SEAN FISHING. 87 



especially on the eastern side. This method was at 

 one time in common use for catching small herrings 

 for bait on the Caithness coast during six weeks or two 

 months before the regular drift-fishing commenced, but 

 it has gone very much out of favour in recent years. 

 It is still employed, however, at several places further 

 south. I have not been able to obtain any very satis- 

 factory explanation of the term " dandy " as applied to 

 this line ; but those who have the best practical ac- 

 quaintance with the Scotch fishermen and their modes 

 of expression believe, that " dandy " in this case has 

 the ordinary English meaning, and a " dandy-line " is 

 merely one which is more than usually smart and pret- 

 tily mounted. 



SEAN FISHING. 



Among the several kinds of fishing-net in use in this 

 country, the sean or seine has. probably the strongest 

 claim to be considered as the earliest adopted. Of the 

 origin of any of our nets I can say very little; but 

 there is evidence of the sean, or draw-net, having been 

 used by some nations long before the Christian era; 

 and in the New Testament we read of fishing having 

 been carried on by some of those who afterwards 

 became Apostles, in a manner which agrees entirely 

 with our present method of working the sean. Mr. 

 Couch, the author of the well-known work entitled 

 1 Fishes of the British Islands,' indeed claims a much 



