The elusive groatie buckie

As a child, one of the highlights of a visit to John O’Groats was time spent on the shell beach searching for some beautiful treasures to take home.  The success of the trip was determined by whether or not I had found an elusive Groatie Buckie shell. 

These small oval, pale pink and white, glossy, ridged shells are said to bring good luck and fortune to whoever finds one. And finding one is tricky! Mostly due to the fact they are so small - about the size of your pinky fingernail - and the fact they blend in so well with the shell sand found on John O’Groats beach. 

Before being washed up empty on the shore they have been home to a sea snail. These shells are often known in other parts of the UK as cowrie shells, but up here we’ve always known them as Groatie Buckies.

In fact, they’ve been special in this part of the world for many years - getting a particular mention in the 1848 Topographical, statistical and historical gazetteer of Scotland, where it states “John O’Groat’s name has been bequeathed to certain small shells which are here found on the beautiful beach, and are called Johnny Groat’s buckies.”

On our wedding day we included these shells as part of our wedding favours to bring a little bit of luck and good fortune to our guests.

So when you come visit us, be sure to go down to the beach and search for your own little bit of luck from John O’Groats.  If it’ll be a while before you can come to see us, you can start training now - see how many you can find in the picture below!