Superstitions of Fisftemten by Dr. Louis Arthur Norton
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griculture and manufacturing accounted for the bulk of American commerce during the 19th-centu ry, but fishing contributed significantl y to the nation's economy. Historically fishing was the mainstay of the commerce of colonial New England and the C hesapeake. T h is essay examines one aspect of the social histo ry of fishermen of the era. T he fis herman was a peculiar maritime breed. U nlike an ordinary sailor whose trade was to pass through the seas, a fis herman had to harves t these seas fo r a livelihood-seas upon which h e lived and worked and over which he had litrle co ntrol. Superstition was a way to try to make sense of the weather, to try to foretell when and where fish would be found , and to try to make the unpredictable predictable. By observing and chronicling irregular even ts, he rationalized a probable cause of these phenom ena-or at leas t explanat io ns, dogma or fa bles chat, at the time, made sense. T his was the genesis of superstiti on, "a quali ry that seems indigenous to the ocean. " 1 The sun had just burned off the chill morning fog ove r Scellwagen's Bank off Cape Ann when a G louces ter fi sherma n spit on th e head of the first fis h of the day. H e returned him to the sea to guara ntee a good catch. Lacer chat afternoon the same fisherman saved the largest fis h of his catch to be cut and dressed las t, to ass ure th at more big fish would be taken tomorrow. When his hold was full he raised a broom to the top of the mainmas t to signal the remaining fishermen that he had metaphorically swept the banks clean of fish . This should promise a safe return passage. And so a 19th-centu ry fisherm an observed his superstitious rituals. M ost superstitions were passed down through generations from local oral traditions and folklore. Therefore, findin g primary source material is difficult. Superstitions of1 9th-century fishermen largely came from Northern Europe and evolved variously among the fishing brethren in the northern New England states, the Canadian Maritime Provinces, the West Indies, and the C hesapeake estuary. T he superstitions and ri tuals of fis hermen we re affected by the nature of the individual fi shery in which they we re engaged-a lobsterman, for example, had different requirements than an offshore halibut do ryman. Still, th e
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superstitions of these disparate fis hi ng "subspecialties" generally shared common goals, which can be linked in fo ur categori es. T he fi rst is identify ing rhe ca uses of good and bad luck and fi nding means to encourage the fo rmer and p revent the latter; the second is eschatological, involving death or dying; the third is related to weather; and rhe fo urth category applies to omens and actio ns char affect one's well-being.
The Mark of a Jonah Luck is an elusive entiry char produces success or fai lure. Spirring on the firs r fish caugh t and releasing it, as well as saving the biggest fis h to be processed last, were actions intended to enco urage good luck. T hese superstitions, like many, were pagan in origin. The first fish taken was to be sacrificed, ret urned to the sea, in reverence to Poseidon the god of the sea, and, if the fis h was female, it wo uld be indicative of a good trip to fo llow. Saving the largest to be processed last was also a sign of deference to the gods. Most supersti tious fishermen were even more intent on ide nti fyi ng the source of bad luck in order to avoid it. The best known method was to find, and deal with, a "Jonah ," the allegorical figure fo und in Dories ready to cast off.from the mother ship. (Photo: Doris Day)
the Old Testament. T he ship char carried Jonah from Joppa was a vehicle of escape, escape from the pervasive God of the H ebrews. W hen the ship encountered a terrible storm, the crew identified Jonah as a likely cause of the tempest as well as the possible means of their salvation . Ar fi rs t, the men hesitated throwing Jonal1 overboard to his probable death and desperately rowed co bring the ship to land. T he sailors failed, "so they too k up Jonah and cast him forth inro the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. " 2 T hus mariners could cast out bad luck fro m their ship by purging their wooden -walled co mmuni ry of evil. T he mark ofa Jonah took many forms in maritime fo lklore. For example, a fisherman who was co nsisrenrly unlucky on voyages was classified as a Jonah . Being a fo reigner, having diffe rent physical charac teristics or even favo ring dark colors of clothing associated with death could brand a man a Jonah on fis hing boars. Ifa fisherman bro ke a looking glass, spilled salt at dinner, drove a nail on Sunday, or left a half-filled bucker of water on deck, especially with a macke rel in it, it was considered a Jonah sign. So mething as simple as leaving the mo ther-ship in a fishing dory in a direction contrary to th e custo m of the rest of the crew called attention to oneself. Certain off-watch acti vities such as playing checkers, making coy boars, or playing the fiddle could lead to suspicion of "Jonah-hood ." (Iro ni cally merchant sailors commonly did these things to help pass the time.) W hen cerri ble m isforrun e occurred without an obvious cause, the fi shermen resorted to !or-drawing to unearth a hidde n Jon ah. T he cook placed a coin, nail or small piece of wood in the ship's bread or pudding, and the man who received it was p1:oclaim ed a Jonah suspect. If a man considered lucky by the crew obtained the unwelcome token, it was a bad omen for the future. This fisherman exorcised the curse by carrying his bed sack on deck ("jerking the straw" or "the donkey's breakfas t"), settin g it afire, and fumigating himself with all manner of materials commonly fo und on ships while reciting strange incantations.3 In a sense, a vessel could be anthropomorph ized into a Jonah ifir became chroni cally u np rofitable. Because a ship represented a substantial inves tment, the soluti on wras to relocate the ship to another
SEA HISTORY 101 , SUMMER 2002