20 Strange Details of Old Scottish Harbours That Had a Brilliant Reason

Why are the stones in an old Scottish harbour wall standing on end? Why do fisher cottages turn their gable ends, or their backs, to the sea? Why is there a lighthouse on top of a castle, an ice house buried under the turf, and an old cannon stuck upright in the pavement? Follow Isa, a herring lassie who followed the shoals from Stromness to Eyemouth, as we uncover twenty strange details of old Scottish harbours and the brilliant reason behind each one. From brown barked nets, tarry sheds and line sculls with a thousand hooks, to the farlan, the Zulu and the Fifie, forbidden words at sea, storm cones, leading lights, the Stevensons' broken breakwater at Wick and the salt pans of St Monans, every detail solved a real problem on a hard and dangerous coast. Many can still be seen today at Anstruther, Crail, Portsoy, Crovie, Footdee, Gourdon, Fraserburgh, Wick, Spey Bay, Stonehaven, Eyemouth and Stromness. Which ones do YOU remember? Tell us in the comments. SOURCES Scottish Fisheries Museum – Herring lasses and the herring industry: https://guide.scotfishmuseum.org/gall... Aberdeenshire HER – Portsoy Harbour: https://her.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/Monu... Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen – North East Fisher Beliefs and Traditions: https://abdn.ac.uk/apps/elphinstone-m... Met Office – The storm that shaped the Shipping Forecast: https://metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/who... Wick breakwater, 1863–1877 (ICE Museum Scotland): https://ice-museum-scotland.hw.ac.uk/... Scottish Archives for Schools – The Eyemouth Fishing Disaster, 1881: https://scottisharchivesforschools.or... Some images are illustrative reconstructions. Isa is a composite character based on real accounts. Folklore is presented as folklore. #Scotland #ScottishHistory #FishingHeritage #ScottishHarbours #HerringLassies