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- I am just in from the meeting of the school Literary Society. They had a Gaelic debate: “Has emigration been beneficial to the Highlands?” They went into it with great vim and seemed to enjoy it greatly. Several times it resolved itself into little duels in which there seemed to be excellent bits which brought down the house, and retort would follow retort to everybody’s delight… The affirmative won by 35 votes to 14; some did not vote… Stornoway, 28th Feb. 1917
- There have been some fine catches of herring this last week, one day 5000 crans. The Minch has been getting “swept” and the mail-boat is running regularly. Oatmeal scarce; we have had to fall back temporarily on Quaker oats… Stornoway 22nd Feb 1917
- This week’s letter highlights a difficult truth which is very pertinent, given that it is Black History Month. In the course of transcribing the letters we occasionally encounter racist language which is extremely offensive and considered abhorrent today. The fact that a highly educated woman like Mrs Gibson would use this particularly horrible word in such a context reflects the racist ideas prevalent in Britain at this time. We thought carefully about whether to publish this letter on the blog, but we feel it is important not to cover up the past and that we should bring it out into the open, as the attitudes of people in the past are an important part of the historical record. In another sentence of the letter there is a reference to insanity in a particular family. We have not revealed the family’s identity in case this causes distress to any descendants.
- I had letters this week from Wm. B. Macdonald, who is with a battery in France and has had one or two narrow escapes, from J. W. Matheson, in Salonika, and from Alick Thomson, in the training camp at Gailes. He is enjoying the change from the trench-mud. Did I mention that Simon Mackenzie, who has been on a minesweeper off the west coast of Ireland, is now home, discharged on account of his health?… Stornoway, 15th Feb. 1917
- He told us of a mule who had a spite against a man and waited patiently for an opportunity to pay him out [get revenge]. One day the man was grooming the third mule from his enemy. The watchful one saw his chance and laid the man out with a kick delivered below the bellies of the two intervening mules. What do you think of that? E. says they never forget anybody who has beaten them…Stornoway, 9th Feb. 1917
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Tag Archives: Stornoway
Poor Law records: Cases of Settlement
As mentioned in the previous Poor Law blog posts, the liability for the poor usually lay with the parish of their birth. It was therefore in a Parish’s interests to try and prove that a pauper wasn’t from their Parish … Continue reading
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Tagged Cases of Settlement, poor law, Stornoway
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Poor Law records: applications
The Poor Law (Scotland) Act of 1845 saw a complete reworking of the approach to managing and elevating poverty in Scotland. Parochial Boards, and later Parish Councils, were established to manage the poor in their areas. Serious record keeping began, … Continue reading
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Tagged Parochial Boards, poor law, poverty, Pparish Councils, sailors, Stornoway
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Friday photo: Milling around the grounds
In 1816, the Stewart-Mackenzies built a new water mill in the Castle Grounds in Stornoway for the grinding of corn. The mill features in a detail of this hand-drawn map of the Burgh of Stornoway made in 1850. On the … Continue reading
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Tagged Castle Grounds, mill, Stornoway, water mill
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Friday photo: Whisky, sawdust and cake!
The Woodlands Centre is a popular destination in Stornoway for those seeking refreshment of a sit down before or after a wander around the castle grounds. But the site of the Woodlands has an interesting history. The extract from the … Continue reading
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Tagged distillery, Friday Photo, saw mill, Shoe Burn, Stornoway, Woodlands Centre
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Friday photo: Where’s the tipp-ex?
A researcher has recently been making use of the General Register of the Poor for Stornoway for 1895-1905 as part of his PhD research. The General Register lists all the people in the parish of Stornoway who were receiving support from … Continue reading
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Tagged mistakes, poor law, recycling, Stornoway
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Friday photo: Ernest writes home
Regular readers of the blog and followers of the Friday photo will know how much we like what’s written on the back of postcards and this one is a belter! It’s April 1944 and Ernest is recently stationed in Lewis … Continue reading
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Tagged Friday Photo, Sabbath, Stornoway, women, World War II
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Friday photo: Mending the nets
Another image from the Lewis Museum Society collection held at Stornoway library featuring two fisherman mending nets in Stornoway harbour (image reference P/FI/026). It looks like back breaking work to me!
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Friday photo: A Point fisherman
This happy fisherman is Donald Macleod of Knock, Point. He was a crew member of the Muirneag SY486. The image is taken in about 1930 and comes from the Lewis Museum Society’s collection held in Stornoway library (image reference P/FM/7). … Continue reading
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Friday photo: Tartan town
A proper Burns-esq style postcard for all you Friday photo fans this week. Here is a busy Cromwell Street being immortalised in thistles and tartan. I thought it would be fitting since it is Burns night! As we can see … Continue reading
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Tagged Burns night, Cromwell Street, Perceval Square, Stornoway, tartan
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Friday Photo; 1953 Plane wreck
This photograph of a Sabre F4 crash is from the Lewis Museum Trust collection held in Stornoway Library. Unfortunately no details about this crash were found with the photographs, though I did manage to find the following details about the … Continue reading
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Tagged Friday Photo, Lewis Museum Trust, plane crash, Sabre F4, Stornoway
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