68 FISHERMEN OF THE DNITED STATES. 



while he was trying a case in the circuit court, in Boston, the clerk called out the name of one of 

 the jury as Michael Treffrey (it being so spelt). No answer was given. Again he was called, and 

 still there was silence. 'It is very strange,' said the clerk, 'I saw that man here not two minutes 

 ago.' 'Where does he come from?' asked the judge. 'Marblehead, may it please your honor,' 

 said the clerk. ' If that's the case,' said the judge, ' let me see the list.' The clerk handed it up to 

 him. He looked at the same a minute and, handing back the list, said, 'Call Mike Trevy6' (throw- 

 ing the accent on the last syllable). 'Mike Trevj'6,' called the clerk. 'Here,' answered a gruff 

 voice. 'Why did you not answer before?' asked the clerk. 'Treffrey is no way to pronounce my 

 name,' said the juryman; 'my name is Mike Trevy6, as the judge knows.' 



"Another anecdote to the same purpose is related in the work : 'On one occasion, when some 

 of our fishermen were in court to settle a mutiny which had taken place on the Grand Banks (of 

 Newfoundland), one, on being called to state what he knew, said that the skipper and one of his 

 shipmates had what he called a ' jor of ile.' The presiding judge in vain endeavored to get a more 

 intelligible answer, and finally Judge Story was called upon, as usual, to act as interpreter to his 

 townsman, which he did, telling the court that a 'jor of ile' in the Marblehead dialect was 'a jaw, 

 awhile,' which, being interpreted, meant that the two men abused each other grossly for some time. 



" Though the dialect once so general among the people is now almost extinct, there are many 

 words used occasionally to know the meaning of which would puzzle a stranger. Often when any 

 of the natives feel cold or chilly they will say they are 'crimmy.' If they lose their way in the 

 dark and become confused or bewildered, they will say that they were ' pixilated.' In speaking 

 of the ceiling of a room many of the older people still call it ' planchment.' When a lady on 

 examining a piece of sewing finds that it is carelessly or improperly done, it is not unusual for her to 

 call the work a 'frouch.' When food has been improperly cooked it is spoken of as 'cantch.' When 

 very angry for any reason it is a common occurrence to hear some one exclaim, 'Squeal 'imup!' 

 'Squeal something at him!' or 'He ought to be squealed up!' which being Interpreted means, 

 'Throw something at him!' 'He ought to be stoned!' 'Stone him!' A crumb or a small piece of 

 anything is called a ' grummet,' and a sulky or ill-natured person is said to be ' grouty.' " 



FiSHEEMEN OF Geand Manak. — A Writer in the Gloucester Telegraph of July 16, 1870, says : ■ 



" The fishermen of Grand Manan have a patois of their own. When one of them speaks of 

 his ' brush' you do not at first suspect that he refers to his hair. His boots are ' stompers,' 

 while his knife is a 'throater,' and his apron a 'barvil.' His hook is a 'dragon,' and his boats 

 'pinkies,' 'pogies,' and 'jiggers.' He counts time by the tide, and covenants with the parson to 

 marry him to Suke about ' slack water.' The various preparations of flour and meal are known 

 as 'fish-smother,' 'duff,' and 'joe-floggers'; hard bread and apples are 'grunt.' He applies 

 ' she' to everything, from his wife to a cart-wheel or clock." 



38. LITERARY TASTES. 



Through the great abundance of cheap publications, at the present day, the fishermen are 

 enabled to provide themselves with literary entertainment at small cost. The liability of having 

 valuable books Impaired or destroyed is often a reason for not carrying them on shipboard. We 

 quote the statement of Mr. A. Howard Clark concerning the general character of the literature 

 sold to fishermen by the newsdealers of Gloucester. He writes: 



"I have called upon the newsdealers to ascertain the character and quantity of reading mat- 

 ter sold to the fishermen. The result as to character is a little better than I expected. They do 

 not read magazines, such as Harper's Monthly, Scribner's, or the Atlantic. The great favorites 

 with them used to be trashy dime no vels, but the large variety of story papers now published 



