The 1854 visitation of a shoal of whales to the Solway Firth coastline

On Saturday 16th December 1854 an event of marine nature began to unfold which would culminate in a gruesome but welcome harvest for both the Scottish and English communities of the Solway Firth coastline. On that day, fishermen were plying their trade in the Irish sea when they became surrounded by masses of whales, up to 30 feet in length, and these sailors were in fear of being capsized. The creatures, which were visible as far as the eye could see and estimated in news reports as in their thousands, appeared to be in a state of exhaustion.

 Through the night they were swept by the tide into the Solway Firth and the coastal residents were alarmed by the sounds emanating across the shores of Dumfriesshire and Cumberland. The Crimean war was underway and local people even speculated to the sound being a Russian invasion. The morning however was to enlighten them to an unlooked for but welcome bounty of meat and oil, which would both feed the communities and lighten their lamps for years to come. The greatest number were thrashing at the ebb of the tide and in a state of exhaustion, and were stretched out from Annan Waterfoot, to Sarkfoot, although the greatest number were near Browhouses, Eastriggs; the largest was estimated at 40 feet in length. The local population fell upon the creatures, described as 'conductor' or 'calling' toothed whales from the northern oceans, with any form of cutting tool that could be utilised to kill, then strip the skin and blubber from the carcasses. The largest fought against the impending death and resisted the crowds eager to kill it. One man unwisely climbed onto its tail to prevent the animal from thrashing about and was thrown 20 yards along the shoreline from a single flick. The slaughter continued despite there initially being insufficient horses to draw the creatures higher up the beach, and many were left in the sea with their throats cut to be thrown onto the sands with the next incoming tides, when more horses had by then been acquired. The oil bounty was estimated at a quart for every 4Ibs of blubber rendered in the cooking pots. 

By the Tuesday over 200 of the creatures had been slaughtered in Annan and other places, with the subsequent rendered oil selling at between 4 and 6 shillings a gallon, dependent on quality. This was valued at £600, a typical wage of the time would have been £1. In Silloth Bay alone 20 were killed, with others being taken at Port Carlisle, Bowness, Cardornock, and several other places along the coast. It was said that had more people been at hand many more could have been killed, although between 300 and 400 people had been engaged in the Annan harvest. One whale, presumably that had been landed at Port Carlisle, was exhibited at Carlisle and drew large crowds, unused to such a sighting of a creature of the depths.

Image taken from The Illustrated London News depicting Silloth Bay.

On Thursday 28th December a business opportunity presented itself when one of the whales, which was 20 feet in length, was seen floating dead off the West Pier. The tug brought it on shore at the old quay and it was put on public display in a temporary shed at a fee of 2d per head, from which the tug owners recouped a considerable sum of money. A further whale was washed ashore at the ship building yard of the town.

This mass beaching was considered as one of, if not the greatest, landing of whales upon the shores of the nation that had ever been encountered. Scientific speculation abounded at the reasons for such a beaching. One was that they had followed the herrings which were, some time previous, found in abundance in the Firth, but none were found in the stomach contents. Another was that they had been frightened from the native grounds by tremendous storms that had recently passed over India and the Crimea. The most likely theory settled upon was that of some submerged volcano would have stunned and stupefied them, only to be caught in the current which sets around the Isle of Man, which would speedily carry them into the Solway. 

Further whale sightings would occur in the firth; four of 30 feet length, were sighted in July 1860 between Ross and Abbeyburn, but returned back to sea; on Sunday 13th July 1862 a number were seen at Brow Pow (Powfoot?), near Brow Well, Dumfries, although they returned to the ocean. In July 1863 the shores of Dumfriesshire were again visited by whales, with 6 beaching near Priestside; all 6 were killed and rendered to extract the valuable oil. A further one was landed a month later at nearby Waterfoot. Single whales or small shoals continued to be sighted in the late 1800's, but none ever came close to matching the huge shoal of December 1854.

**Taking into account the image, the whales were toothed and from the 'northern oceans', their main size of up to 30 feet in length and the name of conductor or calling whales, there seems little doubt that these were sperm whales. This was a term not commonly referred to in the early and mid 1800's, although some references exist. The term comes from an oily waxy substance within the whales head used for echo location called spermaceti and could be up to 1,900 litres. That 'echo' was most likely the 'conductor' or 'calling' sound the creatures made.**

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