End of an era for Edinburgh Caithness Association after 185 years
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A proud link between the far north and the Scottish capital going back 185 years has come to an end with the demise of the Edinburgh Caithness Association.
Its goal was to provide kinship and friendship for natives of the county, and it was also a benevolent organisation that helped Caithness folk who had fallen on hard times.
Bursaries were awarded to students from the county and money was donated to many Caithness charities. There were monthly meetings, winter ceilidhs, annual gatherings and even picnics. But over the years the membership has dwindled and now, in what has been described as "a sign of the times", the association has been disbanded.
The association was founded in December 1837 at a meeting of 14 Caithness men in the city's Café Royal. Queen Victoria had come to the throne earlier that year.
Census returns for 1861 showed that by then there were 1596 natives of the county residing in Edinburgh and Leith. New opportunities were opening up for an increasingly mobile population, and exiles' associations were established in Glasgow and London too.
These were not just confined to the UK, though. A Toronto Caithness Association was founded in 1872, for example, and 15 years later Caithness settlers in San Francisco asked for a copy of the Edinburgh Caithness Association’s rules to help them form their own group. A similar group existed in Chicago.
As well as supporting Caithness people in Edinburgh, exiles would rally round with generous donations when news reached them of disasters back home. Examples include collections in aid of widows and orphans of fishermen following tragedies at sea.
Up until the 1970s the association had its own literary society as well as drama and debating groups, while ceilidhs during the winter months were well attended. In the 1960s, at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh's George Street, the annual gatherings would have more than 1000 people attending, with Jimmy Shand’s band providing the music.
In later years, at various locations across the city, Addie Harper Snr and his band would travel down from Caithness and provide the music at the annual gathering. Addie wrote the Edinburgh Caithness Waltz for the association and this was always used for the first dance, even after Addie was no longer able to attend.
The association provided six educational bursaries for pupils from Wick and Thurso high schools on admission to a Scottish university. Indeed one of the bursaries in the 1960s was awarded to David Corner, who was an active participant in the literary society and has been a member of the committee again in recent years.
Running alongside the bursaries, the association also donated to good causes such as the RNLI and the County Show. In later years it donated to Highland Hospice and daycare centres in Wick and Thurso. Support was also given to a mental health charity in Thurso.
John and Mary Lockie were stalwarts of the association from the 1950s. Both held the offices of president, secretary and treasurer over the years. At the suggestion of past president John Macleod, who was also a president of the Royal National Mod, a trophy was donated to the Mod in memory of John Lockie. Both Mr Lockie and Mr Macleod were involved with Gaelic choirs in Edinburgh.
Members Nancy Nicolson and David Corner often provided musical entertainment at the ceilidhs. The tattie and herring supper, held annually in November, was also a popular and well-attended event. The herring would be brought down from Caithness and gutted by committee members.
As it became more difficult to muster support for ceilidhs, the association joined forces with its sister organisations from Orkney and Shetland to organise a joint annual ceilidh in Leith Town Hall.
Ceilidh attendances continued to decrease and, at the suggestion of John Macleod, the decision was taken to arrange lunches in Edinburgh where a speaker with Caithness connections would be invited to attend. Speakers included Mary Smith, the then Lord-Lieutenant of Caithness Anne Dunnett, Doreen Leith and Eric Farquhar.
The pandemic brought these lunches to an end and fundraising became impossible. Many older members were no longer around and the few remaining younger members were not willing to take on the responsibility of running the association.
The president, Linda Stuart, has been in office since 2004 and has been a driving force in the association along with Hilary Mackay (treasurer) and Cath Tod (secretary).
Mrs Tod said: “It is a very sad occasion that the association has had to dissolve but it's just a sign of the times.
“The reason it was really set up to help anyone from Caithness.
“We provided bursaries and anyone from Wick High School or Thurso High School could apply if they had certain grades. We gave quite a lot of money to charities in Caithness every year and they were all very grateful."
"Latterly we didn't do ceilidhs but we did lunches, and we generally had a speaker who had a connection with Caithness. We used to have an annual gathering but the numbers were just falling.
"In days gone by, a whole group of them used to go out on picnics and things like that. It's amazing what they did do."
The process of dissolution of the association has now begun. Archiving of all relevant paperwork will also take place.
The chain of office, donated by past president James Oliver in 1958, is being offered to an Edinburgh museum. If there is any money remaining after expenses, this will be donated to Caithness charities.
A history of the Edinburgh Caithness Association was written by William Gunn and published in 1977 in booklet form.
Recalling the origins of the association, he wrote: "In the month of December 1837 fourteen men, natives of Caithness, met in the quiet parlour of the Café Royal, a hostel which still does business at West Register Street, Edinburgh, and formed the original Edinburgh Caithness Association. There, for many years, the members met occasionally to conduct the business of the association and once a year to enjoy a dinner – the latter, by the way, costing 6s 6d, with 'waiters and a pint of wine thrown in'. Of these pioneers eleven were lawyers, one was an accountant, one a student of medicine and the fourteenth a doctor of medicine.
"The founders of the Edinburgh Caithness Association – the name which was decided upon at their first meeting – restricted their programme to 'establishing friendly intercourse among natives of Caithness and gentlemen connected with that county residing in or near Edinburgh, whereby they may become better acquainted with one another and, if possible, thereby to promote the best interests of their countrymen'.”
