Second Shetland Truck System Report Part 44

912. That rent is paid for a small piece of ground?-Yes.

913. Is there a right to the pasture in the scattald besides?-Yes.

914. Your scattalds in Burra are not extensive or of much value?- No; they are of very little value.

915. Do you know of any other agreement having been signed by the Burra men, or asked from them, except that one eight years ago?-I have heard of another, but it was before I came to the island.

916. Was there any particular reason for getting the agreement signed eight years ago? Was there general renewal of your holdings; or what reason was a.s.signed for it?-I know of no reason for it, except merely that we were to fish for n.o.body except Messrs. Hay & Co.

917. But was there any reason for it being signed that particular time?-I believe it was about that time, or immediately after, that Mr. Irvine came to be a partner of Messrs. Hay & Co.

918. There was a change in the firm about that time?-Yes.

919. Are there any leases given in Burra?-I never knew of any being given.

920. Do you know that most of the young men in Burra go to the Faroe fishing?-They do.

921. Do you know that they have shipped both with Messrs. Hay and with other merchants?-Yes.

922. Do they get the same terms both from Messrs. Hay and from other merchants?-I believe they do, so far as I know.

923. Do you know from your own knowledge, whether there is any objection made by Messrs. Hay to their shipping with other merchants for the Faroe fishing?-I have not heard of any recently, but it used to be objected to a few years back. There have been good fishings at Faroe for some time back, and all the agents can get plenty of men; so that there is no need for any restrictions.

924. Supposing you were at liberty to deliver your fish to any other merchant than Messrs. Hay, what reason have you for supposing that you would be better paid than you now are?-I have been a fisherman in Burra for fourteen years, and I was a fisherman in Havera for twenty years before that. There I cured my own fish, and I could do with them what I liked; and I learned there how much I could make by curing them for myself, or selling them to any one within reach who would buy them green.

925. It costs you something, both money and trouble in curing them?-Yes.

926. But, notwithstanding that, you would make more money by being allowed cure them for yourself?-We believe that, and we know it. We know that we would make more money than we have ever got.

927. To whom would you have an opportunity of selling your fish cured?-We could them to any one who would give us the most for them.

928. Are there people there who would buy them from you?-Yes, there are plenty of merchants in Shetland or in the south country who would come and buy them; and we would have a chance of sending them south at our own risk, or to our own advantage.

929. Has any one in Burra ever cured his own fish?-No; I believe no one has ever done so since Burra rose out of the water.

930. Has any one near Burra done so?-Havera is near Burra, and belongs to the same parish, and I cured my own fish there.

931. Why did you leave Havera and go to Burra?-Havera is a very small island, and it became too strait for me.

932. The population was increasing too rapidly?-Yes.

933. Had you not a holding of your own there?-No; I got married, and had to look out for a holding somewhere; and I was, by the law of necessity, compelled to move against my will.

934. Are there any dealers in Scalloway who would buy your fish from you if you were allowed to sell them?-Yes; there are Charles Nicholson and Robert Tait.

935. Do they buy fish cured?-They buy them either cured or uncured, and also what may be properly called half-cured-that is, salted but not dried.

936. Do they employ fishermen?-Charles Nicholson employs fishermen.

937. Do the fishermen who are employed by Nicholson and Tait supply their fish to them green or dry, as they like?-They only give them to them green, so far as I know.

938. But these merchants also buy cured fish from independent fishermen?-Yes.

939. With regard to your farm, do you sell any produce off your land?-We sell none.

940. What does it bear?-Oats and barley, or bere, and potatoes or turnips, and some cabbage.

941. Do you sell these things, or do you consume them yourselves?-We consume them either by ourselves, or by the stock on our farm. We have some cattle and sheep and pigs .

942. Do you sell your stock?-The cattle are generally sold to relieve the tenant's necessities, and in order to let him have a few shillings in money.

943. What is that money used for? Is it for things that you cannot buy in the store?-Yes; and sometimes for paying our rent.

944. I thought the rent was entered as part of your account with Messrs. Hay?-If our earnings are not sufficient to meet Messrs.

Hay's account, or if we have overdrawn our account with them, then we sell an animal, and the price of it is put into the account.

945. Is there anything else for which you have to sell your cattle?-I am not aware of anything.

946. How do you sell them? Is it at a roup or at a public market?-We sell our cattle where we can dispose of them to the best advantage-sometimes at the market at Lerwick, and at other times cattle-dealers come round and ask us for them. If we choose to give them to the dealers, we have every advantage in selling our cattle.

947. You are quite free to sell them where you like-Yes.

948. Have you any ponies in Burra?-Yes; a few of the men have some.

949. And you have also and poultry?-Yes.

950. You can dispose of them as you please?-Yes.

951. Is there any shop on the island?-No.

952. You have to go over to Scalloway or to Lerwick for all your goods?-Yes. We don't have liberty to have any shop on the islands.

953. Are Messrs. Hay sometimes largely in advance [Page 20] to the people on the island after a bad season?-Yes; I believe they are largely in advance in some seasons.

954. Then they will trust you for a year or two until a good season comes, and the balance is then paid off?-Yes; most commonly they do that.

955. You would not have had that advantage if you were all free to fish for anybody you liked?-We believe that, if we had our freedom, we would not require to have that advantage. We believe we would be so clear that we would be independent. Neither have we the advantage of having a shop there, and keeping the penny among ourselves.

956. Do you think the goods you get at Messrs. Hay's shop are expensive as compared with the prices you would pay for them elsewhere?-I never thought that, and I never thought them worse than we could get elsewhere.

957. But as to the price, do you think they charge more for their goods than other people?-No; I have nothing to say against that.

958. Or as to the quality?-Both as to the quality and the price I was always satisfied as I would have been with any other body's.

959. You don't suppose they charge a higher price in consequence of the long credit they give?-No.

960. You get your goods from January onwards, and they are not settled for until the following January?-That is so.

961. But then there is credit on both sides; so that I suppose there need be no higher price on that account?-That is the case, so far as I am aware.