The stout yeoman and (among others) the father-lasher and the coney-fish

A History of British Fishes, by William Yarrell; the third edition, edited by Sir John Richardson. 2 vols, 1859.

Mr Yarrell having died in 1856, this edition includes a memoir of him, in which he is described thus: "His aspect was that of a stout yeoman ... his mild but fearless eye, and his open forehead, showed, even to a stranger, a man at peace with himself and with his fellow men." His portrait does indeed show a man with an open countenance, and an intent gaze, as if he is considering what the species and characteristics of the portrait-maker might be. He was a great collector and student of natural history specimens, and his History of British Fishes was first published serially in 1835-36; according to the Oxford DNB, in this work "he paid particular attention to species that were a source of food, and he would often eat the specimens he collected to test whether they might be added to those known to be fit for the table." He also seems to have been a careful collector of vernacular fish-names -- my eye was caught by the long-spined sea bullhead, also known as the father-lasher, rock dolphin or lucky proach; the ocellated blenny, or butterfly fish; the great pipe-fish or needle-fish, known in Scotland as the tangle-fish; the twaite-shad; and the burbot or eelpout, "sometimes called the Coney-fish, from its habit of lurking and hiding itself in holes like a rabbit."