Leister

LEISTER, sb. and v. Sc. Nhb. Dur. Cum. Wm. Yks. Lan. Also in forms leester Slk. s.Dur. Cum.1 Cum.4; liester s.Sc. Dur.1 w.Yks.1; lister Dmf. Lakel.2 Cum.1 Cum.4 Wm.; lyster Cum.4 n.Yks.4 [lī·stə(r, li·stər.] 1. sb. A pronged and barbed fish-spear; esp. used for striking salmon by torchlight; now an illegal weapon. Abd. All our tenants were assembled with poles or spears, or rather ‘leisters,’ for catching salmon, Queen Victoria Leaves fr. Jrn. (Sept. 13, 1850). Per. There were lines and leisters for the water, Haliburton Furth in Field (1894) 78. s.Sc. Nae liester shanks wi' burnin' cruzies, Watson Bards (1859) 52. Ayr. A three-taed leister on the ither Lay, large an' lang, Burns Death and Dr. Hornbook (1785) st. 6. Slk. Whenever he put the grains o' the leister into the water, Hogg Tales (1838) 150, ed. 1866. Dmf. The lister is a shaft, with three iron prongs barbed on one side, fixed on the end, not unlike the figure of Neptune's trident, Statist. Acc. XIV. 411 (Jam.). N.Cy.1 Nhb. Every ane, Arm'd wi' a leister, cleek, or light, Proudlock Borderland Muse (1896) 331; Nhb.1, Dur.1, s.Dur. (J.E.D.) Lakel.1 Lakel.2 A leister with three prongs of a somewhat different construction is used in Cumberland for leistering eels, the eels being brought up between the prongs. Cum. Next down wi' t'listers and out wid a lowe, Dickinson Cumbr. (1875) 230; Cum.1 Cum.2 Cum.4 Wm. Tak t'lister wi thi an' see if thoo can catch owt (B.K.). n.Yks. (W.H.), n.Yks.1 n.Yks.4, w.Yks. (R.H.H.), w.Yks.1, Lan.1, n.Lan.1 2. Comb. (1) Leister-grained, obsol., of the barbel, Barbus fluviatilis: heavily marked by a ‘leister’; (2) Leister-shaft, the wooden part to which the head of the ‘leister’ is fastened. (1) n.Yks. It really refers to the marks left by the leister, and to the disfigurement of the fish (R.H.H.). (2) Nhb. On each lang sapling leister shaft, Proudlock Borderland Muse (1896) 332. 3. v. To spear fish. Sc. Donald Caird can wire a maukin,.. Leisters kipper, Chambers Sngs. (1829) I. 56. Slg., Ayr. (Jam.) Slk. Lifting his lance... as if about to leester a salmon, Hogg Tales (1838) 587, ed. 1866. n.Cy. The man who had charge of the web, went off to see the salmon leistered, Nine Flk-Lore, in Monthly Packet (1862) 629. s.Dur. In bygone days... salmon were leistered by torchlight, but the fishery laws at present in operation have put a stop to the practice (J.E.D.). Cum. Listerin's canny coald wark, Dickinson Cumbr. (1876) 253. n.Yks. To go a-leistering (R.H.H.). [1. Norw. dial. ljoster, a fish-spear (Aasen); ON. ljōstr, a salmon-spear (Vigfusson).]