Our silver darlings: Hebridean paper to hail founder’s inspirational gran and the Herring Girls of Scotland

Knitwear firm wraps jumpers in glimmering

the Herring Girls made jumpers, it was for someone they really appreciated. To put that amount of work into something was – and still is – really special.”

Margaret Anne, having grown up hearing tales of these formidable women, and learning their designs from her grandmother, always knew she wanted to preserve their legacy. But it wasn’t until she moved back home to Barra, after four years working on the mainland, that she finally made a plan to spread their story far and wide.

After initially making a few items for friends and family, Margaret Anne formed the Herring Girl Knitwear range, a collection of fisherman’s jumpers (or guernseys), scarves, shawls and hats handmade from traditional patterns by just five knitters.

Margaret Anne said: “I had been knitting items and giving them away, but people used to say, ‘ Why aren’t you selling these?’ It wasn’t until I sat down and thought about it, I realised wanted to revive the traditional knitting skills, but also tell the story of those women. So, last year, I started by knitting garments for the local choir, who wore them to the Royal National Mod. People kept asking where they got their jumpers, while at home our web page went live, and now here we are.”

Margaret’s beautifully crafted knits are now sold on the islands and around the world online and will soon be stocked by retailers across Scotland.

As well as intricate patterns, each item features letters to signify different fishing ports, with CY for Castlebay on Barra, SY for Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, and BRD for Broadford on Skye.

Each of Margaret’s knitters has adopted a symbolic code name, which customers can use to identify work. “The knitters have all chosen the name and registration number of a fishing boat from their family,” said Margaret Anne, who is known as “CY Grian nan Oir” after her home township of Bruernish and grandfather’s boat.

“Plus, if you buy something from the collection and it’s posted from Barra, it’s also wrapped in silver tissue paper to represent the silver darlings, and we include a little slip of paper that tells you more about the pattern and the fishing industry. It’s then wrapped in brown paper and string, as it would have been in the days of the Herring Girls. When it arrives at the door, I want people to understand the significance and history – it’s about so much more than just a jumper.”

Margaret Anne hopes to continue growing her small company, keeping island culture alive and finally giving the Herring Girls the recognition they deserve. “From my gran’s character, and what you hear other people say about the Herring Girls, you get such a feel for them,” said the mum-of-four and gran-of-two. “They were a unique set of women, who don’t seem to have been celebrated as much as they deserve.

“They were a formidable bunch of women, and my granny certainly was until the day she died. In island culture, the Herring Girl is a hardworking, strong woman who was not scared of hard graft. I hope, through the collection, we can pay tribute to their resilience and thank them for keeping these traditions alive for us to take on.”