Deithe, as it is spelled today, is an old Rousay croft in Wester, known as Quoydie in the Uthell Buik of 1601, and Quoydeith in a record dated 1721. According to Hugh Marwick in his book The Place Names of Rousay the origin of the name is uncertain but perhaps derives from the Old Norse word spelt dý, a boggy place. Thomas Inkster and his wife Christy Marwick lived at Deith and George, their only child, was born there in 1781. He married Jean Marwick, daughter of John and Jean Marwick, at Cogar in 1814 and they had six children, all born at Deith; Hugh, who was born on January 6th 1815, Mary, on March 18th 1816, Margaret, on August 4th 1818, George, on July 7th 1820, Janet, on May 10th 1823, and John, who was born there on February 11th 1827. In 1843 George Inkster was paying an annual rent of £4.10.0. In 1844 George and Jean’s daughter Margaret married Magnus Alexander of Cairn and between 1845 and 1860 they had six children. In 1849 Margaret’s sister Janet married Robert Inkster of Tou, later Pliverha’, and they had five children. George and Jean Inkster moved to Lingro near Falquoy, and it was there that Jean died in 1857 at the age of 70. Husband George died there ten years later in his 86th year. In 1847 Hugh Craigie was the tenant of Deith and he was paying rent of £3.0.0 per annum. Hugh was the son of Hugh Craigie and Janet Marwick of Brough, Westside, and he was born in 1778. In 1803 he married 22-year-old Isabel Craigie, and between 1804 and 1828 they had ten children; Hugh was born on September 11th 1804; Janet on May 14th 1807; another Janet was born on July 20th 1808; Henry was born on January 30th 1811; Mary on April 14th 1813 (she died in 1858 at Deith, unmarried); and William who was born on September 7th 1815. All these children were born at Brough. The family then moved from the Westside to Quandale and the next child, Betty, was born at Nether Quandale on November 19th 1817; the other three children were born at Mid Quandale; Grace, on April 20th 1820; Peter, on June 15th 1823; and finally John, who was born on March 11th 1828. The census of 1851 described Hugh Craigie as a 73-year-old farmer and his wife Isabel was in her 70th year. Living with them was their 37-year-old unmarried daughter Mary who was ‘employed at home’, and 23 year-old son John, an agricultural labourer. Isabel had died by 1861, the census of that year describing 83-year-old Hugh as a widower farming seven acres at Deith. In 1856 his son John, a ploughman, married Margaret McKinlay, daughter of William McKinlay and Mary Craigie originally of Curkland, Egilsay, and she was born on October 22nd 1825 when they lived at Fa’doon on the south-eastern slope of Kierfea Hill. A new house was built at Deith in 1864 and John, who then earned his living as a mason, was its first tenant, paying at that time rent of 17s.6d. In 1873 the extent of the land at Deith covered 13 acres, for which John paid an annual rent of £1 15s, and in 1880 £3.0.0. Like many other Rousay crofters John had his rent reduced in 1888 by the Crofters Commission. His reverted to the sum of £1.15.0. Still living at Deith in 1891, John was then described as a 63-year-old crofter and fisherman and Margaret was in her 65th year. Hugh Craigie was the son of Hugh Craigie and Ann Gibson of Turbitail and he was born on August 30th 1866. Hugh later married Margaret Inkster of Upper Cogar, who was the same age as him. They had five children; Maggie Jessie, born on 5 February 1889; Mary Jane, on November 11th 1890; James Campbell Bruce, on October 2nd 1895; Hugh Gibson, on December 19th 1899; and Barbara, on March 2nd 1893. The family moved to Deith, where Hugh had a joiner’s business. He was a highly skilled craftsman by all accounts, whose work can still be seen in many houses in the island. Hugh Craigie died at Kirkwall on November 11th 1933 at the age of 67 and his wife Margaret died in her 81st year on November 19th 1947. Maggie Jessie married Hugh Inkster of Westness and had a son, Hugo, who grew up to be a renowned fiddler, and Mary Jane married Jock Sutherland of Stromness. Hugh Gibson Craigie emigrated to Canada in 1923, living initially in Ontario, then Owlseye Lake, Alberta and finally settling in British Columbia. James Campbell Bruce Craigie married Maggie Jessie Flaws of Hammerfield, Wester, and they had three children; Neil, Francis, and Thomas. James was a postman, firstly in Rousay and later in Sandwick where he lived at Ravenswood, Quoyloo. He is best-known for his fiddle music, having composed many, many tunes over the years. Tunes with a Rousay flavour such as Maggie Watson’s Farewell to Blackhammer, Netherbow, The Road the Hammer-Chunky, Whal’s Rost – the list is endless, and his music is still played and recorded today by a wealth of Orkney musicians. Jim o’ Deithe ended his days at St Peter’s House in Stromness and died in 1977 at the age of 82. Today Deithe, as you will notice, has an extra e – and is a cracking place to live. I should know - for it is where I bide now.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 18:18:59 +0000
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