Shetland Herring Girls in the First World War – A Portrait

‘Jackie and Lizzie lived at The Ark, Haroldswick, and during the summer season, i.e., mid-May to end September would work as gutter girls at the herring stations at Baltasound. A typical week during the busiest time would cause a riot nowadays. They would get up at 4 a.m., dress and take baked bread and fresh milk with them to Baltasound, about an hour’s walk, to their station below Uregarth. Here they shared a room with six girls in one of the wooden blocks of houses; 16 rooms in a block so they could hold 96 girls. Here they changed into their working clothes: Baltic boots (leather up to the thighs), cut-off stockings to protect legs above boots to as high as they would go, a short skirt above the knees, covered with a black oilskin coat with bib, straps and a gathered skirt to cover the tops of their boots. A red ribbed jersey with short sleeves and head scarf tied at the back with no hair showing. Their rig was now complete except for the bandages covering their hands for protection and made from flour bags. There was normally no time to take these off for meals and [they] might be on till they finished work at midnight.