Eyemouth: Willie Spears memorial
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Eyemouth: Willie Spears memorial by Chris Downer as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Eyemouth: Willie Spears memorial
Image: © Chris Downer Taken: 7 Aug 2011
This bronze figure, in the market place, commemorates William Spears, a local fisherman who led a revolt against the tithes levied on fish by the Church of Scotland. Spears prophesised a disaster which would occur a few years after the tithes were removed, on 14 October 1883 which became known locally as 'Black Friday'. After a week of poor weather, fishermen were anxious to get to sea and did so, ignoring the advice of their barometers. In one of the costliest fishing disasters, a total of 189 men were lost when a great storm occurred. 129 of the men were from Eyemouth itself.
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Image Location
Latitude
55.872195
Longitude
-2.089307