THE BRITISH HERRING FISHERY 



the only distinction between a herring-fisher and any 

 other is that the former grows rich more quickly and 

 more surely than his less favoured brethren ; for where 

 both supply and demand are abundant and fairly constant, 

 there money must be made. 



The boat most generally employed is the Scotch or 

 two-masted lugger, open or decked, as the case may be ; 

 more often the latter. The luggers found on the coast of 

 Scotland usually have a little cabin forward, but the rest 

 of tHe vessel open. The North Country boats are long 

 and narrow, with a pointed stern ; the foremast is placed 

 as near as possible to the prow, which practice, though it 

 may render her awkward and sulky when sailing against 

 the wind, makes a very fast boat of her with the wind 

 behind her. The vessels in the west and south-west are, 

 as a rule, broader in the beam, and not uniformly so fast. 

 The special advantage attaching to the use of the double 

 lugger is that, while fishing is going on, the foremast can 

 more easily be stepped (lowered) than could the main- 

 mast of a cutter or yawl. And this measure is very 

 necessary because, when once the nets are shot, even 

 though there be no sail up, the least wind will add tre- 

 mendously to the already heavy strain on the tow-rope ; 

 and it is the skilled fisherman's one endeavour to keep 

 such strain at a minimum. 



Herring-fishing is night-work, and the darker the night 

 the better the men like it ; for the fish are much too 

 wide awake to run their heads into the meshes as long 

 as these are visible. To say that the boats go out every 

 night in the season would be to imply either that the 



134 



