FISHERMEN IN WAR TIME 



the quantity of this particular fish available was no 

 less than 150,000 tons. 



When war broke out the herring season had made 

 a very prosperous start in the Shetland Islands and 

 the North of Scotland, and there it was that the 

 herrings were mostly available. The fish had been 

 caught and brought ashore in the ordinary way, 

 " gipP e d " by the Scotch fisher girls, packed in 

 brine in barrels and made ready for dispatch 

 to the extensive Continental markets for which 

 this special form of food was prepared ; the countries 

 to which they were ordinarily sent being Germany 

 and Russia. German and Russian peasantry in 

 particular relished and esteemed the herring pre- 

 pared in this fashion, and with bread or potatoes 

 they were in the habit of making a substantial meal 

 from them. Generally speaking, the pickled her- 

 rings were equivalent to the barrelled anchovies 

 whose rawness and brininess appealed to those who 

 favoured strong hors d'ceuvres, and that circum- 

 stance presented a somewhat serious difficulty, one, 

 indeed, that became almost insoluble. Very com- 

 plete measures were taken to explain the value of 

 the pickled herring as an article of food, and detailed 

 instructions were issued as to the best method of 

 cooking ; but the efforts were not entirely successful, 

 prejudice and culinary troubles making it necessary 

 eventually for great quantities of the herrings to be 

 sent to friendly countries abroad. 



While this setback had to be recorded undoubted 

 success attended much of the work of the Commit- 



194 



