There you are... Mistress Val, the Spinning Fishwife.
What`s a fishwife? They were women who greeted the returning fishing boats, gutted the fish on the quayside then carried the baskets of fish into the nearest town to sell the fish round the streets.
They were very common in Scotland in the past century, and up to recent times. The last surviving fishwife in my home town of Musselburgh here on the Firth of Forth died in the year 2000. It`s a six mile walk from Musselburgh to the centre of Edinburgh, btw, and their creels (the basket on the back) could weigh up to a hundredweight...that`s 112 pounds! I tried carrying an empty one once, and the strap over my shoulders was biting into me within a minute. Tough, independent, hardworking ladies. Ever heard the expression "She swears like a fishwife"?
Sometimes they even knitted while carrying their baskets. I suppose it might have taken their minds off the walk and the weight of fish on their backs?
5 comments:
Wow! Thats a great bit of history.
I'm a history junkie and anything that includes knitting is even better. Your statue is so cute. statue is really cute too. I found your blog on the 2006 Knitting Olympics.Go for the gold.
Knit on and on and on.
I would love to believe your theory about the European version vs US, but I doubt that's the case. Every shot was all about sex. In fact, in one of the movies, there was a breast-feeding scene, and they turned it into a big turn-on and sexy thing. Breast-feeding is fine - natural, beautiful. Turning it into sex is disgusting.
I'm going to join you in Team Great Britain and doing the Jaywalkers too. Good Luck!!
I was wondering about your wonderuful little statue. She is really cute. I had no idea that the fishwives in Scotland hauled the fish back to market from the shor. Amazing women.
oh how interesting...
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