In 1725, John Gow the Orkney pirate set out to attack Carrick House on Eday but his ship, the Revenge, ran aground on the Calf of Eday. James Fea of Carrick successfully captured Gow and his men, who were executed in London later that year. The Revenge was refloated and taken away, leaving behind only the volcanic rocks that were used as ballast.

The Edinburgh lawyer and merchant James Traill, Provost of Kirkwall between 1730 and 1733, bought an old and ruinous house called the Gallery in Bridge Street Kirkwall and as part of the building work had a summerhouse erected in the large garden. Traill recovered the Revenge's volcanic ballast which still lay on the Calf of Eday and had it used to build the spire of the summerhouse. It was decorated with seashells, hence its nickname of Groatie Hoose since cowrie shells, called groatie buckies in Orkney, were used as some of the decoration.

Traill's house was demolished after a disastrous fire in 1938, although the Groatie Hoose survived; it was moved to its present position in the grounds of Tankerness House (as shown here) in 2005.