The ruins of Shalter, a small croft high up on the hillside in Wasbister, bordering on the lands of Cairn and The Garret.
George Craigie and wife Mary Ann Craigie, daughter of James Craigie and Bella Marwick, lived there in the early 1800’s. They had a son John, who was born in 1833. In 1858 he married 23-year-old Betsy Louttit, daughter of Alexander Louttit and Janet Craigie of Lower Blackhammer. They had two sons, John, born on March 4th 1859, and William on November 23rd 1869.
In 1878, young John married 20-year-old Betsy Leonard, daughter of George Leonard and Margaret Clouston of Treblo in Sourin. George was brought up at Grain and later lived at nearby Stourameadow. Having been evicted from there when Quandale was cleared in the mid 1800s he went to live at Treblo.
Between 1879 and 1900 John and Betsy had ten children. The youngest, Margaret, was born at Treblo; Betsy and William were born at Westness; Mary, Isabella, John, and Emily were born at Shalter; and George, Hugh, and Annie were all born at Treblo. Their father John was the miller at the Sourin Mill for many years. In the early 1930’s he ran the Queen’s Hotel in Kirkwall with Isabella and Annie.
A later occupant of Shalter was Magnus Craigie. He was born on August 4th 1881, the third eldest of thirteen children born to Magnus Craigie and Ellen Cooper of Fealquoy and later Pliverha’. He was unmarried and lived at Shalter, and shared his father’s love of music, Magnus the elder being a renowned fiddler. Magnus junior was fond of dancing and attended dances even in his later years. He was an accomplished dancer, though his usual footwear consisted of a pair of hefty hobnail boots. Mansie confided in a friend of waking one morning after a dance at which, he admitted, he’d had a wee drop too much to drink. He was unable to recall any of the previous evening’s events, and making use of the royal ‘we’, which he frequently adopted, he added, “but when we woke up and saw we still had wir boots on, we kent we’d had a good night!”
The spelling of many of the old crofts and houses on Rousay vary over the years – Everibust and Geddystall being no exception…..Everybust, Overbister, Everibist, Everybist – Geedista, Giddystaw, Geddystall. The map section above shows the location of the two houses, high on the hill above Wasbister.
Everibust was a small hill-croft situated far up the hillside above Wasbister, between Upper Kirkgate [Helliatrow] and Geddystall. Its first recorded tenant was John Linkletter in 1739, and later his son, also named John was head of the household in 1758. In 1851 seventy-year-old agricultural labourer John Craigie was the tenant, having moved from Geddystall, and he paid 5s. rent. He lived there with his wife Betsy Gorie, daughter of David Gorie and Mary Foulis of Kirkwall. Between 1823 and 1834 they had five children, Mary Foulis, Bethinia, Elizabeth, Margaret, and David Gorie.
John died in the 1850’s, and three of the children died within three years of each other. Elizabeth died at Everibust in 1865 at the age of 37; Margaret died at Scockness in 1866 when she was 35 years old; and David Gorie was 33 years old when he died at Sound, Egilsay in 1867.
The fine view looking down from Everibust, across the Loch of Wasbister, Saviskaill Head, and over the firth to Westray
In 1871 widow Betsy Craigie was in her 80th year, and in the census of that year she was described as a stocking knitter. Her unmarried daughter Mary, who earned a living as an agricultural labourer, still lived with her mother at Everibust. The extent of the land there covered 10 acres, for which John Craigie of Geddystall paid the rent – while Mary Craigie paid an annual rent of 10 shillings to occupy the house.
In the early 1900s, Everibust was occupied by crofter fisherman Alexander Gibson Craigie and his wife Jane. He was the son of Alexander Craigie, originally of Whoam, later Falquoy, and Ann Murray of Tofts, Quandale. Born at Loweshouse in February 1853 Alexander married Jane Elizabeth Gillespie at Thurso in 1879. They had seven children, the first six of which were born at Lingro; Daisy, born in June 1880, but died at an early age; Annabella was born in May 1882; Edith Mary, in April 1885; Beatrice Laing in May 1887; Emily Seatter was born in February 1891; and Ivy Cooper, who was born there in March 1892. Having moved up the hill to Everibust, Alexander and Jane’s seventh child was born there in January 1897, and christened Hilda Keith Spark.
Cubbidy – from where its occupants had a commanding view over Wasbister
Cubbidy, variously spelled as Cupidee, Coubeday and Cubadale, was a small croft high up on the hillside above Blackhammer in Wasbister.
Between 1841 and 1843 James Alexander and his family lived there, the annual rent at that time being 5 shillings. In 1851 his widow Barbara farmed the two acres, and her 25-year-old daughter Betsy earned a living as a dressmaker. Barbara, the daughter of Magnus Marwick and Christy Craigie, married James Alexander of Breckan in 1810 and they lived at Cutclaws near Scabra Head.
Not so much a standing stone at Cubbidy – more likely a ‘scratching stone’ for kye
They had eight children; Janet was born on October 11th 1811; Margaret, on May 2nd 1813; twins Mary and James, who were born on February 24th 1815; Magnus, born on May 9th 1819; David, on July 14th 1821; Betsy, born on May 1st 1824; and William, who was born on April 22nd 1827, but was later ‘lost over the cliffs.’ Daughter Betsy married Hugh Mowat, but by 1871 she was a widow, still living at Cupidee, but now with her children James, 8, and Mary, 7, both scholars. Her mother Barbara died there in 1872 at the age of 90. In 1873 the extent of the land covered 10.5 acres, for which Betsy paid an annual rent of £1.
Section of an old map showing the location of Cubbidy
Claybank was the name of a house built on the west bank the burn of Vacquoy in Wasbister. The original building was built in 1633 and the first recorded tenant was James Brand in 1733, followed by Gilbert Brand in 1739.
The ruin of Claybank, just up the burn from Vacquoy
In 1841 it was occupied by 50-year-old farmer James Craigie and his family. James was the son of William Craigie and Christian Harrold of Commode, or Cot Mowat, near Avalshay. He married Betty Marwick and they lived at Milnhouse, Sourin. They had seven children; Margaret, born on November 1st 1815 at Milnhouse, John and William, born in 1817 and 1820 at Geordroine, Sourin, James, born in 1822 at Quoyferras, Hugh and Mary, born in 1825 and 1828 at Guidal, and Paterson, born on January 19th 1832 at Claybank.
James then married Jean Craigie, and they had two children, Robert and David, born at Claybank in 1835 and 1839.
All that remains of Claybank today
In 1861 James was farming 19 acres of land at Claybank with the assistance of his unmarried 37-year-old son James who worked as a ploughman.
Also living at Claybank was his youngest son Paterson, who at that time was a 29-year-old blacksmith. In 1858 he married Mary Craigie, the daughter of Alexander Craigie and Ann Murray, who was born on July 16th 1837 when they were living at Whoam. They had four children; James, born on February 12th 1860 but died in infancy, James Paterson, born on February 16th 1862, Robert, born on March 26th 1866, and Ann Elizabeth, born on January 5th 1879.
James Craigie died at Claybank in 1864 at the age of 75. His son James took over the 40-acre farm having married Isabella Kirkness in 1868. She was the daughter of James Kirkness and Grace Craigie of Quoyostray, who was born in 1846. They had four children; Isabella, Mary, James, and John, born between 1869 and 1876. In 1873 the extent of Claybank had increased to 56.2 acres, for which James paid an annual rent of £19, but it was about this time that the family moved to Brough at Frotoft.
Old map section showing the location of Claybank
Paterson Craigie was living at Claybank in 1881. He was the Wester blacksmith, and his wife Mary was busy looking after young Ann Elizabeth.
It was at this time Mary’s younger brother Magnus and his family moved to Claybank. Magnus married Ellen Cooper at Holm in 1879. She was the daughter of David Cooper and Douglas Craigie, who was born on February 7th 1859 in Egilsay. When the census was carried out in 1881, they had two children, one-year-old Alexander and Maggie Ann, who was then just nine months old. Between August of that year and 1898 they had a further eleven children, four boys and seven daughters. Mansie Craigie was employed as a farm servant, but in his spare time he enjoyed his music – he was a renowned fiddler.
Maggie o’ Deithe standing at the door of the old croft c1900
Quoydeith was an old croft in Wasbister, about 250 yards east of the old smiddy above Quoygray. Known as Quoydie in the Uthell Buik of 1601, and Quoydeith in a record dated 1721, it was variously occupied by the likes of Andro Smyt, John Alo, Rolland Corss, and in 1706 by Hugh Cooper. According to Hugh Marwick in his book The Place Names of Rousay the origin of the name is uncertain but perhaps derives from the Old Norse word spelt dý, a boggy place.
Thomas Inkster and his wife Christy Marwick were later tenants of Quoydeith and George, their only child, was born there in 1781. He married Jean Marwick, daughter of John and Jean Marwick, at Cogar in 1814 and they had six children, all born at Quoydeith; Hugh, who was 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 there on February 11th 1827. In 1843 George Inkster was paying an annual rent of £4.10.0.
In 1844 George and Jean’s daughter Margaret married Magnus Alexander of Cairn and between 1845 and 1860 they had six children. In 1849 Margaret’s sister Janet married Robert Inkster of Tou, later Pliverha’, and they had five children. George and Jean Inkster moved to Lingro near Falquoy, and it was there that Jean died in 1857 at the age of 70. Husband George died there ten years later in his 86th year.
Deithe – in the good hands of the Craigie family for many a year.
In 1847 Hugh Craigie was the tenant of Quoydeith and he was paying rent of £3.0.0 per annum. Hugh was the son of Hugh Craigie and Janet Marwick of Brough, Westside, and he was born in 1778. In 1803 he married 22-year-old Isabel Craigie, and between 1804 and 1828 they had ten children; Hugh was born on September 11th 1804; Janet on May 14th 1807; another Janet was born on July 20th 1808; Henry was born on January 30th 1811; Mary on April 14th 1813 (she died in 1858 at Deith, unmarried); and William who was born on September 7th 1815. All these children were born at Brough.
The family then moved from the Westside to Quandale and the next child, Betty, was born at Nether Quandale on November 19th 1817; the other three children were born at Mid Quandale; Grace, on April 20th 1820; Peter, on June 15th 1823; and finally John, who was born on March 11th 1828.
The census of 1851 described Hugh Craigie as a 73-year-old farmer and his wife Isabel was in her 70th year. Living with them was their 37-year-old unmarried daughter Mary who was ‘employed at home’, and 23 year-old son John, an agricultural labourer.
Isabel had died by 1861, the census of that year describing 83-year-old Hugh as a widower farming seven acres at Qouydeith. In 1856 his son John, a ploughman, married Margaret McKinlay, daughter of William McKinlay and Mary Craigie originally of Curkland, Egilsay, and she was born on October 22nd 1825 when they lived at Fa’doon on the south-eastern slope of Kierfea Hill. In 1864 Quoydeith was pulled down on the orders of the laird, and a new house, named Deithe, was built, higher up the hill, halfway between the present day Breahead and Blackhammer.
John Craigie, who then earned his living as a mason, was its first tenant, paying at that time rent of 17s.6d. In 1873 the extent of the land at Deith covered 13 acres, for which John paid an annual rent of £1 15s, and in 1880 £3.0.0. Like many other Rousay crofters John had his rent reduced in 1888 by the Crofters Commission. His reverted to the sum of £1.15.0.
Still living at Deithe in 1891, John was then described as a 63-year-old crofter and fisherman and wife Margaret was in her 65th year.
Hugh and Maggie o’ Deithe
Hugh Craigie was the son of Hugh Craigie and Ann Gibson of Turbitail and he was born on August 30th 1866. Hugh later married Margaret Inkster of Upper Cogar, who was the same age as him. After John Craigie passed away Hugh and Maggie moved into Deithe, where they raised a family of five children; Maggie Jessie, born on 5 February 1889; Mary Jane, on November 11th 1890; James Campbell Bruce, on October 2nd 1895; Hugh Gibson, on December 19th 1899; and Barbara, who was born on March 2nd 1893.
Craigie family portrait: (Front row) Maggie, young Hugh, and father Hugh. (Back row) Barbara, James, and Mary Jane (Neenie).
1905 – the half-year rent for Deithe
Hugh had a joiner’s business at Deithe. He was a highly skilled craftsman by all accounts, whose work can still be seen in many houses in the island. The tools of his trade, pictured below, still exist. Hugh Craigie died at Kirkwall on November 11th 1933 at the age of 67 and his wife Maggie passed away in her 81st year, on November 19th 1947.
A collection of Hugh’s woodworking tools, found in the old byre here at Deithe. Some of these have been passed on to his great-grandson in Canada who is also a fine craftsman in wood.
Maggie Jessie married Hugh Inkster of Westness and had a son, Hugo, who grew up to be a renowned fiddler, and Mary Jane married Jock Sutherland of Stromness. Hugh Gibson Craigie emigrated to Canada in 1923, living initially in Ontario, then Owlseye Lake, Alberta and finally settling in British Columbia.
In 1930 James Campbell Bruce Craigie married Maggie Jessie Flaws of Hammerfield, Wester, and they had three children; Neil, Francis, and Thomas.
My portrait of Jim o’ Deithe – taken in July 1974
Jim playing his Stroh fiddle in the early 1970s – an ideal instrument for playing at dances in the days before amplification. The photos were taken by Nigel Firth, Vacquoy, a talented musician in his own right.
James was a postman, firstly in Rousay and later in Sandwick where he lived at Ravenswood, Quoyloo. He is best-known for his fiddle music, having composed many, many tunes over the years. Tunes with a Rousay flavour such as Maggie Watson’s Farewell to Blackhammer, Netherbow, The Road the Hammer-Chunky, Whal’s Rost – the list is endless, and his music is still played and recorded today by a wealth of Orkney musicians. Jim o’ Deithe ended his days at St Peter’s House in Stromness and died in 1977 at the age of 82.
The following obituary, written by Nigel Firth, was published in The Orcadian.
On March 10 came word of the death that morning, in hospital in Aberdeen, of Mr James C. B. Craigie, of Deithe, Rousay. He had been in poor health for some time.
James Campbell Bruce Craigie was born at Vacquoy, Rousay, in 1895, one of five children. His father Hugh Craigie, a joiner, was related to the widespread Gibson family of Langskaill, and his mother, Margaret Inkster of Barebraes, was a descendant of the Inksters who owned the Saviskaill estate for a few years in the early 19th century. Mr Craigie was named after his uncle, J. C. Bruce, who came from Ballachulish and was for many years teacher in Wester.
In 1899 the Craigie family moved from Vacquoy to Deithe after the death of Chekki o’ Deithe (John Craigie – no known relation). Mr Craigie attended the Wester School until he was 14. It happened that his first teacher was Jessie Marwick, a sister of Dr Hugh Marwick.
In the summers he worked part time as a hirdie boy at Innister, Fealquoy and Langskaill, going to school each day from his place of work. In those days there were few wire fences and not every field was dyked, so cattle had to be kept off growing crops by tethering (on the smaller farms) or by hirding (on the larger).
On leaving school he started full time farm service at Langskaill with David Gibson, for three years. At 17 he was hospitalised by a kick from a horse and afterwards he started an apprenticeship with his father. In 1914, aged 19, he enlisted, serving two years ay Hoy Battery and then with the Royal Artillery in France. He had at least one narrow escape. A front-line position his unit had occupied for weeks was wiped out by shellfire a few hours after they had been ordered to a new position.
Mr Craigie was demobbed in 1919 and worked at the naval airdrome scheme at Swanbister; then from 1920 was three years in Glasgow as a joiner at Beardmore’s shipyard, fitting prefabricated woodwork into liners. He then returned to Rousay as a joiner. One of his jobs was the making of new wooden teeth for the gearing of the Sourin mill. In the twenties he and his father usually did three weeks’ fencing in the district each spring. This mostly comprised fence-shifting. Only the grazing fields were fenced at that time, so the crop rotation meant that one or two fences had to be moved each year.
In the late twenties he started with the Post Office. At first, deliveries were on foot, then by push bike. When mail vans were introduced fewer men were needed and Mr Craigie was offered a job as postman in Quoyloo. He accepted and was there 17 years, until his retirement in 1955. He came back to Rousay in 1957.
In the short time I have known Jim o’ Deithe I have come to value his friendship highly. His humour, his kindness, his independence, his originality of thought and synoptic outlook, his painstakingness and regard for excellence have made a deep impression. In two areas we were both interested in – music and local history – I learned much from him and came to respect his achievement. I suspect this would have been true in several other fields as well, could I have judged them. We are sad at his passing, but are richer for having known him. He will not soon be forgotten.
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Before and after: Now I’m the owner of Deithe…and very proud to say so too.
Turbitail was the name of a cot-house of Langskaill on the bank of a burn known thereabouts as the Burn of Turbitail, situated on the western slope of Kierfea Hill above the parish of Wasbister. There is no reasonable explanation for the origin of the name – Hugh Marwick in his ‘Place-Names of Rousay’ admits defeat, explaining ‘origin therefore obscure’!
In 1841 it was occupied by the Craigie family. James Craigie at that time was a 50-year-old army pensioner. His wife Margaret Shearer was the same age as her husband, and they had five children; Gilbert, born in 1821; Eleanor in 1827; Margaret in 1828; Isabella in 1830; and Hugh, who was born on May 4th 1834.
By 1861, another Craigie family was living at Turbitail. Hugh Craigie was the son of James Craigie and Betty Marwick of Milnhouse, Sourin, and he was born on November 22nd 1825, the family having moved to nearby Guidall. He married 23-year-old Ann Gibson on February 27th 1852. She was the daughter of George Gibson and Ann Mainland of Langskaill, who was born on September 3rd 1829. They had five children; Ann was born on December 27th 1854; Lydia, on October 27th 1858; Mary Jean, on May 5th 1860, but she died in 1873; Hugh, born on August 30th 1866; and Maggie, born on September 25th 1868. In 1887 Hugh paid £7.0.0. rent but only £5.0.0. in 1888, having been adjusted by the Crofters Commission, and by this time Hugh was farming 17.622 acres.
Daughter Lydia married Robert Gibson of Langskaill. She drowned at the age of 35 with three of her children when the Rousay mail-boat was overturned in a storm in Eynhallow Sound in October 1893. The boatmen, who were also lost, were James Sinclair of Newhouse and John Reid of Tratland.
Lydia’s brother Hugh, born in 1866, married Margaret Inkster of Upper Cogar. Pictured above, they lived at Deithe and had five children; Maggie Jessie, born on February 5th 1889; Mary Jane, on November 11th 1890; Barbara, on March 2nd 1893; James Campbell Bruce, on October 2nd 1895; and Hugh Gibson, on December 19th 1899.
Lydia and Hugh’s father died in 1906 at the age of 81, and their mother Ann died soon after, on April 3rd 1907 when in her 78th year.
Langskaill, a photo dating from the late 1800s [courtesy of the Firth family]
Langskaill, in Old Norse langi-skali, ‘long-hall’, is the largest farm in the present Rousay parish of Wasbister. It formed a 9d. land or half-urisland which the 1503 Early Rentals states “wes evir to the Kingis scattis” (i.e. had always paid skat, or land tax, to the Earl), but it had been “haldin be the bischop in all my tyme bygane, and Bischop William quhen he had our Soverane landis in tak wes the first that evir began to tak ony of the Kingis scattis contenit in this buik.” Bishop William Tulloch had the earldom property in tack, circa 1475, and perhaps he thought that it was only appropriate that his services in facilitating the transfer of Orkney to the Scottish crown should be rewarded by the ‘conveyance’ to the Bishopric of the various skats of which complaints are recorded in the 1503 Early Rentals.
Aerial view of the farm buildings taken in the 1980s [courtesy of Jo Inkster]
Langskaill, looking towards Saviskaill Head
Towards the end of the 18th century Langskaill was occupied by David Gibson. He and Barbara Craigie of Burness had twin sons, Hugh, and another unnamed, who were born in 1792. [Hugh Marwick later described the arrival of the twins as the result of ‘an adventure his great-grandfather had with a woman up at Burness’! – Burness was a cot-house of Langskaill, high up in the valley of the Burn of Turbitail.]
David then married Jean Marwick and they had five children; George, born on March 12th 1797, Robert in 1799, Katherine on February 23rd 1801, Isabella on June 14th 1802, and David, who was born in 1805.
David then married Isabel Mainland and they had three children; Alexander, born on November 7th 1807, John on August 2nd 1809 and Nicol on July 7th 1811. David married a third time, on March 9th 1828. His bride was Betsy Marwick, whose maiden name was Sinclair. David died in 1837.
The old mill at Langskaill
Langskaill and the Leean
In 1841, farmer George Gibson, born on March 12th 1797, the oldest child of David Gibson and Jean Marwick, was head of the household at Langskaill. His wife was Ann Mainland, the daughter of Nicol Mainland and Ann Craigie Mainland of the Bu, Wyre, who was born on February 3rd 1803. George and Ann Gibson had nine children, three boys and six girls; David was born on December 14th 1825, Isabella on March 9th 1827, Ann on September 3rd 1829, John on December 2nd 1831, Robina on February 28th 1834, Mary on August 28th 1836, Jane on November 27th 1838, Lydia on June 28th 1842, and David, who was born on April 29th 1844.
Between 1845 and 1847 George and his brother David Gibson were joint tenants of Langskaill paying £41 0s 0d rent and in 1849 they paid £43 2s 3d plus interest on the cost of improvements made to the property.
Looking across the eastern end of the Wester loch towards Langskaill
In 1851 Langskaill was a 60-acre farm. George and David’s brothers Robert, and Alexander and their families lived and farmed there as well. 45-year-old David was married to Mary Inkster. Robert, then aged 52, was married to Robina Irvine of Rendall, and they had five children. Alexander, the youngest at 43 years of age, was married to Lydia Mainland, and at the time of the census that year they had a 9-month-old son christened Nicol.
George Gibson died in 1864 at the age of 67, and his wife Ann died in 1868, aged 65 years.
By 1871, the area of land farmed at Langskaill had increased to 195 acres. Robert Gibson senior was now in his 72nd year and he now had the assistance of his 32-year-old son Robert. He had married Isabella Craigie of Hullion on October 27th 1859, and they had five children.
The other tenant at this time was John Gibson, son of George and Ann Gibson, who was then 39 years old. He was married to Jane Gibson, and between 1855 and 1879 they had nine children. The eldest, Mary Jane, born on April 14th 1855, later married William Cooper, a teacher at Wester. They had seven children, one of which was Anna May. She was teacher at the Wester school 30 years after her father.
Langskaill in winter, the Leean and the Head of Faraclett taking a battering
Tragedy struck the Gibson family in 1875. On August 26th 36-year-old Robert Gibson junior drowned with his 8-year-old son David. This was due to a heavy land sea below Saviskaill when they came ashore in an open boat.
The 1881 census describes his 42-year-old wife Isabella as a widow and their 20-year-old son Robert as farm manager. At least they had John and Jane Gibson to help with the running of the Langskaill farm, which by now had increased to 207 acres in size.
In 1882 John Gibson was the sole tenant, and by this time more land on Kierfea Hill was added to Langskaill, and the rent for this year was £170, including rent charge on improvements. In 1900 his son David was tenant, paying £150 on land which covered 180 acres arable and 130 acres pasture.
The picture above shows David Gibson of Langskaill, later Sunnyside, St Ola, and his wife Ann Mainland of Tratland, with their daughters: Maggie, Sarah, Mary, Jeannie, Rosalie, and Ida.
David was one of ten children born to Robert Gibson and Robina Irvine, mentioned above, and he was born in July 1845. Ann was the daughter of James Mainland and Margaret Sinclair, Tratland, and she was born in March 1847. Daughter Jeannie married Alexander Leask, who later became Rector of Kirkwall Grammar School.
Whitemeadows is the name of a croft in Wasbister, high up on the western slope of Kierfea Hill, close to the Loch o’ Wheethamo. The Old Norse word hvíti-mór means ‘white moor, or heath’. White cotton grass used to grow in abundance here, hence the name of the croft – Whitemeadows.
According to the census of 1841 it was occupied by George Sabiston, a 70-year-old pauper, his wife Margaret, who was 50 years of age, and their young son George. Between 1841 and 1862 the annual rent was 15 shillings.
The interior today has been ‘modified’ to allow the ingress of kye for shelter
By 1861 young George, then 31 years of age and employed as an agricultural labourer, was head of the household at Whitemeadows. He was married to Barbara Harrold, the daughter of William Harrold and Elizabeth Grieve of Hammermugly (now known as Blossom), who was born on November 7th 1824. They had six children; Margaret, born on September 1st 1854; Mary on February 26th 1855; James on September 29th 1856; John on March 22nd 1858; William on November 24th 1859 and Alexander, who was born on April 22nd 1863. William and Alexander died during an outbreak of diphtheria in 1867. George was later classed as a pauper and the family lived at Whitemeadows rent-free.
It was a long way down the hill for the children to get to and from school in the old days
Fisherman Hugh Marwick, his wife Mary Inkster and their four children moved up to Whitemeadows from Quoys. 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 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.”
All that remains of Castlehill today. Westray away in the distance.
Castlehill, or Castal-hills, was a cot-house high up the valley of the Burn of Castlehill in Wasbister, occupied in 1841 by Hugh Craigie and his family. Hugh was born at Upper Geo, Wasbister about 1786, and he married Christian Gibson on January 22nd 1816. They had two children, Margaret and Sally, who were born in 1821 and 1823 at Upper Geo. They then moved to Castlehill where four more children, another Sally, Hugh, Mary, and James, were born between 1825 and 1837.
Shoemaker James Harrold and his family were the occupants of Castlehill in 1851. James was the son of Alexander Harrold and Marabell Corston of Wyre, and he was born at Boray, Gairsay, about 1820. He married Bella Gibson, the daughter of Hugh Gibson and Janet Marwick of Lower Burness, and she was born on August 20th 1821 when they lived at Newark. also in Wester. James and Bella had four children; Ann, Margaret, John, and James, born between 1848 and 1856.
James Harrold later married Margaret Mainland of Cruseday, Frotoft. Margaret was one of the only set of triplets to be born in Rousay – on February 23rd 1839 – to Alexander Mainland and Janet Kirkness. She and James, who earned a living as a mason and a shoemaker, lived at Mid Cruseday.
Castlehill to the right, Turbitail to the left, and Whitemeadows above
In 1881 Castlehill was occupied by Robert Pearson, a 35-year-old fisherman who used to live not far away at Kirkgate. He married Henrietta Harcus, the daughter of John Harcus and Jean Read of Garson, on Rousay’s Westside, who was born about 1845. They had six children; Robert, James, William, Mary, George, and Alexander, who were born between 1873 and 1885. In 1876, Robert paid rent of £3.10.0. for the 8.8 acres at Castlehill and £4.10.0 in 1887. By 1888 the acreage had increased to 10.286 and the rent, having been fixed by the Crofters Commission, was £3.5.0.
Map section showing Burness and Upper Burness in proximity to Turbitail, Castlehill and Whitemeadows
Upper Burness was a cottage high up in the valley of the Burn of Castlehill above Wasbister. In 1851 it was occupied by 73-year-old farmer William Craigie and his family.
Ten years previously Upper Burness was added to Langskaill and William was classed as a sub-tenant, paying 10 shillings a year rent. William was the son of Thomas Craigie and Robina Marwick of Onzibist, Egilsay, and in 1822 he married Charlotte Gibson, daughter of Hugh Gibson and Janet Inkster of Skatequoy, who was born in 1794. They had six children: William, born on November 8th 1823; Thomas, on September 27th 1825; Janet Inkster on December 12th 1827; Hugh on April 20th 1830; James Gardner on July 6th 1832; and Mary who was born in 1837. – William Craigie died in 1862 at the age of 84 and his wife Charlotte died in 1874 in her 80th year.
Burness, lower down the hill, was also a cot-house of Langskaill. In 1841 it was where worsted weaver Hugh Gibson and his family lived. In 1792 Hugh was one of twin sons born out of wedlock to David Gibson of Langskaill and Barbara Craigie of Burness. Hugh married Janet Marwick of Quoys in 1813. In 1814 he married another Janet Marwick, then living at Cogar. They had four children, Jean and Bella, who were born at Newark in Wester in 1815 and 1821 respectively, and James and William, born at Geo, Westness in 1825 and 1828. Hugh then married Margaret Harcus and they had two children, both born at Geo, John in 1834 and Mary, in 1835.
Hugh Gibson, his father David, and his uncle Alexander, were each married three times.
In 1851 Hugh and Margaret Gibson were joined at Lower Burness by their daughter Jean and her family. She was married to David Johnston of Heatherhouse, Sourin and they had three children: Margaret, Bella, and John. On November 19th 1843 Jean married fisherman Gilbert Craigie, of Turbitail and they had seven children, though three of these died at an early age. Gilbert died in 1882 at the age of 62 and Jean passed away in 1892, in her 77th year.
At the time the 1901 census was taken Burness was occupied by farmer James Alexander and his wife Sarah Ann Marwick. James was the son of Magnus Alexander of Cairn and Margaret Inkster of Deithe and he was born in 1854. Sarah Ann was the daughter of Hugh Marwick of Quoys later Whitemeadows, and Mary Inkster of Innister, and she was born in April 1862. Living with them at Burness was Sarah’s 16-year-old son James Smith who was employed as a blacksmith’s apprentice and her 20-year-old brother Magnus who was classed as ‘feeble minded’.
