34 A. H. PATTERSON ON A DECAYED TRAWL-FISHERY. 
“ for us, the fishermen take a good deal of scaring.” He 
continues : — 
“ A powerful steam carrier was hit by one unlucky sea, 
which not only burst her, but shivered her into tiny scraps ; 
strong wire ropes were snapped like worsted ; wire stays 
which held well, tore up great lumps of the bulwarks, and 
the amazing force of the sea was shown by the fact that the 
wood of the torn bulwarks was cut as cleanly as if a huge knife 
had shorn through. One smack was hove-to, and the men 
were taking things easily, when a boy screamed ‘ Look out ! ’ 
The wave overlapped and swept her and her two masts were 
snapped like carrots. When the long rush of water had 
passed and the vessel had time to shake herself, she was bare 
as she was when she was launched. One steamer, .... was 
kept with her head to the sea all night ; the engines were put 
full speed ahead, but the vessel did no more than hold her 
own, and she reared at times until the captain thought she 
v ould come over backwards. This was during a great gale 
that occurred in December, 1883, when hardly a boat escaped 
without damage ; the steam carrier ‘ Marie’ (above referred to), 
owned by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, was lost with’ all 
hands, numbering twelve ; five smacks also went down, and 
about 60 lives were lost in all.” 
Speaking of disasters, every great gale took its tale of ships 
and men. In i860, the “ great May gale ” of the 28th, caused 
a terrible loss of life ; eight vessels — brigs, schooners, and 
a barque— were lost onScrobyin sight of the town, with their 
crews ; while on the deep sea grounds fourteen fishing vessels 
were lost with their crews of 156 men and boys, when 50 
widows and 160 oiphans were left destitute. An appeal to 
the town and nation resulted in a handsome sum of £10,000 
to relieve their distress. 
A still more disastrous gale occurred on December 3rd, 1863, 
which was attended by the loss of 17 smacks, besides other 
vessels, with a roll of widows and orphans greater even than 
that of the May gale. Disasters, too numerous to mention, 
have been recorded from year to year. 
The ferrying of the fish, in all sorts of weather, must be 
