MV "ST. NINIAN"

Ladies and gentlemen, for your delight and delectation, I present my painting of the MV "St. Ninian" running before a gale on her regular route between the ports of Leith and Lerwick, carrying her usual load of passengers and what was known in those days (between 1950 and the early 1970s) as general cargo.

This was usually contained in boxes or sacks, which were offloaded in slings by the shipboard cranes. Nowadays, such cargo would arrive in containers, which would either be driven off the ship by articulated lorries, or discharged by a land-based crane, depending on what facilities are available shore-side.

I have good reason to remember the old "side-loading" system, as my very first job was a day's casual labour on Victoria Pier, Lerwick, unloading general cargo from the "St. Ninian" and loading boxes of fish for onward shipment "south". This was also when I had my first inkling that I wasn't really cut out for manual labour.

When a sling came down from the ship, my job, on this fateful day, was to guide it onto the long, flat-bed barrow, which was used to take the goods into the "steamer's store". My workmate would be standing by, with his back to me, hands clasped on the handles of the barrow behind him, awaiting the signal from me to move forward. My job, once the load was positioned, was to take off the sling, and hold the load there as we headed towards the store.

On one occasion, I had guided the load, about eight sacks (boles) of flour, to a position too far back , and, instead of going forwards, my workmate shot skywards, and hung there, straight-armed, with his little legs pumping fresh air, trying to manipulate the barrow handles in an earthward direction again. Meanwhile, the regular dockers, whose sole function seemed to be standing around enjoying the spectacle of us poor casuals struggling with our task, now started falling about in paroxysms of hysterical laughter. The chargehand, who had been supervising the sad process from the ship's rail, was mouthing words at me which, quite frankly, I had never heard before during my hitherto sheltered upbringing. At length, the sling was repositioned, and the load was lifted sufficiently for my workmate to descend to earth again. I guided the load further forward this time, and we carried on with the job.

Thus passed my first day in a "proper job", during which I gained the valuable knowledge that these delicate hands were going to earn a living other than by the sweat of my brow. I have good reason to remember the "St.Ninian", and I hope that you enjoy the picture (top).