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Men of Invention and Industry-Part39_Samuel Smiles(1812-1904)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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Ireland. The success attending their labours last year at that

place and at Howth has induced more of them than usual to proceed



thither this year."

It may not be generally known that Cockenzie is a little fishing



village on the Firth of Forth, in Scotland, where the fishermen

have provided themselves, at their own expense, with about fifty



decked fishing-boats, each costing, with nets and gear, about

500L. With these boats they carry on their pursuits on the coast



of Scotland, England, and Ireland. In 1882, they sent about

thirty boats to Kinsale[8] and Howth. The profits of their



fishing has been such as to enable them, with the assistance of

Lord Wemyss, to build for themselves a convenient harbour at Port



Seaton, without any help from the Government. They find that

self-help is the best help, and that it is absurd to look to the



Government and the public purse for what they can best do for

themselves.



The wealth of the ocean round Ireland has long been known. As

long ago as the ninth and tenth centuries, the Danes established



a fishery off the western coasts, and carried on a lucrative

trade with the south of Europe. In Queen Mary's reign, Philip



II. of Spain paid 1000L. annually in consideration of his

subjects being allowed to fish on the north-west coast of



Ireland; and it appears that the money was brought into the Irish

Exchequer. In 1650, Sweden was permitted, as a favour, to employ



a hundred vessels in the Irish fishery; and the Dutch in the

reign of Charles I. were admitted to the fisheries on the payment



of 30,000L. In 1673, Sir W. Temple, in a letter to Lord Essex,

says that "the fishing of Ireland might prove a mine under water



as rich as any under ground."[9]

The coasts of Ireland abound in all the kinds of fish in common



use--cod, ling, haddock, hake, mackerel, herring, whiting,

conger, turbot, brill, bream, soles, plaice, dories, and salmon.



The banks off the coast of Galway are frequented by myriads of

excellent fish; yet, of the small quantity caught, the bulk is



taken in the immediate neighbourhood of the shores. Galway bay

is said to be the finest fishing ground in the world; but the



fish cannot be expected to come on shore unsought: they must be

found, followed, and netted. The fishing-boats from the west of



Scotland are very successful; and they often return the fish to

Ireland, cured, which had been taken out of the Irish bays. "I



tested this fact in Galway," says Mr. S. C. Hall. "I had ordered

fish for dinner; two salt haddocks were brought to me. On



inquiry, I ascertained where they were bought, and learned from

the seller that he was the agent of a Scotch firm, whose boats



were at that time loading in the bay."[10] But although Scotland

imports some 80,000 barrels of cured herrings annually into



Ireland, that is not enough; for we find that there is a regular

importation of cured herrings, cod, ling, and hake, from



Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, towards the food of the Irish

people.[11]



The fishing village of Claddagh, at Galway, is more decaying than

ever. It seems to have suffered from a bombardment, like the



rest of the town. The houses of the fishermen, when they fall

in, are left in ruins. While the French, and English, and Scotch



boats leave the coast laden with fish, the Claddagh men remain

empty-handed. They will only fish on "lucky days," so that the



Galway market is often destitute of fish, while the Claddagh

people are starving. On one occasion an English company was



formed for the purpose of fishing and curing fish at Galway, as

is now done at Yarmouth, Grimsby, Fraserburgh, Wick, and other



places. Operations were commenced, but so soon as the English

fishermen put to sea in their boats, the Claddagh men fell upon



them, and they were glad to escape with their lives.[12]

Unfortunately, the Claddagh men have no organization, no fixed



rules, no settled determination to work, unless when pressed by

necessity. The appearance of the men and of their cabins show



that they are greatly in want of capital; and fishing cannot be

successfully performed without a sufficiency of this industrial



element.

Illustrations of this neglected industry might be given to any



extent. Herring fishing, cod fishing, and pilchard fishing, are

alike untouched. The Irish have a strong prejudice against the






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