Scottish Scandinavian Products Limited
We have one blurred and grainy image of the Scandinavian Store will a group of people standing in front of it. The location of this photograph is difficult to pinpoint.
There was a store at 17 Baron Street which operated for a time as Scottish Scandinavian Products Limited which was a mixture of grocer and ship chandler. Many of the Danish fishermen ended up living in and around the Baron Street and Yardie areas of the town. It was here in the later summer that two Danish fishermen, Kaj Christensen and Christian Marcussen fell out and, indeed, came to blows with Christensen being found guilty of assault at the Burgh's Police Court in September 1943. |
Overfaldet: the assault
The Banffshire Advertiser of Thursday, 2 September 1943 carries a report of a case at the Police Court the previous week where Judge Macdonald heard a case of assault. The accused was Kaj Christensen, one of the Danish fishermen, who lived at 7 Baron Street. He was accused of assaulting Christian Marcussen, of Prospect Cottage in the Yardie.
The assault took place on the 10 August at the Scottish Scandinavian Products store at 17 Baron Street where Christensen was then working. Kaj Christensen pled not guilty so evidence was then given. Marcussen informed the court that he had been asked to take Christensen to sea as a holiday from working in the store. The manager of the store gave Christensen leave to go and the trip lasted ten days. When back in port at Buckie, Marcussen settled up with his crew and decided to give five percent to Christensen, who had acted as cook. This amounted to £23. However, Christensen wanted more and handed back the money. On 10 August, Marcussen was walking in front of the shop in Baron Street when Christensen approached him and asked him to see a letter from the Danish Consul about accommodation for the Danish fishermen in the town. Marcussen went into the shop to read the letter. As he was reading it, Christensen struck him on the head and knocked Marcussen unconscious; he remembered nothing of the events until coming round and finding himself lying on a bag of straw. Christensen claimed that ten percent was the usual allowance and he had expected at least eight though no amount had been agreed upon. Judge Macdonald found him guilty and imposed a £2 fine. |