The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-05-28

y
wives have returned from the city ana the
hardest Of the days work is done.
Then 10 is that they gather along Main
,.reet about the quaint old stairheads and
o,oasip gavlv. "cobble" the nets, bait the
lines and 90 all odd things that women DO
in these strange fisher communities. AS
TO dress. customs. dialect, mannerisms ana
mode Of life, modern progress stops aghaSt
At the outskirts Of Newhsyen, walks
around IL and passes on as If with sigh
81 relief at having escaped bottles strug-
The houses Of the western Highland and
island crofter fishers are not bright places
Nearly an their cabins are built on line
with the slope OF the rocky brae or hillside,
the rear roof slope forming 40 obtuse an
Gle 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.
Sorne ''beastie" a COW, she~s or pig, has
It's 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 his
tbe place 10 suhOcatiOn with smoke, IL built
in n little stone trough in the center Of the
hut. a 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 pOiTldge, the
potatoes and the "kail-brOse" are cooked
The furniture is an odd tumble Of an
Gent oak, cloudy delft, olden iron and
pevter. with Gaelic 'methers" There are
souare hunks in which an entire family
might repose, hammocks from rotten nets
and ruder beds Of lines and barrel slaves.
Creels and tubs are many and various.
Chests black and huge are ranged along
the walls. And there are stools and chairs
constructed Of driftwood and tree limbs,
and seats Of square hewn stone
Most Of the ablebodied men engage in
the early summer in mackerel fishing oil
the southwest oOast Of Ireland. They are
no more than at home from this when they
depart for the northeast Scottish coast
herring fisheries II there be winter her
ring fishing IN the sea lOchs near their
western island homes, it IL prosecuted IN
small open boats OF from eighteen 10 TWEEN
tv-two feet keel, az much bodily risk and
and under torturous seventies OF wind and
weather. In these boats all the fire they
have for cooking and warmth is kept in
huge iron pots, and in sleeping they tum-
bic down anywhere in their clothing and
oilskins and cover themselves with rags
and sails.
The wives and daughters Of these crofter
fishers are, from the conditions Of their
husbands toll, less fshwives in fact, dress
and custom than those IN any other fishing
community Of Scotland Some of them
engage 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
ccildthS or gossiping parties knit, knit,
knit, with the same rapidity and rs cease
lcssly as they wag 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
sometimes three and four rooms. As is
also true Of the Newhaven folk, al le" st one
room Of the house is neatly furnished, and
IS always a bright If humble picture OF
tidy handed housewifery. On the Banh-
shire and Aberdeenshire coasts they are in
tensely religious, and are extraordinary
disputants on knotty theological questions
They love dearly 10 barry and worry their
ministers outside o. kirk" with wise and
serious arguments Their old drinking
customs are dying out Thrift, sobrety
and excellent weekly newspapers are work
ing a genuine revolution among them.
At each fisher-croft home in the Shet
lands and Orkneys viii be found few
sheep the nceces of which are never shorn,
but "rued"-that Is pulled; great hocks OF
geese, often a COW and always the stumpy,
sure footed little "Sheltic" or Shetland
pony. These, with the Shetland women.
are the beasts Of burden The latter will
step off mmbly with seventy or eighty
pounds weight Of peat, kelp or fish in their
"kashcs' OF creels. These fisher crofters Of
the islands as "A people are most frank, en-
gaging and Courteous though underneath
it all there is a grave canniness and re
serve far exceeding that Of the mainland
Scotch.
Next to Highland crofters all these fish
CT folk are tie most superstitious people of
Scotland. Their customs and folklore,
which have been the natural outgrowth Of
their vocation, have been practically
changelcss Tor half thousand years, and
their portents and omeus are countless.
In Skye. il woman crosses the water
where fishing is in progress, and among the
NeWhaven men if the name Of "Broun
ger'-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 10
beat their wives dreadfully, not from any
III feeling. but 10 propitiate and attract
the fish
An Scottish fishermen note carefully the
first person upon whom their eyes abght in
the morning. Their luck" for the day
will depend on whether the person was
well or i'll favored II is a curious com
mentary upon the standing and influence
of clergymen among them that a clergy
man, a pig or a cat are the most abhorred
Of all objects as fleets are sailing out Of the
harbor The sight Of either, or the dis
covery Of the footprint Ola fat footed per
son in the sand BODIES all manner Of Ill
luck, and to utter the name Of "a Clergy
man or any four footed beast on board Of
Scotch fishing boat would render the
offender subject TO bodily peril, and az
least destroy all hopes Of success on that
day.
Along the west coast, however, they
make better use OF the dreaded cat. They
secure favorng winds by burying il alive
in the sands of the seashore with its head
opposite the desired course OF The wind
Up in the Shetlands and Orkneys fisher
men wear a lucky belt containing dried