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.”