St Magnus loading. pre 1918.

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 90. LOADING CATTLE - OR HORSES.

Our North Isles shipping began for us at Stronsay Pier and ended at Kirkwall. The Earl Thorfinn went in on Mondays from the North Isles with cattle on board, either destined for the Kirkwall Auction Mart in Junction Road or for onward passage to Aberdeen.
The Thorfinn would tie up in Kirkwall on the west side of the pier, and on the East side would be the St Magnus, the “Sooth Boat”, lying behind the Storeshed and waiting to load cattle direct from the North Isles ships.
There was an underpass through the pier against the entrances of which the ships were positioned to allow cattle to cross between them.
Sailing time for the St Magnus was 6 p.m. to get to Aberdeen next morning. Iit was a bit of a social occasion as people went down the pier ro see off their friends, or just to have a look at what was going on.
. A bit of good-natured banter passed between ship and shore as she cast off.
on her journey. The cattle on arival in Aberdeen were then driven in a loose mob up the streets of Aberdeen to Kittybrewster Market.
. Alex Mackay, of Thurso Harbour Fish Shop, was crane boy on a later. I did not know him then though he must have been on the Magnus in my time, or a little bit later. Crane boy meant that he was responsible for swinging the derrick from ship to shore, and vice versa, raising and lowering the beast and all the other cargo by a steel wire rope on the winch.
The steam operated winches were housed in a central booth or mini-cabin which swung around with the derrick, giving good all round vision.

A heavy rope-edged canvas sling with two strong heavy horizontal wooden poles to keep the canvas taught and four substantial chains to lift it by the corners was passed under the beast’s belly.
Then the cable was hooked on and the craneboy began his lift, a very responsible task. The beast’s head was held tight by a strong man on the halter and the animal was steadied by men on either side. The halter was let go when the animal had it’s feet off the ground and at which point it ceased to struggle. The halter went with the beast onboard to tie it up in the pens below deck.
Loading cattle one by one using a sling was a slow process but the men were good at it, and the cattle disappeared down the hatch for penning in the hold below.
On the North Isles ships we saw such loading or unloading, often dependant on the state of the tide. Horses and cattle both.
On occasion a beast was loaded off a small boat coming out from Papa Westray, which I do remember, and sometimes in Calf Sound.

Shetland ponies were also on the list, and Dod and Alec Tait, our grand uncles at Midgarth in Stronsay, had a small herd of them on Linga Holm that sometimes needed shipping out.

A typical year of cattle shipping from our grandfather David from the Bu’ of Rousam in Stronsay on the old S.S.Orcadia, is recorded in Wm Tait’s Diaries.

The year was 1899 and he writes of shipping 36 cattle and two horses and receiving 13 cattle and a pony.

How they loaded them I do not know, but there is no reason to doubt that the same method pertained.
The tidal rise and fall in the North Isles could be as much as 15 feet on a Spring Tide - so sometimes the ship would be level with the pier and the cattle could be walked onboard over a gangway.
At other times loading must have been by the crane. Sheep and pigs were loaded in crates holding quite a number at once.
Live poultry in crates also.
With several Islands to call on during the day the ships had to take whatever tide there was, high or low, though they could vary their route to best advantage to avoid the awkward Islands with shallow piers such as Sanday and particularly Eday..