Regarding FLESHER, This thread was thoroughly gone into a few weeks ago on the Ayrshire list. I've included below a copy of a letter I posted there at that time. It has been established that the difference between a flesher and a butcher is that a flesher kills his own meat and retails it, while a butcher buys in meat for retail. Fleshing is also the act of skinning an animal in a slaughterhouse but slaughterhouse employees are multi skilled these days and no one person does only skinning or has the title of flesher. Before we start getting letters about Fleshers being buffalo skinners or someone cutting blubber from whales, please remember there is not much buffalo or whale hunting in Scotland! Have a nice one :^) Cheers, John. > To: AYRSHIRE-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: RE: Flesher > > > At 09:12 PM 10/9/99 +0100, you wrote: > > > >My trusty ol' dictionary says, > > > >Flesher [n]. Scot. a butcher. > > Well, now I understand the problem here . . . I was using an ** > English ** > dictionary! <grin> > Today I popped in to see Alan McGarrity of the famous family of butchers. I told him of this thread and asked for his thoughts on the matter. He was pleased to learn of the interest in his trade and is also pleased to answer any enquiries anyone may have about the history of butchery in this area and other local families of butchers. The term flesher is still in use today and refers to a butcher who kills his own meat. Butchers used to slaughter animals in the back shop and sell the meat in the front shop and by horse and cart. [He went and dug out an old photo of his fathers horse and cart.] The introduction of hygiene regulations prohibited the slaughter of animals on site and as a result slaughterhouses came into existence. > >I live in Ayrshire where it is not too unusual to see butchers still > >advertised as a Flesher. Some of our supermarkets have a Fleshing dept. > >Neither of them sell hide. > > Mr McGarrity was able to inform me that the only flesher in Ayrshire today is the Co-operative and that they have Fleshers on the side of their vans and in their supermarket meat departments. > My very wild guess is that we will find that you are correct in > current parlance (I'm sure that English in the UK has deteriorated as much > as it has over here!) but that more research will still suggest the > distinction I discussed. > Flesher is a Lallans word, probably of Scandinavian or Germanic origin while Butcher appears to be of Celtic origin. It's the Lallans which has deteriorated here due to English being taught as a first language in school. I'll write again tonight when I've heard from my nephew who works at the slaughterhouse. Cheers, John. Unashamed advertising FOR THE BEST IN SCOTCH BEEF VISIT ANY OF THE MCGARRITY BROTHERS SHOPS IN AYRSHIRE!! Anyone who wishes to take Mr McGarrity up on his offer should e-mail me privately and I'll fax them or take them to him. > -----Original Message----- > From: Erayl@aol.com [mailto:Erayl@aol.com] > Sent: 28 October 1999 05:29 > To: SCOTLAND-GENWEB-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: Occupation: flesher? > > > Unless a "flesher" is Scottish slang for a butcher, I still stand by my > definition as one who removes the flesh from hides ("The American > Heritage > Dictionary"). > > Eleanor Rayl > Indianapolis > > In a message dated 10/27/99 10:13:40 PM, JaniDart@aol.com writes: > > << G'Day Janet: A flesher is a butcher. Cheers Jani >> > > ______________________________