9 
HERRING FISHERIES OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND HOLLAND. 
IV. Quality , method of cure, packing, etc., of white herrings necessary to secure the official brand. 
Quality: The herrings shall be of good quality. 
Chitting, curing, and packing: They shall be gutted with a knife, and cured, and packed in 
barrels or half barrels within twenty-four hours after being caught. 
They shall be well cured and regularly salted, and all fish broken or torn in the belly shall be 
excluded. 
They shall be carefully laid in barrels or half barrels, each tier being completed with head 
herrings, and the herrings’ in each successive tier being arranged transversely to those in the next 
tier underneath, and drawn closely together, care being taken that the heads of the herrings are 
kept close to the sides of the barrel or half barrel until it is completely filled. 
None of them shall be laid in bulk after being cured in barrels or half barrels. 
They shall, if intended for the La. Full, Full, or Mat. Full brands, be pined in salt for not less 
than ten free days; and, if intended for the Spent or Mattie brands, they shall be similarly pined 
for not less than eight free days, these periods to be exclusive of the day of cure and the day of 
filling up for branding; and this requirement shall apply to the herrings used in filling up as well 
as to those in the original packing. 
Filling up: 
(a) The surplus pickle shall be run well off through the bunghole, and the seastick herrings 
then left in the barrel or half barrel shall be pressed down by the cooper steadily and uniformly, 
by daunt or otherwise (use of daunt preferable) , thus testing the firmness of the original packing, 
and whether the surplus pickle has been sufficiently poured off or not. Pickle shall alone be used 
for the purpose of washing herrings offered for the crown brand. 
(b) The space left in the head end of the barrel or half barrel shall then be tightly packed with 
herrings carefully laid, regularly and lightly salted, the barrel or half barrel being firmly filled 
with herrings round the sides, as well as in the center. The herrings shall be pressed firmly to the 
sides of the barrel or half barrel with both hands, each tier being completed with head herrings, 
and the herrings in each successive tier being arranged transversely to those in the next tier under- 
neath, and the weight of the hands being pressed on each tier when finished, care being taken that 
the heads of the herrings in every tier are kept close to the sides of the barrel or half barrel until 
it is completely filled. 
(c) No herrings which have lost their original pickle shall be used in filling up. 
V. Conditions on which cured white herrings which have lost their original pickle may 
secure the official brand. 
No herrings which have lost the original pickle shall be accorded the crown brand unless they 
have been repacked, washed in pickle, and presented separately for inspection, when if found 
worthy in every other respect they shall, in addition to the crown brand, receive the “ Repack ” iron 
across the St. Andrew’s cross on the shoulders of the crown, so that it can not be removed without 
effacing the crown brand. If barrels or half barrels of repacked herrings, instead of being offei’ed 
separately, are found mixed up with any parcel of bung-packed herrings presented for the brand, 
the whole parcel shall be rejected. 
VI. Reassortment of rejected herrings for the official brand. 
When herrings once presented for branding have been rejected by an officer for bad quality, 
bad cure, bad gutting, or for being mixed with overday’s fish (see penalty for presenting overday’s 
fish, etc. , on the back of request note, and at the end of these regulations) , they can not be reassorted 
and presented again for branding. 
Herrings rejected for bad selection, or for too many undersized herrings for the standard of 
the iron applied for, may be reselected and presented anew, but they must be pickled with original 
pickle, when they may be crown-branded, if found otherwise satisfactory, with the “ Repack ” iron 
added. The daunt must be used with all repacked herrings. 
Early-caught herrings: Herrings caught on the north and east coast of Scotland and on the 
coasts of Orkney and Shetland before 12th July shall not be crown-branded with the ” Mattie” 
iron, while those caught on the coasts mentioned from 12th to 19th July, both days inclusive, shall 
have the long gut taken out before being eligible for the “ Mattie ” brand. 
