The Filey Flither girls - Arthur Munby
Thursday 15th October.
I went out at 9-30, and through the village
and across the fields to Brail Head. Following
the path at the edge of the great chalk cliff,
I came to the point from which in autumn and
winter weather I have so often seen the
Flamboro' lasses climb the rope. And then,
looking down, I saw the new rope, my gift and
Molly's treasure, hanging from the stake, and
going down the whole height of the cliff, to
the broad platform of table rock at the
bottom. It was clear that Molly and her
friends were below; ... but as I looked down
from the top (which here is about 250 feet up,
I think) upon the black weedy scars and pools,
I saw no one....
"Towards eleven o'clock, however, two bait
girls appeared near the foot of the cliff,
striding and stooping among the wet seaweed.
Both were breeched up to the knee: and she,
the tall one with the long legs, was evidently
Molly. At that height, one could not hear
their voices; but I saw them clamber up to the
base of the rock, and there, Molly seized the
rope, tried it with her own weight, and began
to mount. Hand over hand, sticking her toes
into crevices of the chalk wall, she went up,
as easily as one might walk upstairs; and
having thus climbed some 50 feet, she turned
round, and with her back to the cliff, worked
her way along a level ledge that just
supported her heels, to an overhanging point.
There, stooping forward as coolly as possible,
she hauled up her own full basket and her
fellow's, which the girl below first tied to
the rope end. When the baskets came up, she
just loosened them, and hoisted them up, with
one hand, upon a broader ledge above her head:
then, grasping the rope again, she climbed up
to it, and sat down. It was the same windy
corner ledge on which Sally Mainprize used to
sit and shout and whistle to the ships at sea:
about halfway up the lower part of the cliff.
For the whole ascent it was like a house
gable; first the wall, and then the steep
sloping roof above it. Meanwhile the other
girl began to climb in like manner; and I went
round and descended the rough 'trod' that
leads from the cliff top to the small flat
summit of that lower spur of rock, from which
the rope hangs down. From hence you see down
the whole of the slope, but no further. The
rope, knotted to the fixed stake at my feet,
was trembling with some unseen weight; and
very soon the crown of Molly's lilac hood
bonnet appeared above at the lower edeg of the
slope. Thence, holding her basket in one hand
and tugging at the rope with the other, she
soon climbed up to the stake; grasped it, and
then grasped my offered hand, and flung
herself down beside me on the little
platform of rock, panting for breath , but
smiling. Her comrade followed a moment
afterwards, and did the same ... when the two
had recovered breath, they began a talk,
waiting for others who were still below...
dense mist clouds, borne by the strong
southwest wind, had been sweeping over us, and
beating on us with small searching rain, for
some time; and the lasses, though they went
down the Head at daybreak, had not bought
their pilot jackets , and were getting wet
through above as well as below. So Molly stood
up for a moment and showing her tall figure
at the cliff edge, shouted to far off folk,
'Noo then, coom on, we're gahin'!' And at last
the rope at our feet began to tremble again.
Instantly Molly and Nan started up, and saying
'Wa min gan an' help' em', these fearless
lasses seized the rope, and before I could
speak a word, began to run, Molly first, head
foremost down the dizzy slope of rock, until
they both disappeared over the edge of the
cliff wall below. I, the man of the party, was
left in a ridiculous position; a useless
spectator of these vigorous athletics. But
before long, the climbers reappeared, Molly as
usual first, and carrying somebody's basket on
one arm while she held on to the rope with the
other. The other women followed , in single
file... after them came 3 fisher 'lads'....
The little platform of rock was not big enough
to hold us all, s the men wen on up the
'trod', and then women followed, after letting
down their skirts and shouldering their
baskets, each of which has its load of
flithers (winkles and mussels) neatly covered
with seaweed. Last of all, Molly strongest and
most agile climber of the group, stood by thew
stake, and hauled in the rope of which she was
the owner. I offered to carry the coil, and
did so, finding it heavy enough, until Molly
insisted that Jan Bielby should relieve me...
When we reached the village, our party began to
separate, going to their homes. Jan Bielby,
when he dropt off, seemed inclined ton take
the coil with him; for 'them lads' are always
after our precious rope. But Molly, brave and
prompt, called to him to give it up; and
placed it on her own shoulder, saying gaily
'It belongs to me' "
Quoted from “Munby Man of two worlds” by Derek Hudson.
The Filey Flither girls - Arthur Munby
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