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Kay's Originals Vol. 2

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 339 figure is invested with a voluminous quantity of petticoat, of substantial material and gaudy colour, generally yellow with stripes, so made as to admit of a very free inspection of the ankle, and worn in such immense numbers, that the bare mention of them would be enough to makea fine lady faint. One-half of these ample garments is gathered np over the haunches, puffing out the figure in an unusual and uncouth manner. White worsted stockings and stout shoes completa the picture. Imagine these investments indued upon a masculine but handsome form, notwithstanding the slight stoop forward, which is almost uniformly contracted-fancy the firm and elastic step, the toes slightly inclined inwards-and the ruddy complexion resulting from hard exercise, perhaps sometimes from dram-drinking-and you have the h w i d e a l of fish-wives.” That “dram-drinking” does prevail among the sisterhood to a certain extent is a fact readily admitted, even by the parties themselves ; nor need we wonder at the circumstance, when the laborious nature of their avocation is taken into consideration. The nearest fishing stations to Edinburgh are Newhaven and Fisherrow : the former distant at least two miles-the latter upwards of five, After carrying a load, varying from one hundred to two hundred-weight, of fish from their respective stations, and probably perambulating the greater portion of the city ere they complete their sales, no one can be surprised that they should indulge in a dram.’ To say, however, that their potations amount to drunkenness; or that, in its literal sense, they are given to dram-drinking, would be a very bold assertion-the more especially if we compare their habits with those of other females in the plebeian grades of society. They are as far removed from the gin-swilling vixens of Billingsgate, or the dirty, squalid fishhawkers of Dublin, as intoxication is from sobriety ; and they are not more their superiors in robustness of figure, than in respectability and morality of character. One of the pleasantest walks we can imagine is a leisurely stroll, on a fine April morning, from Edinburgh to Newhaven. The sun, though radiant and sparkling, does not as yet oppress with excessive warmth, while around, nature is smiling in bush and flower. At every turn you are sure to meet a knot of fish-women, fresh as the mbrning itself, each with her ‘I creel ” and well-filled maun ” of haddocks, or codlings, or flukes, or whitings, or skate, or lobsters, dripping from the waters of the Firth, and glistening with a freshness well calculated to tempt the eye of an epicure. A flush may be observed on the faces of the women as they bend under the load, but their step is long and elastic ; and though the journey is uphill, their athletic forms appear fully able for the task. On reaching the brow of the rising ground above Newhaven, the scene is truly enchanting. The broad Firth before you is calm and tranquil-to the right of Inchkeith appear a whole fleet of fishermen, engaged it may be in dredging In the Statistical Account of Scotland-parish of Inveresk-it is stated that “when the boats come in late to the harbour [Fisherrow] in the forenoon, so as to leave them [the fish-women] no more than time to reach Edinburgh before dinner, it is not unusual for them to perform their journey of five miles by relays, three of them being employed in carrying one basket, and shifting it from one to another every hundred yards, by which means they have been known to arrive at the Fkihmarket in leas than three-fourth of an hour.” The writer (Dr. Carlyle) adds--”It is a well-known fact, that three of them not many years ago [1795] went from Dunbar to Edinburgh, which ia twenty-seven miles, with each of them a load of herrings on her back of 200 lbs., in five hours. They sometiiea carry loade of 250 lbs.”
Volume 9 Page 451
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