The Romance of the Coast

Romance of the Coast, The

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Title: The Romance of the Coast
Author: James Runciman

Release Date: October 19, 2005 [eBook #16911]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE ROMANCE OF THE COAST.

by
JAMES RUNCIMAN.

[Illustration]

London: George Bell and Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. Chiswick
Press:--C. Whittingham and Co., Tooks Court, Chancery Lane.
1883.

To FREDERICK GREENWOOD,
THE EDITOR OF THE _James's Gazette._
DEAR SIR,
I dedicate this little book to you. When you first gave me the chance of
escaping from the unkindly work of political journalism, I used to think
that your treatment of efforts which I thought extremely fine, was
somewhat heartless. I am glad now that I have passed under your
severe discipline, and I am proud to be one of the school of writers
whose professional success is due to your help and training.
I am, Dear Sir,
Yours very faithfully,
JAMES RUNCIMAN.

CONTENTS.
PAGE

AN OLD-SCHOOL PILOT 1
AN UGLY CONTRAST 6
THE FISHERWOMAN 11
THE VETERAN 16
THE HEROINE OF A FISHING VILLAGE 22
THE SILENT MEN 27
THE CABIN-BOY 33
THE SQUIRE 40
THE VILLAGE PREACHER 47
THE FISHER'S FRIEND 52
THE COASTGUARD 57
THE SUSPECTED MAN 63
THE RABBIT-CATCHER 68
THE GIANTS 79
THE COLLIER SKIPPER 85
IN THE BAY 90
THE SIBYL 96
A VOLUNTEER LIFE-BRIGADE 102
KEELMEN 107
BLOWN NORTH 113

NORTH-COUNTRY FISHERMEN 118
A LONG CHASE 126
HOB'S TOMMY 131
THE FAILURE 151
MR. CASELY 169

THE ROMANCE OF THE COAST.
AN OLD-SCHOOL PILOT.
At the mouth of a north-country river a colony of pilots dwelt. The men
and women of this colony looked differently and spoke a dialect
different from that used by the country people only half a mile off. The
names, too, of the pilot community were different from those of the
surrounding population. Tully was the most common surname of all,
and the great number of people who bore it were mostly black-eyed and
dark-haired, quite unlike our fair and blue-eyed north-country folk.
Antiquaries say the Romans must have lived on the spot for at least two
hundred years, judging by the coins and the vast quantities of
household materials unearthed; and so some persons have no difficulty
in accounting for the peculiarities of the pilot colony. Speculations of
this sort are, however, somewhat beside the mark. It is only certain that
the pilots lived amongst themselves, intermarried, and kept their habits
and dialect quite distinct. When a pilot crossed the line a hundred yards
west of his house, he met people who knew him by his tongue to be a
"foreigner."
My particular friend among the pilots was a very big man, who used, to
amuse us much by the childish gravity of his remarks. He was a
remnant of a past generation, and the introduction of steam shocked his
faculties beyond recovery. He would say: "In the old times, sir, vessels
had to turn up here. It was back, fill, and shiver-r-r all the way; but now
you might as well have sets of rails laid on the water and run the ships

on them. There is no seamanship needed." He never quite forgave the
Commissioners for deepening the river. As he said in his trenchant
manner: "There used to be some credit in bringing a ship across the bar
when you were never quite sure whether she would touch or not; but
now you could bring the 'Duke of Wellington' in at low water. These
kid-gloved captains come right up to their moorings as safe as if they
were driving a coach along the road." He was quite intolerant of
railways, too; but then his first experience of the locomotive engine
was not pleasant. Somehow he got on to the railway line on a hazy
night; and just as the train had slowed down to enter the station the
engine struck him and knocked him over. The engine-driver became
aware of a brief burst of strong language, and in great alarm called
upon two porters to walk along the line to see what had happened. They
did so of course, and when they got to the place of the accident the light
of their lanterns revealed the pilot perfectly sound and engaged in
brushing dirt off his clothes. When he saw the