People and Songs of the Sea. Shona McMillan reveals the personal story behind the project.
O
n 14 October 1881, a massive storm hit the east coast of Britain and from Edinburgh to Eyemouth 189 fishermen were drowned. For the small fishing dependant town of Eyemouth the loss was catastrophic. Of those who had set out to fish on that calm sunny morning, 129 did not come home. Known in Eyemouth as ‘Black Friday’ it was a storm which wiped out a generation of the town’s men. In Scotland’s close-knit fishing community it was a shared loss
Fishing boats in Fisherrow harbour.
not to be forgotten. From a fishing family in Fisherrow, the place from where the boat the Alice had been lost, I grew up aware of the disaster. I heard too of my great-grandfather Archie’s miraculous escape, washed from his boat but swept back by a massive wave. Yet, not until East Lothian Life invited me to write an article for the disaster’s 125 anniversary
did I fully understand, but for Archie’s survival, I and my family line would never have been born. Archie lived on, naming his boat the Provident (in the hands of God), he passed on the disaster’s story, never forgetting the lives of those lost. 125 years later, the People of the Sea article was to mark for me the beginning of a life-changing journey. Three years later, I have built an archive of thousands of photos from which I have produced 20 exhibitions in Scotland. In association with Greentrax, I have also produced a People and Songs of the Sea compilation album (and educational booklet) with 21 tracks from Celtic music’s finest artists and fisher folk from the Forth. First in a series of four on the album’s fishing heritage, here I explain the personal story behind People and Songs of the Sea. Born in Edinburgh, I grew up in a house with views from Leith to Berwick Law and over the Firth of Forth to Fife. It was the only house my parents ever bought because my mum, Jane (Jean) Ritchie Thorburn, ‘needed to see the sea’. Indeed, several times a day she would look out ‘to check the weather’. That ‘need’ to know, was a continuation from her life in a fishing family where those at home waited on the safe return of those at sea. Mum’s grandfather ‘Auld Arch’, Archie Thorburn was a fisherman and then Fisherrow’s Harbour Master for 16 years. On Archie’s retirement, the post passed on to mum’s father Billy and then EAST LOTHIAN LIFE 30
The author, Shona McMillan, at Eyemouth harbour.
on to his brother. On the female side there was an equally strong connection to fishing. Archie had married fishwife Jane (Jeannie) Ritchie and it was after her that my mum was named. The hard work of fishwives was much respected, establishing their business when single, after marriage, they continued to be known by their maiden name. Mum took great pride in her name acknowledging both fishing family’s from whom she was descended. To differentiate between generations, by-names were used, Jean’s
Fisherrow Thorburns: L to R: Wilma, Jean, Billy, Lily, Crissie, Christina, Archie.
was ‘Cloaker een’ (Dark eyes). Spending much time with my grandparents in Fisherrow, the passing on of these traditions was so natural I found it strange when Edinburgh friends did not understand expressions like, ‘it’s a Mackerel sky’ (small broken clouds). Also passed on was my family’s love for music, my mum and grandparents, all fine singers. Indeed, my granny Crissie sang with Fisherrow Fishwives Choir and oh, how I loved to join with her at the Fisherman’s Walk when the community came together to celebrate. Singing and dancing in procession through the town, the women in bright fishwives costumes of Paisley shawl, flowery blouse, navy apron and striped red and yellow petticoats. These happy times were a strong part of my childhood but in the seventies, changes in the industry saw the fishing boats stop sailing from Fisherrow and the Fisherman’s Walk was discontinued. Years passed and through my love of music, I took up the fiddle and travelled extensively during my studies. Interested in different cultures, I worked in tourism and moved to Inverness in 2003 to set up Highland 2007, a national celebration of Highland culture. With family connections to Kinlochbervie, a wee fishing village, I wanted to remain in the Highlands when my contract finished. Moving on to a permanent role in Highlands and Islands development, my remaining ties to East Lothian were my family but increasingly, I found myself collecting old postcards of the coast.
Gran dancing at the Fisherman’s Walk.
Then, on a visit to Fisherrow and Port Seton, an over whelming feeling to return ‘home’ pushed me to relocate. That first morning back, I went to Portobello to watch the sun rise over the sea. A cormorant flew down and with the sun rising behind it at Cockenzie it made a gorgeous photo. Later that morning, seeing a copy of East Lothian Life at a market, I jokingly showed the stall-holder ‘my cover picture’. He turned out to be the editor’s husband and I was invited to write a feature on Cockenzie and Port Seton’s history. The first I ever wrote, my in-depth research awakened in me a desire to learn more about my own
Jean Thorburn (2nd from right) with sister Wilma (1st right) Christina is holding the RNLI flag.
family’s history. The magazine came out at the time of my mum’s 80th birthday, 21 May 2006. Celebrating at Fisherrow, we were looking out to sea when she remarked ‘it’s fine to celebrate Highland culture but who’s celebrating our culture? Eyemouth’s 125 is approaching. Is it not time to celebrate the culture of the fishing community?’ I agreed I could collect her stories but ‘No’ she replied. ‘Not me or even our family, we are just a small part of that larger community and it’s all these folks who need remembering’. I laughed at the enormity of that project but said I could make a start, take some photos and see where it went. Hearing of this, East Lothian Life invited me to write an article for Eyemouth’s 125. I increased my search for old photos; took my own photos, recorded and wrote down what I heard. Mum’s stories had led me to write my tribute to the 189 lost in 1881. I called the article ‘People of the Sea’ and dedicated it to her, Jean Ritchie Thorburn McMillan. It was an emotional piece to produce and even more so, to distribute at Eyemouth’s 125 event on the 14 October 2006. Unknown to those who read it, two weeks earlier when I had completed it, that day, mum went in to hospital and cancer was diagnosed. Had she known her time was slipping away? I do not know but all was done except one last request. Jean wanted folks to come together and talk. ‘Show that old photo of me, my sisters and friends collecting for the RNLI at Fisherrow. I think people would like to see that’. A few days later at her funeral, I distributed copies of ‘People of the Sea’ and put up her fisher children photo on display. I saw copies of East Lothian Life, with my ‘People of the Sea’ cover story on sale in the shops that Christmas, it seemed that all I had set out to do was done. Yet, in the weeks which followed, request, after request arrived. ‘Were there more photos? Were there EAST LOTHIAN LIFE 31
more stories? Would I do an exhibition?’ The first date for my mum and dad (Hugh) had been to Port Seton to watch the fishing boats coming in. A story unknown to me when I had chosen my photo of Port Seton harbour for the magazine cover of ‘People of the Sea’. Visiting Port Seton library in 2007, approached about my photos and article, I was invited to do an exhibition in 2008 over the 60th anniversary of Cockenzie and Port Seton’s Gala. Coinciding with what would have been my mum’s 82nd birthday, I agreed. It seemed a way to give something back to the people of a place which my folks had regularly visited over 50 years of marriage. A hundred came to the launch of my exhibition and 800 viewed it in its first three weeks. Scottish Borders Council Convener, Alasdair Hutton, opened my event, Jane Fairnie in fishwives costume led everyone in ‘Will Your Anchor Hold’ and an impromptu ceilidh followed. Roy Carbarns on guitar, Graham Dixon on Northumbrian pipes, myself on fiddle and singing, John Carnie on guitar. The event was much enjoyed but ‘was there a CD?’ For 2009’s Year of Homecoming, a dream formed in my mind. My vision was to launch a programme of 14 exhibitions for fishing communities from Edinburgh to Eyemouth and over the Firth of Forth to the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther. Accompanying these events, I wanted to produce a compilation album in association with Greentrax Recordings of Cockenzie. Combining music, stories, photos and art, I saw a legacy project in celebration of the rich cultural heritage of Scotland’s fishing. On the 21 of May 2009, ‘People and Songs of the Sea’ was launched in Cockenzie. In my following articles, I detail the stories reflected by the album’s 21 tracks.