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Two Shetland shipwrecks; origin of the Norwegian surname Big...

Date 23 May 1986
Track ID 55220
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1986.35.BB

Original Tape ID

SA1986.035

Summary

Two Shetland shipwrecks; origin of the Norwegian surname Bigton.

A Finnish schooner with a load of coal from Hull lost her rudder in a hurricane and was wrecked on the South Wick of Eswick in 1876. By the time she grounded, the storm had abated. The crew came up the banks [cliffs] in the dark and knew from the corn stubble that they were near habitation. They reached the house of Annie Sandison's grandparents. The woman of the house heard someone speaking outside. Her husband said it was only family who had been looking for wreck wood. She convinced him to check and when he opened the door, he was surrounded by Finnish crewmen. He fainted, but a young man courting in the house realised they were shipwrecked foreigners. Geordie Gear's great grandfather took them in until they could return home.

In 1910 the Norwegian-manned Liverpool barque Pioneer ran into a south-east hurricane and also lost her rudder. The captain was lost and chief officer John Anderson took over. They saw the Moul of Eswick and abandoned ship in two lifeboats; eventually they came ashore in Eswick. The ship drifted and was rescued by men from Whalsay, who claimed salvage from the owners. The Norwegian crew stayed in Eswick for three weeks and were distributed among all the houses except for that of Geordie's aunt, who was looking after her old father. The crew rejoined their ship in Whalsay and set sail again with a new rudder.

On another occasion, a Norwegian crewman was so impressed by his treatment when he ran aground at Bigton that he changed his name to Bigton, and his descendants still have the name in the Bergen area. Local man Robert Leask has contacted the descendants.

Recording Location

County - Shetland

Parish - Nesting

Island - Shetland Mainland

Village/Place - Eswick

Item Location

County - Shetland

Non Scottish Item Location

England, Liverpool

Non Scottish Item Location

Norway

Non Scottish Item Location

Sasainn, Liverpool

Non Scottish Item Location

Nirribhidh

Language

English, Scots

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good