Author: Max Fletcher

Kirkgate is a croft below Blackhammer and east of Deithe in Wasbister, named, no doubt, from its proximity to the old road to the church at Skaill on the Westside and that of Corse kirk, which stood adjacent to where the kirkyard is beside the Loch of Wasbister.

John Leonard, son of John Leonard and Nelly Gibson, was born on January 12th 1831 at Kirkgate. Their second son, Peter, was born on April 7th 1833 at ‘Gateside, Wasbyster’.

In 1851, James Pearson, a 40-year-old fisherman, lived here with his wife Mary Leonard. She was the daughter of John Leonard and Isabella Inkster of Grain, and was born about 1810. They had a family of seven children. The three eldest of these were Mary, 17, Margaret, 15, and John, 12, and they were employed as agricultural labourers. The younger children were christened Isabella, James, Robert, and David.

In 1861 James was earning his living as an agricultural labourer, as was his daughter Margaret. Isabella was now working as a servant with the Craigie family at Claybank, young James was an apprentice joiner, and Robert and David were scholars. By this time Mary had given birth to two more boys, Hugh (7) and William (4). Oldest son John was now a 22-year-old agricultural labourer, and he was living at Kirkgate with his 27-year-old wife Ann and their newborn son John, who was just one month old when the census was taken. According to the Lands Valuation Roll for the year commencing Whitsunday 1865, Kirkgate was called Houlterburn, for which James paid £2 rent.

Mary Louttit, the 42-year-old widow of an agricultural labourer, was living at Upper Kirkgate, alternatively known as Helliatrow, at this time, and she had a visitor, Ann Sabiston, a 23-year-old dressmaker. Mary paid 12s. rent a year for the six-acre site.

In 1871 James Pearson was 63 years of age and working as a quarryman, and his wife Mary was in her 62nd year. James paid an annual rent of £2 10s. to live at Kirkgate, the extent of the land of which now covered 19.5 acres.

Daughter Margaret was married to fisherman James Inkster, and they were living with their four children at Quoys, Sourin. James and Mary’s youngest daughter Isabella had returned to live at Kirkgate and was now 28 years of age and employed as a seamstress. Her 26-year-old brother James was a qualified joiner; 25-year-old Robert was a farm servant and living at The Booth, Westness; Hugh was now 17 years old and working as a farm servant on William Mainland’s farm Onziebust, on the neighbouring island of Egilsay; and William, the youngest, was a 13- year-old scholar. Mary, their mother, died on June 7th 1876 at the age of 66.

By 1881 the only member of the original Pearson family living at Kirkgate was Hugh. Having returned from Egilsay, he was now earning a living as a fisherman, and lived at Kirkgate with his 24-year-old wife Jane Berston Laughton, daughter of Robert Laughton and Jane Berston of South Ronaldsay. By this time Hugh and Jane had three children, James (4), Hugh (2), and 8 month-old Agnes.

In 1886/7 Hugh paid £6 rent for both Upper and Lower Kirkgate and their surrounding land which comprised 7 acres arable and 20 acres pasture. In 1888 Hugh’s rent was reduced by the Crofters’ Commission to £418s 0d.

In the 1891 census Hugh was described as a 37-year-old crofter/fisherman, and by that time Jane had given birth to six more sons; William, Robert, John, David, Alexander, and George.

Above: Hugh and Jane Pearson at Kirkgate, c1925.
Below: George Pearson, who emigrated to Canada like his older brother Hugh before him,
and his older sister Agnes Calder Laughton Pearson.

On January 31st 1901 Agnes Pearson had a child out of wedlock, born at the Royal Maternity Hospital, St. Giles, Edinburgh. She was christened Mary Jane.

At Kirkgate on August 2nd 1906, Agnes Calder Laughton Pearson was a 26-year-old domestic servant when she married 26-year-old Kirkwall coachdriver William Harrison who lived at 4 Olaf Place. The Rev A. Irvine Pirie officiated, and David Pearson and Mary B. Harrison were witnesses. They lived at 6 Victoria Street, Kirkwall and had two children: Maud, who was born on November 25th 1913, and James Flett, born on November 14th 1916.

James Flett Harrison grew up to be a well-known cobbler and ba’ maker at his shop in the Strynd in Kirkwall. An Uppie, Jim won the men’s New Year’s Day ba’ in 1957.

Mary Jane Pearson was 19 years old when she married David Baikie Marwick in 1920. His parents were David Marwick, Essaquoy, later Quoys, Wasbister, and Ann Leonard, Treblo, and he was born on November 16th 1890. Mary Jane and David had three children; Agnes, David, and Cathie.

[All black and white photos are courtesy of the Tommy Gibson Collection]

Tou was a farm in Wasbister, known at Tow in charters dated 1567, 1624, and 1640, close to Hammerfield and Breckan. Early tenants included Hugh, Thomas, and William Craigie in 1736, Thomas Brand in 1740, and William Wishart in 1798.

In the early 1800s, Tou was occupied by Hugh Inkster and his family. In 1801, he married 20-year-old Isabel Craigie, Corse, and they raised a family of 12 children. Twins Thomas and Hugh were born on July 6th 1801, but Hugh died in infancy. Another Hugh was born in September 1804; Margaret, in August 1805; Jean, in March 1807; Cecilia, in October 1810; Katherine, in November 1813; James, in September 1815; Robert, in August 1818; John, in 1821; Ann, in February 1825; and another Jean, who was born in October 1826.

Paying rent in kind, the tenant of Tou in 1840 was Magnus Clouston. Magnus, born in 1790, married 34-year-old Ann Flaws of Hammerfield in 1819. They lived at Windbreck, Westside, and that was where their first three children were born; Margaret, on October 9th 1820, though she died in infancy; another Margaret, on January 24th 1822; and Betsy, born on December 3rd 1823. They then moved to Tou, where Magnus and John were born on September 14th 1826 and December 19th 1829 respectively.

Magnus Clouston had died by 1851. The census tells us that son Magnus, now 24 years old, was head of the household and farming the surrounding 16 acres of land. The rent at this time was £11 a year. His widowed mother Ann was in her 65th year and sister Betsy was 27, and both employed at home.

Above left is cobbler David Marwick and his wife Betsy Clouston at Tou, c.1880.
To the right is Betsy’s brother Mangus [Mansie] Clouston, with
Lower Hammerfield in the background, c.1895.

[These two photos, and the one below are courtesy of Orkney Library & Archive]

On March 15th 1861, Magnus married Jane Craigie, the daughter of Henry and Mary Craigie of nearby Quoyostray, who was born when they were living at Quoygray on August 26th 1828. Magnus and Jane had two sons; James, born in 1866, and John in 1869. By this time Magnus’s sister Betsy had married shoemaker David Marwick. He was the youngest son of William Marwick and Ann Craigie of Quoys, later White-meadows in Wasbister, born on September 26th 1830. They lived at Upper Tou and had a daughter, Ann, who was born on October 1856.

Ann was 18 years of age when she married James Inkster Leonard in 1874. He was the son of James Leonard, Grain, later Quoygray, and Cecilia Inkster, Tou, and was born in December 1854. Ann and James raised a family of seven children: David Marwick was born in 1875; James, in 1877; John, in 1879; Archibald McCallum, in 1881; William Rendall, in 1880; Ann Elizabeth, in 1885; and Mary, who was born in 1889.

In 1891 at Upper Tou David Marwick was still making shoes, now in his 60th year. Betsy, his wife was 67, and living with them was their 16-year-old grandson David Marwick Leonard, employed as an apprentice at blacksmith Magnus Kirkness’s smiddy just down the track from Tou and close to Quoygray. Meanwhile Magnus Clouston was paying £15 rent for Tou and its 26.5 acres of land. By then his wife Jane was 62 years old, son James was a 25-year-old fisherman, and younger son John a 22-year-old shoemaker.

John, just mentioned, was 21 years old when he married 19-year-old Maggie Ann Craigie, the first-born of the thirteen children of Magnus Craigie, Falquoy, later Pliverha’, and Helen Cooper, Sound, Egilsay. The ceremony at Tou, on August 18th 1899, was conducted by Rousay Established Church minister Rev. Alexander Spark, and witnessed by John Shearer and Alexander Craigie. Maggie Ann and John had two children: Maggie Jane, born in 1900; and John, who was born in 1902.

On February 26th 1892 John’s brother James married Annabella Craigie, first-born daughter of James Craigie, Falquoy, and Janet Sinclair, Stenisgorn, who was born in June 1872. This ceremony was held at Falquoy and also officiated by the Rev. Alexander Spark, the witness being David Inkster and Robert Sinclair. Annabella and James had two children; Clara Craigie, born in 1892; and James, who was born in 1896. Clara married David Cursiter Moar, Yesnaby, in 1912 and raised a family of five children. In 1925 James Clouston, junior, married Annabella Sinclair, daughter of Robert Sinclair, Stenisgorn, later Sketquoy, and Margaret Flaws, Hammerfield, who was born in August 1903.

Above left: Clara & James Clouston of Tou c.1900. Above right: Young James with his grandfather Mansie.
Below: James Clouston and his wife Annabella Craigie with their children Clara and James, c.1906. Right: James and Annabella, again with Clara and James, just prior to him joining up and going to war. c.1916.

Magnus [Mansie] Clouston was 86 years of age when he passed away on March 20th 1913, just over two years after his wife Jane died. In all, Tou was occupied by members of the Clouston family for nearly 200 years.

James Clouston senior was sub-postmaster at Tou, and the photo below shows Tou today, the cluster of buildings towards the centre/right. The Rousay Post Office is to the left, with Lower Hammerfield and Hammerfield above, and Quoygray and Quoyostray below.

All black and white photographs, unless otherwise stated, are courtesy
of the Tommy Gibson Collection.

The map is a section from the Ordnance Survey 25 inch to the mile, 1st
edition, Survey date: 1879, Publication date: 1880
[Edited and enhanced for clarity]
‘Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland’

Hammerfield was the name of a farm on the face of the hill above Wasbister, built in 1789. The earliest recorded tenant was John Flaws, who married Isabel Alexander on November 15th 1799. They had two sons; James, christened on August 17th 1800, and William, who was christened on March 21st 1802.

In 1841 Hammerfield was occupied by farmer James Flaws and his family. He married Isabel Gibson on December 29th 1826. She was the daughter of James Gibson and Katherine Inkster of nearby Stennisgorn, born on March 29th 1803. They had six children; James was born on February 27th 1828, John, on February 26th 1829, William, in 1839, David, in 1841, Magnus, in 1843, and Margaret, in 1847.

The 1851 census records the fact that young James was a 23-year-old seaman, his 21-year-old brother John was described as being ‘an idiot,’ and William was a scholar. The annual rent for Hammerfield was £5. Also living at Hammerfield at this time was Margaret Craigie, an 80-year-old widowed pauper.

In the census of 1861, the widow Craigie’s age was given as 97. James Flaws was now 62 years of age, and farming 16 acres of land, for which the annual rent was now fixed at £5 15s 0d. Isabella was in her 60th year, son John was now described as an unmarried 33-year-old pauper, and his sister Margaret was a 14-year-old scholar. James and Isabella’s son David now lived at Upper Hammerfield with his newly married wife Margaret Louttit, the daughter of Alexander Louttit and Janet Craigie of Lower Blackhammer, who was born on April 7th 1830.

The 1871 census reveals a great deal more about the Flaws family. James was then in his 71st year and was farming 17 acres of land at Hammerfield, and his wife Isabella was now 65. Son John was 41-years-old and then described as an imbecile, and daughter Margaret was an unmarried 24-year-old. Living with them was Isabella’s widowed sister Margaret Holland, who was a 73-year-old annuitant and blind.

Eldest son David, a fisherman, and his wife Margaret now had three children; Williamina, born in 1863, but died in childhood; David, born in 1865, who later drowned in Egilsay Sound; and James, who was born in 1868.

David’s younger brother Magnus and his family also lived at Hammerfield. He earned his living as a boot and shoemaker, and had married Anne Scott of Birsay on February 4th 1869. At this time they had one daughter, Annabina, who was born in 1870.

The picture above, taken in 1880, shows another Wasbister shoemaker David Marwick and his wife Bettie who lived at Tou. He was the youngest son of William Marwick and Ann Craigie of Quoys, later Whitemeadows, born on September 26th 1830.

James Flaws died sometime before 1881, for the census of that date reveals that his widow Isabella, now in her 78th year, was head of the household and farming 20 acres of land at Hammerfield. Son John was now a 51-year-old pauper, and unmarried 30-year-old daughter Margaret was a farm labourer. Isabella’s 84-year-old sister Margaret was still lodging with them.

David and Margaret Flaws had a welcome addition to their family, since the deaths of Williamina and David – a daughter Margaret, born in 1872.

Magnus was now working not only as a shoemaker but as a grocer as well. His wife Anne had given birth to a daughter, Jemima, on September 12th 1871, but she died. Another daughter, Isabella, was born on June 10th 1873.

By 1891 at Hammerfield, Isabella and her sister Margaret had passed away, and there was no mention of the whereabouts of son John. Daughter Margaret lived alone, and was described in the census as a hire-woman. She died in 1928 at the age of 81.

Magnus and Ann had earlier moved to Rusness on the neighbouring island of Wyre, where another two children were born; James in 1884, and Magnus Flett on December 29th 1886.

Farmer/fisherman David Flaws was now 55 years old, and his wife Margaret was 59. Their daughter Margaret had left home and married Robert Sinclair of Skatequoy, and son James was now 22 years old.

In 1884 David was paying £7 rent for Hammerfield and its 15 acres arable and 4 acres of pasture land. In 1888 he paid a lesser sum of £6 12s 0d this having been fixed by Crofters Commission, though he renounced being a crofter according to the laird writing in his rent book.

David and Margaret’s son James later became head of the household at Hammerfield. He was a stonemason, and he married Mary Catherine Craigie Marwick, the daughter of William Marwick and Janet Craigie of nearby Furse, who was born on June 15th 1871. They had five children; Arthur; James; David, born on 17 March 1897; William, born in 1903; and Maggie Jessie, born in 1904.

James, father of the two lads in the picture above, worked the sixteen acres of land at Hammerfield, and in 1906 he was paying £3. 10s. as payment for the Half-Year’s Rent on the farm. He was also the tenant of nearby New Greystone, for which he paid eight shillings rent for the same period.

The following information comes from a statement made by Mary Flaws, with the assistance of a solicitor, concerning the payment of Separation Allowance, her son David having been called up for Army service in March 1916.

This statement, covering three sides of foolscap, was found within the effects of the Flaws family at Hammerfield.

In about 1910, David was serving his apprenticeship as an assistant draper with Mr. Thomas T. Smith of Kirkwall, and his wage was five shillings a week. During this apprenticeship his father James supplied him weekly with food off the farm, consisting of potatoes, turnips, meal, bread, butter, eggs, and meat such as fowl, a rabbit or a piece of pork, according to whatever James and his wife Mary had at the time.

All the time David was in Kirkwall he sent his clothes home to be washed and mended, which his mother Mary did for him. With all the food which his father sent him weekly he was able, during his apprenticeship, to live in town and pay for his own lodgings and any other necessaries he required. He finished his apprenticeship in October 1915, and Mr. Smith then raised his wages to fifteen shillings a week.

He continued to lodge with a Mrs. Yorston in Victoria Street, and the usual basket of food was sent in to him weekly. David came home to Hammerfield for the New Year of 1916, and when home he gave his mother £4. 10s., which he had saved for her out of his wages.

Mary Flaws stated that Hammerfield at that time was a poor croft, housing a family of five, and, while all the children were at home they had to live very plainly and had to do without many things they would have liked and which their better off neighbours were having.

David was called up for the Army in March 1916. He told his mother he intended to send her five shillings a week out of his Army pay, but having travelled south and joined the Army he was told that the maximum he could send home was three shillings and sixpence.

Mary was sent a form in connection with an application David had made for Separation Allowance of ten shillings a week for his mother, as she was losing what he would have paid her had he remained in Mr. Smith’s employment. The form had to be filled in and signed in the presence of Mr. David Gibson, J.P., and it was returned to Perth.

Some time afterwards the Pension Officer called at Hammerfield, when Mary was at home alone. He had been sent to make enquiries regarding the application for the Allowance and she answered his questions to the best of her ability; but she was upset by his bullying manner and his suggestion that she would be prosecuted for filling up the form she had sent to Perth.

He noted the things that David had been in the habit of getting from home when working in Kirkwall, and he estimated their value on the prices that they would have cost him if he had bought them from shops in Kirkwall. He made them out to be something like seven shillings a week, and argued that as she was getting an allotment of three shillings and sixpence she was not losing anything by David being away and was consequently not entitled to any Separation Allowance.

Mary estimated the value of the weekly basket to be more like two shillings. In the application for the Allowance she stated that she was dependant on David to the extent of ten shillings a week, as that was what he was giving her when he was taken away. The statement ended with Mary saying that she knew a number of people in Orkney who were much better off than she was, and who were getting Separation Allowance on account of their sons being called up.

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On March 30th 1917, Mary wrote a letter to David, a private in No. 4 Platoon A Company of the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders, who was by that time serving with the Expeditionary Force in the trenches in France. In it she told him that their case had been dropped earlier, but she was now getting Separation Allowance, backdated to the time he originally applied for it.
The letter ended as follows:-

“……I will have to draw to a close now with our united love, and may the Almighty be with you and all who are in danger, and bring a sudden end to this terrible war.”

David never received the letter – he was killed in action on April 11th 1917.

Click here > Davie Flaws < to access a special page devoted to him.

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James Flaws died at Hammerfield on 5th July 1935, aged 67 years. His wife Mary died on February 2nd 1952, at the age of 80.

James, father of the two lads in the picture above, worked the sixteen acres of land at Hammerfield, and in 1906 he was paying £3. 10s. as payment for the Half-Year’s Rent on the farm. He was also the tenant of nearby New Greystone, for which he paid eight shillings rent for the same period.

In 1938, James and Mary’s son William, then 35 years old, married Mabel Sinclair, the daughter of Thomas Sinclair and Mary Inkster of Banks, Frotoft, who was christened Mary Isabel in 1910. They were the last of the Flaws family to occupy Hammerfield. Bill was 78 years old when he died in 1981. Mabel died in 1995, at the age of 85.

Moan – a croft in Wasbister high up on the northern hill slopes outside the tunship dyke, was the home of the Clouston family in the mid-1800’s.

David Clouston, born in 1801, was a weaver and farmer by trade. In 1831 he married Janet Alexander, the eldest child of James Alexander and Barbara Marwick of Breckan, who was born on October 11th 1811. They had eight children; firstborn was William; John was born on August 12th 1831; Magnus on May 17th 1833; James on September 8th 1835; Betsy in 1838; Mary; David in 1839; and Ann in 1846.

By 1861 Janet was a widow and she continued working Moan’s six acres, assisted by her 39-year-old unmarried son John. The annual rent at this time was 5s. In 1872 it stood at £1, and the acreage at Moan had risen to 26.5.

In 1880 Janet paid £3.0.0. rent. After she died her son John was head of the household and his sister Betsy and her husband William Borwick lived in new buildings erected at Moan in 1893. Betsy died at Moan on June 30th 1931 at the age of 93 years.

Innister is a farm in Wasbister, now incorporating parts of older farms such as Gorn and Hammer. In 17th century records and land charters the farm is mentioned as Ingisgarth in 1606; Ingisgar in 1624, 1627, and 1631; Ingsgar in 1633, 1634, 1771; Insgar in 1814; and Inisgar in 1816.

17th century records abound with references to this as a personal surname also; Rowie (i.e. Rowland) Ingisgar alias the ‘Laird’ was an ‘outstanding’ Wasbister man, c. 1630. The present family name Inkster is undoubtedly a corruption of this name.

The Rousay Birth Register of 1834 records the birth of a daughter to James Inksater in Inisgar. In these old Rousay parish registers the present-day family name Inkster was usually spelt Inksater, and later Inksetter.

In 1841 farmer James Inksater and his family were living at Inisgar. James was the son of Thomas Inksater and Isabel Marwick of Deith and he was born on August 27th 1798. He married Betty Craigie and a daughter, Sarah, was born on August 2nd 1832.

The census of 1841 records another family living at Innister. John Mowat, born c.1791, originally lived at Breckan but later moved the short distance to Innister. He married his second wife, Katherine Inkster [b. 1785], in 1814. They had six children: Christian was born in June 1815; Thomas in December 1816; Elizabeth in June 1820; Mary in September 1822; Hugh in December 1828; and Isabella in November 1830.

Hugh was 22 years of age when he signed on with the Hudson’s Bay Company in December 1850, sailing from Stromness the following year bound for the York Factory in Manitoba. From there he crossed Canada and was employed as a labourer at Fort Vancouver , a fur trading outpost and supply depot along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Columbia Department. Hugh worked there from 1852 to 1854, and was then was listed as a steward at the Vancouver depot from 1854 to 1860.

Going back to James ‘Inksater’, he married a second time. His wife was Janet Craigie and on December 5th 1834 a daughter, Mary, was born. They were to have four more children; Jane, Janet, David, and John, between 1836 and 1843.

James’ third marriage was to Elizabeth Mowat in 1844. They had three children; Margaret, born on November 17th 1844; John, on November 18th 1849; and Betsy, on March 25th 1845.

The census of 1861 gives another spelling – Inesgair. By then James was 63 years old and the size of the farmland was given as 36 acres. In 1854 James was paying rent of £22.0.0. which had risen to £25.6.0. by 1863.

Ten years later and another spelling – this time Inisgear. By this time James had retired, and his 30-year-old son David had taken over the running of  the  farm  with  his  wife, 25-year-old Ann Gillespie of Canisbay, Caithness. At this time the rent was £30.0.0. per annum.

The farm of Gorn was incorporated in 1879, as were parts of Tou, Breckan and 120 acres of Brings pasture. In 1882 David paid £85.0.0. rent, plus £15.0.0. rent charge on improvements. In 1883 the farmland of Hammer was added, and in 1889, with the inclusion of 129 acres of grazing at Brings the rent was £77.0.0. David and his family moved to Nigley, Evie and in 1894 William Learmonth from Faraclett took over the tenancy. Storms unroofed the farmhouse in 1895 and 1899, and by the time William moved to Orphir Innister comprised 62 acres arable and 146 acres of pasture land.

James Marwick, son of Robert Marwick and Isabel Mainland, was born in September 1831. He married Mary Baikie of Evie in 1856 and they had five sons; James, born in January 1857; John in April 1858; Robert in October 1862; George Ritchie, born in February 1860; and David Baikie in November 1865

George Ritchie Marwick was christened after the Rev. George Ritchie, at whose manse his mother worked before she married. George and Betsy Gibson of Knarston had a son John Gibson Marwick, born in July 1885. John married Anna Logie Craigie, whose father was the Postmaster at Hullion, and between 1910 and 1932 they raised a family of eight sons and five daughters at Innister.

Eleven of the thirteen Marwicks: James Craigie, John Craigie, Robert Craigie, William Lyle, Sydney Sinclair, Donald Gibson, Roderick.
Jean [Mary Jane], Phebe Marshall Traill Foulis, Nettie Orr Gibson, Anna Logie.
Missing from the photo, taken in 1954, are David Gibson and Betsy.

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Gorn was known as Gore in the Rental of 1503. John Inkster, born c.1770, lived there with his wife Jean Craigie and their three sons; John, born on August 9th 1802, James, on June 12th 1804, and Robert, who was born on January 2nd 1807.

By 1841, brothers James and Robert were earning their livings as fishermen. They were both married and they and their families were all living at Gorn. In 1838 Robert married Mary Craigie, the daughter of David and Mary Ann Craigie of nearby Hammer, who was born on April 3rd 1809. They had one child, James, born in 1840.

Robert’s brother James married Margaret Inkster, daughter of Hugh Inkster and Isabel Craigie of Tou, who was born on August 10th 1805, and between 1829 and 1845 they had seven children; James, Jean, John, Margaret, another Margaret, Mary, and Hugh. They later moved to Midgarth, near Knarston, but when his father died James returned to Gorn to farm the 18½ acres of land.

The census of 1861 records the facts that James was in his 54th year, and wife Margaret was 53. Daughter Jane was a dressmaker, and 24-year-old son John was a seaman in the Merchant Service. The annual rent for Gorn at this time was £17 15s 0d

James died in 1874, and his widow Margaret moved to Hammer, where her son Hugh lived with his family, and Gorn’s 21.4 acres were added to the farm land of Innister.

Quoyostray was a farm in Wasbister, occupied by three tenants and their families in the early 1800’s. In 1841 the oldest of these, at the age of 85, was farmer John Kirkness, the son of John Kirkness and Christy Inkster. He married Barbara Craigie, the daughter of George Craigie and Janet Brand, who was born in 1781. They lived up on the hill at Pliverha’, where their five children, John, Isabel, James, Janet, and Mary, were born between 1817 and 1824.

They then moved to Quoyostray, and by 1841 their eldest son John, born on April 26th 1817, was living there with his 25-year-old wife Mary Alexander. She was the daughter of James Alexander and Barbara Marwick of Breckan, having been born at Cutclaws on February 24th 1815. Between 1840 and 1859 John and Mary had nine children, the youngest of these dying at the age of three weeks. Mary herself died in 1862 at the age of 47.

The other tenant at Quoyostray in 1841 was 60-year-old farmer Henry Craigie. He was the son of Hugh Craigie and Janet Marwick, and he married Mary Craigie in 1815. She was the daughter of Hugh and Janet Craigie of Skaill, Westside, and was born on July 28th 1794 at Lerquoy, an old house in Wasbister. Henry and Mary had eight children between 1816 and 1837. They later moved to Blackhammer where Henry died in 1862 aged 84, and Mary died there in 1873, at the age of 79.

In 1861 retired farmer John Kirkness, now a widower, was in his 100th year according to the census of that year. He was still living at Quoyostray – his 36-year-old unmarried daughter Mary looking after him.

Ten years later his son John, himself now a widower and in his 53rd year, was farming the 48 acres at Quoyostray with the assistance of his children. In 1873 the extent of the land was 151.5 acres, for which the annual rent was £20. John’s eldest daughter Mary had married grocer and fisherman Peter Yorston of Oldman, Sourin, and they too lived on the farm before moving into Oldman.

In 1891, second oldest son Frederick and his sister Eliza Robson were joint tenants at Quoyostray. The annual rent at this time was £30, and the total acreage was 181.096, plus 130 acres of grazing at Twelve Hours Tower. Frederick, then 35 years old, had married Betsy Mackay, who had been housekeeper to her brother William, the school-master in Wasbister. They had five children; Mary, who was born in 1876; Frederick in 1878; Mark in 1879; James in 1880; and John in 1887. Mary died in 1894 at the age of 18 and her brother Frederick died in 1898, aged 20. Between these two years, in 1896, their father Frederick died, at the age of 43, though his wife Betsy reached the age of 82, before dying herself in 1935.

Eliza Robson Kirkness, who was born in 1850, married Hugh Inkster, the son of David Inkster and Janet Gibson of Saviskaill and later Brittany, Sourin. Eliza and Hugh were married in 1878 and they had a son, David James, who was born on December 31st of that year. Five months later Hugh was dead. He drowned in the Westray Firth on May 14th, at the age of 29 years.  Eliza continued to live at Quoyostray where she had a shop for many years. She died there on May 20th 1927, aged 76 years.

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Quoygray was a house in Wasbister adjacent to Quoyostray. In 1738 William Yorston was the tenant, and in 1799 William Marwick lived here. Between 1841 and 1851 William McInlay was the tenant, paying £5.10.0. rent. William came to Quoygray from the Wash-house at Viera Lodge, and before that from Upper Quandale.

James Kirkness was the son of John Kirkness and Barbara Craigie of Pliverha’, later Quoyostray, and he was born on October 9th 1820. He married 21-year-old Grace Craigie, the daughter of Hugh and Isabel Craigie of Brough, Westside. James and Grace lived at Quoygray, where they brought up their five children.

By 1871 they had moved to Grain, and James’s nephew Magnus Kirkness, who was a blacksmith, lived at Quoygray with his wife Isabella Gibson of Vacquoy. Magnus was the son of John Kirkness of Quoyostray and Mary Alexander of Breckan, and was born in 1840. Isabella was the daughter of John Gibson of Vacquoy and Barbara Craigie, one of twins born at Grithin. Magnus and Isabella married in 1869 had four children; John, born in 1871; Frederick, who was born in 1872; Isabella, born in 1877; and Mary, who was born in 1881. The census of 1901 revealed that young Isabella was a dressmaker, and her sister Mary was an art student.

Furse, was a farm in Wasbister, so named due to its proximity to a ‘force’ or waterfall. The earliest known tenant was James Wishart, his son William on record as being born there c. 1713.

In 1841 Hugh Marwick farmed the land and paid an annual rent of £18.0.0. He was the son of David and Janet Marwick who lived at ‘Force, Wasbyster’ before him, and he was born on May 15th 1802. He married Katherine Craigie of Claybank in 1826, and they had six children; Margaret, born on December 23rd 1826, Mary, on July 3rd 1831, James, on November 14th 1833, David, on August 13th 1836, William, on November 24th 1839, and John, born on December 1st 1842.

The size of the farm built up over the years and by 1871, 69-year-old Hugh had 40 acres to cope with, the rent by this time having risen to £20 14s 0d. His wife Katherine died in 1864 at the age of 62, and by this time son William was employed as a farm servant at Furse.

Hugh retired and his unmarried daughter Mary, who was then in her 49th year, acted as housekeeper, her 41-year-old brother William running the 80-acre farm at Furse. In 1868 he married Janet Craigie, daughter of Henry and Jane Craigie of Greystane, who was born at Mid Quandale on December 13th 1847. Between 1869 and 1891 they had 12 children, six boys and six girls; Jane was born on February 24th 1869; Mary Catherine Craigie on June 15th 1871; Janet on April 7th 1873; William on May 3rd 1875; James on April 13th 1877; Margaret Ann on March 28th 1879; Elizabeth on May 17th 1881; Hugh on March 31st 1883; John on May 25th 1885; Isabella on September 3rd 1887; David on September 24th 1889; and Frederick who was born on August 22nd 1891.

The photo below, courtesy of Orkney Library & Archive and dated 1875, shows William and Janet Marwick of Furse with three of their children, Mary, Jane in the foreground, and Janet on her mother’s knee.

In 1879 William paid rent of £60.0.0. (plus interest on a £300 loan), and the following year £75.0.0., which included 129 acres of grazing on the Brings and also a charge for improvements.

William’s wife Janet died in 1895 at the age of 47. At the time of the 1901 census William was a 61-year-old widower, and living up at Shalter with three of his children, Margaret Ann, Lizzie and Frederick. They later moved a short distance to Whitemeadows.

Furse at this time was occupied by the Inkster family. David Inkster was the son of William Inkster of Cogar and Mary Gibson of Langskaill, and he was born in 1862. David married Isabella Sinclair, daughter of Hugh Sinclair of Stennisgorn and Isabella Gibson of Langskaill, and she was born in January 1866. David and Isabella had a large family – three sons and eight daughters: William, Hugh, Robert, Annabella, Lydia, Margaret, Mary, Ethel, Violet, Lilla, and Minnie.

The above photos show Furse as it is today, the two-storey building dating from the late 1800’s. The location of the original farm buildings can be seen just above and to the right of the top of the ‘force’ in the image on the right.

The original school in Wasbister was known as the Free Kirk School. Rousay minister, the Reverend George Ritchie, was one of those who ‘came out’ along with almost the whole of his congregation in the Disruption of 1843 – a schism within the established Church of Scotland in which 450 ministers of the Church broke away over the issue of the Church’s relationship with the State, to form the Free Church of Scotland. It came at the end of a bitter conflict within the established Church, and had huge effects not only within the Church, but also upon Scottish civic life.

Education throughout Scotland benefited greatly from this development because within a few years the Free Church had opened 500 new schools, many of them in districts where no schools had previously existed.

Just two years after it came into being, the Rousay Free Kirk, under the Rev Ritchie’s leadership, was granted an acre of land at Feolquoy in Wasbister on which to build a school. The land was gifted by George W. Searle who, along with a fellow landowner, Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland, also contributed £5 per annum towards the teacher’s salary. Shortly afterwards, the school and adjoining schoolhouse were built, and the first teacher, William Linklater from Stronsay, was appointed.

Following a dispute over money which he alleged was owed to him by the Deacon’s Court of the Church Linklater resigned in 1862. He was succeeded by James Campbell Bruce from Glasgow who was given £1 to cover his travelling expenses to Rousay. He remained in the post for nine years, leaving when parents began to complain to the church authorities about the way he was running the school. [Mr Bruce subsequently opened a grocer’s shop in Victoria Street, Kirkwall]. Local divinity student, William M. Craigie of Cogar, took over temporarily until the appointment of William McKay in 1871. Then, two years later, the Free Kirk School in Wasbister was taken over by the Rousay School Board. General Burroughs, who owned almost all the island, was the chairman of the Board, the other members being James Sinclair of Newhouse and the three local ministers, the Rev. James Gardner of the Established Church, the Rev. John McLellan of the United Presbyterian Church, and the Rev. Neil Patrick Rose of the Free Church.

By 1881, William McKay he had been replaced by 30-year-old schoolmaster William Cooper. He lived at the schoolhouse with his wife Mary Jane Gibson, daughter of John and Jane Gibson of Langskaill, who was born on April 14th 1855. Over the years William and Mary Jane had seven children, the youngest of whom, Anna May, was a teacher at the school 30 years after her father.

A new school in Wasbister was officially opened by General Burroughs on November 1st 1881. Designed and built by Alexander Gibson of Vacquoy at a cost of £495, the Rousay School Board was pleased with it, there being ‘nothing to match it in Orkney or any rural area.’ To mark the occasion, Mrs Burroughs made a gift of fruit and a bun to each child.

Although William Cooper was regarded as a good teacher, he was dismissed when he fell out of favour, at a personal level, with members of the School Board in the late summer of 1886.

When the census of 1891 was carried out 24-year-old teacher William Horne from South Ronaldsay lived in the Wasbister schoolhouse with his 55-year-old mother Mary.

At this time the Old Schoolhouse was occupied by the Craigie family. 24-year-old Hugh Craigie was a carpenter and joiner by trade and he was married to Margaret Inkster of Upper Cogar. They eventually had five children, Maggie Jessie, Mary Jane, James Campbell Bruce, Hugh Gibson, and Barbara. The family later moved up the hill to Turbitail and from there across to Deithe.

Living in the Upper Schoolhouse was 70-year-old widower William Craigie. William was a fisherman and in his younger days he worked for the Hudson Bay Company. On his return to Rousay he married Margaret Inkster of Cogar in 1853, and with his savings he set up a shop there. Between 1854 and 1875 they had seven children, the oldest of whom, William M. Craigie, who was a minister, died at sea at the age of 24. Margaret died in 1876, and the shop was later transferred to the Old School, later re-named Ivybank. William lived there in 1891 with his 61-year-old sister Mary, a spinster, who was housekeeper, his son James G. Craigie, who was then a 28-year-old fisherman and Clerk to the School Board, 25 year-old daughter Mary, and youngest son Hugh, who was then a 16-year-old pupil teacher at the new Wasbister school.

James G. Craigie, who was born in 1863, married Annabella Chalmers in 1900, the daughter of James Chalmers and Ann Flaws of Stronsay. They had three children; Annie Flaws, who was born on February 21st 1901; William Marwick, on April 18th 1902; and Margaret F. (Rita), who was born on July 5th 1908. After the death of his father James ran the shop at Ivybank and as well as being Clerk to the School Board he was also Clerk of the Parish Council and Inspector of Poor. Daughter Annie was the teacher in Wasbister for a few years in the early 1920s before marrying George Scarth of Kirkwall and emigrating to Canada.

[Reference was made to Robert C. Marwick’s book From My Rousay Schoolbag]

Saviskaill is an ancient farm between the Loch of Wasbister and the beach at Saviskaill Bay. Mentioned in the Early Rental of 1503 as Savirscale, the name comes from the Old Norse sœvar-skáli, ‘sea-skaill,’ i.e. hall or house by the sea. The presence of two skáli names in this part of Rousay – Saviskaill, the skáli or hall by the sea, and Langskaill, the long skáli – is significant, pointing, it may be suggested, to early Norse settlers of chieftain or semi-chieftain class.

The very situation of the former – not in the heart of the old Wasbister tunship, but on its outskirts on the seashore – would seem to imply that the head of the settlement was not unmindful of his responsibilities, and wished to be as near as possible to his longship in case of need.

An old Rousay legend survives about a witch called Katho. This lady is said to have been churning in the house of Saviskaill one day. She churned away harder and harder until at length the milk foamed up over the lid. She then stopped and exclaimed: “Tara gott, that’s done; Saviskeal’s boat casten awa on the Riff o’ Saequoy.” And sure enough at that time the boat was wrecked.

It would seem that ‘Katho’ – the notorious Orkney witch Katherine Craigie – was a healer in the Rousay community. According to the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland during the Orkney Witchcraft Trials in 1643, almost half of the accusations made against her by her neighbours were to do with healing someone and curing them. With this in mind it would appear that Katho was a relatively ‘good witch’. Her case was similar to many other witch trials in that she was accused of cursing animals and people which resulted in their deaths. Although she was accused of having the devil as her master, there were no suggestions in the proceedings that she ever met him. – Katherine Craigie was sentenced to death on 12th July 1643 “for airt and pairt of the using and practeising of the witchcraftis, sorceries, divinatiounes and superstitiounes…”. She was then taken by the lockman “hir handis behind hir back, and caryit to the place of execution and thair wirreit at a staik and burnt in ashes”.

A ship was wrecked close to Saviskaill in 1783. Subsequent occurrences on the island must have aroused suspicions in official quarters because a man with seafaring experience was sent from Stromness to Rousay to make enquiries and to report. He found the stranded vessel to be one of 33 tons, which had been carrying a cargo of brandy, gin, and tea. All the cargo had been removed from the vessel before his arrival but he saw about 50 casks, which were still on the scene. Some were offered to him for sale but he declined to buy. In the house of Alexander Marwick of Saviskaill the investigator saw two books lying on a window ledge. Both books were soaking wet from seawater and he suspected they had come from the stricken ship. Not so, replied Marwick. Both books were his and had got wet when they fell into a tub of water. Marwick did admit having some casks of spirits and the captain’s chest in which he found six ruffled shirts, a half guinea in gold, a pair of silver buckles and a silver watch. Taking possession of these items from the ship must have troubled him less than having the water-soaked books.

Nigh on a hundred people were busy breaking up the ship, and among them were Alexander Marwick, his son William and his cousin David. The investigator warned them that they would be called to account for their actions but he was told that the wreck was God’s send and that coming between them and such divine providence was no business of his. He considered it prudent, ‘being a stranger in the place,’ to say no more. Several people told the investigator that Alexander Marwick was the first to discover the wreck and that one member of the crew, although found floating in the water, had still been breathing. ‘For the sake of the wreck,’ it was alleged Marwick gave the man no assistance and allowed him to die.

Another inhabitant of Saviskaill was John Inkster. Originally from nearby Innister, he was married to Barbara Marwick and they had seven children, born at Saviskaill between 1794 and 1810; Margaret was born in 1794/5, James in 1796, William on January 24th 1799, Robert on December 7th 1801, Janet, on July 19th 1803, Hugh on October 20th 1807, and another Janet, who was born on November 13th 1810.

The rocky shore of Saviskaill Bay claimed another victim in late October, 1811. The German registered barque Juliana Catharina, Capt. Wallis, carrying flax and hemp, came to grief with the loss of eight of her crew.

James Inkster born in 1796 was the tenant of Saviskaill according to the census of 1841. He married Barbara Mainland, daughter of David Mainland and Margaret Sinclair of Tratland, who was born on December 27th 1799, and they had four children. The three eldest were born when they lived at Lerquoy in Wasbister; John was born on November 8th 1821, James on February 4th 1827, and Margaret on April 3rd 1831. David was born on September 21st 1823 after they moved to Saviskaill.

By 1851, a 23-year-old farmer named Samuel Seatter from Evie was head of the household at Saviskaill. 56-year-old John Flett was farm overseer, and they employed four farm servants – David Inkster, William McKinlay, John Craigie and Margaret Craigie. Margaret Baikie was the housekeeper, and Janet Craigie was a servant in the house.

In 1861, 34-year-old William Seatter was farming the 236 acres at Saviskaill. His wife Jane was 28 years old and they had a one-year-old son, Frederick. They employed four domestic servants; Margaret Baikie (77), Margaret Flett (26), Margaret Cerston (18) and Janet Kirkness (12). John Flett, was a 67-year-old farm servant, and there were also three ploughmen; Hugh Inkster, Malcolm Leonard, and John Yorston, all in their early 20’s.

By 1891 William had died and the land at Saviskaill was farmed by his widow Jane and her 18-year-old daughter Emily. They employed three servants; Jessie Taylor (27), Alexina Sinclair (19), and Samuel Marwick (18). They also had two boarders staying with them who existed upon private means, Robert G. Gordon, and William Wotherspoon.

At the turn of the century Saviskaill was occupied by 26-year-old Walter Muir, who was born at Lady, Sanday. With him was his sister Isabella and four farm servants: Jane Muir, a 30-year-old dairymaid; Robert (25), and Thomas Muir (22), who were horsemen; and John Grieve, who was a seventeen-year-old cattleman.

The 1911 census was carried out on April 5th, and it tells us that Walter was married and had a family, and that they had moved from Saviskaill to nearby Breckan. He and his wife Bella had been married for eight years and by that time had raised five young children. Walter’s sister Isabella lived with them, and was employed as a domestic servant.

Meanwhile, Saviskaill was occupied by the Moar family. William Moar was a sixty-year-old farmer from Birsay, and his wife was 55-year-old Jane from Rendall. With them were their children: David, a 27-year-old ploughman (foreman), Mary, a 20-year-old lass who assisted on the farm (dairy), and her 16-year-old sister Maggie who also assisted on the farm in a domestic capacity. Another sister, Lizzie (12), was at school, and with them was William Velzian, who was a 24-year-old servant and employed as a ploughman carter and general worker.

A much later occupant of Saviskall was Hugh Grieve. I came across him as he was repairing a stone dyke near Grithen in 1975. Hugh was originally from Fa’doon, but moved to Saviskaill after marrying Janet Mainland of Hurtiso.

The last of my photos shows Hugh’s son Colin in 1999, beaching his boat at Saviskaill after another successful day at the fishing.

The photo below is courtesy of Athol Grieve, and shows his uncle Colin doing what he liked best – fishing for lobsters in Saviskaill Bay…..

…..and below is a photo of a very young Athol, pictured at Saviskaill with his ‘first set o’ wheels’!

Finally, below is a fine family photograph taken at Saviskail, kindly supplied by James Grieve. His caption runs as follows:

‘This photo was taken at Saviskaill circa 1996. From left to right: Myself (cough, cough…), Linda Grieve (granny), Kirsty Grieve (sister). Back: Ellen Grieve (mum), Hugh Grieve (great grandad – photographed above building the dyke near Grithin), Athol Grieve (dad), and Colin Grieve (great uncle – photographed above landing creels)’.