The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-05-22

street about the quaint old stsir-heads, and
| gossip gayly, "cobble" the nets, bait the
lines and do all odd things that women do
| in these strange fisher communities As to
dress, customs, dialect. mannsrisms and
mode Of life, modern progress stops sghast
at the outskirts OF Newhaven. walks around
1t and passes on, as IL with q sigh of relief
at having escaped q bootless struggle.
The houses Of the western Highland and
Island crofter-flshers are not bright places.
Nearly all their cabins are built on
a line with the slope of the rocky brae or
hillside, the rear roof-slope forming an
obtuse angle. The walls are often not more
than five feet high; but they are frequently
four feet thick. Some are neatly thatched
with straw. Most are covered with bracken
! or heather.
Some "beaStie," a cow. sheep or pig, has
Its partitioned byre within. The place is
dark, damp. noisome. Little apertures,
closed at night, answer for windows The
| peat fire which never goes out and fills the
place to suffocation with smoke, is built in
a little stone trough in the center Of the
! hut; half-barrel, set in the matching
| above, answers for a chimney; and an iron
chain hanging from the roof supports the
| huge iron pot in which the porridge the
potatoes and the "kail-brose," are cooked.
The furniture is an odd tumble of ancient
| oak, cloudy DELPHI, old iron and pewter
with Gaelic 'methers." There are square
hunks In which an entire family might re-
pose. hammocks from rotten nets, and
ruder beds Of barrel slaves. Creels aud tubs
are many and various. Chests black and
huge are ranged along the walls. And
| there are stools and chairs constructed Of
driftwood aud tree limbs, and seats Of
| square-hewn stone.
Most OF the able-bodied men engage In
the early summer in mackerel fishing off
the southwest coast of Ireland. They are
no more than at home from this when they
depart for the northeast Scottish coast her
ring fisheries. II there be winter herring
| fishing in the sea lochs near their western
island homes, it is prosecuted in small
| open boats Of from 10 TO 30 feet keel, at
| much bodily risk and under torturous sever
| tiles of wind and weather. Iu these boats
| all the fire they have for cooking and
warmth is keptiu huge iron pots; and, in
| sleeping, they tumble down anywhere In
their clothing and oilskins aud cover them
| selves with rags and sails.
The wives and daughters of these crofter
| fishers are, from the conditions of their
| husbands toll, less fishwives in fact, dress
| and custom than those ia any other fishing
community in Scotland. Some OF them en-
| gage during the summer season in the east
| coast curing work. But all till the little
croft patch Of ground; spin and "waulk" or
full" the noted handmade woolens of Skye
and Harris; and in their cetidihs or gossip
| ing parties knit, knit, knit, with the same
| Tapidity and as ceaselessly as they waS their
nimble Gaelic tongues.
The lives of the east coast fisher folk are
far less hard and sunless Their houses are
| fairly good. They contain two and some
| times three or four rooms. As is also true
OF the Newhaven folk, at least Que
room OF the house is neatly furnished, and
| is always a bright if humble picture of
tidy-handed housewifery. On the Banff
| shire aud Aberdeenshire coast they are in
tensely religious, and are extraordinary
disputants on knotty theological ques-
tions. They love dearly to harry and worry
their ministers, outside o kirk" With wise
and serious arguments. Their old drinking
customs are dying out Thrift, sobriety
and excellent weekly newspapers are work
ing II genuine revolution among them.
The herring fishing industry has within
| few years given both the Orkneys and Shet-
lands unusual prosperity, as their total
catch Of all fish is now equaling one third of
the entire catch for Scotland. Cod aud ling
| fishing is extensively prosecuted, many n
the Shetland smacks going as far as the
| Farce islands and to Iceland All the fishers
| OF these islands are crufters and seem to be
| prosperous aud comfortable. Croft holdings
| comprise from three to ten acres Of arabic
| land, with hill pasture, called scdttdLd, in
| common.
AT each croft home will be found a few
sheep, the feeces of which are never shorn,
| but ''rued," that is pulled great focks of
! geese; often a cow and always the stumpy,
sure-tooted little ''Sheltie" or Shetland
| pony. These with the Shetland women are
| the beasts of burden. The latter will step
off nimbly with seventy or eighty pounds
| weight OF peat, kelp or fish in their "kash-
les" or creels. These fisher-crofters OF the
| islands, as q people, are most frank, en-
| gaging and courteous, though underneath it
| all there is grave canniness and reserve,
far exceeding that Of the mainland Scotch
| Next to Highland crofters all these fisher
| folk are the most sUperstitlOus people Of
! Scotland. Their customs and folklore
which have been the natural outgrowth Of
| their vocation have been practically change
less for half thousand years, and their
! portents and omens are countless.
| In Skye If a women crosses the water
where fishing is in progress, and among the
| Newhavea men IL The name OF Broungern
that of an old Newhaven reprobate who
was the impersonation of bad luck and once
| lived among them-be mentioned fishing
| will be at once discontinued. Skye and
| Harris fishermen have been known to beat
their wives dreadtully not from any i'll
feeling but to propitlate and attract the
| fish.
| All Scottish fishermen note carefully the
| first person upon whom their eyes alight in
| the morning. Their luck" for the day will
| depend on whether the person was well or
| ill-favored. IL is a curious commentary
! upon the standing and influence of clergy
| mea among them tnat a clergyman, a pig
| or cat are the most abhorred of all OBJ
| jects as fleets are sailing out of the harbor
! The sight of either. or the discovery of the
| footprint OF fat-footed person in the sand
BODIES all manner of i'll luck; and to utter
the name Of clergyman or any 4-footed
beast on board of a Scotch fishing boat
would render the offender subject to bodily
peril, and at least destroy all hopes of sue
cess on that day
Along the west coast, however, they
make better use OF the dreaded cat. They
secure favoring winds by burYing it alive
In the sands Of the seashore with its head
opposite the desired course Of the wind. Up
in the Shetlands ana Orkneys fishermen
wear a lucky belt containing dried offal of
three different behring's; aud a perfect
chtld's caul, which wards off evil influences
and brings good fortune, hanging in the
cabin OF fishing boat, is worth from 5 to
guineas il any prosperous fishing village.