The day ex-Beatle Paul McCartney went across the Pentland Firth in a fishing boat
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
TWO sisters have been reflecting on a missed opportunity to get Paul McCartney's autograph when the ex-Beatle came to Caithness 50 years ago while on a holiday taking in the Northern Isles.
The superstar singer/songwriter and his family, along with their dog, visited in the county in the summer of 1970 and gained passage from Scrabster to Orkney on board the Enterprise, a Wick-registered fishing boat skippered by George Swanson – father of Irene Brass and Elaine Mackenzie, who were teenagers at the time.
However, the skipper was nonplussed about the whole occasion, as Elaine, who lives in Keiss, explained.
"He just came home from the sea and said, 'I had Paul McCartney on board,'" she recalled. "We could not believe he didn't get an autograph."
Her sister Irene, of Thurso, agreed and said: "We were well into the Beatles at that time – we were quite annoyed!"
My father was not a fan of the Beatles – he didn't like folk with long hair.
She explained that one day towards the end of July 1970 her father and the crew, which included brother William, were resting in the fishing boat when they heard someone calling from the quay down to them.
McCartney appeared in about the bunks saying he wanted to go to Orkney, but the crew had no idea who he was.
Shortly after William climbed onto the quay and found out from someone who their visitor was. His father then sent him in pursuit of Paul, his wife Linda, stepdaughter Heather, baby daughter Mary and Old English sheepdog Martha.
Martha had to be lowered down into the boat in a net.
Elaine, who had celebrated her 15th birthday shortly before the impromptu sailing, said Paul had been in the wheelhouse of the boat and her dad made him a cup of tea and offered him some bread, jam and butter, saying: "Here you are, boys, spread this yourselves."
Irene said: "My father was not a fan of the Beatles – he didn't like folk with long hair."
However, the skipper did like Welsh singer Mary Hopkin, so Paul sang him a song he had written for her called Goodbye.
She went on to say that her father had thought a bottle of whisky would be suffice as payment for the family's passage to Orkney.
The McCartneys travelled up to Caithness in a Land Rover, spending a night at the St Clair Arms Hotel in Castletown. They did try the Nethercliffe Hotel in Wick but it was a bit too noisy for them with a wedding in full swing.
It was believed that the family did not want to attract attention by crossing the Pentland Firth on the St Ola. Their passage on the Enterprise was fairly rough, resulting in all of the family feeling sick.
After spending some time in Orkney they took a flight to Shetland where they spent a couple of nights. Paul was reported to be taking some time off from writing hit songs by taking a peaceful family holiday in the Northern Isles.
On returning from their island visits they flew back to Wick Airport where they were snapped by local photographer Robert MacDonald.
Robert recalled this week: "They were quite happy to pose for a photo, but it was very brief – click-click-click and that was it."
The Swanson family kept lots of newspaper clippings and when Irene was clearing out her mum's house she put them all in a scrapbook.
A report about the McCartneys' visit appeared in the John O'Groat Journal on August 7, 1970. A further item was published in the paper 28 years later in the Wicker's World column, following the death of Linda McCartney in April 1998.
There are also mentions of the voyage across the Pentland Firth in two McCartney biographies – Many Years From Now and Man on the Run.
