Tag Archives: the Herring Girls legacy
The Herring Girl Collection: Barra Knitwear brand honours the Herring Girls legacy
It takes its name from the band of formidable young women from the Outer Hebrides who followed the shoals of herring around the British coast undertaking gruelling work to gut, cure and pack the fish for local merchants. While away from their families, the “Herring Girls” would pass the time knitting using patterns incorporating anchors, ship’s wheels, hearts, or marriage lines that were handed down through the years. Hundreds of young 
women, some as young as 15, left their homes in Barra, Lewis, Orkney and Shetland in the 1880s and the early 1900s to travel to industrial ports around the UK. The work that they carried out was gruelling,,, The women went on strike, twice, and were successful in achieving modest pay rises. Many of the girls met their future husbands at one or other of the fishing ports. >click to read< 12:57
