Fishing during the First World War; life on Foula; biographi...

Original Track ID

SA1984.054

Original Tape ID

SA1984.054

Summary

Fishing during the First World War; life on Foula; biographical information.

The contributor recounts how he first went to the herring fishing in the Lord Kitchener after working in small boats. He walked from Walls to Scalloway in his moleskin trousers and fisherman's gansey [pullover], with his boots, the first pair he ever had, around his neck. He put on his boots when he got to the fine town of Scalloway. Before sailing he had to buy material and made himself a sack to carry his belongings.

The Lord Kitchener fished alongside the Corona and the General Buller, which were both sunk in the First World War. An account of the sinking of the Corona is given. The crew denied that they were English - they were all Shetlanders - and the Germans let them go.

There is conversation about the following: men lost from Foula in the First World War; drifters sunk by submarines; earnings and prices; a cattle buyer, Ned Irvine; and how the cattle were transported in a sixareen [six-oared boat].

The contributor describes a particularly good catch of cod that his father got in 1915, when trawling stopped during the war. He talks about the fish buyer and how he got his Foula employee, Walter Moat, exempted from war service. The line fishing was very poor after trawling started again. Women did most of the crofting work as well as looking after big families.

Item Subject/Person

Isbister, Bobby

Item Location

Language

Scots

Genre

Story Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Fair