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In English, a chasse-marée is a specific, archaic type of decked commercial sailing vessel. In French, ''un chasse-marée'' was 'a wholesale fishmonger', originally on the Channel coast of France and later, on the Atlantic coast as well. The fishmonger bought in the coastal ports and sold in inland markets. However, this meaning is not normally adopted into English. The name for such a trader in Britain, from 1500 to 1900 at least, was 'rippier'. The chasse-marée name was carried over to the vehicle he used for carrying the fish, which because of the perishable nature of its load, was worked in the same urgent manner as a
mail coach A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail. In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office-approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. ...
. Later, fast three-masted
lugger A lugger is a sailing vessel defined by its rig, using the lug sail on all of its one or more masts. Luggers were widely used as working craft, particularly off the coasts of France, England, Ireland and Scotland. Luggers varied extensively ...
s were used to extend the
marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...
process to the purchase of fresh fish in Breton ports and on the fishing grounds. These vessels too, were known as ''chasse-marée''. Both these meanings, particularly the latter, are used in English where, unlike the French, the plural normally takes an 's'.


Derivation of the name

''Une marée'' has the basic meaning of 'a sea
tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...
'.
Fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
is a highly perishable commodity. Before the days of conservation by salting, canning or freezing, it was brought ashore as near to its market as possible. Therefore, each coastal place had its harbour or its beach on which fish were landed, originally for that community. Berths in small ports and the upper parts of beaches were accessible from the sea only towards high tide. Where estuaries allowed entry farther inland, harbours were established some way into them. Consequently, the fishermen landed their catches towards high tide; in other words the landings were half-daily events, though particularly on the morning tide. They occurred in time with ''la marée'' so the landing of fish itself came to be known also as ''la marée''; not only the process of landing but the batch of fish too. ''La marée'' therefore, now means any of 'the tide', 'the landing of fish' or 'sea fish marketed as a fresh product'. The last is nowadays, usually taken as including
shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...
. Each of the two French words involved in the name 'chasse-marée' has a range of meanings but in this instance, they are ''chasser'' 'to impel' or 'to drive forward' and ''une marée'', 'a landing of fresh sea fish'.


Chasse-marée—road vehicle

The most prolific fish such as
herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...
s and
sardine Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring suborder Clupeoidei. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it com ...
s are abundant in given waters only in their season so keeping them for use out of season required salting or
smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted, and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, whi ...
them. This permitted their sale in inland markets too but fresh fish tasted better so long as it really was fresh. There was therefore a premium on fresh fish in this top end of the market. The medieval chasse-marée merchants catered to this originally by carrying fish in pairs of baskets on pack ponies, as far as possible, overnight. They rushed ''la marée'' (the batch from a particular landing) to market but the distance coverable before the fish deteriorated was limited. Another problem was that every lord through whose manor the road led wanted his toll so that if the road was too long, the enterprise became less economic. Later, where the quality of the road permitted, the range might be extended by the use of ''charrettes'' (
cart A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...
s). When designed for this trade, with a minimum of weight put into their construction and provision for harnessing the four horses, these vehicles took the name of ''chasse-marée''. As speed was essential, they were normally hauled by two pairs of horses. The vehicle took the form of two wheels, of a diameter large enough to minimize the slowing effect of bumps in the road. On their axle was mounted an open rectangular frame within which were slung the baskets holding the fish, packed in seaweed. More baskets were stacked above. The teams of usually fairly small horses were worked hard and changed at posting stations in the same way as those of mail coaches. The coast supplying Paris by road was originally that which was nearest to its market, around Le Tréport and Saint-Valery-sur-Somme. At its most developed, it extended from Fécamp to
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...
including such places as
Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...
,
Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...
and
Étaples Étaples or Étaples-sur-Mer (; or ; formerly ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France, northern France. It is a fishing and leisure port on the Canche river. History Étapl ...
.


Chasse-marée—boat

On the coast of Brittany, originally in the southern part, later known as
Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...
, from the eighteenth century, fast luggers bought fish from the fishermen at sea and carried it to the
Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...
and
Gironde Gironde ( , US usually , ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749.
for sale in the markets of
Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
and
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
. With the spread of wealth within places like Paris, the market expanded and supplies were sought from more distant coasts. In the nineteenth century, these Breton three-masted luggers began to bring fish from ports farther north on the Breton coast and from fishing boats off its coast, into the Seine estuary for sale in
Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
and for
transshipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g. ...
up to Paris. In such waters, a vessel without engines relied heavily on the skilful use of tides. Here, the parallel tidal meaning of ''marée'' and the catching of the tide became relevant to prosecuting the trade. It may be this which led the compiler of the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
'' to translate the vessel's name as 'tide-chaser'. This translation is accurate provided less-relevant meanings of the two component words are taken. The chasse marées took return cargoes where they were available, so tended to move into the ''cabotage'' trade ( coastal tramping). In particular, having taken fish south to Bordeaux, they would return with salt from Lower
Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, and also the r ...
(then known as ''Charente Inférieur'') or from
Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.Mandragore II site
describes it as a gaff ketch and says that the rig was used principally in lobster boats and herring drifters. The article includes an illustration showing a vessel well adapted to the chasse-marée trade, with a large sail area and strikeable bowsprit and bumkin. Apparently, the yawl rig (''cotre à tapecul'') used by French tunnymen was sometimes but improperly called a ''dundee''.


End of the trade

In the 1840s, when the railways reached the coasts of
Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...
,
Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
and
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
, the market changed suddenly. The railway saw to the rapid transit aspect of the trade. The ''chasse-marée'' vehicle was redundant on the main road routes but was still used more locally. The important thing then was for the fisherman to make his landing in time to catch the early morning train which took the product to the morning markets in inland towns. In order to make a living, he had to see that, with or without wind, he was ashore in time. He would therefore choose his fishing ground and the time of leaving it with a view to how the tide would carry him to the fish quay for 4 a.m. or thereabouts. Nonetheless, now that he was working to city time rather than the tide, the railway fish quay had to be accessible at all states of the tide. Over the years, the canneries took ever more of his catch so that missing the train did not represent a total loss. The days of the ''chasse-marée'' were numbered but still the ''marée'', in both senses, ruled the life of the longshore fishermen of the tidal French coasts. The ''chasse-marée'' boat seems to have persisted for some years by using its crew's capacity to buy on the fishing grounds and bringing the ''marée'' ashore. In that way, the vessel, designed for speed, permitted the fishing fleets to develop into working more distant waters, a process which developed further when it was possible to obtain ice and ultimately,
refrigeration Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is ejected to a place of higher temperature).IIR International Dictionary of ...
. By this stage, the ''chasse-marée'' had receded into history. That process was under way when
Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 â€“ 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...
painted several pictures of the boats on the lower
Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...
in 1872.For example Wildenstein, D. ''Monet or the Triumph of Impressionism''. (1996) Catalogue Raisonné picture 207 Chasse-Marée à l'ancre (Rouen). There appear to be others in the backgrounds of pictures 208 and 218 and perhaps in 211. Most of the vessels shown in his pictures of this period are however, brigantines, apart from the green barque in 207.


Notes

The dictionary ''Le Nouveau Petit Larousse Illustrée'' (1934) gives the following definition: ''CHASSE-MARéE n: m: invar: Bâtiment côtier à trois mâts. Voiture, voiturier qui apporte la marée.'' That is: noun, masculine, invariable. Coastal vessel of three masts. Carriage or carrier which or who brings fresh fish.


External links

By the nature of the subject, these links are in French but several include pictures.
Government edicts – 1500 to 1805
Make a search for 'chasse'.


Site with pictures of a model of a Breton chasse-marée lugger.


were clearly carrying general cargo in 1810 but these were the special circumstances of war. (en)

Scroll down to the last two sections.

These deal with the road transport chasse-marées {{DEFAULTSORT:Chasse-Maree Boat types Fish products sales Fishing in France Tall ships