Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring

A work in progress with no end in sight

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WEDGWOOD

In which we lust after that object of desire, the Wedgwood Queen's Ware herring dish (c 1780)

FISH FINGERS

Birdseye Frozen Foods, Clarence Birdseye, Captain Birdseye and the original herring prototype for fish fingers

A-Z Entries

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

The story of canning, fish in particular, and why young herrings can no longer be called sardines, either in the United Kingdom or Europe.

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
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