Fisherrow is a harbour and former fishing village at

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; ; ) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It had a population of as of . History The name Musselburgh is Old English language, Old English in ...

, East Lothian, Scotland, to the east of Portobello and Joppa, and west of the River Esk.

History

There has been

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

at Fisherrow and Musselburgh since Roman times, and the presen
17th-century harbour
is very close to the Roman harbour at the mouth of the River Esk that served the Inveresk Roman Fort on the high ground east of the Esk upriver. The Fisherrow fishermen used to fish for herring, and later for white fish,

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the intern ...

s and sprats. The harbour was home to a large fishing fleet. Fishing villages were close-knit communities, and there was a Fishwives' Choir, and golf tournaments took place between the fishwives of Musselburgh and Fisherrow. Fishermen and fishwives held a "Box Walk" each September which marked the end of the fishing season, and an opportunity to give presents of money to those in need. In 1939, the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

became a strategic area for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, and fishing activities were curtailed. Fishermen's Associations and politicians protested against this, and some of the restrictions were lifted. But despite this, many fishermen were called up, and the Navy commandeered some of the boats for war service.

Present

The harbour is now predominantly used by leisure craft. Fisherrow Yacht Club offers dinghy and yacht

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

. The local Sea Cadets receive training at Fisherrow Harbour and at their Unit in South Street. Fisherrow Harbour is home to Eskmuthe Rowing Club which rows skiffs as part of the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association. Fisherrow is on the John Muir Way, a long-distance footpath along the East Lothian coast, terminating in Helensburgh. Fisherrow Links offers nine-hole pitch and putt, as well as bowling greens. Fisherrow Sands is sandy beach to the west of Fisherrow harbour. Fisherrow Waterfront Group is a community group who are working to improve the appearance and amenity of the Fisherrow Waterfront and ensure the community can play a part in the area.

In Literature

Part of ''Some Terrible Letters from Scotland'', James Hogg's response to the

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic of 1831-32 first published in the Metropolitan magazine in April 1832, is set in Fisherrow. Musselburgh and Fisherrow were particularly severely affected by the epidemic.Hunter, Adrian (ed.) (2020), ''James Hogg: Contributions to English, Irish and American Periodicals'',

Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...

, pp. 107 - 117 & 234 - 236,

Photo gallery

Image:Harbour Masters Office.jpg, Harbour Master's Office Image:Fisherrow Boats.jpg, Sailing boats Image:Harbour entrance.jpg, Harbour entrance Image:Craning in.jpg, Crane-in 2008

References

{{Reflist

External links