Donald Kennedy (Dòmhnall Eachainn) of Balevullin talks to Dr. John Holliday in September 1998 about his experiences as a seaman during World War II.
In the Merchant Navy before the war, Donald volunteered to rejoin his tanker ‘British Petrol’ which was sunk in June 1940 by a German Q ship, the ‘Narvick’, a warship disguised as merchantman flying a Swedish flag.
Picked up in a lifeboat by the German ship, he and his shipmates were held prisoner on board until they landed in Brest in November. He was kept in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany and Poland until 1945.
Paperback book `The British Fisheries Society 1786-1893` by Jean Dunlop.
The history of the British Fisheries Society, a blend of public and private enterprise, which was an early attempt to benefit the people of the west and north of Scotland.
Video recording of an unknown BBC programme about boarded out children broadcast in 1996.
Programme about children boarded out to Hebridean islands, the work they did on the crofts and how they were treated, featuring Hector MacPhail of Ruaig, Bernie Smith of West Hynish, Jean MacCallum of Balevullin, Robert Gray of Balemartine, Tommy Monaghan of Heanish and John Fletcher of Balemartine.
Local news and events including the opening of An Talla, the Milton Fishermen`s Fund, Tiree Housing Survey, broadband, the Guelph Gathering, Scottish Community of the Year award and news from the Gardening Club, the doctor`s surgery and the school.
Audio cassette recording of Gilleasbuig Kennedy, West Hynish talking to Maggie Campbell in June 2004.
(Continued from AC354) Gilleasbuig Kennedy of West Hynish talks to Maggie Campbell in June 2004 about the area round his house at ‘Na Cuiltean’, the place-names of West Hynish, the dangers of submerged rocks in the sea around the township, his memories of his father teaching him the markers to guide the boat in safety, and a visit to Skerryvore when he climbed the lighthouse.
Audio cassette recording of John and Jean MacPhail of Balephuil talking to Maggie Campbell in June 2004.
John and Jean MacPhail of Balephuil talk to Maggie Campbell in June 2004 about how the world was a better place when they were young, how busy Balephuil was and how very few locals live in the township; they discuss the bards of Balephuil, how no-one speaks Gaelic or writes songs anymore, and fishing.
Black and white photograph of John MacDonald of Burnside, Mannal and Neil MacLean of Hough with a catch of cod in the late 1960s.
Once plentiful on the fishing banks to the north and west of the island, cod and ling were fished commercially in the 19th century using long lines. In the 20th century only the local fishermen still went out to the banks for white fish for which there was a ready market on the island. They used bottom lines for cod, mid-water lines for smaller saithe and mackerel and small lines for flat fish.
Cod were fished using hand lines (‘beairt’) with two to six hooks on each baited with limpets (‘maorach’) or lugworms dug from the beach. Fishing line used to be made from horse hair either by spinning or plaiting it. It was still being made on Tiree in the 1940s.
