308 " THE MAN IN THE BLACK COAT." 



The remains of many old superstitions are still to be found 

 about Newhaven. I could easily fill a page or two of this 

 volume with illustrative anecdotes of sayings and doings that 

 are abhorrent to the fisher mind. The following are given as 

 the merest sample of the number that might be collected. 

 They have several times " gone the- round " of the newspapers, 

 but are none the worse for that : — 



If an uninitiated greenhorn of a landsman chanced to be on 

 board of a Newhaven boat, and, in the ignorance and simplicity 

 of his heart, talked about " salmon," the whole crew — at least a 

 few years ago — would start, grasp the nearest iron thowell, and 

 exclaim, " Cauld iron ! cauld iron ! " in order to avert the 

 calamity which such a rash use of the appellation was calculated 

 •to induce ; and the said uninitiated gentleman would very likely 

 have been addressed in some such courteous terms as " ye 

 igrant brute, cud ye no ca'd it redfish ? " Woe to the unfortunate 

 wight — be he Episcopalian or Presbyterian, Churchman or 

 Dissenter — who being afloat talks about " the minister : " there 

 is a kind of undefined terror visible on every countenance if 

 haply this unlucky word is spoken ; and I would advise my 

 readers, should they hereafter have occasion, when water-borne, 



that when this occurs the hride loses caste, and has to follow the future 

 fortunes of the bridegroom, whatever these may turn out to he. Speaking 

 of marriages, the present great scarcity hoth of heef and mutton, and the 

 consequent high price of these articles of food, seems in no way to terrify 

 the denizens of Newhaven, for there the matrimonial knot is heing hriskly 

 tied. While chatting with some of the fishermen just the other day we 

 heard that two of these celebrations had taken place the night before, and 

 that other four weddings were expected to come off during this week ; and 

 we both heard and saw the fag end of the musical and dancing jollification, 

 which was held in a public-house on these two recent occasions, and which 

 was kept up until far on in the next afternoon. We can see little to tempt 

 the young women of Newhaven to enter into the marriage state, for it 

 seems only to increase their bodily labour. This circumstance, however, 

 would appear to be no obstacle in the way ; but rather to spur them on ; 

 and we recollect of once actually hearing, when a girl rather delicate for a 

 Newhaven young woman was about to be married, another girl, a strapping 

 lass of about eighteen, thus express herself : — ' ' Jenny Flucker takin' 'a 

 man ! she's a gude cheek ; hoo is she tae keep him ? the puir man'U hae 

 tae sell his fish as weel as catch them." When upon this subject of inter- 

 marriages among the Newhaven people it is proper to mention that, we 

 heard contradictory accounts regarding the point ; some saying that no 

 such custom existed, or at least that no such rule was enforced by the 

 community, while another account was that only one marriage out of 

 the community had, so far as had come to the knowledge of our infor- 

 mant, taken place during the last eight or nine years." — North Briton. 



