Second Shetland Truck System Report Part 43

863. But when you get the whales you get two-thirds of the oil?- We do.

864. And you can sell that in any market you like-I believe we can.

865. Do you get cash for it?-Yes.

866. So that there is no truck there?-No; none.

867. Do you dispose of the oil yourselves, or is it done for you by the landlord?-I always knew of it being sold by public auction on the beach where it was landed.

868. Is it sold in lots consisting of the amount of oil which each man gets?-I always knew of it being sold in company; but it is set up in lots, perhaps of a tun, or five tuns, or half a tun, and so on, and it is carried away by the purchaser.

869. Then the landlord does not sell it you?-No.

870. How is his third set apart?-It is taken off the whole money when it has been paid by the purchasers. Any party or parties who buy the oil at auction, pay the money to the landlord, and he gets a third, and pays the other two-thirds to the fishermen.

871. Is it paid to you at the time, or is it put into your general account?-So far as I know, it is always paid at the time.

872. But that is not a common occurrence?-No. Perhaps it may not occur in the same place for ten or twelve or twenty years, or sometimes longer than that.

873. Does not the value of the oil go into the general accounts of the men at the end of the year?-I have had a share in whales on two occasions, and I believe that some of the fishermen who are in debt to the landlord will allow their shares to go into the general account. Those who are not in debt will get the money clear out.

874. You are not obliged to take that in goods?-I never knew of that being done.

875. In speaking of the fishing, for which you settle with Messrs.

Hay in the beginning of the year, all your evidence has had regard to what is called the home or summer fishing?-Yes.

876. It has not had reference to the Faroe fishing-Not so much, so far as I know.

877. It is only with regard to the home fishing that you are bound to fish for them?-It is only with regard to it that I can speak, for I am not a Faroe fisherman.

878. Are the men in Burra free to ship for the Faroe fishing with any master they like?-I expect they are; but there are some of the men to be examined afterwards, who will be better witnesses on that subject than I can be.

879. The fish you take in the summer fishing are ling, cod, and haddocks?-Yes. There are plenty in the islands who fish herrings also.

880. But that is a distinct thing altogether from the summer fishing?-Yes.

881. The fishing you have been speaking to during all your examination has been the fishing for ling and cod?-I have been speaking of the whole home fishing of every kind, the herring fishing as well.

882. What do you catch in what you call the home fishing?-Ling, cod, and herrings.

883. And haddocks?-Yes; there are plenty of the men who catch haddocks also.

884. You spoke of taking some fish to Scalloway: were not these merely the small fish or haddocks?-Yes; the haddocks chiefly, and small cod.

885. Is that done at a particular season of the year?-Yes.

886. That is, when Messrs. Hay have not men at Burra to receive the large fish; or have they men there all the year round?-They have them all the year round.

887. Then why is it generally the smaller fish that you take at Scalloway?-I cannot give a particular statement why it is, except that the men get their account cleared off at Scalloway with these small fish. It is only haddocks that are taken there. The haddocks have never been taken in at their fish-curing station at Burra, so far as I know.

888. At what season of the year are these haddocks generally caught?-In winter.

889. Do they smoke the haddocks in Burra?-No; they never did that.

890. Their establishment there is only for curing the larger fish?- Yes.

891. Then, in order to get your haddocks smoked and cured, you must bring them to Scalloway, and deliver them at the store there?-Yes.

892. And that is the reason why you bring some of your fish to Scalloway?-It is.

893. Supposing you bring these fish there, is it still in your option to let them enter your general account, instead of getting goods for them at the time?-We can either take the value of them at the time in goods, or we can have them entered in our general account.

894. Have you ever asked, when bringing fish to Scalloway, to get the price of them in money?-Yes.

895. Have you asked for the whole price in money?-I don't remember that I ever asked to get the whole of it in that way.

896. Why?-Because, of course, I knew I would not get it.

897. How did you know that?-I knew it, because last year I asked only for a shilling on one occasion, and I was told by the shopkeeper that it was to be the last.

898. Then you go on to say in your letter, 'Those of us who have daughters engaged in knitting can testify to the fact that they are invariably paid in goods both for the goods they sell and also for their wages when engaged to knit for the hosiery dealers.' Have you sold goods for your daughters, or do they generally take them to the market themselves?-I have no daughters, and I cannot give evidence about the knitting.

899. You further say, 'We have to add, that we wish to be free to fish to whom we please or to cure our own fish, and to receive compensation for improvements effected on our houses or farms when we leave them. Other details we will state when called before you. That is the same complaint which you made at the commencement of your letter?-Yes.

900. Are there any other details on the subject which occur to you at this moment, and which you desire to add?-There is one thing which I desire to ask on behalf of myself and of the parties who shall be examined after me. I have been desired to ask you whether they shall be at liberty to speak here? If her Majesty's Government will give an obligation to protect them, they will speak then, and if not, they won't.

901. What is the obligation to protect them that you want?-An obligation that they shall not be ejected or fined.

902. I don't think there is any probability of that. You know you are all protected by the law, and I can give you no further protection than the law affords. The Government have it under contemplation at present to alter the law, and this inquiry is for the purpose of ascertaining whether the law ought to be altered in any respect.-If we had not been under the belief that it would surely be altered, we would not have come here.

903. Do you remember, three or four years ago, of the men in Burra getting up a memorial stating their [Page 19] grievances, and what they wanted, and having it forwarded to the agent for the proprietor of the island?-I do.

904. Were you concerned in that matter?-I was.

905. Was there any inquiry made at that time?-There was a pet.i.tion sent up at that time to the trustee in Edinburgh for Misses Scott of Scalloway, by their tenants in Burra, asking for their liberty.

906. Was there any particular reason at that time for the pet.i.tion being got up?-There was plenty of reason.

907. Was there any more reason for it then than at any other time?

Was there any threatened expulsion, or any strict enforcement of the obligation to fish?-If my memory serves me right it was immediately after we had been asked to sign an obligation in Messrs. Hay's office to pay for our sons' labour.

908. But you said that was eight years ago?-Yes; about that time.

909. Was the memorial not sent up within the last three or four years?-No; it was longer than that, to the best of my recollection.

Our pet.i.tion was got up very shortly after we were wanted to sign the obligation.

910. Did you complain much at that time about the herring fishery?-I believe some of the men did but am not a herring fisher.

911. What is the usual amount of rent that you pay in Burra?-It will run from 6 to 2, 10s., or perhaps as high as 7.