Citizen Curator is a contemporary arts organisation working with the history and identity of Leith and North Edinburgh.

Citizen Curator is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), charity number SC043933.

Citizen Curator Registered Office 6 Darnaway Street Edinburgh EH3 6BG

44+ (0) 7812 167130

info@citizencurator.com www.citizencurator.com

This book can be made available in other formats on request.

Bow-Tow, a Newhaven Story

Bow-Tow

, a New

haven Story by Citizen Curator

“ ANYONE WHO CARES AND WANTS TO BE PART OF THE COMMUNITY OF NEWHAVEN, I WOULD CALL THEM A BOW-TOW, THAT’S MY DEFINITION.”

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Bow- TowOh weel may the boatie row An muckle may she speed Weel may the boatie row That wins oor bairnies’ breid.The Boatie RowsJohn Ewen (1741–1821)

Supported by Creative Scotland. With additional support from the Leith Neighbourhood Partnership.

“ THEY ARE NEWHAVENERS, THEY ARE BOW-TOWS.”

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between 2014 and 2015 Citizen Curator worked with residents from Newhaven, an historic fishing settlement nestled on Edinburgh’s north-eastern shore.

Newhaven in its heyday is almost unrecognisable compared with today. The gradual decline of fishing and the supporting industries added to the devastation caused by the swathing urban development of the 1950s and 60s. During this period many of the original Newhaveners, some who could trace a lineage back to the villages founding in the early 16th century, were forced to move out as the area was heavily redeveloped. Very few were given the opportunity to return to this once tight-knit community. By the end of the last century, the once celebrated spirit of Newhaven had almost been destroyed.

However, despite challenging circumstances, some of the distinctive cultural heritage of Newhaven has been retained.

Projections / HavenAbove: Fishwives at Newhaven MarketOpposite: Whale Bray with residential development in the background

NEWHAVEN IN ITS HEYDAY IS ALMOST UNRECOGNISABLE IN COMPARISON TO TODAY.

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The village is now adapting to the 21st century, and like much of the surrounding area has expanded to include new and incoming communities from around the world. It is in many ways this spirit of survival that sums up a ‘Bow-Tow’.

The exact meaning of this expression has been lost, but in much the same way a Cockney is associated with London, to be Bow-Tow is to be born and bred a Newhavener. As we discovered, there is much debate over the exact nature of what it is to be Bow-Tow. In many ways it symbolises a unique relationship, one that could be found between the men and the woman of Newhaven and between the land and the sea. This relationship lies at the heart of the community.

Thankfully, the spirit of the Bow-Tow is not yet defeated. The cultural heritage and local traditions of song and oral history have lasted well in the memory of some of the older generation, and remnants of the village’s material heritage have been recorded and collected by artists and in archives throughout the centuries.

Working over a core five-month period, from June to October 2014, Citizen Curator delivered ‘Bow-Tow, a Newhaven Story’. This was an artist- and community-led traditional arts commission on behalf of the people of Newhaven. It was inspired by the local traditions of singing, including the ‘street’ or ‘selling’ songs sung by the fisherwomen when selling the catch door to door and the rediscovered ‘work’ or ‘dreg’ songs of the men, sung when dredging for oysters.

The event, a dynamic community performance, presented the songs, music and contemporary oral history of Newhaven over two days in venues across the historic

Opposite: The Newhaven Community Choir and pupils from Victoria Primary, perform at ‘Bow-Tow, a Newhaven Story’, 2014

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harbour and surrounds. This was set alongside multimedia projections in private residences and multiple traditional music performances in public and commercial spaces throughout the village.

Key to the success of ‘Bow-Tow’ was an intergenerational approach. During our time in Newhaven we worked with the Haven Centre (a community café for older people) and with the local Victoria Primary School. By inspiring younger, older and new Newhaveners to join together and participate in the project, we saw how the traditional arts can become applicable to contemporary life for all, in a fun and interactive way. Through working with our newly formed Newhaven Community Choir, we jointly created a dialogue and a narrative that related to the people and community of Newhaven. The story told charts the evolution of traditional music-making and storytelling in communities throughout the East Coast of Scotland.

School

Opposite: Newhaven’s historic harbour lighthouse, illuminated as part of ‘Bow-Tow’. Above: Lantern making workshops with Vision Mechanics

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In delivering ‘Bow-Tow, a Newhaven Story’, we engaged with a wide range of residents and visitors. This was done on an equal footing to the artists and subject specialists we worked with. This approach allowed us to develop the project with the community, bringing in partnerships and audiences new to the traditional arts and the creative process. By looking at the existing historical material and oral history relating to Newhaven and setting this alongside interviews with the people who make up this place today we brought together both ‘old’ and ‘new’ Newhaven. In doing so we all gained a valuable insight into the community as it is now, strengthening both the historical and contemporary values that tie this place together.

There are many artists and individuals to be thanked as part of this, not least the residents of Newhaven who contributed time and energy to the project. It is their stories, and our appreciation, which are presented in this book. In addition we would like to thank Rebecca Milling whose work editing and then presenting archive footage in residents’ windows, as part of the ‘Street of Voices’, was faultless. We also must thank Symon Macintyre and his team at Vision Mechanic. Symon brought a creative vision and dedication, in the light of a tight budget and inclement weather.

Above all we thank our lead artist Jed Millroy, whose unceasing enthusiasm and commitment to this community made it all happen; and Laura Thompson, Head teacher at Victoria Primary, for opening her doors to us and for joining in.

Since undertaking this project, local resident and community leader George Hackland sadly passed away. George contributed in so many ways to Newhaven and his presence shall be sorely missed. This book is dedicated to his memory.

‘Farewell tae George Hackland o’ Bow-Tows the best.’

Duncan Bremner Executive Director, Citizen Curator

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A Bow-Tow: Someone From Newhaven On Forth By Jed and Dougie

Duncan Bremner from Citizen Curator and I wanted to put on an event in Newhaven to celebrate the community: its strength, its history and its stories. What should we call it?

Bow-Tow A Newhaven Story.

Having been working in Newhaven for six months we were feeling that things were going well. The Community Choir had been a massive success. The Gala Day performance in 2014 had gathered new members and everyone was enthusiastic. The Wednesday regulars at the Haven, a community drop in centre at Newhaven Church, were behind us and we were “weel kent faces” at Victoria Primary School. What next?

With something big in mind our first port of call was Symon MacIntyre. He and his wife Kim Bergsagel are ‘Vision Mechanics’ a company that specialise in working with communities to produce site specific cross-artform art and performance. Symon’s first thought was to make use of the beauty of Newhaven at night time. The village and the harbour could become a winter wonderland of light. He suggested that we could project stories onto windows of houses in the village. The main focus of the night would be at the harbour.

We told Symon the story we had about the meaning of being a Bow-Tow so far. We had heard that to be a Bow-Tow you needed to be born within earshot of one of the church bells. Symon immediately thought of creating a large bell that could be raised at the harbour as a symbol of the community.

Opposite: Bow-Tow Bell

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Of course the Community Choir were totally behind all this. We were on good form after our debut performance at the Gala Day. We continued to work on our set including ‘Caller Herrin’’, the traditional Newhaven anthem, along with ‘This Is A Change’, a new song written in collaboration with the pupils of Victoria Primary School. We also commissioned the world renowned piper, Hamish Moore, to write a tune to accompany the raising of the bell. The tune was developed from the melody of ‘Caller Herrin’’ and is called ‘Bow-Tow’.

We had planned to use original Newhaven Museum archive interviews to tell stories of the history of Newhaven alongside video projections along the Main Street. We also wanted to record a few new interviews with local residents to get their voices involved too.

I wanted to start the interviews with a simple question: “What is a Bow-Tow and what does it mean?” As it turned out, there was so much to say in answer to this question that it became the focus of the project. As you will see from the transcripts later in this book the answers to the question were varied, but together they speak for the enduring character of the village and the community.

As with anything that happens in the village, Victoria Primary School were heavily involved. Kim from Vision Mechanics headed-up lantern making workshops at the school ready for a lantern parade around the harbour. Lucy Metcalf, a member of Newhaven Community Choir, had founded the Victoria Primary School choir who were also rehearsing to perform at the raising of the Community Bell.

During the week leading up to the event I was still desperately knocking on people’s doors in the village to ask if we could use their windows for our video installations.

Opposite: Lantern making workshops in Victoria Primary

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We had commissioned Rebecca Milling to make videos to accompany all the interviews we had done. It was all looking great, but the logistics of setting all this up in people’s houses was starting to get stressful! Once again it was telling of the character of the community that people were willing to let us into their houses and set up a load of stuff on a Friday and Saturday night in November.

On the morning of Friday 24th October 2014 there was the usual chaos associated with doing things like this: last minute changes of venue for video projections and worries about the weather. I arrived at the Vision Mechanics studio to see the Bow-Tow Bell and the giant Selkie puppet lanterns that they had created and I was already blown away.

By evening time everything was in place. Newhaven Community Choir and Victoria Primary School Choir gathered on the sea wall behind the sports centre with all the lanterns lit. We processed from there along the harbour wall to the tower where the bell was waiting to be raised. The harbour was beautifully lit. The whole thing had a cinematic feel. We arrived at the bell and sang ‘Caller Herrin’’ in recognition of the old community of Newhaven. The bell was then raised to the tune of Hamish Moore playing ‘Bow-Tow’ on the pipes. A goosebump moment for me! We then processed with the Victoria School Choir to Fishmarket Square, all singing our new song ‘This Is A Change’ in recognition of the new community of Newhaven as it is today. The Community Choir continued with the singing as people walked around taking in the video presentations around the village. Most, if not all, retired to the Peacock Inn, itself a Newhaven institution, where an open mic evening ended the proceedings for the day.

Opposite: Raising the Bell

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It was a weekend where many can say “I was there.” ‘Bow-Tow’ can stand proudly alongside such celebrations as the Victoria School centenary celebrations of 1944 and the pageant of the five queens in 1953, truly helping to bring a unique community back together again.

If you would like to see the Bow-Tow bell it is currently hanging in the hall of Victoria Primary School.

Jed Millroy (with help from Dougie Ratcliffe).

Saturday saw more of the same, except that everyone processed from the harbour this time to what was originally St Andrew’s Church at Pier Place, now Alien Rock Climbing Centre. The building was as full as it could be, possibly the largest congregation it had seen in many-a-year. It was quite an emotional occasion as many of the audience and the choir remembered weddings, christenings and other memorable occasions that had taken place in the building. We were piped out of the church by Hamish playing ‘The Parting Glass’, another of the many poignant moments of the weekend. From there, we once again moved to the Peacock Inn where the festivities continued.

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I have something to do with the school, because of Gala Day. There’s a lot of people, a lot of old Newhaveners, come back for the Gala Day. They come back to see everybody and meet everybody, ship’s captains, ship’s chief engineers, deck hands. We all went there [Victoria Primary], so… It’s amazing the amount of, I wouldnae say we were all aufy brainy! But the amount of skills that have come out of the school.

I think the kids at Victoria do feel it, they do feel attached to the school, and that is their community, it’s where they have a connection. And I love the new extension, it’s beautiful…

CATHWell to me anybody that was born and brought up in Newhaven was a Bow-Tow. The Crollas, the two lads Tony and Peter Crolla, they were born at the back shop, they were Bow-Tows and Tony you couldnae have got a more Bow-Tow man than him. He was so proud of coming from here.

It was a derogatory remark about the fishermen of Newhaven, that they were so mean, or the people were so mean that they wouldn’t buy a belt, they tied their trousers up with the rope of the bow, a tarry rope. So “tow” is what you call a tarry rope.

You came from here and you were a Bow-Tow, and that was it. There is very few of us left, from the original Newhaven… it died off with the fishing and people going away, you know, but they come back. They can live abroad for as many years as you like but they will come back… they are Newhaveners, they are Bow-Tows.

There are no shops here now, when it was full of shops. Because it was full of shops everyone would meet in the shops, and the women would meet, getting their messages, and they would blether and get to know each other and that. You had your Aunty lived across the road, or your Aunty lived along the road, your family was there. There were picnics at the church, everybody went to that church’s picnic and to the other church’s picnic, you mixed like that.

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CHRISEach word in the term can be pronounced in one of two ways, making four pronunciations possible in all, but the only version commonly heard is where both words rhyme with “how”. What is the origin of the expression? There are a number of explanations and here are two that seem to me to be the most likely.

The first derivation comes from the time when fishing boats were under sail and had to make their way up the Forth to fishing areas around Queensferry and Bo’ness. At this time, a regular service of steamers took passengers on pleasure trips up the Forth as far as Stirling. These steamers started from the Chain Pier at Newhaven and it has been suggested that fishing boats, 6 to 9 at a time all tied together stern to bow, were given a tow upstream until they reached the fishing grounds. Hence Bow-Tow.

The second origin of the term is described by Tom Hall, who discussed it with some of the oldest men in the village. He states that it applies to a husband and wife union, where both persons belonged to the local fishing community and were direct descendants of Newhaven villagers. He then explains how the term related to husband and wife. “The husband or ‘bow’ being a fisherman and his wife or ‘tow’ being either a working fishwife or someone who helped with the mending of the nets or clearing of his lines and their baiting… The drift nets then used were supported on the surface of the sea by a number of equally spaced floats or ‘bows’, prepared from sheep bladders. Occasionally, strings of corks were

Opposite: The Street of VoicesOver: Choir singing in St Andrews Square

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DOUGIE To me Bow-Tow means someone that comes from Newhaven, although I’ve been told otherwise that there’s other connotations to it. But as far as I am concerned to be a Bow-Tow means that you come from Newhaven. End of story.

Thinking back to it, it was a safe environment, we were quite naive in a lot of cases. We spent a lot of our time in a café that used to be in the main street, as teenagers, Jo’s Café, that was the main meeting point for us teenagers. It had a jukebox and a slot machine, and we though we were the bee’s knees.

Down the pier, as we used to call it, not the harbour. It was never the harbour, it was always the pier. We would fish down there, a lot of them would swim down there, I didn’t. I was never a swimmer strangely enough.

Has it changed much? Well I was away for a long, long time but when I came back it seemed as though it had been devastated. My first impression was oh my goodness they have spoiled the whole place, and up to a point they have. But its still got the same community feel about it, and even although a lot of the original Bow-Tow Newhaveners have gone and left the place, died or moved on, the people that are coming in to the village to stay, be it from England, other parts of Scotland, from overseas, all seem to want to keep that community spirit. They seem to have bought in to it, that’s what I notice, especially at the choir, I see it there, and everyone seems to want buy into this idea that Newhaven is still a village community… and they like it for that.

used for the same purpose, but the bows proved the most popular. The drift nets were set at differing depths below the surface to suit the varying tidal changes and currents. The method employed was to attach the ‘bows’ to the headline of the net with short lengths of rope or ‘tows’ which could be adjusted to suit conditions.”

And Tom Hall concludes “The term ‘Bow-Tow’ evolved because the respective duties of the husband and wife team were truly reflected in the mechanism of the net and its equipment.”

Members of the etymological jury, the decision is yours.

Extract from ‘Newhaven: A Scottish Fishing Community 1928 – 1978’.

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THE ELIZABETHS Elizabeth 1

Bow-Tow means, if you we born in Newhaven and the oldest male [of the village] and the oldest female were at the birth and that is how you are known as a Bow-Tow. People say they are Newhaveners but they may not be Bow-Tows. I was born in the same house, 65 Main Street, in 1941, my brother was born there in 1934 and my mother was born there in 1911. The same house.

The community was much closer, tighter knit that it is just now, because it has got bigger. Also Newhaven was a village on its own, up the road there was a boundary, you couldn’t just come into Newhaven.

A lot of the males were fishermen and it was a hard life, and a lot of them were drowned at sea, so if there was a man and a woman had a child and the husband got lost at sea, one of the male Newhaveners, who were not married, would marry her to keep the family together.

Elizabeth 2

Well I have lived here for many years although I don’t belong to it. I’ve always been welcomed. We joined the Newhaven-ln-Forth Church and I took the Brownies. Everyone’s been very friendly. I’m part of the community and have been for quite a few years, although I don’t belong here they make you feel as if you do belong here.

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“ WELL I THINK THAT THEY ARE VERY FRIENDLY PEOPLE, VERY CLOSE. WHEN IT WAS MORE OF A VILLAGE, BEFORE IT WAS REBUILT, EVERYBODY KNEW EVERYBODY AND LOOKED AFTER EACH OTHER.”

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Previous: The Street of Voices – Friday night in Fishmarket Square Opposite: At the beach, Annfield, Newhaven, c.1900 Over: The Peacock Sessions’, as part of Beer, Cake and Craic, folk music in various hostelries throughout the village.

Elizabeth 1

If you had someone who lived in Granton, which was just along the road, they were called Granton Keelies [Elizabeth 2 giggles…] and we were called Bow-Tows and the people born in Leith were Leithers… but they were totally separate.

Elizabeth 2

Well of course they built all these new houses, and there was lots of people who don’t have anything to do with Newhaven who came in. The little girls that came to the Brownies, most of them were from Newhaven, and a lot of the Newhaveners were moved out when they knocked down the houses in Newhaven Main Street…

Elizabeth 1

They were promised that they would get back but they never did. My Granny was in the fishwives’ choir and you just felt it was all getting eroded. When I met you, Jed Millroy, I felt that you are so passionate about what you are doing. It’s like the referendum, you are getting everyone together, to be as passionate as you are and bring it alive again because to me its sort of… splintering out and would die but you are trying to keep it together, and I feel that is great.

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WILLIEAs far as I am aware (and I have always thought this, from a long time passed) it was a line that tied the tow to the bow. In other words it was a kind of fishing that was used by Newhaven men. It was attached to the bow and they fished in harmony, or they fished in unison, and once that was finished that was it… that’s what I’ve always been aware of as a Bow-Tow. That’s where they got the nickname from, there were Bow-Tow men that fished that way and that is all I can tell you.

My mother was born in Newhaven, my father was born in Newhaven, my grandfather, when he was sober! was born in Newhaven… Bow-Tow are just people who apply themselves to the community. That’s all they do, and if they do that everybody is OK, because everybody looks out for everybody else. That’s it as far as I’m concerned.

There is a great sense of community, because I’m here and I don’t get out a lot but people come to the door or knock. “I’m going to the shops, is there anything you need?” And that happens on a daily basis. My own great grandchildren are over there! So it still carries on, and that is from seventy-five / eighty years ago.

The classrooms they have built in the playground, they were there when we were there, the classrooms, and then they knocked them down because there was no demand. But as long, as long as they have the spirit of the community they will be fine, and I’m sure with the head teacher they have over there, Ms Thomson, I’m sure she will imbue that spirit amongst them.

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GEORGEIt’s always been in the village, the name Bow-Tow. We were always called Bow-Tows. Bow-Tow to be the rope that they towed the boat. The boats at one time, before there was a harbour, were all pulled up on the sand. There was no harbour, no breakwater, and they were pulled up there. So I took it that was the bow rope, the towrope.

Well, it means that you have been brought up in the village of Newhaven, born and brought up in the village of Newhaven.

Well I think that they are very friendly people, very close. When it was more of a village, before it was rebuilt, everybody new everybody and looked after each other.

There’re very few of us left in the village, and the character’s lost. Unfortunately when they started modernising the village, knocking houses down and that, a lot of the elderly people were put out away to Granton and Sighthill and that in a way was a foreign country, they had never been that far in their life before, some of them.

The school’s been the backbone of rebuilding the community, I think. When the school sends a class along to the Haven, the bairns always come with a wee notebook. They go round all the tables and they will say, “What’s your name? Where did you work? Were you born here?” And they write everything down, which is a good thing, because it means the children are becoming involved, they feel that they are part of the community then.

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We wouldn’t have the Gala if it was not for the school. It was the school that started it up again. When I go along the street now, the children say “hello George” to me. They are all trained to be free but well disciplined, if you know what I mean.

Whur whole life was all built round the harbour. My father was a trawler skipper, my grandfather, my mum’s father was a trawler skipper. I had a brother, a fish salesman. I wasn’t, I was a marine engineer. My father wouldn’t let any of his sons go to the fishing, he said naw, naw, he says it’s a hard life. You catch a lot of fish, you think you have made a lot of money, he says, you forget you have been away for twelve days an you’ve hardly slept, you’re in for a night and away again.

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“ THE WHOLE EVENT LAST NIGHT WAS UTTERLY ASTOUNDING...”

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If you look back in history, I think it’s resilience, it’s being cheerful in the face of adversity, and it’s a real community feeling of people working together.

It was hard times, in the olden days, in Newhaven, and that really bonded people. There is still that community spirit alive these days, and I think that there is a real strong community feeling, of being in this together and wanting to help each other. I think that is still apparent today.

Geographically Newhaven has changed a great deal, it’s expanded. As the school has expanded, so the community has expanded, and I think with all the reclaimed land that has made a huge difference. I think that there is still a community feeling, but it’s a growing community, and it is changing to. But there are lots of people that want to fight to keep it Newhaven, because it is a very special place to live and a very special place to work.

The message I would have for the people that are young Bow-Tows is we are very lucky to live, and to work, in such a beautiful place, with the sea, with the harbour area, with all the things going on. We are very lucky we have lots of people that want to keep that Newhaven spirit, and to change and grow that Newhaven spirit. I think we are very lucky and I think that you should join in with whatever opportunities we have… be proud to be a Newhavener or a Bow-Tow!

LAURA I think the word Bow-Tow, means to me, somebody from Newhaven. I’m a Bow-Tow, because I was born on the Whale Bray… I think that makes me a Bow-Tow, but I’m not quite sure! But anyone who is invested in Newhaven, and anyone who cares and wants to be part of the community of Newhaven, I would call them a Bow-Tow, that’s my definition.

Previous: Raising the Bow-Tow Bell with Hamish Moore in accompanimentOpposite: The Street of Voices

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Beer, Cake and Craik, Raising the Bow-Tow Bell and Street of Voices all part of ‘Bow-Tow, A Newhaven Story’, October 2014

acknowledgements

published by Citizen Curator, 2016

Bow-Tow, a Newhaven Story was co-produced by Vision Mechanics

with thanks to: Jed Milroy, Hamish Moore and Rebecca Milling.

with additional thanks to: Newhaven Community Choir, Laura Thomson, her pupils and her team at Victoria Primary School. The Newhaven Heritage group formerly NAG. Edinburgh Libaries, Museums and Galleries.

All the people of Newhaven, to many to list…

photography: Citizen Curator, Newhaven Heritage or the Artists, except for page 5, ‘Fishwives at Newhaven Harbour’– Museum of Edinburgh.

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