¶ Outlaw
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Index Entry
Outlaw:
“Three-quarters of the spherical Earth’s surface is water and men’s dry-land-made laws were unenforceable upon the seas. Those whose lives were lived on the sea lived outside any man-made laws and were inherently ‘outlaws,’ not because they flouted other men’s laws, but because they lived and operated where only the physical laws of Universe were enforced. And those laws of nature were often formidably harsh. The sailormen had to take the initiative moment upon moment, and with keenest logic, else they perished. But the sailormen of Penobscot Bay addresses as ‘Darling’ or ‘Dear’ all young people both of its own family or of the stranger’s family. He didn’t learn to do so from Hollywood’s people. The ‘Darling’ custom antedates Hollywood by at least several centuries. The custom developed, we may guess, from the coastal-fisherman’s throttling to idling speed his otherwise powerful and incisive capabilities. Getting angry at hurricanes won’t save you. ‘Easy does it,’ they say.”
¶ Citations
- BEAR ISLAND STORY, galley p.17, 1968
