The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-09-21
.NEWHAVEN'S FISHERS.
Busy Scottish Community at the
Mouth Of the Firth Of
Forth.
We Thousand People Who do Not
Envy Their More Fortu-
nate Neighbors.

ey Live Well, Work Hard and Enjoy
n Life According to Their Own
n Way Of Thinking.
ecisl Correspondence of THE INDEpENDEN +. ]
JEwHAvEN, Scotland, Aug. 18.-Whenever
think at all of fsher-folk, we usually as
h late them in our fancy with sea-wails OF
,limity or shore-reaches of barrenness
a desolation. Sea-gulls lowering near;
Teton craft bleaching in wind and
.ther; tide-swept coves, wind-whipped
erewsome, vary the picture. But the
.yesters of the deep ever recall pictures
yea rage, wrath and wreck. The most
ed fisher folk in the world, these of New
zen. are differently environed. Their
-haunts, upon and at the ocean mouth
the transcendently beautiful Firth of
til, are of surprising loneliness. Their
ne-haunts are not in dreary
st hamlet pounded and howled at
,easingly by the sea, but in their own
.int, quiet city of 5000 souls. They are
periodically subjects of starvation and
rity; but live in ample comfort both in
If sturdy fishing crafts and their clean,
turesque habitations. They are neither
den nor ignorant, but are bright, earnest
sober-minded. Only the romancer can
4 more hopeless element of pathos
ong them than ordinary folks. 1t would
difficult to paint them as extraordinarily
5uresque, if We except their women folk
D are all that, save when in their "kirk
ts' or inery, Of Sunday, when they
then compare favorably with any smart
erican worshiper. They are never
| nkards nor any other manner of swine.
~ do not favor customers with Billings
3, of the foul order at any time, and the
er sort of forgivable objurga-
Is and explosives are only ready
application to those not
sessing their own excellent manners.
~ speak too good English to have pride
Scottish dialect. Their superstitions
sfy hint at penalties for dishonesty. In
lib, there is not enough about them.
q that which is upright, sturdy and fine,
lttract those who travel for the thrill of
ag shocked; for they are one and all
rdily honest, humbly God fearing, ten
ly kind.
,ecause they have ever been represented
he magazines and reviews as an odd,
oh and uncanny lot, and I have found
IN upright. sturdy and fine, it is delight
ct the world know something about them
their environment as they really are.
vhaven as fishing village is very an
1T indeed. In the early part of the if
18th century it was designated "Our
Tvs Port of Grace" from mite of a
lei dedicated to the Virgin Mary and
James; and bit of the ruin of this
ice is still to be seen in the old deserted
ial ground in the center of the place.
it owes its later Importance to specu-
We whim on the part of James W., who,
5O6, erected here rope-walk, docks and
lip building yard. In the latter was
structed that then most marvellous
athan of the sea, James war ship, Great
hazel. the largest ship the world had
ded with solid oak ten feet thick."
Great Michael was MO feet long and IS
wide; was armed with many heavy
8, and three great bassils, with no less
q 300 moyennes, falcons, Quarter-fal-
8, sings, pestilent serpentines, and
BILE days, with hacbuts, culverines,
ss-bows and hand-bows; was manned
b 800 mariners, 12O cannoniers, and 1000
Tiers; and was in other respects SO
llled whenever new fishing craft en-
the, harbor; for such is always "the
NEST Newhaven boat syne Michael's
b." The only other noted incident
+ occurring at Newhaven was when, in
TENDER, 1850, sixty stately galleys and
ar ships anchored here, and the queen
jher, with the most brilliant company
h assembled in Scotland, sailed out of
Forth on her way to visit her daughter
gh, whose great port was, and is, the
of Leith, fearing the growing prestige
he NEW haven" purchased the entire
80 from James w., in 1910, at good
nd sum; and for the last $50 years.
le the little port has remained simply
extension of old Edinburgh and Leith,
The south side of the Forth, Newhaven
had but a slumberous growth. To-day
comprises 5000 souls. Over 1900 of
dren. 1t is little world by itself. Its
ulation are people by themselves. In
of the tran-cars that come as far as
7 dare from the great city and halt
The village side; in spite of the railway
t brings and takes vast crowds of curl
visitors; in spite of the tremendous
mship and vessel life and it's splendid
Drama before their very eyes; in spite
the churches, missions and national
)ols, wedged between their curious
itations; and in spite of the unceasing
ton of their daily contact with the fine
vities of splendid city, housing the
,htest and most cultivated people in
at Britain; they suffer no diminution,
infringement, no change. As to dress,
ons, dialect, mannerisms, mode of life,
iern progress stops aghast at the out
ia of Newhaven, walks around it, and
,es on, as if with sigh of relief at hay
escaped bootless struggle.
Mt no one who knows the Newhayen
ar-folk at all will set them down as lack
in unusual intelligence. 1t would be
cult to find anywhere in our own coun-
an isolated town of 5000 people possess
SO many self sustaining, alert, CHEEKY,
ve-minded souls. There are not simply
VI matchmaking intellects bending all
n wills and wishes to their own. Man,
,an or child. one and ALL suddenly
,led to anywhere else, would thrive.
ir activity is remarkable; their percsp-
quick and true; their amiability win
e: their physical power and industry
amazing; and their tranquility and con-
are something good to see and know.
are the only characteristic COM
lity comprising distinct class, all of
IN toll bravely in the same manner
drudgery, l ever came upon in all my
behring's who were willing that the bet
favored should enjoy their good for
:. and were themselves cheerily glad to
ain as. and what, they are.
good deal Of this was made clear in the
trips took with the Newhaven fisher
to sea. The total feet comprises five