Lybster

Lybster owes its origin to the fishing industry. A wooden pier was built in 1790 for use by the fishing boats. The village was founded in 1802 as a planned village by the local landowner, General Patrick Sinclair and his sons continued with its development. By 1859 some 357 boats operated from the harbour, making it the third busiest fishing port in Scotland, only exceeded by Wick and Fraserburgh. By this time there were some 1500 fishermen at sea, and other servicing the industry on land.{{cite web |url=https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/lybster/lybster/ |title=Undiscovered Scotland: Lybster| accessdate=30 November 2019}} Lybster railway station was part of the Wick and Lybster Railway. It opened on 1 July 1903 and closed on 3 April 1944,{{cite news |title=Drove First Train: Started Last |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000578/19440403/072/0004 |newspaper=Aberdeen Press and Journal |location=Scotland |date=3 April 1944 |access-date=15 July 2017 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} having been overtaken by events, the opening up of the road for traffic and the decline of the herring industry. A white-fish fleet operated from the port in the 1900s, but that dwindled too, and now the harbour is used by fishing boats catching lobsters and crabs, and recreational craft.

Lybster was an important port in the herring industry in the nineteenth century.{{cite book|author=Scotland. Fishery Board|title=Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6wTOAAAAMAAJ|year=1920|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|page=108}} In 1838, the population was said to be 1312, and there was a move to build a church there, because otherwise worshippers had to travel to either Latheron or Bruan, both about {{convert|5|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} away.{{cite book|title=Two lectures, in reply to the Speeches of Dr. Chalmers, on Church Extension, delivered in Greyfriars Church, 18th and 23rd October, 1838 ... With notes and an appendix|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o2NjAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA87|year=1839|pages=87}} Lybster declined in importance as a herring fishing port before the First World War as the local industry concentrated in Wick.

File: LybsterValue.png

It hosts the "World Championships of Knotty"; knotty or cnatag is a variant of shinty.{{cite book|author=Russell George|title=Footsteps in Summer: Diary of an epic walk of discovery across Britain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r5cuBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA21|date=28 November 2014|publisher=Troubador Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1-78462-054-7|pages=21}}

The film, Silver Darlings, from Neil Gunn's book, was shot here. In 2019, Lybster was used as a location for shooting the Netflix drama, The Crown.{{Cite web|url=https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/lybster-transformed-for-netflix-drama-the-crown-182647/|title=Lybster transformed for Netflix drama The Crown|date=2019-09-05|website=JohnOGroat Journal|access-date=2019-11-03}}

The Sinclairs of Lybster have long roots running back to the Sinclair earls who ruled Caithness that was once a much larger area taking in much of Sutherland. Tracing further back the family has connections to the Norwegian earls who controlled the north of Scotland for centuries.{{cite book|author=Donn, Rob|title=History of the House and Clan of Mackay: Containing...a Variety of Historical Notices, More Particularly of Those Relating to the Northern Division of Scotland During the Most Critical and Interesting Periods with a Genealogical Table of the Clan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BgDmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA366 |year=1829 |publisher=Donn|pages=366}}

Lybster's sister city is Mackinac Island, Michigan. One of the more famous of the clan was Patrick Sinclair, the founder of the island's Fort Mackinac in the USA.{{cite book |last1=Armour |first1=David A. |title=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |date=1983 |publisher=University of Toronto/Université Laval |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/sinclair_patrick_5E.html|volume=5 |accessdate=7 June 2019}}

File:Old Bridge at Lybster Harbour - geograph.org.uk - 676.jpg|Old bridge at Lybster Harbour

File:Lybster Harbour Entrance.jpg|Entrance to Lybster Harbour

File:Upper_Lybster_West.jpg|Upper Lybster West

File:The Church of Scotland, Parish of Latheron, Lybster.jpg|The Church of Scotland, Parish of Latheron, Lybster

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• {{Commons category-inline}}
• {{cite DCB |title=Sinclair, Patrick |first=David A. |last=Armour |volume=5 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/sinclair_patrick_5E.html}}
• [http://www.caithness.org/atoz/lybster/index.htm Lybster]

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Category:Populated places in Caithness