Stories from the COAST project
As 2022, Scotland’s Year of Stories comes to a close, we have brought together a few of the Arran stories from the COAST project.
Over the past couple of years, hundreds of stories have been collected by 32 local story gatherers, as well as through online submissions and workshops, from across the west coast that reflect on the culture and heritage of our coastal communities. These stories range across eight themes and include 20 cross-cutting tags from Vikings and Jacobites, to Gaelic Culture and Hiding Places.
Here, with kind permission from COAST, we have selected just a few of the fascinating and amusing tales that Arran residents, past and present, contributed. There are many more treasures to find, from Arran to Eigg and beyond. You can learn more about the project, and discover the stories at the website, Facebook page, and through the COAST app.
A DRAM FOR THE HERRING BUYERS
Illicit distilling in Arran was a considerable industry for almost two centuries despite relentless pursuit by the excise man. But ‘Arran water’ as it was then known was considered necessary to the fishing trade in particular.
In any case, this was the defence used by an Arran fishing vessel caught in 1817 with four and a half gallons of the stuff in two jars respectively concealed under a bag of chaff and a bed, covered with ‘articles’. Their vessel detained, the fishermen imprisoned in the Campbelltown tollbooth claimed that they were obliged to offer a dram to prospective herring buyers.
Trying to help her son, the mother of one of the crew wrote to the prosecutor that, as she had no money to give him, it was her who had given one of the jars so that he could dispose of it in the Low Country. This did not go down too well, as it suggested that she had distilled the whisky herself and was using her son to smuggle it. But the fishermen managed to get away with it: finally released, they sailed back to Arran, minus the whisky which firmly stayed in the custody of the Campbeltown excise office!
Arran Water: An Island Whisky History, Gregor Adamson, 2019.
A TURTLE TALE
I am a giant of the sea
I can dive as deep as 1 kilometre
I can swim for thousands of miles
My ancestors were here before man walked the earth
I eat jellyfish
I can live for up to 100 years
I am rarely seen in Scottish seas
Who am I?
They call me the Leatherback Turtle
“It was my first holiday on Arran. One day my dad took me to the beach at Sannox. I was playing on the sands looking out to sea and became dimly aware of something large splashing in the water. Then dad started shouting ‘Look, Look, It’s a Turtle, It’s a Turtle!’ I was a child. I’m not sure I really knew then what a turtle was, but from my dad’s reaction I knew that it was clearly something significant.
“As soon as we returned to the boarding house in Corrie dad told my mum of the sighting. She didn’t believe him. At tea time in the little dining room, dad regaled the other guests with his exciting story, while Mum urged him to hush and kicked him (gently) under the table.
“Next day we heard a report on the Scottish evening news that a turtle had been caught in the nets of a fishing boat at Kilbrannan Sound. Mother had to concede that dad had been right. She laughed. We were all thrilled, the whole family- little brother as well.
“Further news of the turtle revealed that it was still alive when caught but injured. I believe it was a fair age. Attempts were made to revive it at the zoo. I hoped it would get better but it was not to be.
“Some years went by, then one day, on a visit to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, I made a great find. There in the natural history section, the preserved body of a turtle hung on the wall, with a plaque saying ‘Leatherback Turtle from Kilbrannan Sound’. It was the one! The galleries and museum hold many famous paintings and exhibits, but for me, the greatest treasure in the collection is that ancient creature that I first encountered as a child while on holiday in Arran. I had witnessed a brief moment in the life of a truly amazing animal.”
Footnote: According to a 1996 report by Scottish Natural Heritage turtles are harmed by marine pollution, notable marine debris and floating oil. Unlike other turtles, the leatherback turtle does not have a hard shell. Its shell is flexible, covered by leathery skin which allows it to dive deeper than other species.
As told by Mary Adams, resident of Arran
CORRIE’S CURLING CAPERS
“I write children’s picture books which are fiction but I like to weave factual information or something into the story about myself and the Isle of Arran. When undertaking initial research for “Corrie’s Curling Capers” it was suggested to me that curling hasn’t ever been played on the island. With a farming community, curling being a very popular sport in Scotland and Ailsa Craig aka ‘Paddy’s Milestone’ being so close to Arran, I decided to dig a bit deeper. The world’s best curling stones are still made from the granite quarried at Ailsa Craig.
“Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I was delighted to discover the curling was indeed played in the 1800’s on the Isle of Arran. There are two extracts from the Glasgow Herald in 1881 reporting on curling matches played between Brodick and Lamlash rinks (teams). I was very amused to read of their ‘curler’s tea of beef and greens’!
“The archivists at Arran Heritage Museum were able to find a letter sent to the Museum in December 1991 from Sheriff DB Smith in Kilmarnock.He had previously written asking for any information held about a curling pond at Stronach, Arran but there was none. A friend of Sheriff Smith had a medal that was played for by Brodick Curling Club between 1874 and 1902. He transcribed the engraving from The Challenge Medal in the hope the names might enable AHM to find out some more. A letter was found dated 29 October 1897 from a Mr Thomas Reid, Secretary of Brodick Curling Club. It was addressed to JK Ritchie, Secretary of Brodick Public Hall requesting exclusive use of the pond within the Public Hall grounds for curling purposes during the season. The sum of £3 was offered in payment for the year with a request for the company to protect the ice from skaters or other trespassers.
“The archivist mentioned the location of the pond is now Brodick Bowling Green, very close to where Brodick Hall and Arran Library are currently situated. With confirmation my story was authentic, at least in that curling was actually played on Arran, I went on write and publish “Corrie’s Curling Capers” in 2020. Corrie’s relations compete for the Challenge Medal!”
As told by Alison Page, author, resident of the Isle of Arran and curling enthusiast!
DAD WAS A VET ON ARRAN
This story is a personal reflection about growing up as a Veterinarian’s daughter on Arran.
“This is the story of my dad Jack Logan. He was born in Corrie Terrace on the Isle of Arran in 1915. Dad went to the University of Glasgow to learn veterinary medicine. His studies were interrupted by a stint in the Army during the war, and he qualified in the late 1940s. My mum met my dad whilst on holiday in Arran with her friend just after the war – they came from Manchester and had chosen their holiday destination by closing their eyes and sticking a pin in a map. Mum was a trainee accountant but gave up this to work with my Dad in the Vet business. After working in Glasgow and Wales, an opportunity arose for dad to return to Arran to set up his Vet practice. This was around 1960 – I was born on Arran in 1962.
“I have so many memories of our chaotic life surrounded by sick and injured animals. James Herriot style – dad went to university with him. Some examples – there were no mobile phones, so my mum or one of us ( my older sister, brother or I) had to stay at home to answer the phone 24/7 in case of an emergency. When my dad was out on his rounds, and another call came in, my mum would look at his planned route around the island and phone up one of the farmers to hang a bag on their farm gate – this was the signal for dad to stop in as he had another call. Operations were carried out on our kitchen table – I remember Mum scrubbing it down after lunch and boiling the instruments in a saucepan. Cats were put to sleep in our old white enamel bread bin with a bit of cotton wool soaked in chloroform.
“At that time, Arran had many small farms – most are gone now, but as the only vet on the island, he was kept very busy. Looking back, I had an unusual childhood but to me, walking up to a goat in the living room was quite normal.”
As told by Libby Logan
THE STORY OF THE ARRAN LIGHTHOUSES
For shipping, the island of Arran’s position in the firth of Clyde between the mainland and Kintyre means its lighthouses are very important. Arran’s first lighthouse, guarding its south east coast, was of the oldest in Scotland, built in 1790 on the small island of Pladda by Thomas Smith.
To distinguish it from the other three lighthouses in the area, it had another light placed twenty metres below the top one. Rebuilt in 1821, it was one of the first lighthouses to be powered by paraffin instead of sperm oil and was also fitted with a fog horn in 1876. In 1901, another first was for its fixed light to be replaced by a powerful group of flashing lights.
The lighthouse was then fully automated in 1990. Situated on Holy Island, Arran‘s other two lighthouses were built by David and Thomas Stevenson. First was the ‘Inner’ Lighthouse in 1877, lighting up the southern entrance to Lamlash bay on Arran’s East coast. It is locally known as ‘Wee Donald’. Its keepers saved the Ossian and its crew in 1894 before it went fully automatic and unmanned in 1901. Guarding the main channel up the firth of Clyde, the ‘Outer’ lighthouse, also known as the Pillar Rock Lighthouse, was built in 1905 as the first of the Northern Lighthouse Board’s square lighthouses.
Both Inner and Outer lighthouses were fully electrified in 1977. All three are manned from Edinburgh.
COAST is a community-led project managed by the Centre for Recreation and Tourism Research (CRTR) at UHI West Highland, and co-ordinated by ruralDimensions and Lateral North, working together with 32 local Story Gatherers covering the west coast of Scotland from Wester Ross and Lewis in the north to Arran and Kintyre in the south.
Featured image shows mountain view looking towards Cir Mhor from Goatfell. Credit Chris Hoskins.
