tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post2195578695070104778..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: A Fishy Tale about SalmonUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-63835431333544563562010-05-22T10:50:23.606-05:002010-05-22T10:50:23.606-05:00I've read the lobster story at least three tim...I've read the lobster story at least three times in magazines the last five years. Always thought it was legit. Thanks for tracking it down - most interesting.Steve MChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15026970188928733645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-56527214520723638502010-05-12T22:10:02.360-05:002010-05-12T22:10:02.360-05:00There’s a new biography of Betsy Ross just out! Bu...There’s a new biography of Betsy Ross just out! But yes, the sewing-the-first-flag story remains dubious. On the other hand, Ross <i>did</i> sew some flags for the early U.S. government.<br /><br />The “too much salmon” folk tale is interesting in that British scholars were working to debunk it well over a century ago. And yet it appears to have popped up again!J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-35754813239965699732010-05-12T21:02:57.890-05:002010-05-12T21:02:57.890-05:00Well another fun folk tale runs aground of the tru...Well another fun folk tale runs aground of the truth. Oh well...at least we all still have Betsy Ross sewing the first flag. Uh...right?...right? Sheesh.John L. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14827783825431694038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-74757546210888085162010-05-12T20:45:17.618-05:002010-05-12T20:45:17.618-05:00“Mud roach” might be derived from “mud bug,” term ...“Mud roach” might be derived from “mud bug,” term for crayfish that’s been around for at least half a century. Some sources say that’s Cajun, but the roots are English. <br /><br />In a quick search, I didn’t find any <i>old</i> mentions of lobsters as “mud roaches.”J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-76474682157284846622010-05-12T18:58:46.883-05:002010-05-12T18:58:46.883-05:00Thanks, John, for getting to the bottom of this fi...Thanks, John, for getting to the bottom of this fish story. Interestingly, the British citations are early 19th century, old enough to <i>possibly</i> be within memory of oral traditions. But the ones you found from this side of the pond are all clearly modern inventions, less than 25 years old.<br /><br />Of course, the lobsters referred to in the legends from England, and even from Virginia, are very different animals from the <i>Homarus americanus</i> that is considered such a delicacy in New England today.<br /><br />Next, maybe, you can fish around for the truth about another lobster legend, that the crustaceans were once known as "mud roaches". I wasn't able to find anything definitive on Google.Charles Bahnenoreply@blogger.com