Victorian Fishing Scene

What a good picture this is.  'The Mornings Catch,' by James Clark Hook, 1877.

This tells us much about the rough lives out forefathers lived.  Not just the danger of all night fishing in rough seas, often quite far out to sea, but also the hard work left for the women in the morning.  The fish has to be sorted, taken by creel to where customers lay in wait, and hopefully a good deal done, possibly door to door.  This on top of whatever house they possessed, possibly rented, stone or hard dirt floor, outside toilet, no running water, several children at that time being sent to school, and normal daily routine had to be followed.  

There was of course no pension, no welfare state, and people worked until they dropped, unless they, or a relative got lucky and made a fortune.  Fortunes in the 19th century could of course be made and lost within a generation.  Limited medicine, no painkillers bar chloroform, smoking, poor diet, though the fisherfolk and farmers could manage reasonably well, and most dead by their 50s.   

James Clark Hook 1819 - 1907, became quite famous for his sea pictures.  He painted so many they were known as 'Hookscapes.'  

I must admit I like sea pictures and this one, the view, the colours and the reflection of life in late Victorian Cornwall (at least many were painted there) appears true to life.  Painting however, does not indicate the smell of the fish!  In this way we are lucky.  

Fish and Dust

 

 

I took this down near Bournemouth some time ago, I suspect that after Brexit it is now our entire fishing fleet on the south coast of England!  I suspect he hunts for 'Pilchards,' a type of fish that was so common during the hungry war years that nobody wished to see any more.  So, to sell it afterwards they had to change the name to 'Sardines!'  Funnily enough the 'Sardines' I remember from my childhood were much smaller, more like 'Anchovies,' but maybe Scots fishermen found the fish they were catching were not as well fed as those in the rich south?

  

The day was slow, I was dog-tired today for no good reason, I will blame the 'Jab' because I see no other cause.  I did wake up enough in the afternoon to tidy my desk, it has clearly been a long time since I did that, polished it, and then sorted the books on the other 'sideboard.'  Dust everywhere, mostly on me, but now all is tidy, in order and the smell of polish fills the room.

That's enough work for today...

 

Front Pages!

 

 

It was to be an 'Oven Ready Deal.'  There would be 'sovereignty,' we would trade freely with the world, 'our' fishing would be protected, farmers would be paid, opportunities would appear everywhere.

Now we have 'Gunboats' in the channel?

Where are these 'gunboats' when Russian trawlers or Naval vessels pass close to Scottish waters?  They do not appear at those times, what vessels we have left are on the English south coast.   It is said the Royal Navy has put FOUR ships on standby to fight off French Trawlers.  Commando's are ready to leave helicopters and land on offending 'Frogies!' But surely we had a deal, didn't we?  The propaganda promised there would be a deal!     

Of course there is no deal, 'No Deal' was always on the cars, it is what the 'Hedge-Fund' men want, they will make a killing from this.  One, Crispin Odey, is said to have bet £300 million on a 'No Deal.'  I cannot imagine Rees-Mogg is not also well into this, Farage and his friends will be rejoicing at 'No Deal.'  

Whether all these tales are true or not we must add the Russian influence on Boris.  Russian money has flooded into the Consrvative Party in recent years, and that Nice Mr Putin does not like to waste cash.  What was the purpose, bar separating the UK from the EU?   Who will benefit from the disaster that awaits us?  The Hedge-fund men, who will use their EU passports (bought from Malta possibly) to live abroad, the Russians, and Boris himself, lining his pockets to enjoy his soon to be retirement from politics.

 

A disaster looms, a nation gets the leadership its behaviour deserves.

 

The only other story in town, not counting the never ending, continuing Royal corruption/sycophancy ones, is the death of Barbara Windsor.  The poor lass died of age and dementia, and she never headed a ball in her life, and now is seen as a 'National Treasure.'  Playing a flirty bint most of her life gave her employment for long enough, I think she appeared in 9 'Carry On' films, and probably disliked them as much as the other cast members did.  However, an actor has to take what comes along.  At least Sid James liked her.

Now the tabloids are using her once again to line their pockets, not that they will do much for the dementia situation, but clearly, as with the royals, there is money to be made here!

 

Nothing to Say

I have nothing to say so here is a picture of a fishing boat at Dunbar I took back in the 80's.  These wee craft were out in the Firth of Forth collecting lobster nets, just to the right there were lots newly landed.  Fishing in the Forth or out into the North Sea has been going on for millenia but it has always been a dodgy business.  The weather and sea together are bad enough but now the dying stocks and the various rules have killed the fleets.  Not that I would eat lobster, the cruel manner of cooking is disgusting and anyway shellfish are not for me, give me fins and scales. Not that I was offered anything but dirty looks by the local natives, their appreciation of tourists was not great.
 
Dunbar has been around for some time, the small castle ruins has seen some excitement with various Kings and Queens passing through, none were there to greet my travels I must say.  Since the Votadini came down from the hills above and settled in this spot the town has seen two major battles, lots of small ones, the castle slighted and folks killed left right and centre.  The population today is a few thousand, there might have been more if they did not keep getting caught in fights!
It is thought St Cuthbert was born here or in this area and worked as a shepherd until joining the monastery at Melrose.      

This is a picture of the sea.
I post this for those of you who live inland miles fro the sea as you may not be aware of its existence. One thing to note is that it is wet, very wet, and walking upon it is not advised.  It does take up a vast proprotion of the palnet however and is full of fish, sea creatures, boats and plastic rubbish we threw awayand now floats around as a danger to sea life, shipping and us.  Most of the fish is probably poisoned with something or other, these lobsters also. These creatures like all shelfishw ere intended to scavenge and clean up the sea that is why folks were not supposed to eat them, pigs and the like were doing the same on land.  I suspect no amount of shellfish could save the sea today.

However this guy appears happy with his lot, how about you?