Quote Originally Posted by Woodsheal View Post
Exactly! Sealing is comparable to whaling in terms of having a LONG history, in both the Old and New Worlds. Even Nantucket whalemen would engage in sealing to augment their whale-oil trade, as I'm sure took place in the Brits' Greenland fishery as well. So, as Mac states, sealskin products of all sorts surely date back many centuries....
I have never heard of any significant sealing in Scotland and wonder if there have ever been enough seals for a viable industry. I believe seal fur is only marketable from the pups in their first few days of life so the supply was bound to be extremely small from small, widely separated areas. The trade is more likely to have been encouraged by the likes of the Hudson's Bay Company along with other furs such as beaver.
Does anyone know what other commercial uses there are for seal fur? I know it was used in fly-tying until substitutes were introduced which made it obsolete. Also I have seen trinkets and ornaments such as paperweights from Newfoundland where it has been used. It is a fairly hard and coarse fur so maybe sporans were the most suitable use for it