"The flag is flying, I can see the flag flying was heard on a certain summer day from a bell tower, or wherever the sound first came from. And a great wave of hustle and bustle would run through the whole town."
According to Samuli Paulaharju's Wanha Raahe book, there were three plots along Saaristokatu between Kauppakatu and Kirkkokatu: plots 155, 161 and 160. He mentions sailors as residents.
When people heard: "Pooki flakkaa!", from the bell tower, as a sign of a ship approaching the town harbor, a wave of hustle and bustle would run through the whole town. The townspeople immediately wanted to know which ship was seen on the horizon, was it maybe a local ship that brought home sons and husbands from multiyear sea voyages.
Old man Pellikka, a fire guard, was sitting in the bell tower on his watch. Almost as soon as the pilots on the island of Iso-Kraaseli flew up the flag on the daymark's flagpole, a good five kilometres from the mainland, he noticed it, as well as the approaching ship. With binoculars he recognized the ship as the Delphin.
It was not long after he saw a woman walking down the street. It's Matilda, the girl next door. She's on her way to the pharmacy to pick up some heart-strengthening drops for her mother, Aunolaiska.
- Hoi, ho-hoi! Matilda hoi! The Delphin is coming! The fire guard calls.
Matilda is so shocked to hear the news, that she can barely stand. After she recovers from her shock, she runs to the bell tower and old guard Pellikka. Pellikka hands Matilda his binoculars. But all she can recognize is the fact that it's a ship.
Additional Information (In Finnish)
Komppakujalta Katinhäntään - kirja
Samuli Paulaharju: Wanha Raahe
Raahen Museo - Merimiesarkku
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