Modern club, Fish 'priest' (FindID 735962)

A priest (poacher's, game warden's or angler's "priest"), sometimes called a fish bat, or “persuader” is a tool for killing game or fish. The name "

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

" comes from the notion of administering the "

last rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. They may be administered to those awaiting execution, mortall ...

" to the fish or game. Anglers often use priests to quickly kill fish.

Description

Priests usually come in the form of a heavy metal head attached to a metal or wooden stick. The small baton is a

blunt instrument A blunt instrument is any solid object used as a weapon, which damages its target by applying direct mechanical force, and has no penetrating point or edge, or is wielded so that the point or edge is not the part of the weapon that inflicts the i ...

used for quickly killing fish or game. Early versions are made of ''

lignum vitae Lignum vitae () is a wood, also called guayacan or guaiacum, and in parts of Europe known as Pockholz or pokhout, from trees of the genus ''Guaiacum''. The trees are indigenous to the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America (e.g: Col ...

'' (Latin for "wood of life"), the densest hardwood. One example is described as "Lead filled head. Brass ring to handle. With large Head for dispatching Game. Size overall 14 inches long".

In culture

* Identified as a "keeper's priest" the tool is a featured murder weapon in Series 12 of the BBC's ''

Dalziel and Pascoe Detective Superintendent Andrew "Andy" Dalziel and Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe are two fictional Yorkshire detectives featuring in a series of novels by Reginald Hill. Characterisation and style Dalziel is ...

'', Episodes 2 and 3, "Under Dark Stars", which left a round bruised mark on impact. * Used as the murder weapon of convenience in Series 8 of the BBC's ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intui ...

'', Episode 7, "The River Corrupted," thereby framing the owner of the tool. * Tommy "Fishpriest" Barth (portrayed by Ethan Hawk) the main character in the "Fishpriest" podcast series, is nicknamed after his weapon of choice.

References

* Smart, Alastai
''Fish Welfare at Harvest: Killing Me Softly''
* https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20202302/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl Fishing equipment {{fishing-stub