I guess some readers didn’t get my drift. What I meant by “gild the herring” is that if you think a situation is a red herring — i.e. an unrealistic hypothetical — it makes little sense to make the hypothetical even more complex and unrealistic. To “gild the lilly” means to make something already beautiful even more ornate or beautiful unnecessarily. I figured “gild the herring” was a funny way of saying “don’t make it even more outlandish.” I still like it and I am pleased by my immortality in google.