CHAP, viii.] THE DREDGING SONG. 379 



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 con- 

 versation is carried on after the manner of the recitative of an 

 opera or oratorio. An enthusiastic London litterateur and 

 musician, being on a visit to Scotland, determined to carry 

 back with him, among other natural curiosities, the words and 

 music of the oyster-dredging song. But, after being exposed 

 to the piercing east wind for six hours, and jotting down the 

 words and music of the dredgers, he found it all to end in 

 nothing ; the same words were never used, the words were 

 ever changing. 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. 



The geographical distribution of oysters is most lavish ; 

 wherever there is a seabord there will they be found. The 

 old stories of ancient mariners, who sailed the seas before the 

 days of cheap literature, will be recalled, and their boasted 

 knowledge of the wonders of the fish world of oysters that 

 grew on trees, and oysters so large that they required to be 

 carved just like a round of beef or quarter of lamb. All these 

 tales were formerly considered so many romances. Who be- 

 lieved Uncle Jack when he gravely told his wondering nephews 

 about oysters as large as a soup-plate being found on the coast 

 of Coromandel ? But, nevertheless, Uncle Jack's stories have 

 been found to be true : there are large oysters which require 

 carving, and oysters Jiave been plucked off trees. There are 

 wonderful tales about oysters that have been taken on the 



