440 PROSPERITY OF THE FISHER-FOLK. [CHAP. x. 



As denoting the prosperous state of the people of Buck- 

 haven, it may be stated that most of the families there have 

 saved money ; and, indeed, some of them are comparatively 

 wealthy, having a bank account, as well as considerable capi- 

 tal in boats, nets, and lines. Fishermen, being much away 

 from home, at the herring-fishery or out at the deep-sea fish- 

 ing, have no temptation to spend their earnings or waste 

 their time in the tavern. Indeed, in some Scottish fishing 

 villages there is not even a single public-house. The Buck- 

 haven men delight in their boats, which are mostly " Firth- 

 built," i. e. built at Leith, on the Firth of Forth. Many 

 of the boats used by the Scottish fishermen are built at that 

 port : they are all constructed with overlapping planks ; and 

 the hull alone of a boat thirty-eight feet in length will cost a 

 sum of 60. Each boat, before it can be used for the herring or 

 deep-sea fishery must be equipped with a set of nets and lines ; 

 say, a train of thirty-five nets, at a cost of 4 each, making a 

 sum of 140 ; which, with the price of the hull, makes the 

 cost 200, leaving the masts and sails, as well as inshore and 

 deep-sea lines and many other etceteras, to be provided for 

 before the total cost can be summed up. The hundred boats 

 which belong to the men of Buckhaven consequently represent 

 a considerable amount of capital. Each boat with its appur- 

 tenances has generally more than one owner; in other words, it 

 is held in shares. This is rather an advantage than otherwise, 

 as every vessel requires a crew of four men at any rate, so 

 that each boat is usally manned by two or three of its owners 

 a pledge that it will be looked carefully after and not be 

 exposed to needless danger. With all the youngsters of a fish- 

 ing village it is a point of ambition to obtain a share of a boat 

 as soon as ever they can ; so that they save hard from their 

 allowances as extra hands, in order to attain as early as pos- 

 sible to the dignity of proprietorship. We look in vain, except 

 at such wonderful places as Eochdale, to find manufacturing 



