MESSIS AB ALTIS

- a motto in Latin that tells us why the pitman and the seaman were chosen as the bearers on the coat of arms of Tynemouth Borough. In English it means something like ‘harvest of the deep’.

The pitman worked deep below the surface, tunnelling coal from the ground.

The seaman or fisherman pulled fish from the depths of the sea.

It was because of the efforts of these men and their families that the borough developed, and in particular, the town of North Shields.

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August 6, 2007 © North Tyneside Libraries 2007-8