The fishermen’s St Peter’s Day at Gisborough

An old account of the lordship of Gisborough in Cleveland and the neighbouring coast describes the feast the fishermen kept on St Peter’s Day, the day of the fishermen’s saint. They invited their friends and kinsfolk to a generous festival, dressed their boats with care for the show and painted the masts. Certain rites were kept, among them sprinkling the prows of the boats with good liquor, a custom the writer said had come down to them from their forefathers.