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."