Fellmonger

Fellmonger (pronounced fel-muhng-ger)

A preparer of skins or hides of animals; a person who deals in animal skins or hides.

1520–1530: A compound word fell + monger.  Fell was from the Middle English fellen, from the Old English fellan & fiellan (to cause to fall, strike down, fell, cut down, throw down, defeat, destroy, kill, tumble, cause to stumble) from the Proto-Germanic fallijaną (to fell, to cause to fall), causative of the Proto-Germanic fallaną (to fall); root was the primitive Indo-European (s)pōl- (to fall) and it was cognate with the Dutch vellen (to fell, cut down), the German fällen (to fell) and the Norwegian felle (to fell).  Monger was from the Middle English mongere & mangere from the Old English mangere (merchant, trader, dealer & mangian (to trade, to traffic) from the Proto-Germanic mangōną, from the Latin mangō (dealer, trader), perhaps from the Ancient Greek μάγγανον (mánganon) (contrivance, means of enchantment) from the primitive Indo-European mang- (to embellish, dress, trim).  Fellmonger & fellmongery are nouns and fellmongering & fellmongered are verbs; the noun plural is fellmongers.

Lindsay Lohan in leather, London, October 2015.

In the traditional sense of the world, a profession was understood to be a specialization in occupational activity.  What it meant was that a certain pursuit was either the exclusive source of an individual’s income or the most substantial part.  Not entirely facetiously, the business of prostitution has been said to be the “world’s oldest profession” with espionage just a little more recent.  While neither claim may be literally true, both are acknowledged to be ancient and obviously enduring but one profession likely to have been pursued almost as long and been part of just about any culture which has been studied was that of the fellmonger who prepared and processed the skins of animals, transforming them into the leather which people could use variously for footwear, clothing, shelters, receptacles, weapons, decorations and the myriad of items which were used when constructing useful devices and even machines.  Before even fabrics were woven from plant or animal fibres, there was leather and it was the fellmongers who developed the art and science which made the material stronger, longer lasting and better adaptable to more purposes.  A highly skilled business which demanded both skill & patience, the essence of the fellmonger’s trade was the ability expertly to strip the wool or fur from an animal hide and grade the raw skin into the various categories sought by tanners and other processors.  As well as dealing in the skins, many fellmongers also operated as tanners and in the early pre-industrial societies, vertical integration was sometimes attractive and the ownership and operation of a fellmongery and tannery might come under a common ownership.  Sometimes tertiary production such as that of a saddler might also be attached although it appears artisan trades such as cobblers remained independent.  The fellmonger thus extracted from the skins of dead sheep, goats, lambs and even dogs, products such as wool, pelts, skins, parchments, vellums and chamois leathers, much of which was sold to or passed on to a tannery which for centuries used oak bark in the dyeing processes.

Who wore it best?  Kim Jong-un (Kim III, b 1982; Supreme Leader of DPRK (North Korea) since 2011) in leather.  Probably no material is as sexy as leather and even in latex the Supreme Leader couldn't look more alluring; Lindsay Lohan probably envies the Supreme Leader rocking leather.

Although less so than tanning, fellmongry was a messy, smelly business, most located close to rivers because the process demanded an abundant supply of pure clean water, the tide carrying out to sea the sludge and effluents.  When the skins arrived (and to avoid even more unpleasantness that had to be as soon as possible after slaughter), they were washed in warm, soapy water to be cleansed of all blood and then soaked so the tissue would swell to a living condition.  Once done, they were cleansed with a paste made from lime and sodium sulphate which “fed” the pelts, opening the pores so the wool could be stripped which was done in the “Pulling Room” where the fellmonger “pushed the wool”, grading it as went.  Once pulled, the wool was taken to a drying room where, once cool, it was stacked in bales to be ready for sale.  A paste made of Fuller's Earth or Whiting (calcium carbonate or chalk) was then rubbed into the pelts which were exposed to a moderate heat which ensured the fat on the pelts softened and was easily removed.  The clean pelts, after being bleached with a weak solution of chloride of lime were placed in floor pits to be “pickled” in a solution of salt & sulphuric hydrochloric acid and, once pickled, they were ready for dispatch to the tannery.  Historically, tanners graded skins into 10-12 categories and depending on the classification, they might be sold to manufacturers making fancy leather goods, parchments, vellums, leathers and glues.  Animal skins are remarkable in that they can be rendered as a material tough enough for saddles or boots or sufficiently soft & pliable for use in fine needlework and smooth enough to be used as writing material.