Part 2 (1/2)

There are bulky sea-chests, with smaller ones on the top of them; chairs, with generally an effort at an easy one; a wooden bench, a table, beds, spades, fis.h.i.+ng-rods, baskets, and a score of other little things, which help, after all, to make it a domus. The very teapot, in Zetland always to be found at the fireside, speaks of home and woman, and reminds one of the sobriety of the people - that very important difference between them and the inhabitants of the Hebridean islands. I think the Zetlanders, too, are more intelligent, and more inclined to be industrious, and give greater evidence of the tendency to acc.u.mulate or provide.

'Instead of describing the house occupied by each patient, I have given this general account of the average Zetland dwelling, and then, in my individual reports, I have spoken of the special houses as of, above, or below the average.'

*Different terms signifying varieties of sod.

Since 1860, the dwellings of the people have undergone considerable improvement, especially in the more advanced districts, such as Unst; but the description given of them by Dr.

Cowie,* the latest writer on Shetland and himself a Shetlander, and my own observation so far as it went, enables me to state that Dr. Mitch.e.l.l's description of the average cottage of the fisherman-farmer is still substantially correct. Cottages to which the description exactly applies may be found within a mile of Lerwick. In Lerwick, the capital, the poorer dwellings are, to say the least, not better than those of the same cla.s.s in other towns of its size. [D. Edmonstone, 10,683; Rev. W. Smith, 10,718; Dr.

Cowie, 14,745.]

*<shetland: descriptive=”” and=”” historica=””>l. By Robert Cowie, M.A., M.D., Aberdeen. 1871. See p. 91. Edmonstone's <view of=”” the=”” zetland=”” islands=””>, vol. ii., p. 48. <new statistical=”” account=”” of=”” the=”” shetland=”” islands=””>, p. 138.

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THE LING FISHERY.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF FIs.h.i.+NG.

It is necessary to distinguish the terms which are somewhat loosely used in speaking of the different kinds of fis.h.i.+ng carried on in Shetland. The home or summer fis.h.i.+ng, when that term is used in its widest sense, includes all the fis.h.i.+ng for ling, cod, tusk, [Page 4 rpt.] and seath prosecuted in open boats, whether of six oars, or of a smaller size such as are still used for the seath fishery at Sumburgh. The 'haaf fishery' is, in the greater part of Shetland, synonymous with the home or summer fishery, being distinguished from it only where, as at Sumburgh, seath fis.h.i.+ng is prosecuted in summer in the smaller open boats. 'Haaf' is 'the deep sea - the fis.h.i.+ng of cod, ling, and tusk.'* This fishery is also generically known as the ling fis.h.i.+ng, because, though, considerable quant.i.ties of tusk and cod are also caught at the haaf, ling is by far the most important part of its produce. The term 'cod fis.h.i.+ng' is sometimes applied to what is usually called the 'Faroe fis.h.i.+ng', which is prosecuted in large smacks in the vicinity of the Faroe Islands, and in autumn as far north as Iceland. On the west coast of the mainland, the 'cod fis.h.i.+ng'- or 'home cod fis.h.i.+ng' as it is called, to distinguish it from the Faroe fis.h.i.+ng - is carried on, though now to a comparatively trifling extent, in smacks of a smaller size, at banks to the south-west of Shetland. The 'winter fis.h.i.+ng' is prosecuted in small boats of four oars, which belong entirely to the men engaged in it, the fish being generally cured by themselves, or sold to any merchant they please for a price fixed and paid in money or goods at the time.

* Edmonstone's tymological glossary=”” of=”” orkney=”” and=”” shetland=”” dialect=””> (Edin. 1866.)

FIs.h.i.+NG TENURE FORMERLY EXISTING.

The ling and tusk fishery is the oldest of the existing fis.h.i.+ng industries of Shetland. It appears in the seventeenth century to have been in the hands of Dutch merchants and s.h.i.+powners, who supplied the natives with the means of fis.h.i.+ng; cured, or at least dried, the fish on the beaches; and carried it to Holland. It is said that the proprietors of Shetland were first induced about the beginning of the eighteenth century to take the ling fis.h.i.+ng into their own hands, supplying their tenants with materials, and receiving the fish at a stipulated rate.* The system which grew up after this change is referred to by Dr. Adam Smith,** and appears to have been in full vigour in at least one part of Shetland but a few years ago. It is thus described by a witness, William Stewart, as it existed till 1862 in Whalsay, where he was a tenant of the late Mr. Bruce of Simbister:-

'8978. What rent did you pay there?-The rent I always paid for my ground was 26s.'

'8979. Did you fish for Mr. Bruce at that time?-Yes, for the late Mr. William Bruce.'

'8980. And you had an account with him at the shop in Whalsay?-Yes.'

'8981. How did you pay your rent?-Generally by fis.h.i.+ng.'

'8982. Was it put into your account?-Yes. The thing was carried on on a very strange system. Our land was put in to us at a low rent, and our fish were taken from us at as low a value. The prices for the fish never varied, either for the spring or summer.'

'8983. Do you mean that they were the same every year?-They were. Whatever they might be in the markets, they were all the same to us.'

'8984. Had you never the benefit of a rise in the market at all?- Never.'

'8985. Did you not object to that?-We had just to content ourselves with it, or leave the place.'

'8986. It was part of your bargain for your land, that you were to give your fish at a certain rate?-Yes; there were so much of the fish taken off for the land. That was the first of the fis.h.i.+ng. We got 3s. 4d. a cwt. for ling, 2s. 6d. for tusk, and 20d. for cod, and so much of each kind of fish was taken off until the land was paid for; and then the prices were raised to 4s, I think, for ling, 3s. 2d.

for tusk, and 2s. 6d. for cod, for all the rest of the summer fis.h.i.+ng.'

'8987. Did you get these prices for a number of years?-I think for the thirteen years that I was on the station they never varied one halfpenny for the summer fis.h.i.+ng. The prices for the winter fis.h.i.+ng varied a little. Sometimes we would sell the small cod as low as 2s. 6d, and at other times at 3s.'

'8988. Did you sell the winter fis.h.i.+ng for payment at the time, or did it go into the account too?-It was never put into the account at all; we just got what we required for it. It was ready payment; but it was very rarely that we got money for the winter fis.h.i.+ng.'

'8989. Did you know at the time that the prices you were paid at the latter part of the season were lower than the market price of the fish?-We knew that; but it was just the bargain.'

'8990. Was that the system with all the tenants in Whalsay at that time?-With every one.'

'8991. When did that system cease?-I think it ceased about a year after I came here-about 1863.'

[W. Stewart, 8978; See J.S. Houston, 9727.]

* Edmonstone's <view of=”” the=”” zetland=”” islands=””>, vol. ii., p. 232., Brand's

, etc., pp. 73, 89, 128, 136, etc. (Edin. 1701).

** <wealth of=”” nations=””>, b.i.c. xi.