The Floods of 1915

“Disastrous Floods in the North-Unprecedented Scenes at Elgin-Traffic Blocked and Trains Delayed-Great Damage to Property and Crops-Many Bridges and Culverts Swept Away.”

The Northern Scot’s headlines of 2nd October, 1915, succinctly summarize the biggest natural disaster to hit Moray since the great Moray Floods of 1829. There had been little indication of what was to happen. But what happened hit Moray hard and is described here, wherever possible, using the words and reports of that time.

“Friday 24th September 1915 was warm and pleasant – an ideal harvest day. Much moisture, however, had gathered on the hills which form the watersheds of the Spey, the Lossie, the , and Nairn and smaller streams. The sky became dark and overcast and early on Saturday a steady downpour of rain commenced which continued without ceasing until the Sunday night.” On the Sunday the wind was severe.

We read in the Souvenir of the Moray Floods, published by George M Tyrrell, photographer, Elgin, that “the most alarming and picturesque incidents of floods were probably to be witnessed at Elgin, which for a time was literally surrounded by extensive lakes of water.”

Indeed, to the west of Elgin “a stretch of country some three miles long and one mile wide from Mayne to beyond Mosstowie was entirely covered with water, several farms and dwelling houses being completely surrounded.” The railway was flooded and the water swept along Pluscarden Road.

At Sheriffmill “the inhabitants had to find an egress by one of the back windows.” At the farm and two cottages at Oldmills the women and children were taken to Oldmills House on a raft. “The mansion house of The Haugh (now the Mansion House Hotel) was entirely surrounded and much damage was done.”.At the Haugh Bridge “only a few pieces of iron were left at each side, while the main portion of the bridge was swept down the river several hundred yards.”

Blackfriars Street and all the houses in the vicinity were flooded to a considerable depth. The whole area from the Haugh to Lossie Green was transformed into a lake. At North Street the flood reached the entrance to Holy Trinity Church. At Lossie Wynd the water reached half way up the street. Further down Lossie Wynd the water poured like a river into Cooper Park “flooding the gasworks and extinguishing the flames.” The works at the tanyard(now the site of Anderson and England) and those belonging to Messrs Hay & Son, aerated water manufacturers, were flooded to a considerable depth.”

“The Bishopmill Bridge for a time was in considerable danger” – but this didn’t stop the people of Bishopmill using it as a vantage point to watch the thunderous water below. “At the Wool Mills of Messrs Reid & Welsh (now Decora) one of the flats was entirely under water, and work was at a standstill.” “A precarious sort of communication was established between Elgin and Bishopmill by a long ladder placed on two stones and extending across the water at the entrance to the park.”

At Deanshaugh the water flooded the gardens and lower part of the house and the inhabitants had to be rescued from an upper window. “The torrent rushed past with great violence.” Close to the Cathedral “part of the College wall was destroyed by the force of the water.” At Kingsmills, Mr Urquhart, the carter, had to get a boat to go round to the stables to get the horses out and then with Mr Hendry, the miller, had “to rescue their wives and children by taking them out of the top window.”

At Newmill “the force of the torrent was terrific and the result disastrous. Much damage was done to the Newmill tweed factory(Johnstons) and the iron foundry.” In the foundry “the water lay four feet deep, all the moulds prepared for casting being destroyed.”

At the tweed factory “great havoc was wrought in the finishing shop, the water there being from three to four feet deep.” The oil store, the wool stores, the carding flat and weaving department all suffered. “On the Sunday the bulk of the finished goods were placed in safety – but the water rose higher than anticipated and much valuable material was destroyed”, with “government work being disrupted.”

In the vicinity of Newmill “every house was flooded to a depth of several feet, the people having the unpleasant experience of leaving a warm bed and standing in a foot or two of water.” At Pansport Cottage, which was occupied by Mr R Aitken, a hairdresser, “the water entered by the back door and rushed in a torrent out the front.” A piano and heavy furniture were destroyed, the water in the house being six feet deep.

“In the vicinity of Victoria Crescent and Station Road many houses were inundated.” One old woman, Margaret Brodie or Wilson, aged 85, living at 2 Jubilee Cottages, was found lying dead on the floor on the Monday morning. “Death is supposed to have been due to shock.”

Contemporary photographs demonstrate the significant effects of the flooding on the Highland Railway Station and the Great Western Station (now the old station).The Northern Scot reported: “The scene at Elgin railway stations on Monday evening was weird and beautiful. The stillness was eerie. All in front of the platforms was a level expanse of water. It gleamed in the glittering moonlight like a great lagoon. It seemed as if we had suddenly stepped out upon a corner of beautiful Venice, for the rows of lonely carriages might be moored gondolas.”

For those passengers travelling during the storms and for days afterwards, the delays, hold ups and cancelled trains offered a much less romantic reality – with several troop trains being adversely affected. Likewise for the railway porters who had to “ferry themselves about on improvised rafts” the floods meant significant disruption. Indeed, for several days, “of actual railway, no vestiges could be seen.” From the Railway line to the gates of the cemetery all was “a continuous sea of water.” The Mart and Laundry were badly affected. “Along the Linkwood Road the water began to rise at 2 p.m. on Sunday and entered the houses at 6.30.”

New Elgin was marooned from the town. “Had it not been for the kindness of several local horse-owners, who kindly lent their horses and vehicles for the transport of passengers, Elgin and New Elgin, would have been completely separated.”

“At Ashgrove the flooding was severe, few people escaping. Mrs Falconer, Ashgrove Farm, had her house flooded to a depth of four feet. All the hens, chickens and turkeys were drowned, but the horses were removed to Elgin.”

At Barmuckity the flooding was extensive, the water rushing across the main road east of Elgin. “Not a few cyclists had some unlucky mishaps on the Monday.”

For those standing at the top of Ladyhill on that Monday, Elgin was almost an island. To the north, much of the country was flooded from the Loch of Spynie to Inchbroom. The Lossie and the canal burst their banks to the extent that “the expanse of water was so great that when the wind rose the waves were of a considerable height, and the scene reminded one of a large inland lake.” –In reality, this was a reversal to how the landscape had looked several hundred years before.

Outwith Elgin the rain had also deluged and the winds had blown, but perhaps the damage was less severe. At intimation was made from the pulpits on Sunday forenoon that in consequence of the rising state of the river there would be no evening service. The water rushed under the Fochabers Bridge, the reserve embankment erected after the spate of 1829 was undermined in several places and roads close to the river were damaged. At Garmouth “the Spey came down in high volume on Sunday afternoon.” The houses in the lower part were flooded and the road from Garmouth to Kingston was completely submerged. “Great damage was done to crops, turnips etc” on the farms, both north and south of Fochabers.

Further up the river at Craigellachie the spate was greater than in 1892. At the Fleming footbridge was impassable.

At , perched on its promontory, “several thatched houses had the thatch torn off and in consequence the heavy rain flowed into the interiors of the buildings to a considerable extent and put the occupants to no little inconvenience.”

The town of fared much better than it had done in the Moray Floods of 1829. “Apart from the damage and inconvenience suffered by those whose houses line St Catherine’s Road and Little Crook, the rising waters of the Mosset Burn caused less harm and less than was first anticipated. The house holders hurriedly erected dams of turf in front of their gates and doorsteps.”

But that said, The Forres Gazette of 29th September reported that “Forres was isolated for days by damage to high roads and railways.” While the rain fell on the Sunday “The churches in the town and surrounding parishes were almost deserted, in some places no service being held. In one case the minister made a marriage proclamation in the presence of a beadle, session clerk, organist and two parishioners.”

Nearby Brodie was less fortunate. “A culvert near the railway station was swept away.” At Mill of Brodie, the tenant, Mr Macgregor sustained heavy losses through the washing out of a quantity of valuable grain.”

The Moray Floods of 1915 were extensive, with significant damage and disruption and yet virtually no loss of life. Elgin bore the brunt.

In a farming area such as Moray, there was cause for concern and The Elgin Courant of 8th October reported that “where standing grain was covered with water, much difficulty will be experienced in cutting the crop. Binders will be of little use and the reaper or scythe will have to be resorted to finish the cutting.” In effect by going back to earlier methods and helped by good weather in October, damage to crops was less severe than initially anticipated.

At the meeting of the Road Board of Elgin County Council on Monday 4th October 1915 it was reported that there had been much damage to roads and bridges. “The total loss to the county cannot be less than £500, intimated Mr Alexander Hogg, road surveyor”, in presenting his exhaustive report.

In the Souvenir of the Moray Floods we read “and if the year 1914 has been made memorable as the opening year of the Great War, 1915 will be memorable in local annals as the year of the second Moray Floods”.

The Northern Scot of 2nd October 1915 stated “The photographs which we publish in this issue will constitute a pictorial record of a remarkable event. When the next great flood occurs there will be material for comparison.”

And when that next great flood arrived some 82 years later in July1997, it was alarming to find, by studying the 1915 photographs, how little appeared to have been done in understanding and addressing what should have been the lessons of the 1915 flood, with houses and facilities having being built on the flood plains after the Great War and few if any engineering works having been carried out.

Despite all the havoc, damage and disruption that the floods of September 1915 brought to the people of Moray, their effect was perhaps as nothing compared to what was happening on the Western Front that weekend.

For while Moray faced a deluge of wind and rain, across in France and Flanders on 25th September 1915, her sons were facing the hell of gunfire, shell and chlorine gas on what was the first day of the Battle of Loos. On that day alone some 79 men from Moray were killed in action.

In the annals of Moray, 1915 remains memorable as much for the enduring heartache of the Great War and not least for the grievous losses suffered at the Battle of Loos during that September, as it does for the second Moray Floods.