Like many Whalsay women, Maggie (1910–1973)  spent most of her life as a housewife. Her seaman husband Willie was away from home often which left her the task of taking care of the croft, raising a family and supplementing the family income by  knitting (often in Fair Isle style) .  So shy was she as a singer her children say they rarely heard her sing and were not even sure that she was the singer of some of the pleasant little dandling songs we recorded.