Introduction /
The Island /
FarmingPharay:Account of Produce, &c.
(Second Statistical Account)
The following account of produce of Pharay from around 1840 gives an idea of the importance of farming and fishing activities, which were to remain the backbone of the island’s economy
| Bear (bolls) |
80 |
| Oats (bolls) |
100 |
| Potatoes (barrels) |
90 |
| Cabbages |
6,400 |
| Cows |
12 |
| Oxen |
7 |
| Stirks |
10 |
| Horses |
14 |
| Sheep, native |
200 |
| Swine |
17 |
| Arable land (acres) |
40 |
| Green pasture land (acres) |
80 |
| Kelp (tons) |
10 |
| No of hands employed |
30 |
| No of lobster boats |
2 |
| No of hands employed |
4 |
| Herring boats |
2 |
| No of hands employed |
8 |
Note the use of horse and oxen. Kelp was still being produced. There is quite a number of sheep, many of which were likely to be on the Pharay Holm. Only four boats are mentioned, two being described as herring boats and two as lobster boats. The nature of fishing changed over the next century and almost all crofts would have had a small boat of some description.
