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

I've been drawing a thing this evening.

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