Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1893-10-12
ODD IDEAS OF FISHERMEN.
SOME PlSCAT0RlAL OWENS that ARE
UNIVERSALLY BELIEVED

ting ON the Raft Painting the Boats
Lucky birds.
''Srit on your bait. " said Captain Jor-
genson to a novice in the piscatorial art
who was out with US on the ocean one
day The fellow had set for an hour
without hooking a fish, while the old
salt and ! had filed basket with sea-
bass Of good size. The young disciple OF
lzaak Walton followed directions and
caught a fish, greatly to his delight and
IN proof Of the old superstition, but it
was an accident, for he never caught
another all day.
spit on your halt for luck. was what
hey used to tell me when wasa lad and,
for want Of better thing TO do, did as
li.ected. but / always noted that it was
not the spiitle but the bait that caught
the fancy % the fish have frequently
sat alongside another man IN a boat aud
pulled up the swimmers almost as rapidly
as ! could throw my line, while he Won
dered at his bad luck, as he nut il. But
it was not lucls-i il was tact--ard perhaps
position had something 10 do with It.
You must throw your bait where there
are rocks or sunken vessels If you want
to catch sea- bass, blacklist and many
other swimmers, for il IS to such Kings
that the food the fish loves only can cling
and there Is their feodng ground Il the
man alongside OF SOU drops his line on
tine sand, he may be morally certain that
his fishing will not amount ia much DC
not call 1t luck, for IL is nothlng but ig-
norsnce.
st. Peter was long ago declared tho
patron saint % the fisherman and en- the
18th day OF June tine Eng SSH fishermen
paint their boats. garland The nlasts and
sprinkle the bows with good lquor, their (
wives turning out to witness the cere.
mony. The custom of setting nets on |
Christmas eve is still observed through (
out Sweden, for there exists belief that /
il is a lucky practice and should not be 4
omitted under penalty Of bad luck all the
year.
The fishermen on the coast OF the
Baltic never use their nets between All /
Saints day and ST. Martins day, for il
they do SO they would be sure that they
would have a miserable catch for the re-
mainder Of the year Martin, in his ac-
count of the Western Isles OF Scotland. 4
published in l716, says that the fisher
men Of the town Of Bsrvas, in he Isle Of T
St. Lewis, were in the habit Of sending
one OF taeir number 10 cross he River Of 4
Barvas early on May day before any wo-
man would be likely TO do 20, for Is the
latter happened. they declared il would
hinder the salmon from coming into the
river all the year round v here this pc
ruliar superstition was procured and TO
what is to be attributed the ilI-IucS at
tending upon their appearance IS gnex-
pls ned.
p rds seem to have much to do with
ishermen, and sens bly,, too. Tor these
birds are those which iced apon fish. !
They regard the appearance Of certain .
birds As omens Of good luck the En-
ylish halling the gsnnet, the Americans
he osprey, and the Norse Vikings the 7
ern. Wilson makes allusion 70 the
'sprey In his Fisherman Hymn, :" and
ays; 6
The osprey sal above the sound,
The &c Sc are gone. he CULTS are flying {
The herring shoals swarm thick aronrs
The nets are launched. the boats are plying .
Excepting among the negro Gred gers
ur oystermen 90 not sing when after the
'ivalve, but in England the oystermen =
.eep mp wild. monotonous chant. which
hey believe has the effect or Charming Z
he oysters into the dredge and as nearly 2
=
he herr ne loves the merry moonlight.
The mackeIe loves the wind, =
TIT The oyster owes be bred rorss SONG, Fb
For he comes Of q gentle kind. Ia
The Swedish anglers say that II
roman strides the rod, no trout will be
sught that day. They consider il un-
lcky to turn be prov Of the boat toward =
aore when fishing in the many streams
: that country. Pins found in church "
I'd made INTO fish hooks brought good
stolen from a friend or
eighbor brought better luck than Il
onestly come BY. This gives a bad name
) the followers OF the honest and sedate Z,
sask Walton in that part OF the world. p,
sneeze on the right side OF the boat
lille fishing is a good omen In Sweden :.
nd a sneeze on the left side is unlucky.
in Forfarshire there are fishermen who
III not put out to sea If a hare crosses
leir path while they are on their way to s.
ieir boats, and among those of Green. y
X, superstition is prevalent that II a ~
Y falls into glass when fisherman il
lout to drink, it is en- indisputable a.
men Of good luck for him during the q
~. In,
Among the English fishermen Candle
as day, the first Monday in April, the n
Y on which Cain was born and Abel M
as slain" the second Monday in An- q,
ist, g the day on which Sodom and Co
orrah were destroyed" and December
, the day on which Judas was born. - "a
e regarded as evil days, and 10 fisher q
m will trust himself on those DAYS 70
ion the water ~
An English fisherman is always hqppy ~
ben he can take q 1ng with him one or vi
ore children, as they invariably bring
cd luck The reverse Of this was mani-
.ted whenever there was cat on board
.hough no sailor would Intentionally
own the cat for fear of evil copse-
ences. Still, it is a custom with fisher
IN to see to il that no feline IS on the
ssel before starting out for the sea. and 'V
BY have been known to return and take
resh start when stowaway cat was VI
md. Upon such occasions IL was
smed necessary to work some charm on wi
count OF the returning, which, in itses. ar,
: bad luck unless something was done
break the spell.
mother strong superstition among -
z lieb fishermen Is that IL L. "a * ~