A lot of
herring fishing goes on in Wexford and we might not have it, had it not been for the Danes.
When the Danes brought fishing to Wexford the town was very different from what it is now. The fishing people lived mostly up in the Faythe and William Street, and it seemed a different part of the town.
Now the people have spread out but they have not lost the
herring fishing which is a very good thing. The fishers go out every night almost, during the season, which lasts from October to January.
During a good season the
herring are sometimes as cheap as sixpence a dozen.
When the
herring are brought in at night they are very nice to look at, they are like a lot of coloured glass stuck together.
When the fishermen are counting out the
herring they say "Here is a cast and a
herring".
A cast is three, a hundred is 40 east and a cast and
herring which is 124. A mease is five hundred.
You can always tell if a
herring is fresh or stale, if it is stiff and if it is stale it is limp.