Folklore and the Sea

Fisherman, sailors, merchantmen, navies, shipwrights, pirates and smugglers - all earned their livlihood from the seas and the shores surrounding them, some honestly, some with cruel and cunning. Here are the stories, the tales, and legends which form the lore and fables of these men and women. The rugged fishermen of Newfoundland and the Canadian Maritime Provinces; the privateers and merchantmen of Maine, Massachusetts and the Chesapeake; the mariners of the British West Indies; the seafarers of the harsh and stormy coasts of Ireland and Scotland - all helped shape myriad legends and tales of the deep. Herein you will discover beliefs and superstitions about boatbuilding, weather, creatures of the deep, and the ghosts and demons that have, in all ages, risen from the sea to terrify and enchant men. FOLKLORE AND THE SEA unravels the sources of these folktales, plumbs their meanings, and helps preserve the customs, beliefs and traditions of hundreds of years of seafaring.