763. Do you hold a piece of ground there under Messrs. Hay &
Co., who are the lessees of Burra under Misses Scott of
Scalloway?-I do.
764. You are one of the men who signed the following letter which
has been addressed to me:-
' Burra Isle, 1st Jan.
1872.
'SIR, We, the undersigned, desire to give evidence to the
following effect, and will be glad to be informed when it will be
convenient for you to receive our evidence':-
'We are bound by agreement to fish to our landlord; but no
price is agreed upon until the time of settlement, which occurs
about once a year. We have then to take what price is offered; and
if we or our sons fish to any other person, we have to pay 20s. each
yearly of '<liberty money>.'
'We can get no leases of our farms, and have to build and
repair our own houses at our own expense, without any
compensation when leaving the farm, or when ejected from it.
'As we settle only once a year, of course we have to buy from
our landlord's shop till the end of the year, at which time we
seldom have any money to get, except when we have better
fishings than ordinary.
'If we capture whales, we have to pay one-third of the
proceeds to the landlord.
'Those of us who have daughters engaged in knitting can
testify to the fact that they are invariably paid in goods, both for
the goods they sell, and also for their wages when engaged to knit
for the hosiery dealers.
'We have to add, that we wish to be free to fish to whom we
please, or to cure our own fish, and to receive compensation for
improvements effected on our houses or farms when we leave
them.
'Other details we will state when called before you. Meantime
we remain, sir, your most obedient servants,
'WALTER WILLIAMSON.
'GILBERT GOODLAD.
'LAURENCE POTTINGER.
'PETER SMITH.
'LAURENCE INKSTER. 'CHARLES SINCLAIR
'JOHN NEWTON GOODLAD.
'HANCE SMITH.
'ROBERT SINCLAIR.
'JOHN POTTINGER.
'ALEXANDER SINCLAIR.
'THOMAS CHRISTIE.
'GEORGE JAMIESON.
'To WILLIAM GUTHRIE, Esq.,
' H.M. Commissioner, Lerwick.'
-I am.
765. You say in that letter, 'We are bound by agreement to fish to
our landlord, but no price is agreed upon until the time of
settlement, which occurs about once a year. We have then to take
what price offered; and if we or our sons fish to any other person,
we have to pay 20s. each yearly of 'liberty money.' Is that an
obligation which you have entered into with Messrs. Hay &
Co.?-It is an obligation that we are under, that we are bound over
to them.
766. Have you signed any obligation to that effect?-I was asked
to sign an obligation to that effect; but I said I could not sign to
bind my sons, and that I would on no account come under that
obligation.
767. How long ago was that?-To the best of my recollection, it
was about eight years ago.
768. Was there an agreement to that effect handed to you for
signature?-Yes.