Definition
A type of fish-catching engine or device historically used in the River Ouse near York, England. The term appears in early English statutory law as the subject of regulation rather than as a legal concept with doctrinal significance. It is best understood as a regulated instrument of trade — a physical apparatus whose use, placement, or ownership was subject to parliamentary control in the Tudor period.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Plural of "heck," an exclamation used as a mild expletive or expression of surprise.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Not defined as a distinct plural form; "heck" in dialect referred to a rack, grating, or framework — particularly a device for guiding or confining water, fish, or livestock.
The legal meaning bears no relation to the modern exclamatory use. The historical dialect meaning of "heck" as a grating or framework is, however, directly relevant: a heck in the fishing context was precisely such a structure — a weir-like apparatus placed in a waterway to intercept fish. Researchers should not be misled by the modern colloquial sense.
Why It Matters in Research
This term has almost no living legal significance and will not appear in modern case law or statutory codes. Its research value is confined to two narrow areas:
First, historical English fishery regulation. Statutes from the Tudor period, including 23 Hen. 8, c. 18 (1531–32), regulated the use of engines and devices in English rivers, often in response to concerns about the depletion of fish stocks or obstruction of navigation. Researchers working on the history of fishery law, riparian rights, or early environmental regulation in England will occasionally encounter this term in primary sources from that era.
Second, as a Bouvier's entry type. Bouvier's Law Dictionary includes a small class of entries that are not legal doctrines but rather regulated objects — things whose legal significance derives entirely from their appearance in a specific statute. HECKS is a clear example of this pattern. When a Bouvier's entry cites "Cunningham" as its authority, it is referencing Timothy Cunningham's A New and Complete Law Dictionary (18th century), a common secondary source Bouvier drew upon for historical English statutory terms. Researchers should trace such entries to Cunningham and then to the underlying statute rather than treating the Bouvier's entry itself as a primary source.
Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier's sole entry reads: "The name of an engine to take fish in the river Owse near York, anni 23 Hen. 8. cap. 18. Cunningham." This is a minimal, pass-through entry — Bouvier made no attempt to analyze or synthesize the term, simply relaying Cunningham's gloss on the statutory text. No other major American or English legal dictionary of the standard shelf appears to carry this entry independently. Its presence in Bouvier's reflects the 19th-century lexicographic practice of cataloguing every term appearing in accessible English statutory and common law sources, regardless of contemporary relevance. The river name "Owse" is an older spelling variant of the River Ouse.
Jurisdictional Note
Strictly a term of historical English law. It has no recognized place in American, Scottish, or other common law jurisdictions and did not survive into modern statutory usage in England.