Fisherwoman’s Creel
Nairn Museum

Small woven fish creels, like this one with a plaited rope handle, were used by the fishwives to carry fish for selling either door-to-door or at the market stances.   

The Nairn Fishwives would often walk for miles to Inverness and back (a journey of over thirty miles), sometimes further afield to hawk their fish. Their creels would often have been very heavy. Some inventive fisherwomen hitched up their skirts to make a ledge to support the weight of the creel.  

Women played an important role in the industry, working long hours, often in harsh conditions.