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The Story Of Island Roan
- Published 24 February 2008
- Scotland History
CHAPTER TWO
The people of Island Roan were God fearing. The religion which they learnt at their mother's knee had a very real meaning to them. From their youth to the day of their death they strove to be upright and just, they always read their Bible and said their prayers morning and evening; their innate courage in danger was largely due to their belief that the day of their death was "written" and to their firm resolve to live in such a way that when the summons came they would be ready and unafraid.
The people of Island Roan lived close to nature; they understood nature's ways and peculiarities. The sea was their calling, and through necessity they were compelled to make a close study of it; they could often forecast the weather by looking at the sea - its colour at certain times and its transparency, etc. Nevertheless, they had many narrow escapes at sea, but for all that, in the 130 years of habitation of the island there was not one single case of drowning, surely a great tribute to their seamanship. On one particular occasion, however, an accident occurred which could have had very serious consequences. One of the boats, while lobster fishing, was crossing back to the island after "shooting" the lobster creels at the mainland side, when she was struck by a sudden squall and capsized. In the crew were one set of four brothers and one of two brothers, cousins all of them. None of them could swim. Fortunately, the boat carried no ballast at the time and did not sink. The stern sank straight down, leaving nothing but the forestem above the surface. The skipper, one of the four brothers, at once caught hold of the stem and sat astride it. He then caught hold of his brothers, who happened to be next to him - one he kept hold of in his teeth and the others one in each hand. The other two brothers managed to grab the oars and hung on to them until help arrived. It took the rescuers half an hour to reach the distressed seamen.
The skipper, in his precarious position, was in dire distress all this time, while two of his brothers pleaded with him to let them go before they were all drowned. Nevertheless, he hung on until help came. In spite of their being surrounded by the sea and having to deal with it daily, none on the island could swim. I believe the main reason was that the sea was always very cold, and it was practically impossible to stay in it for any length of time, the danger being cramp. One 12 year old boy did lose his life through cramp while trying to learn swimming. Boys of my own generation often tried to learn to swim, but we could not stand the cold long enough to be able to do anything about it.
The islanders lived together as one large family. In summer all the able-bodied men would be away to sea and the women did the work on the croft. In winter the men mended their fishing nets, while the women would be busy with their spinning wheels. In favourable weather the men fished for cod and haddock, which were very plentiful around the island before the days of the seine-netters and trawlers. Most of the fish would be sold to merchants on the mainland. Some of the fish they brought home for their own use. The fish would be split and boned, then washed very clean, then it would be soaked in pickle for about two hours. Afterwards it would be tied up in couples and carried to the fish cave on the north side of the island where it was hung up on sticks to be dried and cured. The cave had peculiar curing qualities because of a current of sea air continually passing through the slit between the walls where the fish were hung up. Strangely enough, the fish, although perfectly cured in about a fortnight's time, would never get hard like ordinary salted fish when laid out to dry. It would remain soft and pliable after being removed from the cave, and tasted like fresh fish with a lovely flavour which could not be obtained in any other way.
The general rule was, after curing, to take the fish home and pack it between layers of straw in boxes, ready for use at any time. The most difficult problem the island people had to deal with was the building of new houses, and as the population increased the problem became more and more acute.
There was no form of transportation on the island, and every item, large or small, heavy or light, had to be carried on the back or in the hand, and one can imagine the enormous amount of human labour that went into the building of a modern house. On the north side of the island and a good distance away from where the houses were being built there was another large cave, called the quarry cave. In it there was a thick seam of brown granite, and from here most of the stones for the buildings had to be taken. The rock first had to be blasted into small pieces, then the stones dressed in the quarry before being carried to the house. Everyone on the island usually turned out to lend a hand. Heavy jambs and lintels had to be carried on a hand barrow by six men. Likewise, all the other material - slate, lime and sand, had to be carried in the same way from the harbour and up a very steep cliff to begin with. So the reader can imagine the labour that went into building these houses. Nine houses in all were built in this way, and some of them are still intact. One or two were sold, taken down, and the wood and slate taken away to the mainland, the bare walls remaining - a memorial to those who built them.
In my young days there was a population of about 70 on the island, and at school there were about 18 of us for a while. Although we were confined on a small island, we, as children, were always very happy and had our own ways and means of enjoyment. We never missed the glamour of living on the mainland. During the summer months there was always quite a lot of visitors to the island, and a visitor's book, presented to the island in 1833 by the Duchess of Sutherland (Duchess Millicent), showed that from that year until the final evacuation in 1938, over 2000 visitors from all over the world had been on the island.
The people of Island Roan were God fearing. The religion which they learnt at their mother's knee had a very real meaning to them. From their youth to the day of their death they strove to be upright and just, they always read their Bible and said their prayers morning and evening; their innate courage in danger was largely due to their belief that the day of their death was "written" and to their firm resolve to live in such a way that when the summons came they would be ready and unafraid.
The people of Island Roan lived close to nature; they understood nature's ways and peculiarities. The sea was their calling, and through necessity they were compelled to make a close study of it; they could often forecast the weather by looking at the sea - its colour at certain times and its transparency, etc. Nevertheless, they had many narrow escapes at sea, but for all that, in the 130 years of habitation of the island there was not one single case of drowning, surely a great tribute to their seamanship. On one particular occasion, however, an accident occurred which could have had very serious consequences. One of the boats, while lobster fishing, was crossing back to the island after "shooting" the lobster creels at the mainland side, when she was struck by a sudden squall and capsized. In the crew were one set of four brothers and one of two brothers, cousins all of them. None of them could swim. Fortunately, the boat carried no ballast at the time and did not sink. The stern sank straight down, leaving nothing but the forestem above the surface. The skipper, one of the four brothers, at once caught hold of the stem and sat astride it. He then caught hold of his brothers, who happened to be next to him - one he kept hold of in his teeth and the others one in each hand. The other two brothers managed to grab the oars and hung on to them until help arrived. It took the rescuers half an hour to reach the distressed seamen.
The skipper, in his precarious position, was in dire distress all this time, while two of his brothers pleaded with him to let them go before they were all drowned. Nevertheless, he hung on until help came. In spite of their being surrounded by the sea and having to deal with it daily, none on the island could swim. I believe the main reason was that the sea was always very cold, and it was practically impossible to stay in it for any length of time, the danger being cramp. One 12 year old boy did lose his life through cramp while trying to learn swimming. Boys of my own generation often tried to learn to swim, but we could not stand the cold long enough to be able to do anything about it.
The islanders lived together as one large family. In summer all the able-bodied men would be away to sea and the women did the work on the croft. In winter the men mended their fishing nets, while the women would be busy with their spinning wheels. In favourable weather the men fished for cod and haddock, which were very plentiful around the island before the days of the seine-netters and trawlers. Most of the fish would be sold to merchants on the mainland. Some of the fish they brought home for their own use. The fish would be split and boned, then washed very clean, then it would be soaked in pickle for about two hours. Afterwards it would be tied up in couples and carried to the fish cave on the north side of the island where it was hung up on sticks to be dried and cured. The cave had peculiar curing qualities because of a current of sea air continually passing through the slit between the walls where the fish were hung up. Strangely enough, the fish, although perfectly cured in about a fortnight's time, would never get hard like ordinary salted fish when laid out to dry. It would remain soft and pliable after being removed from the cave, and tasted like fresh fish with a lovely flavour which could not be obtained in any other way.
The general rule was, after curing, to take the fish home and pack it between layers of straw in boxes, ready for use at any time. The most difficult problem the island people had to deal with was the building of new houses, and as the population increased the problem became more and more acute.
There was no form of transportation on the island, and every item, large or small, heavy or light, had to be carried on the back or in the hand, and one can imagine the enormous amount of human labour that went into the building of a modern house. On the north side of the island and a good distance away from where the houses were being built there was another large cave, called the quarry cave. In it there was a thick seam of brown granite, and from here most of the stones for the buildings had to be taken. The rock first had to be blasted into small pieces, then the stones dressed in the quarry before being carried to the house. Everyone on the island usually turned out to lend a hand. Heavy jambs and lintels had to be carried on a hand barrow by six men. Likewise, all the other material - slate, lime and sand, had to be carried in the same way from the harbour and up a very steep cliff to begin with. So the reader can imagine the labour that went into building these houses. Nine houses in all were built in this way, and some of them are still intact. One or two were sold, taken down, and the wood and slate taken away to the mainland, the bare walls remaining - a memorial to those who built them.
In my young days there was a population of about 70 on the island, and at school there were about 18 of us for a while. Although we were confined on a small island, we, as children, were always very happy and had our own ways and means of enjoyment. We never missed the glamour of living on the mainland. During the summer months there was always quite a lot of visitors to the island, and a visitor's book, presented to the island in 1833 by the Duchess of Sutherland (Duchess Millicent), showed that from that year until the final evacuation in 1938, over 2000 visitors from all over the world had been on the island.
