Mid Yell, January 17, 1872, ROBERT SMITH, examined.
9104. You are now a fisherman and tenant at Burravoe, on the land of Mr. Henderson?-I am.
9105. Were you formerly resident on the island of Samphray?- Yes. I was there for 35 years.
9106. For whom did you fish when you were there?-For Mr.
Robert Hoseason, and his son-in-law James Hoseason, all that time.
9107. Did the island belong to them?-Half of it did, and the other half belonged to Lord Zetland. I lived on Mr. Hoseason"s half.
9108. Were you bound to fish for them at that time?-Yes.
9109. Did you ever sell your fish to any one else?-No; we had no occasion to do so, because we got the same payment from him as from another.
9110. Did you never sell your winter fish to another?-No.
9111. Where did you get your supplies at that time?-From Mr.
Hoseason at Mossbank.
9112. You kept an account with him, and settled at the end of the year?-Yes, every year.
9113. Had you generally anything to get at the settlement?- Sometimes we had a few pounds to get, and sometimes we could not afford to pay the balance.
9114. You never dealt anywhere else at all?-No; there was no one else near hand that we could have gone to.
9115. Did you never think of going to Lerwick?-No; we went very often to Lerwick, but not in the way of dealing. It was always from Mr. Hoseason that we got what we wanted when he was employing
9116. When you left Samphray you came to Burravoe?-Yes.
9117. Why did you leave?-Because Samphray was thrown waste and made into a park for sheep and cattle.
9118. You have since lived at Burravoe and fished for Mr.
Henderson?-Yes.
9119. You have been a skipper of his?-Yes.
9120. Are you to fish for him next year?-I don"t know if I will be able to go; I am getting too old. I have been at the fishing every year since 1820.
9121. Is it the bargain with you at Burravoe that you are to fish for your landlord?-Yes.
9122. But you will not be put out of your land if you give up fishing altogether?-No, not that I know of. I have no thought of that at the present time; at least I have no knowledge of it.
9123. Have you spoken to Mr. Henderson about not fishing for him next year?-I have not. I have not made a settlement yet.
9124. Did he not tell you that he would not remove you this year?-No, he has not told me that; but I expect that he will not remove me if I can pay my rent. He has been very kind to me.
9125. Are you sure that he did not tell you that you might remain this year?-I am sure he did not, but he told me that he would not throw me off while I was able to do anything. That is all the security I have.
9126. What do you mean by doing anything?-Any employment that he may put me to, or anything in the way of fishing if I am able to go to it.
9127. Does not the payment of your rent depend upon your fishing?-Sometimes it does; but if I have a cow to dispose of and he requires it, he takes it. If he does not require it, I am at liberty to dispose of it to any one that I can sell it to.
9128. When he takes it, how do you settle about the price?-It generally goes into my account.
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9129. But who fixes the price that is put upon it?-I do. I ask him if he will give me so much for it, and if I can get a better price elsewhere I can sell it there.
9130. Did you ever sell a cow to anybody else than Mr.
Henderson?-Yes. I have not sold cows, but I have sold young stots. About three years ago I sold three young stots- one to Mr. Joseph Leask, Lerwick, and another to a man who came round; I don"t know his name.
9131. Did not Mr. Henderson want these?-No. He engaged for one, and then when the man came about asking if he could get beasts to buy, Mr. Henderson told him to call upon us for them.
9132. Did Mr. Leask and the other man pay the money down to you for the beasts they bought?-Yes; it was sent from Lerwick to me.
9133. Were you due rent to Mr. Henderson at that time, or any account for goods?-Perhaps I was; it was very seldom that I was not due him an account.
9134. Why was that?-Because the fishing often did not turn out well.
9135. Did you ever go to any one except Mr. Henderson for your goods since you went to live at Burravoe?-If Mr. Henderson did not have what we wanted, then we would go to another for it.
Mid Yell, January 17, 1872, ANDREW BLANCE, examined.
9136. Are you a fisherman, living at Burravoe?-Yes. I am a fisherman, but part of my time has been employed in the seal and whale fishing.
9137. Have you any land at Burravoe?-Yes, I occupy some land there under Mr. M"Queen.
9138. Have you ever been at the summer fishing?-Yes; I was at the ling fishing for two years, one year for Mr. William Williamson, who has lately left Ulsta, and the other year for Mr. Henderson.
9139. When you were at Ulsta did you run an account for what you wanted from Mr. Williamson?-Yes, a small account. If he had any small things that I wanted, and if I saw that I could get them a bargain, I took them from him.
9140. That account was settled at the end of the year?-Yes.
9141. And you got the other things you wanted at Burravoe or Lerwick, or wherever you liked?-Yes.
9142. Where did you get most of your goods?-At Lerwick.
9143. Did you find it more profitable to get them there?-I don"t know that it was more profitable; but for a long time the most of my accounts have been in Lerwick.
9144. How often have you been at the seal and whale fishing?-I have been there every year for, I think, the last fifteen or fourteen years.
9145. Is that the reason why most of your accounts are in Lerwick?-I suppose it is.
9146. It is handier for you to have them there when you go to the whale fishing?-Yes.
9147. What agent do you generally engage with for that fishing?- Messrs. Hay & Co. I have always engaged through them, except one season when I was engaged for six weeks by Mr. Leask. That was for the sealing voyage in 1867.