University of Virginia Library

OF "DRY" FISH SELLING IN THE STREETS.

The dealing in "dry" or salt fish is never
carried on as a totally distinct trade in the streets,
but some make it a principal part of their busi-
ness; and many wet fish-dealers whose "wet
fish" is disposed of by noon, sell dry fish in the
afternoon. The dry fish, proper, consists of dried
mackerel, salt cod — dried or barrelled — smoked
or dried haddocks (often called "finnie haddies"),
dried or pickled salmon (but salmon is only salted
or pickled for the streets when it can be sold
cheap), and salt herrings.

A keen-looking, tidily-dressed man, who was
at one time a dry fish-seller principally, gave
me the following account. For the last two
months he has confined himself to another
branch of the business, and seemed to feel a
sort of pleasure in telling of the "dodges" he
once resorted to:

"There's Scotch haddies that never knew any-
thing about Scotland," he said, "for I've made
lots of them myself by Tower-street, just a
jump or two from the Lambeth station-house.
I used to make them on Sundays. I was a wet
fish-seller then, and when I couldn't get through
my haddocks or my whitings of a Saturday night,
I wasn't a-going to give them away to folks
that wouldn't take the trouble to lift me out of
a gutter if I fell there, so I presarved them.
I've made haddies of whitings, and good ones
too, and Joe made them of codlings besides.
I had a bit of a back-yard to two rooms, one
over the other, that I had then, and on a
Sunday I set some wet wood a fire, and put it
under a great tub. My children used to gut
and wash the fish, and I hung them on hooks
all round the sides of the tub, and made a
bit of a chimney in a corner of the top of the
tub, and that way I gave them a jolly good
smoking. My wife had a dry fish-stall and
sold them, and used to sing out `Real Scotch
haddies,' and tell people how they was from
Aberdeen; I've often been fit to laugh, she
did it so clever. I had a way of giving them a
yellow colour like the real Scotch, but that's a
secret. After they was well smoked they was
hung up to dry all round the rooms we lived in,
and we often had stunning fires that answered
as well to boil crabs and lobsters when they was
cheap enough for the streets. I've boiled a
mate's crabs and lobsters for 2½d.; it was two
boilings and more, and 2½d. was reckoned the
price of half a quarter of a hundred of coals and
the use of the pan. There's more ways than
one of making 6d., if a man has eyes in his
head and keeps them open. Haddocks that
wouldn't fetch 1d. a piece, nor any money at all
of a Saturday night, I've sold — at least she has"
(indicating his wife by a motion of his thumb) —
"at 2d., and 3d., and 4d. I've bought fish of
costers that was over on a Saturday night, to
make Scotch haddies of them. I've tried
experience" (experiments) "too. Ivy, burnt
under them, gave them, I thought, a nice
sort of flavour, rather peppery, for I used
always to taste them; but I hate living
on fish. Ivy with brown berries on it, as
it has about this time o' year, I liked best.
Holly wasn't no good. A black-currant bush
was, but it's too dear; and indeed it couldn't
be had. I mostly spread wetted fire-wood, as
green as could be got, or damp sticks of any
kind, over shavings, and kept feeding the fire.
Sometimes I burnt sawdust. Somehow, the
dry fish trade fell off. People does get so pry-
ing and so knowing, there's no doing nothing
now for no time, so I dropped the dry fish trade.
There's few up to smoking them proper; they
smoke 'em black, as if they was hung up in a
chimbley."

Another costermonger gave me the following
account:

"I've salted herrings, but the commonest way
of salting is by the Jews about Whitechapel.
They make real Yarmouth bloaters and all sorts
of fish. When I salted herrings, I bought them
out of the boats at Billingsgate by the hundred,
which is 120 fish. We give them a bit of a clean
— hardly anything — then chuck them into a tub
of salt, and keep scattering salt over them, and
let them lie a few minutes, or sometimes half an
hour, and then hang them up to dry. They
eat well enough, if they're eaten in time, for
they won't keep. I've known three day's old
herrings salted, just because there was no sale
for them. One Jew sends out six boys crying
`real Yarmouth bloaters.' People buy them
in preference, they look so nice and clean
and fresh-coloured. It's quite a new trade
among the Jews. They didn't do much that
way until two years back. I sometimes wish
I was a Jew, because they help one another,
and start one another with money, and so they
thrive where Christians are ruined. I smoked
mackerel, too, by thousands; that's a new trade,
and is done the same way as haddocks. Mackerel
that won't bring 1d. a piece fresh, bring 2d. smoked; they are very nice indeed. I make
about 10s. or 11s. a week by dry fish in the
winter months, and about as much by wet, —
but I have a tidy connection. Perhaps I make
17s. or 18s. a week all the year round."

The aggregate quantity of dry fish sold by
the London costermongers throughout the year
is as follows — the results being deduced from
the table before given:

         

Wet salt cod	93,750
Dry do	1,000,000
Smoked Haddocks	4,875,000
Bloaters	36,750,000
Red-herrings	25,000,000