Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring

aka The Herripedia

Themes is for...

A IS FOR A BEGINNING

On the fossil origins of herring in the Sea of Tethys, on the geographical spread of the Clupeidae and, in particular, our hero Clupea harengus

AQUINAS, ST THOMAS

Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Miracle of the Fresh Herrings, a tale to confound all doubters, in particular Franciscans and radical Aristotelians

ARCHAEOLOGY

The earliest kitchen middens archaeological record of herring eating and why no earlier herring bones have been found

BALDIE

On the C19th Scottish origins and naming of the herring drifter known as the Baldie, including a photograph of two at Pittenweem

BALTIC HERRING

On the Baltic herring, Clupea harengus membras, found in the eastern and northern Baltic and in the Gulf of Bothnia

BATTLE OF THE HERRINGS (1429)

On the connection between Sir John Fastolf, victor at the Battle of Herrings, and Sir John Falstaff, a large Shakespearean character

BEUCKEL, Willem

On the semi-mythical C14th Dutch fisherman who may have come up with an improved method of gutting and salting herring

BLACK HERRING

On the ultra smoked and salted herring, a version of red herring, produced more for its preservation qualities than for taste or nutrition

BLOATER

On the original bloater, which may have evolved in the C17th, and the Yarmouth bloater, which was first produced there in 1835

BOHUSLÄN FISHERY

A brief history of the sporadic 'herring periods' on Sweden's Bohuslän coast and whether they're caused by sunspots or food availability

BRITISH FISHERY

An account of early underachievement, overdue triumph and eventual decline in both England and Scotland, featuring kings, economists and fishermen

BRITTEN

On the Lowestoft-born, English composer's creative relationship with herrings, possibly spurious, certainly little commented upon

BUCKLING

On the hot-smoked herring delicacy that is buckling and its spiritual home in the small fishing town of Gudhjem on the Danish island of Bornholm

BUSS

On the large vessels developed by the Dutch for voyages to the fishing grounds off Scotland and England and for on board gutting and salting

CADGER

The derivation of the word 'cadger', a derogatory epithet for someone who tries to get things for free, and its origins in the fish trade

CALLER HERRIN’ (FILM)

Picking up on the song and fisherwomen's marketing of their wares, a film deploying documentary to encourage herring consumption

CALLER HERRIN’ (SONG)

Drawing on street cries, composed for harpsichord, given lyrics by Jacobite-sympathising aristocrat Mrs Bogan of Bogan, a Scottish song

CANNING

A history of canning, the derivation of 'can', sardines, pilchards, herrings and sprats, the great nations and the Great Sardine Litigation

CHOPPED HERRING

On the great Jewish dish, chopped herring or forshmak, a contested history and a range of possibilities

DIVINE PROVIDENCE

On interpreting the herring's grand migration as a gift from God, the ensuing arguments between nations and the eventual progress of science.

DRIED HERRING

An early method of preservation, continued in Native American cultures of the North West and South Korea

DRIFT OR GILL NETTING

On the nets used by drifters in a largely abandoned, but sustainable method of catching herring now developed unsustainably elsewhere

DRIFTERS (DOCUMENTARY FILM)

The first documentary, famously directed by Grierson; funded by herring historian & Financial Secretary to the Treasury, AM Samuel

DUMAS ON HERRING

Dumas and his Grand Dictionary of Cuisine, a flawed translation corrected and all its herring jokes and recipes restored

DUTCH GRAND FISHERY

The rise and fall of the 'Groote Visserye', its role in the Dutch War of Independence and in various wars with England and Scotland

ETYMOLOGY

On the derivation of the word herring and the uncertainty attached to it, along with that, similarly uncertain, of the kipper

EUPHEMISMS

Some of the names given to herrings together with the associated logics and a brief digression on the subject of Bombay duck

EYVIND SKÁLDASPILLIR

The earliest herring poet and the two earliest herring poems, together with the difficulties of dealing with kings

FARTING

The herring's squeak or fart, from C17th Lübeck to 1980s Soviet submarine incursions into Swedish waters and a 2003 Ig Nobel Award

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