Unearthing the origin of the phrase “red herring” can, appropriately, lead to some red herrings. First, there isn’t a fish species called red herring; this instead refers to herrings which have been smoked, also called kippers. Second, a folk etymology says that a wealthy English clergyman, Jasper Mayne, bequeathed a trunk to a servant, saying the contents would make him want to drink. The trunk instead held salted kippers. This etymology is most likely false; a more likely story, related by journalist William Cobbett in 1807, is that hunters would train dogs with herrings.