The Phenominal Low Tides.

In Part I., page 57, of the Gentleman's Magazine, of 1784, the following note. occurs :-

" On Saturday morning, 3rd January, there was a lower ebb tide all along the Kentish coast than has been known for many years, and in the evening a very small flood. At Reculver, the Black Rock (as it is called) being left dry, the foundations of the ancient parish church were discovered, which had not been seen for forty years before."

I am indebted to a friend for the following account of an exceptionally low tide, which disclosed for a short time some of the secrets of the flats :-

" On the 3rd of March, 1896, owing to a heavy S.W. gale, which had blown with much force all the previous night, the tide ebbed to the lowest point that had been known within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. Only those that availed themselves of the sight can realise the varied formation of the soil, consisting at places of large sand and cement stones, rock, blue and yellow clay, among which might be seen the trunks of large trees laying as they fell, showing that land once extended far outside the present shore. At 1 3/4 miles from Herne Bay shore, it was perfectly dry on the Weir Rand (commonly pronounced 'Ware Rand'), and the long rows of wooden stumps that were revealed showed the remains of ancient fishing weirs, which, probably, were those that paid tithes to the Parish of Herne centuries ago. Here and there on the stumps were dredges, lost at various times by flatsmen coming fast, and the warps breaking, perhaps, in a strong breeze.

"At Reculvers, the Black Rock dried entirely, and could be walked to from the shore, and the rocks in Beltinge Bay all dried out as far as the Stone Bank. Large quantities of lobsters, oysters, and brood were picked up. It is said to be over sixty years since such a remarkable occurrence took place."

Weir and Weir Tithes.

A letter, written by Rev. John Hunt, Curate of Herne, dated 10th August, 1621, declares the following tithe charge to be "the ancient custom beyond the memory of man." He had the books of Mr. Brydges (Vicar, 1562), who had them of Mr. John son (1549). Item, "For titheing every deep ware (fishery), 2s. of every landware 12d. For theyr mullet netts I have compounded (and others before me) for ­3s. 4d., sometimes 5s., sometimes VIs. 8d. for the year."

Fishing weirs are a source of annoyance and loss to dredgers, and are no longer permitted to be built, as they obstruct the navigation. The stumps of one of these weirs are visible at low tide near the end of Herne Bay Pier to the eastward. At one time they probably formed the principal means of catching fish.

There is still an old one in use at Graveney, near Whitstable. It is built of oak posts driven in about six feet apart, and standing a height varying from one foot to six feet above the ground at low tide, the spaces being filled in with transverse timber. The weir is shaped like the letter V, with the point out to sea, this pointed end being enclosed like a box, called the "pound" ; the wide end is left open. As the tide recedes, fish in the weir are unable to escape.

Large quantities of fish used to be wasted by want of attention in collecting them when caught, and weirs got into bad repute on that account, as they did also for another reason, as the following cutting from the Kentish Gazette of December 30th to January 3rd, 1786, serves to show :-

“Last Thursday night a boat, with four men in it, ran foul of a weir, near Whitstable, by which accident the boat was sunk and the men were all unfortunately drowned this makes the number sixteen that have perished by this machine, which is of very little or no use to the owners, yet it continues to obstruct the navigation, and, as it were to sport with the lives of our fellow-creatures."

Finds on the Flats.

Many are the odd and interesting things brought to light by the flatsman in the course of his search for oysters, mussels, cockles, whelks, and five-fingers. He has a fair knowledge now of the value of anything unusual, and preserves it, though in years gone by many archaeological records must have been "shaded" through the portholes, unless an occasional perfect Samian pot were thought good enough to grow flowers in at home, or a precious basin were saved for the "Pudding Pie," elsewhere known as "Lent Pie," which the true Whitstable household indulges in once a year on Ash Wednesday.

Many of these treasures have come from Pudding Pan Rock, which is situate due north of Herne Bay Clock Tower, the edifice erected by Mrs. Thwaites, who was so mercilessly chaffed in the pages of Punch fifty years ago.

This rock, which is never dry, is half a mile long and thirty perches wide. It is covered with loose stones of different sizes. It runs east and west, right in the passage from the buoy of the Spaniard to the Narrows or Woolpack, about three miles north-west from Reculvers, and about five miles north-east from Whitstable. There are said to be plenty of oysters on it. Hasted especially describes a curious thin pan of red earth, covered with dusky brown glazing, made in the form of a sugar basin, with two handles and a foot, being five inches in diameter, its external circumference being ornamented with foliage.

The most reasonable theory to account for the quantities of pottery found here is that some vessel freighted with these goods was once cast away on this rock, and her load dispersed from time to time by force of wind and wave. We cannot, however, ignore the possibility that when Samian ware was manufactured the Isle of Sheppey may have extended as far eastward as Pudding Pan Rock, of which there are slight indications, the tradition that the Goodwin Sands opposite Ramsgate were once habitable being some assistance in that speculation. The underwash of the sea is gradually sweeping away the unprotected earth cliffs of this part of the coast, a process which has been going on for thousands of years, and has in my own recollection toppled over many acres of land between Whitstable and Reculvers.

Mammoth tusks are brought to light in this way, a pair about 5 feet long having been found at Swalecliffe only a few weeks ago. Specimens of submerged Samian ware have been often described, and Mr. Sibert Saunders' very fine collection is well known.

Among many other curious things that the dredge has found for the Whitstable Museum I may mention a few:-

A left-handed whelk shell, of which there is probably not one in ten thousand; hermit crabs, which seek shelter in whelk shells because of their soft bodies and tails, and move into larger shells as they grow bigger; a spider crab, with oyster spat on its back various beautiful specimens of the sea urchin, some like life, or with shells cleaned out or petrified ; teeth of gigantic sharks of the Eocene period; fossilized fruit from the London clay ; numbers of clay pipes from about A.D. 1600, including one with an oyster grown into the bowl; old keys; the shell of a crab with sixteen oysters grown on it; a Schiedam bottle of suggestively contraband appearance, with oysters adhering to it; tiles from Archacon, in France, laid for spat, being coated with lime, so that the spat could be eased off with a knife, and allowed to look after themselves, to save them from being crowded out of life; oyster shells covered with the work of the Ross worm, which produces its own lime as it proceeds, as a spider does its web; a basket dredged up in the North Sea coated with spat; various jars, stag horns, flint pistols covered with marine growth, a battle axe, an ox head, various red amphorae, long tusks, and a leg bone, four feet in length.

An Oyster Mouse Trap.

There is in the museum a very original mouse-trap preserved in spirits of wine. It appears that some oysters, not being wanted at once, were placed in a crock in a back-yard, where two white mice found one of them gaping open. The mice inquisitively peeped in, which the oyster resented, so tightly shutting his shells, he caught both mice by their heads, and in that position they were found and preserved by a well-known gentleman whose veracity is beyond doubt. These two mice were not as fortunate as the cat and two kittens shown in a picture painted bv H. H. Cauldery, hung in the gallery of Nottingham Castle. Having climbed on to a table they are seen rapidly devouring a dozen oysters, evidently opened ready for their master's supper.