The Story of Tarrel

The story of Tarrel

It was in North Grummond that the strong man Francis Smollet lived.

One winter’s night in 1817 his son went outside to feed the lambs and quickly returned. Terrified, he told his father of how he had seen the ghostly figures of the crew of a sixareen from Funzie in Fetlar who had all been lost at sea. The men had all been Yell men.

Francis took the warm clogs off his son's feet, put them on his own feet and went to investigate as he had known all of the men. When Francis saw the ghosts he asked why they were there and the first to speak was Andrew Grott (Groat) whose voice was so terrible that Francis had to ask him to stop as he could not bear to listen to him. Grott then spoke in a more earthly voice and told how the sixareen had not been cast away by bad weather but by a hideous flayed ox sort of creature which had appeared to one of the crew, Henry Irvine, who was hauling the line. The creature told the crew that Andrew was to be thrown overboard. Andrew had denied fathering a child and the mother had changed herself and had put a curse on him. The skipper would not agree to throw Andrew over saying that if one went they would all go. Because of this Tarrel was responsible for the loss of the crew and although the others crew members could now rest in peace he would never be able to.

It was alleged that the woman deemed responsible was Martha Mann who lived near a shop in the Herra where Andrew worked and there she had met him.

Martha Mann was thought to have supernatural powers. She owned a magic stone. It was the shape and colour of a plover's egg. Its magic could cure people, cattle and horses. A girl from Copister borrowed it to cure her ailing cow. The stone was tied in a cloth then fixed to the cow's halter. To work its magic the stone should not touch the ground.The cow recovered but the girl could not find the stone to return to Martha. She was terrified at the reception she would get she went to tell the woman what had happened. However the witch already had the stone although she had never been to Copister. She showed the stone to the girl with the words,

'See do, dis is what I can dae.'

In 1857-58 a Kitty Tarrel was on the Parochial Board and being kept by Betty Gray.

People disobeying the County Laws had to pay fines which were put into the ‘Poors’ Box’. This money was used by The Parochial Board to provide for the poor and the merchant was instructed to supply necessities and then was reimbursed by the Board. The Kirk Session nominated houses where the pauper was to be lodged and fed. Each group of houses was known as a quarter, hence ‘quarter-wife’ The pauper usually stayed one night for each merk of land owned or rented by the crofter. A merkland was a unit of land measurement and was originally the land needed to support one cow.

Ranselmen enforced laws such as:

A man had to have £40 worth of gear to set up house.

People had to assist neighbours with seed and fodder if required.

Butter used for payment to be free of e.g. hairs.

Stockings to be double yarn.

Glumpis

A Hugh Tarrel is mentioned as being accused of usurping the king’s authority by ordering the inhabitants of Whalsay to 'flit and fuir him to Reafirth'.

Flit and fuir meant that if the laird requested a man with his boat for sea transport he was expected to do as asked. He might be fishing and have to return to shore to fulfil the obligation.

South Grummond was the final destination on our tour of the Herra. From these houses are probably the best views of any in the Herra as we could see the beach, Gremister and the voe.

It was clear that Nancy Johnson had revealed excellent observations of her surroundings in her wonderful poems.