The Picked and Spotted Dog-fishes. 1.61 



There are several of the smaller Dog-fish which the fisher- 

 men in a general way distinguish as " Nurses." The three best 

 known are : (6) The PICKED DOG-FISH (Acanthias vulgaris), 

 notable for possessing a spine in front of each back fin. ; hence 

 the sobriquet " spur-fish " and " bone dog " of Kentishmen. 

 (7) The SMALL-SPOTTED DOG-FISH (Scyllium canicula) called 

 " Huss " or " Hussie " by the Folkestone fishermen. Boys 

 (op. cit. 1792) names it " Cat-fish " or " Bounce." (8) The 

 Nurse Hound or LARGE-SPOTTED DOG-FISH (S. catulus), the 

 " Bull Huss " of Folkestone, and to which Buckland and Day 

 also give " Bounce " as a local name. 



These three species of Dog-fish appear chiefly to frequent 

 the two extremes of our District, more particularly the neigh- 

 bourhood of the rocky ground and deep water thereabouts. At 

 Dover it is said the fishermen only bring them in when other 

 saleable fish are scarce. " They command a price of a few pence 

 amongst the poorer community, whereas forty years ago they 

 were seldom eaten, but simply destroyed as enemies of the 

 mackerel and herrings" (Webb). "The small fish-dealers 

 (hawkers) may be seen cutting off their heads, tails and fins, 

 and splitting them into halves ; they are then salted and hung 

 out to dry, and taste when broiled like veal chops " (Buckland). 

 Even " Folkestone Beef " has become a byeword for the flesh of 

 the Huss and the Bigs. 



The Leigh people never seem to have used them as food ; 

 when caught, if of fair size, they were skinned and the carcass 

 " chucked " overboard. The skin was afterwards used for 

 polishing various objects. Occasionally a fish might be taken to 

 a friend or sold at Harwich. These dog-fish pestered the fishers 

 during the long-line fishing season, which lasted from spring to 

 autumn. The places where generally obtained were in the 

 neighbourhood of the Cork Light, or towards the north end of 

 the E. Swin and from thereabouts towards Harwich. But 

 they seldom came across any from the above area south to the 

 Thames mouth, though sometimes extending their fishing close 



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