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. A SMALL BOAT.
Our grandfather David Pottinger of Rousam was called “The Skipper” by his family. As boys we did not know exactly why but our father said he was “a good man in a boat.” I think in retrospect that was an Orkneyman’s understatement, really a well-earned compliment not carelessly bestowed. I think Stroma men would know what he meant.
At Stenaquoy in Eday, on june 03 sat 1905, Wm Tait wrote
Harrowing & rolling all day - Fine dry day - Mr Pottinger, [ David, his b-in-law] Bill Pottinger [David’s son ] G. Drever [ his brother-in-law] & Miss A.J.Drever [ his sister - in - law] came here today in their boat – Miss Drever stayed till Monday.
Our grandfather, then living at the Bu’ of Rousam in Stronsay, kept his boat at the Bay of Bomesty, a good sheltered small bay lying on the west side of Rousam Head and facing Eday about six miles away across the tides. Knowledge of these was essential and second nature. The boat noust at Bomesty was said to date from Viking times, big enough for a Longship. Grandfather’s Rousam boat would be hauled up the beach when not in use, winter.stored in the Noust. From there they would have sailed across to Eday on the west-going ebb tide to visit his brother-in-law Wm Tait for the day. The Drevers, who were Wm’s in-laws, came from the neighbouring farm to Rousam, The Bay of Stronsay.
The Bay of Bomesty had another use as on:-
1898. June 08 wed 2 plows, 6 carts, 1 rolling and sowing some drills neeps am - Boat came today with posts and wire for Craig - 502 posts, 27 coils of wire landed at Bomesty - laying down neeps in West Park - fine day.
1898. June 17 frid morning soft, dressed some oats, 1 pair horses at smiddy - carted some peat mould from stack. Bill set up marks for strainers at the Craig - rainy day.
Bill was our father’s elder brother, second of the family, latterly at Cleat in Westray after sojourns in Canada and in Redhill, Rothienorman, in Aberdeenshire..
Looks like they were putting a new fence along the cliff edge on past the Ossen and Millgrip to keep sheep or cattle from falling over to their deaths. Checking up with Eion Stevenson the present owner of Rousam confirmed that guess, the fence is still there, though no doubt the posts and the wire have been replaced after 110 years.
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Back in those far off days many small boats worked out of Kirkwall and Stromness. Robert Garden, General Merchant in Kirkwall, who was of great note and came originally from Rayne in Aberdeenshire, had several shopping boats that went as far as Tongue in Sutherlandshire as well as servicing the many small Islands of Orkney. A load of fencing posts and wire from Gardens, or from J. & W. Tait, would have easily been taken out from Kirkwall, the boat run up on the beach at Bomesty at half ebb, the cargo off-loaded onto carts and the boat refloated on the incoming flood tide. Those who can still remember the Vital Spark will easily mind-place [visualise] such.
Later the Diary refers to:-
1896. Dec 23 wed. Thrashing a.m. - 2 men sorting Furgus boat - 3 roofing Lochend byre – Delday 2 carts at Hill for turf for the garden
1898 Apr 04 mon. Morning rough - carting dung am - repairing Furgus boat pm - cold showery day.
“Furgus” has no meaning for me, whether the name of the boat or a type of boat I do not know. Anyway it was being repaired at home by the men. They could turn their hand to almost anything in those days.
A story from the past still going the rounds in Stronsay was that David Pottinger was not happy with the condition of the rabbits in his Rousam Links and came to the conclusion that they were in-breeding too much. He took some of his servants, set off in his boat from the Bay of Bomesty and sailed to Auskerry, a small offshore Island lying to the South East of Stronsay complete with Lighthouse. There they dug out a load of buck rabbits, took them back to Rousam and released them in the Links, thus bringing new blood to the rabbit warrens.!! Genetic engineering in its very infancy.!!
His boat would be a sailing boat which were so common a mode of transport between the Islands in Orkney. Islanders were not dependant solely on the steamer.
Stronsay had many “sma’ bots “, and still does. The Village and the Station was peppered with them, hauled to safety above the water on the beaches. A few men each side and the boat was run up quite easily. For bigger boats they would run them up on roller logs laid across their path. They also had the two piers of the Harbour with safe tying alongside. One or two boats would lie at anchor between the piers, a small skiff boat to take the men out to them, leaving the skiff tied to a buoy till their return from the lobsters. A matter of choice, but the boats at the pier had long ropes fore and aft to tie them up, leaving room for tidal rise and fall, a few old tyres tied to their sides to keep them from chafing on the pier.
We had a small boat below Whitehaa in the Bay of Franks, hauled above the tide on the beach during summer, taken up to the steading for winter. A fourteen foot larch Orkney dinghy, strongly built in the old Viking clinker tradition. Two pairs of oars and rowlocks, two rowing benches, one stern seat, one bow seat, a square stern with a mounted wooden rudder with hand tiller, a single stepped-in mast easily raised and lowered, a standing lug sail on a yard.
We once took it out to explore the concrete barge lying sunk on the shallow bottom in Franks Bay, but paid the penalty of being “resued” by a boat from the village sent out by our mother. Towed in ignomy back to the pier. Father was “in theToon” !!! We did not do it again!! Though the rowlocks were kept up at the house we had put small sticks we found on the beach in the rowlock holes and had got on very well, we thought!! None of us could swim!! .
Our father liked that boat so much he took it to Greenland Mains with him when we emigated from Stronsay in May 1944. I will admit he did not sail it over, though it would make a nice story all the same!!
As boys we sailed it many a time on Loch Heilen, our transport the mile across the Loch to Lochend to see our friends. I am afraid the stronger the wind the better we liked it, laying the boat over till the gunwales lipped the water. It was a good sailing boat too, not a racer but a good handy boat. The standing lug sail, the yard of which did not have to be moved to the other side of the mast on changing tack, meant it could be sailed by one person sitting in the stern, simply moving the halyard across to the other side and switching your seat meantime.
For singe handed sailing we had a few stones to put in the bow as ballast to balance the boat to a good trim. It was a very common style of small boat for Orkney, easily handled, quite broad and very safe, though never ever take the sea for granted.
That boat did us well for many years but eventually ended its days turned over and used as a jump on a cross country course for the North of the Tay Competition held at least twice at Greenland Mains.
Sarah-Ann Gunn, Gerston, clearing the old boat circa 1980S at Greenland Mains at the North of the Tay Competition.
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