Charity gansey jumper raises over £800 and fittingly goes to retired Lybster fisherman
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A special woolen jumper designed for British fishermen and knitted by a Wick man has raised £808 for the Fishermen's Mission charity and will go to a fitting home – a retired Lybster fisherman.
Ganseys are hard-wearing, hand-knitted, woollen jumpers which were worn by fishing crews around the British coast for many years and Nucleus archivist Gordon Reid has kept the art of creating them alive by knitting local designs.
"There's a lady in Whitby [Deb Gillanders] who knew I knitted ganseys and is involved with the Fishermen's Mission so she suggested I could knit one in aid of it," said Gordon.
Deb had seen his work feature in an article for the Mission's magazine Network and Gordon said he was delighted to get involved in raising money for the charity. "What I've done is make a replica of a gansey that would have been worn by a Caithness fisherman – it's taken from a photograph in the Johnston Collection held by the Wick Society so there's a lovely connection with the county and it's history and heritage.
"It's probably the first time this time this pattern has been created and will be worn for over 100 years. It's a lovely thought that somebody will be walking around with a replica gansey that would have been initially worn by a fisherman in Caithness 100 years ago or more. Almost every community that fished for herring, by the mid-Victorian period, wore ganseys – that was their main article of workwear.
"The fishing in Wick was usually from July to September and they would wear them next to the skin because they're really flexible garments and really strong. They have this unique feature of pullovers which is called the 'underarm gusset' – it's a diamond shape under the armpit which means they can move their arms up and down without exposing their tummy.
"They're not waterproof but if they get splashed with light water it'll run off – it's knit as a very fine mesh. Most pullovers are knitted in sections and then sewn together whereas with the gansey there's no sewing. If there was sewing I couldn't do one as I can't sew. You start at the bottom as a tube and knit upwards and there's even a fake seam on the side which is a pearl stitch."
Gordon has a series of ganseys on show at Wick Heritage Museum that were donated in December 2019. Some of the patterns on these are abstract but others show cables, ladders and steps that would be of significance within the daily lives of the fisherman. Traditionally, each gansey had a unique pattern which varied from place to place and from family to family.
If there was a shipwreck or accident with fatalities, the bodies washed up on the shore could be identified by their gansey as being from a particular town or village and from a particular family. In this way, the fisherman could be returned for burial.
Jackie Dodds is the Fishermen's Mission area officer for Caithness and Orkney, and said she was delighted that Gordon donated the gansey for a raffle benefitting her charity organisation. "Gordon and Deb [Gillanders] are passionate about gansey knitting. One of her clients from Canada bought 50 tickets."
Jackie said that the gansey was fittingly won by Marella MacDonald – the wife of a retired Caithness fisherman. "Frankie MacDonald had the Morvenna in Lybster, so it has gone to a very good home" she added.
"I am so grateful for all the support from our local community. Without their help we wouldn't be able offer assistance to those fishermen and their widows. The Mission has been active within Caithness and Orkney for many years and it is good to see we are still current, and that people go out of their way to help us with our fundraising endeavours."
Jackie said she is very grateful to Deb who sold 300 raffle tickets in Whitby. "The Mission is very popular down there too," she adds.
More info on the work of the Fishermen's Mission can be found at: www.fishermensmission.org.uk/
If you would like to contact Jackie she can be telephoned on 07774 116 386 or send her an email at: jackiedodds@fishermensmission.org.uk
Her working hours are 8am to 4.30pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
