The Guardian of the Fleet: The Journey of a Staithes Lucky Stone

From the February 2026 newsletter

In the fiercely independent seafaring community of Staithes, survival at sea was never taken for granted. To navigate the treacherous North Sea, fishermen relied on more than just their legendary seamanship; they carried traditions intended to ward off misfortune. Among the most enduring of these was the practice of fastening a "lucky stone" to the inwire of a coble.

The Lore of the lucky stone

Locally known in the dialect as a "lucky-steean", these objects are small stones featuring a natural perforation. These stones were traditionally picked up under the Staithes cliffs, particularly around the scaurs of Cowbar and Penny Nab. The distinctive holes in these shale and limestone rocks are often the work of the piddock, a very interesting boring mollusc that drills into the soft stone. Once fastened into the framework of a coble, the stone became a permanent part of the vessel’s luck.

A Legacy of Success: The Story of the Prosperity

The story of one particular lucky stone begins with the Prosperity, a Staithes Yawl (or"big boat") that represented the height of the village's deep-sea fishing era. The Prosperity was a family vessel, owned by Richard Cole and skippered by his son,John Carlin Cole (our John Cole's great-grandfather). Inside the yawl was a lucky stone. In Prosperity, it was always in the cabin.

Yawls like the Prosperity were the heavyweights of the Staithes fleet, often reaching over 50 feet in length. They served as "mother ships" for the smaller cobles. During the spring and summer, the Prosperity would sail to the Dogger Bank for "overlining," where the crew sought cod, halibut, and turbot. These voyages were demanding; the crew often stayed at sea for days, landing their catches at Hartlepool or North Shields (and sometimes Staithes) before returning

to Staithes for the Sabbath.

From the Prosperity to the Pilot Me

Traditions in Staithes were passed down with the same care as the boats themselves. John Cole recounts how his father gave him the lucky stone that had originally belonged to his great-grandfather’s yawl, Prosperity. When the yawls were eventually sold on — many men turning instead to ploshers and mules as deep-sea fishing declined — the stone was carefully removed and fixed into his plosher, also called Prosperity.

Later, when the herring fishing came to an end, it was transferred again, this time into a winter potting and lining coble named John’s. On retirement, the stone passed to John’s father and was placed in his boat, Spindrift. When Spindrift was sold, the lucky stone finally came ashore, ending up in John’s house.

But its seafaring days were not quite over. When John went out with Bill in the Pilot Me, they took the stone with them once more — a quiet continuation of generations of habit and hope. After that, its whereabouts became uncertain. John still remembers exactly where he last placed it and says he would recognise it immediately: small, well-handled, and thick with layers of old boat paint — carrying, perhaps, a little of Staithes’ maritime luck within it still.

Thank you so much to John Cole, who told me this story twice, and still patiently kept me right when I kept getting it wrong. Hopefully I haven’t missed anything (again)!

Update in 2026

Here are the resources you can use to find out more about lucky stones:

1. David Clark — Between Pulpit and Pew: Folk Religion in a North Yorkshire Fishing Village

• Reference: Clark, D. (1982) Between Pulpit and Pew: Folk Religion in a North Yorkshire Fishing Village, Chapter 8 ("Occupational Beliefs") (Museum reference: SSESM.2019.1210)

• Summary: Clark’s academic study explores how occupational superstitions and Methodism coexisted in Staithes^[2][3]. He explicitly notes that Staithes fishermen traditionally fastened ring-shaped "luck stones" directly into their cobles as protective, magical charms to ward off ill fortune and ensure safety while out at sea.

2. Sara J. Taylor — Customs, Traditions and Superstitions

• Reference: Taylor, S. J. (1987) Customs, Traditions and Superstitions, East Cleveland Heritage Project (Archive Doc RED.612.11)

• Summary: Drawing on local oral history interviews across East Cleveland and Staithes, this collection records how smooth, sea-washed stones with natural perforations—known in dialect as "witch-steeans"—were tied to door keys, house thresholds, and stable doors. It explains that keeping a holed stone near an entry point was believed to protect the building, its contents, and any livestock inside from evil eyes, curses, and witches.

3. Richard Blakeborough — Wit, Character, Folklore, Customs and Traditions of the North Riding of Yorkshire

• Reference: Blakeborough, R. (1898) Wit, Character, Folklore, Customs and Traditions of the North Riding of Yorkshire, Chapter 7. (Museum reference SSESM.2019.1248)

• Summary: A classic 19th-century study of regional folklore. Blakeborough notes that throughout the North Riding, witches were believed to have a deep "decided aversion to a stone with a hole through it". He explains that hanging a natural holed stone in the home was considered an effective way to prevent evil spirits from crossing the threshold.