Shetlanders captured by French warships.
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1970.237
Original Tape ID
Summary
Shetlanders captured by French warships.
A French pirate ship took two men off the rocky coastline at Fladdabister. They were eventually imprisoned in France. The men distinguished themselves putting out a mansion fire and were freed by the lady of the house. One man settled in Quarff and named his house after the prison, while the other named his house Purgatory.
Two boys who were at the fishing hired themselves out as day pilots but were seized by a French privateer. They told the captain that three battleships were moored in Lerwick, so he abandoned his plans to attack the town. They were on the ship for months with a hundred British prisoners before being rescued by one of the battleships they had claimed was in Lerwick. After months in Holland, they were landed on the north end of Shetland. They arrived home at the south end on Christmas Day. Bruce of Sumburgh rewarded one of the men, called Adamson, with a house and plot of ground.
Item Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Dunrossness
Island - Shetland Mainland
Language
English, Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good