Tobar an Dualchais - Kist O Riches

Title - Anecdotes about pearl fishing in Ireland and Scotland, and s...
Contributors - Belle Stewart; Alec Stewart
Reporters - Dr Sheila Douglas
Item Person - Stewart, Alec [Bidley/Biddley]; Reid, Alec; Stewart, John

Summary - Anecdotes about pearl fishing in Ireland and Scotland, and selling pearls.

Alec Stewart got £35 worth of pearls in one hour in Ireland, but there are obstacles to fishing there. An Irish friend told him that he was about to go pearl fishing in the Small Black Water and had only just got his home-made boat into the water when some IRA men came and destroyed it, and chased him down the road.

Alec Stewart describes the first time he went pearl fishing at the age of nine or ten, with his father and Hughie Higgins, in the Tay. He was the only one who found a pearl, a big one the size of a nieve [fist]. On another occasion he had to point out a shell to Jobbie Sutherland, who couldn't see it. He comments that the pearl fishing has been ruined by people taking the shells when they are too small. He mentions one man who fished with him, and claimed there were no pearls, though the man had an aspirin bottle full of them. Belle Stewart recalls that her father and uncles fished for pearls in the Esk at Kirriemuir, which they bartered for groceries and sometimes old clothes. Alec tells how his father met Alec Reid near Callander, on his way to sell a pearl. A jeweller offered £2 and a watch, but Alec's father bought it himself for £6 and his watch. He sent it away to a dealer and got £65 for it.


Track Duration (h:m:s) - 00:11:21
Date Recorded - 1978
Language - English
Genre - Story, Information
Collection - School of Scottish Studies

Track ID - 57342
Original Tape ID - SA1978.174
Original Track ID - SA1978.174
Audio Quality - Fair
Audio Format - R2R


Item Notes -

Permanent Link - http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/fullrecord/57342/1


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