Cattle and Work

In the 1970s I got a job at the Fabrication Yard in Arnish, made a bit of money and bought some cattle. Arnish was twelve-hour shifts when the The Drillmaster Rig was in. The men living in Ness and Westside, by the time they got home, it was 9 o clock at night. It didn’t leave them much time for crofting, so a lot of their animals were sold. After the rig left in 1980, we were all paid off. I had to go to the mainland to find work, so had to sell the cattle then. The islanders who had worked in Arnish, now used to a good wage, left the island to go and work in the North Sea Offshore, some went to the Fabrication Yards in Nigg, Kishorn and Ardesier. 

Roddy Maciver, Tong