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bark
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
v. — Newfoundland, especially Fishing
to boil items with bark, often of a conifer tree, to waterproof them.
Type: 3. Semantic Change — Bark is a Newfoundland verb that describes the action of boiling things, typically nets or sails, in a conifer bark infusion (see DNE, s.v. "bark"). The term can be traced back to dialects of British English, where bark means 'to strip a tree of its bark, esp. for the purpose of tanning' or 'to tan leather' (EDD, s.v. "bark" (v. 1, v. 2)). In the 18th and 19th centuries, large numbers of migrant fishermen from the southwest regions of England began permanently settling in Newfoundland, thus contributing a significant number of lexical items to the local vocabulary (Clarke 2010b: 7). It is likely that bark is one such item but Clarke (2010b: 118) notes that because of the province's close relationship to the ocean and fishery, many words have experienced semantic narrowing to an "exclusively maritime association". In Newfoundland English, bark is consequently used most often in reference to boats, where boiling items in bark is helpful in preserving the quality of the sails and nets. As can be seen in the 1957 and 1981 quotations, the container used to bark materials is known as a "bark pot" or "barking kettle".
See also COD-2, s.v. "bark" (4), which is marked "Cdn (Nfld)", DNE, s.v. "bark".
See also COD-2, s.v. "bark" (4), which is marked "Cdn (Nfld)", DNE, s.v. "bark".
Quotations
1895
J A Folklore viii, 36 [A fisherman will say] 'I have been barking my net or sails'.
1914
We are Manufacturers of the celebrated Standard brand of Herring Nets, which is universally acknowledged to be the very best Net on the market. We are now making the Crescent brand Herring Net, which is the best and strongest Low-Priced Net Made. It is mounted just the same as the Standard Net, and is barked for preservation, not merely dyed like other cheap Nets.
1966
SCAMMELL 105 "Tommy Decker's Venture": We've been barkin' now since Monday, but we got a berth all right, / 'Cos we put a fleet o' codnets on a shoal just in the bight.
1977
BURSEY 79 Then the cod-traps must be repaired and barked to be ready to put into the water before the fish would 'strike in.'
1981
BARKING. Barking is the practice of immersing nets or sails in tan (a substance made from the bark of trees) in order to protect them from rotting. The utensil used for this purpose is called a barking kettle.
1990
M 68-16 When the trap has been mended, it must be barked. The trap is boiled to help preserve the twine. Usually two large oil drums are set up in a fireplace on the beach. Bark is dumped into each drum and then they are filled with salt water. Then the fire is lit and the mixture is boiled. The different parts of the trap are put into large 'punchins' and the bark poured over them. When each punchin is filled, they are covered with a sawed-off punchin and allowed to work for a day or so. The trap is then taken and spread on the wharf to dry.
2000
In the winter I would be there by myself doing outside work. They had up to two hundred and fifty nets, and I'd have to mend those and hang new ones for next year. The men would be hired back on the first of May. We'd get the nets barked and the boats painted up and ready for the water.
2005
33 Bark mats used a dye commonly known as "bark." Each year, before nets were placed in the water for the season, the fisherman "barked" them, as well as their sails. The process involved dipping the nets and sails into a boiling tub of water containing pieces of bark or "cutch" purchased from a local merchant. The bark dissolved in the boiling water, making a deep brown solution. When dipped into this solution the nets and sails became coated, making them resistant to rot and, in the case of the nets, more difficult to see in the water. (Fishermen say fish can see nets.)
References
- EDD
- COD-2
- Clarke (2010b)
- DNE