The Parker post., 1914-06-27
WITH THE RISING TIDE
BOATMEN MAKE ALL SNUG WHEN
THE AEGIR Is AT HAND.
Peculiar Swell That Is a Characterize
tic of English River and Really
Has No Counterpart, SO Far
as Is Known.
"'Ware Aegir! Ware Aegir!"

"'Ware Aegir! Ware Aegir!"
The river has been flowing out to
the sea for hours, leaving long
stretches of brown mud glittering in
the light Of the setting sun. 1t is a
calm summer evening and we sit wait
ing and listening on one of the old
wharves of Gainsborough, Lincoln
shire. The cry is taken up by every
boatman, who shouts it again up
stream-a strange, eerie warning.
Several small boats are now pushing
off into midstream to avoid the mass
of churning water which breaks on the
foreshore. A group of children add to
the tumult with a shrill cry of wild
Aegir! Wild Aegir!" which they con-
slider a much better rendering than
"'Ware, Aegir!" according to writer
in the Wide World.
By craning forward we can see it
now, rounding bend of the river by
the shipyard. The first wave is big
and smooth, stretching right across
the river with a swirl of angry water
big rollers, which roar and foam
along, leaving masses of broken water
in their wake. These are called the
"whelps." Presently we shall see the
force of these "whelps," when they
reach those big, unwieldly square
nosed barges-which, by the way, are
called "keels." There is one such
swinging at anchor in midstream just
opposite to us. For the last half hour
the old keeIman was lolling about
the deck smoking his clay and look
ing idly at the water. Now he is alert
all at once, and, knocking the ashes
out of his pipe, he gives a turn at the
windlass to tighten the anchor chain.
After a glance. along the deck to see
that all is secure, he looks back up
the river. He is calculating where the
Aegir will carry him to.
There is another barge higher up
the river, and as yet nobody has
stirred on board. The old man has
noticed it, for he shouts. "'Ware
Aegir, Stoney, my lad!" and a young
fellow jumps up the hatch and runs
to the tiller. The distant swish has in
creased toa roar now, and feeling Of
intense excitement grips us as we see
a small boat rise up on the first wave
and disappear for moment in the
hollow. Up again she rises, right into
the froth Of the "whelps." Another
moment and she is through into
calmer water.
See! The billow dashes like a
monster tidal wave against a wharf
and splashes high up into the air with
a roar and smother Of white foam.
Now it has reached the keel" With
groan and rattle of chain she rises
to the wave and is carried along with
it, but not very far, for the anchor
holds fast and she swings slowly
round The keel is broadside on now,
and the creamy 'whelps" dash right
over her deck as she rolls in the
trough Of the waves, but as quickly
as it takes to tell, she swings stem on
to the current, which is now rushing
upstream with tremendous force, and
will continue to do SO for two hours
or more until high water, when the
water lazily returns toward the sea.
The Aegirs are not all as big as
this one; some are mere swell about
a foot high. The best time to see them
is in the spring and autumn, when the
equinoctial tides are on the coast
Just below Gainsborough the Aegir is
seen at its best, as it rushes along
some Of the longest reaches Of the
Trent.
This curious tidal phenomenon
only occurs on one or two other rivers
in this country, the Severn being one
of them. where it is known as the
Bore" Those who have seen it. how
ever, say that it does not equal the
lAegir in any way.