Whitburn Steel and pink lint cake

[Jerry]

The word steel, as in Whitburn Steel, probably comes from the Scandinavian for 'steep'. There's a Steel Rigg (hill) in Northumberland.

BUT the word isn't in the Oxford English Dictionary - AND it doesn't occur on any other 'Viking' shore in Britain. Northumbria is unique (again).


The latest Tyneside and Durham Dialect society newsletter is out and full of fascinating stuff about words, recipes for Pink Lint Cake (Sunderland Pink Icing Cake) AND

A request for people's stories and memories of the seaside, fishing and boats; local names for fish etc. This is part of a heritage project on the NE -mines, fishing and so on, being published in book form. Help if you can.

Contact Bill Griffiths (Seaham) at

[email protected]

for an e-mailed newsletter.

[Jim_in_France]

Would this be "Pink Lint" as in "Skint" Jerry?

[captain beefheart]

Didn't pink lint be the horrible slimey processed meat that was sold in the 50/60s. My mother used to give me it for bait a couple of times a week and it was used to feed the fish at wallsend

[Jerry]

I didn't know pink lint meant 'skint'! My uncle once said 'boracic lint' with that meaning.

There used to be pink and white lint at one time (don't know the difference) and obviously it found its way into local speech.

My sister tells me that there was a nasty form of Spam known as pink lint. That must be the captain's experience. But that was after my childhood, Then I ate the real Spam, which I recall as being quite nice.

There were similar tinned meats called PREM and MOR, but I've never found anyone who remembers them.

Anybody recall Thermogene Wadding? Sloan's Liniment? Fenning's Fever Cure?

[baldy.smith]

Sloans Liniment is still available, I used to use Sloans Athletic Rub when I did competetive weight lifting, I think that also is still available. I loved the smell of it.