Grimsby

“ OH, Grimsby is a pleasant town as any man may find,⁠
An' Grimsby wives are thrifty wives, an' Grimsby girls are kind,
An' Grimsby lads were never yet the lads to lag behind
⁠When there's men's work doin' on the North Sea ground. ”

“ Hard as it is to believe, old Grimsby signed it, and afterward he was afraid to go back on his signature, for fear—why, simply for fear that the devil would come for him if he did. Jack, of course, is all for worshiping the devil now, and swears if this gentlemanly highwayman proves to be human, and ever comes near the gallows, he’ll save him or become highwayman himself. So, in reality, old Grimsby will have to use his power to save this thief, if ever he’s caught, to keep his own son and heir off the road.”
“And Lord Grimsby’s power is absolute, is it not?” asked Ashley. ”

“ Soon, therefore, he was rich, for a fisher; and that was heard of by other fishers from far off, and they drew to Grimsby, so that the town spread, and Witlaf the good thane said that it was a lucky day which drove us to his shore, for he waxed rich with dues that they were willing to pay. We built boats and let them out to these men, so that one might truly say that all the fishery was Grim’s.
Then a trading ship put in, hearing of the new haven, and that was a great day for us. ”

“ Arngeir bides at Grimsby, high in honour with all, and the port and town grow greater and more prosperous year by year. Wise was Grim when he chose to stay in the place where he had chanced to come, if it were not more than chance that brought him. I suppose that for all time the ships that are from Grimsby will be free from all dues in the ports that are Havelok’s in the Danish land. Witlaf, the good old thane, bides in his place yet, and he rejoices ever that he had a hand in bringing Havelok up. Nor does our king forget that. ”

“ It may be a pleasant recollection for the man who, in some ten or twenty years, beholds the docks crowded with steamers and coasters, and the railway busy in conveying seaborne cargoes, to recall the fact that he saw the infancy, if not the birth, of that teeming trade; for it is not to every man that it is given to behold the commencement of such a future as seems promised to gloomy, swampy Great Grimsby. ”

“ Grimsby not only searched the garments but passed his hands all over the persons of the eight, even making them open their mouths and tapping at their teeth with a lead pencil!
"I did some I.D.B. work in South Africa," he explained. "It's wonderful where a clever man can hide a diamond." ”

“ Then he founded a monastery at Grimsby, that there the men of the marsh, who had been kind to him in the old days, might find teachers in all that was good; and there it will surely be after many a long year, until there is need for its work no more, if such a time ever comes.
So the land grows Christian fast, and good will be its folk if they follow the way of king and queen and their brothers.
Now have I finished also, and this is farewell. Look you, husbands and wives, that you may be said to be like Havelok and Goldberga ”

“ In the different versions, the founder of Grimsby is variously described as a steward of the Danish king’s castle, a merchant, a fisher, and in the English poem—probably because it was felt that none other would have undertaken the drowning of the prince—as a thrall. Another version gives no account of the sack episode, but says that Grim finds both queen and prince wandering on the shore. Grim the fisher is certainly a historic character in his own town, and it has not been hard to combine the various callings of the worthy foster-father of Havelok and the troubles of both mother and son. ”

“ Grimhhildur was somewhat used in the North, but nothing was so fashionable as Grim, who occurs twenty-nine times in the Landnama-bok, and with equal frequency in Domesday; besides that one of these Danish settlers left his name to Grimsby, in Lincolnshire.
Grim has, of course, his kettle, in the North, Grimketyl, or Grimkjell; in Domesday, Grimchel; an allusion, probably, to creation, quaint as is the sound to our ears. Grimperaht, or helmeted splendour, first was turned into Grimbert, then into the common German surname of Grimmert. Grimar in the North was Grimheri in Germany. ”

“ Grimsby strode to the window, with his characteristic limp, and drew the heavy curtains aside, to peer out nervously.
“No one is in sight.”
“The man is as unseen in his work as a germ. But he is not unheard: he uses the telephone to locate his victims, that is why I advised you to let your instrument ring unanswered.”
“I'll do what I can, if I can keep out of more danger. An old man craves life more than a young one. I fought through the Civil War and brought a medal from Congress and this wounded knee out of it, Mr. Shirley. ”

“ I saw a lugger steal round the point from New Grimsby and creep up in the shadow towards the Abbey grounds.
I spent that night in the gorse high up on the Castle Down. I had no mind to be caught in a trap at the Palace Inn.
From the top of the down, about an hour later, I saw the lugger come round the Lizard Point of Tresco and beat across to St. Helen's. As the day broke she pushed out from St. Helen's, and reaching past the Golden Ball into the open sea, put her tiller up and ran by the islands to the south. ”

“ A surer and more decisive proof than all written historical accounts of the Danish-Norwegian settlements and diffusion in the midland and northern districts of England is, that the above-named places, namely, Grimsby (“the town of Grim”) , Whitby (Hvidby, “the White town”) , and Deoraby Dyreby (“town of deer”) , contracted to Derby, are to be found to this day in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and Derbyshire; and also that in these old Danish districts there is, moreover, a very considerable number of towns with names of just as undoubted Danish origin. ”

“ Thus was Lord Grimsby hiding himself behind his majesty, the king, in order to protect himself from his majesty, the devil, when he was interrupted by a commotion that would not be downed, by the cries of silence from the court’s servants.
“I tell you I must speak! I will be heard! I will speak! Will you all stand by and hear an innocent man sentenced to be hanged merely for the sake of custom, of courtesy to the court ”

“ It would be worth your while now to make a friend of your kitchen knave. You are not to be trusted.”
So these two wrangle for a while bitterly, for Alsi is not overlord of Griffin in any way. And the end is that the thane rides towards Grimsby first of all, with twenty men at his heels, knowing more than we thought. But he hears naught of us, and presently meets Arngeir on his way thence to see us. Him he knows, for already he has had dealings with him in the hiring of the ship. ”

“ About five miles further, we come to the suburbs of Grimsby, and the road runs on past Clee to Cleethorpes.
It is curious how different localities, though in the same neighbourhood, have their own special and different terms for the same thing, thus: alongside the ridge north of Lincoln, each village has its bit of “Cliff,” and from Elsham to the Humber each has its bit of “Wold,” while on the continuation of the Wold near Caistor from Barnetby to Burgh-on-Bain the same thing is called neither “Cliff” nor “Wold,” but “top” ”

“ Withelm rode with his chin over his shoulder, and I beckoned him and told him this. Not long was his quick wit in seeing a way out of what might be a danger.
“Let us ride on quickly down the Ermin Street, and he will think us making for the south and Norwich. Then we will turn off to Cabourn, and he will lose us. After that he may hear that some of us belong to Grimsby, and will go there; but he will be too late to hurt us. Hard men are our fishers, and they would fight for Havelok and the sons of Grim.” ”

“ Lincolnshire (473) , maritime county in the E. of England, between the Humber and the Wash, next to Yorkshire in size, consists of upland country in the W., chalk downs in the E., and fens in the S., but these well reclaimed and cultivated. It is watered by the Trent, Witham, and Welland, and crossed by numerous canals. Iron abounds in the W.; sheep, cattle, and horses are raised. Grimsby is a shipping and fishing centre. Sir Isaac Newton and Lord Tennyson were born in the county, which has many historic associations. ”

“ The growth of the society was not rapid, and for some years was subject to fluctuations. In 1769 Grimsby had 56 members and Horncastle 42, including such well-known local names as Rayson and Goe. In 1774 Grimsby had fallen to 32 members and Horncastle to about the same In 1780 Horncastle had only 31 members, but the numbers had increased in the neighbourhood; Kirkby-on-Bain having nearly as many as Horncastle, viz. 29, Wood Enderby 10, Hemingby 7, and Thimbleby 18; there being evidently a greater readiness to accept the new teaching among the simpler rural population. ”

“ Besides lands in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Warwickshire, he obtained Torksey and Grimsby in Lincolnshire, his dominion thus practically extending from sea to sea, with a port on both coasts. ”

“ This seal is in an excellent state of preservation, and is inscribed in Saxon characters ‘Sigillvm Comunitatis Grimebye’ and represents thereon Gryme (‘Gryem’) who by tradition is reported to have been a native of Souldburg in Denmark, where he gained a precarious livelihood by fishing and piracy; but having, as is supposed, during the reign of Ethelbert,20 been accidentally driven into the Humber by a furious storm, he landed on the Lincolnshire Coast near Grimsby, he being at this time miserably poor and almost destitute of the common necessaries of life ”

“ This time they made a compact with a Dutch captain at Hull—they would not trust an Englishman. [32] The plan now was, that the men should assemble on a wild common, between Grimsby and Hull, a place chosen on account of its remoteness from any town; the women, the children, and the property of the exiles were to be conveyed to that part of the coast in a barque. The men made their way thither, in small companies, by land. The barque reached its destination a day sooner than the foot travellers ”

“ It was not long before our war horns sounded for the mustering, and men ran to their arms. The Lindsey host drew back from the talk with our men at the same time, and, without waiting for word from their leaders, began to get in line along the stream, where they had been when we halted last night. But we had no thought of falling on them until we had had some parley with the king or the Earl of Chester. And now it was plain that with the grim rearguard behind us we outnumbered the men of Alsi who were left. ”

“ For we had men in the villages on the road who took the great baskets on from one to another, and always Grim and one of us were there on the market day, and men said that never had the town and court seen such fish as Grim’s before. ”

“ In Persia also a recrudescence took place and proved enormously destructive. Dr Barry estimated the mortality at 70,000. At Hamburg, where new waterworks had been installed with sand filtration, only a few sporadic cases occurred until the autumn, when a sudden but limited rush took place, which was traced to a defect in the masonry permitting unfiltered Elbe water to pass into the mains. In England cholera obtained a footing on the Humber at Grimsby, and to a lesser extent at Hull, and isolated attacks occurred in some 50 different localities. ”

“ None seemed to care for taking the fish but ourselves, for the English folk had no knowledge of the riches to be won from the sea, and the eels of the river were the best that they ever saw. So they were very ready to buy, and soon the name of Grim the fisher was known far and wide in Lindsey, for my father made great baskets of the willows of the marsh, and carried his burden of fish through the land, alone at first, until we were able to help him, while Arngeir and we minded the nets. ”

“ I told her that we were too many at home since the fishing had failed, and had therefore come to find some work here, at the court if possible.
“Doubtless two strong men will not have to go far to find somewhat,” she said; “but the court is full of idle folk, and maybe no place is empty. Now I will have you bide with me while you are at a loose end, for there are yet a few silver pennies in store, and I ween that they came out of Grim’s pouch to me. Lonely am I, and it is no good hoarding them when his sons are hungry.” ”

“ After this all was suddenly quiet, and Brother Lustig lay down again, and slept till it was bright day. Then came the inn-keeper, and the nobleman to whom the castle belonged, to see how he had fared; but when they perceived that he was merry and well they were astonished, and asked, “Have the spirits done you no harm, then?” “The reason why they have not,” answered Brother Lustig, “is because I have got the whole nine of them in my knapsack! You may once more inhabit your castle quite tranquilly, none of them will ever haunt it again.” ”

“ Next they came to some fine meadows. "Whose are those beautiful green, meadows?" said she. "They belong to king Grisly-beard; hadst thou taken him, they had all been thine." "Ah! unlucky wretch that I am!" said she, "would that I had married king Grisly-beard!"
Then they came to a great city. "Whose is this noble city?" said she. "It belongs to king Grisly-beard: hadst thou taken him, it had all been thine." "Ah! miserable wretch that I am!" sighed she, "why did I not marry king Grisly-beard?" "That is no business of mine," said the musician; "why should you wish for another husband? ”

“ Brother Lustig went his way and came to a place where there was a magnificent castle, and not far from it a wretched inn. He went to the inn and asked for a night’s lodging, but the landlord turned him away, and said, “There is no more room here, the house is full of noble guests.” “It surprises me that they should come to you and not go to that splendid castle,” said Brother Lustig. “Ah, indeed,” replied the host, “but it is no slight matter to sleep there for a night; no one who has tried it so far, has ever come out of it alive.” ”