An interesting use for Stockholm Tar

[FWB]

I'm reading an interesting book about the East Anglian Herring fishery. It's a great read with lots of anecdotes from the fishermen of the time.
One amusing gem comes from 'Flip' Garnham (born1909)..
.....There was wooden heads in the buffs(leather floats for drift net)at one end;they acted as a kind of plug. You used to put Stockholm Tar round them so that when the buffs turned side down in the water all that tar used to go round the heads and seal it. Cor,that was funny stuff! The ol boys used to use it for piles. Thass the finest thing out for piles, Stockholm Tar. Yes, you stick it up your behind an you don't worry about piles no more!....
From The Driftermen by David Butcher 1979 edn ISBN 0 906 397 02 0

 

[westernman]

How to apply Stockholm Tar......

 

[sarabande]

not so many years ago, we used to put a dab of Stockholm Tar on the neck of early lambs, to discourage foxes from taking them.


Banned by Defra for safety reasons, as shepherds could get Tar on their hands. No mention of the poor lambs smelling of carbolic for months.

 

[Wansworth]

We used it as a antiseptic on pigs after their bits has bene cute off......if I recall correctly

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I remember as a kid watching the Onedin Line and one particular scene has lived in my memory all these years. A sailor was hauling on a line when something happened and he had his fingers pulled into the block. As the man screamed out in pain, some woman felt sorry for him and Mr Bains ordered that the sailor's hand be dipped in 'hot pitch and turpentine'. Now, the scene was really about a clash of management styles between Bain and the woman (of importance) and I just thought that the pitch and turpentine was him demonstrating how hard he was to the men in front of her. This thread now has me wondering if there is any therapeutic benefit in the act and if it had historical relevance - it appears so.

 

[Hydrozoan]

not so many years ago, we used to put a dab of Stockholm Tar on the neck of early lambs, to discourage foxes from taking them. ....

Was it also used to disguise the natural scent of orphan lambs when putting them to another ewe? Or did I imagine hearing that?