One for the pot - The Politician

Earlier this week I mentioned a colourful Stornoway character, who will remain unnamed, save for the initial W. I'll try to recount the main stories he told me over coffee on Monday, as they are absolutely priceless.

The Politician

As the Politician lay stranded on a rock between the islands of Eriskay and South Uist, she was abandoned by the crew, and left until salvage or other fate effected by officialdom. However, this being 1941, and officialdom never doing anything fast, the locals decided to salvage some her cargo themselves. The cargo consisted of whisky, Jamaican banknotes, bathroom appointments (baths, washbasins) and much more. (Read Roger Hutchinson's The Politician, The Real Story). Obviously, the whisky was the most desired, and there were thousands of cases of various brands and blends on board. Each case measured several feet in height and length, and was awkward to handle. W. sent several cases off to Stornoway in a large box, marked Engine. He himself got on board the Lochmor (the then island ferry) to go to Tarbert, Harris, also in possession of a case. It was blatently obvious that the whisky was illegal, as it was marked Not for resale. The case was spirited on board the Lochmor and hidden in a cabin. On arrival at Tarbert, the police came on board and spoke to a member of crew. Both men watched W. walk through the village with his case on his shoulder. However, the policeman took no further action, as the crew member told him to let this one go. Only a few hundred yards from the quayside, the case fell off W.'s shoulder, and he hailed the hotel taxi. "Sorry, I've got a fare", the driver said. W. showed him a bottle out of the case. "I'm really sorry, but I've got this fare from the hotel". W. showed him a second bottle. "OK, put it in the boot", the driver said and took him to Stornoway.

Fifteen years later, W. was speaking to a neighbour, who answered to the same name as the Tarbert police constable in 1941. The copper was telling some stories, including that of the young man with the case of whisky, and that the crew-member had told him to let go. "Aye", said W. "That was me, man".

As I mentioned above, the Politician also carried bathtubs and the like. One Eriskay family helped themselves to a bathtub. This being 1941, there was no mains water supply. Nonetheless, they planted it next to the stream running past their house. In 1986, W. visited Eriskay again and met the family. Outside the house sat the bathtub, in which various generations of the family had been washing themselves over the past 45 years. And it was still in use at that time...