A Piece of the Sea - The People's Friend Special No. 202

A little bit—all right very, very late, but the issue is still out 😉 In The People’s Friend Special No. 202 is my seasonal story set on the coast, A Piece of the Sea.

Christmas is coming and the Dutch fair has returned to the shores of Great Yarmouth. Our character, a young basket weaver called Eli, intends on proposing to his Scots gutter girl sweetheart, only for trouble to find them when a stallholder accuses Morag of stealing a very expensive necklace…

With it being only about 113 miles across the sea from Amsterdam to Great Yarmouth, it’s no surprise that Dutch traders came to ply their wares. The fishing industry in this part of Norfolk boomed thanks to the Dutch sharing their fish preserving methods.

Great Yarmouth’s herring fair became known as the Dutch fair when the Dutch would beach their boats during hightide just before Christmas to sell toys, gifts and sweets to local people as well as the Scottish fishermen and gutter girls who arrived during the herring season. Some of the sweet treats included gingerbread and domino tile (dominosteine), which were several layers of Lebkuchen, jelly and marzipan with a dark chocolate icing.

One such fair was immortalised by George Vincent in his painting ‘Dutch Fair on Yarmouth Beach, Norfolk’ (1821) and is now part of the Great Yarmouth Museums Collection. Daniel Defoe also described visiting one of these fairs during his Norfolk travels in 1727.  

There have been historical records of a herring fair at Yarmouth beach since the 12^th century, and the last one was held during the 1830s.

Throughout Norfolk our coastal neighbour’s influence can still be seen, such as in the local architecture around Great Yarmouth and even the name of Norwich’s football team. Flemish weavers escaping religious persecution in the 16^th century made their home in the city, bringing with them their bright yellow canaries and weaving techniques.

I couldn’t help but throw in a few folklore references in the story as well. While browsing the market stalls, the couple find a strange wooden carving of a gnomish creature—a Korrigan (small-dwarf) from Breton folktales. They are fairy-like beings who like to dance around fountains.

However, Korrigans can also refer to female spirits who haunt fountains and wells. They are beautiful during the day, but when night comes their hair turns white and their eyes red. If a man becomes entranced by their singing, he will be lured to a watery grave. Korrigans are mentioned in Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera.

Although A Piece of the Sea’s thief is something a little more earthly, one little girl believes it to be a Witte Wievan playing tricks—the spirit of a wise woman. The Dutch legend originates some time in the 7^th century. Wise women who had died would remain on this earth, either assisting or complicating matters for those in trouble. They were depicted as wearing white, roaming gravesites and emerging from the mists.