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Hazel
Song History
Caller Herrin
A simple brief
thought on Scottish
Independance.

Were the outdated
union not of some very
high value to England and
the English, why would
they fight so to try to
keep it?

There are only so many
slices to a pie, for one to
have more, another must
have less.

Lastly - to those Scottish
"Loyalists" - to whom are
you loyal?
Scots royalty died in the
1700's so it can be no
Scots crown - And
certainly not it appears to
those who came before,
that bled for Scotland
and her freedom !  
In the words
of Burns, as he
wrote from the heart.

Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled,
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led,
Welcome to your gory bed,
Or to victorie.

Now's the day, and now's the hour;
See the front o' battle lour;
See approach proud Edward's power,
Chains and slaverie.

Wha would be a traitor-knave?
Wha can fill a coward's grave?
Wha sae base as be a Slave?
Let him turn and flie:

Wha for Scotland's king and law,
Freedom's sword will strongly draw,
Free-man stand, or free-man fa',
Let him follow me.

By Oppression's woes and pains!
By your Sons in servile chains!
We will drain our dearest veins,
But they shall be free!

Lay the proud Usurpers low!
Tyrants fall in every foe!
Liberty's in every blow!
Let us Do - or Die!!!

Choose your destiny.
Scottish Herring Fishing from the 15th Century

The "Silver Darlings"

Herring Fishing in Scotland
by Dr J.R. Coull.

Herring are one of the most important fish in the seas
around Scotland. Over the centuries the herring fisheries
have been exploited by a series of countries on the
northwest seaboard of Europe. In the later 19th and early
20th century the Scottish herring fishery expanded and
exceeded its European rivals to become the biggest
fishery in the world. However, in earlier centuries in
Scotland more attention was given to common inshore
species. These included haddock and saithe; and also
salmon, which were caught at the river mouths as they
entered them to spawn.

In Europe, herring fisheries were of limited importance
until the technique of curing the oily species with salt in
barrels was mastered. From this time they became an
important food item for much of Northern Europe. In
medieval times the herring fisheries of the Sound
(between modern Sweden and Denmark) became a main
source of wealth to the Hanseatic League (a group of North
German towns). From the 15th to the 17th centuries the
open-sea fisheries of the North Sea were dominated by the
Dutch. They caught herring in the open sea by drift net,
and gutted them before curing in barrels with salt. The
Dutch method was to fit out large decked boats or 'busses'
with nets, barrels and salt and to cure the herring aboard.
They operated mainly near the Scottish coasts, especially
off the Shetland Isles.

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In Scotland the main early effort was in medieval times
when herring were fished inshore in the waters of the
Firths of Forth and Clyde. These inshore fisheries were an
important source of local food supply, but their scale of
production was relatively modest. From the 15th century
various efforts were made to develop a fishery more like
that of the Dutch. These attempts were only of limited
success, as it did not prove possible to match the Dutch
technique or organisation. As well as being the
acknowledged experts in catching and curing, the Dutch
also developed an important system in quality control and
they became dominant suppliers for the main market on
the North European Plain.

During their summer feeding and spawning migration the
main stock of herring came from their wintering grounds
near the Norwegian coast, to the coast of Scotland. The
wide migratory sweep that took them close by the
Shetland and Orkney Islands before they continued along
the East Coast of Scotland. This meant that in principle the
Scots were better placed than the Dutch to exploit the
herring in the northern North Sea. It made it possible for
them to catch the fish with smaller and cheaper boats than
the Dutch used, although the drift net was still the main
method of catching. It was also possible to bring the
herring back to shore for curing, which was a big
advantage over the inevitable limitations to curing aboard.
Although some in Scotland could see the opportunities for
a Scottish shore-based fishery, the Dutch had the proven
track record. The politicians especially saw the Dutch
method as the only one likely to bring success.

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There was some growth of the inshore fisheries on the
Clyde. However, the main stimulus for expansion in
Scotland came in the second half of the 18th century. This
was when the government decided to give tonnage
bounties for the fitting out of herring busses. As well as
encouraging the herring fishery, the government hoped to
produce a supply of trained seamen for the navy. A fleet of
over 300 herring busses were eventually fitted out to catch
herring. However, they worked mainly on the west coast
and were not very efficient, with the cost of the bounties
often greater that the value of the herring cured.
In 1785 the government introduced barrel bounties. This
gave further encouragement to the fishery. It helped to
increase actual production as opposed to the fitting out of
boats. The barrel bounties were also available for open
boats working along the coast. Here the curers who took
the herring from the fishermen adopted the practice of
making engagements (contracts) with the fishermen
before the season started. These guaranteed the
fishermen a price for their herring. In a fishery that always
had an element of uncertainty this proved very effective,
and development at the port of Wick was quite spectacular.

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The increasing success of the fisheries led to an important
step being taken in 1809 with the setting up of the Fishery
Board. Following this, fishery offices were set up at a
series of points along the coast and officers were
appointed to inspect the cure. The fishery officers made
sure that the herring were gutted before being packed in
barrels (the work of gutting was done by teams of three
women - two to gut and one to pack the herring with salt in
the barrels). They inspected the barrels and put the
distinctive crown brand on the lids of those barrels which
were of good quality. This system of crown branding
proved important in selling the herring. The officers also
compiled statistics of production. The fishery was taken up
at various other ports on the east coast and the output of
the open boat fishery was soon far greater than that of the
busses. Peterhead and Fraserburgh on the northeast
shoulder were to become major rivals to Wick by the
1860s. The main home bases of the fleet, however, were
the East Neuk of Fife and the coast of Banffshire. With a
marked summer peak in activity, boats from different parts
of the coast congregated at the main ports during the
season. These became great hives of activity, and
accommodation for seasonal migrants was always
strained. At this time, the principles of free trade and
economic 'laissez-faire' becoming the increasingly
accepted orthodoxy. This led to the government decision
to phase out all bounties at the end of the 1820s. There
were protests regarding the ending of the bounties, but
despite these the fishery continued to expand.
While an important breakthrough had been made in the
fishery in Scotland, the Scots at first had limited outlets in
the main European markets. Most of the cured herring at
this time went either to Ireland or the West Indian
plantations, where quality was less important. The Fishery
Board was concerned to promote improvements in curing
practice, and this was achieved through time. Herring
catches were sorted, with full herring separated from the
spent (i.e. herring which had spawned) and the fish were
also graded into sizes. These were packed separately into
barrels, which were then accordingly branded. There were
marketing difficulties in the 1830s after the freeing of the
slaves on the plantations. This was followed by the terrible
Potato Famines of the 1840s, which caused the Irish
market to decline. However the improvement achieved in
the quality of the cure began to pay off. In the second half
of the 19th century the Scottish cure came to dominate the
market in Europe and was regularly well ahead of rivals
like the Norwegians and the Dutch. The European market
was expanding with improved access via the big rivers.
The development of railway carriage in the second half of
the 19th century supplemented this further.

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Success in the fishery meant that the fishermen, backed
by the curers, invested in bigger boats and more nets. The
size of the active fleet also increased. While this helped
the fishery expand it was still largely confined to a
summer season of about two months from mid-July. This
was when the herring were off the coast in quantity. By
around 1880 there were at least 7000 boats in Scotland with
some interest in the herring fishing. The more go-ahead
fishermen and curers were soon looking for opportunities
to extend the length of the season. This could most readily
be done by sailing to the west coast in the early summer.
Here, herring were available in the months of May and
June. From the 1840s an expanded section of the east
coast fleet participated in this fishery and by the 1870s the
fleet involved could exceed 1000 boats. In the 1860s some
boats began going south to East Anglia for the big autumn
fishery there. Initially there was little involvement of
Scottish curers in this fishery, but by the 1880s this could
involve over 200 boats. At the end of the century large
numbers of Scottish curers began making the seasonal trip
to the ports of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. At the turn
of the century, the participating Scottish fleet swelled and
outnumbered the big native fleet.

Although Shetland had been the main location of the Dutch
fishery, for decades these islands were of little importance
to the shore-based Scottish fishery. For most of the 19th
century the life and economy of the islands was based on
the open boat fishery for ling and cod for curing. However,
Scottish curers started coming in number to Shetland in
the 1880s. They came for the early summer where
Shetland provided an alternative to the West Coast.
Shetland also had the advantage of a fishery that
continued into September. This resulted in a real
revolution in Shetland with the local fishermen turning
almost completely to the herring. However, the great
numbers of visiting boats dwarfed the local fleet. At the
peak in the early 20th century the active fleet at Shetland
exceeded 1800 boats.

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The growth of the fishery led to other developments. As
well as the increase in fleet size, boats became bigger and
there were improvements in boats and gear. Harbours
were also improved. The Fishery Board attempted to
promote the adoption of decked vessels as being safer,
but the fishermen took much convincing, as the open
boats were cheaper. From the 1860s decked boats did
come more into use, and at this time most boats had crews
of five or six men, were over 40 feet in length and cost
around £200 and used trains of up to 40 nets. This
compared with the usual size of around 30 feet, a crew of
four men, and a cost of around £35 and from 10 to 20 nets
at the start of the fishery. Masts and sails also became
bigger and it took more effort to raise the masts and to
tack. It was the general practice to employ dipping lugsails
and for the boats to have no bowsprits: in congested
harbours this allowed more boats to be accommodated. By
the late 19th century the largest boats were over 60 feet in
length, had crews of eight men and cost over £500.
Another important development from around 1870 was that
boats ventured further out to sea. Where the fishery had
been concentrated within 10 to 15 miles of the coast it now
extended to up to 50 miles or more.

Throughout the development of the fishery, the value of
the nets was regularly above that of the boats. Early nets
were hand-made from linen or hemp but from the 1820s
factory-made nets came in, which tended to be bigger. The
changeover to cotton nets from the 1860s resulted in nets
that were lighter and finished better. This allowed the
boats to carry more nets and their net trains increased to
70 or 80. This meant that when a boat was lying with its
nets 'shot' they extended about two miles from the boat.