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barking vbl n OED ~ vbl sb2 1 (1865 quot).
1 Immersing nets, sails, etc, in the liquid steeped from the
bark and buds of conifers, as a preservative.
T
141/67-652 The next thing that would turn up would be getting your barking
done, your linnet barked. 1966 FARIS 139 Traps are not set until late June, but there is
plenty to keep the sharemen busy—'barking,' putting in trap bottoms and general
preparation. 1974 SQUIRE 17 The process called barking consisted of putting the nets and
traps into huge vats. Usually these were made from rum and molasses puncheons. These
containers were then filled with a solution that consisted of spruce buds and bark boiled
in water for several hours in a large cast-iron or sometimes a copper pot. The dark
mixture contained small amounts of myrrh and turpentine derived from the buds and bark
and helped preserve the twines from the mildew and the corrosive effect of the sea water.
2 Comb barking kettle: large iron cauldron in which
an infusion of conifer bark and buds is prepared; BARK POT.
[1842]
1944 Yuletide Bells They wandered past the Barking Kettle and saw a few fishermen
mend and bark their nets. 1933 GREENE 46 Many of their docks and slips are still in use;
while others can yet be seen, placed near to the 'barking-kettles' for the nets in many a
harbour and cove. 1969 HORWOOD 144-5 On a hill above Bauline stands the huge black
barking kettle... In spring they fill it with a tarry mixture (it used to be bark from
the forests), light a fire underneath, and, while the aromatic smoke and steam drift down
over the village, whole trap crews cure their nets, steeping them section by section in
the hot liquid to ward off attacks by airborne fungi, bacteria, and marine organisms.
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