26 BULLETIN 127, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



to the historical account, and as early as 1716 mention is made of 

 the employment of a " scooner " in the fisheries off Cape Sable, Nova 

 Scotia, and it is possible this may have been the original one built 

 by Captain Robinson. 



The schooners employed in the Grand Bank cod fisheries from 

 New England, chiefly from the port of Marblehead, Mass., previous 

 to the War of Independence were full built, round-bodied craft, 

 specially noted for having short and high quarter-decks, from which 

 peculiarity they derived the appellation of "heel-tappers" at a 

 later date, when a different type of fishing vessel came into gen- 

 eral use. 



Previous to 1775 Marblehead had a fleet of more than 150 fishing 

 schooners, while it is said that as early as 1701 Gloucester had a 

 fleet of 70 vessels employed in the Grand Bank cod fisheries. Many 

 of the largest of the New England fleet made winter voyages to 

 Spain, chiefly to Bilboa, where they carried the products of their 

 summer's fishing, and returned home laden with European goods. 

 In this way the spirit of adventure was stimulated and increased, 

 and many of the New England fishermen became very skillful 

 seamen. 



The period between 1775 and 1815, during which time occurred 

 the War of the Revolution, the embargo act, and the War of 1812- 

 1815, was a very unfavorable one for the American fisheries. The 

 larger class of fishing vessels, those which had been employed on the 

 Grand Bank and other distant fishing grounds, were compelled to 

 lie idle, while in most cases the hardy men who had composed their 

 crews were employed in the Army or Navj\ The fishermen, impov- 

 erished by the long struggle for independence, were unable after the 

 peace of 1783 to build and equip large vessels; therefore they pro- 

 vided themselves with smaller craft, in which they fished on the 

 grounds in Massachusetts Bay and adjacent waters. This was the 

 period when the " Chebacco boat" came into general use. These 

 peculiar boats derive their specific name from Chebacco, now a part 

 of the town of Essex, Mass., where they originated. At first they 

 were generally sharp aft, with a "pink" stern, usually only par- 

 tially decked — ^being what were called " standing-room boats " — with 

 two masts and two sails. Later they were built larger, rarely, how- 

 ever, so large as 20 tons, and decked, while many were made with 

 square stern and nicknamed " dogboddies." About 1820 the fisheries 

 began to gain in prosperity, the size of the sharp-sterned craft in- 

 creased, a bowsprit with a jib was added, and a new style of fishing 

 vessel, the "'pinkey," was the result. Though in the meantime some 

 square-sterned vessels were employed, the pinkey remained in most 

 general use until about 1840, when the low quarter-deck, but still 

 full-bowed schooner, was extensively introduced. 



