subs. (popular).—Primarily, a red herring; but applied to other kinds of fish, herrings now receiving the distinctive cognomen of YARMOUTH CAPONS. The usage is a very old one, and it is notable that GLASGOW MAGISTRATE, another name for a red herring, was formerly GLASGOW CAPON.
c. 1640. J. SMYTH, Hundred of Berkeley (1885), 319. The Sole wee call our Seaverne CAPON. [M.]
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew. YARMOUTH CAPON, a Red Herring.
1719. RAMSAY, Epistle to Lieutenant Hamilton, II., iii.
| A GLASGOW CAPON and a fadge | |
| Ye thought a feast. [M.] |
1812. W. TENNANT, Anster Fair, iv.
| Each to his jaws | |
| A good Crail’s CAPON holds. | |
| [note ‘a dried haddock.’] [M.] |
