COMMON GUILLEMOT. 713 



in vogue for upwards of two hundred years, while one family 

 at Buckton can boast of four generations who have followed 

 this profession, viz. : William Hodgson ; his son Grindale, 

 who died at the age of eighty about the year 1864 ; Edward, 

 son of the last named, who climbed for upwards of thirty years ; 

 and, lastly, John, son of Edward, who has been a " dimmer " 

 since about the year 1885. Seventy to eighty years ago, 

 that is, about 1825 to 1830, there were four gangs, led 

 respectively by Aaron Leppington of Buckton ; old George 

 Londesborough, or " Lowney," of Bempton ; Grindale Hodg- 

 son, and Fox. Old Ned Hodgson can recollect when, 

 some fifty years ago, only two gangs of climbers went out 

 at the Bempton, Buckton, and Speeton cliffs, who divided 

 the ground between them ; one of these was captained by 

 George Londesborough, and the other by Grindale Hodgson. 

 The gangs consisted of two men only, one to climb and the 

 other to manage the ropes ; as a boy, Ned Hodgson used 

 to be taken to help his father in coiling up the ropes and to 

 assist in hauling up, while sometimes the men's wives were 

 requisitioned to give a helping hand. A few years later 

 three in a gang went out, but dangerous places were not 

 " dumb." The cliffs at or near to Flamborough were worked 

 by the fishermen, and, at the period referred to, the birds 

 bred abundantly from the Headland westward, while in little 

 bays, now entirely deserted, there was then a large avian 

 population, as is exemplified by a spot near Thornwick called 

 " Chatter Trove," from the noise the birds are said to have 

 made. Many other portions of these cliffs have appellations 

 derived from some incident connected with the bird-life, 

 and handed down from father to son, e.g., " Bird's Shoot," 

 " Hateley (Hartley) Shoot," " White-wings," where for some 

 years, up to 1897, a white-winged Guillemot used to fly out ; 

 " White Breadloaf," so called from a man asking Ned 

 Hodgson's help, who replied, " Whatever's on that spot you 

 shall have " ; the eggs were given to the man, who purchased 

 with the proceeds of their sale the first loaf of white bread he 

 had eaten for months ; " Broken Head " ; " Fox's Broken 

 Arm," where accidents occurred ; " Jubilee Corner," first 



