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12 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No 53 March 2010 Issue No 53 March 2010 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 13 Early man enjoyed his shellfish <strong>The</strong> earliest known human habitations <strong>in</strong> Westray show that shellfish formed an important part of the diet of these early settlers. This can easily be seen at Hodgalee where cockles, limpets and w<strong>in</strong>kles date back about 5,000 years and there is plenty of evidence as shells are abundant around the rema<strong>in</strong>s of the old houses. On the L<strong>in</strong>ks of Noltland there is a large area of almost noth<strong>in</strong>g other than pure w<strong>in</strong>kle shells this is to the south and west of the area that was excavated <strong>in</strong> the early 1980s. Dur<strong>in</strong>g excavation work at the Knap of Hower and on the Papa Holm substantial numbers of shells of the Scottish Native Oyster were found. <strong>The</strong>se oysters are very rare nowadays, <strong>in</strong> fact they are almost ext<strong>in</strong>ct but they must have been plentiful 4,000 or 5,000 years ago. <strong>The</strong> question is were they be<strong>in</strong>g gathered from the wild or were they be<strong>in</strong>g encouraged to grow by some early form of fish farm<strong>in</strong>g. Apparently there is evidence from Skara Brae that shellfish were be<strong>in</strong>g kept <strong>in</strong> hold<strong>in</strong>g tanks if not actually farmed. <strong>The</strong> huge quantities of shell sand that covers some parts of the north and west of Westray makes me th<strong>in</strong>k that shellfish must have been much more plentiful <strong>in</strong> the <strong>in</strong>shore waters at sometime <strong>in</strong> the past than they have been <strong>in</strong> the last century. <strong>The</strong> Vik<strong>in</strong>g period, 1,000 to 500 years ago. <strong>The</strong>re is plenty of evidence that the Vik<strong>in</strong>gs who settled <strong>in</strong> this area were skilled <strong>in</strong> some forms of fish<strong>in</strong>g . Evidence of this can be seen <strong>in</strong> the Vik<strong>in</strong>g middens that can be found <strong>in</strong> several areas around the coast. One of the best middens can be seen at Quoygrew. <strong>The</strong>re jaw bones from large cod and l<strong>in</strong>g can easily be seen at the edge of the shore where the midden is be<strong>in</strong>g eroded away by the sea. Dr. James Barrette who has been lead<strong>in</strong>g several archaeological digs at Quoygrew believes that the large quantities of cod and l<strong>in</strong>g bones found <strong>in</strong> that area would <strong>in</strong>dicate that fish must have been exported from there. <strong>The</strong> amount of fish bones found would <strong>in</strong>dicate that far more fish were be<strong>in</strong>g caught than would have been necessary to feed a fairly small settlement like Quoygrew. <strong>The</strong> bones are from big fish and would <strong>in</strong>dicate that they came from a very much underutilised stock. No evidence of the fish<strong>in</strong>g method has been found. Perhaps they would have had some form of trap or gill net but more likely they would have forged fish hooks from iron. <strong>The</strong> Vik<strong>in</strong>gs certa<strong>in</strong>ly had the skills to make iron rivets to fasten the planks <strong>in</strong> their boats together so I suppose it would not be a big step from there to mak<strong>in</strong>g iron fish hooks. Fish hooks made from wood or bone could never have been very successful.<strong>The</strong> problem be<strong>in</strong>g that by the time you had made them strong enough they would have been too big A history of fish<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Westray to swallow. So the <strong>in</strong>vention of iron fish hooks would have been a great boon. I have often heard of fish hooks be<strong>in</strong>g used as currency <strong>in</strong> the old days when trad<strong>in</strong>g with native people who did not have iron to make fish hooks. Iron fish hooks were greatly valued by the Eskimo and they would gladly trade for them. Also the natives of the South Pacific greatly valued iron fish hooks. Copta<strong>in</strong> Cook compla<strong>in</strong>ed about them steal<strong>in</strong>g the nails from his ship to make fish hooks. I have also heard that someone bought most of the land that Auckland now stands on from a Maori chief for six fish hooks. I am gett<strong>in</strong>g a bit away from fish<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Westray now but I th<strong>in</strong>k that shows the value of iron fish hooks and we have that and their skills <strong>in</strong> dry<strong>in</strong>g and salt<strong>in</strong>g fish to thank the Vik<strong>in</strong>gs for. Herr<strong>in</strong>g, cod and great l<strong>in</strong>e fish<strong>in</strong>g. I will have to skip a few hundred years now because I have no <strong>in</strong>formation on the fish<strong>in</strong>g until the start of the 1800’s . I don’t know how important cod and l<strong>in</strong>g fish<strong>in</strong>g would have been before 1800 but dur<strong>in</strong>g the 19th century salted and dried fish developed <strong>in</strong>to an important export <strong>in</strong>dustry. Most districts <strong>in</strong> Westray still have build<strong>in</strong>gs near the shore that was used to store the fish. <strong>The</strong>se stores are usually near flat rocks where the fish were spread to dry. In many cases these storehouses were used to store kelp after the cod boom had passed. I am told that the Laird of Cleat built the fish store that stands at Sponess and he brought the Stouts from the Fair Isle to fish for the estate. Over the years there were several <strong>in</strong>fluxes of immigrants from the Fair Isle. Stout, Leslie, and Wilson are some of the surnames, all were, and many still are associated with the fish<strong>in</strong>g. Not surpris<strong>in</strong>gly Pierowall Bay had a bigger and better fish store than anywhere else <strong>in</strong> the island. In 1883 John Hewison who was the biggest of these fish merchants built what must have been a state of the art build<strong>in</strong>g to the north east of Gill Pier. Dur<strong>in</strong>g the 19th century Westray was be<strong>in</strong>g visited by fish<strong>in</strong>g boats from far afield. Scotch herr<strong>in</strong>g boats would go l<strong>in</strong>e fish<strong>in</strong>g between herr<strong>in</strong>g seasons and they would often land at Pierowall. English and French fish<strong>in</strong>g smacks would also base themselves <strong>in</strong> Pierowall and make several land<strong>in</strong>gs to either Logie or Hewison before gett<strong>in</strong>g a good enough load to go home with. <strong>The</strong> French boats had part of their hold as a tank where they kept some of their catch alive. Apparently they did not come <strong>in</strong> to the pier but sailed back and forth through what was called the Nort Reed <strong>in</strong> order to keep the water go<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> and out of the tank. <strong>The</strong> French fishermen would sometimes come ashore and By Alex Costie lay a smaa l<strong>in</strong>e on the Sand o Gill with the hooks bated with bits of fish <strong>in</strong> the hope of catch<strong>in</strong>g a few seagulls to eat. This practise rather disgusted the locals, although it is hard to see why eat<strong>in</strong>g Auks (Guillemots) should make the Westray folk feel so superior. Apparently w<strong>in</strong>ter was the time when much of the cod fish<strong>in</strong>g took place. <strong>The</strong> 80 and 90 feet herr<strong>in</strong>g boats would be hauled up on the beach to the north of the mill burn or <strong>in</strong> the Dock o Gill and the fishermen would take their skiffs and go to the nort sea to fish for cod. <strong>The</strong> nort sea meant the sea north of Westray and not the English North Sea. Johnie O Kenties spoke of the Gullie Bank as be<strong>in</strong>g a favourite spot of his fathers and his grandfathers. It was with the three hills <strong>in</strong> l<strong>in</strong>e and Papay low <strong>in</strong> the water, just like a mans cap on the water was Johnie’s description. This would put it somewhere to the north of the Noup and probably 12 or 15 miles off. Quite a distance to go <strong>in</strong> a skiff, especially if it was w<strong>in</strong>ter. Why they called it Gullie Bank <strong>The</strong> Gullie Bank got its name from an <strong>in</strong>cident that happened one morn<strong>in</strong>g as the fishermen were mak<strong>in</strong>g for their boat . <strong>The</strong> Skipper and one of the crew had to cross the Kelp Green . This is an area for dry<strong>in</strong>g seaweed and of common graz<strong>in</strong>g. Here they disturbed someone attempt<strong>in</strong>g to steal a sheep. Although is was still dark they were able to recognise the thief as he made off. <strong>The</strong>y knew him as an old man who had become <strong>in</strong>firm and unable to go to sea. In his haste the thief had dropped his butch<strong>in</strong>g knife, known locally as a gullie. <strong>The</strong> fishermen took the knife to the boat with them but later on that day as a l<strong>in</strong>e was runn<strong>in</strong>g out it took a k<strong>in</strong>k around the gullie and flipped it over the side. From then on that area was known as the Gullie Bank. <strong>The</strong> fishermen never revealed the name of the thief <strong>in</strong>stead they often left a l<strong>in</strong>g or a cod hang<strong>in</strong>g on the wall near the door of this poor fellow to help feed him and his old wife <strong>in</strong> the hope that he would never have to resort to steal<strong>in</strong>g sheep aga<strong>in</strong>. Although there were lots of cod around <strong>in</strong> those times they were not to be found everywhere all the time. <strong>The</strong>y could be very spotty just like they are today. One year it came a spell of very f<strong>in</strong>e weather <strong>in</strong> February. Three boats sailed from Skello, bellow Branstane, bound for the west sea <strong>in</strong> the hope of catch<strong>in</strong>g cod. <strong>The</strong>y went for three days and all they had to show for their efforts was one barrel stave they had found float<strong>in</strong>g. On the fourth day they filled their boats and it took six horse carts to take the fish above the banks. Fish<strong>in</strong>g can be like that. Gett<strong>in</strong>g back to Hewison and the big store he built above Gill Pier. In the twart backs (rafters) can be seen sharp metal hooks about every 9 <strong>in</strong>ches or so that the cod could be hung on to dry after they had been salted. In damp weather a barrow with live charcoal was wheeled through the store to help dry the fish. <strong>The</strong> vents for this can be seen high up on the <strong>in</strong>side of the gables. <strong>The</strong> w<strong>in</strong>dows <strong>in</strong> the big store are almost all on the north side. This is the opposite to most dwell<strong>in</strong>g houses of the time where w<strong>in</strong>dows are found on the south side to give both light and heat from the sun. In a fish cur<strong>in</strong>g store they only wanted light hence w<strong>in</strong>dows only on the north side. <strong>The</strong>re were several schooners sail<strong>in</strong>g out of Westray employed <strong>in</strong> the trade of export<strong>in</strong>g salt fish and kelp and br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g back coal and other goods. Fish, Brandy, Ponies or Coal—all <strong>in</strong> a day’s work One of these was the topsail schooner “Galatea”. I am led to believe that on one trip she sailed from Westray with a cargo of salt fish for Bilbao <strong>in</strong> Spa<strong>in</strong>, she took on a cargo of brandy for the northward journey dest<strong>in</strong>ed for Iceland. On the way north the “Galatea” hove too <strong>in</strong> the north sound but could not come alongside <strong>in</strong> Westray for fear of be<strong>in</strong>g charged duty on the cargo by the customs- coastguards stationed at the Braehead. Stores were sent out <strong>in</strong> a skiff from Broughton. <strong>The</strong> skippers wife also visited her husband tak<strong>in</strong>g passage on the same skiff as the stores. <strong>The</strong> “Galatea” cont<strong>in</strong>ued her voyage to Iceland where the cargo of brandy was sold and a load of pit ponies were taken on board. <strong>The</strong> pit ponies were bound for Fife. I th<strong>in</strong>k one of the shareholders <strong>in</strong> the “Galatea” also had shares <strong>in</strong> coal m<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> Fife. A cargo of coal was then loaded and the “Galatea” sailed for Westray. I was told of another voyage of the “Galatea”, it was too be the last voyage of the season before be<strong>in</strong>g tied up <strong>in</strong> Westray for the w<strong>in</strong>ter. <strong>The</strong>y had loaded salt fish <strong>in</strong> Westray and were bound for Leith. However when they arrived at Leith they found that the merchant who they had been expect<strong>in</strong>g to buy the fish was full up and could not take any more that year. <strong>The</strong>y solved the problem by go<strong>in</strong>g further up the Forth to Bo’ness and they lay there all w<strong>in</strong>ter and sold the complete cargo of salt fish to housewives who came down to the dock and bought them at a stone or half a stone at a time. <strong>The</strong>y were just f<strong>in</strong>ished by spr<strong>in</strong>g when it was time to start aga<strong>in</strong> and they went across the firth to Fife for a cargo of coal to take home . Hewison also exported salt fish to Australia. Tommy Logie told me his father had a contract with Hewison to make wooden boxes to pack the fish <strong>in</strong> for their journey to Australia. <strong>The</strong> boxes also had to be l<strong>in</strong>ed with lead, probably paper th<strong>in</strong> led like what used to be <strong>in</strong> tea boxes. Just imag<strong>in</strong>eA
14 NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Issue No. 53 March 2010 Fthat, it’s a wonder the Australians are no worse than they are after eat<strong>in</strong>g all that lead and salt fish. I th<strong>in</strong>k it was <strong>in</strong> 1891 that there was a tremendous quantity of herr<strong>in</strong>g close <strong>in</strong> on the east side. <strong>The</strong>re are reports of the geos on the east side of Papay hav<strong>in</strong>g herr<strong>in</strong>g so close <strong>in</strong> they could be caught from the shore. <strong>The</strong> Rackwick of Moa <strong>in</strong> Westray was also full of herr<strong>in</strong>g. I was told of an old lady from Skello who took a cubbie (a basket made from straw or heather to be carried on the back) on her back and went down to Rackwick to see if she could get some fish from a fisherman to salt for the w<strong>in</strong>ter. On see<strong>in</strong>g a lot of herr<strong>in</strong>g close <strong>in</strong> she thought she would try and catch some herself. She threw the cubbie out from the rocks but was unable to pull it <strong>in</strong> by herself it be<strong>in</strong>g so full of herr<strong>in</strong>g. <strong>The</strong> cubbie she had was old and worn and rather rotten and her helpers had a job to retrieve the cubbie and some fish without the cubbie dis<strong>in</strong>tegrat<strong>in</strong>g completely. After this unusual run of herr<strong>in</strong>g a lot of saith set <strong>in</strong>to the Rackwick of Moa. <strong>The</strong>y were probably feed<strong>in</strong>g on the herr<strong>in</strong>g spawn. It is a common occurrence to f<strong>in</strong>d cod, haddock and saith gorg<strong>in</strong>g themselves with herr<strong>in</strong>g spawn. One of the boats took a big catch of saith <strong>in</strong> Rackwick by clipp<strong>in</strong>g them from the top of the water. Clipp<strong>in</strong>g saith was common at that time especially by the Papay boats work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the bore. Clipp<strong>in</strong>g was just us<strong>in</strong>g a gaff to pull the fish on board from the top of the water, no fish hook was used. <strong>The</strong> fishermen thought that s<strong>in</strong>ce they had a big catch they would go north to Pierowall and sell their fish to Hewison. <strong>The</strong>y duly arrived and told Hewison they had a good catch of clipped saith . His answer was, ‘So has every body else so I am afraid it will only be a clipped price’. Noth<strong>in</strong>g new there. Not long after Hewison built his grand new fish cur<strong>in</strong>g store several events began to take place which brought about the end of cur<strong>in</strong>g and export<strong>in</strong>g cod. <strong>The</strong> com<strong>in</strong>g of steam and trawl<strong>in</strong>g Steam replaced sail. Trawl<strong>in</strong>g replaced l<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g. <strong>The</strong> boats got bigger. Someone <strong>in</strong>vented ice mak<strong>in</strong>g mach<strong>in</strong>es. <strong>The</strong> fish<strong>in</strong>g boats could then take on a load of ice at their home ports and come up north and fish and store their catch <strong>in</strong> ice before head<strong>in</strong>g back home. No need to make half land<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> Pierowall anymore. This left merchants like Hewison and Logie depend<strong>in</strong>g on the local fleet for supplies. Cod were gett<strong>in</strong>g generally more scarce. <strong>The</strong> First World War brought an end to most of that. <strong>The</strong> population of the island was beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g to drop. After the First World War the herr<strong>in</strong>g fish<strong>in</strong>g opened aga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> Stronsay and a few Westray families acquired boats and were <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> that for a few years. <strong>The</strong> men from Saverton were <strong>in</strong>volved own<strong>in</strong>g boats and sometimes crew<strong>in</strong>g for another well known family of that time the Fletts. James Robert or Bob Flett as he was commonly called had married May Wilson from Westray. <strong>The</strong>y moved to Westray from Banff but the Fletts had orig<strong>in</strong>ally come from Orkney. <strong>The</strong>y lived at no 5 Gill Pier. He had a family of six sons and three daughters. <strong>The</strong>y had a 90 feet Zulu called the “Enterprise” K 97 that drift netted for herr<strong>in</strong>g ma<strong>in</strong>ly for the Stronsay fish<strong>in</strong>g. In the spr<strong>in</strong>g of the year they would go to the great l<strong>in</strong>es ma<strong>in</strong>ly for halibut and cod and l<strong>in</strong>g. Sometimes work<strong>in</strong>g as far off as Rockall. Bob along with his son Jimmy had a new boat built. It was called the “Ocean Searcher” This boat was smaller, 65feet approximately and was employed <strong>in</strong> the same type of fish<strong>in</strong>g as the “Enterprise” had been. <strong>The</strong> “Ocean Searcher” was built at Heardies <strong>in</strong> Buckie perhaps <strong>in</strong> the early 1930s, and cost £350. This price <strong>in</strong>cluded a set of sails 50 herr<strong>in</strong>g nets and a steam capstan that was driven off the bogie stove <strong>in</strong> the fo’c’s’le. She was later fitted with a Kelv<strong>in</strong> eng<strong>in</strong>e. When the Second World War came along Jimmy Flett was called up early on and had to go and serve <strong>in</strong> the Royal Navy. I believe he was <strong>in</strong> command of an armed trawler or vessel of that sort. From then until the early 1960s the fish<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Westray was mostly for lobsters for export with haddock and cuithes (small saith) be<strong>in</strong>g caught for local consumption. This was a ma<strong>in</strong>ly crofter based <strong>in</strong>dustry with few if any fulltime fishermen. Haddock had replaced cod on the local grounds and was a popular fish with the locals. In the late 1950s and early 60s a change was tak<strong>in</strong>g place with bigger boats (mostly old se<strong>in</strong>e net boats from Scotland) com<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to Orkney to fish for lobsters. At that time there were areas where creels had never been shot and the lobsters were virtually untouched. In the early 1950s the Rendalls of Beachouse had a boat called the “Bertha Jane.” Unfortunately she dragged her moor<strong>in</strong>gs and was damaged beyond repair when she was blown ashore on the Po<strong>in</strong>t o’ Berridale. George Thompson and his son Billy had a boat called the “Sheena”and they fished lobsters around the Bay o Noup for a few years. <strong>The</strong> 44ft “Sheena MacKay” was brought to Westray by the Fergus family of Noup farm. <strong>The</strong>y fished well when they had time but they also had a 1,000 acre farm to run and they eventually hired the boat out to John Harcus o Branstane and he along with David Hutchison fished her successfully for lobsters for a number of years, eventually replac<strong>in</strong>g her with a newer boat. In 1963 the 57ft se<strong>in</strong>e net boat “Chance” WK126 later registered K831 was brought to Westray by Alex and George Costie. This was to be used ma<strong>in</strong>ly for lobster fish<strong>in</strong>g with some se<strong>in</strong>e nett<strong>in</strong>g for bait and local sales. However the summer of 1963 was spent work<strong>in</strong>g out of Lybster with a Lybster skipper and some of his crew on board. John William Flett from Papa Westray (a grandson of Bob Flett) was also on board at that time. This was a good opportunity for the Orkney men to learn someth<strong>in</strong>g of the art of se<strong>in</strong>e nett<strong>in</strong>g. This experience together with some successful se<strong>in</strong>e net fish<strong>in</strong>g when the “Chance” returned to Westray <strong>in</strong> the autumn of 1963, led to an <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> white fish<strong>in</strong>g which by the 1990s had developed <strong>in</strong>to a sizable fleet of modern trawlers. White fish boats like the “Enterprise” K880, the “Alma” and the “Our Cather<strong>in</strong>e” had some good times but they were small boats for work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> these northern waters and were often hampered by bad weather, so earn<strong>in</strong>gs went from very good some weeks to noth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> others. More consistently good earn<strong>in</strong>gs did not happen until bigger boats came <strong>in</strong>to the fleet. Tam Harcus brought the 80ft “Rivo” to Westray. She had a 800hp Blackstone eng<strong>in</strong>e with bigger horse power. A
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