Creel (basket)

2025-08-19T14:14:50Z

152.58.24.6: /* External links */

{{Short description|Wicker basket used for carrying fish or blocks of peat}}
{{About|the basket type||Creel (disambiguation){{!}}Creel}}
[[File:wicker creel.jpg|thumb|[[Angling|Angler]]'s creel]]

A '''creel''' is a [[wicker]] basket usually used for carrying fish or blocks of [[peat]]. It is also the [[fish trap]] used to catch lobsters and other crustaceans.

In modern times, the term has come to encompass various types of wicker baskets used by [[Angling|anglers]] or [[commercial fishermen]] to hold fish or other prey. The word is also associated with agriculture and some domestic baskets.<ref>[https://wovencommunities.org/ Woven Communities], Basketmaking Communities in Scotland, 2017 University of St Andrews and Scottish Basketmakers' Circle. Retrieved 2017-04-13.</ref>

In the [[fishing in the North Sea|North Sea]] [[herring]] industry of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the creel was a basket used to measure the volume of a catch.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wovencommunities.org/basket-type/|title=Basket types |website= Woven Communities (Basketmaking Communities in Scotland) |access-date=2017-04-13}}</ref> The standard measures were creel, which were made in officially approved volumes of one half and one quarter [[cran (unit)|cran]] (another unit for measuring fresh herring).

An angler's creel is designed to function as an [[evaporative cooler]] when lined with [[moss]] and dipped into the creek to keep the catch chilled. Caught fish are inserted through a slot in the top, held in place by a small leather strap.<ref>Granger, CS (2009) [https://books.google.com/books?id=qMmKkPrHX2kC&dq=Creel+%28basket%29&pg=PA94 ''Fishing Kits and Equipment''] Pages 94–95. BiblioBazaar, LLC. {{ISBN|978-1-113-43786-0}}</ref>

Creels are also the high sides added to a towed trailer, making it more suitable for carrying loose materials such as turf.

== Etymology ==
According to the first edition of the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''<ref>"[https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/44156 creel, n.1.]", ''Oxford English Dictionary Online'', 1st edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1893), accessed 7 May 2023.</ref> and the ''[[Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue]]'',<ref>''[http://www.dsl.ac.uk/ Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue]'', 12 vols (Chicago: University of Chicago Press; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002), s.v. ''crele'', n.</ref> the origin of the word is uncertain. However, the ''[[Middle English Dictionary]]'' asserts that it derives from [[Old French]] "''grëil'', ''gräil'', ''grëille'', ''gräille'' a grill (from L[atin] ''cratīcula'')".<ref>''Middle English Dictionary'' (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1952–2001), s.v. ''[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED10256 crẹ̄l]'' n.</ref>

== Creels in Scotland ==
The word ''creel'' is also used in Scotland to refer to a device used to catch lobsters and other crustaceans. Made of woven netting (similar to that used in traditional [[fishing net]]) over a frame of plastic tubing and a slatted wooden base, this type of creel is analogous in function to a [[lobster pot]]. Several creels put out on one line can be referred to as a "leader".

<gallery widths=160>
File:Creel (PSF).png|Angler with creel
File:Fisher Jessie statue, Peterhead - geograph.org.uk - 1077905.jpg|Statue of a [[fishwife]] carrying a creel and basket
File:Creels, Ballywalter harbour - geograph.org.uk - 703078.jpg|Commercial creels used to catch lobsters
File:Creels - geograph.org.uk - 322772.jpg|Stack of commercial [[prawn]] creels
File:The Stroma "shoots" a line of creels off Covesea - geograph.org.uk - 1764308.jpg|Fishing boat "shooting" a line of creels
File:Visserijmuseum048.jpg|Creel with [[sprat]], [[National Fishery Museum]], Belgium
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Fly fishing]]
* [[Weaving (mythology)]]
* [[Basket weaving]]
* [[Lobster pot]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.northumbriabasketrygroup.co.uk/history.php Northumbria Basketry Group]
* [https://diy-enthusiasts.com/decorating-ideas/decoupage-with-fabric-wicker-basket/ Decorate A Wicker Clothes Basket]
* {{Wiktionary-inline|creel}}: for its etymology

{{fishing rod topics}}
{{fisheries and fishing}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Creel (Basket)}}
[[Category:Containers]]
[[Category:Basket weaving]]
[[Category:Fishing equipment]]
[[Category:Food storage containers]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Creel (basket)