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Scottish Art - Paintings of Scotland:
Collieston Village and Harbor

by D. Bruce Bennett

Warm and Sleepy Collieston

Sleepy Collieston village and harbor bask in an uncharacteristically warm glow in this very horizontal harbor scene.

(Click for larger view of Warm and Sleepy Collieston.)

Back in the 1700s, Collieston village was a busy, enterprising place - for smugglers - and that seems to have included most of the village's residents, as smuggling apparently was a team sport. (They were a bit put out with the 1707 Excise duty on alcohol.) Since Collieston was just across the waters from the Low Countries, enterprising villagers developed their village and harbor into "the principal haunt of the smugglers for landing goods."

Not content with mere smuggling, they developed their own on-the-sly stills, as well. We know it's hard to believe, but people who lived in the very cottages you see here were described in 1801 by Collector Allardyce of Aberdeen Customs as "a turbulent riotous pilfering set." Whew. Let’s just say it like it is, shall we, Collector Allardyce?

By the end of the 19th Century, Collieston was one of the most prosperous fishing villages on Scotland's northeastern coast, though you'd never know it from this painting or even if you were to visit Collieston today. A concrete pier built in 1894 (the one you see here), the gradual silting up of Collieston Harbor, and the advent of steam trawling changed all that. By the mid-1900s, commercial fishing in Collieston was dead and still is.

We won't presume to say what's up with the spirits industry today. By all appearances, though, the Collieston of today is a quiet, law-abiding mecca for tourists and not much more. Have you been here, or some other little Scottish fishing village very like it? Then this Scottish Art, strewn with stone cottages, belongs above your couch . . . dining table . . . dresser . . . as a reminder of your holiday along a Scottish coastline.

Have you researched your Scottish ancestors and found some of them originated in this village which, itself, was originated by St. Ternan to convert local Picts to Christianity? Are you descended from the Earls of Erroll from nearby Old Slains Castle, whose fiefdom included Collieston village? Then of course, you must have this picture of Scotland - the one your ancestors knew. Take it to your local framer and have it framed to fit perfectly with your home’s color palette and . . . enjoy.

Warm and Sleepy Collieston Picture of Scotland
Medium: acrylic on on stretched canvas
Image Dimensions: 35.75" w. x 12" h.
Mat: none
Glass: none
Frame: none

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For more information about Collieston, go to http://sites.scran.ac.uk/collieston/