Enzie |
Enzie |
"This village, of which the Duke of Richmond is now proprietor, was named from the late Noble Dukes of Gordon. It contains a population of 470, and is attached, quoad sacra, to the Chapel of Ease at Enzie. There is a tolerably good harbour, and ... considerable business is done in exporting grain and in importing salt and coals. There are 7 large boats and 10 small.
The large boats are from 12 to 14 tons in weight, and the small ones between 4 and 5. The price of a large boat is £27; masts and sails, including cordage, £16; each net is from 45 to 50 yards in length, and costs £3,10s. In fishing cod, ling and haddocks, a large boat requires 8 men; and each boat has, from February to April, nine lines, containing 800 hooks at a yard's distance. From this period, when the season for taking large fish begins, till April, the fishermen seldom go further from the shore than fifty miles. From the end of April, or beginning of May, they frequently sail out to the distance of eighty miles in search of skate ... Cod, ling, halibut, tusk, and skate, are the only large fish caught in any quantity in the Moray Frith. They are salted in pots on the beach, and dried on the rocks, or on a temporary frame made for the purpose... The ling and skate are the most valuable, on account of their livers yielding a considerable portion of oil, which is sold from 10d to 1s per pint. .. In June, the dried fish is packed in the large boats, and carried for sale to the different towns along the Fife coast, to Edinburgh, Glasgow and occasionally to Ireland. A cargo is valued at £100."
from the article on Rathven in The New Statistical Account of Scotland (1842)