Dánjal Danielsen, Dánjal Klett tells
The catch of birds and "fleygesessir", the places from where the catch takes place The catch of puffins, "lundefleyging", the catch with a racket and "lundedragning", the pulling puffins out of their wholes Everyday work in in- and outfields and the drift of sheep Fishing, boats, tools and fishing grounds
The catch of birds and "fleygesessir", the places from where the catch takes place
Out on the Holm there was a good fleygeses upon the edge, but they also caught puffins on the slope, along the south coast. They just called it "upon the Holm edge", upon the Edge. I can't remember a name for the ses on the slope.Then there were the sesses in Lamba. They were at Fleytarnevinum, i Setuni, Hóa and Drangsessen. There the direction of the wind should be from south. And then there was Bakkanum. There the wind should be westernly.
At Eggini í Múla there are two sesses, one for westerly winds and one for southern winds. At Uldalíðbakken there also are two, one for westerly winds and one for southern winds. Then we come to ÍraIíð. There is one, which is called Drangsessurin, one called at Túgvuni and Bøllutasessin. They are for westerly winds. Then we come to Gásdalsmúlan. There they fleyged on the edge in Gásdal, but also in Urðini. At Heimaranes there is one ses and at Tanga there are more sesses. One is called Tanga, one up at Gilinum and one in Djúpabotn. From there we come to Miðtind. Also there they used to fleyge. Yes, they also fleyged, where one comes into Skorarnar, in what is called Túgvuni. Then there is Slumbini, also there were some sesses. And in Urðarenni there also was one, but I do think, is has disappeared.
Then there were Ryggin við Drang, i Kelduni and i Stórarygginum. Then one comes to Nesið, i Enniskriðu and Vallaskriðan. In Borgardal there were Brugvarenden, Eystur i FIøttum, up on Toppinum and at Torvuni. They have also fleyged on Rygginum i Heðiskor. There also are sesses in Borgardali and at Múlaskor.
The place called Stóruren is in Kálvadali as well as Liðinum. Then one comes north at Skriðu. It is in Líð. There they fleyged at Halvarskriðu. At Lending - it is also northwards - and in Kumlalíð, they also fleyged. And at the edge, Eggjum, Skarðsfløtti innermost in Skarðid and also out there at SkugvaIíð. There was one ses for westernly winds and one for north winds. And there can even be more places, but I don't remember more.
The catch of puffins, "lundefleygning", the catch with a racket and "lundedragning", the pullning puffins out of their wholes
In former time men were everywhere to fleyge and they left in a hurry, to be the first and thereby get the right to the ses. They went almost all times to the places farthest away. I do know, that they were in Bjørg. They could be away almost every day of the week, if the weather wasn't too bad. Even into the Bjørg, the mountains and even into Stúgvar, so one can understand, that they really did it seriously.
It is told, that the total catch, lundedragning and -fleyging all together was around 80.000 puffins a season. That was at the time where there was tithe.
And they took care of the puffins lands. They pulled puffins in every puffinland every second or third year. And one had to lay back the turf, so the wholes didn't became too open. If one cut out turf, it should be orderly put in place again. It was the believe, that if the puffins were not pulled out and the turfs removed and put in place again and the turf not properly trampled but the lands only dug by the puffins, then the risk was greater, that all the surface, the layer in which the wholes were placed, would slit into the sea. Yes, they really took care of the puffinlands.
They caught many birds and they also caught fulmars. They didn't row out at sea to get fulmars, they just caught them in the mountains.
Everyday work in in- and outfields and the drift of sheep
We have slaved away to drift the sheep and to catch them. It has been a truly battle. Many of the sheep have been very shy and wild, so it has been very cumbersome. And now nothing can be done about it, because there are no more people left.At the places most far away from the village - Borgardal and Kálvadal, we succeeded quite well, because at these places we normally were enough men. And at the end we caught the sheep.
When I was young, the manning was about 15 men in Borgardal, but later there could be as many as 20 in the autumn. In spring there could be a little fewer.
There should be 300 mother sheep in Borgardal. I was for many years shepherd there and during that time we never had more than 270. But I even think that 260 would have been better. They were all drifted together in one session in that outfield.
In Kálvadali they in former time were 15 men. In these later years, where there have been enough of people, they have been 18. But the sheep are wild and shy, so it often took quite a while to drift them together. But at the end they succeed. For many years the sheep in Kálvadal have been very shy and it was usually difficult to drift them. It was very different how successful they were, it has always been easier in Borgardal.
At north, í Líð, they had to be 14 men. I am not sure, but I think they sometimes they were 16. And here "at home", in Heimangjógv, they for the most have been 12, I think. In Skorunum they were 14 to 16 and in Líðarhauge, they have been 12 to 14, at the most.
When they were drifting the sheep in Bjørgene, the mountains, there were many men. When I was young, they in Bjørgene had more ground. Kálvadalur was the owner of a great part of Bjørgene. Borgardal used to have 10 ram lambs in Stúgvar, because the sheep there often went into Borgardal. The men from Kálvadal used to have ram lambs and some lambs in both Stúgvar and in Bjørgene, where they were going towards February or at the time where they caught the ram lambs.
It was necessary with many men. Also when the seep were drifted back home. We used to be 5 men in Borgardal, but it was seldom that we managed to catch all the ram lambs. They were drifted through Skorarnar and into Skorarætt, the Skora pen. Here there has always been a pen. Usually the men from Líðahauge took their sheep first, then the men from Borgardal and at last them from Kálvadalur, as it were these, who had the greater part.
It was good sheep, which were in Bjørgene. They were all big. I don't believe, that Líðarhauge and Kálvadal had more than 6 to 8 there. It was just two outfields, which had seep in Bjørgene. Borgardal had only sheep in Borgardal. But Kalvadal had many in Bjørgene. Kálvadal is 6 marker, then they have two in Bjørgene and one on the Hólm, altogether 9.
It was heavy work to drift the sheep back to the village from Borgardal and Kalvadal. They were binded together two by two and then drifted. If it was fine weather, it was quite easy and fast. Around three hours or maybe three and a half hour from Borgardal back home. And it was almost the same time from Kálvadali. When it was bad weather, it took considerable more time, because when the sheep become wet and heavy, they don't move as fast. But in fine weather it was just quickly. It is quite a long way to go, from the slopes at the other side of Knukur and back home to the village. It is maybe 4 nautical miles (around 7 kilometers).
We aimed at leaving at 6 o'clock. Most often we left at 6 o'clock and then were over there at 7 o'clock.
In fine weather we could be back at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. That was at the earliest and at other times, we were not back before it had become dark, at 7 or 8 o'clock. It was very different how we succeeded, sometimes we were lucky and it went easy, other times bad luck.
Fishing, boats, tools and fishing grounds
In former time quite a lot of fishing was done from Mykines, as soon as the weather permitted. But the boats then were smaller, than now. They rowed in boats for six, eighth or ten men in the winter, while the boats for four men, were more often used in the summer. They caught quite a lot, but nothing compared to the catch nowadays with motor driven boats.As I remember, they in the beginning most often used long line, but later line. If there were many boats with long lines at one fishing ground it was not very good.
There are many good fishing grounds here near by, so there were often many fish to catch. And likewise north of Mykines, at Grynnen, where they have caught a lot.