off from school we would be out watching the fishermen setting their herring nets in their little dories. Some of the fishermen would be with father watch- ing for the ice flows that would circle the nets. They would have to rush out in their dories and retrieve them from being torn apart. This would be repeated many times in a day, testing the patience of the fishermen. The little dories used in those early years were an essential part of the fishermen’s liveli- hood. Where the boats were not able to operate in shallow water, the little dories could circle around and do the work. The dories were also an

important part of the fishing boats in under running the trawls. The dory in all it’s shapes and stages of its evolution, going

back at least four hundred years had an interesting history that was developed, mostly by boat builders in their own boat sheds. Besides the small dories were used extensively by the fishermen to tend their smelt, and eel nets. Along with hunting and other inshore jobs. Around the turn of the century bigger dories were used in the offshore fishery. One design being the swampscott sailing dory. Tweedledom and Tweedledee of the sea—shanty, shown in old photos, were used for Sunday sailing events.

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