428 ANECDOTE OF A FISHWIFE. [CHAP. x. 



And so the chaffering goes on, till ultimately the fishwife 

 will take tenpence for the lot, and this plan of asking double 

 what will be taken, which is common with them all and 

 sometimes succeeds with simple housewives, will be repeated 

 from door to door, till the supply be exhausted. The mode 

 of doing business with a fishwife is admirably illustrated in 

 the Antiquary. When Monkbarns bargains for " the bannock- 

 fluke" and "the cock-padle," Maggie Mucklebackit asks 

 four and sixpence, and ends, after a little negotiation and 

 much finesse, in accepting half-a-crown and a dram ;' the latter 

 commodity being worth siller just then, in consequence of the 

 stoppage of the distilleries. 



The fishwives while selling their fish will often say some- 

 thing quaint to the customer with whom they are dealing. I 

 will give one instance of this, which, though somewhat ludi- 

 crous, is characteristic, and have no doubt the words were 

 spoken from the poor woman's heart. "A fishwife who was cry- 

 ing her " caller cod" in George Street, Edinburgh, was stopped 

 by a cook at the head of one of the area stairs. A cod was 

 wanted that day for the dinner of the family, but the cook 

 and the fishwife could not trade, disagreeing about the price. 

 The night had been stormy, and instead of the fishwife flying 

 into a passion, as is their general custom when bargaining for 

 their fish if opposed in getting their price, the poor woman 

 shed tears, and said to the cook, ' Tak' it or want it ; ye may 

 think it clear, but it's a' that's left to me for a faither o' four 

 bairns.' " 



Notwithstanding, however, their lying and cheating in 

 the streets during the week when selling their fish, there 

 are no human beings in Scotland more regular in their 

 attendance at church. To go to their church on a Sunday, 

 and see the women all sitting with their smooth glossy hair 

 and snow-white caps, staring with open eyes and mouth 

 at the minister, as he exhorts them from the pulpit as to 



