266 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM;, 



to the water, some of them being considered as the most 

 fattening ground-bait for the cod-fish. The whelks, clams, 

 mussels, cockles, and occasionally the crabs, are used by 

 the fishermen as bait for their white-fish lines. Once, in 

 a conversation with a veteran dredger as to what strange 

 things might come in the dredge, he replied, " Well, 

 master, I don't know what sort of curiosities we sometimes 

 get; but I have seen gentlemen like yourself go out with 

 us a dredgin', and take away big baskets full o' things as 

 was neither good for eating or looking at. The Lord 

 knows what they did wi' 'em." During the whole time 

 that this dredging is being carried on, the crew keep up a 

 wild monotonous song, or rather chant, in which they 

 believe much virtue to lie. They assert that it charms the 

 oysters into the dredge, 



" The herring loves the merry moonlight, 



The mackerel loves the wind ; 

 But the oyster loves the dredger's song, 

 For he comes of a gentle kind/' 



Talking is strictly forbidden, so that all the required 

 conversation is carried on after the manner of the recitative 

 of an opera or oratorio. The oyster-scalps are gone over 

 by the men much in the way that a field is ploughed by an 

 agricultural labourer, the boat going and returning until 

 sufficient oysters are secured, or a shift is made to another 

 bed. (q) 



The dredging for oysters is carried on in fleets, as the 

 beds mostly lie within a comparatively small space. The 

 boats, which are about fifteen feet long, usually carry a 

 man and a boy, or two men. The dredge is about 18 

 pounds weight, and is required to be heavier on a hard 



(q] "The Harvest of the Sea," pp. 261-2. 



