Wherry

See also: Norfolk Wherry , Thames Wherry

OTHER TYPES OF SAILING VESSEL

The original wherries along the Thames were water taxiis. In Elizabethan times, prior to Admiral Anson and the rise of the Royal Navy, when landing stages were built along the river, the wherries were built with long overganging bows so that patrons could step ashore dryshod. Once landing stages were built along the river, their bows took on the proportions still seen today.

In the time of Shakespeare, their use was widespread.One interesting account concerning Shakespeare’s Globe Theater said that, “Patrons were transported across the River Thames to Southwark by ‘wherry boats.’ At one time over two thousand wherries made their way to and from the theater district. The term “wherry” or “wherrie”, and presumably knowledge of them, had become so much a part of the culture at the time that the Coverdale Bible of 1535, speaks of ''All whirry men, and all maryners vpo the see…'', in the Book of Ezekiel.

In North America, particularly in the Penobscot Bay region of the Gulf of Maine, wherries became the preferred boat for the 'longshore Atlantic Salmon fishery. The Lincolnville Salmon Wherry, the Rhodes Wherry, the Duck Trap Wherry, and the Christmas Wherry are still being built, though for recreational use.

For a complete account, please see {Link without Title} http://www.duck-trap.com/wherries.html by Walter J. Simmons, published in 2004.

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Wherry