William Coull Deas, the embodiment of the once-thriving Scottish herring fishing industry, has died aged 98.
Born in Cellardyke, from the age of 13 he fished all over Britain following the herring shoals. His father was a fisherman and his mother was a herring quine.
William, known as Coull or Coulli, saw service with the Royal Navy during the Second World War before becoming a shareholder of the East Neuk boat, Fruitful.
In more recent years, Coull skippered Reaper, a 1902-built two-masted herring drifter which had been restored by the Scottish Fisheries Museum at Anstruther.
Volunteer
His son, Rab, said: “My father never really retired from the sea as he began volunteering at the Scottish Fisheries Museum.
“He did this for 38 years and was everything from a cook to skipper. He skippered all over aboard the Reaper. He was known as the face of the Reaper.
“He was heavily involved in the rebuild and was even down in his wheelchair earlier this year to supervise the new mast getting put on, just to make sure they were doing it right.
“He volunteered into his 90s and received an MBE from Princess Anne, who he met on several occasions at the fisheries museum.”
William Coull Deas was born at George Street, Cellardyke, on August 25 1925 to Johnny and Nellie Deas and grew up with an older brother, John.
He was educated at Cellardyke primary and then Waid Academy which he left aged 13 to fish off Stornoway on the line-fishing boat, Marjory.
When he was 17 he joined the Royal Navy and served on minesweepers in the Mediterranean. He remained in the navy for two years after the war had ended before returning to fishing.
He worked on the Boy Peter for 12 years and was a shareholder of Fruitful for 24 years. In his time he had fished for herring and later prawns.
During their years fishing off the east coast, Coull and his brother used to dismantle mines caught in their nets and bring them ashore for the bomb squad to detonate.
Close shave
He had had a previous brush with live ammunition in 1944 when the US ship, SS Richard Montgomery ran aground at the mouth of the Thames. Coull and his shipmates boarded it looking for food, not knowing it was carrying tons of munitions. He was among the last to get off he ship which remains in the Thames.
Coull had met his first wife Jean in Cellardyke but she sadly passed away at age 22 from TB. In 1958 he married a local St Monans girl, Elspeth Guthrie, and together they had three children, Elspeth, William and Robert, nine grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
His career at sea lasted from 1938 until his retiral in 1985 but then he went on to volunteer at the fisheries museum for a further 38 years.
Both Coull and Elspeth were heavily involved in local events such as the Sea Queen Festival. When his daughter, Elsie, was crowned sea queen in 1977, Coull skippered her into the harbour for her coronation.
Then at the age of 94 he skippered his granddaughter, Ellie, to Cellardyke harbour on Fruitful for her coronation.
He also spent many years taking supplies to the lighthouse keepers and their families living on the Isle of May. He also took over food, livestock and doctors and once brought a woman in labour back from the island at the end of one January.
His son, Rab, has followed his father’s footsteps by running Isle of May Boat Trips.
Coull’s funeral service will take place at Cellardyke Parish Church, on Thursday, December 28 2023, at 12.45pm.
You can read the family’s announcement here.
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