Cockenzie Fishwives
500 year walk Shona McMillan takes a 500 year walk from Cockenzie to Port Seton
F
rom Edinburgh, East Lothian’s skyline today is dominated by Cockenzie power station. Opened in 1968, the coal fired station towers over Cockenzie and Port Seton. For centuries, coal has played a major role in the development of these villages but so too, Salt making and Fishing. To take the relatively short walk along the seafront, following the John Muir coastal footpath from Cockenzie to Port Seton, is to take a walk through centuries of historical significance, not just to the locality but to Scotland and internationally as the area’s trade links are examined. In 1591, James VI created the burgh of ‘Cowkainy’ in favour of local landowner Robert, eighth Lord of Seton and the first harbour at Cockenzie was built. However, centuries previously, coal mining was already beginning to feature in the area’s development. First records chart that Seyer de Quincey, Lord of the Manor at Tranent, granted the working of coal pits at the lands of Preston in 1202. Later, in 1284, James the Steward of Scotland granted mining rights to the monks of Newbattle. Coal was an ideal fuel for heating a large monastic structure but generally, with such an abundance of wood growing locally, the importance of the coalfields was yet to be realised. In the middle 1600s George Seton became the eleventh Lord Seton and he set about making Cockenzie a hive of industrial activity. Almost a stone’s throw away, Lord Seton built a second harbour and in his boats, he exported coal abroad. From overseas, trade was welcomed with the Dutch, French and Baltic Ports. Through trade, Flemish architecture left its mark on Cockenzie and, taking the title of the new harbour, the village of Port Seton was named. In addition to coal, fishing has played an integral role in East Lothian’s history. The boom time for the Scottish Fishing
Industry was between the 1600s-1800s. Before the building of Cockenzie harbour, a natural inlet called the Boat Shore was used. When storm damage destroyed the harbours, at Cockenzie in 1635 and Port Seton in 1810, the natural Boat Shore was used again. Fisherwomen, meeting their men returning from the sea, would wade out in to the water and haul the boats up the shore. In 1722, the first ever railway in Scotland was built to transport coal direct from the pit heads to the harbour for use in the salt making industry and for export. In 1833, keen to realise export demand, mine owner Hugh
fishermen were collecting to finance one. In 1880, from the fishermen’s fund and a donation by the Earl of Wemyss, the new harbour was completed. Amidst great local celebrations on 24 September, the new port was opened and, in honour of Lord Seton, named Port Seton. Through many adversities, experienced by these two communities, the people came closely together. In Mining, Salt making and Fishing, hours were long and conditions hard. Miners, treated like ‘slaves’ and sold as serfs when land changed hands, some were even refused burial in consecrated ground. Salt workers too as ‘serfs’, bought from their
In 1722, the first ever railway in Scotland was built to transport coal direct from the pit heads to the harbour for use in the salt making industry and for export. Cadell rebuilt Cockenzie harbour. Using the new harbour, the local fishing fleet was able to participate in the North Sea herring boom of the late 1800s. Each year, they followed the shoals from Ireland, round the Northern Isles and down the East Coast, ending up in Yarmouth or Lowestoft in October. Many of the fishing boats were built in local yards and under Cadell’s influence, Cockenzie enjoyed great improvements and revival in trade. Seen as a generous benefactor, Cadell also donated land for the building of the Auld Kirk and Free Kirk. When incomer Polston, bought Cockenzie harbour from Cadell in 1871, it was not too surprising that local fishermen refused to pay harbour dues to the new owner. For a period of time, fishermen chose to reuse the Boat Shore. However, it was clear that a new harbour was needed and, by 1877, local
masters the tools needed to work and were given no wage. Giving over their allocated quota, the surplus they kept and sold to fishermen to preserve their catch. In 1623, 12 saltpans were built at Cockenzie by George, third Earl of Wintoun. Coal from local pits, used by the salt making industry, was increased in production to meet the new demand. Although it was against the law to work on a Sunday, it was recognised that the salt workers were often forced to. In 1641, an Act of Parliament even put a ban on workers holidays. For those who tried to run away, they were returned and punished. In 1656, the Salt Pans of Prestonpans and Cockenzie produced almost half of Scotland’s salt. Salt was used in glass manufacture, white leather soap and in earthenware pottery glazing. Salt production continued at Cockenzie
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Port Seaton Harbour looking towards Cockenzie
Cockenzie Harbour
until the 1950s. Salt workers experienced long hard hours in difficult, dangerous conditions. Initially production was by hand, it was believed the further out to sea workers waded, the saltier collected water would be. Boiled to evaporate off the water and leave salt behind, such small quantities were present that it took four boilings, over a 24 hour period, to make one ‘casting’ worth collection. Later, a bucket and wand method was used. In front of today’s British Legion, a hollow would fill at high tide and the ‘Bucket Pot’ would be emptied by hand, a method used until 1810. Taking over the Salt pans in 1810, Cadell introduced a new type of ‘Brander pan’ and hand pumps to bring in the sea water. Like the 'fires of hell' the saltpans burned both day and night. Their glow, identified to local fishermen, their location in the Firth of Forth. With a high excise duty on salt, it was said that the only workers who profited were smugglers. At night, under cover of darkness, smugglers’ boats would slip from Cockenzie to Leith. One local of great notoriety was Sandy Hewit who, it was told, on several occasions got the better of the excise men. After the 1707 Union of the Parliaments of Scotland and England, hardships included the confiscation of the fifth Earl of Wintoun’s lands as a Jacobite sympathiser, the outbreak of Civil War, the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745 and the nearby battle of Prestonpans. Combined with the economic and social impact of storms on ports, trade and harvests, some from Cockenzie and Port Seton emigrated to countries such as New Zealand, America and Canada. However, for those that stayed, to sustain themselves through hardship, various societies were set up as a sort of insurance to assist each other in times
of need. Particularly close knit was the fishing community. Superstitious and religious, the fishing community had many customs and almost their own language with different ‘by-names’ to identify individuals sharing the same family name. An array of expressions for different weather and cloud formations was also used, such as a ‘Mackerel sky’, indicative of cloud patterns mimicking fish markings. Fishermen would meet at Port Seton ‘waither glaiss’ and survey conditions before setting out. By 1904, 143 boats, mostly Herring drifters, were registered to Port Seton. On the pier, Fishwives sold fish a dozen or a half at a time, a familiar sight until the late 20th Century. Recognised and respected as strong, ‘hardy’ characters the fisherwomen held significant status. With men away at the fishing, women controlled family finance. Incredibly hard workers and never idle, they baited lines with mussels (500-1400 at a time), coiling the lines into ‘skulls’ (large wicker type baskets) which formed the top part of a fishwife’s creel. To prevent tangles, grass was used to ‘layer’ the lines. For the men, women knitted socks and ‘Garnseys’, sweaters which buttoned up the neck. Such experienced knitters, they could walk and talk, knitting at speed so never a moment was wasted. Fishermen were employed in Oyster fishing, caught Cod, Whiting and Flounders and, when the Herring Industry took off, in the summer months they followed the shoals of ‘Silver Darlings’. In winter, beaching their larger boats at Aberlady, they carried on fishing in smaller boats known as ‘half decked baldies’. One of East Lothian’s most prosperous fishing communities, in 1813 the Friendly Society of Cockenzie and Port Seton was founded. Members
gave a quarterly subscription towards a fund for those struck down by illness or bereavement. Society records were kept in a double locked Box, the keys being held by different Board members. At September’s Annual Meeting, the benefits were shared amongst the needy. The ‘Box Meeting’, became the focus for a celebration beginning with a bonfire at the Boat Shore and concluding with the ‘Fisherman’s Walk’, a procession in traditional costume with banners, bands, singing and dancing. Discontinued in the 1950s, the Box Meeting was specially revived to celebrate the Millennium. Stories, songs and traditions, handed down through the fishing and the local communities have helped to preserve some of the rich tapestry of Cockenzie and Port Seton folklore. Today, the short walk from Cockenzie to Port Seton bears remarkable evidence to 500 years of Scottish history.
The Millennium Fishermen’s Walk
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