Captain Jack Isbester

Hard down! Hard down!


Скачать книгу

whole of Whiteness knew that he had not been to see Maggie! Like all the young men returning home he called at Olligarth to tell Magnus Irvine [the laird and the landlord for all the crofts in North Whiteness] all the latest South news. And there he encountered my mother, a very personable, lively young lady of 20 who took it upon herself to scold him for not going to see Maggie. (Father was 32. As a boy of 17/18 he used to call at Olligarth on the way from Haggersta to the school to carry Susie Irvine 5/6 pick-a-back to school).3 My father was not used to being scolded by young ladies, rather enjoyed it and came back for more. One night after he’d gone, mother went out to the well at the back door and he was waiting to speak to her. He asked her to marry him and said that he’d give her a week to make up her mind. He came the next morning for his answer and they were married within the month! Mother said that night she opened her bible for guidance – and it opened at the passage in Ruth – whither thou goest I will go and thy people shall be my people –

      The Shetland Times of 19 April 1884 reported

      At Olligarth, Whiteness, on the 10th April, by the Rev. A McDonald, Weisdale, assisted by the Rev. D Johnstone, Quarff, SUSIE, only surviving daughter of Mr MAGNUS IRVINE to Mr JOHN ISBESTER.

      It may be that the two clergymen were in attendance to make clear to everybody that although John Isbester was illegitimate he had a Master’s Certificate and, therefore, the full approval of the church!

      This morning about 7am I took a bottle of whiskey and treated all the town of Haggersta and they all drunk hartily to our long life and happiness and the remainder of what took place I will tell you again I have no paper so you must excuse this scrap I am Your Loving Johnie X

img9.jpg

      John’s bride, Susan Elizabeth Irvine (Fig.6.2), was born and brought up in Whiteness, and in her early years had attended the Whiteness school, but as the daughter of the laird she had had opportunities not given to most of the Whiteness community. My father says that his mother ‘Was spoiled, but not spoilt’, as her parents only surviving child. He continues:

img10.jpg

      Miss Urquart, a live-in governess from Scotland, was found for her, and seems to have coached her well because she became a talented singer and pianist and a fluent and entertaining letter writer. Her Sinclair ancestors on her mother’s side included doctors, clergymen and army officers in their number, and it was from that side of the family that her parents had inherited ownership of a number of crofts in Whiteness. Her father, Magnus Irvine, was a farmer and, by virtue of his wife’s inheritance, a landowner. That he was actively involved in farming can be seen in a photo (Fig.6.3) which shows him ploughing with two oxen. He is the man guiding the plough. The large black-bearded man with the oxen is probably Robbie Tullock, the general farm servant who remained with the family for many years.

img11.jpg

      Figure 6.3 Magnus Irvine, on the left, ploughing with oxen

      If we take that literally, as I think we should, this was John Isbester’s first return to Shetland in seven years.

      John Isbester (Fig.6.4) and Susie Irvine had made a very happy and rewarding choice. Allan Isbester writes:

img12.jpg

      Figure 6.4 John Isbester in his early years in command