HISTOKIGAL EEFEEENCES: NEW HAMPSHIRE. G81 



'March y e 7th day, 1748. By a Legall town meeting of y c Free holders and Inhabitorice of gosport, dewly quallefide 

 to vote for Tiding men Collers of fish, Corders of wood. Addition to y e minister's sallery Mr. John Tucke, 100 Ibs. 

 old tenor.' Among the 'otibrsers' of ' Gospored' were, besides ' Moderator' and 'Towne Clarke,' ' Seelekt rneeii,' ' Couu- 

 stauble,' 'Tidoumeen ' (Tithing- men), Coulears of fish' 'Coulear' meaning, I suppose, culler, or person appointed to 

 select Csb and ' Sealers of Whood,' ofteuer expressed corders of wood." 1 



" The fishermen of the Isles of Shoals, as a class, were moral and exemplary men during the entire period em- 

 braced iu our inquiries. A place of worship was erected even before the year 1641, at which time the Rev. Mr. Hull 

 was their minister. They were disturbed, however, in 1642, by Mr. Gibson, au Episcopal clergyman, who went among 

 them, performed services according to the rites of his church, and created a disaffection towards the government of 

 Massachusetts, which then claimed to exercise jurisdiction over them. The Rev. John Brock commenced his pastoral 

 labors about 1650, and remained among them twelve yearn. J3.6 was au excellaut man, and was succeeded by Mr. 

 Belcher, who was equally worthy. Mr. Moody followed, in 1700, and continued their pastor upwards of twenty-five 

 years. His successor was the Rev. John Tncke, whose ministry terminated only with his life, in 1773. Their last 

 spiritual guide, previous to the general dispersion, two or three years afterwards, was the Rev. Jeremiah Shaw. Thus 

 we have the remarkable fact that these lone islanders maintained religious worship, with hardly an interval, for one 

 hundred and thirty-five years."* 



"From the year 1754 to 1771, it appears from the records that the salary of the Rev. Mr. Tucke was paid him in 

 merchantable winter fish, a quintal a man. There were from eighty to a hundred men then on these islands, and a 

 quintal of fish was estimated at a guinea. His salary was considered, in his situation, as one of the most valuable, at 

 that time, in New England." 3 



The following extract from the town records is the official history of the transactions between the islanders and 

 their clergymen : 



" MARCH 12TH, 1769. 



"A geuarel free voot past amongst the inhabents to cus [cause] tow men to go to the Revd. Mr. John Tucke to 

 hear wether he was willing to take one Quental of fish each man, or to take the price of Quental in ould tenor which 

 he answered this that he thought it was easer to pay the fish than the money which he consented to taik the fish for 

 the year iusuing." "On March y" 25, 1771, then their was a mealing called and it was gurned until the 23rd day 

 of Apriel. 



"Mr. DEEKEN WILLAM MUCHMORE, 



"Moderator." 



THE EFFECTS OF WAR. " It is of interest to remark," says Sahine, "as showing the prosperous condition of these 

 islands, and the means of education in ' the olden time,' that gentlemen of consideration, of some of the principal 

 towns on the seacoast, sent their sous there for literary instruction. 



"The war of the Revolution produced a disastrous change. It was found by the Whigs that their enemies 

 extorted articles of sustenance as well as recruits for their service, and they ordered the inhabitants to abandon their 

 homes. In obedience to the hard mandate, a large proportion removed to towns orfthe main land, and never returned. 

 A single incident that occurred early in the contest will serve to illustrate the general situation of the islanders 

 previous to their dispersion: An aged woman, who lived on Star Island, kept two cows, which fed in winter on hay 

 cut in summer among the rocks with a knife, and with her own hands. These useful animals were always in excellent 

 order, and to her were invaluable. To her great sorrow, though paid lor, they were taken by the British and 

 slaughtered for beef." 4 



FISH CURING IN OLD TIMES. "The winter and summer fish," eays a writer in the Mass. Historical Society Col- 

 lections iu 1802, "are, doubtless, of the same species. They are cured also in the same manner, except that the former, 

 on account of the coldness of the weather, require less salt. The trouble of taking and curing the winter fish is much 

 greater than of the summer, because the days are shorter, and the season unfavorable for drying them. The hardships 

 endured in taking the winter fish are inconceivable by all but eye-witnesses. In summer the fishing is carried on 

 chiefly in the night. 



"In the autumn of 1800, thirteen whale-boats, ten owned on Star and three on Haley's Island, belonged to these 

 islanders. From 1,000 to 1,500 quintals offish are caught here annually; from 100 to 250 quintals of which are what 

 is called winter or dun fish. In the winter and spring of 1800, when bait was plenty, and the season favorable, about 

 300 quintals of winter fish were taken ; in 1788, when bait was scarce, and the season bad, only 35 quintals were 

 caught. 



"The following is the process of making the fish : The fish, in the first place, are thrown from the boats in piles 

 on the shore. The cutter then takes them and cuts their throats and rips open their bellies. In this state he hands 

 them to the header, who takes out the entrails (detaching the livers, which are preserved for the sake of the oil they 

 contain) and breaks off their heads. The splitter then takes out the back-bone, and splits them completely open, 

 and hands them to the salter, who salts and piles them in bulk, where they lie from ten to twenty hours, as is most 

 convenient. The shoremen and the women then wash and spread them on the flakes. Here they remain three or 

 four weeks, according to the weather; during which time they are often turned, piled in fagots, and then spread 

 again, till they arc completely cured for the market. The winter or dumb fish lie from ten to fourteen days in salt, 

 and are very carefully dried, and secured in bad weather. The season for catching and curiug these fish is from Feb- 



1 Thaxter's Isles of Shoals, 1873, p. 57. "Coll. Mass. Hist. Soo. 



'Sabine, op. cit., p. 114. <Sabine, op. cit., p. 114. 



