The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #98305   Message #1945713
Posted By: GUEST,John Moulden
23-Jan-07 - 01:47 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: Irish immigrants as ballast
Subject: RE: Folklore: Irish immigrants as ballast
It is attested that ships in the Quebec or Maine timber trade sailed to Ireland and Britain with timber, making a handsome profit and that, rather than sail back in ballast for more wood. They then put up rough wooden bunks (6 feet by 6 and accommodating at least four people) and carried emigrants. This was largely a north Irish phenomenon. (See Sholto Cooke "The Maiden City and the Western Ocean")