An often-overlooked part of our maritime history, these hardy women played a huge role in the economy and community of fishing towns in Scotland and East Anglia.
The exhibition is a joint initiative with the High Life Highland’s Archive Service, Tasglann nan Eilean (the Hebridean Archives), and Norfolk Record Office with grant funding from Lloyd’s Register Foundation.
It’s the result of volunteer research and the gathering of tales and photos and will tour locations around the region this summer.
Between 1850-1950 herring fishing was a huge industry, exporting millions of barrels of cured herring across Europe and employing thousands of people. The season started in Western and Northern Isles in May and gradually made its way clockwise round the coast of Scotland and England, with the season finishing in December in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.
At the peak of the herring industry around 6,000 women from the Highlands and Islands would travel around the country, swelling local populations during their time in any given port with most travelling on special trains.
Known as the Scotch Girls south of the border, they were employed primarily to gut, cure, and pack the fresh catch within 24 hours of being caught. It was back breaking and highly skilled work. They were in high demand, becoming seasoned travellers and often marrying and settling far from home as they followed the fleets.
