The Stotfield fishing disaster struck on Christmas Day 1806. The severity of this tragedy had an enormous effect upon the Stotfield community when every single able bodied male in the village perished in a huge storm. The folk memory of it is still retained among the fishermen of Lossiemouth.

[edit] Seatown

Seatown - click to enlarge

The Seatown was established at the end of the 17th Century when the old port at Spynie became landlocked. A succession of storms had built up large shingle banks to block the outlet of Loch Spynie to the sea. The merchants of Elgin decided that a new harbour that could berth larger trading vessels at the river mouth was required. The fishermen didn't use the new pier however but continued to sail their boats up to the beach at the Seatown. Seatown is called The Toonie by its inhabitants and sometimes referred to as the Dogwall. This was a reference to dog-skins that were dried here before being turned into floats for nets.

[edit] Lossiemouth

Lossiemouth first harbour built c.1765

In 1685, the Elgin burgh council called upon a German engineer, Peter Brauss, to look at the viability of providing a harbour at the mouth of the River Lossie; he decided that a harbour could be established. The first efforts at the beginning of the 18th Century looked to have failed but by 1764, the new jetty had been built at a cost of £1200.^[4]

At the time that the new river mouth harbour was being constructed, so too was a more planned development laid out in streets running parallel and right angles to each other. An open square with a cross separated the first settlement from the new. The fishers occupied the houses at the Seatown and the builders, craftsmen and merchants in the new Lossiemouth. Later, a canal cut to drain Loch Spynie, would present a physical barrier to the two communities and entered the River Lossie in this area.

[edit] Branderburgh

The Branderburgh Harbours at Lossie - click to enlarge

By the early 1800s, the river harbour was busy but its long-term future was unsustainable and meant that a new solution was sought. In 1834, a Stotfield and Lossiemouth Harbour Company was formed to look into building a new harbour at Stotfield Point. That same year, The Inverness Courier carried the following:

"A paragraph is quoted from an Elgin paper under the heading "unexampled economy worthy of imitation." The two senior bailies of the burgh went on behalf of the town to Lossiemouth to meet the gentlemen appointed to stake off the ground for a proposed new harbour. The worthy Magistrates walked the whole distance, five miles out and five miles home, and only spent one shilling!^[5] This expenditure consisted of sixpence for whisky and the other sixpence to the waiter."

Nearest: the canal exit to the R. Lossie. Middle:the original Lossiemouth. Top: Branderburgh

The construction of the new harbour was carried out between 1837 and 1839 but initially in a relatively small form. The beginning of the building process was marked by a ceremony and reported in the Inverness Courier as follows,

"The ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the inner basin of the new harbour at Stotfield Point, Lossiemouth, took place on the 15th inst [June]. The stone was laid by Lieut. Colonel James Brander of Pitgaveny, the proprietor of the site, with the assistance of the Trinity Lodge of Freemasons, and in presence of the Chairman and shareholders of the Harbour Company, and representatives of the burgh of Elgin."

This was the beginning of the final phase of building that was to become Branderburgh. However, by 1858, the basin had been enlarged further and deepened to 16 feet at spring tides. This encouraged many fishing families from up and down the coast to move to the town. The harbour as well as having a large herring fleet by now, also shared the available space with trading ships. This prompted the now renamed Elgin and Lossiemouth Harbour Company to build a new second basin at a cost of £18,000.^[6] This basin was intended solely for fishing boats and opened in 1860.

Branderburgh, with its characteristic wide streets, continued to push its boundaries westward and by the early 1900s finally joined with Stotfield. A substantial amount of sandstone was quarried from the east side of the town to accommodate this rapid house building project. When Lossiemouth and Branderburgh became a police burgh in 1890, the town became mainly known as Lossiemouth, or more commonly – Lossie.

Fishing boats

Main article: Scottish east coast fishery

The boats used at Stotfield, Seatown and finally Branderburgh were the same as those found across the entire Scottish east coast fishery. Chronologically, these were the two masted luggers, the Skaffies, Fifies and Zulus; then the powered Steam Drifters and Seine Netters.

• The Skaffie appeared at the beginning of the 19th Century. These boats were initially small so that they could be easily beached but later versions were heavier when large harbours became prevalent. Their stems were rounded and had raked sterns.
• The Fifie was the predominant fishing boat on the east coast from the 1850s until the mid-1880s. The Fifies main features were the vertical stem and stern. Fifies built from 1860 onwards were all decked and from 1870s onwards the bigger boats were built with carvel planking, i.e. the planks were laid edge to edge instead of the overlapping clinker style of previous boats. Some boats were built up to about 70 feet in length and were very fast.
• The Zulu took its name from the Zulu war that was raging in South Africa at the time. Lossiemouth fisherman William 'Dad' Campbell was the first to introduce this form of fishing boat. His boat, the Nonesuch, had the characteristic vertical stem and steeply raking stern. The Zulu Boats rapidly became very popular in Lossiemouth and then along the whole of the east coast. Because these boats were ultimately very big and fast, they could reach the fishing grounds quickly and return with the catch equally fast.
• The Steam Drifters, so called because just like the Fifies and Zulus, they used drift nets. They were large boats, usually 80-90 feet in length with a beam of around 20 feet. Steam drifters had many advantages. They were usually about 20ft longer than the sailing vessels so they could carry more nets and catch more fish. This was important because the market was growing quickly at the beginning of the 20th century. They could travel faster and further and with greater freedom from weather, wind and tide. Because less time was spent travelling to and from the fishing grounds, more time could be spent fishing. However they did have disadvantages. They were expensive to build and run and as the herring fishery declined they became too expensive to operate.
• The Seine Netters initially were converted Fifies and Zulus. From 1906, petrol and paraffin engines began to be installed, initially for auxiliary power. However, as more powerful engines became available, sails (apart from the mizzen sail) were dispensed with. Danish seine net boats were landing huge quantities of plaice and other white fish at English east coast ports. Lossiemouth fishermen noted this and a few decided to use the seine net. It was obvious that this would be successful, but they were still hampered by the design and cost of the majority steam boats. John Campbell, nephew of William Campbell who designed the first Zulu boat, saw that a new design was needed to accommodate the large amounts of white fish that could be caught. His boat, the Marigold, did very well and over a short period the entire fleet (the first in Scotland) converted to the seine net.

Morayshire Railway

Main article: Morayshire Railway

The Morayshire Railway - click to enlarge

The Morayshire Railway was officially opened at ceremonies in Elgin and Branderburgh on 10 August 1852, the steam engines having been delivered to Lossie by sea. It was the first railway north of Aberdeen and initially travelled only the 5½ miles between Lossie and Elgin but later extended south to Craigellachie. The Lossie – Elgin section had three stops; the Rifle Range Halt, Greens of Drainie and Linksfield. The Great North of Scotland Railway took over the working of the line in 1863 and bought the company in 1881 following the Morayshire Railway's return from crippling debt back to solvency. The railway and harbour became very important to the economy of both Lossie and Moray. It was the Morayshire Railway that persuaded Col Brander, of Pitgaveny, to build the bridge from the Seatown to the east beach to encourage more day tripping in the summer months

[edit] Timeline

Note: From early maps, Stotfield is known to exist in 1500s (see National Library of Scotland] but is probably older. Kinneddar is referenced in the 10th Century. [2]

[edit] Geography and geology

Satellite image of Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth, The R. Lossie, Lossie Forest to the SE, RAF Lossiemouth to the SW and the Laich o' Moray to the S.

The town is positioned at 57°43'26?N, 03°17'20?W (NJ2320771191). It sits on the most northerly point of the south coast of the Moray Firth, at the mouth of the River Lossie. To the west of the town are a sandy beach, golf links and the Royal Air Force station, RAF Lossiemouth. The south-east of Lossiemouth is characterised by sand dunes on a beach which separates the River Lossie from the sea. Lossie Forest is a large pine forest that starts on the town's south-east boundary and the river splits it into two sections. The south side of the town is joined by the fertile plains of the Laich o' Moray.

A large part of the town is built on the Coulard Hill which consists of pale grey and yellow sandstones and with these is associated a cherty and calcareous band, known as 'the cherty rock of Stotfield' . This rock is a form of silica that contains micro-crystalline quartz. Also in the calcareous band of the Stotfield rock there is limestone with nodular masses of flint, crystals of galena (lead ore) and iron pyrites. The quarry on the east side of the town that produced the stone for the building of Branderburgh produced the largest variety and total numbers of fossil reptiles from the late Triassic Period to have been found in the UK. This was a total of eight species and 97 individuals; five of the species are unique to Lossiemouth, one of which is an early form of dinosaur. This quarry is ranked as one of Britain's most important fossil bearing locations of this period.

[edit] Climate

Lossiemouth experiences a maritime temperate climate with generally cool summers and mild winters, and a relatively small annual temperature range. This is due to the sea which has a much higher heat capacity than soil and rock. Seawater takes longer to warm up in summer, but once heated it retains its energy long after the surrounding land has cooled down, helping to moderate the climate. The British Isles has its prevailing wind from the southwest blowing over the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream, or more correctly, the North Atlantic Drift ocean current. This allows the air masses to pick up considerable amounts of moisture and, in Scotland, to deposit most of it on the western sides of the mountain ranges. The air that reaches the east coast is considerably drier which accounts for Lossiemouth's relatively low rainfall pattern.

Mean monthly temperatures (click to enlarge)

Mean monthly rainfall and rain days (click to enlarge)

Source: http://uk.weather.com/

[edit] Demographics

Lossiemouth's population in 1901 was 3904
Source: Moray Council from 2001 Census data

[edit] Economy

Lossiemouth is heavily dependent on the Royal Air Force station for its employment of civilians. In 2005, RAF Lossiemouth along with its neighbour RAF Kinloss contributed £156.5 million (including civilian expenditure) to the Moray economy, of which £76.6 million was retained and spent locally. The bases are responsible for providing, directly or indirectly, 21 per cent of all employment in the area.

Before the RAF, fishing was almost the sole industrialised process in Lossiemouth but now contributes very little to the overall economy; in 2001, fishing accounted for 1.62% (55 individuals) of the full-time employment of Lossiemouth. However, some engineering businesses once associated with fishing still exist in the town. Unlike other sizable towns in the area, Lossiemouth has not attracted the large supermarket groups due to its proximity to Elgin which also provides employment to a significant proportion of the working population.

Source: Highland & Islands Enterprise & Moray Council

[edit] Transport

Three roads converge on the town. The A941 connects to Elgin, while the B9103 joins the A96 (main Inverness to Aberdeen route) and the B9040 which connects to Hopeman and Burghead. There is a regular bus service to and from Elgin.

The nearest railway station is at Elgin and offers services every 90 to 120 minutes to both Inverness (circa 50 minutes travel time) and Aberdeen (circa 90 minutes travel time), which in turn provide services to the rest of the UK. The former Morayshire Railway line to Elgin was closed to passenger traffic in 1964 and goods in 1966. The former railway route has been turned into a footpath, and the edge of the station platform is visible in the main car park near the harbour.

Similarly, Inverness Airport (36 miles / 58 km) and Aberdeen Airport (62 miles / 101 km) offer a wide range of destinations.

[edit] Politics

[edit] National governments

• Lossiemouth is in the Moray (Westminster) constituency of the The United Kingdom Parliament which returns a Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons,[3] at Westminster.

• Lossiemouth is in the Moray constituency of the The Scottish Parliament[4] which has slightly different boundaries to the UK Parliament constituency of the same name. The constituency returns a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) to Holyrood and is part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region.

[edit] Local government

see also Moray council election, 2007

• Lossiemouth is part of The Moray Council and elects its four representatives as part of the Heldon and Laich ward. As of May 3 2007, these are John Hogg, Eric McGillivray, David Stewart and Allan Wright.

[edit] Education

[edit] Primary

• St Gerardine’s Primary School
• Hythehill Primary School

[edit] Secondary

• Lossiemouth High School is located in the south west by the playing fields. Adjacent to the school is the swimming pool and community centre with a playschool. Lossie High serves the Burghsea area: Lossiemouth, Hopeman, Burghead, Cummingston and Duffus including rural areas. The feeder primaries are Hythehill, St. Gerardine's, Hopeman and Burghead. There are over 700 pupils separated into four houses; Covesea, Kinnedar, Pitgaveny and Spynie.

[edit] Further

• Ecosse Performers College is located at 56 High Street.

[edit] Religion

The following religious denominations have places of worship in Lossiemouth:

Church of Scotland

• St Gerardine's High, Drainie Parish Church, St Gerardines Road
• St James’ Church, Prospect Terrace

United Free Church of Scotland

• United Free Church, St Gerardines Road

Baptist

• Lossiemouth Baptist Church, King Street

Brethren

• Gospel Hall, James Street

Scottish Episcopal

• St Margaret’s Church, Stotfield Road

Roman Catholic

• St Columba's Church, Union Street

[edit] Culture and leisure

The marina occupying the Old Harbour - click to enlarge

The 18th fairway at Moray golf Club, Lossiemouth

• Lossiemouth Cruising Club The Marina, Pitgaveny Quay
• Moray Golf Club, Stotfield Road. The club has two 18 hole courses.
• The Warehouse Theatre, Pitgaveny Quay
• Lossiemouth Fisheries and Community Museum, Pitgaveny Quay
• Lossiemouth Folk Club
• Lossiemouth Bowling Club, St Gerardines Road
• Public Library, Town Hall Lane
• Swimming pool, adjacent to Lossiemouth High School

[edit] Sport

The town's main football club is Lossiemouth F.C. who play in the Highland Football League. The club play their home games at Grant Park, but have a history of finishing down the bottom end of the league. They have, though, won several trophies in recent seasons, including the Highland League Cup and several North of Scotland Cups. The town's junior football club is Lossiemouth United. RAF Lossiemouth also has a junior football club. In addition, the station has a rugby union and a cricket club that play in their respective North of Scotland leagues and a rugby league side that plays in the Scotland Rugby League as the Moray Eels; most station teams also play in their respective RAF competitions. The Moray Golf Club is the town's golf club and has two courses, the Old Course established in 1889, designed by Old Tom Morris who predicted that it would become the best in the north,^[7] and the 18 hole New Course, designed by Sir Henry Cotton, opened in 1979.

[edit] Language

The dialect of the Scots language spoken in Lossiemouth was closely related to the Doric dialect that was prevalent in Aberdeenshire. Just as the Doric is in decline, however, so it is in Lossiemouth. The reasons for this include the demise of Lossiemouth as a fishing port where its fishermen used Scots extensively. In fishing towns such as Peterhead and Fraserburgh, Scots is still widely spoken. In Lossiemouth, though, the high level of employment at the RAF station and a large population of non-Scots (nearly 25%) coupled with the influence of television has hastened this decline. Quite a lot of the words still remain in use but on the whole, Scottish English is increasingly spoken among the indigenous population.

[edit] Twin town

• Hersbruck in Bavaria, Germany since 1972.

[edit] Notable Lossie-ites

• James Ramsay MacDonald First British Labour Prime Minister (1866 - 1937)
• Malcolm John MacDonald Labour MP, Minister, diplomat and author (1901 - 1981)
• Sergeant Alexander Edwards, VC, cooper and soldier (1885 - 1918)
• Gordon Campbell, Baron Campbell of Croy, MC PC DL Soldier, diplomat, Conservative MP, Cabinet Minister and Peer (1921 - 2005)
• Stewart Imlach Professional Footballer, Internationalist (1932 - 2001)
• David West, RSW Watercolour artist, gold prospector, sailor (1868 - 1936)
• Meg Farquhar First female professional golfer in Britain (1910 - ?)
• John Garden Baptist minister, Australian politician and founder member of Australian Communist Party (1882 - 1968)
• George Fraser Leading hybridizer of rhododendrons in British Columbia, Canada
• Sir Alex Smith Former Head of Advanced Research, Rolls-Royce (1922 - ?)
• Peter Kerr Jazz musician, farmer, record producer and author

[edit] Gallery

Ocean Gleaner (returning after a refit)	East Beach (from Prospect Terrace) - taken 1983	View of R. Lossie taken 2006 -note how dunes have grown in 23 years	Stotfield
First harbour at the mouth of R. Lossie	Seatown and canal	The golf course (two 18 hole courses)	Lossiemouth Harbour (East basin)

[edit] Snippets

Two Royal Navy vessels, both named after the River Lossie, were involved in rescues following torpedo sinkings during the Second World War.

• HMS Lossie, a River class frigate, was patrolling in the Indian Ocean. On the 29 June 1944, the freighter Nellore was sunk and a week later HMS Lossie picked up 112 crewmen including the captain near the Chagos Archipelago and landed them at Addu Atoll.
• HMS River Lossie (requisitioned Aberdeen drifter A332) picked up the master and 41 crew members of the merchant ship Cairnmona off Rattray Head on 30 October 1939 after she was sunk by a German U-boat while in a convoy bound from Montreal to Leith and Newcastle.

[edit] Footnotes

1. , Romans in Moray: Keillar, Ian
2. , 20 shillings (Scots) in 1670 was worth about £10 in 2005; £1 (English) = £12 (Scots)
3. , The letters "r" and "u" were transposed in later times but the local name for Burghead, ie the "Broch", can clearly be identified in the ancient spelling (Brughsea)
4. , £1200 in 1764 was worth about £125,000 in 2005
5. , One shilling in 1834 was worth about £3.70 in 2005; the whisky was cheap but that's a big tip to the waiter!
6. , £18,000 in 1860 was worth about £1.1 million in 2005
7. , McConachie, John: The Moray Golf Club, Elgin, 1988, p. 56

Source for money calculations at - [5]

[edit] References

• Romans in Moray: Keillar, Ian ISBN
• Spynie Palace and the Bishops of Moray: Lewis, John H ISBN
• Archaeological Data Service: http://ads.ahds.ac.uk
• The Permo-Triassic sandstones of Morayshire, Scotland: Ogilvie, Glennie and Hopkins
• SCRAN: http://www.scran.ac.uk
• A Vision of Britain: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk

[edit] External links

• Census data
• grid reference NJ232711
• Map of Lossiemouth
• Lossiefowk (Local website and forum)

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