"The low, bare flats at ebb-tide, the rush of the sea at flood, Through inlet and creek and river, from dike to upland wood; The gulls in the red of morning, the fish-hawks rise and fall, The drift of the fog in moonshine, over the dark coast wall." J. G. WHITTier. ANNALS OF A FISHING VILLAGE BY A SON OF THE MARSHES AUTHOR OF WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN 'ON SURREY HILLS, ETC. EDITED BY J. A. OWEN NEW EDITION WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON MDCCCXCII ! All Rights reserved GL Hift 1-19-93 PREFACE. THESE Annals of a locality almost unknown in its day to the outside world, whose native characteristics are full of quaint simplicity and old - world ideas, have been taken from the Notes of the self-taught Naturalist, the author of 'Woodland, Moor, and Stream.' At his request I have not given the real names either of the village described or of the characters depicted. All is, however, drawn "from the life" -a life rich in a colour peculiarly its own, whether as regards the primitive ways and thoughts of the Marshmen, or the feathered visitants to the wild |