“Fieldwork is essentially about hearing stories. We need stories.
They help us understand ourselves and each other a bit better.”
Annabel Kershaw
Composer/The Mariner's Daughter
About
Welcome to the website for The Mariner’s Daughter project! This is where you’ll find all the information about the project as it evolves over the coming year.
The Mariner’s Daughter is a new live music project, combining elements of fieldwork and new music to tell the stories of women connected to the North Sea.
In June 2024, we met for the first time as an ensemble to rehearse and develop The Mariner's Daughter. Here's a short video documenting our development weekend in Portsoy on the Aberdeenshire coast and introducing the musicians involved in the project.
Fieldwork
In early 2024, composer Annabel Kershaw interviewed women from around the North East coast of Scotland about their lives, their experiences and their perspectives.
Check out our short video about the fieldwork process and the original inspiration for The Mariner’s Daughter.
26th January, Tarland, Aberdeenshire
In August 1991, Gillian boarded a helicopter bound for an oil rig 99 miles off the coast of Northeast Shetland. This was to be her first time offshore and the beginning of a twelve-year long career as an electrical technician.
At the age of 21, Gillian was one of very few women working on the oil platforms situated in the North Sea. She was the first female apprentice to be based on BP Magnus - the rig that was to become her home from home over her time offshore.
I met with Gillian on a bright Friday afternoon in late January 2024. As we sat in her conservatory she spoke to me about her time on BP Magnus, reflecting on her experiences as a younger woman, her memories of working offshore and how these have left her with a continued sense of connection to those who work on the North Sea.
Photo credit: With thanks to Laurie Kelly
28th January, Fraserburgh Lifeboat Station, Aberdeenshire
It was a clear and crisp Sunday afternoon in late January when I visited the RNLI Lifeboat Station in Fraserburgh Harbour. I was there to meet Linzi - the newest and youngest member of the Fraserburgh Lifeboat crew at the time. Having recently received her pager - a significant moment, showing her readiness to be on call outs, Linzi spoke to me about her hopes and fears at the beginning of her journey; the support and encouragement of crew members, the added sense of purpose the lifeboat had brought to her work as a nursery school teacher and how this new chapter connected to her family and her experience of growing up with the sea.
Monday 29th January, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.
Isobel and Helen have known each other for a long time. I met with them both at Isobel’s home in Peterhead on a slightly overcast Monday afternoon in late January. Related as first cousins and connected by many shared stories through their years of friendship, both women have strong ties to the Northeast fishing community, Isobel’s father and brother and Helen’s father and husband, all fishermen. In Isobel’s words, they saw “both the rewards and the disadvantages of that side of it”.
I wanted to speak with Isobel and Helen about the role of women within the onshore side of the fishing industry and ask what they remembered as they were growing up. They shared their memories of the women who would pack the herring into barrels, who travelled around the coast to follow the fish and of two mutual aunties, who Helen describes as being “terrific gutters!”
IMAGE: Herring Quines, Peterhead. With kind permission of Buchanhaven Heritage Society.
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Saturday 17th February, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.
In 1997, Shirley was a young mum caring for her two-year old daughter, Darcie. On October 1st of that year, Shirley was to hear the news that changed the course of her life. A fishing boat had disappeared from radar, search and rescue had been launched, the boat was The Sapphire and her husband Robert, was one of the five crewmen on board.
Four families lost a loved one that day. The story of the courageous fight that Shirley and the three other grieving families were forced to take on was well documented at the time, with coverage from both national and international press throughout their campaign to take matters into their own hands after the refusal of the UK Government to raise the vessel from the seabed. Through sheer will and determination, the families raised the funds that allowed The Sapphire to be returned to shore, bringing their men home.
I met with Shirley and Darcie in Peterhead, and they shared their moving family story with me; it was a story of loss, of strength, and ultimately, of love.
Thursday 15th February, Spey Bay, Moray
I met with Cath after her work, on a drizzly evening in mid-February. We met at the Scottish Dolphin Centre, situated right on the opening of Spey Bay overlooking the Moray Firth. Earlier that day, I’d spent some time with shorewatchers, scanning the bay through binoculars for sightings of marine mammals, though because of the North Sea mist, which sat with stubborn determination over the bay the entire afternoon, our only sightings were of fishing sea birds just off the shoreline.
I was keen to speak with Cath about her experience as a marine mammal medic with the national charity, British Divers Marine Life Rescue. And I particularly wanted to ask about her role within the large whale disentanglement team; a specialist team within the charity, who quickly respond when a sighting of an entangled whale is reported to the charity’s 24-hour hotline.
How on earth do you go about disentangling a whale?
Cath answers this question in vivid detail, describing the unique logistical challenges involved in whale rescue; the plethora of unpredictable factors to contend with, the strategies used in approaching a potentially distressed animal in open waters, the sense of satisfaction when a rescue operation goes to plan, and the considerable risks involved in freeing a large moving cetacean “in the entirely rubber boat with the extremely sharp knives!”
Image courtesy of British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Sunday, 23rd June, Fittie, Aberdeen
Candice is an energy transitioner.
Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, Candice was fascinated by renewable technologies as a teenager. This fascination continued into her time as an undergraduate, choosing to focus her research on the feasibility of harnessing ocean-wave energy in the Caribbean, and building her own hydro-powered wave device within her university workshop.
Candice began her career within oil and gas – a crucial industry to Trinidad’s energy security and economic stability. But still, Candice never lost her fascination for renewables, and as an experienced engineer, she found herself working offshore in the North Sea, surrounded by wind turbines. This was to reignite Candice’s fascination for renewable technologies, marking a pivotal moment in her decision to change her career trajectory.
I met with Candice on a bright summer’s morning in late June, at her home in Fittie - an area of Aberdeen that nestles close to the shoreline and a stone’s throw from the busy harbour port. Candice talked to me about her personal journey leading up to her decision to transition away from her career in oil and gas, and the moment of realisation when she knew she had to make a change – a change that would steer her life onto a new path towards renewable energy and the possibilities the North Sea held to develop it.
Stories
Fieldwork forms the beating heart of The Mariner’s Daughter, with each story giving life blood to the music, written over 2024 in response to each interview.
To hear The Mariner’s Daughter, come along to one of our forthcoming performances (details below). To find out more about each story, read on!
Forthcoming Performances 2024
The live performance of The Mariner’s Daughter is premiering at this year’s Findhorn Bay Festival.
DATE: Saturday 28th September
TIME: 2pm
VENUE: Kinloss Church Hall
Tickets can be purchased through the Findhorn Bay Festival website.
In October, we will be heading to Aberdeen for this year’s Sound Festival. For tickets and full festival details, head over to the Sound Festival website.
DATE: Friday 25th October
TIME: 3.30pm
VENUE: Fittie Community Hall, Aberdeen
DATE: Saturday 26th October
TIME: 1.30pm
VENUE: Buchanhaven Heritage Centre, Peterhead
DATE: Sunday 27th October
TIME: 3pm
VENUE: Salmon Bothy, Portsoy
With heartfelt thanks to all the women who generously shared their stories for the project - Gillian, Linzi, Isobel, Helen, Heather, Shirley, Darcie, Cath & Candice.
I’m hugely grateful to all the musicians brought together for the project for their enthusiasm and energy in bringing the music to life, and to Karen Dufour, who has as project manager, steered the ship.
With massive thanks to mattelliottmedia for website and production design. With thanks also to Mungo Delap at Event Design & Delivery for lighting equipment.
The Mariner’s Daughter would not have been possible without the invaluable funding support from the Creative Scotland Open Fund.
With thanks to Sound Festival for co-commissioning the work and supporting the early development of the project through the Composer’s Helpline.
With thanks also to Findhorn Bay Arts for programming the premiere performance of The Mariner’s Daughter as part of Findhorn Bay Festival 2024.
Many people have helped the project along the way, including Fraserburgh Lifeboat Station, WDC Scottish Dolphin Centre, Portsoy Salmon Bothy, Buchanhaven Heritage Society and Open Road Ltd.
Thanks to TRACS Scotland, with whom I was able to up-skill in fieldwork practice through their People’s Parish training in July 2023.
With thanks to Allon Beauvoisin for his assistance as copyist ahead of the first rehearsals of the music.
And finally, with personal thanks to members of the Pathhead Music Collective, Inge, Karine, Amy for their support and encouragement in the early stages, and to Martin Green, for mentoring support throughout the project.