This link has some pictures from Jamestown which is where I first saw the term,I think in a Nat'l Geo article. The technique apparently comes from Lincolnshire. That is apparently where my surname comes from, so it does strike some curiosity.
http://www.historicjamestowne.org/the_dig/dig_2006_11_20.phpKen,
European brick looks to be of higher quality than what I've typically run into even through the 19th century here. Ours have many soft and imperfect bricks that are often spalled. Brickmaking here, and I may be talking too locally, was a wheelbarrow trade. The bricks were generally made on site, stacked into a "clamp" or small kiln made of the unfired brick and then fired with wood. As the clamp was disassembled they were sorted and used according to quality. Infill nogging is where I've seen the lowest quality "salmons" used. Fireplaces used the best. Did you have factory brick at those earlier dates?
