The Silver Darlings

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In fact, when Finn lifted his mind, he saw the clean green seas running, and knew that freedom was there, and adventure, and the song of man’s strength. He would be all right when he looked at the lifting stem of his own boat. Then would come upon him a freedom that would have in it the gait of revenge over all the cluttering doubts and anxieties of the earth.” This is a book of sweetness and light. Its very powerful realism serves to dissolve itself and make itself the ghostly, the somehow illusionary. The passions, tragedies, sounds, furies, sufferings and loves, death and birth somehow illude. I’ll end with a short quotation, from near the end of the novel. There are symbols here, but you need to delude yourself to delight as they fade before you:

Some of our favourites have remained such as Pil Pil Prawns and Shetland Scallops and we have added some new flavours of Mussels including Spanish featuring Sherry & Chorizo and Scottish with a Brewdog Punk IPA broth.The Silver Darling, which first launched in 1986, has continued to be one of the city’s favourite restaurants with its panoramic views overlooking the beach, Fittie and Aberdeen’s harbour. As part of the refurbishment, the restaurant has partnered with local artist Shelagh Swanson to create a bespoke glass feature which will feature pictures of Fittie and the people of the community. The Silver Darling will officially re-open today for its first evening service from 5.30pm and will be open on Friday lunch time and all day on Saturday 3 rd February. Neil Gunn brings the atmosphere and perils of the sea into this novel along with the growth of Finn, his coming-of-age time, and the trials of a small fishing community in Scotland. Finn’s father had been lost at sea (not telling you how; you will want to read this novel for yourself!) before Finn was even born. His mother was reluctant to allow Finn to even think of going to sea... but the sea was always calling to him. Artist Shelagh, said: “I am delighted to be working with The Silver Darling on this very exciting collaboration. As a local artist, it is always great to be involved with community projects and as this commission came to life, we thought it would be perfect to add local touches. A Youtube version presents a video with period photographs showing men and women working: some fishermen aboard their boats, hauling their nets; others on the quay; women either salting the fish or knitting while waiting for their fathers, husbands and sons, the steam- boats and their crews, active.

Finn’s mother Catrine is threatened with the plague; will she succumb? The reader cannot help being moved at poor Catrine’s plight already; losing her husband at such a young age, she lives for her son throughout the book.It could be tempting to think of the analogical link with the first representation of Christianity. 5 Yet, what is sure is that “silver darlings” have always been part of the Scots’ History and life, traditions, customs, culture, symbolism and imagery; the “herring-bone” pattern is currently used in masonry, skiing and slope climbing ( Chambers Dictionary , 2016, p. 752). It belongs to their past and cements the generation links. In everyday language, the “herring” can be metaphorical. In their book, Sophia Kingshill and Jennifer Westwood mention a few proverbs and catch-phrases using the word “herring”: for example, “to throw a sprat to catch a herring” or “herring gutted” to describe a very thin man, or “to draw a red herring across the path” that is to say to distract from a subject by raising a side issue. There are about two dozen sayings that could be cited. Following the Second World War the demand for protein increased, the fleets reinvested and improvements in fishing techniques and technology increased catches further. By the 1950’s overfishing of herring was a serious problem and landings fell dramatically and steadily right up to 1977, when the lowest catch for a century was recorded, with a spawning biomass (volume of adult herring) of only 150,000 tons and a 4-year ban on their harvesting was the inevitable result. When the landlords throw the tenants off their crofts to make way for sheep, the crofters of the north-east of Scotland turn to the sea to make their living in the new industry of herring fishing that is springing up, aided to some degree by those same landlords (guilt money) and by government subsidies. This book tells the story of Catrine, a young wife whose husband has been taken by the press gangs, and her son Finn as he grows from childhood into manhood, and becomes a fisherman in his turn. And through them, it shows the way of life of these people, as they slowly become masters of their new trade, learning through hard experience and sometimes tragedy.

Although game and salmon catching was conditioned to the restrictions imposed by land and river owners and by laws, maritime herring fishing was free. The sea could be compared to a reliable feeding mother securing her children when necessary, and to a generous provider that could also enrich them with her own natural wealth. Yet, her resources are not eternal and this, the Scots have learnt at their own expense. Art may mimic Nature and reality in true-to-life styles, but it also conceptualises and symbolises. It may reproduce, but it always produces something different as Louis Marin explains in Détruire la peinture. Talking about Caravage, he insists on the essential narrative quality of art-pieces, on their story/tale/history telling: The collapse of fishing—the traditional livelihood of many of Scalpay’s men—has led to the collapse of a way of life here and elsewhere around the world. These coastal and island communities can hardly sustain themselves as more and more young people leave their home and heritage to look for work. Dependent on the ocean and traditional fishing methods, they are being swallowed by the modern world. ( The Anglers Journal )

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S inclair John, 1831, “American Correspondence, XXV Miscellaneous Correspondence”, in The Correspondence of the Right Honourable, 2: With Reminiscences of the Most Distinguished Characters Who Have Appeared in Great Britain, and in Foreign Countries, During the Last Fifty Years, London, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. The herring is an oily fish. Economically, it has been the most important fish and one of the earth’s most used marine resources. Herring has been very important to the Scottish diet. It provided a cheap, plentiful and nutritious source of food. They have been caught off the cost of Scotland for hundreds of years. ( historyshelf 01 ) The lyrics mingle down-to-earth considerations about the fishermen’s labour, and about religious faith and gratitude: Since the Latin source of this word [text], he says, is texere meaning to weave, and the noun textus meaning ‘tissue’, ‘weaving’, or ‘web’, then perhaps texts should be looked at as ‘intermittent and extensible structures formed by a weaving together of stands’.” (Barry, 2007, p. 37) A nderson-W ood Jocelyn, “Herring Girls”, < www.girlmuseum.org/herring-girls/> (consulted 6 Oct. 2016).

The narrative and the characters are captivating and we are carried along like the waves on the shore. I began this book when I saw it on the “Read Scotland” forum on Goodreads. The author is new to me but I found his writing to be so atmospheric! “Silver Darlings” is crammed with not only authentic descriptions of life at sea but also engaging chapters about village life, a country fair, a perilous voyage (and a brave climb for water), and anecdotes about the fishing trade and professions (who knew what a curer was? not me.) Thus through their sliding and intertwining, they amplify their function and power to relate, recall and commemorate. Besides, the translation process from one artistic and cultural object to another with the same “material base” opens intersemiotic possibilities.But though most of the herring now eaten in Scandinavia come from the North Sea, overfishing saw the collapse of the British North Sea herring fishery by the 1970s, and for four years it was banned completely. After many years of tight controls, the silver darlings may be at last returning. A small fishery based in Hastings in East Sussex, which has been certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council for 10 years, held its annual fair earlier this month, though it is permitted to catch just 10 tonnes a year. Five other revived herring fisheries around Britain and Ireland have recently been MSC-certified, and more are in the pipeline. Since we launched with our first pub, McGinty's, we have been a family unit and now we are proud to have 9 venues in the city centre and importantly 250 employees that work so hard for us on a daily basis. What the author does best, however, is integrate the rich inner life of each of the characters with their external behaviours and decision making - particularly their emotional states. He perfectly captures the way emotions can wash over a person, flitting and changing from one minute to the next. I don't know if I have ever read an author who captures this human activity better. Launching on Tuesday 11 th Feb (Dinner service), our Head Chef, Craig Somers and his skilful team have created a menu filled with a new selection of dishes to enjoy whilst gazing at our stunning views of the sweeping sea coastline.