Scottish Fishing St Abbs, a typical east coast fishing village in the 19th century

Valerie Galbraith

Prior to any building in St Abbs, Berwickshire, most fishermen lived at Fishers' Brae in Coldingham and carried their baited lines and other gear the one and a half miles to the shore near Northfield. By the middle of the century most lived at Northfield and it is recorded that 150 people lived there in 1844 . The original harbour at St Abbs was built in 1832 at which time the inhabitants comprised sixteen families, who with twenty others residing in Coldingham, obtained their livelihood by fishing. In addition to these, thirty people proceeded annually to the North for the herring fishing. The village was then called Northfield Shore, hence the nickname “The Shore”, and the inhabitants of St Abbs still being called “Shore Gulls”. The harbour was enlarged in 1890, and 1892 the village became known as St Abbs.

They fished for cod, which when pickled was sent to the London market; also turbot, haddock, lobsters and crab, which were transported in carts to the Edinburgh market. Haddock was at that time regarded as inexhaustible.

Herring was not fished for in Scotland until 1750 but, at its peak, in St Abbs alone there were twenty two herring boats. Some of these boats sailed to Ireland to fish and would be gone for the whole summer.

In the latter part of the 18th century the fishermen's houses were built in the old Scottish style, having the fire in the centre, and wide chimneys constructed of what was familiarly known as “clat and clay”, that is a framework of wood interlaced with straw and daubed over with moist clay. The fireplaces were composed of two jamb stones and a four-ribbed grate in the front. Across the wide chimney was the "ranaltree", from which was suspended over the fire the chain and cleek on which were hung the pots and kettles used for cooking.

At that time there was not much variety in the daily diet – porridge for breakfast, potatoes and herrings for dinner, and generally the same for supper, varied occasionally by a bit of fresh fish or crab. Once a week, dinner was varied by the “kail pot”, or, as we would now say, by making broth.

Some entries from the “pass book” kept by the skipper of a sailing boat in 1880 give clues to the life of a fisherman at that time. The first page has only two items:

May 13th 1880, 2 Qrs Bread one shilling and twopence
May 17th 1880, 1 Qr Bread seven pence

The following pages record his “shots”, for example:

Oct., 25th 1880, E.N.E. 24 miles, 50 stones.
Nov. 22nd 1880, E.20 Miles, 64 stones – got into Eyemouth next morning at 7 o'clock because of the seas being so heavy.
Dec. 29th 1880, Pelder – the Wellmouth Shot North, 66 stones, - a very coarse night.
February 4th 1880 E. by N. 12 miles 78 stones. Went into Eyemouth because of the sea being so heavy at the “Shore”, went out next morning but returned into the Shore.

On 14 October 1881 there was a great storm in which 189 East Coast fishermen lost their lives. Women, children and old men looked on helplessly from the shore as the frail boats were dashed against the rocks as they struggled to gain the safety of the harbour. 19 boats and 129 men were lost out of Eyemouth, 27 men out of Burnmouth, 3 out of the Shore, 11 out of Cove, 12 out of Fisherrow, 17 out of Newhaven.

One of the widows of this storm opened a small shop and first sub-Post Office in St Abbs. Prior to this letters were brought to the village by a man from Ayton who was known as Ralph the postman. He came to a particular point in the village at a certain time and blew a whistle. There he distributed the letters and picked up others for posting. Everyone listened for postie's whistle.

Fishermen were notoriously superstitious; one of the more bizarre superstitions being pigs. The very mention of the word was forbidden on board any boat. There are many word of mouth stories of practical jokes played on the fishermen exploiting this fear.

One of the most important lighthouses in Scotland stands on St Abbs Head. It stands 224 feet above the high-water mark and was erected on 24 February 1862. A signal station had stood on this highest point from the Napoleonic Wars when signalling was done by flags during the day and by fire at night.

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