The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-05-21
WAKEMAN'S TRAVELS.
Something Abou. tho Homo Lilo Of
tho Scottish Flahermen.
THOSE OF THE EAST and The WEST
And or Nowhavon..-Thc Fishermen OF
tho Orkney and tho Shetland Is.
lands Entcrtnlnlsly Described.
Their Homo Surroundings aud sn.
pcrstItions.
IcorsmorIr, 1892, ny EDGAR l.. wAKrSAx,l

"
have boon much among Scottish fisher.
men. both in their homos ashore and
In their cabins at sea; and I can never
recall them save in pictures Of vivid
md colorful setting. simultaneously
oil these pictures 'seam 10 blend IN ono.
There uro tho red roofs, tho breezy
shores, tho cleaning sands and tho
tossing spray Of Coldingham and North
Berwick, around to tho south Of the
mouth OF tho Forth; tho snug town and
harbor, the quaint old streets, the lus.
clous fish dinners and tho screaming
flshwivos of N~owhaven; tho almost
sombor silence ever brooding above
tho piers Of luck Haven; tho rocky
walls, the steoly blue oil, the German
Ocean, tho awful storms and tho great
dingy, cherries fishing towns Of tho
onst coast from Aberdeen 10 Thurso;
tho brown crags, the emerald slopings
and tho shadowy, inoanful assures Of
tho Shetland aud Orkney shores, with
their Dutch and Morse color In faces
and ways; tho drear, gray rocks and
puflin.haunted crags OF tho miaty Hob.
rides, where tho bravo, half starved
croftcr-iisher battles all his life for mere
oXistcncoi and the low md sunny
shores OF tho Solway, where. ut tho very
threshold Of Burns land by the songful
NTH. underneath tho shadows OF hoary
CritFol's rim, the roaring OF the up
preaching Solwhy tides tells the border
1lshwivcs to be abort with their crecls
for their fisher husbands coming.
On tho east and west, sea walls OF sub
Unity, tide-ploushedfriths shore.Teach.
es Of b%arrenness and desolation. Sea-
gulls hover and whirl and scream.
Skeleton craft bleach in storm aud wind.
Everything speaks Of eea-rage, wrath
and wreck. On tho north. lands and
islands without forests, split and SER
rated by the sea. Tremendous preci-
pices everywhere. Shadowy "~hellyers"
cut the sea.walls whore the tide ia ever
sobbing in its ebb and flow. Hero is a
fishing station; there a dream hamlet.
Wonder a gravelly beach, With Ash
curers and their sodden toll. Beyond,
a weird gio with a herd OF drowsy seals
turning their shining sides to the low,
rcd sun.
Over all, a Ehlmy, dreamy presence;
for the suns rays in the best Of weather
filter through wells Of mist upon these
shore-side toilers all their simple, slug.
glary lives. Through all, tho cutting OF
sharp winds, tho driving Of almost
barbed rain, the splash and swirl OF
salty, singing spray.
These are the physical features OF the
picture. Threading in and through it
all with a sturdy life and coloring are
the fisher men and fisher wives of Scot
land. l always SEQ these men some
thing alter tho mold and figure OF
Dickens hero, Dan'l Peggotty; larger
OF frame maybe; and in the place of
his aspect OF benignity and resolution,
a look in their faces Of melanch oily and
s%ternness, mingled with a something
which for want OF I better term may be
called a brave and defiant dread.
BRAVE BUT UNHAPPY.
No Drawer folk live. Upon the decks
OF their sliacks, s%chooners or fiddle
shaped "sixerms," their hardihood and
daring upon tho stormy German Ocean,
among the mist-hid dangers OF tho
sounds and lochs OF the Hcbridcs, or
when battling with the fierce tides OF
the Orkney, Shetland and Farce Islands.
often reach a positive sublimity Of hero
ism. But I believe a no moro restless,
unhappy lot ever lived ashore.
This is on account of those strange,
iron-framed. b~arb-tongued creatures
who "own" them; the irrepressible,
tlreless, fadeless women, who, the mo
ment they become wives, not only as.
sumo all functions OF management and
command. but who store and dole out
every penny Of the Scottish fishers
earnings to tho last "bawbec;p who
transact all business; originate. and as
scrt all homeside ethics; set the pace in
matters of Kirk" and religion; and
whose tongues from the day OF bridal to
that Of burial are never silent and arc
over more singing than the lash.
Generally speaking NIL east and north
coast fisher folk fare better In their
homes than those OF the west coast,
who chiefly comprise the crofter.fsher
class, barring tho border fishermen OF
the southwest from Aver around to An
nan along the Firth OF Clyde and on the
Solway. The latter arc often cottiers,
and have comfortable homes with we'll
kept gardens and arc altogether the
s%nuggest and llappiest lot OF all.
Four classes OF Scottish fisher homes
may be cited us most typical-tliose Of
the Newhaven folk, who find q never
failing market for their fish here in
Edinburgh, rs Ncwhaven is practically
continuation Of the city, east along
tho south bank OF the Firth and Forth;
OF the east coast folk from Aberdeen
north past Peterhead, Fraserbursh,
Banff, Inverness and Wick; Of the fish
ers OF the Orkney, Shetland and Farce
Isles; and Of the croftcr fishers OF Skye,
Lewis and Harris and OF North and
South Unist, in tho Hebridc.
Here at Newhaven a long, narrow
street, with tho oldest Of little old
houses, their street fronts almost hid
don with ramshackle stairs, %creels,
fishing gear, erandames and lnssies
batting tho lines, runs parallel with the
Forth. Into this, from tho Landslide,
come scores OF other short, narrow
streets, in evory n OF which the same
mass OF nshing-gear, women and chill
dren arc found. Here and there tiny
old inns are hidden, where the finest
fish dinners in Britain arc served.
This principal street, called Main
street, is open to the harborside, fur
nishing n little space in which nil the
business transactions OF the Newhaven
tlshermen,have been carried on for the
past 400 years. The harbor itself is not
large. Its each walled side is but 800
feet long, and it has but one little en-
trance. Often you will find it without
o single mast silhouette between you
and the horizon line of the Fifeshiro