Scrabster History? [Archive] - Caithness.Org Forums

Bill Fernie

03-Sep-04, 23:11

A Few Scrabster Notes

Meaning In Old Norse
Scrabster - Skaraboldstadr - Homestead on the edge

Scrabster in Brief From Gazetteer For Scotland
A 19th-century fishing port on the north coast of Caithness, Scrabster lies beneath a cliff on the west side of Thurso Bay, 2 miles (3 km) northwest of the town of Thurso. It is built on the site of a much older Norse homestead, its 13th-century castle being a former stronghold of the Bishops of Caithness. Scrabster House dates from 1834 and from its large harbour, constructed c.1850, ferries connect with Orkney, Shetland and the Faroe Islands. Flagstone quarries nearby were worked until the early 20th century and a lighthouse at Holburn Head was first lit in 1862. A BP oil depot was established in 1978 and the harbour was enlarged in the 1990s to handle large ocean-going fishing boats in addition to Scrabster's lifeboat and coastguard cutter. Scrabster has a business park with a call centre and hi-tech industries.

History Of Caithness - J T Calder- Scrabster
From Chapter 1 - Page Two
Passengers, goods, and stock can, with the greatest facility, be transferred to and from the vessel at the quay; and in this respect, Thurso has greatly the advantage of Wick. Formerly iron rings were kept fixed in the rocks at Scrabster, to which vessels, when it was found necessary, were attached. Every vessel that put a hawser ashore for this purpose was charged by the proprietor of Holborn-head a merk Scots of ring dues; and from this circumstance, the roadstead was frequently called the “Rings.” A lighthouse was erected on the headland in 1862. It is a flashing light, showing a flash every ten seconds, white towards the Pentland Firth and Dunnet Bay, and red towards the anchorage ground at Scrabster. It is elevated 75 feet above spring tides, and may be seen at the distance of 13 miles in clear weather.

From Chapter 2
Holborn-head, which lies about three miles from Thurso, is a magnificent promontory. It runs out along the west side of the roadstead of Scrabster; and, with its bold precipitous ridge, forms, as it were, a gigantic wall to protect it from the fury of the Atlantic. At the extremity of the headland there is an immense insulated rock called the “Clett”, fully 400 feet high, which adds considerable to its picturesque and striking appearance. The roadstead of Scrabster, which may be termed the “portus salutis” of Caithness has long been famous as an anchorage. The most violent gales from the west or north-west leave it comparatively unruffled. Al local writer, speaking of its natural advantages as a resort for shipping says :- “It is large enough to contain from 200 - 300 sail at a time, is well sheltered on all sides, especially towards the south and west, has good holding ground, with no tide-way, with from eight to ten fathoms of water, and sufficient room to work out with any wind that blows.” This account must be received with some little deduction. It is exposed to the north-east and a storm from this quarter raises a very heavy sea in Thurso Bay , which renders the anchorage somewhat unsafe; and vessels have, not unfrequently, been driven from their moorings, and gone ashore on the sands. Of late an excellent harbour has been erected at Scrabster, of sufficient extent and depth of water to accommodate steamers.

From Chapter 12
On the 25th December, 1806, Caithness was visited by a hurricane of unprecedented violence. Its occurrence forms an era in the annals of the county, and is still talked of as the “windy Christmas.” The morning of that day opened without any appearances in the sky to indicate the near approach of such a fearful visitation. The wind began at first to blow from the west, but afterwards it changed to the north-west, and raged with a fury that threatened to carry every thing before it. The bay of Dunnet was tossed into mountains of boiling foam, and latterly its entire surface from side to side presented the appearance of one immense sheet of spray drifting towards the sands at the bottom of the inlet. The damage done to property throughout the county was incalculable. The houses of the peasantry were mostly all unroofed; whole stackyards were thrown down, and their contents scattered and swept away by the resistless element. There were at the time several fishing smacks from Gravesend lying in Scrabster Roads. Most of the skippers and some of the crews had gone ashore to have a jollification in the public house at the “Rings;” and when the hurricane came on, they could not get aboard their vessels. Three of the smacks that, from their position in the bay, were more exposed to the wind than the rest, broke adrift from their moorings, and, being unable to work out, were forced down the bay of Dunnet. One came ashore on the sands, near the burn of Garth, another below the house of Castlehill, and a third at Murkle.

More Historic References
When William the Lion was king of Scotland Earl Harald came (1201-2) to Scrabster in Caithness where Bishop John had his residence {borg).
http://www.caithness.org/atoz/churches/ballachly/

Hanging
There is also a tradition that hanging took place in the field (ND 103687) opposite Scrabster Service Station
http://www.caithness.org/history/articles/hanginghighlands2.htm

Blinding Of the Bishop - Orkneyinga Saga
The blinding of the Bishop at Scrabster raises the question as to where the castle was.
http://www.caithness.org/caithnessfieldclub/bulletins/1997/letters_to_editor.htm

Current Information on Scrabster Fishing
http://www.scrabster.co.uk/fishing/

Scrabster Exports
One of the main exports to pass through Scrabster is likely to have been flagstone when the industry was in its heyday. In the days of sailing ships a cargo like flagstone was handy as it could be used as ballast to assist the ship keep its level in the water and still be a worth while cargo. That is one of the reasons it was transported all over the world from Thurso harbour and Scrabster.

Lord Kitchener Died Shortly AfterLeaving Scrabster
At noon on June 5th, 1916, Lord Kitchener arrived by train at Thurso station. He was immediately taken to Scrabster, where an honour guard selected from the Caithness Company of the 5th Seaforth Highlanders, was waiting on the pier to pay their respects to this most famous of soldiers. Arms presented, a quick salute, and Kitchener boarded a launch that took him to the destroyer on which he crossed the Pentland Firth to Scapa Flow. Next day he was fishfood - drowned in rough, gale-blown seas off Marwick Head on the west coast of Orkney. The cruiser which was carrying Kitchener to Russia had apparently struck one of the mines set adrift by U-75 .
From Caithnes Archives
http://www.iprom.co.uk/archives/caithness/sub2.htm

Bishop Gilbert built a castle at Scrabster after his elevation in 1223.
Pictures at http://www.caithness.org/caithness/castles/bishopspalace/index.htm

An Old Map Of Scrabster At
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/gazetteer/10caith601/10caith601gazS.htm

Scrabster House
http://www.caithness.org/atoz/countryhouses/scrabsterhouse/

Fishermen's Mission Scrabster
http://www.scrabster.co.uk/mission/

Holbornhead Lighthouse
http://www.caithness.org/atoz/lighthouses/holbornheadlighthouse/index.htm

Ordnance Survey Map Reference
ND 100 701

Scrabster Pictures
http://www.caithness.org/atoz/scrabster/newscrabsterindex/index.htm

Scrabster New Pier Pictures
http://www.caithness.org/atoz/scrabster/scrabsterdevelopment/

Radio-active Materials
Radio-active material from Dounreay has been shipped in and out of Scrabster without incident at avarious times despite the matter being raised by Orkney Islands Council about the potential dangers.....
http://www.n-base.org.uk/public/briefing/02_03/brief326.htm

Thurso Lifeboat Is Based At Scrabster
http://www.caithness.org/community/emergencyservices/thursolifeboat/index.htm

Employment In fishing At Scrabster 2002 In 1999
Source - Coastal Economic Regenration Zones
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/academic/gg/html/dawsonpap.html

Scrabster Harbour Web Site
http://www.scrabster.co.uk/

The Ice House At Scrabster Before It Became the Captains Galley Restaurant
http://www.caithness.org/atoz/scrabster/icehouse/icehouse/

Salmon Once Expeorted In Large Quantities
Salmon was once a huge export from Caithness and was partly the source of the great wealth of the Sinclairs and other families enableing them to build some of the castles around the county such as Girnigoe. Before the numbers began to reduce the salmon of Caithness might have been like the bonanza in Alaska in later years with millions going up the rivers each year. A fortune was made hundereds of years ago by exporting from ports like Scrabster. The vast wealth derived from Salmon and hides shows Caithness was once avery important area for its natural resources and the Sinclairs at one point owned more land than the King of Scotland
An item on the Captains Galley web site about the ice houses helps explain how the later fishing wealth from the sea was dealt with -
Ice Houses of the North
"In Caithness and the North of Scotland salmon is such plenty as scarce credible." wrote Daniel Defoe in 1725.
They were traded to the south of Scotland, England and the Continent from the thirteenth century. Initial preservation was by parboiling or drying and use of ice as a preservative of market salmon was brought from China by Alexander Dalrymple, a traveller. The Scottish merchant and philanthropist, George Dempster of Skibo, promoted the technique in 1786. While salmon netting as an industry has been over-shadowed by the herring fishing of the nineteenth century it must have been on a considerable scale. There are commercial ice houses around the north east coast at Bighouse, Sandside, Crosskirk, Scrabster, Thurso East, Castlehill, Harrow, John O’Groats, Keiss, Ackergill, Wick, Dunbeath, Berriedale and Helmsdale. They were built between 1793 and 1865 and continued in use into the first quarter of the last century.
Design was naturally refined by individual locations, all are at river mouths and harbours close to where the cobbles or drag nets would be landing the fish. Most are dug into a bank and the ice chamber is constructed of free stone with a barrel-vaulted roof. This roof is covered with a layer of earth and turf for better insulation. There were two openings: A door at floor level to extract the ice and a hatch on the roof or high in the eaves for loading. Both access points would have double hatches and doors for better insulation. A road leads up to the top hatch so that carts could bring the ice to the loading hatch. When there was hard frost very little farm work could take place with the ground and waterwheels frozen so that there was plenty of labour available to cart the ice from rivers, milldams and sluices to the icehouse. Ice also came in by boat from Norway presumably in a milder winter. It was packed in layers with every twenty inches a layer of saw-dust for additional insulation and easier extraction.
Salmon were boxed in "Full" "Half" or "Quarter" boxes, packed nose to tail and each layer on ice with a sheet of grease proof paper on top of them with more ice and another layer of fish. These boxes were latterly exported by rail to get them to the city fish markets in the best of condition.
These buildings remain as testimony of an industry that has passed. The salmon that teem from the fish farms around the Scottish coast and the refrigerated lorries that carry them to Billingsgate and other fish markets are today’s equivalent of Defoe’s "Plenty" and the icehouses that kept them.

Harbour Works
Harbours in Scotland are legal entities and in 2000 an order was made to vary earlier titles to enable the Harbour works at the pier etc to be carried out. Details of the somewhat dry details are at -
http://www.scotland-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2000/20000032.htm
Wick Harbour is currently going through a lengthy process of amending its legal status to allow future improvements to be carried out.

More Notes
The First Steamer Service From Scrabster To Stromness began in 1856

What Grows At Scrabster
http://www.caithness.org/caithnessfieldclub/bulletins/1981/april/botany_of_scrabster_braes.htm

A Poem - The Bonny Scrabster Braes
http://www.caithness.org/community/arts/caithnesspoets/jessiebegg/jessiebeggpage5.htm

Another Poem With Scrabster Included
The Blin' Hunder
http://www.caithness.org/community/arts/caithnesspoets/mair/