PEEPAKATIONS FOE "THE FISHING." 179 



chief herring season comes on a kind of madness seizes on all en- 

 gaged, ever so remotely, in the trade ; as for those more imme- 

 diately concerned, they seem to go completely " daft," especially 

 the younger hands. The old men, too, come outside to view the 

 annual preparations, and talk, with revived enthusiasm, to their 

 sons and grandsons about' what they did twenty years agone ; 

 the young men spread out the shoulder-of-mutton sails of their 

 boats to view and repair defects ; and the wives and sweethearts, 

 by patching a,nd darning, contrive to make old nets " look amaist 

 as weel as new ; " boilers bubble with the brown catechu, locally 

 called " cutch," which is used as a preservative for the nets and 

 sails ; while all along the coasts old boats are being cobbled up, 

 and new ones are being built and launched. 



The scene along the Scotch seaboard from Buckhaven to 

 Buckie is one of active preparation, and all concerned are hoping 

 for a "lucky" fishing; "winsome" young lassies are praying 

 for the success of their sweethearts' boats, because if the season 

 turns out well they will be married women at its close. Ourers 

 look sanguine, and the owners of free boats seem happy. The 

 little children too — those wonderful little children one always 

 finds in a fishing village, striving so manfully to fill up 

 " daddy's " old clothes — participate in the excitement : they 

 have their winter's "shoon" and " Sunday breeks" in perspec- 

 tive. At the quaint village of (Jamrie, at Macduff, or Buckie, 

 the talk of old and young, on coach or rail, fi'om morning to 

 night, is of herrings. There are comparisons and calculations 

 about " crans " and barrels, and " broke " and " splitbeUies," and 

 " full fish " and " laaks," and reminiscences of great hauls of 

 former years, and much figurative talk about prices and freights, 

 and the cost of telegraphic messages. Then, if the present fishery 

 be dull, hopes are expressed that the next one may be better. 

 " Ony fish this mornin' ? " is the first salutation of one neighbour 

 to another: the very infants talk about "herrin';" schoolboys 

 steal them from the boats for the purpose of aiding their negotia- 

 tions with the gooseberry woman ; while wandering paupers are 

 rewarded with one or two broken fish by good-natured fishers, 

 when " the take " has been so satisfactory as to warrant such 

 largess. At Wiek the native population, augmented by four 

 thousand strangers, wakens into renewed life ; it is like Doncas- 

 ter on the approach of the St. Leger. The summer-time of 

 Wick's existence begins with the fishery : the shops are painted 

 qn their outsides and are replenished within ; the milliner and 



