Author: Max Fletcher

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)’.

Sketquoy used to be the most outlying farm on the north side of Wasbister. Years ago it incorporated the old farms of Stennisgorn and Grudwick. Pronounced sket-wi, or more formally sket-kwai, it appears in a Brough charter of 1608 as Skataquoy, and in another 17th century charter as Skitquoy – but on the Ordnance Survey map of today it is spelt Skatequoy.

James Craigie was tenant in 1737 and Hugh Gibson in 1799. The latter was married to Janet Inkster and between 1794 and 1812 they had seven children. The second oldest of these was Hugh, born in 1795. He was 30 years old when he married Janet Craigie, daughter of Hugh and Janet Craigie of Skaill, Westside, who was born on May 1st 1797 at Saviskaill. The wedding was at nearby Cogar in 1825, and they had seven children between 1826 and 1843. Hugh farmed the 30-odd acres for many years, but eventually he died in 1861 at the age of 66, and his wife Janet died in 1863, also at the age of 66.

In 1863 son John was tenant of Sketquoy, paying £26 rent. In 1872 he paid £30, and the size of the farm was then 46.4 acres. John was born on January 21st 1839 and was 28 years old when he married 19-year-old Margaret Louttit, the daughter of William Louttit and Christina Cormack of Faraclett. Between 1869 and 1884 they had eight children. In 1888 the rent was £24, having been fixed by the Crofters Commission. John gave up Sketquoy and took on Hurtiso and the Mill of Sourin, and they later moved again, to Faraclett.

Above left: Sketquoy in winter – a snow-capped Fitty Hill on Westray across
the firth. To the right is a view from the cliffs behind Sketquoy – from
Sacquoy Head to the Lobust, with Costa Head on Mainland
and the Brough of Birsay in the distance.

Hugh and Isabella’s son Robert, born in January 1864, took over the running of the farm at Sketquoy. He married Margaret Flaws, daughter of David Flaws and Margaret Louttit of Hammerfield, and she was born in 1872. They had four children; Robert, born in 1891; George, in 1893; Annabella, in 1906; and Hugh, who was born in 1903.

Grithin is the name of a boulder-strewn bay at the angle of the coast between the cliffs on the north-west of Saviskaill Head, Rousay, and those behind the old houses of Skatequoy, Stennisgorn and Grudwick.

Grudwick was recorded in the 1503 Rental, consisting of a 1d. land. Its name and situation was long forgotten, but from its relative placing in the Rental it must have been near Grithin, and had its name from the bay or ‘wick’ of which the upper end is now Grithin. The Old Norse word grjót-vik means ‘stony-wick’, which refers to the boulders on the beach at Grithin.

At this inlet there is a very steep beach, composed of huge boulders rounded by the action of the pounding waves. Another feature in the dramatic rock formation here is ‘15 Man Cave’ where, in 1825, that number of Rousay men hid from a Press Gang for two weeks.

Grithin, or Quoygruithen, was the name of a house that stood nearby dating back to about the year 1500. Hugh Craigie is on record as its tenant in 1739.

Another Hugh Craigie lived at Lerquoy, Wasbister, and in 1808 he married Sicilia Gibson of Langskaill. They had five children; Mary was born on January 6th 1810; twins William and Barbara were born at Grithin on April 27th 1811; Hugh was also born at Grithin, on May 1st 1813, and Isabel was born on April 20th 1815 at Hillhouse above Claybank.

In the Rousay Birth Register of 1817 the house Greethen is mentioned, and in later years, although with alternative spellings, the same house is recorded; in 1819 and 1822, Grithen; and in 1829, Gruthen.

John Inkster married Betty Marwick of Force, the old name for the Wasbister farm of Furse, on February 4th 1814 and between 1815 and 1842 they had ten children. The first of these, Janet, was born on September 3rd 1815 at Force. The next three children were born at Grithin; Jean, on June 21st 1817, John, on August 8th 1819, and Ann, on July 16th 1822. Then another Ann was born on February 6th 1825 at Tou. David was born on May 20th 1827 at Quoygray. The other four children were born back at Grithin; Bella, on August 8th 1829, James, on December 25th 1831, Robina, on November 7th 1834, and finally Mary, who was born on July 16th 1842.

Grim tales are told of some dark times in Wasbister’s past. This one concerns a shipwreck at the Bay of Grithin many years ago. A man from Westray, who had taken some cattle to the market in Kirkwall, was sailing back home feeling well pleased with the prices he had got for his beasts when a storm arose. It is not known whether the boat was lost and he managed to scramble ashore to die shortly afterwards, or whether he was drowned and was later washed ashore. Near the Bay of Grithin are two stones, which are said to mark the head and foot of the Westray man’s grave. At the nearby house of Grithin there lived a man who never had two pennies to rub together. It is said he was never short of money after the unfortunate Westray man came ashore, almost on to his doorstep.

As no evidence of Grithin, Stennisgorn or Grudwick remains I have attached some photos of the Bay of Grithin, and its surrounding coastal features.

Quoys was a farm in Wasbister, the buildings of which now stand as ruins on the west bank of the Burn of Quoys and situated between the lands of Quoyostray and Cogar.

In 1841, the land was farmed by 35-year-old William Gibson and he was paying £10 a year rent. He lived there with his wife Janet Craigie, daughter of Hugh and Isabel Craigie of Brough, Westside, who was born on July 20th 1808. Living under the same roof was Ellen Craigie, a servant, and 13-year-old Hugh Marwick who was an agricultural labourer. Lerquoy was added in 1847, as was Deithe in 1849 [or Quoydeithe as it was known in those days, and sited some 250 yards east of the smiddy above Quoyostray], and at that time William paid £15 14s. 7d. rent.

In 1851, William and Janet had three servants; John Clouston, a 19-year-old, working on the farm; 22-year-old Jane Craigie, who worked in the house; and 13-year-old Betsy Clouston, a cowherd.

Another tenant at this time was widowed farmer William Marwick, who lived there with his 20-year-old son David, a shoemaker.

By 1861, the previously mentioned Hugh Marwick was joint tenant of Quoys with William Gibson. At this time he was a 33-year-old fisherman. On December 1st 1858, he married Mary Inkster, the daughter of James Inkster and Janet Craigie of Innister, born on December 5th 1834. While living at Quoys they had four children between 1859 and 1866.

They then moved to Whitemeadows, a small croft high up on the west side of Kierfea Hill, and between June 1869 and October 1880, Mary gave birth to another six children there. James Mowat was born on June 3rd 1869, William on July 10th 1871, Thomas on June 23rd 1873, John on November 26th 1875, Alexander on December 10th 1878 and Magnus, who was born on October 14th 1880.

Both Hugh and his wife Mary died in 1882, within a month of each other. He was aged 54 and she was 46. Seven of the ten children were younger than 18 when they were orphaned. The following is the inscription on their gravestone in the Wester kirkyard:-

Erected by their family in loving memory of
Hugh Marwick, who died 22nd March 1882, aged 53 years,
and Mary Inkster his wife, who died 17th April 1882, aged 46 years.
“Weep not for us our children dear:
because we died and left you here:
Our heavenly Father thought it best:
to call us home and give us rest.”

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In 1871 James Kirkness and his wife Margaret Inkster lived at Quoys. He was the son of James Kirkness and Grace Craigie of Quoyostray and later Grain, and he was born on March 28th 1843. In 1864 he married Margaret, daughter of James Inkster and his third wife Elizabeth Mowat, and she was born on November 17th 1844. They had four children; Janet, James, William, and David, born between 1865 and 1878.

In 1873, William Gibson, who still owned the 58.8 acres of land at Quoys, paid an annual rent of £20.

The 1891 census of Rousay was carried out on April 5th, and at this time head of the household at Quoys was 23-year-old John Gibson, son of Alexander Gibson and Margaret Learmonth of Vacquoy. It was Alexander who designed and built the Wasbister school, which opened in 1881. He passed away in 1887, and it was then his wife, son john and three of his five daughters moved to Quoys.

The next occupants of Quoys were the Marwick family. David Marwick, son of Robert Marwick and Bell Mainland, his wife Ann Leonard, daughter of George Leonard and Margaret Clouston, and their seven children moved there from Essaquoy, Sourin. Robert was the oldest, born in February 1877; George was born in January 1880; Bella in January 1882; Mary Ann in September 1886; David Baike, was born in November 1890; William Leslie, in May 1895; and John Houston, who was born in April 1897.

Robert Marwick, born in 1877, married Jessie Dearness and had five children; David, Jessie Ann, Christina, Annie, and Ruby. His brother George was unmarried, and the youngest brother, John, was killed in action during WWI. Private 138391 John Houston Marwick served with the 58th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), and fell on September 18th 1918 during the Battle of Épehy, fought between the British Fourth Army and enemy outpost positions in front of the Hindenburg Line, Germany’s last line of defence on the Western Front during World War I. John Houston Marwick is commemorated on Panel 10, Vis-en-Artois Memorial, between the communes of Vis-en-Artois and Haucourt in the département of Pas-de-Calais, France.

The three Marwick brothers mentioned above: Robert [left], George, and John [right]

These photos are from the Tommy Gibson collection

Cogar, in the above photo, is the central modern building with its associated older outhouses, and is surrounded by the old Wasbister school to its left, the farm buildings of Quoys below, and Ivybank to the right.

In an Early Rental printed in 1503 Cogar was known as Calgir. It was occupied in 1733 by William Craigie, in 1740 by Gilbert Craigie, and 1799 by George Marwick.

William Inkster was born in 1799. In 1827 he married Rebekah Marwick of Negar, near Falquoy, and they had two children, William and Margaret. In 1851 they lived at Cogar, 19-year-old William helping his father on the farm and 17-year-old Margaret helping her mother in the home. By this time they had another son, 11-year-old John, who attended classes at the nearby school.

An inscription on a tombstone in the Wester kirkyard records the passing of the three young members of the Inkster family. It reads as follows:-

Erected in loving memory of John Inkster, Cogar, born 11th
May 1863, died 20th September 1864. Robert G. Inkster
born 3rd April 1869, died 6th September 1878. Alexander
M. Inkster born 8th October 1873, died 5th August 1878,
beloved children of William and Mary Inkster.
“Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not,
for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

==========

William Inkster, now a 61-year-old retired farmer, still lived at Cogar with his wife Rebekah. The third family was headed by William Craigie, a 40-year-old general merchant. He married William and Rebekah’s 20-year-old daughter Margaret in 1853, and between 1854 and 1875 they were to have seven children. William Craigie was a fisherman, working for the Hudson Bay Company in his younger days, and with his savings he set up a shop a Cogar.

In 1873 the extent of the land at Cogar was 43.9 acres, for which farmer William Inkster paid an annual rent of £16. When the census of 1891 was carried out he and his wife Mary were still living at Cogar, as was their son David, now a 29-year-old fisherman, with his wife Isabella Sinclair and children Annabella, William and Lydia. Oldest son William, now 31 years of age, had married Jean Learmonth of Innister, and they had three daughters, Lilla, Annie and Ruby. He married a second time, to Sarah Folsetter of Dale, Evie. William, who was Fire Master in Aberdeen, was known as ‘Fiery Bill.’

A number of years ago Robert C. Marwick heard a news item on the radio to the effect that the government was scrapping the requirement for people who brewed ale at home to have a licence to do so. It was stated that in the previous 12 months only 495 licences had been issued in Scotland, 492 of them in Orkney. He did not know whether this surprising statistic indicated that Orcadians had a greater fondness for home brewed ale than people elsewhere, but he did not know a single Rousay person, let alone 492 in Orkney as a whole, who would have let the need for a licence stand between him and the brewing of a kirn of ale.

Quite a lot of brewing went on in Rousay when he was a boy, and he once heard a Wester worthy remarking after a drink of ale, ‘Man, that stuff’s both meat and drink.’ His mother brewed once a year, in time for the peat cutting. It must have been thirsty work for several dozen bottles, carefully packed in a bushel measure, were taken to the hill on peat-cutting day. Bobby of Cogar was said to brew a very potent ale. It was claimed to give those who drank it what in modern jargon is called a ‘high,’  but they invariably discovered later that Bobby’s brew also produced a ‘low’ in the form of its highly unpleasant purgative effects!

Upper Cogar was where 40-year-old farmer William Inkster and his family lived in 1841. In 1827 William married Rebecca Marwick, daughter of William and Elizabeth Marwick of ‘Heatherhall, Wasbyster,’ and later at nearby Negar, and she was born in 1797. They had four children; John, born on October 26th 1828, William on August 14th 1831, Margaret on June 5th 1833, and another John on September 11th 1840.

The youngest John married Janet Craigie, daughter of Alexander Craigie and Ann Murray of Falquoy, who was born on October 7th 1838. They had one child, a daughter Margaret, born on January 26th 1866. She later married Hugh Craigie of Turbitail, and was known by one and all as ‘Maggie o’ Deithe,’ having moved to the croft of that name further up the hill.

John’s second marriage was to Betsy Marwick, the widow of John Marwick of Essaquoy. When the census of 1881 was carried out they were living at Upper Cogar. John was a 40-year-old fisherman, Betsy was 35 years of age, and by that time they had three children; Elizabeth, born in 1873, John, born in 1875, and James, who was born in 1877.

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‘Fiery Bill’ Inkster, with daughter Lilla and her husband George Sinclair. On the right are George’s parents, Robert and Maggie Sinclair. Sketquoy.

Taken at Cogar on July 21^st 1931, the photo above shows, from left to right:
‘Fiery Bill’ Inkster, Cogar; Annie Craigie, Ivybank; Maggie Craigie, Deithe; Margaret & Robert Sinclair, Sketquoy; Hugh Sinclair, Bellona; Mary Ann Inkster,
Cogar. In front: Sarah Sinclair, Bellona; woman & two children unknown.

Black & white photos, unless otherwise stated, are courtesy of the Tommy Gibson Collection

The earliest mention of Feolquoy is in an old account book of David Traill dated 1581, when the occupants were Thomas, Magnus and James Low. Henry Craigie lived there in 1740 when it was spelled Philquoy, followed by John Marwick, and in 1793 William Wishart was resident, according to the old parish records.

In 1841 it was home to 60-year-old farmer George Marwick and his family, and he paid rent in kind. In 1843 George paid £3 13s 4d, together with a half share of the farm of Neager as well as Feolquoy. In 1844 George was classed as a ‘life-renter’ and he paid £418s 4d with Seaterquoy and Loweshouse added. According to Hugh Marwick in his book Place Names of Rousay both the latter properties were so named probably from a family of that name, Lowes being on record as living in Wester in the 17th century.

George’s parents were Hugh and Margaret Marwick and he was born in 1782. He married 34-year-old Marian Hourston of Sound, Egilsay, in 1813 and they had three children; Katherine, born on April 5th 1814; Hugh, born on January 13th 1816; and Margaret, born in 1818, but she died in 1831.

Katherine Marwick married David Gibson of Skatequoy and between 1838 and 1853 they raised a family of six children at Feolquoy. Hugh was a fisherman, as was his brother-in-law David. He married Margaret Craigie of Hullion in 1847 and had a son, Robert, born in 1848. Hugh died the following year on January 9th, aged 33 years.

In the 1851 census Feolquoy is spelt Fialtquoy. Farmer George and his son-in-law were working on the land and Marian and daughter Katherine worked in the home, surrounded by five youngsters. Marian was 77 years of age when she died on December 15th 1856 and husband George was the same age when he died on February 1st 1859.

The inscription on George’s gravestone states that he was an heir to the estates of Saviskaill. Records show that there were Marwicks in Saviskaill in the 1700s.

Feolquoy’s 53 acres were in the hands of the Craigies by 1861. Alexander Craigie was the son of Drummond Craigie and Barbara Murray of Whome, on the Westside. He was born at Kettlewhoam on April 25th 1808 and married Ann Murray of Tofts in Quandale, whose parents were Magnus Murray and Janet Robertson.

Alexander and Ann had seven children between 1837 and 1856, the first four being born at Whome and the others at Loweshouse. Mary was born on July 17th 1837. She married Paterson Craigie of Claybank and later Viera Lodge in 1858; Janet was born on October 7th 1838 and she married John Inkster of Upper Cogar; John, who was born on April 27th 1842, was a tailor but was paralysed in the legs; Margaret, born on January 21st 1847, is thought to have died young; James was born on July 11th 1850, and he married Janet Sinclair of Stennisgorn; Alexander Gibson, born February 12th 1853, married Jane Elizabeth Gillespie at Thurso; and Magnus, who was born on April 24th 1856, married Ellen Cooper at Holm in 1879.

In 1873 Alexander Craigie was paying an annual rent of £30 for the 69.3 acres he was farming at Feolquoy. In 1875, with the cots of Cairn, Lingro, Ploverhall, Shalter, and the Garret added, and the grazing north of Erne Tuick, Alexander paid £70 rent, and in 1879, with Claybank added, the rent was £86.

By 1891 Alexander was 82 years old and had retired. His son James had taken over as head of the household, living there with his wife Janet Sinclair. They were married on April 15th 1870, and between 1872 and 1891 they had seven children; Annabella was born on June 7th 1872 at Feolquoy (she was to marry James Clouston of Tou, and have two children, James and Clara); John, born on March 30th 1875 at the Old School in Wester (he married Ann Russell of Brendale in 1902, and they had eight children, including Johnny, Cissie, Alice and Sally. John farmed the Glebe before moving to Furse); Jessie Alexina, born on April 25th 1879 at the Old School (she married John Craigie of Cruar. She was aged 101 years of age when she died); Clara, born on August 30th 1881 at the Old School (she married Hugh Pearson of Kirkgate and went to live in Canada); James, born on April 13th 1884 at the Old School (he married Maggie Ann Lyon of Ervadale and had three children, James, George and Sinclair); Sarah, born on April 30th 1886 (she married William Costie, a postman in Kirkwall, in 1914. They ran the tennis courts and billiards room in Main Street for many years); and finally Alice, who was born on December 10th 1891 at Feolquoy (she married Hugh Mainland of Weyland, later Hurtiso, in 1912. They had seven children).

[All black and white pictures courtesy of Tommy Gibson]

Picton was the name of a dwelling on the hill above Feolquoy in Wasbister.

Picton was was occupied briefly in the mid-1800’s by James Gibson. He was the son of Hugh Gibson and Janet Inkster of Skatequoy and he was born on February 16th 1803. His wife Mary earned a living as a dressmaker, and the annual rent they had to pay was one shilling.

Another tenant at Picton in 1861 was 55-year-old Betsy Craigie, who was a stocking knitter, previously living at Loweshouse. The census of 1871 tells us Betsy had moved down to Maybank, near the schoolhouse, and she was the Wasbister letter carrier, affectionately known as ‘Post Betty’.

Lingro was the name of an old house, later incorporated with the farm of Feolquoy in Wasbister. Early occupants were George and Alex Costay between 1801 and 1810, and William Harcus in 1817. William Craigie and his wife Janet Marwick lived at Lingro too, their only child, a daughter christened Janet Marwick, was born there on March 24th 1819.

In 1841 it was where farmer George Inkster lived with his family, paying £1 rent. George was the son of Thomas Inkster and Christy Marwick of Deithe and he was born in 1781. In 1814 at Cogar he married Jean Marwick, the daughter of John and Jean Marwick and they had six children; Hugh, born on January 6th 1815; Mary on March 18th 1816; Margaret on August 4th 1818; George on July 7th 1820; Janet on May 10th 1823; and John, who was born on February 11th 1827. Jean died at Lingro in 1857 aged 70, and George also died there, in 1867 at the age of 86.

The census of 1871 tells us that Lingro was occupied by stonemason and farmer Magnus Alexander, and he was paying £4 rent. He was the son of James Alexander and Barbara Marwick of Breckan, and he was born on May 9th 1819 at the old house of Cutclaws on the Westside. [His younger brother William was lost over the cliffs there.] In 1844 he married 26-year-old Margaret Inkster, daughter of the above mentioned George Inkster and Jean Marwick, who was then living at Deithe, and they had six children; Mary, born in 1845; David in 1847; Jane in 1849; James in 1854; Margaret in 1857; and Hannah, who was born in 1860.

By 1881 Magnus Alexander and his family had moved to nearby Cairn and 28-year-old Alexander Gibson Craigie and his family lived at Lingro. He was the son of Alexander Craigie and Ann Murray who lived nearby at Feolquoy. In 1879 he married Jane Elizabeth Gillespie, and between 1880 and 1897 they had seven daughters; Daisy, Annabella, Edith Mary, Beatrice Laing, Emily Seatter, Ivy Cooper, and Hilda Keith Spark.

The photo above shows what is left of what is known as the ‘Knowe of Lingro’, an Orkney-Cromarty stalled cairn, lying on the hillside in a sloping field.

It was visited by renowned archaeologist Vere Gordon Childe in 1941 and later in 1963 by A S Henshall. [Audrey Henshall studied chambered cairns and their contents throughout her professional life with the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.] These are her findings regarding the Knowe o’ Lingro:-

The turf-covered mound is rectangular in plan with rounded corners, measuring 70 ft E-W and 40 ft N-S, and about 5 ft high. It has a well-defined edge, but this is greater in extent than the construction it covers, for what appears to be a short length of the wall facing of the cairn is exposed 5 ft within the edge on the S side.

The top of the mound has been removed and a number of upright slabs are just exposed in the centre. These slabs are aligned at right angles to the main axis and are evidently the divisional slabs of a stalled chamber. Five stones can be seen on the N side of the chamber and three on the S side. The paved stones are set 3 ft apart and the compartments seem to be about 5 ft long. A short length of the N wall-face of the chamber can be seen in the centre of the N side. Neither end of the chamber is exposed and it is presumably considerably longer than the 22 ft indicated at present.

Ploverhall, or Pliverha’, was an old croft in Wasbister, surrounded by the lands of Giddystall, the Garret, Feolquoy, and Cairn. John Kirkness is on record as living there between 1819 and 1823, and at the time of the 1841 census James Lennard was the occupant.

In 1851, 31-year-old fisherman and agricultural labourer Robert Inkster and his family lived here. Robert was the son of Hugh Inkster and Isabel Craigie of Tou. He was born on August 18th 1818, and he had five brothers and six sisters. In 1849 he married 25-year-old Janet Inkster, daughter of George Inkster and Jean Marwick of Deithe, and they had five children; John, Robert, David, Mary Jane, and Ann, who were born between 1850 and 1860.

In 1873, the extent of the land at Pliverha’ covered 7.2 acres, for which Robert was charged an annual rent of 15 shillings.

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Come the census of 1901, Ploverhall was home to a new family. Forty-four-year-old ploughman Magnus Craigie, his wife and children had moved up the hill from Claybank. Magnus was the son of Alexander Craigie of Whoam, later Falquoy, and Ann Murray, Tofts, Quandal, and he was born on April 24th 1856. In 1879 he married Ellen Cooper of Holm and between 1880 and 1898 they raised a family of thirteen children – five boys and eight girls.

[The above photo is from the Tommy Gibson Collection]

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The Garret was a cottage between those of Ploverhall and Shalter in Wasbister. In 1841 it was occupied by Isabella Inkster, and between 1864 and 1870 John Mowat, originally paying ten shillings rent, but later rising to £1. In 1871, 44-year-old widowed stocking-knitter Margaret Mowat lived there. The extent of the land at the Garret was 5.9 acres, for which Margaret continued to pay an annual rent of £1.

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Margaret was the daughter of Hugh Marwick of Furse and Katherine Craigie of Claybank, and she was born on December 23rd 1826. She married John Mowat of Garret and they had a son, John, and a daughter, Mary.

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Margaret died at Garret in 1920 at the age of 94, and her unmarried daughter Mary died there in 1937, the house remaining empty ever since.

The following is the inscription on Margaret’s tombstone in the Wasbister kirkyard:-

In loving memory of our dear mother
Margaret Mowat who died at Garret
5th May 1920 aged 94 years.
“Peaceful be thy rest dear mother:
’Tis sweet to breathe thy name:
In life we loved you very dear:
In death we do the same.”

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The Garret, in silhouette against a sparkling Rousay sky

Old map section showing the Garret’s location