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Page 2
I have heard many of the traditions which are very current, but all such
hyperboles, that were I to give one, the reader would be convulsed with
laughter. I trust, sir, if you have any travellers among your numerous
readers, they will give this a further investigation, and I (as well as
yourself, doubtless) shall be happy to learn the result.
Your's. &c.
W.H.H.
* * * * *
SALMON KIPPERING, IN DUMBARTONSHIRE.
(_For the Mirror_.)
Salmon are caught in less or greater abundance in all the rivers of this
county. The salmon-fisheries of Lochlomond and the Leven are of
considerable value. In several parts of the county salmon are cured in a
peculiar manner, called kippering; and throughout Scotland kippered
salmon is a favourite dish. It is practised here in the following
manner:--All the blood is taken from the fish immediately after it is
killed; this is done by cutting the gills. It is then cut up the back on
each side the bone, or chine, as it is commonly called. The bone is
taken out, but the tail, with two or three inches of the bone, is left;
the head is cut off; all the entrails are taken out, but the skin of the
belly is left uncut; the fish is then laid, with the skin undermost, on
a board, and is well rubbed and covered over with a mixture of equal
quantities of common salt and Jamaica pepper. Some of this mixture is
carefully spread under the fins to prevent them from corrupting, which
they sometimes do, especially if the weather is warm. A board with a
large stone is sometimes laid upon the fish, with a view to make the
salt penetrate more effectually. In some places, as Dumbarton, instead
of a flat board, a shallow wooden trough is used, by which means the
brine is kept about the fish; sometimes two or three salmon are kippered
together in the same vessel, one being laid upon the other. The fish,
with the board or trough, is set in a cool place for two or three days;
it is then removed from the board, and again rubbed with salt and
pepper; after which it is hung up by the tail, and exposed to the rays
of the sun or the heat of the fire. Care is previously taken to stretch
out the fish by means of small sticks or hoops placed across it from
side to side. After it has remained in the heat a few days, it is hung
up in a dry place till used. Some people, in order to give the kipper a
peculiar taste, highly relished by not a few, carefully smoke it with
peat reek, or the reek of juniper bushes. This is commonly done by
hanging it up so near a chimney in which peats or juniper bushes are
burnt, as to receive the smoke; there it remains two or three weeks, by
which time it generally acquires the required flavour.
T.S.W.
* * * * *
DEBTOR AND CREDITOR.
(_Concluded from page 227._)
Debt is obligation, and "obligation," says Hobbes, "is thraldom." This
will be evident if we once consider to what a variety of mean shifts the
state of being in debt exposes us. It sits like fetters of iron on
conscience; but as old offenders often whistle to the clanking of their
chains, so rogues lighten their hearts by increasing their debts. It
destroys freedom as much as a debtor is his creditor's slave; and, under
certain circumstances, his range may be reduced to a few square feet,
and his view prescribed by a few cubits of brick walls; and, humiliating
as this may appear, it sits lightly on the majority, since, even the
brawlers for liberty, forgetting "the air they breathe," are often to be
found within its pale; but in this case they also forget, that being in
legal debt is less venial than many other sins, since it cannot be
cleared by any appeals to argument, or settled by shades of opinion.
Subterfuge, lying, and loss of liberty, are not all the miseries of a
conscious debtor: in the world he resembles a prisoner at large; he
walks many circuitous miles to avoid being dunned, and would sooner meet
a mad dog than an angry creditor. He lives in a sort of _abeyance_,
and sinks under shame when caught enjoying an undue luxury. In short, he
is cramped in all his enjoyments, and considers his fellow, out of debt,
as great as the emperor of the celestial empire, after whose repast
other kings may dine. Hence ensue repining and envy: he fancies himself
slighted by the world, and, in return, he cares not for the opinion of
the world; his energies waste, and he falls.
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