MONKEY BUSINESS
Discovering The Marx Brothers in kipper barrels on a liner may not have been so improbable, but the dialogue makes up for any accidental plausibility
MUIR, JIM (HERRING INTERVIEW, ACHILTIBUIE)
An interview from 2005 with Jim Muir, who lived on the Coigach Penisula, near Achilitbuie and had been a herring fisherman
NAMES OF THE HERRING
The words for herring listed by language in alphabetical order with room for additions if anyone would like to send them
NASHES LENTEN STUFFE
A brief account of the writing of Thomas Nash's extraordinary late C16th work; its scurrilous red herring origin story extracted in full
NEUCRANTZ: ON HERRING (1654)
Including a complete, illustrated translation of Paul Neucrantz' C17th treatise on the herring together with notes on his sources
OATMEAL
The classic way with fried herring, together with recipe variations and some thoughts on just why oatmeal provides the perfect coating
OLIVIER, LAURENCE
The true story of Sir Laurence Olivier's heroic campaign to save the kippers on the Pullman Car breakfast menu of the Brighton Belle
OTOLITHS & SCALES
On the use of growth rings in either to calculate a herring's age, together with details of the research pioneers who first used them
PARA HANDY
Including the full text of Neil Munro's Para Handy story, The Herring - A Gossip
PICKELHERING
The use of the name by C16th English slapstick clowns, out of fashion at home, unable to speak the languages of the countries where they laughed
PROCESSION OF THE HERRINGS
In which we explore a lost herring tradition of Reims and a lost Alexandre Dumas novel
PROPHETIC HERRINGS
On the strange markings discovered on two herrings and their possible connection with the death of Denmark's Frederick II five months later
PURSE SEINING
The development, efficiencies and impacts of the purse seine net for herring fishing (other fish, of course, also apply)
QUOTAS
A brief history of overfishing, recent attempts at controlling it, together with thoughts on stock conservation and capitalism
RACIAL THEORY
The development of thinking around herring population difference and some uncomfortable parallels with racial theories of mankind
RECIPES FROM THE HERRING BOARD
A curious case of a three version booklet by two different cooks, promoting the herring with some very 1930s recipes
RED HERRING
Not just a euphemism for a false trail, but a kind of smoked herring that has probably served as a euphemism for a false trail since at least the C16th
RED HERRING JOKE, THE
The story of the red herring gag shared between Shakespeare, Jonson & Nashe in at least six great literary works
RING NET: WILL MACLEAN
An interview with Scottish artist Will Maclean on his documentary exhibition, The Ring Net, which he developed between 1973 and 1978
RING NETTING
On the rise and demise of ring net fishing for herring, which originated in the waters of Loch Fyne and played a role in the sad development of overfishing
ROLLMOPS & BISMARCKS
On the popular German vinegar-based cures, together with an origin story for one of them and a basic recipe for the marinade
SALT
An 8,000 year history of salt and salt pickling, paying particular attention to the preservation of herrings by the German Hanse, the Dutch and the British.
SARDINES
The sardine in cans, on the slab and in popular culture; the limits of self-identification for herrings and non-European pilchards
SCANIA FISHERY
The story of the first great empire-shaping herring fishery together with historical and scientific speculations on its rise and its fall
SCHMALTZ HERRING
An attempted exploration of exactly what this is, despite disagreement among its advocates and loose definition amongst suppliers
SHOALS
On an evolutionary strategy aimed at dealing with predation, which didn't imagine the purse seine net or the unregulated pursuit of profit
SHOALS OF HERRING, THE
Written for the BBC's Radio Ballads, a song by Ewan McColl which has entered the traditional music repertoire and is sung by many
SILVER HERRING
Somewhere between the modern bloater and the golden herring, popular in the Mediterranean - particularly in Italy
SINGING THE FISHING
Always at the forefront of documentary innovation, the herring swims through the great Radio Ballad of 1960
SMITH, ADAM: WEALTH OF NATIONS
In which we explore the curious errors and omissions in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations herring thinking