Views of a dead industry

In the late 19th and early 20th century, the herring industry was a cornerstone of the island economy, here in Lewis. The same applied up and down the coasts of the United Kingdom as a whole. In my transcription of the findings of the Napier Commission, I came across the testimony of a fish-curer from Burghead, on the east coast of Scotland. Thomas Jenkins had been plying his trade at Castlebay, Barra, for 13 years when he was quizzed by Lord Napier and his commission. It makes faintly sad reading to see the earnest and detailed outlining of the problems afflicting the herring trade in 1883 - and knowing that within a hundred years, there would be hardly any herring left. The only tangible memory of the herring trade in the Western Isles is in the statues of the herring girls along the harbour front in Stornoway, as shown on the left.

In the early years of the 20th century, young women would flock to the fishing ports of the UK to gut herring at a rate of 60 a minute, packing them into barrels, with copious amounts of salt. The barrels would go as far afield as Russia, where they were considered a delicacy by the ruling classes. Like the herringtrade, the ruling classes in Russia would be swept away within fifty years.

Wednesday 26 May

It started so nice this morning, blue skies and all that. But showers bubbled up pretty quickly, and some nice cumulonimbus clouds marched up and down the horizon. One brought hailstones to the north of Lewis, and another drenched the town - fortunately, just as I was in the library.

On June 12th, it will be 70 years ago since the 51st Highland Division, part of the British Expeditionary Force, was captured at St Valery-en-Caux in northern France. Many were taken prisoner of war for the duration of WW2, a few managed to escape. I was in the library to dig out the names from the WW2 rolls of honour, which took me an hour and a half.

Tuesday 25 May

Been very busy today, in spite of the nice-ish weather we had, with the research projects - Canadian soldiers from Lewis and the Napier Commission report. On the latter subject, I am currently going through the report for Barra, which shows outright theft, wilful neglect and capricious evictions "because the policeman wants the land" being the order of the day in the 1880s.

A cruiseliner, the Braemar, came to call today and discharged its passengers ashore using tenders. By evening, it set sail in the direction of Kirkwall, 150 miles to the northeast, for a visit to Orkney. Apparently, the town centre here was heaving with the folks off the liner. This first month of the cruiseliner season is proving to be a very busy one.

Monday 24 May

It's ten past nine in the evening, and it's about forty minutes from sunset. The Arctic terns are wheeling around the basin, splashing into the water every now and again to scoop up some small fish.

The ferry came in an hour ago, amidst the second shower of the day. After a cloudy start, the afternoon brightened up, but just as you start to praise the nice weather, here come the showers. It is noticeably cooler today, witih a nippy northerly wind. Just as well the Icelandic volcano has (temporarily) stopped spewing out ash. Only if this is sustained for three months is it considered dormant.

I've continued my look-up of Canadian soldiers originating from Lewis. I have also completed the transcript of the Napier Commission regarding St Kilda, June 1883. If you're interested, have a look here.

Sunday 23 May

Although the rest of the country is basking in hot sunshine, the Outer Hebrides are under a cover of cloud and rather lower temps. I cannot complain about 15C / 59F, which I prefer to the near 30s that the south of England is currently afflicted with.

I have been busy today looking up the attestation papers of Canadians who fought in the First World War and who originated from the Isle of Lewis. I have also been updating an old blog, that was transferred from the BBC Island Blogging service to a new server last year. This process takes a long time, even more so because some of the pictures were hosted on AOL - and they pulled the plug on all our pics in December 2008.

And finally, I am transcribing the Napier Commission Report from 1886 on the circumstances of the people in the Highlands and Islands - in particular the entries related to St Kilda. Those islands were evacuated in 1930 at the request of its inhabitants, even though the authorities were aware of their deprived state fifty years previous, as highlighted by the Napier report. I shall open a new blog to display the transcription.

What was for dinner? A stroganoff with rice, and a strawberry gateau for afters.

Saturday 22 May

The day started with dense fog, which lifted shortly after 8am. After that, it stayed bright (if not overtly sunny) and quite mild today, with the mercury once again at 18C / 64F. No coat required for walk to shop (which was very busy, and the inevitable screaming mites adding to the fun). Cruiseliner Polar Star (1st pic) was docked alongside the ferry pier, but it has now left for the Shiants (20 miles south of here). Better make the best of the nice weather (like sitting outside under the tree), because on Monday we'll lose the "1" on the temperature and go right down to 8C / 46F. It is still May, and we're not having a good spring. Those low temperatures will signal a return of the northerly winds and the Icelandic ash.




Clematis


Dandelion puffball


Early morning fog lifting from the Castle Grounds

Friday 21 May

What a strange day. It rained like I've not seen rain for ages. We certainly get more than our fair share of rain in these islands, but we rarely get vertical rain of monsoonal proportions as we had for hours yesterday. The total rainfall amount is quoted as 0.6" (15 mm).

Tropical cyclone Bandu is moving just north of the Horn of Africa, Somalia, and has claimed a ship. The Dubai Moon, a vehicle transporter, went down in rough seas today. The vessel had been battling heavy seas and high winds of Socotra Island and later sank. The British Royal Navy, in the shape of HMS Chatham, saved the crew. Tropical cyclones are rare but not unheard of in the Arabian Sea; Bandu is moving west into the Gulf of Aden and will dissipate in the next day or so.

After the rain stopped, the fog moved in. By the end of the evening, the lights on Goat Island, across the water from me, had nearly faded from sight.

Picture post - 18 May

Cruiseliner Spirit of Adventure as seen through the Narrows



Cromwell Street Quay


Little and large: cruiseliners Spirit of Adventure and Quest

Thursday 20 May

Today came the news that the Lewis Chessmen will be touring Scotland this year. The figurines, thought to have been carved from walrus ivory at the beginning of the last milennium, were found in dunes at Ardroil, 35 miles west of Stornoway in Lewis. Most of them were sold to the British Museum, about a dozen are kept in a museum in Edinburgh. For the first time in 170 years, the Chessmen will be together again. In September, they will be on display at the Western Isles Museum here in Stornoway, where, some argue, they should be kept permanently. Or even at the wee Uig Museum, across the bay from their original finding place.

It was supposed to be a warm day, but far from it. It has been overcast and not very sunny. Last night, the cloud descended to sealevel, temporarily shrouding the lighthouse from view. It stands just a mile away from my position.

Wednesday 19 May

Rather more cloud today, although it appears to have been quite localised. There were reports of sun at Bosta (Great Bernera), but fog in Uig - just a couple of miles to the west. Although I tend not to complain about 12C, it is rather lower than the 18C of yesterday.

I spent today putting the finishing touches to a new website, which displays all the wargraves in Lewis. It is now live on this link.

Monty Halls Great Hebridean Escape is all about hammering posts into the ground. I feel like hammering my head against the wall when I watch that man behaving like an idiot. Bonny Prince Charlie has been to every blinking island, Benbecula not excluded, and he came there and went - as he did in every place on the map. Argh. I felt sorry for the poor fisherman whose boat Monty Halls used to demonstrate how to leave an island. Although he did some good things, like marking out trails and cleaning beaches of flotsam and jetsam, MH is making an ass of himself.

Tuesday 18 May - PM

A stunning day today, which had the mercury soaring to 18C / 64F, something that is our average in summer. As I type this, it is still not fully dark (10.45pm). There were two cruiseliners in, and the passengers of the Spirit of Adventure were apparently (bag)piped into town. Nice welcome. I went round the Inner Harbour between 5 and 6pm to have a wee look.

A friend of mine here in Lewis, who sits on committees, reported  the subjects under discussion this evening.
1. golliwogs 
2. state of crofting 
3. peeing on socks 
4. embalming 
5. cost of curing sheepskins

In my opinion, there isn't that much wrong in the world if that is all that concerns the citizens of this island. 

Hurricane update - 18 May

We have a new tropical cyclone in the world, Laila. This one is located in the Bay of  Bengal, some 350 miles east of Chennai (Madras) in India. It is at tropical storm strength and will impact the coast as a minor hurricane in a few days' time. This is the first system since 25 April, one of the longest cyclone-free intervals in the four years that I've been following these phenomena.

Tuesday 18 May

Bright and sunny, with a breeze and temperatures likely to soar into the 60s Fahrenheit for the first time this year. The forecast is for 19C on the mainland, but we will not get that high due to the surrounding cold waters of the Atlantic. It is once more cruiseliner time, with the Spirit of Adventure coming in at 8 this morning, and the Quest on its way in from the north.


Spirit of Adventure, 25 May 2009

Have joined a site which collates websites of interest for the Western Isles, and it is gradually filling up with interesting links. And I'm continuing to build a website which shows all war(-related) graves in Lewis.

Monday 17 May

Today was one of those strange days, where I found myself fattening the coffers of the local supermarket no fewer than three times. Apart from that, it was quite a nice day, which started with the appearance of another cruiseliner, the Fram. The below picture dates back to last September, at the time of her previous visit.

The Fram is quite a new vessel, only 3 years old. As I type this, the next morning, she is docked at Aberdeen.

Air travel is once more disrupted due to volcanic ash floating around British airspace. Watched an alarmist programme about the volcano involved, what would happen if its big brother blows, what will happen when the 30 volcanoes on the Kamchatka peninsula in the far east of Russia all go off. Wish people would get things into perspective, and not personalise natural phenomena.

Picture post - last week

11.48 pm, looking northwest


Thursday sunset

Wednesday, visit to Ness

Picture post - 14 May

A walk across the Golfcourse and to the Waterwheel

Sunday 16 May

Quite a nice day outside, with the mercury at 14C. Nonetheless, I've spent the day staring at this wee screen, weeding out more problems with historical data. The 4/6 vs 6/4 problem I alluded to yesterday occurred when I attempted a mailmerge from Excel into Word. I tried to format a date into (e.g.) 12 May 1940, but the computer turned it into 5 December 1940 on adding the formatting code.

I am also going to publish the 450 pictures of wargraves in Lewis on a site that has them grouped by surname of casualty, rather than by cemetery. In other words, that will keep be busy for a while as well. Also, because it keeps throwing up omissions and duplicates.

Meanwhile, the ash is back to haunt us. The Icelandic volcano is continuing to erupt, and its ash is once more disrupting air travel in the UK. Stornoway Airport is set to open as normal tomorrow morning. There are advantages to living on the fringe.

Saturday 15 May

Quite a reasonable day, with some showers and quite a bit of sunshine. We managed 13C / 57F on the thermometer. The temperatures appear to be on the way up in the days to come.

The Icelandic volcanic ashcloud is once again coming to haunt us. With the winds changing, it will now lie over the UK over the next few days, until it is finally blown north. The discussion about the sense behind restricting airtravel due to the ash continues, but after Ryanair found ash deposits in two of its planes' engines, I think the sense is demonstrated.

I've been processing some of my historical data, but tripped over Word's determination to turn 6 April into 4 June, and things like that.

More tomorrow.

Friday 14 May

I'm quite disgusted this morning, after reading an on-line newspaper's transcript of a telephone interview with the 9-year old victim of the Tripoli aircrash. "De Telegraaf", a daily newspaper in Holland couldn't raise itself to a half-decent editorial standard and leave the lad alone. No, he wasn't told his family are dead, thank god. I always thought the British gutterpress were bad. Never thought they'd stoop this low in Holland. But I now know otherwise, after other media outlets raided the Hyves sites of  people, thought lost in the aircrash, for pictures and information.

More later.

Social networking - the downside

I reported in my previous post on an aircrash in Libya, in which 70 Dutch people were killed. One survived, a boy of 9 called Ruben. His full name was splashed across the Dutch media this afternoon, and lists of possible casualties are circulating. The Internet permitted me to watch a newsconference by the Dutch Foreign Minister, Maxime Verhagen, and one thing jumped out at me. It appears that journalists and other media workers have been raiding social networking sites in the Netherlands for information and pictures of those killed, and of the little survivor. It is extremely distressing for the families of those concerned, at a time when the identity of those thought to have died has not yet been confirmed.

I am absolutely disgusted with the attitude of some of the Dutch presspack, and hope the appeal from the Foreign Minister will be heeded.

Further coverage (in English) can be obtained from Radio Netherlands Worldwide.