If ye will persist in Emigration...

With so much talk on the tv and in the newspapers about the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I wondered what the reaction was like in Orkney. The first report of the disaster appeared in the Orcadian on the 20th April 1912 on the front page. Quite small and unassuming in the bottom right hand corner.

By the following week the news had spread and the ministers from the churches aired their views from the pulpits.

The Rev. John Pitcairn from St Magnus Cathedral said:

The Rev. George Millar from the Paterson U P Church said:

And the Rev. J Christie from the North U.F Church compared the death toll with the population of Stromness:

Ironically in the papers at the same time many adverts still appeared enticing people away from Orkney with offers of work in a new land, such as this one which looks to us now like a scene from a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood film:

And even on the same pages as news of the disaster were adverts like this one:

Many local shops capitalised on the trend of emigration with adverts like these:

I'd really like to know what "Dudds and Spracks" and "Catchy Boots" were.

By the following week more information was reported about the sinking and the heroism of some of the passengers:

And the suffering of the survivors:

And this final review in the Orcadian on 27th April 1912: