This is a fantastic thread and I love popping in to see what has been added. I have seen places I forgot existed and my children have been delighted to see Thurso of old. Thank you so much Thirsaloon and keep up the good work.
Great pictures Jock!
Delighted to see them!!
Marwood Sutherland was one of the driving forces for getting the lead lettered inscription (which has a mistake on it) about Robert Dick done on his house. His letters appeared often in the local papers (Groat, Courier and Northern Ensign).
This is a fantastic thread and I love popping in to see what has been added. I have seen places I forgot existed and my children have been delighted to see Thurso of old. Thank you so much Thirsaloon and keep up the good work.
It's a wonderful photo of Marwood Sutherland and now - prompted by something said on the Thread, I have found a couple of his poems.
I'll write one here but the others I'll put on the Lit Page.
O Erin, Fair Erin.
by Marwood Sutherland
from the Caithness Courier 19th Sept 1951.
O Erin, Fair Erin, the land I adore,
O Erin, dear Erin, I love thee ashore;
I love thee, O Erin, green, rugged and wild -
No less could adore thee, thine own native child!
The gosson's warm-hearted, thy colleens so fair
For wit, grace and beauty, none with them compare!
So merry, so happy, so sparkling with glee,
Sure home of my spirit, my heart warms to thee!
Have you read Marwood Sutherland poem's which Trinkie has so kindly put on the Lit page? Perhaps your granny was that 'Thurso Lassie' or am I just being an old romantic...
This thread was so very interesting to start with but the picture of Marwood added an extra twist - well done Plasticjock and very well done Trinkie in finding those poems.
LB
Thanks for that info, gollach.
I wonder if it was an eccentricity or whether he was looking for some stone in particular that may have dropped from the back of a scaffie-cairt or a quarry waggon?
He must have taken a lot of hassling from the cheeky young loons, and possibly not-so-young loons of the town over the years, poor chap, about his leg-aid.
I know we 'cheeked' the similarly accoutred sheep-drover in the 60's until he threw stones at us from his pocket, something that shames me today.
I wonder who could tell me where the Temperance Hotel would have been situated in Thurso in 1946?
I have often wondered about this as my parents spent their wedding night there.
A photo would be a real bonus.
LB
I had a feeling that if anyone would know it would be you Thirsaloon - maybe you'll even have a photo somewhere.
I thought it may have been the Holborn but wasn't too sure.
I look forward to hearing more.
Thank you LB
Yes that's right, thirsaloon. It was situated on the corner of East Church Street and Princes Street.
On the back of the picture postcard below, stamped Dec 1918, the writer Mowat had written to his parents in Orkney that he'd stayed the night at the Temperance and was catching the ferry the next day. He'd marked the hotel with a blue cross which I'd removed 'cause it was unsightly.
Another picture from around the turn of the twentieth century, entitled 'Dividing the catch at Thurso'.
Maurice Harrington the Photographer was in there for many years.
That's what I thought I remembered too. Maurice took my weddng photos. "BoobyBorax" - any relation to "Billy Borax" of Shore St?
After maurice Harringtone wasn't there a Gold-Smith in there about 71 ?
Last edited by Sporran; 16-Jul-07 at 00:34.
I am living for today, always remembering yesterday, and looking forward to tomorrow!
In "Thurso Then & Now" (1972) by Falconer Waters and Donald Grant, they state that it was in the upper storey of the Co-operative Building, which is where plasticjock indicated in his old photo. They didn't mention what year the hotel closed, though.
Last edited by Sporran; 16-Jul-07 at 02:10.
I am living for today, always remembering yesterday, and looking forward to tomorrow!
Just a further titbit of info re: Temperance Hotel from the Highland Archive
'Among those officers who had taken part in the annual camp manoeuvres of April 1912, was a certain Donald Manson, Captain with the 5th Seaforth Highlanders, a seasoned territorial soldier with 11 years experience. Born at Whitefield Farm, Murkle, in November 1867, Donald was the tenth child of George and Janet Manson. In 1883 the family moved to a house at 30 Princes Street, Thurso, not far from the Temperance Hotel owned by Donald Gair. Mr Gair had a bonnie daughter, Margaret, who caught the eye of young Donald Manson. The couple married in 1900 and settled down in Thurso to raise a family – they were to have six sons – and enjoy whatever social dividends accrued from Donald’s position as a manager at the Castletown Pavement Works.'
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