Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-10-07
SCOTCH FISHER LAsSES.
Picturesque Figures That Have Al
most Disappeared.

In the north OF scotland as Is the
case elsewhere fishermen form dis
tnct class. One of the noticeable fea-
lures of this exclusive class-so ex-
elusive. indeed. as almost to be reck-
oned easte-is the participation of
the women in the industry in which
their men folk are engaged
They have not as yet invaded the
special domain of the men-the hand
ling of the boats and the catching of
the fish 1t is in the prosecution OF
the ordinary line" fishing that the
women render the greatest aid.
In some OF the smaller villages the
fishing is very much family affair.
all the grown-up members of the FAM
lily cooperating in some way or 9TH
err. The women collect the bait and
then fix it to the lines. Neither of
these tasks is so light as it looks,
says the Graphic while the two COM
bined make serious inroads on the
time that otherwise would be devoted
to household duties
With the return of the boats another
branch of the wonens work begins.
They assist in the cleaning and pack
ing of the fish to be despatched to the
markets as fresh and they also help
in the splitting, cutting, sailing and
general preparation of the fish des-
tined to be "cured
In former times, before the collec-
ton and distribution of fish at central
markets had become the extensive and
fiourishing business which, aided by
railway il is today. 1t was customary
for the fishermen's wives and daugh-
tiers to do large part of the selling,
either by trudging many miles to the
nearest market town with "creels
(wicker baskets) full of fish on their ,
backs, or by perambulating thesneigh-
boring district and cadging the fish at
house DOORS
very picturesque sight, indeed,
! was "fsherwife as thus seen in
market or street or country road, ar
rayed in voluminous skirts of thick
cloth and wearing spotless white
mulch or cap. The pleasing figure
may yet be encountered occasionally
in rural districts, but it has we'll nigh
disappeared from the towns vanish
ing before the adoption of quicker
methods of sale and delivery. Modern
developments of the fishing industry.
however, far from curtailing the
employment of women, have extended
it.
Very large numbers of women
now employed by the wholesale fish
merchants and fish curers in the big
towns in the various processes of
cleaning, packing and curing. In
Aberdeen, for example, that city hay
ing become a very important fishing
center, over 1900 women are so en-
gagged, the detailed report of the last
census enumerating among them lit
married women and 129 widows
Not all the women thus employed
belong the the fisher" class, of course
1.-The business has swollen to such
dimensions that workers have to be
drawn from other sections of the COM
munity, But fisher lasses" still form
Ia large proportion of the women en-
ployed in the special work of cleaning
and packing behring's. Immediate
despatch is the keynote of the her
| ring trade. and, accordingly the her
rings have to be prepared with great
rapidity Expert operators are re-
| quired, and the fisher girls who have
| learned that art can find ready EN-
| ployment at the leading stations" of
| the industry
Cutting herrings can hardly be de-
scribed as picturesque-it Is certainly
not over cieanly; but there is a fas
cination in the dizziness with which
barrels are filled. the girls all the
while singing merrily or chattering
gayly with each other. Despite their
| changes of environment, the girls do
| not lose their individuality. They live
| very much to themselves and among
| themselves, and often to be SEEN af-
| ter a days heavy work, industriously
| knitting stockings, and on the termin-
| alton of the herring fishing season
| they return to their humble homes.
| little affected by the attractions or
temptations of the bigger places in
which they have temporarily So
| journed.