FISH MART

The Pier Heid

(Chapter 7 in The Herring Fishing, Stronsay Vol. 1 by W. M. Gibson)

The "mart" at the pierhead could get very busy with its 25 or so little offices. For two hours on a Tuesday morning, there could be a line of baskets, forty yards long, attended by fishermen waiting their turn of the auctioneer. The sight was almost quaint; fishermen with their brown overall jackes, blue trousers and many of them wearing long white wellingtons. Pullovers varied in colour but, unlike the local fair isle, navy blue predominated. There was always someone buzzing around; crewmen getting rations; grocers and bread boys delivering goods or taking orders from the boats; barrows; worried engineers; it was a hive of activity. Then almost imperceptibly there was a feeling of excitement in the air. The baskets were so numerous, the queue had lengthened and the prices were so good that the fishermen felt uneasy. Perhaps subconsciously a fear niggled the participants; the market might collapse before their turn came. Now a clerk with a note-book darted out of his office, consulted a client then passed again hurriedly. But the stolid fisherman remained apparently unmoved except perhaps for his lips, and his hands pushed a trifle further into his pockets. He had seen it all before. It was the easiest part of his trade; there were no dangers of the deep on the pier. After all, there were on ly 250 boats with an average of 4 crans. The prices at the rostrum were ticked up monotonously at 63/- to 68/-. Curers turned away with the odd oath, disgruntled at the high prices. One muttered to himself ("Can I ..... get it out of them?!?); then he turned again and made another bid. Such were the ways of Stronsay pier in 1933.