DASG Blog

Sealg nam Muc-Mara

‘Trì mucan dubha, dubha, trì mucan datha, datha;
Muc an ear, ’s muc an iar, ’s pian air an fhear nach tomhais e.’
 
‘Three whales so black, so black, three whales coloured, coloured
Whale in the east, whale in the west, and punish him who guesses not.’
 
Whaling was of incredible importance to many Gaels living in the Hebrides, particularly in Lewis and North Harris, up until the mid-twentieth century providing oil, sustenance, and employment. An older Gaelic name for the North Minch Cuan nan Orc not only implies that the waters around the Hebrides were surrounded by numerous whales, but also just how central whales were to the Gaels’ understanding of their local environment. In Faclan bhon t-Sluagh, we find a few varieties of whale listed – muc-[bhreac] (killer whale), and muc-gheal (white-bellied whale). Furthermore, the word canna has been used in different places to describe either a young whale or a porpoise which is otherwise known as a muc-bhiorach. Therefore, it is abundantly clear that the islands Canna and Muck are so named due to their affiliation with hunting whale, dolphin, and porpoise.

Although there is no surviving linguistic evidence from Old Norse relating to whaling in Gaelic, there is a hypothesis that the Norse brought whale hunting to Scotland in the 12th century, and it has survived the longest in areas of Scotland in which they most heavily settled such as in Shetland, Orkney, Caithness but also in Lewis and Harris (The Islands Book Trust; 2007). This sorry trade not only brought people from Shetland, the Faroe Islands and Scandinavia to the Hebrides however as livestock declined in Scottish waters hunting for whales drove Gaels far into the North and South Atlantic to places such as Iceland, Greenland and even as far south as South Georgia.

Occasionally whales would be found stranded on beaches on many islands of the Hebrides, but their numbers suffered due to whaling, even before the emergence of deep sea commercialised whaling. Martin Martin witnessed c. 1700 a crew chasing a pod of whales up the Eastern coast of Lewis. He also added that whale meat, or ‘Sea Pork,’ was a vital source of nourishment on Lewis in times of scarcity. Typically, the aim was either to wound whales found near the shore using weapons such as harpoons, guns, swords, etc., or to run them ashore. As demonstrated from the epic song Òran na Muice-Mara composed by Iain Chaluim Ruaidh from Bernara, whaling was not also deemed to be especially dangerous but also incredibly lucrative. While the meat, bones, teeth and offal (as fertiliser) had their value, it was whale oil which prized above all else. “’S e t-ola ’bhitheas maith anns an smiùireadh, Bi’ mis’ air mo chrùnadh a chaoidh;” This whale oil was the crucial source of fuel for lighting and lubrication for machinery during and after the Industrial Revolution.

Fortunately, for whale stocks in the Atlantic, the whaling industry based in the Hebrides soon declined after the discovery of substitutes for whale oil. The Norwegian Carl Herlofsen established a whaling station, at Bun Abhainn Eadarra in Harris in 1904 before being taking over by Lord Leverhulme in the 1920s; however, the station was consistently unprofitably. After a last attempt to turn a profit in 1950, the station closed after two seasons. Today the site is managed by the North Harris Trust. Furthermore, many people come to the Western Isles these days to spot whales and other majestic creatures, but no longer with the intention to harm them.

So have you worked it out yet? Do you have the answer to the riddle at the beginning of this blog? If you have it or any further information relating to whaling across the Hebrides why not get in touch on Facebook on Twitter? Alternatively check out some of our other blogs on a vast array of different subjects.