herring

[Victor Steinbok]

I came across the Britannica article on herring from several early
editions (it seems to have been repeated virtually unchanged from 1797
well into the middle of the 19th century). I want to reproduce the text
on different types of herrings in full, followed by several questions
that I had that others might be able to answer.

http://goo.gl/Fy62A
Encyclpaedia Britannica. 3rd ed. Vol. 8, Part 2. 1797.
Herring. p. 485
> There are different names given to preserved herrings, according to
> the different manners wherein they are ordered: as, 1. /Sea-sticks/ ;
> which are such as are caught all the fishing season, and are but once
> packed. A barrel of these holds six or eight hundred ; eight barrels
> go to the tun by law ; a hundred of herrings is to be a hundred and
> twenty ; a last is ten thousand, and they commonly reckon fourteen
> barrels to the last. 2. There are others, repacked on shore, called
> /repacked herrings/ ; seventeen barrels of sea-sticks commonly make
> from twelve to fourteen of repacked herrings. The manner of repacking
> them is, to take out the herrings, wash them out in their own pickle,
> and lay them orderly in a fresh barrel : these have no salt put to
> them, but are close packed, and headed up by a sworn cooper, with
> pickle, when the barrel is half full. The pickle is brine ; so strong
> as that the herring will swim in it. 3. /Summers/ are such as the
> Dutch chasers or divers catch from June to the 15th of July. These are
> sold away in sea-sticks, to be spent presently, in regard of their
> fatness ; because they will not endure repacking. They go one with
> another, full and shotten; but the repacked herrings are sorted, the
> full herrings by themselves. 4. The /shotten/ and /sick herrings/ by
> themselves ; the barrel whereof is to be marked distinctly. 5. /Crux
> herrings/ ; which are such as are caught after the 14th of September.
> These are cured with that kind of salt called salt upon salt, and are
> carefully sorted out, all full herrings, and used in the repacking. 6.
> /Corved herrings/. These serve to make red herrings, being such as are
> taken in the Yarmouth seas, from the end of August to the middle of
> October ; provided they can be carried ashore within a week, more or
> less, after they are taken. These are never gipped, but rowed in salt,
> for the better preserving of them, till they can be brought on shore;
> and such as are kept to make /red-herrings/ are washed, in great vats
> in fresh water, before they are hung up. in the /herring-hangs/ or
> /red-herring/ houses.
>     As for the /manner of salting herrings/. The nets beings haled on
> board, the fishes are taken out, and put into the warbacks, which
> stand on one side of the vessels. When all the nets are thus unloaded,
> one fills the gippers baskets. The gippers cut their throats, take out
> their guts, and sling out the full herrings into one basket, and the
> shotten into another. One man takes the full basket when they are
> gipped, and carries them to the rower-back, wherein there is salt. One
> boy rows and stirs them about in the salt, and another takes them,
> thus rowed, and carries them in baskets to the packers. Four men pack
> the herrings into one barrel, and lay them, one by one, straight and
> even ; and another man, when the barrel is full, takes it from the
> packers. It is left to stand a day, or more, open to settle, that the
> salt may melt and dissolve to pickle; after which if is filled up, and
> the barrel headed. The pickle is to be strong enough to sustain a
> herring ; otherwise the fish decay in it.

Under 1., there is a statement "a hundred of herrings is to be a hundred
and twenty". Is this the herring version of a "baker's dozen"? Or is
there some other significance to this?

Also under 1., an interesting use of "tun": "eight barrels go to the tun
by law". Now, "tun" can be a barrel or a ton measure. Neither of these
applies here. Clearly, it does not refer to a single barrel and 4800 to
6400 herrings makes for several tons, not one. So this has to be a
different, unlisted meaning of "tun". "Tunned herring" (as opposed to
"corved herring"--see 6.) is also used to describe barrel-held herring.
But that's from the verb. So this seems to be quite a convoluted story.

"Shotten" and "sick" seems to be a designation of post-spawn herring.
But there is no actual description for the "special designation"
assigned to these in 4. Further below, "shotten" is also referred to as
"empty", apparently confirming the meaning.

Under 5., what is the meaning of the designation "salt upon salt"?

Note the "red herring" under 6. This is a bit puzzling in light of the
expression "a red herring". Any connection between the two or just a
coincidence? Also note that the OED has similar text from 1641:

> The Corved Herrings, which are to make red Herrings, are those that
> are taken in the Yarmouth seas, provided that they can bee carried on
> shore within 2 or 3 dayes after they be taken, otherwise they must be
> pickled.

And also from 1728 Chambers', with "v" mistranscribed as "r":

> Corred Herrings, serve to make Red Herrings.

Both refer to herring that's been dried following the initial salting,
i.e., "kippered", which is noticeably darker than the plain salted
original. A "red" designation for ostensibly "brown" objects is not
uncommon.

Under 6. and below, there is a reference to "gipped" herring and
"gippers". This is easily spotted in the OED as referring to cleaned and
gutted fish, going back at least to 1603. What is the likelihood that it
is related to the meaning of "gip/gyp/jip" for "swindle" (metaphorically
"clean out")? This may require the verb to appear first, which is not
what the OED has, but the record for the period in question is somewhat
unreliable, especially since the OED lists it as "US". Also, is there
any connection with "giblets"?

[Furthermore, note that OED giblet n. 1.b. only refers to "goose" and
runs 1539 to 1836, while current usage in the US is common to all
commercially sold poultry.]

Also note that several terms (e.g., tun, corved) are distinctly related
to or derived from Dutch terminology for herring, and herring fishing
and pickling is a science for the Dutch. Given the period--17th and 18th
century, perhaps earlier--there seems to be a lot of language interplay
between the English and the Dutch fishermen, in addition to all the
other connections between the English and the Dutch (East/West India
companies, the pilgrims, Locke, etc.). What are the standard references
on the mutual influences of English and Dutch of the period 1500-1800?
(preferably in English first, but I will move on to Dutch sources
eventually)

     VS-)

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