SAILOR FISHERMEN OF NEW ENGLAND. 83 



tried to dissuade the old hero from resistance, removed the caps from his guns, and, takiDg a boat, 

 pulled off to the Shenandoah. Another boat was sent alongside and the officer in charge hailed 

 the old man and commanded him to surrender. 



The brief dialogue which now took place was too full of seaman's expletives to be repeated in 

 this place. Captain Young defied the privateersmen, in the most emphatic words, and as the men 

 hoarded his ship he leveled his huge bomb-gun and pulled the trigger; but the piece, which had 

 been tampered with, failed to explode and he was soon made a prisoner. 



Fishermen exempted from taxation in colonial times. — When the colonies of Massa- 

 chusetts aud Virginia were established, it seems to have been the intention of the English Govern- 

 ment to encourage in every possible manner the establishment of fisheries ; in fact, one of the chief 

 objects of the Massachusetts colonies in seeking a station so far north upon the coast was evidently 

 to gain increased facilities in the prosecution of this industry. 



In the early history of the Massachusetts colonies may be found numerous acts whose direct 

 purpose was to encourage men to engage in the fisheries. Many of these provide for the exemp- 

 tion of fishermen from military service. The following law is recorded as having been passed: 



"At the Genera 11 Courte, houlden at Boston, the 22th of the 3th M°, called May, 1039." "All 

 fishermen, while they are abroad during fishing seasons, shipcarpenters, w cb follow that calling, 

 & miilers shall bee exempted from training, yet they are to bee furnished with arms."* 



Again we find another act passed: 



"Att a Geuuerall Courte held at Boston, 14 of October, 1657." " In answer to y e peticcon of 

 Edw Rainsford, Gamaliel Waite, John Shawe, Mathew Abdy, Richard George, John Peel, 

 Richard Hollige, Richard Woodhouse, Robt Linkhorne, Abell Porter, Peter Till, Abraham 

 Browne, Jn° Mellows, fishermen, humbly desiring that they may be exempted from traynings 

 during time of the fishing season &c, the Court grants their request." t 



Humane services. — Important services are constantly being rendered by the fishermen in 

 tlir way of rescuing vessels and men in peril. The medal of the Massachusetts Humane Society 

 has frequently been awarded to fishermen, and in several iustances valuable gifts have been 

 received by our tishermeu from foreign Governments, especially from Great Britain, for services 

 rendered in saving the lives of British subjects. A long chapter might be devoted to recounting 

 instances of heroism, where lives have been saved by our fishermen at great risks to themselves 

 by acts of daring, which scarcely any but men like our fishermen, thoroughly accustomed to the 

 sea, would have dreamed of attempting. 



It is a well-known fact that fishermen habitually take extraordinary risks in rescuing their 

 shipmates, or others, in peril. Whittier has unintentionally done a great injustice to the New 

 England fishermen by the implications expressed in his poem, "Skipper Iresou's Ride": 



Small pity for him ! Ho sailed away 



From a leaking ship in Chaleur Bay — 



Sailed away from a sinking wreck 



With his own townspeople on her deck. 



"Lay by, lay by," they called to him. 



Back he answered, "Sink or swim, 



Brag of your catch of fish again !" 



And off he sailed through the fog and the rain! 



Old Floyd Ireson, for his hard heart, 



Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart 



By the women of Marblehead. 



* 1639. The legislature of Massachusetts passed an act to free from all duties and public taxes all estates em- 

 ployed in catching, making, or transporting fish. All fishermen, during the season for business, and all ship-builders 

 were, by the same act, excused from trainings. [Hutch., I, 92.] Holmes' American Annals, 1805, vol. i, p. 312. 



t Records of Massachusetts, vol. iv, Part I, page 312. 



