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about

Isobel Gunn was born in Tankerness in 1781. In 1806 she used her father’s clothes and disguised herself as a man in order to sign up for the Hudson’s Bay Company under the alias John Fubbister. During the fur trade era, a company policy forbade European women from being hired by HBC.

Isobel’s identity was not questioned for two years as she was equally capable, wore convincing clothing and tried to blend in to the way company men were expected to act. It was not until she became pregnant that her true identity was revealed.

Isobel continued to work throughout her pregnancy, even undertaking an 1800 mile canoe trek from Fort Albany to North Dakota when she was four months pregnant. She managed to hide her true identity right up until she gave birth on the 29th December 1807. That evening she arrived at the home of the Chief Factor, Alexander Henry, looking for shelter. He welcomed her in then went back to bed but before long he heard Isobel’s calls of distress, his diary from the night reads,

“..I was much surprised to find him extended on the hearth, uttering dreadful lamentations; he stretched out his hands toward me, and in piteous tones begged to me to be kind to a poor helpless, abandoned wretch, who was not of the sex I had supposed, but an unfortunate Orkney girl, pregnant, and actually in childbirth.”

Isobel Gunn gave birth to a baby boy, James Scarth. Jame’s father was reportedly fellow company employee John Scarth but little is known about him. Since her true identity had been discovered, Isobel was no longer permitted to work with the men and as punishment was only offered work as a washerwoman despite having spent two years proving herself just as capable as any other member of staff at Fort Albany. The Company eventually sent her back to Orkney onboard the Prince of Wales on September 20, 1809. There she found work as a “stocking and mitten maker” until her death in 1861 at the age of 81.

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from The Orcadians of Hudson Bay, released May 28, 2021

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Graham Rorie Glasgow, UK

Orcadian fiddle and mandolin player Graham Rorie is an award-winning folk musician based in Glasgow.

As well as being a founding member of folk band Gnoss, Graham has recently collaborated with pianist Rory Matheson for an album titled, We Have Won The Land as well as releasing his own solo record, The Orcadians of Hudson Bay, available here! ... more

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