Cromarty Archive

Dancers at the Regatta - c1933?

Dancers at the Regatta - c1933?

Date Added: 24 August 2007 Contributor: Jean Bell Year: 1933 Picture No: 1982

Jean says "My late sister Emily Taylor (1918-1945) who lived at 5 Duke Street is second from left and was 15/16? years old on this picture.

She left Cromarty with my late parents Victor and Ina Taylor (neé MacDonald) and late brother Bill (1919-1942) for pastures new: Stourport on Severn, Worcestershire in 1934.

I last visited the area with my husband in the 1990's and met a lady in a cottage near the shore who recognised one of the ladies as her sister but she said she now lived in Dundee and had been talking with her in the last week about the photograph, unfortunately I cannot remember anymore.

Can anyone identify the other young ladies in their Highland Costumes?"

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Albums: Galas and Regattas, People

5 Comments

My father has identified the lady third from left as likely to be Jessie Reid and the lady far right is Mary Isaacson. Comment left on 25 August 2007 at 17:15 by Andrew Bathie
Andrew, interesting one, in 1933 my mother Jessie would have been aged 15 right enough so on that basis your father is correct, but if it is Margaret Isaccson she was around about eight years younger than mother, so she would have been aged 7 or so. My aunt Martha Reid (mother's youngest sister) is also eight or nine years younger than mother, and it does look like Martha, if that is the case is raises a question about the date 1933 on the photograph. Also if it is mother this the first time we have seen this photograph, there are not many of her as a young girl in Cromarty. Comment left on 25 August 2007 at 19:05 by Arthur Bird
Arthur it's Mary Isaacson (Margaret's elder sister). Hopefully that fits the chronology? Comment left on 25 August 2007 at 20:33 by Andrew Bathie
Andrew, thank your father for identifying two of the young ladies in this picture. Interestingly I have found the address of Jessie Reid as 7 Braehead, Cromarty in an old address book belonging to my sister Emily. It appears that she might have corresponded with Jessie after leaving Cromarty in 1934.

Arthur, yes the date is 1933/34? I am assuming the information given by Andrew and his father is correct. Jessie Bird(nee Reid)? is your Mother and obviously was a friend of my sister when they were teenagers together in Cromarty. Is she still living?

I would still like to identify the lady who lives in Dundee as she is on the photograph and is the sister of the lady living in a cottage near the shore. I wonder if she can recall meeting me in the mid 1990's with the original photograph at her cottage gate where we spoke for a few minutes.
Comment left on 25 August 2007 at 21:31 by Jean Bell (nee Taylor)
Andrew, good work, that makes sense. Mother and Martha have been mistaken in the past, they do look very much alike.

Jean, thank you also, yes mother is still going strong, she will be ninety next January, she is in a nursing home near Windsor, the passage of time has taken its toll but it is surprising how much she remembers about the town and the Old Croms in particular. When we hear her on the telephone to Martha, the Crom dialect lives on just like Bobby and Gordon, she just drops into it. She has truly enjoyed Clem's interviews with Joel.
Comment left on 26 August 2007 at 12:20 by Arthur Bird
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