Three Score and Ten

The Shoals of Herrings........

 

For those of us who like to eat fish, it seldom occurs to us how in fact they were caught and the dangers involved in deep sea trawling.

   

There are a couple of television series at the moment on this side of the pond showing some of the hardships of those fishermen who ‘fish the crab’ in and close to the Bering Straits and the Scottish Trawler men who fish the North Sea.    With modern technology including SatNav, fish locators and excellent weather forecasting their lives are often put on the line but the fishing craft they use give them a great deal of protection against the elements.   Although they are equipped with ‘all Mod Cons’ the dangers are ever-present........................

It was not so a mere 100 years ago as the following newspaper article of the time, from The Hull Times, dated 2nd March 1889, reports:

‘As day after day passes and no tidings arrive of the missing Grimsby smacks, it is beginning to be realised that the gale of the 9th ult. will prove one of the most disastrous to the Grimsby fishing trade on record. Altogether nearly a dozen fishing vessels, carrying between 60 and 70 hands, are missing.

‘Most of the vessels were provisioned for eight or nine days, and many of them have been out for over a month. Of the safety of seven of them all hope has now been abandoned.’

Grimsby was and still is almost totally reliant on fishing.   Most fish caught in the UK pass through the fish auctions there.   Fish was in the 1800’s, a staple part of the population’s diet with almost everyone eating fish on Fridays – part of the Catholic Church’s doctrine of ‘no meat on Friday’.    In order to supply the demand the fishermen would take unrealistic chances midweek to ensure a supply for the Friday market.

This often meant that during stormy weather when they would normally stay in harbour, many would take a gamble in order to get the best prices for scarce fish supplies.   Bear in mind also that then they did not have the benefit of weather forecasting.   Their trawlers were often low standard with the wealthy owners unwilling to pay to have them kept in a good state of repair.

   

There was no such thing as ‘Health and Safety at Work’ which meant that the self-same ‘safety’ came very low on their agenda............

Many of the fishermen were young orphans, left without a father who had also been a fisherman and had died at sea.   Life was hard aboard such vessels and they were cruelly treated.

Prime fish were the food of the well-to-do whilst the poor had to do with the lesser quality in particular herring.  Some people love them but personally, either as fresh bloaters or as smoked kippers, I detest them.   Give me a nice fillet of fresh cod or a couple of fresh mackerel with plenty of chips and I am in heaven................

Herring are fished differently from many other types of fish.   Drift netting was and still is the main method.   Again without ‘fish finders’, it was experience that dictated where the captain would drop his nets.   The ‘smacks’ using sail would sail up the North Sea towards Scottish waters or south towards Cornish waters depending on what time of the year it was and what information they had received from contacts.

The 8^th February 1889 was a Thursday and the men must have hit a good shoal of herring as they continued fishing into the night.   Everything was going fine and the catch was good.    There is no doubt that the captains would have continued fishing throughout the night and head for port early on Friday morning.

However, at about midnight, the sea began to rise and the wind began to blow.   I do not know if the weather pattern known as ‘a North Sea Surge’ occurred that night but it is quite a common happening resulting in a frightening rough sea with little or no notice.   It was reported at the time that an unexpected gale came in rapidly.......

Again, and I know this from experience, when fishing is good, fishermen are reluctant to stop but to ‘give it another few minutes’ to see if the weather blows itself out.    The North Sea when in a Force Eight gale is somewhere that one does not wish to be in a small boat.

Back on shore the wives and families of the fishermen knew only too well how quickly the weather was deteriorating.    The sea was mountainous and prayers were said for the safety of the crews................

But safety was not to be theirs..............The wind continued to blow all Friday and with little hope that the fleet had weathered the storm, a close watch was kept on the horizon for any sign of any craft.    None appeared...................

It was only when reports arrived of debris being washed up all along the East coast that the truth of the matter hit the population.   Still they waited and prayed...........

Unfortunately, not a single boat returned to harbour over the coming days.   Of the dozen vessels and the seventy crew members none were ever seen again.....

A poem was published with the subscriptions going to the relief of the widows of the men drowned...................It is entitled ‘A ballad in memory of the fishermen from Hull and Grimsby who lost their lives in the gale of 8 and 9 February, 1889’.    It is better known as the song ‘Three Score and Ten’.................The boys and men who were lost from Grimsby Town.................

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I am familiar with the song – in particular the Clancy Brothers version but when looking it up on YouTube, I found a version by Johnny McEvoy, an Irish folk singer.   I got the shock of my life – I knew the singer when he was younger, but on this video he is a dead-ringer for my late best friend Seannie.................I am still in a bit of a shock............

It is on this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_za7EkIcnU

----------Mike--------