Environmental History Resources

The Fishings of the Burgh of Stirling, 1700-1930

Preliminary results and data

The town of Stirling has held fishing rights for a long time. Robert II granted fishing rights in 138 and this is the first documentary evidence that Stirling possessed those rights at least since the middle ages.  By the early 18th century the town owned most of the fisheries or managed these on behalf of proprietors such as Cowanes Hospital. Fishing rights were leased to the highest bidders for a period ranging from one to five years. At the turn of the 20th century the fishing lease system was reformed in response to falling catches caused by over fishing and increasing pollution of the river and management of fisheries was overseen by one manager on behalf of the town and other proprietors of the fishings.

Graph showing the income (£ Sterling) of the town of Stirlig from leasing fishing rights on the River Forth combined with available catch data and number of court cases.

The declining revenue can be seen from a complete run of income from the leasing of fishing rights to fishermen by the town of Stirling from 1700 to 1936. Around the turn of the 19th century the value of tax income from fishing were at an all time high and it was the single largest source of tax income for the town. For example in the years 1787-88 the bridge toll generated £206 compared to £405 from fishing alone. The all time high occurred during the period of the Napoleonic wars, which suggests an correlation and a comparison with general food prices needs to be done to confirm this Unfortunately there is no complete long-term set of catch for the period of research. The peak of the mid-1830s can not be explained at present but it might be related to a change in the lease system around this time where fish is sold to fishmongers in advance of the season. This secured a reliable income for the fishermen and the town. There is an incomplete series for 1811-1844 and a complete run for the years 1907-1937. The latter shows a significant decline of catches in the years around 1920. This is related to over fishing in the lower-Forth and commentators in Stirling talk about a “wall of nets” to describe this phenomenon. In addition increased pollution can also be attributed to this decline. A letter by David Murray, manager of the fishings of the town of Stirling to the town clerk in 1924 reveals the concern about pollution and over fishing:
"… if the pollution could be abated and the netting regulated, the Forth is quite capable of resuming its former status as a salmon producing river."

Complaints about the effects of water pollution on the river fisheries started in the 18th century. Fishermen complained about peat floating associated with reclamation schemes in the upper-Forth. Large amounts of peat were washed into the river driving out trout and salmon. Although this practice ceased by the 1830s and was outlawed in 1836, fishermen continued to complain about this practice, probably because it became part of their “complaining repertoire”. Other instances of water pollution were caused by the distilling and dye industries on the Mill Lade Burn (now Raploch Burn). This came to a head in the late 1860s when Frederick Penny, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, provided the town council with a report about the extent of the pollution and measures to deal with it. As a result of the report the town implemented legislation against pollution to be enforced by the local police. However, it is doubtful if this measure was successful. There is only one known instance where action was taken against Hayford Mills in 1868. A report by police Sergeant James Hood regarding the pollution from these mills provide a vivid description of how he took samples from the river and put salmon in it to see how quickly they died as to show how poisonous the water was.

Fishermen were suing each other and owners of land on the banks of the river on a regular basis. Reasons for this were disputes over fishing rights, amount of fish taken and intrusions in a neighbouring lease area (rack). Landowners were sued for obstructing access to the river, construction of obstructions in the river and causing pollution. It is striking that the number of law suits increased significantly at times when income from fisheries was high for the town, indicating how lucrative the fisheries were and the determination of fishermen to defend their slice of the pie. If the number of court cases is plotted against the income from fishing there are two peaks: in the first two decades of the 19th century and in the 1860s and 70s. During these periods the fishings seem particularly valuable.

In general the project revealed that concerns related to modern day fisheries such as over fishing, quota (i.e. conflicts over numbers of fish taken) and pollution are not new and have affected the fishing industry at least since the 18th century.  For a more complete picture of the successes ad failures of fishing regulation on Scottish rivers a more complete analysis ad comparison of the important salmon rivers is needed and will be subject of future research.

This page will be updated to include more conclusions in due course. If you like to receive more details about the datasets obtained during this project please contact Jan Oosthoek. Full analysis of the results will be published in spring and summer 2009. An announcement will be posted on this web site when the articles are available.

This project has been kindly supported by the British Academy and Society of Antiquaries of Sotland.