HAKE— HERRING 367 



haket, herring-hake ; Merluce ; Poor John ; Sea-hice or pike. 

 (Welsh, Cegddu.) 



So called from having a hooked under jaw. The term "Poor 

 John " is hake, dried and salted (Shakesp.). 



HALIBUT. — Bradan-leathan ; Paeach-cearr. 



Baldin, birdie (young), blacksmith (old) ; Holybut ; Laager, 

 lieger ; Molebut, moonfish ; Nyagir ; Sun-fish ; Turbot-flook ; 

 Workhouse turbot. 



From "hali," holy, and " butta," a flounder or plaice; the 

 Gaelic means broad salmon. 



Cowper, the poet, composed twenty-seven lines to the 

 "immortal memory " of a halibut he dined on (or off), on April 26, 

 1784. This fish, inter alia, may have come, he says, from "where 

 Caledonia's rocks beat back the surge, and where Hibernia shoots 

 her wondrous causeway far into the main." 



HERRING. — Garbhag (small) ; Sgadan, sgadan-bha bleac or 

 bleachd (shotten), sgadan-garbh (large), sgadan-gearr (sprat), 

 sgadan-goile (gutpock), scuddawn (Ir.), suit (fat). 



Black, bloater, blown; Cob, cobb (young), corphun, craig 

 (shad), crown-full, crue (small), cuddyleg ; Dunbar wedder (salted) ; 

 Egyptian ; Gandanook (Egyptian), garvie, garvock (young), 

 goureen, Gourock ham (salt), green, guimad (Dee), guiniad (white), 

 gutpock, gyte (spawn) ; Haering (A. S.), harein ; Joalies (young) ; 

 King o' the sea, kings, kipper ; Loader ; Matfull, matie, matje, 

 mattie (maiden), maz ; Norfolk capon ; Overday taris ; Powan 

 (freshwater) ; Queens ; Ramprow goose (Yarmouth), red, red-finned ; 

 Sea-beef, shad, shotten (spent), sile, sill (very young), silk shad, 

 skedan, sodger, soger, sojer, soldier, sprat, stay-hook (dried) ; 

 Tow-blowen, twaite-shad or mother of herring, two-eyed beefsteak ; 

 White (freshwater, also pickled — North), wine drinkers ; Yawling, 

 Yarmouth capon (red), etc. 



From German Herr, or heer, a host, or an army. A place at 

 Loch Seaforth is called "Buaile Shildinish," and said to be 

 derived from Norse term for herring, viz., " sild." 



The herring is said not to have been known to the ancients. 

 The earliest record of herring fishing is 978, though O'Connor 

 makes out the word " sgadan "to be the root of Zidon, Sidon, or 

 Sidonia. The herring disputes the title of " king " with the 

 salmon, being styled "king of the sea" as against "king of the 

 fish." Martin makes mention of a certain big herring which is 

 said to lead the shoal, and is thence called " ceann snaoth " or 

 sgaoth, also king-herring, as kings used of old to lead their armies ; 

 the term " king of the sea " has been applied to this famous fish 

 historically, politically, and economically. Qaint ceremonies are 

 performed, it is said, at Fraserburgh and elsewhere to "raise" the 

 herring, and the belief holds good that a l^te harvest portends a 



