Remembering Jimmy Stout

James A. Stout was laid to rest today in the Fair Isle Cemetery.
Family and friends gathered from far & wide.
In the foreground is the monument to the 50 buried Spanish Armada solders of the 1588 Shipwreck.

                               photo Sarah Stout de Sousa

The phrase, "Have a dram boy" is just how Jimmy said hello. When I met Jimmy in 2006, he was 95 years old, a legend. I could only listen and imagine as he told his tales of the Isle. Stories of wood on the beach, Lobsters in the creels and of course rare birds. I could tell he was still keen for the birds, even in his old age, so I built a make shift birdfeeder outside his sitting room. Over the years he had seen countless rare species, but it seemed even the simple Starlings & House Sparrows eating food scrapes were more than simple pleasures. Here is a story about Jimmy's birds if you would like to revisit it. http://fair-isle.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/living-legend-james-stout-100-years-of.html 

It was his story of the first Pechora Pipit that was one of his favourites. New to Fair Isle and birdwatching I had no idea that one could still find such a piece of  history. A year and a half later my wife Liz picked up Jimmy and drove him over to our house Auld Haa to see the Citril Finch. Like Jimmy my bird was also a first for Britain and has inspired my interest in birds & birdwatching surely for the rest of my life. Today we had a dram or two in Jimmy's honour. And it was an honour. Cheers Jimmy

Do you have any good Jimmy stories you would like to share... please do so in comments below.