Fisher-folks will on no account burn the bones of the fish they use as food and the shells of the mussels employed for bait. Hence the rhymes:—
"Roast me weel, or boil me weel,
Bit dinna bum ma behns,
Or else a'll grow scarcer
Aboot yir herth-stehns;"
and
"Roast me weel, or boil me weel,
Bit dinna burn ma behns,
An ye'll get plenty o' fish
Aboot yir fire-stehns."[1]
(Rosehearty).
The herring is called "the king" of the fish, and is said to have more bones than any other fish. (Rosehearty, St. Combs.)
In Pittulie, a neighbouring village to Rosehearty, it is the mackerel that bears this high title, and this it does from its beauty.
When many mackerel (Scomber scomber, Linnæus) appear on the coast it is believed that the herring will be few. (R. Grant, Peterhead.)
Takes of whiting (Gadus merlangus, Linnæus) greater than usual were looked upon as the forerunner of death by drowning. (R. Grant, Peterhead.)
Fishermen did not like to be asked if they had a good catch of fish. If one had done so, he would have got such answers as the following: "Like neepirs (neighbours) an ithers" (others); or, "Like ither folk"; or "A canna compleen."
It is a common belief among many fishermen that every creature on land has its counterpart in the sea, and many fish are named after land animals, as:—"The sea-dog" (Acanthtas vulgaris, Risso); "the sea-soo" (Labrus balanus, Cuvier); "the sea-cat" (Anarrhichas lupus, Linnæus), &c. When such come up on the lines, two fishermen lately told me that this opinion is very often given vent to (Rosehearty, St. Combs). Not only have land animals their counterparts in the sea, but also the vegetable kingdom on land, according to some (R. Grant, Peterhead), has its counterpart in the sea. Zoophytes go by the general name of "sea-floors" (flowers).
- ↑ Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland, p. 146.
