Tim's Tales: Witness history walking at Box Meeting

I visited him this week to talk about the upcoming Box Meeting walk in the village, which is part of a tradition going back more than 200 years.

Archie was instrumental in reviving the tradition and, on the first weekend this September, the Box Meeting will again take place, with a ceilidh dance on Friday, September 1 and the Box Meeting walk the next day, which will include traditional places to stop for dancing in the street, singing and games.

Archie told me: “It’s a celebration of our history but also of the fisher tradition in a wider sense, too. So we invite everyone, and especially those from fisher families and communities. We’d like as many fisher lads and lassies as possible involved, old and young, with traditional costumes. It’s a day of shared celebration.”

Archie, who is now 86 years old, became a fisherman in his teens in 1952.

Archie Johnston (centre) with fellow fishermen Tom Buchanan (left) and Peter Johnstone (right) at a previous Box Meeting. Image: Jim Nisbet

When he shares his memories, he paints such a vivid picture of days gone by, and the characters and events of the community he has spent his life being part of.

In his younger days he was a member of the Friendly Society of Fishermen of Cockenzie and Port Seton. This was an organisation set up by the fishing community to create a fund to help families if they fell on hard times. It was first registered in 1813 but may have been in existence informally before that.

This was when the tradition of the Box Meeting began.

“It was a time of change for the fishing community,” Archie explained.

“The oyster fishing, which provided a good reward, was coming to an end and instead the focus was on line fishing, to catch codlings and haddock.

“That meant venturing further out to sea in more dangerous waters. As a result, fishermen began to die in greater numbers, and the Friendly Society was set up to help the widows and their families.

“But it could help any member who fell on hard times; it was a kind of community insurance or welfare system.”

Archie told me that it was traditionally at the end of the summer fishing season, in September, that the Box Meeting was held.

Lots of celebrations were enjoyed at the last Box Meeting. Image: Jim Nisbet

This was when the fishermen would pay their dues, and the money was kept in the box especially made for the purpose.

Office bearers of the society included the Box-master, who was the person who kept the box and could pay out when a need was identified.

Archie was himself the Box-master on several occasions, and he shared a story about being woken early one morning by a fisherman in dire need.

“To open the box you needed two keys; one was held by the Box-master, the other usually by the school headteacher or minister, so that was a kind of safeguard,” he said.

“But all the dues and payments were all carefully recorded in account books, which are now stored in the John Gray Centre, in Haddington. In later days, the money put into the box was deposited in the bank, so two signatures were required for the slip.”

When the Friendly Society was wound up in 1973, it seemed as if the tradition had died. Archie told me how sad he felt about that.

“It felt like an important part of community tradition had come to an end,” he said.

“There may have been no use for the box to collect money any more, but the box wasn’t just a money box.

“It was also ceremonial and symbolic of the spirit of togetherness that fisher families had, and still have; you know, the desire to help each other out when the need arises.”

And so Archie, along with other members of the community, helped revive the tradition of the Box Meeting in 1981, as part of the centenary anniversary of the building of Port Seton Harbour.

The 1981 Cockenzie and Port Seton Box Meeting, with Archie Johnston pictured far left

There was a Millennium Box Meeting in 2000, and another in 2013 to mark the 200th anniversary of the registration of the Friendly Society of Fishermen of Cockenzie and Port Seton.

“It was such a success,” said Archie, “that it was decided to hold a Box Meeting every five years.”

The last one took place in 2018, with a large turnout from the local community and people from other fishing communities.

“Our hope is that this year it will be just as significant, if not bigger,” Archie told me.

“Lots of fun for all the family is planned, so come and celebrate this historic event, whether you have fisher blood in your veins or not. After all, we are all children of the sea!

“There will be costumes, dancing, storytelling, singing, games and, of course, boats!”

Archie will lead the walk next Saturday, carrying the box with another member of the community, as tradition dictates.

I couldn’t help but ask him the obvious question.

“Is it the original box?”

“As far as we know.”

“Wow,” I thought out loud, “that is history walking.”