bark v OED ~ v² 2 'to steep in an infusion of bark; to tan' (1865 quot). To immerse a fish-net, sail, etc, in the liquid formed by boil.ing the bark and buds of a conifer, as a preservative; DIP v 3.
   1895 J A Folklore viii, 36 [A fisherman will say] 'I have been barking my net or sails'. 1908 TOWNSEND 34 The nets like the sails are 'barked' a terra-cotta red. 1924 ENGLAND 264 He might see ... a group of big-booted, canvas-jacketed men 'barking' a sail—which is to say, boiling it with spruce in a huge kettle. 1937 DEVINE 7 ~ To soak nets and seines or sails in tan made from rinds of trees. T 141/67-65² Nowadays that bud pickin' has gone out. Years ago we used to be at it, of course, when we had linnet to bark. To bark an ordinary trap you wants two barrels o' buds. 1966 SCAMMELL 105 "Tommy Decker's Venture": We've been barkin' now since Monday, but we got a berth all right, / 'Cos we put a fleet o' codnets on a shoal just in the bight. M 68-16 When the trap has been mended, it must be barked. The trap is boiled to help preserve the twine. Usually two large oil drums are set up in a fireplace on the beach. Bark is dumped into each drum and then they are filled with salt water. Then the fire is lit and the mixture is boiled. The different parts of the trap are put into large 'punchins' and the bark poured over them. When each punchin is filled, they are covered with a sawed-off punchin and allowed to work for a day or so. The trap is then taken and spread on the wharf to dry. 1969 Christmas Mumming in Nfld 64 [The sealskins) are worth so much now that few are 'barked' for sealskin boots even though these are desired items. 1977 BURSEY 79 Then the cod-traps must be repaired and barked to be ready to be put into the water before the fish would 'strike in.'

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