Snig

my grandad used to bring it round and slap it ont kitchen table wraped in newspaper from what i remember..... has anyone ever eaten it... I never did ewwwwwwww

I've tried it, Sue.

it quite popular darn saaarf i hear, jelleid eels in a jar,

(6)

I'm crying.

whats it taste like? coz it looks nasty

I'm crying.

Me too.


whats it taste like? coz it looks nasty

Stop it, please.

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall naied his to a fencepost. But I can't find a pic.

I've checked in the urban dictionary and this is the definition applicable here:

Wigan term for a freshwater Eel found in the area in the canal, River Douglas or ponds. Occasionally eaten as a delicacy by some locals
'I went out carp fishing but all I got was snigs'

'I was in St Patricks Club and two lads tried to sell me a dead snig for a Fiver...'


Apparently, an edit was suggested.

do you mean this dostaf [brewers droop]

Lovely fish from what I remember from my fishing days,you can peel the skin off in one peace from head to tail and eat the fish like oxtail,they say the skin is also good for anyone with a weak wrist just rap it round but I think it would stink

Similar to Dougie's explanation, Sue. HFW nailed one end of the eel to a post in order to skin it.

from what i can remember from my fishing years was it was like a slimy snake that wrapped itself around your line and it was a hek of a job to get the hook out.

from what i can remember from my fishing years was it was like a slimy snake that wrapped itself around your line and it was a hek of a job to get the hook out.

I tend to like fish, Sue, but I wasn't keen on the eel as it was very greasy. However, I think that's because my Mum fried it in a frying pan, possibly with onions, if I remember rightly.

Your right dave you had wrap it in news paper before cutting your line are it would be off in the grass

ha ha i used to go night lining at Lancaster canal with my dad like he use to with his dad ,used to look forward to goin even tho i was only ten sleepin in the fields great times , i never ate them tho

caught quite a few in Majorca this year in a lake in the hotel grounds,all between 2 and 3lbs on cheese.Never fancied eating them.

Don't they smoke them at Glasson Dock.

(Smoke as in kippers, not Woodbines)

Spectre-are they still in the back lodge

my mother gave it to us as kids,but did not tell us what it was untill we had eaten it. it was delicious. there was a pub in ormskirk called the snigs foot, it is now the disraeli.

Dougie-yes they show now and again.Biggest one I seen was from the Middle Place in the 80's about five and a half pounds.By the waqy got your email.

i think they taste more like chicken than fish.fished glasson dock and the arm many times

The eel I tried was caught by my Dad - he never goes fishing except for one expedition when I was little. He brought home two live(!) eels and they were put in a big bowl of water on the kitchen bench, but, being very slippery, they immediately escaped out of it and ended up behind the washing machine.

jo anne maybe they thought they were going in it.

They were right to try to make a clean getaway, Spectre. We were as jumpy as the eels.

Hence the phrase;

"To show a clean pair of eels"

I'll get me coat.

Smoked eel tastes similar to the dark meat down the backbone of a kipper. Quite tasty if you like kippers. I did see it in Lidlonce but a long time ago.

I didn't know that idiom, Dostaf: 'to go faster than someone else in a race.'.

I had it when I was a kid ... can remeber it being a bit fatty.

"I didn't know that idiom, Dostaf"

See, it's not all juvenile snig-gering, Jo Anne.

I was going to ask if you were still sniggering, next, Dostaf.

Trevor Baylis, the man who invented the clockwork radio, lives on Eel Pie Island.

And there's an Eel Meadow in Wigan. Or is it Ell Meadow?

Near Martland Mill.

'Ell Meadow' is mentioned a few times in Wiganworld, Dostaf.

'Snig' is certainly not a 'Wigan' word. It's a name, used by fishermen from all over, for young eels.

Wigan word? ..... !

used to catch them at garstang on the river wire , not spelt right my dad cooked them in a tin dish with milk under the grill he loved them

The Maori,s over here love them,never refered to as Snig though. I remember as a kid Sammy Mcgrail on Bryn estate always had snig which he caught in Landgate lodges

Ohh I think if these had come from the Leeds\Liverpool canal I would not have touched them - all those rats in't canal - makes me shudder, oh no.

My dad swam in canal as a young boy, swallowed something from there was semi-comatosed for a number of weeks,in those days they could not work out what was wrong with him - so so I'm even more wary.

my mates grandad kept one in the bath as a pet for many many years.he was cousin to GEORGE FORMBY if i can remember rightly hes grandad that is not the snig.

i know who you mean bluey he was my aunties dad... and George Formby was his cousin

Young eels are "elvers", tiny little glassy things about 2" long, which in season, you can catch by the bucketfull at places like Knott End, on the Wyre River estuary.
They ALL originate from the Gulf Of Mexico, & travel across the Atlantic via the Gulf Stream. They head for river estuaries & travel upstream, & on wet nights they can move across land into other streams & ponds..then they grow & are then known as Eels, or the nickname "Snig"

Elvers:

Snig - is the name of a young anitmal in it's second phase of development. ...............

From - 'The Chemistry of Growth and the Food Value of
the Common Eel'
BY R. A. MoCANCE, Department of Medicine, Cambridge.


Table 1 gives the percentage composition of anitnals
at four stages of their development.

1) Elvers
2) Snigs
3) Yellow eels
4) Silver eels

RESULTS
The chemical composition of whole eels :-


The ELVERS - were
of the order of 0-25 g. in weight.

The SNIGS averaged 9-4 g.

The YELLOW EELS analyzed for Table 1 averaged 197 g.

The figures given for the
SILVER EELS are the means of one batch which averaged
197 g. and another which worked out at 1400 g.

Size made little difference to their percentage composition.

----------------------------------

Snig? - A 'Wigan' word? - !

Nouns:

A young or small eel; a grig.
A covetous or avaricious person.
A slight projection or process.

Verbs:

To drag (a heavy load, esp. timber) by means of ropes and chains.
To steal.

Tonker.

I'll make a counterclaim.

In the online dictionary that I referred to, there's 13 votes in support of the definition and only 1 against.

So, quite conclusively, Snig! - A 'Wigan' word! - ?

(When I found the definition online, I couldn't believe it.)

Come on, Jo Anne. That's just doesn't cut the mustard. Mr Tonker will tell you that any owd tat can be written online.

Even on Wikipedia.

"I read it in the Urban Dictionary"

I swear by it, Dostaf.

I found one in a bag at the tip this morning, Snig Of The Dump!

Seee what I've done there.

Aye, Jo Anne and some of the twaddle that I've read on there makes me swear too.

Some silly beggars attempting to re-write the English language.

I often think the additions are done by American schoolkids who have a sound grounding in English after watching Dr Who.

Snig of the Dump

Thinking of prehistoric .. the urban dictionary is like an online profanisaurus - wrecks innocence. I never swear, Dostaf.

"Snig of the Dump"

Fame at last.

Gerroff.

To illustrate an earlier point;

Does anyone know where I can find the script to this cartoon. I'd like to present it to my students as English reading material for understanding English humor.

"English humor" Indeed.

Is a reader's comment from here.

only one way to enjoy snigs.
get a plastic bag...put two heaped spoons of four in bag...put ya snigs in, and shake up the bag, this will cover the snigs.
now drop em in a batter made with ale, and cook untill crispy.
add ya own seasoning to taste, but dont fergit the lemon juice.
nearly as good as baked(in clay) hedgehog.

I vaguely remember going fishing at Galgate near Lancaster,there was a bloke called Sol from Pemberton there,we stayed overnight he had no food he stayed up all night catching snig and ate them in the morning over an open fire.This would be around early 60's.

remember phil, theres more than one way to skin a cat.

We used to put night lines out at the ressy to catch snig.

Jo anne, if you wish to make a counterclaim, here's who to address it to -

Department of Medicine (faculty of food science), University of Cambridge,
Cambridge,
CB2 OQQ

And ...... the Angling Times!



Dustaf said - "I often think the additions are done by American schoolkids..."

Well, I often think the additions are done by half baked Wiganers, whose sole aim in life is to add the word 'Wigan' to anything and everything on the internet, in an attempt to make it sound like an important place!

Cheeeeeese and Dog Meeeeeeat!

And I bet it was Tonker who was offered a pair of dead uns for a fiver.

Trying to make Wiganers look daft.

Thank you, Tonker. I'll write, right away.

YouTube comments sometimes go beyond a joke, but the English humor one is great, you know. ('u'? no!)

'What's up' with Americans being more economical with their 'u's? (There's two in youtube, mind you.)

Well, if spelling doesn't matter;

♪♫♪♫♪♫♪ Let's all do the conger ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪

It's not New Year's Eel, yet.

Indeed.

Expensive things, Elvers:

"The price of elvers has risen from £29 per kilo in 1985 to a peak of more than £500 per kilo in recent years."

No wonder Father Christmas is skint.

I'll get me coat.

When I was a kid, an old bloke who lived near my Grandad had a pet eel which he kept in his bath. He had had it for years and he had been on the local news with it. He would let the kids come in and see it and it had virtually gone white, taking on the same shade as the enamel bath. I have often thought of this now and wonder what would happen today if an old bloke came out and said, "Oi kids, wanna have a look at me white eel?!"There would be a vigilante group outside of his house! I still remember the old chaps name was Priestley and he was George Formbys uncle. Nice old bloke. My Grandad would eat snig regular and would make me eat em when I was a kid. When I am in London, the cockneys knock me sick when they eat jellied eels, mash and something called liquer which is basically the stuff that comes off the eel when it is cooking and which they pour over the mash.

Bluey, i have just seen your thread! I knew him!I thought he was his uncle. Thinking about it, he had a look of George Formby as well. He lived at Irwell Place in Pemberton, really nice chap

Frany he wasnt George Formbys Uncle he was his cousin....

Yeah, just read your thread sue. He was a really nice bloke. I can still remember him. I was only about seven and he always wore a tie and a tweed jacket when he went out.

yeah.... i have seen all the photos and my aunty still tells us the tales

I can still remember as a kid my Grandad shouting me in to watch Mr Priestley on the telly when he was on the local news. Tell your aunty I remembered him and he had the patience of a saint with us kids!

Is the snig in the bath the same one that got slapped on the table?

nooooooo that where my grandad... he also had the neibours rabbit int pot...it escaped and they where looking for it.... and me grandad was seasoning it....

he loved kids.... and i will tell her franny....

It's hard work at times.

Going off the original post, then reading about the pet snig is confusing. Initially I thought 'Grandad's snig' was dead. Then I wondered if he'd brought it on a visit.

They seem to be able to survive out of water.

franny I don't remember anyone called Priestley,did he live on Bryn estate?

he lived in one of those houses next to st cuthberts school.

Here's an old recipe for eels. Skin and gut the eels and place on an old bread board. Marinate over night with 1/2 glass of single malt whisky and a large knob of best butter. In the morning place two cloves of garlic in the fish pour over 1 tub of cream and with two tablespoons of brandy and honey. Place chopped onions and mushrooms around the edges of the fish and cover with some roast chestnuts which have been soaked in brandy. Cook on a low light for 6 hours, until the juices are running from the fish. Remove from oven, throw the eels away, and eat the board.

I love eel (snig) pate !

Catch the eel and leave in a large container of fresh water for a couple of days so that it 'purges' itself.

Then kill the eel and get it smoked, you can then make a delicious smoked eel pate - fantastic

SMOKED EEL PATE RECIPE !

Serves: 4

Ingredients

200g smoked eel fillets
100g soft, unsalted butter
Juice of 1 lemon
Half red onion, chopped
Freshly ground pepper
Method

Put 200g smoked eel fillets in a food processor along with 100g soft, unsalted butter, the juice of 1 lemon and a half of chopped red onion. Process to a smooth mousse. Taste, season with freshly ground pepper, then refrigerate until needed.
Serve on toast triangles.

dennisd's post - kill the eel - reminded me of Freddie Foster's 'Childhood memories - Scotsman's Flash'.

The bit where he says, "I tipped all the fish into a bucket of water and they started to swim round. I had to stab them all in the head with a pair of scissors to kill them before they were scaled, filleted and fried for tea"!

'stab them all in the head with a pair of scissors'!


You should try stabbing a bucket full of them Killer Shrimps in the head with a pair of scissors. They'd knock your bloody head off, Freddie!

Wiganyankeeron - 'Remove from oven, throw the eels away, and eat the board'.

Bored of eels?! Then just omit from recipes.

re 'Clean pair of eels' (1 Dec 21:58)

Caught a bit of on old QI show earlier. Mr Fry said the term comes from cockfighting, as does 'well heeled'.

Not that cockfighting has owt to do with snigs.

That Stig's done alright for himself since he left the dump, hasn't he!

I can not remember if it wur Bremen, or Bremerhaven, whichever, it was the 'Rathaus' thereof, which was world-famous for its eel soup: so greasy they gave you a bowl of vinegar along with your bowl of soup. The idea was to alternate, spoon of soup, spoon of vinegar.

Ooops.

I blame Jo Anne.

Here,s one for Moodysue.

Barbequed Snig

1Kg snig
3 cloves garlic
Few bay leaves
salt, pepper, oil, vinegar

Cut snig into 3" pieces marinade in the garlic oil pepper and vinegar, for a couple of hours thread onto skewers alternating with the bay leaves. Cook on barby till done.

Replied: 28th Aug 2011 at 11:03
Last edited by erontquay: 28th Aug 2011 at 12:29:22

Just in case she missed it the first time round.

I blame dostaf

There wasa bloke on the box the other week who, when he wasn't catching eels, made and sold traditional eel traps.

Who'd want one?

This mon

May come in handy for some people

Behave!

Ornaments!

Carter has a similar "portfolio": apart from wildfowling, he sells willow traps as ornaments and earns the occasional cheque giving talks on eel lore.

Here

Fair play to the chap.

Sod it!

Always worth another read.

Up untill recently I didnt know that eels were protected, so I'd best remove the recipe for MS

What aboout the Cocker-knees?

No sniggering at the back please!

Expect complaints.

Yes had SNIG quite a lot when I was a young lad, my father used to bring a coulpe home every night I thought it was quite tasty, mother would slice them about 2inch pieces an` fry um,with spuds, not had any since those days in the 40s.

Mi father worked tipping the coal into the barges on the canal he used to make a noose out of wire an` caught them that way.

Evenin' Ray.

Bl**dy great ha ha.
I'm sniggerin'
Not something I could fancy yon snig.

Always worth a resurrection.

I chuckle every time I read the bit about slapping it on the table wrapped in newspaper.

Also serves as a reminder that the Urban Dictionary isn't to be believed 100%

I never did explain the Hugh Fearnley Watsisname mention.

He nailed one end of it to the post in order to skin it.

Or rather pull the body away from the skin.

And they pull it off in one piece.
Probably used as an condom in't olden times

It certainly was interesting viewing.

There's a joke there somewhere Ray

Anything for the weekend sir. "Aye I'll have a couple of snig, I'm feelin' lucky"

Does it hurt?

Only when I slither.

Fancy a screw?

Very hedewkashunal. I'll get me pliers

Send for the mohel.

Ha ha. I had to google yon dustaf.
Are you doin' the one about "not much pay but he gets plenty tips"

No chance, it's been done to death on here.

To quote the mester:

Oy Gevalt!

Woe is me (or similar) in Yiddish.
To quote thee mester D "in't google great

And today's new word is:

Ichthyohemotoxic

Poisonous blood

Another great word to slip into a dinner party coversation.

It'll impress yon wench in the chip shop on Friday.

She'll probably slop the pea wet

No, she has a steady hand.



And a firm grip.

.
Wink wink........ or is it w**.........forget it

I wonder how you know the difference between male and female snigs?


(Saves bother elsewhere)

Sexing eels Google sent me this

I saw it, and was just about to put 'mind what you google'.

I didn't read it, was it wrapped in newspaper ?

In 1876, as a young student in Austria, Sigmund Freud dissected hundreds of eels in search of the male sex organs. He had to concede failure in his first major published research paper, and turned to other issues in frustration.

Wiki


Aye, and we all know what Doddy said about Freud.

Was an Mars Bar used in the extraction

Aye, and a big ommer.

November explanation for future historians/resurrectionists.

Posted by: dustaf (42377) Report abuse


See if they have owt similar under 'Snig'.


Replied: 9th Nov 2013 at 21:52

Here

How did we get onto this

Maybe there's a future in snig sexing?

Not at the Glasgow Empire

True.

But there may be a uniform provided.

Complete with hat.

But keep an penny between your cheeks

Oh aye.

Else you would end up mincing rapidly.

And erratically

After finding the writer’s reference to Hercule Poirot’s “rapid, mincing gait, with his feet tightly and painfully enclosed within his patent leather boots,” he practised intensively.

From here

As mentioned by Mache on this fantastic thread

And don't forget to include Mr Peawapp in the credits

Yes.

Key Grip - Peawapp of Leigh

How's that? ^^^^

Key Grip He'd never let go of the gong

It was either that or Dolly Grip.

spoke to a few local fishermen, and they say wherever there are (pond)weeds there are snig, a few have caught them in scotsmans flash, I recall being told about one bloke taking a live one into goose green club and plonking it down on the games room bar, because the barmaid had asked him for one !

Im never going to live this down am I? I could edit you know and refine my English.

I once did a bit of cheeky editing on a thread of Ian McL's which made it look like I wasn't one of the main tandemists.

Mache was asking about snig sexing elsewhere, so I thought this was the best place to offer advice, Sue.

In the news

Eeel-I

Notreet.

Took a moment.

'Eels are regarded as a source of stamina for men in Korea.'

That's a big un.^^^^^ What a beltin thread this was

Those were the days!

Yes Lisa they were. I had only been a member for about a month and wondered what I'd let myself in for.

I'm wonder if all the Communicate archives will disappear with the new site?

I hope not jo anne, I often have a wander back through the good old days

Would be a shame if they did jo anne I love looking through the old threads."snotalot" is one of my favs

Two years tomorrow the last post sounded for dustaf.
Will there be a best of......

I miss dustaf, though I was lurking in them days. I hope admin let the outcasts back should they choose to return.

We have some first rate posters here though yourself included i-spy

My favourite remains as the one where Erin refers to the man "grinding upstairs" affecting her "rabbit ears"

I just read it again Lisa, very funny

link

Posted by: i-spy (10267) Report abuse


Two years tomorrow the last post sounded for dustaf.
Will there be a best of......


Replied: 3rd Dec 2015 at 15:43

That date rings a bell

Those were the days

Much better now,

osted by: dostaf (inactive) Report abuse

Don't they smoke them at Glasson Dock.

(Smoke as in kippers, not Woodbines)

Replied: 1st Dec 2010 at 21:28

They sure do

Still a few people trying to be the "big I am" and some trying to step into "some people's" shoes, and failing miserably, but better than it was.

Not at all Baz. There's only one Dustaf, well two if you count Dostaf

And there's Walshy,snake eyes, goose, swifty, and Baz of course.

And here's one of them.

A good thread like this now ruined by the clown who accuses everyone else of ruining threads.

No wonder that after numerous attempts to join, he was rejected by the rejects.

Just giving my opinion on how the site is now, if anyone thinks different then there just out to cause trouble,

ooooh get him......dont dare disagree else you are causing trouble....you really are a muppet........

It appears only his opinion is valid gemfree

hmmm remind you of anyone?

Not had snig for ages. Of course they are an acquired taste but can be cooked to suit all palates, nice with couscous.

wrapped in newspaper

Hello Tom.

hello Joseph and welcome, ( wink wink), sorry there's something in my eye,

Sing - Eel and Elver always taste better if after they have been caught (and while they are still alive) they are kept in a large tank of freshwater for at least a couple of days with no food. This allows them to purge there system, they then taste a lot better .....