The coble is a type of open

traditional fishing boat Traditionally, many different kinds of boats have been used as fishing boats A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recr ...

which developed on the North East coast of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The southernmost examples occur around Hull (although

Cooke Cooke is a surname derived from the occupation of cook. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander Cooke (died 1614), English actor * Alfred Tyrone Cooke, of the Indo-Pakistani wars * Alistair Cooke KBE (1908–2004), British-American j ...

drew examples at Yarmouth, see his ''Shipping and Craft'' series of drawings of 1829); the type extends to

Burnmouth Burnmouth is a small fishing village located adjacent to the A1 road on the east coast of Scotland. It is the first village in Scotland on the A1, after crossing the border with England. Burnmouth is located in the Parish of Ayton, in the S ...

just across the Scottish border. The distinctive shape of the boat — flat-bottomed and high- bowed — arose to cope with the particular conditions prevalent in this area. Flat bottoms allowed launching from and landing upon shallow, sandy

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

es; an advantage in this part of the coast where the wide bays and inlets provided little shelter from stormy weather. However, fishermen required high bows to sail in the dangerous

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and in particular to launch into the surf and to land on the beaches. The design contains relics of Norse influence, though in the main it shows

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

origin. A Scottish version of the coble, much shallower and beamier than the English type, serves for salmon-fishing off beaches near

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

and Montrose in

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

. These cobles have a less refined construction than their southern counterparts.

Ghillie ''Gillie'' or ''ghillie'' is an ancient Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic term for a person who acts as a servant or attendant on a fishing, hunting, deer stalking or falconry, hawking expedition, primarily in the Scottish Highlands or on a river such as ...

s employ a smaller, better-built version for

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...

on Scottish rivers. Local boat-builders constructed the

clinker-built Clinker built (also known as lapstrake) is a method of boat building where the edges of hull (watercraft), hull planks overlap each other. Where necessary in larger craft, shorter planks can be joined end to end, creating a longer strake or hull ...

cobles locally as required, without the use of plans. The craftsmanship on many boats gave them a long working life. They had a reputation as dangerous to sail for an inexperienced crew, but in the hands of experts could move both safely and speedily. , surviving cobles generally use

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s, removing the need for the distinctively shaped

lug sail The lug sail, or lugsail, is a fore-and-aft, four-cornered sail that is suspended from a spar, called a yard. When raised, the sail area overlaps the mast. For "standing lug" rigs, the sail may remain on the same side of the mast on both the port ...

. In a further concession to comfort, a

tarpaulin A tarpaulin ( , ) or tarp is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. Tarpaulins often have reinforced ...

shelter often covers the bow. The

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

coastal village of

Newbiggin-by-the-Sea Newbiggin-by-the-Sea is a quaint seaside town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located on the North Sea coast. The town owes its proud heritage to having once flourished as an important trade route for shipping grain from its port, ...

has a pub called "The Coble" named in tribute to these boats. A park, Coble Dene, in nearby

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

is likewise named after the vessel.

References

External links

The Coble and Keelboat Society

World of Boats at Eyemouth ~ Seahouses Coble
br />Example of a Northumberland, Seahouses coble named "Boy's Own" - built for Robert Rutter in 1933.
National Maritime Museum Cornwall
br />Example of Northumbrian coble "Sunshine" from ca 1880
Yacht Design Database
br />NMMC also has an online database list of yacht designs mentioned in yachting magazines which includes several cobles
Portsoy Organisation for Restoration and Training
project to investigate and document the Scottish coble's construction an
video
about the project
Scottish National Dictionary
definitions
Salmon Net Fishing Association of Scotland
regarding the "net and coble" method {{fisheries and fishing Types of fishing vessels Boat types

See also

References

External links