of provisions, supplies for a week, placed aboard a 

 Chebacco boat in 181 1 : 2 quarts of molasses, 5 pounds 

 of fat salt pork, 4 pounds of flour, 7 pounds of hard 

 crackers, % barrel of water, and an unstated supply 

 of rum. Beans were sometimes supplied and cooked 

 aboard the boats. 



Throughout the colonial period and after, until 

 well into the 1840's, the consumption of rum aboard 

 New England fishing vessels was enormous. It was 

 said that this often had serious effects upon fishing, 

 causing loss of time and gear. Occasionally an 

 incident appeared in the newspapers, as in the 

 Boston Gazelle, Monday, August 12th, 1771: 



The beginning of last \Veek a Fishing Schooner arrived 

 at Marblehead, having on board 4 Men and 2 Lads, who 

 gave an Account, that about a Week or Fortnight before 

 they got in, one Saturday Evening, after the Crew had made 

 a Supper of Pork and boiled Dumplins, their Skipper, 



Mr , and one Russell, died very suddenly, the 



former immediately after Supper and the latter the next 

 Morning. ."Mthough the Men and Lads agreed in the 

 Circumstances relative to these Deaths, yet the Magistracy 

 tho't proper to make a legal, particular Enquiry into the 

 Affair, which was done last Saturday, when it appeared 

 that Russell, after the Men had finished their Supper, 

 challenged the Skipper, or any other, to drink Bumpers 

 of Rum with him; which being accepted, a Pint Mug was 

 filled and Russell drank it off, and the Skipper then drank 

 the same Quantity. Russell repeated the fatal draught 

 which completed a Quart; before the Skipper had Time to 

 drink his second Draught he fell and immediately e.xpired. 

 His Champion dropt very soon after, continued in a 

 lethargic State till the Next Morning and then died. The 

 4 Men and 2 Lads agreed to Conceal the unhappy cause of 

 these Deaths; which they did until examined by Authority. 



In the years between 1815 and 1840 the peaceful 

 state of the seas and the steadily increasing demand 

 for fish made cargo capacity more important than 

 speed. Under these conditions, what was generally 

 needed was a burdensome vessel that would lie at 

 anchor safely on the banks and sail at a moderate 

 rate. In 1821 the first attempt was made by a 

 Massachusetts fisherman to anchor on Georges 

 Bank, as had long been done on the Grand Banks; pre- 

 viously the strong tides on the Georges had led to a 

 belief that a vessel anchoring there would be pulled 

 under by the tide. The importance of the salt 

 fishery caused the construction of many large, burden- 

 some schooners having a short, full entrance and run, 

 a rather round, full bottom, a moderate sheer, and 

 a short quarterdeck. On the whole these schooners 

 were very slow under sail and it was these, perhaps. 



New England Pinkv of 1820-45, rigged model 

 USNM 57586, showing a typical deck arrangement. 

 The mainsheet horse forward of the tiller, however, is 

 unusual and probably an error of the model builder. 

 {SmitluoJiian photo 4^6g^.) 



that caused the veteran fishermen later (in 1885) 

 to describe Marblehead-built schooners as slow and 

 barrel-shaped and thus to establish the tradition that 

 all the old Marblehead schooners, without regard to 

 date, were tubby craft. 



Sharpshooter and Chpper Fishermen 



Several factors arose to change this picture and to 

 create a demand for faster vessels. The invasion of 

 Canadian waters by New England fishermen and 

 the various international disputes over treaty rights 

 of Americans to fish in Canadian waters finally led 

 to attempts to exclude the New Englanders from some 

 of the desirable fishing areas on the coasts of Nova 

 Scotia, New Brunswick, and Labrador. This was 

 done by use of fishery patrol vessels and British naval 

 craft. The New Englanders resisted this, first em- 

 ploying some fast pinkies to poach on the forbidden 

 fishing banks and then demanding that builders 

 produce smart sailing craft that could escape the 

 patrol and naval vessels. Another factor placing 

 emphasis on the \alue of fast-sailing in fishing 

 schooners was the demand for fresh fish occasioned 

 by the rising population of the coastal cities. This 

 demand was further stimulated, about 1836, by the 

 construction of a railroad into Boston and, some 10 

 years later, to Gloucester. With the possibility for 

 rapid delivery of fish inland, the market-fisheries 



166 



