12,940. How many fish do you sell in the course of a year?-From 10 to 20 tons.
12,941. Do you sell these at what is called the current price?- There is a current price for the ling fishing, according to which the fishermen are paid, and we try to get the most out of the fish that we can.
12,942. Do you generally get above or below what is called the current price in Shetland?-I don"t know, because merchants, as a rule, don"t care about saying much about what they have got for their fish.
12,943. Are you not consulted by other curers about fixing the current price?-No; we just act for ourselves.
12,944. Do you get a lower price for winter fish than is given for summer fish?-Yes, as a rule, we get less for them.
12,945. Your father is present to-day, but he prefers that you should be examined, as he is not in very good health?-Yes.
*Mr. Henderson afterwards furnished the following statement:-
LIST of OATMEAL invoiced to and sold by Gavin Henderson, Dunrossness, in 1870.
Date of Invoice.
1870.
a March 11.24 Bolls Oatmeal, sold by him at 16s. 6d b " 18.24 " "17s. 0d c April 15.8""18s. 0d d May 13.6""18s. 0d e " 13.14""18s. 0d f June 3.20.""19s. 0d g24.8""19s. 6d h July26.16""21s. 0d i Aug.10.2""22s. 0d j Sept.30.2""19s. 6d k Nov. 4.2 ""19s. 0d.
l 126 Bolls
a ...19 16 0 b ... 20 8 0 c ... 7 4 0 d ... 5 8 0 e ... 12 12 0 f ... 19 0 0 g ... 7 16 0 h ... 16 16 0 i ... 2 4 0 j ... 1 19 0 k ... 1 18 0 l 115 1 0 Average price sold at per Boll, 18s. 3d, as nearly as has been ascertained.
Boddam, Dunrossness, January 26, 1872, THOMAS TULLOCH, examined.
12,946. You are a fish-curer and merchant at Lebidden?-Yes.
12,947. Do you employ a number of boats" crews for fishing in summer?-Yes. I think I had about 20 altogether last year.
12,948. Are the men you employ chiefly tenants on the Simbister estate?-No; they are on the Sandlodge part of the Sumburgh estate.
12,949. Are they in any way restricted as to the person to whom they are to sell their fish?-No.
12,950. Do you also buy fish in winter from any men who choose to sell them to you?-Yes.
12,951. Have you bought any from tenants on the Quendale estate?-No, not from Quendale tenants.
12,952. Have you bought any fish in winter from the Sumburgh tenants in Dunrossness?-No.
12,953. Do you settle with your fishermen annually in the winter, in the same way as other merchants do?-Yes; once at year.
12,954. Have you a shop at which they run accounts?-Yes.
12,955. I suppose they generally incur an account in the course of the year, which runs away with part of their earnings?-Yes.
12,956. And you set the one against the other?-Yes.
12,957. Are your boats hired out to the men?-In some cases they are, but in other cases they are their own boats.
12,958. What is the amount of the boat hire they pay?-2 for the summer.
12,959. Do you hire out lines and hooks also?-Very seldom.
12,960. Do you sometimes make an arrangement by which the men buy a boat and pay for it by instalments?-Yes. It will take about five years to pay it up.
12,961. Is that arrangement made at the beginning of the transaction, or do you just sell the boat, and leave the men to pay it up as they are able?-It is an arrangement which is entered into at the beginning. They have to pay so much every year,-say 1 a year from every man.
12,962. Do you find that the men generally manage to settle up for their boats within the five years?-Yes, about that time.
12,963. How long does at boat last?-Some of them last longer than others, but I should say that on an average they last about fifteen or sixteen years.
12,964. Do you pay the same rate for the fish that are caught by men who own a boat and by those who hire one?-The same.
12,965. Is the price which you pay for your fish generally a higher one than the current price?-Generally it is a little higher.
12,966. What is the reason for that?-I don"t know. We like to get the services of the men, if possible.
12,967. I understand the current price last year was 8s. for ling?-I don"t think it was so much.
12,968. What did you pay?-I paid 8s. 3d. in 1870, and 8s. 9d. in 1871.
12,969. Do you think the current price was less than 8s.?-I think so, but I am not quite certain.
12,970. Are you obliged to give a higher price in consequence of compet.i.tion among fish-curers in your neighbourhood?-No.
12,971. Then why do you do it?-We just want to satisfy the men.
12,972. Do the men in your district require a higher price than their neighbours in order to be satisfied?-Yes; they want a higher price, and it has been paid for some years back.
12,973. Can you account for that in any way?-No. I once got into the way of giving a little more than the currency, and the men have always looked for it since.
12,974. Were not the men in your district, until lately, bound to fish for a tacksman, Robert Mouat?-Not in our district. The men who fished for him lived at some distance from me.
12,975. Have you settled this year?-Yes.
12,976. What would be about the average amount of cash which each man had to receive at settlement?-I should say about 4.
12,977. Would the amount of his earning from the fishing be 12 or 15 on an average?-Not so much. It might be about 8 or 9.
12,978. Has the fishing in your neighbourhood been less successful this year than in other parts of Shetland?-It has been less successful for some time back, but last year it has done very well; I should suppose about an average.
12,979. Some of your men, I suppose, would have nothing to take at settlement?-Yes, some had nothing.
12,980. They had exhausted the amount of their earnings by advances in shop goods?-Yes, and in money advances too.
The advances were not all in shop goods.
12,981. Do they often ask for advances before the end of the season?-Often.
12,982. Do you think it would be an advantage if they were paid more frequently for their fish?-I don"t think so. I think they would not get such high prices.