1867
Bailie Pottinger, we may state, has deservedly earned the distinction of being accounted the leading boatbuilder on the East Coast; but in addition to the boats supplied by him, several others have been acquired by Cellardyke fishermen. Since 1855 or during the last 12 years bailie Pottinger has built no fewer than one hundred and twenty boats or fishing vessels, so different in bulk as to range from thirty six to sixty feet in length, the sum total of the measurement of these boats is 4521 tons OM. Eighty seven of the boats were for Cellardyke alone, their united tonnage being 3507 tons OM. The remaining thirty three were for different parts of Scotland with a united tonnage of 1014 tons.
1868
Serious Accident to a Fisherman.—On Tuesday morning, as the Cellardyke fishing-boat, of which Mr James Murray is skipper and owner was returning from the great line fishing ground, a very serious accident occurred to one of the crew, named Alexander Jack. It appears that the mainmast was being set, preliminary to making more sail, when, this was being done, the pitching of the boat in the seaway caused the mast to spring from the “step” in which it rests, upon the contiguous boarding, when the crew proceeded to make an effort to restore it to its proper place. Jack was assisting in this operation, when the mast rolled over and crushed him against the edge of thwart. His body in this dangerous position being made to weight of the heavy spar, the effect was most deplorable, as, besides being fearfully bruised, his collar bone and nearly all the ribs on one side were broken, some of these being in two places, the sufferings of the poor man were most acute and severe, as the accident occurred about twenty miles seaward of the Bell Rock, when many hours necessarily elapsed before land could be reached. When the boat at length reached the harbour, no time was lost conveying the poor sufferer to his house in Cellardyke, where he was promptly attended to by Dr Jamieson. Notwithstanding the extreme severity of the injuries he sustained, hopes are still entertained of his recovery, although at present he lies in such precarious condition as to lead to the greatest anxiety for his safety.
Curious Surgical Operations.-
The other day a rather curious operation in surgery was performed in a certain fishcuring yard in the west end of Cellardyke, which equally invites attention from the singularity of the process and the rare success which followed it. As everybody may know, dissection and anatomy are carried on much more extensively in a curing yard than in even the College of Surgeons, but in either place the case which now claims attention is, and would have been, peculiar although nothing more than the patent. It is quite a familiar phrase in speaking of anything curious, whether it be biped or quadruped, to say it is a rara avis, but in this case, as in so many others, it would not have been exactly accurate, as it was no strange bird, but a fine domestic hen, which came under treatment. Tappie, it seems, was a prime favourite in the family of the worthy curer, because of that great virtue of her kind that she almost daily added to the comforts of the breakfast table. The ills of life men and hens are many and great, for Tappie was lately seized with distemper which everybody said was a hopeless case, as doctors always say when their prescriptions fail. Meanwhile appearance of Tappie seemed fully to bear out their wise though dismal forebodings, for instead of being capital type of well-conditioned matron, she day by day dwindled away into walking skeleton, very near to the end of its journey. The Cooper of the curing yard seeing the distressed condition of the poor fowl, determined to make effort, if possible, to save it. “Desperate diseases require desperate remedies” became his motto for the nonce, and, acting upon it, he coolly proceeded to examine the patient, and, concluding from the swollen appearance of the breast, that something was wrong with the stomach, he whetted his knife, and then by a dexterous incision, first of the skin, and then of the membrane of the bag, laid it open. This diagnosis proved correct, as a large, hard ball of matted grass was found in the interior, which, on being extracted, and the incisions closed up, seemed to be followed with a magical result. No sooner was the operation over than the hen flapped its wings, and gave every indication of restored health and spirits. In a day or two Tappie became perfectly convalescent, and is now in such condition as to pipe the praises of the ingenious piper who so successfully assumed the character of professor of surgery.
1869
THE SUTHERLAND GOLD DIGGINGS.
Amongst the visitors lately to Kildonan was David Murray Esq., the well-known merchant of Cellardyke, who being in the north on business, took the opportunity of examining this now celebrated locality. Mr Murray’s opinion is of practical value from his personal knowledge of the gold fields Australia, and this experience inclines him to believe that if the present restrictions were removed and a properly organised system of working adopted, the industry of the searchers would in all likelihood bring its reward. At the time of Mr Murray’s visit the ground was comparatively deserted, but the approach of a milder season was causing a large influx of people to the neighbourhood.
Man Amissing
On Thursday the steam lighter Hemaja, employed at the Union Harbour returned from a trip to North Queensferry blue stone quarries, when the crew reported that Robert Anderson, a seaman, belonging Cellardyke, who had charge of the lighter, had not been seen since Monday night. According to their statement, the vessel, which sailed from this place early in the morning, had gone into Granton so that some repairs might be made on the steam pipe, which, having been completed, and the steamer ready to continue the voyage up the Firth, Anderson, who is said to have had £6 in his possession, went on shore to clear the vessel at the dues office. He was last seen about half-past seven in the evening, and not returning after the short time that was required for the errand, his two companions gradually became alarmed, and made inquiries for his safety. As the time wore on these inquiries became more anxious, and a search was made on shore, and the harbour near where the steamer was lying was also dragged, but all to no purpose, as no trace whatever could found of the missing man. Seeing that there was no hope of finding him, the steamer sailed from Granton Wednesday morning, and arrived here, as we have said, with her cargo, on Thursday about noon, when the circumstance, as was be expected, caused the greatest uneasiness amongst Andersons friends.
1870
Cellardyke. A Curious Superstition.-
The fishermen of the now prosperous community of Cellardyke, on the Fife coast, were at one period sorely troubled with a curious superstition regarding swine. Nothing could be more unlucky, in their estimation, than to meet one or more these animals, or, to hear the word “swine” uttered aloud when trudging along the harbour on their way to sea. The evil omen was pretty sure to be followed by loss of fishing gear, and it was shrewdly supposed that all was not fish that came lo their lines these occasions. In latter times the evil effects could be averted simply by taking hold of a bit iron. On questioning the fishermen as to the origin of this singular superstition, I was told was just “tin old freight,” but they had known instances of some of the old men believing it. I think its true origin can be traced to the Scriptures, and will be found in the miracle wrought in the country of the Gadarenes, when the evil spirits being commanded to come out of the men, entered into a herd of swine, and the whole herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. This miracle the monks could easily turn into a slavish instrument to serve their own purposes; and when better times came round, those knaves had to fly their rookeries, what is more likely than that this superstition, so closely interwoven with the fisherman’s every-day life, should still linger on, when the causes which gave it birth had long been forgotten?