More Maigret

Now on past the missing Volume IV of Maigret and onto 'Liberty Bar' in Volume V. Where I rapidly come across 'un pêcheur d'oursins' involving a 'roseau fendu', in clear water around 3m deep.

It did not take long to find out that an 'oursin', when it was not the sort of thing worn by guardsmen at Buckingham Palace or a hedgehog, was a sea urchin, often with spines. With the more usual word for hedgehog 'hérisson' perhaps being a corruption. Also the name of a commune in central France.

But was a fisher for sea urchins some sort of animal which specialised in same or a human being? Further research and I find that while plenty of animals do indeed eat sea urchins, the eggs and private parts of sea urchins are also something of a delicacy in many parts of the world and that there is an extensive commercial fishery. With all the usual concerns about over-fishing, trawls damaging the sea urchin beds and so on. So this particular fisher was almost certainly a French amateur.

I then turn to OED to confirm that their 'oursin' is indeed the same word as our urchin, to find OED, unusually, silent on the etymology of the word, but offering a variety of meanings, including not only hedgehog and sea urchin but also various kinds of small people: juvenile humans, hunchbacks, elves and goblins. So probably the same root.

Next stop 'roseau fendu', with 'roseau' being a reed. A split reed three metres long? Was it some sort of fishing rod? Still more research and I find that the common reeds in question often grow to as long as 5m, certainly in favourable conditions, so 3m not a problem. Usually split and made up into garden screens sold in the French equivalent of shops like Homebase - screens which I now remember seeing on the walls of suburban houses in the vicinity of Sables D'Olonne. But what would be the point of poking around with a stick at sea urchins so far down? Further thought needed.

With the common reeds in question furnishing the reed for the clarinet I once played, things which are about two inches long and near half an inch across. Maybe the sort of reed which grows in the south of France, where this story is set, rather than in the Cambridgeshire fens.

The lengths I go to to avoid drying the dishes.

PS: later: from http://www.clarinet-tips.com/clarinet-reeds.html: 'Most reeds are made out of a type of cane called Arundo Donax, which looks a lot like bamboo. The cane is cut into rectangular sections and then shaped and polished. Some clarinetists make their reeds by hand, but most of them choose to buy them'. And from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arundo_donax: 'Arundo donax, giant cane, is a tall perennial cane growing in damp soils, either fresh or moderately saline. It is one of the several species of the so-called reed. Other common names include ... wild cane, and giant reed. Arundo donax is native to the Mediterranean Basin ... Arundo donax generally grows to 6 metres (20 ft), in ideal conditions it can exceed 10 metres (33 ft), with hollow stems 2 to 3 centimetres (0.79 to 1.18 in) diameter. The leaves are alternate, 30 to 60 centimetres (12 to 24 in) long and 2 to 6 centimetres (0.79 to 2.36 in) wide with a tapered tip, grey-green, and have a hairy tuft at the base. Overall, it resembles an outsize common reed (Phragmites australis) or a bamboo (subfamily Bambusoideae)'. So we get to the bottom of the clarinet business, with my earlier observation on the subject being a tad wide of the mark. And maybe the French are a bit easy going in their use of the word 'roseau'.