Fisherrow is a harbour and former fishing village at Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland, to the east of

Portobello Portobello, Porto Bello, Porto Belo, Portabello, or Portabella may refer to: Places Brazil * Porto Belo Ireland * Portobello, Dublin * Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin formerly ''Portobello Barracks'' New Zealand * Portobello, New Zealand, on Ot ...

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, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

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 Inveresk Roman Fort is an archaeological site within the grounds of St Michael's Church, Inveresk, a village in East Lothian, Scotland. Fort The fort covered an area of 6.6 acres (2.7 ha), placing it at the larger end of the spectrum of 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 and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature' ...

s and

sprat Sprat is the common name applied to a group of forage fish belonging to the genus '' Sprattus'' in the family Clupeidae. The term also is applied to a number of other small sprat-like forage fish ('' Clupeoides'', '' Clupeonella'', '' Corica'' ...

s. The harbour was home to a large

fishing fleet A fishing fleet is an aggregate of commercial fishing vessels. The term may be used of all vessels operating out of a particular port, all vessels engaged in a particular type of fishing (as in the "tuna fishing fleet"), or all fishing vessels of ...

Fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

s 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 became a strategic area for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

and the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, 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, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

. The local

Sea Cadets Sea cadets are members of a sea cadet corps, a formal uniformed youth organisation for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or a naval s ...

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 The John Muir Way is a continuous long-distance route in southern Scotland, running from Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute in the west to Dunbar, East Lothian in the east. It is named in honour of the Scottish conservationist John Muir, who was ...

, a

long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway (landscape), greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking (wilderness), backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-cou ...

along the East Lothian coast, terminating in Helensburgh. Fisherrow Links offers nine-hole

pitch and putt Pitch and putt is an amateur sport very similar to, and derived from, golf, where the hole length is typically up to and just 2–3 clubs are typically used. The game was organised and developed in Ireland during the early 20th century, befo ...

, as well as

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

s. 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 James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many ...

's response to the cholera 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, 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