Ward & Lock's descriptive and pictorial guide to the Isle of Man ...

—Douglas. 39women may be seen preparing the fish ;and in the shops arepiles of boxes of bloaters and kippered herrings, each boxcontaining five-and-twenty (price two shillings), convenientlypacked, ready for returning tourists.The catch of herrings is sometimes extraordinary. Lookingover some old notes relating to the island, we find suchentries as these— "Oct. 9, 1807, the catch of herrings to-dayvalued at £10,000;" "Sept. 23, 1793, £5,000 worth of herringsbrought into Douglas harbour aloue, independent ofwhat was carried to other markets : following night, fisheryquite as good."The Saturday appearance of the market has been pleasantlyand faithfully described by a lady visitor :"The market is suppliel from tlie neighbouring farms, and, with its comelywomen and wealth of colour, reminds one of a fine Flomisli picture. Stands ofglittering mackerel, pearly oysters, and crimson lobsters make wondrous contrasts.Fair young women in scarlet shawls and blue dresses and snow-whiteaprons, with baskets of golden butter and eggs, and young pullets, or a kishowof jKitatoes, or a plate full of tender mushrooms, appeal to your eyo and yourtaste."Some of the rustic vendors come fifteen or even twentymiles to attend the market, where they stand in rows, andeasily find purchasers for butter, cheese and other dairy products.One of the old houses in the market-place was, we aretold, built by a man who had made a snug little fortune bysmuggling, and determined to build " the finest house inDouglas." If we only took our notions of " bold smugglers "from romances and melodramas, we might suppose theygenerally lived in caves ;but in Douglas, as in many otherplaces, a hundred or more years ago, smuggling and opentrading were " considerably mixed up," and some of the consigneesof "run cargoes" lived in good houses and werehighly respectable. It seems something like the irony offate that this house should have been afterwards the residence(previous to the erection of Mona Castle) of the Duke ofAthol, the lord paramount of the island, and, at a later date,occupied as the custom house. Until recently it was the DouglasHotel.The little old church, St. Maitheivs, occupying one side ofthe market-place, was the only place of worship in Douglas.It was erected in 1711, and consecrated by the good BishopWilson, who might almost be considered (if good ProtestantChurchmanship permitted such a designation) to bethe modern patron saint of the island. A chair, known asthe bishop's throne, is preserved in the church. The con-