Celebrates Scotland’s ‘herring girls’
Harbour Road, Irvine
Opening Sunday 16th August
A powerful new exhibition celebrating Scotland’s formidable ‘herring girls’ who travelled from Orkney and Shetland down to East Anglia in search of seasonal work during the 19th and 20th century Scottish herring boom opens at the Scottish Maritime Museum on Irvine Harbourside on Sunday (16 August).
In Gu’un the Fish n’ That, East Anglian artist Beverley Carruthers draws inspiration from her grandmother, who was herself a ‘herring girl’ to create an immersive sound installation exploring the lives of these remarkable migrant workers, their brutal working conditions and their vital contribution to Scotland’s once worldwide herring trade.
The installation weaves together voices, songs and stories from oral history recordings capturing the memories of the last generation to work in the industry before it declined in the 1960s.
Eva Bukowska, Exhibitions and Events Officer at the Scottish Maritime Museum, says:
We’re delighted to host Beverley Carruthers’ sound installation Gu’un the Fish n’ That. Beautifully blending her own family history with stories passed down through generations, the installation celebrates the vital, and often overlooked, contribution women made during the worldwide boom for Scottish salt-cured herring.
“This captivating installation also brings a fascinating chapter of Scotland’s maritime heritage vividly to life and highlights the shared heritage of communities stretching from Scotland’s islands to Great Yarmouth.”
Beverley Carruthers adds:
I am delighted to present Gu’un the fish n’ that at the Scottish Maritime Museum.
“Central to this work is a commitment to bringing to light the stories of the women whose labour was integral to the herring industry, yet whose voices have too often remained unheard.
“Through this installation, I hope visitors will gain a deeper understanding of the lives of these women, who spent months each year, from May to December, working far from home and family.”
Scotland’s Herring Boom
From the late 19th century into the early 20th century, thousands of ‘herring girls’, both teenagers and adults, followed the Scottish herring fleet is it journeyed down the East coast in search of the annual shoals.
Starting in Shetland and Orkney in June, they travelled by train and boat to Wick, which was once known as the ‘herring capital of Europe’.
From there, they travelled onwards to English ports such as North Shields, in the North East, and Grimsby, in Yorkshire. The season finished in September at Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft in Beverley’s home region of East Anglia.
The work was demanding and relentless. Binding their hands in rags to protect them from salt and fish scales, the ‘herring girls’ worked for up to 14 hours a day along gutting troughs called ‘farlans’.
Paid by the barrel, speed and teamwork were essential. Working in groups of three, often in cold, wet conditions and for modest wages, the women gutted and graded 60 herrings a minute.
They then layered 1,000 fish in preserving salt in each barrel ready for export with the main markets being Germany, Eastern Europe and Russia.
Despite the hardships, the ‘herring girls’ formed close-knit communities as they travelled and worked together. Away from the curing yards, they sang, danced and knitted traditional fishermen’s jumpers, or ‘ganseys’.
The ‘herring girls’ carried their personal possessions and working knives in a wooden chest or ‘kist’. At the end of the season, many returned home with sticks of rock bought in English seaside towns as treats for their families.
At the height of the Scottish herring trade in 1907, around 35,000 people were employed within the industry including 14,000 ‘herring girls’ who cured around 2.5 million barrels of fish (250,000 tonnes) for export. By 1913, the ‘herring girls’ travelled with a fleet of 10,000 herring boats. Changing consumer tastes and overfishing driven by technological innovation led to the industry’s decline during the 1960s.
Gu’un the Fish n’ That is on show at the Scottish Maritime Museum, Harbour Road, Irvine, from 16 August to 23 January 2027. The exhibition is included in Museum Admission. The Museum is open daily.
www.scottishmaritimemuseum.org
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Issued on behalf of the Scottish Maritime Museum by
Joanna Harrison, Mobile: 07884 187404
