Romiosini: Seeking the Unattainable

Scarce hardcover, 460 pages, b&w illustrations in text, NOT ex-library. Weight over 1 kg. No dust jacket. Missing the title page. Interior shows a few small marks from reading, remains clean and bright with unmarked text, free of inscriptions and stamps, securely bound. Boards show handling and dusty marks, gentle indentations and scuffing to edges. -- "Over the doorway of the Flotta School hangs a bell with the inscription: 'Presented to Flotta Public School by a former pupil, James S Sutherland, 1953'. James Sutherland, who left Flotta School in 1900, belonged to a notable family of seafarers - the Sutherlands of Lurdy. Two of his brothers became Master Mariners. The ship's bell is struck to mark the passage of time and this book charts the passage through the lifetime of James's youngest son, Captain Robert Leslie Sutherland - a passage not lacking in episode, which ran perilously close to disaster, but ended in triumph. Any account of one's passage through time must, of necessity, be written against the historical background of the period in which the author lived. Changes there have always been, but never so rapid as in the last 60 years or so - the years covered by this book. In Orkney these changes encompass the last of the herring fishing, the effects of the Second World War, the coming of the oil and the revival of the fishing industry. On a global scale, the author recounts his experiences of the war at sea and of the final years of the old-time Merchant Navy. [.] The book opens with an account of a happy boyhood in Stromness and of idyllic summer holidays spent with his mother's folk in Stronsay. Descended from seafaring men on both sides of his family and growing up with boats from his earliest days, Robbie not unnaturally sought a career at sea in accordance with family tradition. This tradition was to take him from war-time Scapa Flow to many parts of the world, to involve him in the conflict in the Med, and was to lead to his becoming a Master Mariner. All this was to end ignominiously in seemingly hopeless alcoholism. The ships in which he served, their Masters, the many colourful characters encountered, the great seaports visited, his amorous adventures and the great love of his life are all graphically portrayed. Most movingly, he details his descent into alcoholic addiction. [.] Later he qualified as a teacher of Nautical Studies and taught for 4 years at Arbroath Academy. [.] During his watches at sea, he had often had visions of a revival of the fishing industry in Orkney. The opportunity to make these visions a reality came when he was appointed head of the new Nautical Studies Department of Stromness Academy in 1967. [.] Overcoming all obstacles and problems and supported by an able team of assistants, he organised and developed a system of nautical training second to none in the country. His aim was to pass on the skills and knowledge he had acquired in his own boyhood and in his subsequent years at sea to a younger generation and to orientate them towards maritime careers. [.] Among the other topics of great interest in this book are Robbie's report on the Longhope lifeboat disaster and his appraisal of the organisation of the RNLI at that time. Something needed to be said about its defects. Robbie said it. His observations offer much in the way of constructive criticism. [.] Many other matters come under scrutiny, all of which make excellent reading. Throughout, the narrative is laced with Robbie's views on a wide variety of subjects. These are his own opinions - not a rehash of other people's ideas - and all the more valuable for that. In these days of political correctness when it is 'unfashionable' to speak one's mind, it is refreshing to come across a piece of writing as honest and straightforward as this. The truth may be unsavoury to some, but it is to be found in this book." (from Foreword by Walter H. Forrest). …