Untitled - Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative

(By H. F . S h.Qr t i ~ . HifltorioO"raphm
You nev er heard a ny of the yer-ne spun by Dick the Dietel". I ex pe ct he vas
considerably before your time, a nd I think he was about t he Le st, of his class. A
hund r-ed years ago 'ther-e wer e many strang e customs in Nevf'oun d'la nd , eome of them
reli c s of t he manners jmpor-ted from English and Er-Lah villages i n t he Old Country;
but others were pec u'Har to our trade and i t s ne ce esf.tde e ,
You ha ve often heard of the "ddet.er-s" or "vender- men " . They represent ed a
class and an occupation t he counterpart of which you will seek i n vain to find
eLee vhe r-e ,
I n the ear ly days of the I'Lsher-Le a , the Br'Ltd sb Skippers and
Surrogates,
hired their crews in England or Ireland and brought them out her e . They wer-e bound
by law to bring back as many as they had shipped in t he ea r l y s pring, as t he l aw
ve s very strict i n enqui ring as to the number of the I'Lsher-men brought back rrce
the I sland, and a skipper W!'l.S put to conrdder-abk e expense and t rouble if a man died
or de ser -t.ed while on the voyage ,
Th ~~ e fisherme n consisted chief l y of west. Oount.ry and Lr Lsh T;roung~tersll. , and
as these wer-e the days befor e Unions were dr -eamed of, t.he
vage s paid were l ow, eve n
f or that pe riod . In fact when a f'Leher-man brought pren sur-e on the master after a
. ...- , . ~ . .... _~
io·0d -~;;Yae;7f~~"=;~'y:i;e~or·· P;T~ · a-nd 'sUc c-e~d ;·d i ~50ft;nin~· t.be h·~ ' -of-his ·:e-~pio.Y:':· -~:: -:
e r he vas ve r y much better off, because the poet of that day, who was a s of ten a s
not the hdat.orden also, t ells that in a CQ~e ~im i lar to the one und e r consideration,
t he naater- gave vent to his impatience and granted the prayer a t the same time , in
t he
f ollowi ng immor tal Lmes r-,
" You imp of bkaaest It 11 r-aLse you r wages
Fro," fifty shillings t o tva poun! t en" .