Rioter
Cullen Rioter
A local injustice
The townsfolk amass
Ne’er summon the fury
O’ a fisher lass
The seatown of Cullen is one of many traditional fishing villages that line the north coast of Moray.
The old fisherman’s cottages are orientated to take the brunt of the coastal winds. They stand sideways to the sea, built to endure whatever storms may come their way.
The fishing industry was thriving in the 19th century. As well as seaborne exports, the railways enabled wider land distribution. Processing the catch and dispatching it for transportation was the task of the fishwives who would clean, salt and pack the fish, walking many miles to distribute it locally. They assisted in hauling the fishing boats onto the beach, as well as occasionally carrying their husbands to and from the boats in bad weather.
Life in the fishing communities was hard and the townsfolk were fiercely loyal and supportive of one another. This is evidenced in the following (highly entertaining) extract -
“An exciting eviction scene took place at Cullen on Saturday. On the previous day Mr Alexander McGregor, Sheriff-officer, endeavoured to evict James Mitchell, carter, and his wife, at the instance of a Mrs Harthill, but as soon as the fisher people of Seatown became aware of what was going on they returned the furniture to the house by the back door as fast as it was carried out at the front door by Mr McGregor and his assistants. They finally became so threatening that the officer had to declare he was deforced.
Thereafter the crowd visited Mrs Harthill’s house and burned her effigy. On Saturday another attempt was made to carry out the eviction with the aid of Inspector Chapman, two sergeants, and fourteen policemen. A great many women, with their sleeves rolled up, collected in front of the house, while Mrs Mitchell remained within and barricaded the door. On the arrival of Mr McGregor he was at once surrounded by the angry women. The policemen, with drawn batons, however, soon cleared the section of the road in front of the house.
The Sheriff-officer’s assistants at once attacked the door with a pick axe, amid the wildest vows of vengeance by the crowd, but the door withstood all their efforts, to the great delight of the spectators. The window, which was then smashed in, was found to be too small for a comfortable entrance to be made. While near the window the Sheriff-officer was greeted with showers of crockery, and he retired with an ugly cut on the hand. The sight of blood flowing very freely was greeted with cheers of exultation by the crowd.
Returning to the window a little later a small tin pail came from within and struck him on the face, cutting him and causing blood to flow. The pick axe was procured, but only a small strip of the door was broken, when the axe head fell inside and was captured by Mrs Mitchell. An assistant being sent for another implement, he considered discretion advisable and did not return. A large sledge hammer, however, was got, and while the door was being broken down frequent volleys of whiting and soot were fired from within, covering Mr McGregor and his remaining assistant. On the door being demolished, Mrs Mitchell was taken into custody to the great indignation of the crowd, which, fortunately, was not very large owing to the absence of most of the fishermen on the West coast.
During the proceedings an effigy of Mrs Harthill was exhibited, and then torn to pieces by the excited females. The throwing of stones and stale herrings was resorted to, and excited gesticulations and blood-curdling threats were freely indulged in. Only the good turn-out of police prevented a serious riot. Mrs Mitchell is a daughter-in-law of Mrs Harthill, but has married a second husband. There is said to be a dispute as to the ownership of the house.
Mrs Mitchell was liberated on Saturday evening, bail being fixed at £5, and she was cited to appear before a Police Court at Cullen yesterday (Friday).”
Many thanks to Stan Slater for supplying the above text.
The summary below is derived from David Gordon Mackay’s book Leave it to the Wifies. We are very grateful to David for getting in contact with us and bringing this story to our attention.
The Battle of Kingston Beach
In 1847 after a number of poor harvests, the people of Moray were desperately hungry. The unpopular Corn and Navigation Laws meant that corn was becoming unaffordable and what wasn’t sold domestically was then exported, mainly to Spain and France. Along the Moray coast could be seen ships loaded with grain, awaiting the order to sail. Two such ships were moored in Kingston Harbour, the ‘Jessy’ and the ‘Guardian’. The desperate locals approached them to request to purchase some grain but their request was firmly declined.
They decided to dispatch small boats to Burghead, PortGordon and Buckie requesting assistance. The following day young men from Portgordon, Garmouth and Kingston, and Fochabers marched on the residence of the Duke’s Commissioner for Moray. The men demanded that they be permitted to purchase grain for twenty shillings a boll. Their requests were once again refused.
Meanwhile in Garmouth the Wifies had banded together, with no idea what was happening elsewhere, they approached the captains of the two ships and demanded they leave some grain for the community there. When the captains once again refused, the women’s enraged response was to throw him into the sea.
When twenty infantrymen from Nairn arrived on the beach at Kingston to disperse the rioters, women were lining the streets of Garmouth, stones filling their apron pockets and when the captain who had been thrown from the staging clambered ashore he was thrown directly back into the water.
A member of the army grabbed a woman named Jeannie Lovat by the arm and her friend Meggie MacDonald punched him hard in the face. Eventually the Sheriff’s agent asked the captain of the Guardian if he would offload enough grain at twenty shillings a boll to satisfy the women, who continued to hurl stones at the troops, only when the Captain agreed did the battle finally subside.
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