442 INFORMATION. [CHAP. x. 



one deal, every man half a deal, and every net was awarded 

 half a deal. The landsmen, being counted as boys, only drew 

 a quarter of a deal. 



The retired Buckhaven fishermen can give interesting in- 

 formation about the money value of the fisheries. One, who 

 was a young fellow five-and-twenty years ago, told me the 

 herring-fishery was a kind of lottery, but that, on an average 

 of years, each boat would take annually something like a hun- 

 dred crans the produce, in all cases where the crew were 

 part owners, after deducting a fifth part or so to keep up the 

 boat, being equally divided. " When I was a younker, sir," 

 said this person, " there was lots o' herrin', an' we had a fine 

 winter fishin' as well, an' sprats in plenty. As to white fish, 

 they were abundant five-an'-twenty year ago. Haddocks now 

 are scarce to be had ; being an inshore fish, they've been a' 

 ta'en, in my opinion. Line-fishin' was very profitable from 

 1830 to 1840. I've seen as many as a hunder thoosand fish 

 o' ae kind or anither ta'en by the Buckhyne boats in a week 

 that is, countin' baith inshore boats an' them awa at the 

 Dogger Bank. The lot brocht four hunder pound ; but a' 

 kinds of fish are now sae scarce that it taks mair than dooble 

 the labour to mak the same money that was made then." 



In the pre-railway era, most of the fishermen along the 

 east coast of Fife (at Buckhaven, Cellardyke, St. Monance, 

 and Pittenweem), as also the fishermen along the south coast 

 (North Bewick, Dunbar, Eyemouth, and Burnmouth), used to 

 carry their catch ings of white fish to villages up the Firth of 

 Forth, and dispose of them to cadgers and creel-hawkers, who 

 had the retail trade of Edinburgh and Leith in their own 

 hands. These persons distributed themselves over the 

 country in order to dispose of their fish, and some of them 

 would return with farm-produce in its place. The profits 

 realised from thus retailing the produce of fishermen belonging 

 to distant villages enabled those who resided on firths border- 



