Gateshead, Letherhose Fishery

Letherhose in 1128. 'Leoer-hose' is Old English for a leather covering for the leg, a gaiter. This could allude to a leather worker or to a distinctive type of dress. Perhaps it refers to the clothing needed to work the weir. Leather boots were worn by fishermen on the Tweed. Owned by the bishop of Durham. The main catch would have been salmon, but in fact a wider range of fish would have been taken (eg. Eels, pike, minnow, burbot, trout and lamprey' {G.N. Garmondsway (ed), 1939, 'Aelfric's Colloquy', pp 101-2}.