60/448

Herring swill basket,

Great Yarmouth Stores Limited (Manufacturer)

The 'herring swill' is a basket peculiar to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk - it was sometimes known as the 'Yarmouth herring swill' - and three swills hold one cran’s worth of herring. It is a frame basket, made from the figure-of-eight shaped rim down, with a handle.This swill is made of brown willow with a hazel fame and dates from before 1874. Great Yarmouth was the centre of the English herring fishing industry until the industry's rapid decline in the 1930s. Swill went out of use circa 1960, after which they have been used as log baskets. The basket is part of a large collection of traditional craft products acquired from the British Council.

1 basket: willow (brown)

MERL miscellaneous note, B. L. 22 March 1961 – ‘The British Council collection. // This collection of material which is covered by the accession numbers 60/430 to 60/791 contains examples of craft products made in the British Isles. The major part of the collection was prepared immediately after the Second World War for a travelling exhibition which was sent to Australia and New Zealand. // The collection was purchased for a nominal sum by the Museum in two portions, the one in the summer of 1960 and the other in February 1961. // For further details see the individual catalogue cards and the catalogue prepared for the temporary exhibition of the collection.’, MERL 'Catalogue of baskets' form – 'NAME: Basket, herring (SWILL) // Acc. No.: 60/448 // Group: FISHING. SEA. // Neg. no.: 60/3518, 60/3329 // Place of origin: Gt. YARMOUTH [Great Yarmouth]. Norfolk // Period in use: Before 1874. Not used after 1960 except as log baskets // DESCRIPTION // Materials: Brown willow. Hazel frame // Shape and construction: A frame type basket of very solid construction. The frame is like a figure-of-8 with the centre a handle going down & round the basket. The ends are pouch-shaped & there is a notch at each end for 2-man carrying. Made from the rim downwards. // Dimensions: Length: 32” Width at widest part 17”. Height: 19”. 4 spelk rods put in on either side// Use: For herring only. 3 will hold 1 cran (3 1/2 cwt.) & each is a two-man load. They were stacked on the quay in pyramids of three: 4 Quarter-Crans (63/602) fill 3 swills: one fills the top swill & the other three the bottom swills. This makes the top swill easier to lift down. Empty swills were carried by the central handle & they were tied to the fish carts in bunches.* // Dialect names: // Distribution: Peculiar to Gt. Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth]. // Additional notes: For earlier history see Notebook I. p.12 (from Holdsworth. Deep Sea Fishing & Fishing Boats 1874 [Holdsworth, ‘Deep Sea Fishing & Fishing Boats’. Stanford, 1874]) // See also AN.2 & WS.3. // See Fishing file, notes from S. Bird [Stanley Bird].', MERL ‘Country Craftsmanship’ Exhibition Catalogue, 2 May–31 October 1961, ‘Introductory Note’ by Andrew Jewell – ‘The objects shown in this Exhibition of Country Craftsmanship were originally purchased by the British Council in 1946. They were selected for exhibition in Australia and New Zealand as samples of traditional handcrafts which were then being practised in the British countryside. The Museum of English Rural Life was fortunate to acquire this valuable collection from the Council and to have the opportunity of displaying such a wide variety of skills. // Almost all the crafts shown are still to be found in this country although, in the intervening fifteen years, many of the small firms and individual craftsmen whose products are represented in the Exhibition, have given up working. The number who now remain to carry on these particular traditional crafts continues to decline with the growth of mechanization, the obsolescence of their products and the difficult of finding apprentices to follow them. // All the objects on display have one characteristic in common – they were made to be used. Any aesthetic qualities which the craftsman achieved grew without self-consciousness. Over long years of apprenticeship the craftsman developed an intimate knowledge of the raw material at his disposal and its peculiarities. He acquired by inheritance the methods of his craft which may have had a continuous tradition over centuries of time. And he was quite familiar with the way in which his product was to be used. // We can derive pleasure simply by looking at the shapes and decorations. Both, however, are inseparable from function and environment, and the objects can only be most fully appreciated by an understanding of the purpose for which each was intended. // This, then, is an exhibition of everyday things, made by men and women who might not think of themselves as artists, but whose work, nevertheless, has enriched the daily life of those who live with their products.’, MERL ‘Country Craftsmanship’ Exhibition Catalogue, 2 May–31 October 1961, p.20 – ’223. Herring Swill // (Items 221–3 by Great Yarmouth Stores, Norfolk.)', British Council Ref. No. C/538.

Great Yarmouth

1954 - 1954

Wright, Dorothy (Recorder)