AROUND THE WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 27, 1 February 1930, Page 4

AROUND THE WORLD.

GOSSIP OF THE PORTS ' 'LONGSHORE PLACE (By LEE-FORE-BRACE.) If anyone wants to spend an lour he should read through a NintuL Almanac which gives the names of all h :ocks, beacons and headlands on -oast in the world. Especially j. TV 1 'he case when one rea.da about the 'In shore place names of the British ehoj" There are probably more islands, 2 ind shoals on the coast of Britain thaa ' my country in the world, not eW;* Scandinavia and the Grecian ArchbeW [t as no exaggeration to say that ttll ire many thousands of them, which k ill the more remarkable when one remem jcrs that of approximately 3000 inilJ7f coastline, quite half of it aa clean mi ' ievoid of off-lying dangers. The navigate ivho sails year after year in and 4 {L, ihis undesirable collection toy far thf greater number of which are unmarked" either by lighthouse, beacon or buoy? nust wonder by what process they were ill differently named. Unfortunately no -nformation is given to the inquirer as to bow these rocks and headlands wers lamed. All we are told is that the «&. reyors from the Hydrographic Office lorded the names which were given them oy the local people. All manner of ideas regarding the mat suitable names have been indulged in The Outer Silver Pit, the Sole Pit, flu 3road Fourteens, and the Long Forties «•« >he areas apart from the Dogger Bank in ivhich the North Sea fishermen pull their crawls. These are probably named by the fishermen themselves, as also wtr« he Lousy Bank, Bill Bailey Shoal, and the Tones and Smith Bank which He ito th« (vest of northern Scotland. Oiscrpres and Saints. The. names of all the disciples and a arge number of the saints have been .used n naming dangens on the coastline. The scilly Islands have several St.' Mary'sHorn wall a St. Agnes and St. Magnus,' St*. N T inian and St. Peter; while at Lerwick in ;he Shetland Islands, there are two rocks lamed the East and West Brethren. All rinds of animals have had their nainca j'estowed on rocks and shoals. For instance, there is the Horse of Copingay, a nost remarkable rock off the coast of Drkney; Sheep Craig at Fair Isle; Hog Island in Dury Voe, Shetland; Cat Firth lear the same place, and a little, further lortli can be found Ox Island, Cow Rock, tnd the Mare of Lunna. The latter is an ixtraordinary block of white granite as, arge as, and from a distance very like a modern villa. Also in the Shetlands is Unicorn Rock, taking its name from the oss of the Unicorn, one of the vessels vh-ich went in ohase of the notorious Earl >£ Bothwell. In Tralee Bay, Ireland, is a •eef called the Seven Hogs; a Swine Point it Water-ford; several Pig Islands scatsered around the coasts, and Dog's Nose Bank is in Cork Harbour. Coming nearer 1 10me we find many coastline dangers named after the domestic animals. The Hen and Chickens are near Whangarei; ;he Cow and Calf at Coromandel, the Bull Rock -near Gisborne, and the Sow and Pigs at the entrance to Sydney Harbour. Rocks which have .been named after fish ire exceptionally well represented. There s a Chubb Rock, near Christie's Hole, the inest and most perfect cave in Britain. Dt faces the sea on Papa Stour, the most 'ertile of the Shetland Islands. Dolphin Rock is in Donegal Bay; Shark's Fin Rock is close to the famous Longships Lighthouse, Cornwall; while' there is Skate Rock, Trout Rock, and Turbot Bank, all in Cork Harbour. The names of all parts of the human can be seen in the Almanac. The / «tuary of the Thames has a Crooked Elbow, the Bristol Channel has a Broken Elbow and a Miner's Chin. There is the Knee of Romsey, and strangest of all, a Show Belly, a bad reef lying off Strom' less. The Devil's Foot is a remarkable aeadland close to Kirkwall. The Bare Backs is the name of a reef in the Pentand Firtb. There are any number of Toes and Noses, while beautiful Dublin Bay has the Eye of Ireland, a rocky knoll ivhich guards the entrance to the hay. For peculiar names there is the Barrel if Butter, a rock well" known to the men if the Royal Navy who were stationed at 3 cap a Flow during: the war. Gn the Irish ;oast one finds the Thieves' Holm, the Robber Bank, and the Rogue's Rest. Near Wicklow are some half submerged rocks mown as the Torn Breeches, and a little , further north, near Poolbeg, careful navigation requires to be observed if one ivishes to avoid running ashore on the Shirtless Maiden. The Lure, Lot's Wife. Abraham's Bosom, and the Old Man' of Hoy are interesting names. The latter is i most imposing headland, a huge 600 ft pillar of sandstone lying off the Island >f Hoy. How the Lizard Got its Name. The Lizard, the signal station at Land s End, usually the last point seen of Old England by the outward bounder, is not lamed after the reptile of that name. It takes its name from the fact that early in the 13th century a leper settlement or iazarette was in its immediate vicinity, [n 1305 the small village which stood on the flat ground at the back of -the headland was known as Lazard. Jack in the Box is near Hartlepool; The Clowns are three rocks near the Isle of Man; and the Circus Ring is: an eddy of wild water in the Pentland Firth. There is a rock called the Bald Head near Hythe, another called Hairy Face to the south of the Lincolnshire Wash, and & deep patch of water in the Irish Sea is called the Curly Moustache. A roc* svhich bears the name of the Black is near the Island of Skye. The Big Nose is a reef off the West of Ireland, an<i Thick Lips is a point of land jutting out from Lundy Isle in the Bristol ChannelThere are rocks and shoals called « a '" [opers and Horsemen, Huntsmen ana Ostlers, and Grooms and Coachmen, but perhaps the most curious of all is tlw / No Yes rock which lies near Sunburgn Head. _ And some of the names are most dimcult in their pronunciation. For instance i is not difficult to imagine the second mate of some home making vessel reporting to his captain that Boghaantclarrich light was abeam, and if one were to listen to the captain's reply, li<e would hear him give his officer the order to set his course for Bruichladdich Point. The former name covers a small cape on the Island ot Skye, and the latter is on the Island ot fslay, a few miles further south, both ot them on the west coast of Scotland. It wa6 surely a gambler, and a poser player at that, who the names to the following rocks and reefs and islands. The Three Kings, the Joker, Five Clubs, the Ace Rock, the Full House shoal, ana the Broken Flush Reef. . Everyone knows where Cape Wrath is, but how few have ever heard of Gentle Annie, Angry Ben, the Smiling Maiden, or the Doleful Parson. They are all longshore points oil the English coast. Drake's Drum is a rock near the Isle ol Wight. Nelson's Pillar is one of the Jersey islands. Rodney Point is on the Cornwall coast, and Noah's Ark is a small reef near the entrance to the Humber.