The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-02-03
WITH The RISING TIDE
BQATMEN MAKE ALL SNUG WHEN
THE AEGIR Is At HAND.
Peculiar Swell That Is Characters
tic Of English River and Really
Has No Counterpart, SO Far
ae Is Known.
"'Ware Aegir! Ware Aegir!"

Ware Aegir! Ware Aeg1r!
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. It is
calm summer evening and we sit wait
ing and listening on one Of the old
Wharyes Of GaiIsborough, Lincoln
shire. The cry is taken up by every
boatnan, who shouts it again up
stream strange, eerie warning.
Several small BOATS are now pushing
of into midstream to avoid the mass
Of churning water which breaks on the
foreshore. A group Of children add to
the tumult with a shriH cry Of Wild
Aegir! Wild Aegir!" which they con-
slider a much better rendering than
"'Ware, Aegir!" according to q writer
IN the Wide World
By craning forward We can sec It
now, rounding bend OF the river by
the shipyard. The first wave Is big
and smooth, stretching right across
the river with swirl Of angry water
at each side; next follow five or six
big rollers, which roar and foam
along, leaving masses Of broken water
in their wake. These are called the
"whelps." Presently we shall see TIE
force OF these "whelps," when they
reach those big, unwieldly square
nosed rges-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 keelman was lolliug about
the deck smoking his clay and look
ing idly ct the water. Now he Is alert
all at once, and, knocking the ashes
out Of his pipe, he gives 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 or board. The old man has
noticed it, for he shouts. Ware
Aegir, Stoney, my lad!" and young
: fellow jumps up the hatch and runs
to the tiller. The distant swish has In.
creased toa roar now, and a feeling Of
intense excitement grips US as we see
small boat rise up on the first wave
and disappear for moment In the
hollow. Up again she rises, right into
the froth o., the "whelps." Another
moment and she Is through into
calEler water.
See! The billow dashes like g
monster tidal wave against wharf
and splashes high up into the air with
roar and smother Of white foam
Now 1t has reached the keel" With
groal 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 Aegtrs are not all as big as
this one; some are mere swell about
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 tht
Aegir in any way.