No 88 Kelp Making.

A long time ago, but yesterday too. Rain On My Window (Tears in My Eyes) will be an ongoing tale of my early memories of life shared by my younger brother David on Whitehall Farm in Stronsay, Orkney, of our childhood on a working farm in the 1930s before we lost our innocence.



No 88. KELP MAKING.

Kelp making was one of our pre-War tasks in Stronsay, though it had a very long history going back to 1719 when James Fea of Whitehall began the Industry in Stronsay. It provided iodine, potash and soda used in glass and soap manufacture, and was at times in short supply due to various American and French Wars. The Industry finally ended just prewar, about 1937 I think.
Kelp was produced by burning dried seaweed in stone lined pits above the beach. Gathered at low tide, or thrown up by storm, the seaweed was first spread and dried on low open stone dykes to be ready for the kilns. The burning was a slow smoky process taking about two days for a full kiln with constant replenishing.
There were many crofters in Rousam who made a bit of their living by burning kelp when they could. Though no longer then living at Rousam, our Father during the First War wrote a poem in 1914 while stationed in Stronsay with 20 different crofters mentioned in Rousam. Not all would be kelpers. The work would go on all summer as other work allowed, fitting in with farm work and the herring fishing season. Even if the men were down in the Village carting herring or employed in other work the croft women would be gathering sea weed for kelp burning as available, carrying it laboriously above the beach.
We looked out from Whitehall down to the Ness, part of the farm anyway, and saw the spirals of heavy acrid grey-white smoke drifting skywards. I remember going down to the Ness with our father who was oversman for the kelp workers. He weighed the finished product, checked that no stones were included, kept order where needed, determined if some one had strayed onto someone elses stint, marked by this rock or that. I do not know if stints were changed or not, I do not think it was a free for all but each would have his own drying dykes and his own kiln pit. Certainly when the sea weed was in it had to be snatched before the next high tide took it out again. Wet heavy material to work with, cold too.

The crusted burnt kelp ash was broken up, raked over and then carted to store to be ready for shipping at the end of the season. Normally that would be late in August as from Rousam in 1900. Then harvest and wetter weather would put a stop to kelp work, the men returning each to their own harvests.
Father told us how, when he was young, they did the same kelping at Rousam as at Whitehall, the work being done by the many crofters on Rousam Head and their wives. The eventual buyer could have been the Balfour Estate who owned much of Stronsay. Our grandfather shipped kelp from Rousam on Sat. 21st and Mon. 23rd August 1896, possibly onto a small coaster going round the various Islands collecting whatever kelp they had. Though the Diary does not state, our Grandfather must have been oversman for the whole of Rousam Head, collecting each man’s work, weighing and storing it at Rousam for eventual shipping.
The season must have started early as in 1896 Rousam was in the Diary “Apr 14 thur Carting ware to kelpers am - Carting ware to land pm.”
So with carts and men available now and then our grandfather David was carting kelp for others in the morning of that day and in the afternoon carting kelp onto his own fields for fertiliser. Sanday lying to our North was also a good kelp Island with extensive beaches, and Patrick Fea of Whitehall and of Stove in Sanday left a wonderful diary dating from1766 to his death in 1796, now edited by W.S.Hewison and published.
The shallow seas around the North Isles were excellent sources of seaweed, washing up on the shores after storm, good holding beaches. At its peak Orkney was exporting 3,000 tons of kelp per year during the boom years lasting from 1780 to 1830. Kelp was used in the making of glass, dyes and soap in the north-east of England, particularly in Newcastle. It brought much money to the landowners, some of which was invested in farm improvements. It also led to two kelp wars in Stronsay as sea weed had traditionally been carted onto the land as fertiliser. Without it the crops were the poorer. Kelp pits can still be seen at many places round the shore in Stronsay, particularly where we were concerned on part of Whitehall Farm at Grice Ness behind Whitehall Village, also much along the beaches on neighbouring Huip Farm owned by our brother David for a few years before he went to Australia.
The Napoleonic War gave impetus to kelp when imports from the Baltic were suspended and British Industry had to replace it. In Caithness there was kelp burning along the shores from Castlehill to Murkle Point, but the Orkneys had so many good beaches. Kelp making is an emotive subject going back many years, tales of Landlords making big money and their tenants being impoverished by having to burn the sea weed that they had previously used to fertilise their fields, severely reducing their grain yields.

Stronsay had well documented Kelp Wars, two at least, when the tenants rebelled at having their seaweed fertiliser burnt and their crops ruined, all to line the pocket of their landlord.

William Tait at the Bay, Stronsay from 1907 to 1919, recorded in 1909 carting ware that year on 20 days onto the land, mostly from December through to April. He made no mention of burning ware for kelp himself but he did cart kelp to the pier for shipping from Aug 20th to 26th 1909 for various people, mostly from Rousam Head.

aug 20 frid Draining all day - put 2 loads of kelp to pier.
aug 21 sat Took in 3 loads of hay, opening drains & put 1 load of kelp to pier for J.Scott a.m. 2 loads kelp from Lodge to pier p.m. - fine day
aug 25 wed Put 4 loads Kelp to pier for A. Moodie, Grind - got home a stirk from Eday -
aug 26 thur Put 3 loads kelp to pier for A. Moodie, Grind [Rousam Head]

So it appears that August 20th to 28th would have been the regular time for exporting kelp from the various North Isles to Newcastle.
However, 1898. July 11 mon Shipping Kelp all day. Got home 5 tons coal

So there were other shipping days than late August.

But, like so many other cottage industries that once sustained the Countryside, the Kelp Industry is now long gone.