614. You have no fault to find with the quality?-I have no
complaint against it or against the quality of any of the goods sold
there; they are generally good.
615. What is the price of a boll of meal at Mr. Bruce's store just
now?-I cannot say. There is not much meal bought at the store
about this time. Most of us have small farms of our own from
which we get meal.
616. Then it is generally in summer that you buy meal from Mr.
Bruce's store?-Yes.
617. What was the price of meal during last summer?-I cannot
say, because I had none from them last summer, except the fourth
of a boll.
618. What was the price of that?-I won't know the price of it
until settling time. I don't think any man dealing there knows the
price of his meal until that time.
619. Is the only compulsion upon you to fish for Mr. Bruce, that
you are afraid of being turned out of your holdings?-Of course.
620. If you did not fish for him, or if you sold your fish to another,
would you have to pay liberty money?-I don't think there is
anything of that kind done with us.
621. You have no written leases?-No. We got the offer of a lease
last year. But it would have made us worse than we are, because
Mr. Bruce would give a lease for fifty years; but he had it in his
power every ten years to raise the rent, so that it would have been
double at the end of the fifty years.
622. But you had it in your power to refuse that?-Of course; and
we did refuse it.
623. But you had it in your power to refuse at the end of the ten
years, as well as at first, to pay the increased rent?-No. That was
the condition he offered to give us the lease upon. Besides, he was
to have it in his power to cause any man who took a lease to make
such improvements as he thought proper; and if he did not make
the improvements then Mr. Bruce was to make them himself, and
charge the men a certain interest.
624. Was the lease which he offered you in writing?-No, it was
in print. I will send a copy of it.
625. You say there is no liberty money paid in your district
now?-No. My father paid 50s. of liberty money at one time; but
the rents have been raised, so that the liberty money is included in
the rent now.
626. How long ago was that?-I think it is about ten years since
the rent was raised.
627. Have you any other reason than you have stated for supposing
that you will be turned out of your ground if you fished for another
than Mr. Bruce?-It is a general belief that we would be turned
out.
628. But I want to know the ground of that belief. How long is it
since Mr. Bruce took up the business?-Eleven years.
629. Was there at that time any intimation made to you or to the
other tenants that you were expected to hand your fish over to
him?-There was a letter from old Mr. Bruce sent round to all his
tenants. One letter served for them all. If I am not mistaken, the
officer went round among them with it.
630. Did he show you the letter?-He read the letter; and in it Mr.
Bruce stated that he gave his tenants over into the hands of his son.
His son became his tack-master.
631. That letter was not delivered to you?-No; I don't think it
was.
632. Was there not a copy of it sent to each tenant?-I don't think
there was. It is eleven years ago; and I don't remember any of the
particulars that were in it.
633. Do you mean to say that that letter was the beginning of the
understanding which now exists about fishing?-Certainly it was.
634. What did it say about that matter?-I really cannot say now
what was in the letter.
635. Did it intimate that he had handed over the Dunrossness
tenants to his son?-Yes; I think that was the purport of the thing.
636. Did it say anything about the fishing?-It was understood that
he handed over the fishing. At that time there were different
merchants in Lerwick who were receiving fish from the tenants,
and they had all to remove their goods from that district.
637. Had they stores?-Yes, they had stores and goods for
supplying the fishermen; and they had all to remove except
Messrs. Hay & Co.