David Butcher’s a local teacher, historian and author. His books describe the history of the local fishing industry, herring fishing, trawlers and drifters…
…Local men would smoke kippers, bloaters and red herring… Poor children ate red herring – herring that had been dried, smoked and salted, giving it a particularly strong flavour…
A ‘red herring’ is also something that distracts, misleads, takes attention away from the truth…
This meaning of ‘red herring’ is thought to originate from pungent red herring that were used in the training of hunting dogs – to distract them from following the scent of the fox or the badger…
…Local men would smoke kippers, bloaters and red herring… Poor children ate red herring – herring that had been dried, smoked and salted, giving it a particularly strong flavour…
A ‘red herring’ is also something that distracts, misleads, takes attention away from the truth…
This meaning of ‘red herring’ is thought to originate from pungent red herring that were used in the training of hunting dogs – to distract them from following the scent of the fox or the badger…
Yesterday, at our church community café, Dawn came out of the toilet looking serious. ‘Liz! There’s a huge leak in the toilet!’ Liz took an anxious look… There was a huge leek in the toilet!
Mally, who does a lot of our church maintenance arrived. ‘Mally! There’s a huge leak in our toilet!’ The leek was there again; a red herring. Mally was misled. He swallowed the bait. I hope the red herring in the toilet isn’t too pungent.
On the news…
…Singer Lizzo faces a lawsuit… allegations from her former dancers… hostile work environment… denigrating behaviour… body-shaming. Lizzo denies the allegations… ‘false’, ‘outrageous’… claims and counter-claims…
…Donald Trump is indicted on four charges… allegations that he orchestrated a scheme to overturn the results of a free and fair election… ‘hoodwinked’, ‘bamboozled’… more claims and counterclaims…
Dawn, Liz and Mally’s humorous red herring was quickly identified. With Lizzo and Trump there’s a great shoal of red herring swimming in all directions – strong smelling and deflecting from truth…
When I was a child, my old Bible recorded Jesus repeatedly saying: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee’. In my Bible today Jesus frequently says: ‘I tell you the truth’. When debating truth Jesus also said: ‘The truth will make you free.’
I continue to seek for truth in Jesus’ words and his actions… and freedom in Jesus’ red herring-free, truth-full world.
malcolmsmusings.org 