Christina Lovie Burnett

Buchanhaven, Peterhead, Scotland, born 1874

About Mechristina lovie burnett (nee lovie) was born in buchanhaven, peterhead in 1874. her father was a whaler. in her younger days, christina was a gutter and travelled to lerwick, stronsay and yarmouth with the herring fishing. she married an aberdonian who was employed as a barber and settled down in old torry at 27 sinclair row. she pursued her trade as a fishwife from old torry, where she was known as 'christen' or 'burnettie'. she left old torry early every morning and went to the fish market about 7am - to buy her yellow fish from 'babby anne' nicol, a female fishmerchant. after the fish had been bought and set in the creel, 'chirsten' caught the 'subbie' train at the bottom of college street. on different days ofthe week, she sold her fish around bieldside, cults, culter, bankhead and stoneywood. she covered the villages and large houses in these areas but not the farms. even so, she had a great deal of walking to do, since she went to thehouses up the side roads as well as those on the main road. she always returnedhome from the country by 4 o'clock in the afternoon. on her country sales round mrs burnett not only dealt in cash but also in kind - bringing back eggs and butter to old torry. she and her husband had seven daughters and one son. the second oldest daughter took care of the house. in addition to the fresh and yellow fish she took out to the country, christina burnett took out dried fish, salt fish and boiled cod roes ('rannies'). she bought her salt fish from williamsons - a yard located on north esplanade east. the 'speldings' she prepared herself. she took fish home from the market and washed and split it ata tub outside. she then hung the splits up to dry on a triangular frame attached to the wall of the house beside the window. the cod 'ran' she boiled in a pot - handling them carefully so that the thin membrane round the eggs did not break. the 'biled rannies' were then set outside in an 'ashett' to cool. when filling her creel christina first put a layer of newspaper on the bottom, then covered that with a dimpled honeysuckle towel. the fish were then placed neatly in rows - heads to the edge of the creel and tails to the centre. if mrs burnett had a large load, she used a mirlan as well as her creel. (in the photograph the mirlan can be seen lying on its side in the creel). the mirlan was a rounded wicker basket with an indented centre - makiang the cross-section look like the letter 'w'. on one side 'chirsten' put her fresh fish and in another her yellow fish. the mirlan had a bowed wicker handle which was lodgedin the crook of the arm, near the elbow. 'chirsten' was 5ft 6 in tall, slim- built and not muscular or stocky. she had ginger-auburn hair; full, rosy cheeksand she always walked straight-backed and upright. for her work she wore button-boots, which were tight fitting, gave lots of ankle support and were fastened upusing a button hook. she usually wore a blue blouse with the sleeves rolled back from the wrists. round her shoulders was a shawl. she wore a black or navy skirt with a full length, wrap-round apron over it. 'chirsten' was very fastidious and scrupulously clean. as a child at buchanhaven, one of her dutieswas to carry up a bucket of brown sand from the beach, for scrubbing the floors & tables. in old torry, she washed her creel every day in warm, soapy water