Hollin Bus

Smith, Kent W

Message 46486 · 1 Nov 2006 13:59:17 · Fixed-width font · Whole thread

Here is a suggestion from Ken Way, a dancer in Connecticut, USA, who has
been to Summer School in St. Andrews several times. It is excerpted by
permission from a letter he sent to RSCDS headquarters about the topic.
He (and I) would be intereted in reactions.

"For some thirty years or more when local area teachers have presented
the dance The Hollin Buss, they have noted that the title may be
interpreted as The Holly Bush. I accidentally ran into a piece of
information that seems to me to give a much more probable
interpretation, which I felt is worth sharing with whomever deals with
that sort of history.

Following the first fortnight of Summer school I took a day trip to
Anstruther, one of my favorite fishing ports, and visited their
excellent Fisheries Museum. At one point, I saw on the wall one or two
pictures of Dutch fishing boats which would call at Fife ports, along
with a description thereof. The boats were referred to as Dutch Busses.
Aha! I said. Curious as to whether anyone but the Fisheries Museum
recognized the term, I consulted my Chambers English Dictionary and
found the following:

buss2 bus, n. a small two-masted Dutch vessel, used in the herring
and
mackerel fisheries.

Herring fishing was a staple of the Fife fishing trade, of course, so
such Dutch craft were probably common sights along the Fife coast. I
submit that the most likely interpretation of The Hollin Buss is exactly
that: The Holland Buss."

Kent
Connecticut, USA