eskdale Temperance Hotel, Langholm, finishing at 10.30 pm.
Robert Ramage, a plumber and the president of Langholm’s Old Town lawn bowling club, handed out the prizes and made a speech. He appealed to all young men to consider their duty:
If you are the only son and support of your mother, your duty is at home. If not, then your King and country need you. It is the duty of everyone to do their utmost at the present time.
The year did not begin well for national defence, with the battleship HMS Formidable being torpedoed at 2 am in the English Channel. Only 199 out of 750 on board survived.
Wednesday 6th January
The local paper, the Eskdale and Liddesdale Advertiser (‘E&L’), provided its overview of 1914, including:
- The war. The local area has responded to the outbreak of hostilities by providing 378 men and women for military service so far. Two have been reported as dead, four wounded and three missing.
- Trade. The war resulted in cancellations of regular orders for the woollen mills but these were soon replaced by government orders for khaki.
- Municipal affairs. The main development was the establishment of a fire station on the High Street.
Friday 8th January
The Parish Church held its annual Sunday School treat, well attended by children, teachers, parents and others.
The programme consisted of a tea, a musical programme and motion pictures, shown using a cinematograph.
An early cinematograph
Wednesday 13th January
Walter Wilson, agent for the Allan Line, placed another of his weekly adverts in the E&L for berths on ships to Canada, highlighting ‘Palatial Accommodation’, ‘Unsurpassed Cuisine’ and ‘Matrons for Unaccompanied Young Women’.
Saturday 16th January
In the Langholm burgh police court, Senior Bailie (magistrate) John Cairns sentenced two men to five shillings or five days’ imprisonment for being drunk and disorderly in the High Street.
Four rooms in Langholm’s Town Hall building are available for imprisonment.
Tuesday 19th January
Zeppelin airships made their first raids on the UK, dropping bombs and incendiaries on Great Yarmouth, King’s Lynn and Sheringham in Norfolk, killing four civilians.
Wednesday 20th January
Lieutenant General Sir Spencer Ewart, head of Scottish Command (all Scottish army forces), has been appointed honorary colonel of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders.
He lives at Craigcleuch, a large house two miles from Langholm with expansive views, built for woollen mill manufacturer Alexander Reid who died before it was completed.
Thursday 21st January
The Eskdale Unionist Society, previously known as the Eskdale Conservative Society, held an AGM in its clubrooms in the High Street, overseen by president Arthur Bell, woollen mill owner.
The association’s club facilities are being made available to wounded soldiers at Langholm’s Red Cross hospital.
Friday 22nd January
1/5th King’s Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) is on guard duty in Fife, protecting the north side of the Firth of Forth. Its main activities at present are trench-digging, drills and parades.
Tuesday 26th January
A fire broke out in some outhouses at Sir Spencer Ewart’s Craigcleuch property. Members of the fire brigade and police soon arrived but the fire was out of control and gutted the buildings, killing a Labrador.
Isabella Armstrong, daughter of Milnholm farmer John Carlyle, died. She was the great-niece of the author Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) who was born in Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, 15 miles from Langholm.
Thomas Bell gave a lecture in the Eskdale Temperance Hall on ‘The Story of the KOSB’, organised by the Townhead Literary Society.
Wednesday 27th January
Before the war, the majority of mouth organs (or harmonicas) were made in Germany. The E&L reports that the USA has increased production dramatically to help replace this supply. Mouth organs are suitably small to send in parcels to soldiers at the front.
Saturday 30th January
The Langholm Carpet Bowling Club held its annual open tournament at the Douglas and Buccleuch Hotels, but play went on so long that a semi-final and the final were deferred to next Saturday.