Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1970, Page 149

Gannet Catching in the Hebrides
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wild-fowlers — a kind of tongs fixed at the end of the pole
and operated by a spring clip on the handle — has displaced
the traditional snare which was flicked over the bird’s head.
As the catcher makes his way farther down the face of the
cliff, he will pass each bird up still held at the end of the
pole. Rough woollen socks, worn, latterly at least, over boots
were traditionally used for this part of the hunt, but as modern
climbing footgear becomes popular these socks may now be
obsolete.
From the gannetry, pathways run to the huts, where the
processing area lies. In the past the dead gannets were carried
in sacks to this area — six birds being regarded as an average
load. Another recent invention, however, has made this task
considerably easier and quicker. An endless wire conveyor now
runs from the huts to the gannetry. A sack, loaded with some
twenty dead gannets, is sent down to the processing area on
one wire while an empty sack comes back up to the gannetry
on the other.
Plucking begins at once. As far as possible, plucking is now
done in the open. But one of the existing huts, at present used
for living in, is said to have been originally built as a
»plucking-house«. After being plucked, the birds are singed
over a peat fire, on to which is thrown the oily offal of the
processed carcasses. After this first singeing, the carcasses are
scrubbed with a brush and are then given a final singe with
a blowlamp to clean off any remaining fragments of down.
The intestines are next taken out, the wings are removed, and
the carcass is split open and salted. The salted carcasses are
built up into a stack on a base of stone slabs above the landing
area. If necessary, a second stack is made slightly nearer the
sea. The fowlers take part in all these tasks by turn.
The entire operation takes about two weeks. The date for
the return of the fishing-boat will normally have been agreed
upon beforehand, but in recent years there is regular wireless
communication between the fowlers and their base in Ness.
When sailing-boats were used, the launch of the boat from