Surprised Eel Historian, PhDさんのイラストまとめ

I'm working on a map of cod fishing grounds around the Grand Banks. But the first draft was too verdant and nice looking. So I spent some time today making this map more gray and cold looking.

Can't go cod fishing in pleasant places, folks!

Friends...it's my birthday today! I'm 46...so maybe 1/4 of the way through my life (if I'm estimating right).

So. What are some stupid things I can do today?

Working on a new squid today. Like ya do.

In 1792 William Windham gave a speech in to Parliament, arguing for an immediate end to slavery. He said anyone arguing that slaves could wait for their freedom were:

“like the person who, when charged with cruelty for skinning eels alive, answered, they were used to it." 5/9

Traditionally you're supposed to skin eels alive, but they object pretty strenuously. So you need to secure the head. Modern cookbooks still suggest you nail the head to a board.

This works if you're working with small numbers. But we're talking about a castle kitchen here. 5/7

The cook, impressed by Havelok's strength, considers offering him full-time work, & asks what else he can do.

Havelock lists several things: he can carry water, make a fire, wash dishes...whatever the cook needs. He only mentions one thing having to do with food, though. 3/7

In 1327 John de Moubray died & left behind an estate that included a ferry on the River Trent, 7 wind-mills, a rabbit warren, & annual land rents that included 2 gilded spurs, 9 barbed arrows, & 2,737 eels (10 binds & 9.5 sticks).

That's an eel every 3.2 hours, all year round!

The earliest record of an English eel-rent is from 8th C. Wessex. The annual rent for 10 hides of land (c. 300 acres) in King Ine's territory included:

- 10 honey vats
- 300 loaves
- 32 ambers of ale
- 2 cows
- 10 geese
- 20 hens
- 10 cheeses
- 1 amber of butter
- 100 eels

In fact, the English knew about the very method of fishing that local people used. William Bradford wrote that Tisquantum "trod them out with his feet", which was a common fishing technique in England.

It shows up in Chaucer's writing, & in John Donne's, and other places. 3/6

Freshwater eels aren't native to the US Pacific Coast. All the eels in N. America come from the Sargasso Sea, & swim in waters that empty into the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico.

There are lots of lampreys on the W. coast. But no native eels.

But they wanted some. Like you do. 2/8