On 19 May 1899, John Thomas Walter of Finstown appeared in Kirkwall Sheriff Court before Sheriff Cosens, charged with reckless driving.
This was before the first motor cars had appeared in Orkney. People still made their way about by foot, horse driven contraptions, and bicycle – a mode of transport which had become very popular. As is the case with today, larger horse drawn, faster vehicles, shared the road with the increasing number, but slower bicycles.
A number of witnesses were called to give evidence in Kirkwall Sheriff Court on 19 May to the events of 7 April 1899. On the road between Finstown and Kirkwall Walter was accused of having ‘driven in a furious manner a horse and trap: or with driving in a reckless and culpable manner so that he collided with a bicycle, causing injury to the rider’.
Walter pled Not Guilty.
School teacher Margaret Budge had been riding her bicycle at about 6pm. Although early evening it was still quite light. Margaret Budge could ride a bicycle well and was used to being out on the road on it. On the evening in question she had been returning to Kirkwall with some friends. It was very popular for cyclists to go out in groups. In front of her was William Muir and Jack Milne on a tricycle, and there was a bike in front of them. Other cyclists were following behind her.
The cyclists were on the correct side of the road, in fact, Margaret was cycling near the curb as they approached Grainshore ‘about 200 yards from the bridge’. She noticed a horse and trap coming towards her. The horse was galloping very quickly which she described as at ‘a furious rate’.
Margaret attempted to get by the horse and cart, ringing her bell. The cart swerved and the wheel came right down to where she was. She was thrown to the ground and lay on the road. Her companions were far ahead of her by this time, however, the trap continued on at a gallop. By the time she got up, the horse and cart had gone. Her legs were bruised and her bicycle damaged.
Mrs O’Hare of Laing Street, Kirkwall, had seen what had happened and she described to the court how the driver ‘was sitting with his face down and the reins were lying loosely over the splashboard’.
Another of the cyclists, Isabella Drever of King Street, Kirkwall, was riding behind Margaret Budge. She testified to the speed of the horse and cart but did not see who the driver was. She did notice that the reins were lying loose. The horse and trap drove on and did not stop.
Wilfrid Webster of 5 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, was also in the cycling group and was some distance behind Margaret Budge. He said he saw the cart strike the bicycle. He saw the driver slumped and commented that it wasn’t going so fast prior to the incident but sped up afterwards.
It was suggested that Margaret Budge was wobbling on her bicycle and that is why it was struck by the wheel of the cart. However, another witness, William Muir who was cycling in front of Margaret said that when it passed him the dog-cart was going pretty fast – but not ‘furiously’. It was not on its side of the road, but he passed it easily. Then he heard a cry and it was Margaret Budge. She was lying in the road.
James Drever, of Kirkwall and his friend, Thomas Peace, had passed the dog-cart with two men in it at about the Ayre Mill, as they were cycling out to Stromness. The cart then came up behind them ‘being driven fast’. Drever and Peace had not long passed by Margaret Budge on the other side of the road when they heard a cry. Margaret was lying in the road. They leaped from their cycles and ran to aid Margaret. At that point the cart passed them going at a very fast rate but they could not say who the driver was.
Yet another witness came forward to give evidence. Albert Farquhar of Albert Street, Kirkwall, was also cycling on the road and said that the dog-cart passed him with Walter driving. He said that it was not going very fast.
John Linklater, a cattle dealer from Finstown, gave evidence in support of Walter. He had been in the cart with Walter. The only drink Linklater says that he had was a couple of nips of whisky. They were not going fast but at about the Ayre Mill they came across a lot of cyclists. In his opinion Margaret Budge looked nervous as they passed, but she had plenty of room. When he looked back she was lying in the road. He asked Walter to stop but as there were by this time a lot of people helping Margaret, Walter decided just to drive on.
Three coach drivers then spoke up on Walter’s behalf: Robert Nicholson, William MacKay, and William Campbell. They testified that Walter was a good driver and would not be driving recklessly. In Finstown, William Firth unharnessed the horse and said it showed no sign of being driven furiously.
Two Blacksmiths in Kirkwall, James Somerville and John Leslie, had examined the damaged bike. They were of the opinion that the bicycle had run into the wheel of the cart behind the axle.
John Walter then went into the box to testify in his own defence and basically said what Linklater had. He would never use a whip on a horse. All he had to drink that day was a nip of whisky at the distillery, and a glass of beer in the St Ola Hotel. He always gave bicycles as much of the road as he could.
The charge of furious driving was not proven. The other charge, of culpable and reckless driving was proven. John Thomas Walter was fined 7 shillings, and 6 pence – or 2 days imprisonment.
This story from 1899 has resonances today where complaints have been made by vehicle drivers of groups of cyclists taking up space on the road, making it difficult to pass. It seems that in 127 years we have learned nothing about creating roads where cyclists and other vehicles can proceed with safety.
The image below is of Annie Cohen Kopchovsky (1870 – 11 November 1947), known as Annie Londonderry, she was a Latvian immigrant to the United States who in 1894–95 became the first woman to bicycle around the world. After having completed her travel, albeit mostly by ship, she built a media career around engagement with the popular conception of what it was to be female – Wikipedia.
Fiona Grahame