Old 
 Yarmouth, 
 
 C STACY- WATS ON. 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
LANDING HERRINGS AT YARMOUTH: OLD STYLE. 
 "Of all the fish of the sea, Herring is king." 
 
Clupea Harengus. 
 
 THE SILVERY HOSTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTH SEA. 
 
 Mvtlj it ^litttlj of "Quaint ft frannmttjr." 
 
 
 C. STACY-ATSON. 
 
 Here is the noblest fishery for herrings in Europe." 
 
 SiR H. SPELMAN. 
 
 WITH A PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 BY 
 
 THE EDITOR OF "HOME WORDS." 
 
 "HOME WORDS" PUBLISHING OFFICE. 
 
 i, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.G. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 i> 
 
Butler & Tanner, 
 
 The Selwoocl Printing Works, 
 
 Frome, and London. 
 
/fsrv/3 
 
 PREFATORY NOTE, 
 
 OMETHING about Herrings," 
 ought to arrest the attention of 
 everybody : and an introductory 
 note to the following pages, which 
 I have been asked to write, seems 
 to me very much like a work of supererogation. 
 One thing, however, I can say : many years 
 ago it was my privilege to acquaint myself 
 with Yarmouth Herrings on the spot, and to 
 see a good deal of the processes connected 
 with the catching, curing, and preparation of 
 this delicious breakfast luxury ; and knowing 
 what I do of Mr. C. Stacy- Watson, the author 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 of this book, I feel I can fairly guarantee not 
 only the interest of his story, but his special 
 fitness to be a guide and teacher of those who 
 desire to become more fully acquainted with 
 " The Silvery Hosts of the North Sea." 
 
 Of Yarmouth itself I can truly say there is 
 little scenery, but there is plenty to see. It 
 possesses a certain old-world originality. Butter 
 is still sold by the "pint." The town is one 
 vast gridiron, of which the bars are represented 
 by " Rows " to the number of one hundred 
 and forty-five. The Parish Church is a grand 
 structure. The Denes except in windy 
 weather are delightful. The roadstead has 
 several times contained the navy of England, 
 and sometimes over 1,000 vessels are to be 
 seen riding at anchor. The fisheries, and the 
 fish, are of course in their season a never- 
 failing topic. The reader will learn all about 
 these from Mr. Stacy- Watson ; and as to the 
 quaint old town, my advice to each is to 
 resolve to exercise a personal judgment by 
 making a personal visit. 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 "It is as prayte a town," said a Royal 
 Commissioner sent here some three centuries 
 ago, who ought to have been a Royal Courtier 
 "It is as prayte a town as I knowe any 
 where on the sea costes ; and as thriftie and 
 honest people in the same ; for, in my opinion 
 it is the prosperest towne, the best bylded, 
 with most substancyall howses, that I knowe 
 so near the sea in all your Majestie's realme ! " 
 
 " As prayte a town " was safe ground for a 
 Commissioner three centuries ago, when the 
 modern annual exodus of England to the sea 
 was an unknown luxury, and dozens of "de- 
 lightful localities" had never been heard of 
 in the busy, and not busy, world of English 
 society. "As prayte a town" might arouse 
 considerable difference of opinion now ; but if 
 I say " praytier than it was three centuries 
 ago," without making any further comparison, 
 I shall doubtless satisfy my Yarmouth friends, 
 and spare my postbag a heavy burden of in- 
 dignant remonstrances from disinterested 
 perhaps interested inhabitants. 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 One word I would add. Let no visitor 
 omit to read at Yarmouth the marvellous 
 history of the good work of Sarah Martin. 
 The annals of benevolence have no nobler 
 record ; and the story of the poor Yarmouth 
 dressmaker giving up, as she unaffectedly says, 
 " a day in a week from dressmaking (by which 
 I earned my living) to serve the prisoners " 
 (who at that time had no chaplain), may well 
 stimulate others to look around to see if there 
 is not a field of self-denying labour waiting to 
 be occupied by them. 
 
 C. B. 
 
 7, THE PARAGON, 
 
 BLACKHEATH, S.E. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 BY THE EDITOR OF "HOME WORDS" . . 5 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 IGNORANCE OF HABITS, ETC., OF HERRING . . . 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 DESCRIPTION OF HERRING . . . ... 19 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 BOTTOM-OF-SEA INFLUENCE ON HERRING . % . 25 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MIGRATION AND DESTRUCTION OF HERRING. . .30 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 FISHING IMPLEMENTS AND MODE OF CAPTURE . . 35 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HERRING CURING. .. . ; ... . . ... ; . . .44 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 FOUNDING OF YARMOUTH 53 
 
io CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 HERRING FAIR . ^. . . . . . . . 59 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 TOWN WALL AND HAVEN MOUTH AND OLD TOWN . 64 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 MODERN TOWN . . .73 
 
 How TO COOK THE YARMOUTH HERRING . . 79 
 
 VISIT TO A HERRING-CURING ESTABLISHMENT . . 89 
 MEANINGS AND DERIVATION OF WORDS. . . 94 
 
 PRESS NOTICES 96 
 
 TESTIMONIALS . 102 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 LANDING HERRINGS AT YARMOUTH : OLD STYLE Frontispiece 
 A FISH AUCTION ON YARMOUTH BEACH : OLD STYLE . 12 
 
 HAULING IN THE NETS . 35- 
 
 YARMOUTH TROLLY FOR CARRYING FISH . . .40. 
 
 YARE FISHERY WORKS 5i_ 
 
 ST. NICHOLAS' CHURCH 52 
 
 "Row 120". . . . . . ''* 69 
 
 SOUTH COAST TOWER 72^ 
 
 THE OLD GAOL OR TOLL HOUSE 74 
 
 NELSON'S MONUMENT 78 
 
 BLACK FRIARS TOWER .... . - .. 93% 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 IGNORANCE OF HABITS, ETC., OF 
 HERRING. 
 
 HE word Herring is said to be derived 
 from the German " Her," or in 
 modern spelling "Heer," an army, 
 great mimber, multitude; with the 
 idea also of unity ; and this deriva- 
 tion gives a very appropriate descrip- 
 tion of the habit of this fish, for it swims the waters 
 like a vast and well appointed army, in orderly array 
 marching to its destination. 
 
 Although herring have been fished by the Dutch, 
 Scandinavian, English, Scotch, and French for cen- 
 turies, yet the amount of positive knowledge as to its 
 home and life is very meagre. 
 
 The famous Danish ichthyologist, Kroyer, who had 
 for some time made scientific researches in this direc- 
 
14 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 tion, in his great work, "The Fish of Denmark," 
 makes use of these words : " How desirable it is to 
 gain more insight into the natural history of fish is 
 strikingly illustrated by the herring, as many points 
 in its mode of living are still unexplained, and many 
 fabulous accounts are transmitted from one genera- 
 tion to another." In the old days, when the unknown 
 was generally accepted as synonymous with the won- 
 derful, which last possessed the happy privilege of 
 reconciling all inconsistences, herrings were supposed 
 to have their home under the crystal sea of the polar 
 regions ; there, in quiet seclusion, protected from the 
 ceaseless greed of their enemies, they sported and 
 multiplied to such an extent that, their native waters 
 becoming overcrowded, necessity compelled colonies 
 of them to seek out a new world for themselves ; the 
 surplus population, as was supposed, migrating 
 annually in several large columns towards the south. 
 Upon leaving the protection of their icy covering 
 they were quickly attacked by hungry enemies in 
 their own element, and by fierce birds of prey dart- 
 ing down upon them from above, all on the eager 
 watch for a bonne-bouche ; and thus they were driven 
 into shallow seas, and into the bays and inlets of the 
 British Isles and the Scandinavian coasts, there to be 
 snared for the delectation of unsophisticated palates. 
 Of late years, thanks to scientists on the Continent, 
 and the evidence collected by the United States 
 Government, and by the late Frank Buckland, a little 
 more light is being thrown upon the several questions 
 awaiting solution. The evidence, as it now stands, 
 
IGNORANCE OF HABITS, ETC., OF HERRING. 15 
 
 shows conclusively that, instead of a single tribe, 
 there are several distinct varieties of herring, each 
 having its own particular haunt. Thus, the Shetland 
 can be distinguished from the Ballantrae, the East 
 Coast from the West Coast, and the Yarmouth from 
 the North Sea fish ; while, on the Norwegian coasts, 
 varieties are found which differ from the Scotch and 
 the Dutch, and these again from herring taken on 
 the French coast. Thus the many varieties of her- 
 ring found on the coasts washed by the North Sea 
 prove that they do not come from one common tribe, 
 from the polar regions or elsewhere, as formerly sup- 
 posed ; the probability being that each variety has 
 its own particular home in the deeper water outside 
 that coast which it frequents during the spawning 
 season. It has been noted by Cuvier and Valen- 
 ciennes, "that on the northern coasts of France, and 
 not far apart, are two tribes of herrings, each of 
 which has its separate home in certain basins of the 
 sea, and that these tribes never intermingle." 
 
 In his Report on the Herring Fisheries of Scotland, 
 Frank Buckland gives it as his opinion that, instead 
 of migrating from the Arctic regions, the herring 
 comes up from the deeper water outside towards the 
 shore ; and he notes that the fishermen of Montrose 
 now go out some sixty to eighty miles to meet the 
 herrings coming in, instead of, as formerly, fishing 
 within some twenty miles of the coast. Also, that 
 when the herring-fishing season is over, the fish hav- 
 ing departed, cod-fish roaming the deeper waters are 
 caught with herrings in their stomachs. M. A. Boeck, 
 
16 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 in his report to the International Exhibition at Ber- 
 gen, says that the result of his observations leads 
 him to conclude that herring, in general, inhabit 
 the great submarine depths, and that they do not 
 take up their quarters beyond the 65 latitude. 
 
 The proper home of the herring is the North Sea 
 and the Atlantic, and the seas connected with them, 
 such as the Baltic and the Kattegat ; thus the her- 
 ring ranges along the coasts of Norway, Sweden, 
 Denmark, France, British Isles, Greenland, and the 
 north-east coasts of North America. 
 
 " The appearance of the herring first in the north, 
 then gradually farther south, the wealth of the fish 
 near the Dogger Bank, which is washed by cold water 
 during the months of April to June, are hints point- 
 ing to the intimate connection existing between the 
 temperature of the sea and its animal life." 
 
 There are three conditions of sea water which 
 exercise a decided influence over its animal and 
 vegetable life, viz., temperature, saltness, and currents. 
 
 Shallow waters are subject to more frequent and 
 greater ranges of temperature than are deep waters, 
 and seas which, like the Baltic, receive large masses 
 of fresh water from rains and melting snows, also 
 differ considerably in saltness. As observed by one 
 of the writers of the reports issued by the United 
 States Government (a noble example which might 
 be followed with advantage by others, and to whom, 
 as well as to other writers, we are indebted for much 
 valuable information, for all of which we here grate- 
 fully acknowledge our obligations), the North Sea 
 
IGNORANCE OF HABITS, ETC., OF HERRING. 17 
 
 itself differs, the one part of it from another, in depth 
 and in saltness ; and consequently, to some extent, 
 in temperature, all of which affect the animal and 
 vegetable life subject to them. As to depth, the 
 North Sea may be divided into three zones : the 
 shallowest including the Dogger Bank, the coast 
 waters of Schleswig Holstein, and. Jutland, commu- 
 nicating with the ocean only through the narrow 
 British Channel ; the middle zone, extending from 
 the north of the Dogger Bank to a line drawn from 
 Peterhead in Scotland, to Cape Skagen in Jutland, 
 has a greater depth of water, receiving those brought 
 down by the Baltic, which are much less salt than 
 the ocean ; and the third zone, which is the deepest 
 of the three, stretching northward from Peterhead, 
 having a free communication with the Atlantic and 
 the cold water coming down from under the paleo- 
 crystic seas. The influence of the winds upon the 
 herring fishery is still an open question ; but it has 
 been found that under certain conditions, when a 
 coast is exposed to strong winds blowing towards it, 
 herrings will not approach ; that with a continuation 
 of stormy weather there is a very serious decrease 
 in the catch ; and that a violent gale precludes all 
 possibility of fishing* 
 
 Under somewhat altered conditions a breeze may 
 be an advantage ; thus it is in evidence that at Peter- 
 head (Scotland), after a northerly breeze herring are 
 always to be had on that coast, and very heavy takes 
 have been made during thunder. 
 
 The evidence collected by the late Frank Buckland; 
 
 B 
 
i8 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 in Scotland, not only indicates that temperature 
 exercises an important influence upon the fishing ; 
 but, that as the temperature increases, the herring 
 rise from the bottom and swim at a higher level 
 during the spawning period. Thus at Wick, where 
 a deep sea thermometer had been in use for some 
 years, it was observed that when the temperature fell 
 to 53 there was no catch, while when it rose to 55 
 in the day, and 54 at night, fishermen have had the 
 best of catches. Dutch scientists have also found 
 that more fish are caught at a temperature of 12 to 
 14 Celsius, 5 3 '6 to 57-2 Fah., than at any other time. 
 "Dutch herring-boats are therefore always supplied 
 with a thermometer, which enables them to place the 
 net at a proper depth." 
 
 During his stay on the west coast of Norway, 
 Boeck constantly noticed the temperature, and noted 
 down a large number of observations during different 
 years. In his report for 1862, he showed the in- 
 fluence of cold on the herring-fishery. In that year 
 he examined the temperature at different depths. 
 The weather had been calm, but a severe cold had 
 prevailed for some time, by which the temperature 
 of the sea at a depth of ten fathoms had been brought 
 as low as I J or 2, Reaumur, while at a depth of thirty 
 fathoms it was from 3 to 4. He further noticed in 
 the same year that at some of the rich fisheries, when 
 the fishing implements were placed at a depth of ten 
 fathoms below the surface but few herrings were 
 caught ; while others, placed at a depth of from fifty 
 to sixty fathoms, caught a large number. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF HERRING. 
 
 HE Herring, from the breadth of its 
 back, is a good swimmer. This 
 breadth is due to masses of flesh on 
 either side of the backbone. On 
 cutting through a herring at right 
 angles to the backbone, the form will 
 be seen to be that of an egg-shaped oval, the breadth 
 being greatest about the level of, or a little above, 
 the vertebra. On each side of the backbone are the 
 large muscles, each composed of fine fibres, which 
 collectively exercise the strong motive power needed 
 by the herring when swimming. By shortening the 
 muscles of the left side, the back part of the body 
 bends towards the left, and by shortening the muscles 
 on the right side, the back of the body bends to the 
 right ; these movements alternating with each other, 
 and rapidly repeated, impel the fish forward, while 
 the fins keep the body in the right position in the 
 water, or deflect its course as desired. It has 2 
 pectoral, 2 ventral, I dorsal, i anal, and i caudal 
 
20 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 fin, the lower lobe of which is somewhat longer 
 than the upper; the tail is considerably forked. 
 Dorsal fin, 19 ; pectoral, 17 ; ventral, 9 ; anal, 17 ; 
 caudal, 20 rays ; and 56 vertebrae. 
 
 The scales adhere so loosely that in hauling the 
 nets, or in handling the fish, they come off with the 
 greatest ease. 
 
 " The gill-covers at the sides of the head, back of 
 and below the eyes, are alternately opened and 
 closed by the fish, in order to draw in water for 
 breathing through the mouth over the gills, to be 
 discharged through the gill opening. Each gill-cover 
 consists of four bony plates. Below these is joined 
 to the third and fourth plates a skin or membrane, 
 kept extended by means of small bones. It has four 
 pairs of gill-arches ; to these are fastened at the back 
 two rows of gristly gill-leaflets, which are covered 
 with so thin a skin that in the live fish they look 
 dark red from the blood passing through them. In 
 front the arches of the gills have a dense row of 
 slender appendages, technically called gill-rakers, on 
 each side of them. All water which the herring 
 takes in its mouth to let it flow out again over the 
 gills in breathing, must pass through the fine grating 
 formed by these spinous points. By this process all 
 small animals which, with the water^ enter the mouth 
 and gill-cavity are retained in it, and accumulate 
 till they are swallowed. This enables the herring, 
 whenever the water is full of small life, to fill its 
 stomach in a short time with thousands of them. In 
 the abdominal cavity of fully grown herrings, the 
 
DESCRIPTION OF HERRING. 21 
 
 sexual organs, the ovaria, and spermaries take up the 
 largest room. As soon as the eggs and milt are fully 
 matured, they pass from their envelopes through a 
 narrow tube toward an opening which is immediately 
 back of the anus. The intestinal canal starts from 
 the stomach, at whose back there are hollow tubes, 
 which, when food is plentiful, are filled with a fatty 
 juice. In front of the stomach there is a short and 
 wide cavity ; from the stomach a tube, the pneumatic 
 duct, passes to the swimming bladder, which shines 
 like silver, and has the shape of a spindle. On either 
 side of the swimming bladder are the kidneys, and 
 between these, and close below the spine, there is 
 a large blood vessel, in which a large portion of the 
 blood which has passed through the gills is conveyed 
 to the lower part of the body." 
 
 The herring when it leaves the egg is about as thin 
 as a ribbon, and almost as transparent as the water 
 in which it swims. In Scotland the smallest fully 
 matured herring measure 215 millimeters, whilst 
 on the coast of Norway they measure 225, and are 
 supposed to reach their full size in their fourth year. 
 That the herring is exceedingly prolific may be 
 readily supposed from a consideration of the vast 
 quantities which, having escaped the many egg- 
 devourers, are yearly destroyed by their ever vigilant 
 enemies. The quantity of herring taken in the 
 thousands of miles of netting spread for them by all 
 the fishermen engaged in their capture is but small 
 in comparison with what is destroyed by birds and 
 fish. When herring take to the deep water, they 
 
22 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 are hunted by the cod-fish and other deep swimmers ; 
 while, if they rise to the top, surface swimmers and 
 sea birds follow them as long as they remain in sight. 
 If the herring were not possessed of enormous re- 
 productive powers, they would long ago have become 
 as extinct as the dodo. 
 
 Frank Buckland, in his Report, gives the following 
 table as the result of his calculation of the number 
 of eggs carried by the female : 
 
 No. 
 
 Weight of Fish. 
 
 Weight of Roe. 
 
 No. of Eggs. 
 
 I 
 
 4|oz. 
 
 I OZ. 
 
 29,280 
 
 2 
 
 6f 
 
 If 
 
 51,240 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 I 
 
 29,280 
 
 4 
 
 4i n 
 
 1,, 
 
 21,960 
 
 Bloch, in his history of the herring, computes the 
 number at 68,000 ; other ichthyologists give from 
 21,000 to 36,000. M. de la Blanchere gives 70,000; 
 the great difference between the numbers stated 
 above may, perhaps, be reconciled if we suppose the 
 examples to have been taken from fish of different 
 ages. 
 
 In the very interesting report referred to above, 
 Frank Buckland quotes Dr. Letheby's chemical 
 analysis of the herring, in comparison with beef as a 
 food, and makes a calculation of its enormous value 
 to the population. According to Dr. Letheby's cal- 
 culation, beef contains 1,854 grs. carbon, and 184 grs. 
 nitrogen ; herrings, 1,435 grs. carbon, and 217 grs. 
 nitrogen. According to this, the herring is inferior to 
 
DESCRIPTION OF HERRING. 23 
 
 beef as a heat producer, but is much richer as a flesh 
 former. Following Buckland's method of reckon- 
 ing three fresh herrings to one pound, and eight 
 pounds to the stone, and an average bullock at sixty 
 such stones, and comparing the price of butcher's 
 meat with the price of herrings, the advantage is 
 immensely on the side of the fish. Taking beef at 
 an average, say of I2d. per pound, and three fresh 
 herrings, which, as a rule, will weigh one pound, at 
 4<^., the cost of beef is three times greater than that 
 of herring. The difference in value to the nation, 
 when we are dealing with such large totals, is well 
 worthy of the very serious consideration of those 
 who may have it in their power to develop and 
 encourage such a grand source of wealth. Reckoned 
 on this basis, one last of herrings is equivalent to a 
 fraction over nine bullocks. The quantity of herrings 
 landed at Yarmouth during the regular fishing seasons 
 for the last ten years, excluding the spring and 
 summer fisheries, amounts to 149,152 lasts; or 
 reckoned in bullocks, it gives the enormous number 
 of 1,367,226, or an average of 136,722 bullocks per 
 year. The demand for herrings, both from abroad 
 and at home, increases year by year, side by side 
 with increased facilities of transport. More railways 
 on the Continent mean more markets ; cheaper 
 freights mean larger demands for the silvery wealth 
 circling the shores of Albion. When it is considered 
 that such a mass of food as the above is won out of 
 the waters by the crews fishing from the single port 
 of Yarmouth, during the short season of four months 
 
24 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 in the year, and the cheapness of the herring as a 
 food when compared with flesh foods raised on land, 
 the value from a national point of view of the herring 
 fisheries round the British coasts cannot be over- 
 estimated. 
 The following table may interest the reader : 
 
 Number of herrings caught in Scotland 
 
 in 1882, on the east coast, including 
 
 the Lewis and Bara early fishings . . 584,578,400 
 At Great Yarmouth, not including spring 
 
 or summer fishings 224,400,000 
 
 * Exported from Norway, Sweden, France, 
 
 and Holland to three Baltic ports . . 140,128,500 
 
 Total . . . 949,106,900 
 
 As the writer has no statistics for Whitby, Scar- 
 borough, Grimsby, and the frequent other fishing 
 stations on the English coast, the reader will under- 
 stand that the figures given above by no means re- 
 present the total catch of herrings ; they are given 
 simply with a view of indicating the probable magni- 
 tude and value of this one particular industry. 
 
 * Statistics give these in number of barrels. Norwegian 
 barrels run from 450 to 550 per barrel ; a mean of 500 per barre 
 has been taken for this. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 BOTTOM-OF-SEA INFLUENCE ON 
 HERRING. 
 
 iHE character of the bottom of the 
 sea exercises a very material influ- 
 ence upon its vegetable life, and, con- 
 sequently, upon the kind of fish 
 frequenting its waters ; and not only 
 the character of the bottom, as to 
 whether it be clay, sand, gravel, or rock, but also its 
 configuration. The bottom of the sea, like the sur- 
 face of the land, has its hills and valleys, its broad 
 flat plains and its dark gullies, its steep ridges and its 
 deep channels, the different kinds of fish finding in 
 these differences of the bottom that which suits their 
 own habits best. The herring has its favourite swims, 
 which are as sharply defined as the bottom is strongly 
 marked. Mr. Boeck, during the time he was com- 
 missioned by the Norwegian Government to examine 
 the herring fisheries, made certain experiments by 
 placing nets in the Channel between Roaer and Faeo, 
 and stretching towards Hauskeskaer ; and another 
 
26 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 chain, the greater part of which stood on rocks, with 
 only one end of it reaching the channel. He found 
 the nets placed in the channel caught a large number 
 of herrings, while those on the rocks caught none, 
 except in that portion touching the channel ; and he 
 draws attention to the "large level places at the 
 bottom of the sea covered with rough gravel, which 
 in calm weather are the herrings' favourite spawning 
 places." He raised with the dredge large lumps of 
 roe and gravel intermixed, and he notices that "in 
 these places the largest number of herring is invari- 
 ably caught." In other places, frequented by the 
 herring in spawning time, large masses of spawn 
 have been dragged up from the bottom in the form 
 of thick cakes, likened to tapioca pudding, and fisher- 
 men often find the spawn sticking to their nets, which 
 it does by means of a glutinous substance which 
 hardens soon after being extruded from the fish. 
 In Scotland, herring spawn in August to Septem- 
 ber ; on the east coast of England from September to 
 October and November ; and in the English Channel 
 later still in the autumn. 
 
 Herring are known as hard and soft roed : the hard 
 roe being the female, and the soft the male. The roe 
 is composed of thousands of small eggs, while the 
 milt is the fertilizer. When the spawn (the roe) is first 
 extruded, it is found covered with a sticky substance 
 which, as the eggs fall to the bottom, or come into 
 contact with other substances, causes them to adhere 
 firmly. Their period of development depends largely 
 upon temperature : in cold weather they take eighteen 
 
BOTTOM-OF-SEA INFLUENCE ON HERRING. 27 
 
 days, while in warm they may take no more than 
 six days. In the Baltic, with its lower temperature, 
 it is said they do not leave the egg in less than forty 
 days. Referring again to the reports issued by the 
 United States Government, "The development of the 
 egg can easily be observed with the naked eye. As 
 soon as the little fish begins to form inside the egg, 
 the two eyes are distinctly seen in the otherwise trans- 
 parent egg, like two black dots." The body of the fish, 
 when hatched, is as transparent as the water, which 
 enables it to escape some of its argus-eyed foes. For 
 a time after being hatched the abdominal cavity is still 
 filled by what may be called the yolk, during which 
 time it requires no other food, but lies about at the 
 bottom, making curious little jerky movements. In 
 the course of a few days, when the yolk has been 
 absorbed, the little creatures begin to swim about in 
 shoals with wide-open mouths, eager to become better 
 acquainted with their portion of the universe, which 
 they find in the embryo of gasteropods, etc., with which 
 they quickly fill themselves for near their whole length. 
 When they have passed their first stage, which may 
 be called the larva, that is, the " baby," they begin to 
 put on their shining silver armour; but being yet 
 only juveniles, and everything new to them, they keep 
 the even balance of their scales by deserting the now 
 dangerous shallow waters for the deeper seclusion of 
 their progenitors. Here the gay young knights 
 develop into the " middle form," at which time they 
 are generally very fat. From this they are promoted, 
 by the law of seniority, to the rank known as " ma- 
 
28 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 ture," when they enter upon the serious duties of life, 
 making preparations for the fulfilment of the respon- 
 sibilities of their being. They are supposed to reach 
 their full size in their fourth year, when, having thus 
 far escaped their numerous enemies, their experience 
 gives them some little chance in life, not much, 
 however, while curing-houses exist. 
 
 Herring feed mostly on small crustaceans, which 
 inhabit various localities in myriads, and also on crab 
 spawn, sea-lice, and eels, shrimps, small fry of other 
 fish, not always sparing their own offspring. At 
 certain seasons they feed on small oily aquatic ani- 
 mals, at which time they are no more fit for human 
 food than an alderman, save among sharp-set canni- 
 bals. The herring is gregarious, swimming in shoals 
 that may be likened to the regiments of an army on 
 the march : the smaller schools of a given locality 
 gathering together to form this grand army, the 
 whole being led by the larger and stronger fish, the 
 weaker falling back to the rear, where they become a 
 prey to the demon dog-fish and whales, which hang 
 about the skirts of them. They all swim in the same 
 direction. If, for any reason, the leaders turn, the 
 school makes the same movement. As a rule, they 
 move in a straight, or slightly-curved, line ; but 
 sometimes they wheel about, when those in the centre 
 remain stationary, while the outer members pass 
 through the water rapidly. When they move swiftly 
 in large masses, a peculiar glitter is produced upon 
 the surface of the water, called by fishermen " herring- 
 light." The old amphibious Norseman, half fisher- 
 
BOTTOM-OF-SEA INFLUENCE ON HERRING. 29 
 
 man and half warrior, took a lesson from the herring 
 when, leaving the "briny deep," he went on the 
 war-path, marching, as it occasionally does, in wedge 
 form. About the spawning season the school at 
 times attains such large dimensions as to be known 
 as " herring mountain." They enjoy fine weather as 
 well as other creatures, manifesting their pleasure by 
 sporting about at the surface, and beating the water 
 with their dorsal fins, splashing each other with 
 showers of spray. Fishermen call this " the play of 
 the herring," and consider it a favourable sign for 
 their fishing. Herring very seldom, save in excep- 
 tional circumstances, live in solitude. Swedish fisher- 
 men refer to a variety met with on their coasts, which 
 they call " the wandering herring," the arrival of 
 which is observed with displeasure. It has the repu- 
 tation of being among herrings what the " rogue " is 
 among elephants, it does no good to anybody, but 
 chases better company away. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MIGRATION AND DESTRUCTION OF 
 HERRING. 
 
 ^ERRINGS sometimes migrate to 
 places with which fishermen would 
 be glad to become acquainted. 
 Fisheries which have been profitable 
 for years have suddenly ceased, and 
 again been abundant, and again 
 ceased. That they should, when they find a given 
 locality deficient in food, seek like others to better 
 their lot in life, is only reasonable ; and it is only 
 reasonable, also, to conclude that their enemies, in- 
 creasing through becoming thoroughly acquainted 
 with their haunts, make their residence too hot for 
 them. Many fishermen believe that every fish that 
 swims, as well as the birds of the air, live off the 
 herring ; and no wonder if they do, seeing what a 
 delicate morsel it is, fit for the palate of kings if un- 
 spoiled by outlandish cookery. Fishermen fishing 
 with long line in the deeper water often take cod-fish 
 with several herrings in them ; dog-fish hunt them 
 
 30 
 
MIGRATION AND DESTRUCTION OF HERRING. 31 
 
 like packs of wolves ; the whale with wide gaping 
 mouth skims the sea and fills himself with the cream 
 of it. The shark, the salmon, and the cuttle-fish take 
 their bite, certainly no mean one. Frank Buckland 
 makes an interesting calculation of the loss inflicted 
 by the cod-fish and the ling below, and by the 
 gannet above. He says : " It is a very common 
 thing to find a cod-fish with six or seven large 
 herrings, of which not one has remained long enough 
 to be digested, in his stomach. If, in order to be 
 safe, we allow a cod-fish only 2 herrings per diem, 
 and let him feed on herrings for only seven months 
 in the year, then 2 herrings x 210 days = 420 herrings 
 as his allowance during that time. In round numbers, 
 3,500,000 cod, ling, and hake were taken in Scotland 
 alone in 1876. It would be a great exaggeration to 
 suppose that one cod was taken out of every twenty 
 in the sea ; but assuming that five per cent, of the cod 
 in the sea were actually caught, 70,000,000 cod, ling, 
 and hake must have existed off the coasts and islands 
 of Scotland. If, however, each of these 70,000,000 
 cod, ling, and hake consumed 420 herrings a year, they 
 must together have consumed 29,400,000,000 herrings, 
 or twelve times more than all the herrings caught by 
 Scotch, English, Irish, Dutch, French, and Norwegian 
 fishermen put together; and nearly thirty-seven 
 times as many herrings as are taken by Scotch fisher- 
 men alone." Following the same method of calcula- 
 tion, it is estimated that the gannets upon Ailsa 
 Craig number not less than 10,000, and that they 
 destroy 21,600,000 herrings per year; and on the 
 
32 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 assumption that there are fifty gannets in the rest 
 of Scotland for every one on Ailsa Craig, the Scotch 
 gannets alone consume 1,110,000,000 herrings. 
 
 Estimated destruction of herring off 
 
 the coasts of Scotland by cod, 
 
 ling, and hake 29,400,000,000 
 
 By gannets 1,110,000,000 
 
 Total . 30,510,000,000 
 
 or meat-food equivalent to over 21,000,000 bullocks 
 destroyed by only four enemies of the herring. This 
 destruction refers to only one small portion of coast 
 washed by the North Sea ; if we add to this the 
 enemies frequenting the long line of Norwegian 
 coast, with its numerous rocky islands and points 
 jutting out into the sea, such as wild fowl love to 
 inhabit, the above total sinks into insignificance. In 
 1877, according to reports furnished to the United 
 States Fishery Commission, the number of cod-fish 
 taken by Norwegian fishermen were : 
 
 In the LofFodon Islands 29,500,000 
 
 Other fisheries of the North 4,500,000 
 
 At Finmark 17,500,000 
 
 At Sondmore, Romsdal, Nordmore . . . 8,500,000 
 Estimated yield of smaller fisheries along 
 
 the coast 7,500,000 
 
 Total . 67,500,000 
 
 The above total does not include the cod fisheries of 
 Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, for which estimates 
 are not at hand. Estimating upon the same basis 
 as before, that for every cod-fish taken twenty have 
 
MIGRATION AND DESTRUCTION OF HERRING. 33 
 
 been left in the sea, there must have been off the 
 Norwegian coasts 1,350,000,000 cod-fish, and it is 
 in evidence that as soon as the herring makes its 
 appearance off the coast, cod-fish will leave off feed- 
 ing upon anything else, and at once greedily pursue 
 the glittering silver herring ; in fact, so fond of herring 
 are cod-fish, that when fishermen bait their hooks 
 with old salt herring in place of fresh, when this is 
 not at hand, the cod will snap at the salt rather than 
 have none at all; and should the herring make off 
 from the coast, the cod follow them, for which reason 
 cod-fishing seasons are sometimes prematurely closed, 
 and the fishing spoilt. The cod greedily fills himself 
 with herring ; and as he quickly loses his lean con- 
 dition and gets fat on it, it will be well within the 
 mark to allow every cod 6 herrings per day. Accord- 
 ing to evidence, as before stated, collected by Frank 
 Buckland, that quantity has been found undigested 
 in its stomach when caught ; and allowing him to 
 feed at this rate for only 30 days in the year, we get 
 the enormous total of 243,000,000,000 herrings de- 
 stroyed by only one of its enemies in the short 
 space of one month along this line of coast. This 
 quantity if put into railway trucks, such as are used 
 to carry herrings from Yarmouth to the interior 
 markets in England, would require 4,602,272 trucks, 
 or over 153,000 trains of 30 trucks to the train. 
 With engines, tenders, and brakes this reaches the 
 aggregate length of 16,300 miles, or united end to 
 end would stretch considerably over half-way round 
 the world. This alone, without counting the herring 
 
 c 
 
34 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 destroyed on the British coasts, would give 19 
 herrings, equal to 6 Ibs. meat food, for each member 
 of the population of the United Kingdom for every 
 day in the year. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Herrings destroyed by cod, ling, and 
 
 hake off Scotch coasts .... 29,400,000,000 
 
 By gannets. 1,110,000,000 
 
 Norwegian cod ........ 243,000,000,000 
 
 Total . 273,510,000.000 
 
 A total which, if translated into bullocks, would 
 make a herd numbering nearly one hundred and 
 ninety millions. In addition to these are the dog- 
 fish, the whale, coal-fish, porpoise, seal, pollack, cuttle- 
 fish, salmon, and shark, with myriad clouds of wild 
 birds not included, all of them implacable hunters of 
 the herring, whose devastations it would be impos- 
 sible to estimate. We may safely assume that the 
 herrings captured by all the fishermen engaged in 
 the North Sea do not amount to the thousandth 
 part of the number destroyed by enemies which have 
 not, in comparison, one tenth of their value. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 FISHING IMPLEMENTS AND MODE OF 
 CAPTURE. 
 
 THE nets used for 
 catching herrings 
 vary in length and num- 
 
 ber of mesh, according to the 
 waters fished and mode of fishing. 
 Thus, in the Bay of Soraka, in the White 
 Sea, during the winter months, holes are made 
 in the ice for the nets, which range from 1 12 to 245 feet 
 long, by 17 to 28 feet deep ; while their autumn fish- 
 ing is done with nets 56 feet long, which are attended 
 by a couple of boats, each manned by three men, the 
 nets that are hauled in from the shore being from 
 350 to 700 feet long. In Sweden nets are used vary- 
 ing from 35 to 120 fathoms long, by 12 to 26 yards 
 deep, meshes ranging from 1 8 to 24 to the yard. In 
 Deep Sacke Bay the nets are from 40 to 45 fathoms, 
 by 8 to 10 fathoms deep, 30 meshes to the yard. In 
 Scotland nets run 60 yards by 18 to 20 deep, with 
 meshes varying from 33 to 42 to the yard, and their 
 boats carry from 40 to 80 nets, which are now gene- 
 rally made of cotton, This being about half the 
 
 35 
 
36 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 weight of hemp, allows a boat to carry double the 
 length of net formerly used. The substitution of 
 cotton for hemp will be seen to be of great import- 
 ance when it is noted that at the Lewis and Bara 
 fishing, in Scotland, last year (1882), there were 1,300 
 boats engaged ; so that at a moderate computation 
 they spread nearly 2,000 miles of netting, instead of 
 half that quantity ; and off Fraserburg, on a good 
 night, there will be 1,000 miles of net set. 
 
 Yarmouth boats are considerably larger than the 
 Scotch, and carry more nets and hands. The original 
 cost of a first-class drifter of the largest size (Yar T 
 mouth), hull and spars, ready for sea, ranges from 
 1,000 to 1,200; to this must be added nets and 
 fishing gear, which increases her total by from 400 
 to 500 more. The same remarks apply also to the 
 Lowestoft boats, many of which, from the greater 
 number of herring buyers, frequent the Yarmouth 
 haven in preference to their own. These boats ave- 
 rage twelve hands eleven men and one boy each. 
 During the season of 1882 there fished from Yarmouth 
 some 400 Yarmouth boats of from 15 to 40 tons; 200 
 under 15 tons; 150 boats from Lowestoft ; 250 from 
 Scotland, and some 30 from other places, more than 
 1,000 boats, employing about 1 1,000 souls, and spread- 
 ing over 2,000 miles of net. Yarmouth boats carry 
 from 100 to 1 80 nets, which measure 30 yards by n 
 yards deep, with 32 meshes to the yard. Thus a single 
 boat, according to her size, spreads from I J to 3 miles 
 of net. 
 
 In July the Yarmouth herring boats are busy 
 
FISHING IMPLEMENTS-MODE OF CAPTURE. 37 
 
 making their preparations for the North Sea fishing, 
 which begins in August. During the winter months, 
 after the closing of the herring season at Christmas, 
 the stronger boats have their masts and rigging taken 
 out of them, and others of an entirely different design 
 put in, suitable for another class of fishing, called 
 trawling. Others are hauled up high and dry in the 
 ship yards, where they are thoroughly overhauled, 
 the previous season's damages repaired, and the boats 
 brightened up with another coat of paint. In due 
 course they take to their native element again, when, 
 fitted with their gear, salt, and stores, and with 
 their crews aboard, the boats are speedily towed by 
 steam tugs out of the haven into the roads, presenting 
 a lively and picturesque scene. The larger boats 
 make for the Dogger Bank, while the smaller do not 
 go out so far, but fish about the Great Silver Pit, or 
 nearer to the land. On arrival at their intended fish- 
 ing-ground, the nets are shot (put overboard). With 
 a favourable breeze the nets are shot over the waist 
 (side), the warp i.e. the strong rope to which the 
 nets are secured along their upper side by finer lines, 
 which regulate the depth at which the nets are to be 
 sunk passes over the stern, and the boat, sailing away 
 from the spot, the length of nets is passed into the 
 water, and the mast lowered. If the weather is too 
 rough for this mode of shooting, the mast is first 
 lowered, and then the nets " tumbled " over the waist 
 as before ; but the warp is paid out over the bows, 
 and the boat drifts away from the spot where the first 
 nets entered the water. By these means the one and 
 
38 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 a half to three miles of netting carried by the boat are 
 stretched out in a long straight line, the upright 
 position of the nets in the water being maintained by 
 buoys, called bowles, and cork floats secured to their 
 upper edge, while their own weight causing them to 
 sink preserves them in the form of a long perforated 
 wall. A few more fathoms of warp are paid out, to 
 which the boat swings, and nets and boat together 
 drift with the current or tide. The boat, being more 
 susceptible to the wind cr current than the nets, 
 maintains a constant strain upon them, which keeps 
 the nets in an even, extended line, and so prevents the 
 wash of the waves from causing them to foul one an- 
 other. A watch of two men is set, relieved every two 
 hours, and the regulation light put up. The nets are 
 tried every two hours, by hauling up two or three of 
 them.; and as soon as they are thought to show fair 
 signs of capture, they are hauled in by steam gear, 
 if the boat has it ; if not, by four men, who in their 
 tramping round and round walk some eight miles, 
 the other hands being engaged, each in his appointed 
 place, attending to the nets and fish as both are being 
 got on board. Should the nets, after hauling has 
 begun, show signs of the catch getting poorer, the 
 remaining nets are not hauled, but those already in 
 are again shot. In the event of a material change of 
 wind occurring after the nets are shot, the whole fleet 
 of boats is obliged to haul in the nets as quickly as 
 possible, and re-shoot ; otherwise the many miles of 
 net out would soon get into inextricable confusion, 
 resulting in great loss. 
 
FISHING IMPLEMENTSMODE OF CAPTURE. 39 
 
 Occasionally a single haul is sufficient to send the 
 boat dancing, as fast as wind and weather will let her, 
 into port, which may be Whitby, Scarborough, Grims- 
 by, or Great Yarmouth, according to the particular 
 ground the boat has been fishing, and the direction 
 of the wind. As the herrings draw nearer the coast, 
 coming farther south, the boats follow them, fishing 
 the Great Silver Pit, the Coal Pit, the Little Silver 
 Pit, working their way south, taking in Smith's Knoll 
 and neighbourhood, finishing the season a little south 
 of Lowestoft a day or two before Christmas, by which 
 time, as the herrings have completed their spawning, 
 the boats lose them. The Scotch boats which come 
 up for the Yarmouth season, being smaller, and carry- 
 ing nets of a lighter thread, do not go out so far, but 
 fish just off the Yarmouth sands, and run into port 
 with their fish fresh. 
 
 When the larger boats approach the Yarmouth 
 roadstead with their silvery freight, steam tugs, which 
 are constantly on the watch, tow them up to the 
 fish wharf; for if they have any fresh herrings on 
 board, it is especially needful to get these to the 
 market as quickly as possible, while they are yet in 
 their primest condition, as they are wanted for the 
 best class of bloaters ; consequently the prices paid 
 for such "stuff" is frequently three times as much 
 as is paid for "salt stuff." On arrival at the fish 
 wharf, " tellers " (men who count the herrings), step 
 on board, and count the fish into light wicker baskets, 
 each basket as it is filled is passed on shore to the 
 mate, who empties it into larger baskets of a different 
 
40 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 shape, called " swills," which hold five of the smaller 
 ones, that is, five hundred herrings ; twenty of these 
 swills making a " last." 
 
 At this point the herrings come into the charge 
 of the fish salesman, who sells them by auction. As 
 previously noted, herrings, when on the march, occa- 
 sionally move in such close and compact order, and 
 with their outer lines so sharply defined, that nets 
 
 YARMOUTH TROLLY FOR CARRYING FISH. 
 
 shot within a few fathoms of each other differ very 
 widely in their catches. Sometimes a single haul 
 will give such a large quantity of fish that the boat 
 at once sets sail for her port. In 1882, the " Snaefell," 
 of Yarmouth, made such a haul, taking i8f lasts, or 
 247,000 herrings. The largest number landed, during 
 the same season, as the fruit of a single voyage, which 
 may include the shooting and hauling of the nets 
 several times, was brought in by the "Corisande," 
 
FISHING IMPLEMENTS-MODE OF CAPTURE. 41 
 
 which landed 2/J lasts, or 363,000 herring ; but such 
 takes are quite exceptional. 
 
 The harvest of the sea differs very materially from 
 that of the land. When the season for in-gathering 
 comes round, the farmer, as he watches the weather 
 day by day, can form something of an estimate as 
 to the probable result of his labours. He may insure 
 his growing crops against loss by hail ; but the harvest 
 of the fishermen swims fathoms deep out of sight, 
 and no office will grant him an insurance policy upon 
 it until he has gathered it in, when he does not need 
 it. The fisherman may insure, at a considerable 
 premium, the hull and spars of his boat, but no office 
 will insure his nets, which may be torn to pieces by 
 some of the larger fish, or lost through storms ; 
 happy is he if he only loses his nets. Storms 
 in the North Sea are frequent and bitter, rising 
 suddenly, and often compelling the boats, though 
 fish may be abundant and the nets just shot, to leave 
 their nets and seek a place of shelter without delay. 
 November, which should give the largest and best 
 yield of herring to the Yarmouth fishermen, may be, 
 as in 1882, one continued succession of gales, not 
 enough to drive the fish quite away, but sufficient 
 to spoil the fishing in the very month when the fish 
 are at their best, and when they should be most 
 plentiful. Some years ago the Government sent out 
 an expedition to make a scientific investigation of 
 the bottom of foreign seas. The time occupied and 
 the distance traversed were considerable, and the 
 information gained very interesting to scientific 
 
42 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 minds; but, however interesting the results of the 
 few scratches made by the dredge here and there at 
 the bottom of the waters thousands of miles away 
 from the haunts of man may have been, they could 
 not equal in interest and value those which might 
 be gained by a thorough investigation of the North 
 Sea, if carried out upon a scale adequate to the 
 interests in view. The area known to fishermen 
 within which they find herring for a very brief period 
 is comparatively small ; and with all the experience 
 inherited, fishermen yet largely depend upon the 
 enemies of their wealth to show them where to find 
 it. Herring are migratory in the limited sense of 
 dwelling in one place and spawning in another ; the 
 knowledge that is wanted is, where do they dwell 
 after completing this operation ? While preparing 
 for this, herrings take little or no food ; so that when 
 they have emptied themselves of their burden, the 
 long, lean, hungry creatures, enfeebled by their 
 labours, must needs seek the friendly shelter of 
 deeper waters, where they quickly recover form, 
 when they would be again a valuable reward to the 
 fisherman. 
 
 If we draw a line from the Norwegian coast to 
 the Shetland Isles, and follow the coast lines of 
 Britain, France, Holland, and Jutland, carrying the 
 line along the Norwegian coast to the starting point, 
 we have a large basin which is a home of wealth 
 far beyond many gold fields. For want of informa- 
 tion, we fish but a small portion of this basin beyond 
 the Dogger Bank and its neighbourhood, and what 
 
FISHING IMPLEMENTS MODE OF CAPTURE. 43 
 
 may be called the lip of the basin ; the greater part 
 of the North Sea is practically unfished. If the 
 North Sea were divided into squares of moderate 
 size, and each square dredged and netted at different 
 depths each month of the year, careful note being 
 made of every fact, the configuration and the char- 
 acter of the bottom, its temperature, vegetable life, 
 and the fish frequenting its waters at the time, 
 whether at the bottom or at different depths ; the 
 stomach of the fish carefully examined to see what 
 it was feeding on when caught, a mass of facts would 
 be gained which would undoubtedly lead to such an 
 increase of wealth, in comparison with which our 
 present catch would seem but a trifle. The enemies 
 of our marine wealth, instead of being viewed as 
 friendly pilots showing us where we could get a bite, 
 would be regarded as vermin, and treated accord- 
 ingly. If such an investigation of the North Sea 
 were thought to be too great an undertaking for a 
 single Government, it is surely within the powers of 
 diplomacy to arrange with other countries to share 
 the glory of opening up such a grand source of 
 wealth to each, whose fishermen now reap less than 
 a tithe of the harvest at present hidden from them 
 in the deeper recesses and secret channels of the 
 North Sea. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HERRING CURING. 
 
 CCORDING to the spirit of the ancient 
 proverb, " having caught our hare " we 
 are in a position to submit its merits 
 to the good offices of the cook ; 
 but as this fish is such a very 
 delicate morsel, as good to eat as 
 it was beautiful to look at when it was caught in the 
 mesh of the fisherman's net, it is necessary first to 
 preserve its otherwise fleeting appetizing qualities. 
 This is done by submitting it to the friendly action 
 of salt or smoke, or both combined, which is accom- 
 plished in what are called " curing houses " or 
 " curing works." 
 
 A complete and well-arranged herring curing 
 works consists of lofty ranges of smoke houses, 
 spacious barfe houses, commodious chambers, pick- 
 ling pits, store houses for salt, etc., with cooperage, 
 stables, and comfortable dwelling-house for the fore- 
 man of the works. Each smoke house is divided 
 into "rooms" about 4 feet wide, and from 16 to 
 20 feet long, according to the depth of the house. 
 
 44 
 
HERRING CURING. 45 
 
 These rooms, however, are unlike those of dwelling- 
 houses, being formed by open partitions, which rest 
 upon strong baulks of timber spanning the house 
 from front to back, about seven feet from the brick 
 floors. The partitions consist of substantial studs 
 placed about four feet apart, reaching from the 
 baulks to the roof ; across these are fastened a series 
 of horizontal ledges at equal distances, running 
 parallel to each other from top to bottom, upon 
 which the spits, strung with herrings, are hung, and 
 exposed to the currents of air and smoke as long as 
 requisite. These are called " loves ; " the word, 
 doubtless, being derived from the German word 
 "Luft," the //being softened into v, as in knife, knives : 
 the word means air ; " Luften," to expose to the air. 
 Oblong apertures are left in the walls at the ends of 
 the rooms when building the houses, and fitted with 
 moveable shutters to control the currents of air, and 
 to regulate the heat during smoking. Barfe houses are 
 spacious rooms with brick floors, in which the herrings 
 are received, salted, and washed. Spacious chambers 
 are provided for stowing the numerous empty 
 packages required, which are made between the fish- 
 ing seasons, in order that the people may be free to 
 attend solely to the work incidental to curing when 
 the fish come to hand. The pickling pits may be 
 likened to underground cellars, the walls and floors 
 of which are lined with cement, in order that they 
 may be watertight. They are covered with strong 
 planking resting on cross-beams, and are for storing 
 the fish not required for immediate use. Storage 
 
46 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 accommodation for salt, billet-wood, etc., is necessary. 
 After the fishing season is ended, the cooperage, 
 which has been silent and deserted during this time, 
 again resounds with the hammer, as the barrels for 
 another campaign are being made. Some curers, 
 however, employ local tradesmen to make these 
 packages, and therefore make no provision for work- 
 ing this branch of the business. As the process of 
 pickling herrings differs very essentially from the 
 process of smoking, it is advisable to carry it on in 
 separate premises, which should however, if possible, 
 for obvious reasons adjoin the other buildings. For 
 this purpose a spacious yard, with sheds round the 
 sides in which to store the empty barrels and do the 
 packing, and a store for salt, are necessary. Such 
 premises, including counting-house and other minor 
 but necessary offices, form a considerable block of 
 buildings. Visitors looking over such curing works 
 are struck by the heaps of herrings, the immense size 
 of the vats used for washing them, and the large 
 number of black-looking rods, about four feet long 
 and as thick as an average walking-stick, called spits, 
 upon which the herrings are to be strung. As the 
 herrings are brought in, they are salted and laid in 
 " cobs " (heaps) on the barfe-house floors, where they 
 remain until they have acquired the degree of salt- 
 ness for the purpose intended. They are then care- 
 fully washed in the large vats filled with fresh water, 
 and placed in " maunds " (large baskets) to drain ; 
 after which they are turned out into wooden troughs, 
 and the women, called " rivers," string them upon the 
 
HERRING CURING. 47 
 
 spits, hanging the spits, when full, on wooden racks 
 placed conveniently for the purpose, each spit holding 
 from 23 to 27 fish, according to their size. When 
 the "horses" (racks) are full, the men mount the 
 "loves," the hanger going to the top, one man re- 
 maining in the middle, and one near the bottom, and 
 with a foot on each " love," like the letter Y turned 
 upside down, they, receiving the spitted herrings from 
 the " rivers," pass them up to the hanger, who places 
 them about six inches apart on the ledges, beginning 
 at the top and working downwards. A good hanger 
 prides himself in so hanging his house that when 
 finished the roof may be seen through each row of 
 herrings from the floor. This operation completed, 
 the oak-billet fires are made on the floor, and the 
 smoking process begins ; this is varied according to 
 the market for which the fish are destined. 
 
 This part of the curing requires constant attention 
 by day and night. For special cures the intermediate 
 processes vary. When the herrings are sufficiently 
 smoked they are "struck" (passed down from the 
 loves), the men climbing up as before. They are 
 then put into packages, which vary in size and style 
 according to the cure or market for which they are 
 intended. For exportation strong barrels are used, 
 while for the home trade the lighter box or " ped " 
 (hamper) is adopted. The fish are rarely counted 
 into the packages except for special orders ; but so 
 regular is the packing, from long practice, that the 
 contents of a number of packages will vary very 
 slightly. 
 
48 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 When the packing is completed, the goods are 
 branded and forwarded to their intended destination. 
 To obtain the unrivalled " Yarmouth Bloater " in 
 perfection, a very careful selection of the qualities of 
 herrings, suitable for the purpose, must be made from 
 the different samples as the boats arrive with their 
 catches from sea, and removed to the curing premises 
 without loss of time. During the curing they must 
 be handled very gently, in order to avoid the loss of 
 scales, which easily become detached, and which would 
 detract from their appearance. 
 
 After a slight salting, they must be carefully 
 washed in abundance of fresh water, speedily spitted 
 and hung, so that the oak fires may with as little 
 delay as possible be lighted under them, as in this 
 state they are most susceptible to the pungency of 
 the smoke, which they quickly absorb ; this, com- 
 bined with their natural juices, produces the delicious 
 flavour of this " matchless breakfast delicacy." 
 
 Thus cured, they are easily affected by atmos- 
 pheric changes, and in very warm weather retain 
 their freshness only for a few days. They are not 
 packed till the latest possible moment, and should be 
 unpacked immediately upon arrival at destination, 
 and strung on a horizontal line separate from each 
 other, which will keep them good several days 
 longer. 
 
 From the nature and extent of the preservatives 
 absorbed by the higher cures, and the quantity of oil 
 and juice extracted from the fish during the various 
 processes which they undergo, they will keep good a 
 
HERRING CURING. 49 
 
 much longer time. The consumer should, however, 
 in all cases endeavour to obtain them direct from the 
 curing works, thus avoiding long packing and indis- 
 criminate storage, which tend to deteriorate their 
 flavour. 
 
 It sometimes happens that a roving young pilchard, 
 dissatisfied with the restraints of home life, and wan- 
 dering thence in search of adventure, like " the frog 
 who would a-wooing go," is caught in the nets, and, 
 unnoticed, is delivered to the curer among his her- 
 rings. His presence is, however, certain to be dis- 
 covered sooner or later, and when detected he is 
 seized by the workpeople, and immediately impaled 
 upon the outside of the lintel of a smoke-house door, 
 in order, according to ancient superstition, to drive 
 away others which may possibly be among the her- 
 rings then on the fishing-grounds. 
 
 To pickle herrings, the fish require to be salted 
 as soon as possible after being caught, in order that 
 their scales may be set, and their "freshness" pre- 
 served. Different methods are employed. In some 
 cases the fish are laid loosely into strong brine imme- 
 diately upon being caught, and afterwards taken out 
 and "gypped," i.e. the entrails and gills removed. 
 They are then passed through clean brine, and packed 
 in barrels, in layers, with salt sprinkled between each 
 layer. 
 
 Another plan is to " rouse " (turn over) the fish in 
 salt, and afterwards " gyp " them. 
 
 " Gypping " is done by women, called " gutters," 
 and consists in removing the gills and entrails in the 
 
 D 
 
50 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 following manner. The back of the herring is laid 
 in the hollow of the left hand, with its head projecting 
 about an inch beyond the fingers. The " gypping " 
 knife (a short, sharp-pointed blade firmly set in a 
 wooden handle) is held in the right hand, and its 
 point inserted into the throat of the fish, cutting 
 down to the backbone, and through to the other side, 
 when, by a dexterous movement of the fingers and 
 turn of the hand, the entrails and gills are removed. 
 
 After being " roused " in salt again, they are packed 
 in barrels, in layers extending across the barrel. Be- 
 tween each layer a small quantity of salt is sprinkled. 
 The barrels being filled, they are covered and left for 
 two or three days, when the fish will be found to have 
 settled. 
 
 The barrels are then filled up out of others of the 
 same day's packing, in order to preserve the uni- 
 formity of the parcel throughout ; they are then 
 headed down, and rolled away into tiers, where they 
 must be frequently examined, in order to ascertain 
 whether they retain their pickle, to supply any defi- 
 ciency, and to repair any leak that may be discovered. 
 
 The fish are packed as quickly as gutted, in order 
 that the juices they contain, and which contribute 
 largely to their ultimate flavour, may not be wasted. 
 
 When required for shipment, they are tightly 
 bunged, and the hoops examined to see that all is 
 right for the rough handling they have of necessity 
 to undergo during transit. Another plan is to pack 
 the fish without gutting them, in which case they 
 are well " roused " in salt, and immediately packed 
 
HERRING CURING. 
 
 in barrels, in layers as before, care being taken to 
 sprinkle the salt specially on the gills, in order to 
 prevent decomposition, which would otherwise quickly 
 set in from the blood held there. 
 
 When it is necessary to use the pickling pits, care 
 is taken to see that they are perfectly clean, and a 
 quantity of salt is sprinkled at the bottom before 
 putting in the herrings, which are first well " roused " 
 in salt on the floors, and well sprinkled with salt 
 as they fall into their place. When filled, the fish 
 are weighted to keep them below the pickle, and the 
 pits are examined every few days to add a further 
 supply of salt to take the place of that absorbed 
 by the fish. Herrings thus treated are eventually 
 packed into pickle barrels, or smoked, as occasion 
 requires. 
 
 YARE FISHERY WORKS. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 FOUNDING OF YARMOUTH. 
 
 " The Britons oft are wont to praise this place, for that through 
 
 all 
 
 The realm they cannot show the like ; and Yarmouth they 
 it call." 
 
 MANSHIP'S " History of Yarmouth " 
 (time, Queen Elizabeth). 
 
 " For here is the noblest fishery for herrings in Europe." 
 
 SIR H. SPELMAN. 
 
 'HE very seat of that town doth more 
 nearly and properly adjoin to that 
 part of the sea-coast, where now be 
 the fishing streams and the very sea 
 of herring, about the Feast of St. 
 Michael the Archangel, for more than 
 six hundred years, far above any other sea-coast town 
 within this realm of England, or in any part of the 
 world beside. It is undoubtedly true that, to make 
 a city or town populous, or rich, or great (next to the 
 blessing of the Almighty), is to have some merchan- 
 
 53 
 
54 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 disc in it that is in especial request, and vendable in 
 all places, and that is more excellent there than in 
 any place whatever; as cloves in Moluccas, salt in 
 Cyprus, wine in France, wool in England, velvet in 
 Genoa, cloth of gold and silver in Milan, scarlet in 
 Venice, and herrings in Yarmouth ; where they be so 
 excellently and artificially handled, dressed, and 
 trimmed, as not in any other place of the world. 
 What huge multitudes of people from all parts of 
 England, France, Holland, and Zealand resort thither, 
 and what store of herrings is here bought and sold in 
 that season ! Wherefore, concerning ' the herrings 
 there taken from the ist of September until the last 
 of November, which, swarming in sculls about the 
 shores, they are there garbaged, salted, hanged, and 
 dried, and by infinite numbers transported into the 
 Levant and Mediterranean seas, where they be very 
 good chaffer, and right welcome merchandise." 
 
 The site upon which the town of Great Yarmouth 
 stands was originally a sandbank, washed by the 
 waves of the sea, extending north and south parallel 
 to the mainland, from which it is divided by the 
 river Yare. This bank was first known as " Cerdick 
 Sand," from Cerdick, the Saxon having landed upon 
 it in the year 495, about which time the herring 
 fishery is supposed to have commenced. 
 
 Camden, as cited by Swinden, says : " Cerdick, a 
 warlike Saxon, landed here* ; whence the place at this 
 day is called by the inhabitants ' Cerdick sand,' and 
 by historians ' Cerdick shore.' When he had harassed 
 the Iceni with a very grievous war, he sailed thence 
 
FOUNDING OF YARMOUTH. 55 
 
 to the western parts, where he founded the kingdom 
 of the West Saxons." 
 
 The Saxons afterwards called the town built here 
 Garmud, or Jiermud, the Saxon d being pronounced 
 like our th. 
 
 The great value and importance of the herring 
 fishery off this coast, with the convenience of a con- 
 siderable sandbank, where the nets could be dried 
 and repaired, connected as it is by three rivers with 
 the interior, drew together in early times fishermen, 
 not only from British ports, but also from France, 
 Holland, Denmark, Flanders, and Zealand. Thus, 
 upon a barren sandbank for about forty days in the 
 year, were clustered painted tents and booths, in 
 which lodged buyers and sellers during what was 
 called the " herring fair." 
 
 Jeake's " Charter of the Cinque Ports," cited by 
 Swinden, says : " Hither resort the fishermen of the 
 ports, and other sea towns, every year in the fishing 
 season for herrings ; which by a wonderful and rare 
 providence, having their constant course once a year 
 round this island, about the autumnal equinox begin 
 to keep their quarters on these coasts. . . . And 
 now by pregnant probabilities, it is in my opinion 
 very clear, that from the landing of Cerdick, in Anno 
 495, now 1124 years past, this sand by defluxion 
 of tides, did by little and little lift its head above the 
 waters, and so in short time after sundry fishermen, 
 as well of this kingdom, viz., of the FIVE PORTS 
 (being then the principal fishermen of England), as 
 also of France, Flanders, and the Low Countries, 
 
56 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 yearly about the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, 
 resorted thither, where they continued in tents made 
 for the purpose by the space of forty days, about the 
 killing, trimming, salting, and selling of herrings to 
 all that hither came for that purpose ; whereunto did 
 resort the merchants of London, Norwich, and other 
 places to buy herrings during that season, and then 
 departed. ... So in short time after, as that 
 sand became firm land, and that thereby traffic began 
 more and more to be increased, men finding the same 
 to be a commodious place to dwell and inhabit in, 
 did for that purpose gather themselves together to 
 have a continual residence therein, and began to 
 build houses (' more comely and soon after superb ') 
 of which came streets, and of those streets this 
 flourishing township." 
 
 The frail tent gave place to the well built house, 
 and the six weeks' sojourn became a permanent resi- 
 dence. As the fame of this place as a fishing station, 
 during the six weeks that the season lasted, drew 
 together people from different countries, and of 
 opposing interests, it was found needful to provide 
 some kind of government to keep order, and to settle 
 disputes. The Barons of the Cinque Ports, being 
 the chief fishermen of England, were authorized to 
 send their bailiffs at the beginning of the " herring 
 fair," to "govern all that fishing season." At the 
 first, the Barons of the Cinque Ports, through their 
 bailiffs, had the sole government ; but, " by reason 
 of the constant increase of the inhabitants, and the 
 great concourse of fishermen, traders, and merchants 
 
FOUNDING OF YARMOUTH. 57 
 
 from many parts of England, Flanders, and Nor- 
 mandy, on account of the vast quantity of lenten pro- 
 vision manufactured here annually ; it pleased King 
 Henry the First, in the ninth year of his reign, to 
 invest with authority a proper magistrate, called in 
 Latin prcepositus, but in the dialect of those times 
 Le Provost. . . . Under this regimen, Yarmouth 
 flourished about one hundred years; till the reign of 
 King John," who granted the burgesses a charter 
 creating this ancient burgh into a free burgh, with 
 many immunities and privileges ; the town to pay 
 him and his heirs an annual rent of .55 for ever, 
 which amount was taken out of the customs of the 
 port, the town not being allowed to take any custom 
 of goods bought or sold in the market upon land. 
 
 The liberties formerly held by the barons, inter- 
 fering with those newly granted to the burgesses of 
 Yarmouth, "occasioned such horrid discords, war, 
 and confusion as the like perhaps never happened 
 for so long a time between any two places in the 
 British dominion, the whole nation being sometimes 
 alarmed with their debates, riots, and depredations 
 on each other." 
 
 To such an extent was this carried, that when 
 King Edward the First went to assist the Earl of 
 Flanders against the French, " the men of the ports 
 and Yarmouth, through an old grudge long depend- 
 ing between them, fell together and fought on the sea 
 with such fury, that notwithstanding the king's com- 
 mandment to the contrary, twenty-five ships of Yar- 
 mouth and their partakers were burnt." 
 
58 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 Another account states that thirty-seven ships were 
 greatly damaged, one hundred and seventy-one men 
 killed, and goods to the value of 15,356 "spoiled 
 and taken from them." 
 
 Disputes continued, more or less, until the time 
 of Queen Elizabeth, when matters were arranged 
 by commissioners, who, happily, were able to make 
 an award, deemed at the time satisfactory to both 
 parties; after which "they continued more mild and 
 friendly one towards another, till the year 1662;" 
 after which date no more bailiffs from the Cinque 
 Ports seem to have come to Yarmouth in any official 
 capacity. Queen Anne granted a new charter in the 
 second year of her reign, empowering the burgh to 
 choose a Mayor instead of bailiffs, and otherwise 
 bringing the Corporation into the " state it has ever 
 since continued." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HERRING FAIR. 
 
 HE " Herring Fair," as before ob- 
 served, lasted forty days, beginning 
 with the Feast of St. Michael. "And 
 to repress and prevent disorders 
 arising among the multitude upon 
 the sale and delivery of the herrings 
 brought ashore there, for want of a settled govern- 
 ment . . . the ports used to send thither yearly 
 certain men, as their baliffs, that during the time of 
 this herring fair they might abide there, and govern 
 all that fishing season. But the fishing trade con- 
 tinuing and proving profitable, once settled, quickly 
 is supposed to have built a town there ; or if built 
 before, so to enrich it as to procure thereto a govern- 
 ment by some portreeve or provost, and bailiffs, which 
 it had in the time of King Edward I., between 
 whom (the town bailiffs) and the port bailiffs contests 
 did arise ; these endeavouring to keep their ancient 
 jurisdictions, rights, and privileges ; and the other 
 to wrest them out of their hands, so that sometimes 
 
 59 
 
60 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 the ports have complained to their sovereigns for 
 redress and remedy, and yet sometimes been sufferers 
 by the outrage and insolence of the people." 
 
 It was ordered by the king that " whereas our 
 barons of the ports claim to have at Yarmouth royal 
 justice, and the keeping of our peace, doing royal 
 justice, together with our provost of Great Yarmouth, 
 in this form, that during the fair they shall have four 
 sergeants, whereof one to bear our banner, another 
 to blow a horn for to assemble the people (for pro- 
 clamation) to be heard the better, and the other two 
 to bear rods for to keep our peace, and these offices 
 they may do on horseback if they will." The bailiffs 
 who were deputed by the Cinque Ports to attend 
 the " herring fair " were termed " Bailiffs for Yer- 
 mouth," and they, "yearly upon the vigil of the 
 Feast of St. Michael, make their repair for Yermouth 
 aforesaid, unto a house which they do there hire for 
 that purpose (for one of their own there they never 
 had), bringing with them their learned counsel, a 
 town clerk, two sergeants bearing white rods, a brazen 
 horn sounder, one carrying a banner of the arms of 
 the ports, and a jailor, who being come thither many 
 times, the bailiffs of Yermouth within a few hours 
 after with the then new elects and some other of 
 their brethren do repair to their lodgings, and them 
 courteously do welcome and entertain." On the next 
 day, which would be St. Michael's, these strangers 
 repair to the church to hear divine service, the 
 "Yermouth" bailiffs sending for them to sit with 
 them, " which I term courtesy ; for place among them 
 
HERRING FAIR. 61 
 
 there, by right, they cannot challenge any." After 
 service they take a formal leave of each other. 
 Afterwards the "Vermouth" bailiffs, with their 
 brethren in scarlet robes, repair to the " toll-house," 
 where their justices, constables, and other officers 
 are sworn in, upon which the Cinque Port bailiffs 
 are sent for, who upon their entrance make a short 
 speech to show " who they be ; from whence, and 
 wherefore they do come thither, desiring to be re- 
 ceived ; " having shown their credentials, they are 
 "admitted to have place with the bailiffs of Ver- 
 mouth," their names are recorded, and after a little 
 other official business disposed of, the senior " Ver- 
 mouth " bailiff invites the whole company to dinner, 
 and his co-partner afterwards to supper, " where in 
 most friendly manner they the whole day do royally 
 feast, and be very merry together." In the following 
 week there is another "Court day" and more feasting, 
 the junior " Vermouth " bailiff providing an " elegant 
 dinner," to which the aldermen of the town, " their 
 brethren, with their wives, be solemnly invited." 
 The bailiffs of the Cinque Ports also return the com- 
 pliment, generously entertaining not only the prin- 
 cipal inhabitants of the town, but also of the neigh- 
 bourhood. " Supporting the expense in a plentiful 
 manner, they commonly bring sixteen or eighteen 
 hogsheads of excellent beer from home with them." 
 
 Two or three days before the departure of the 
 Cinque Port bailiffs, these, inviting their colleagues 
 of the town and " the substantialest sort of the in- 
 habitants of Vermouth, with their wives also, hold a 
 
62 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 great feast by way of requital, or of a kind farewell, 
 when all sorts of delicacies be provided, which may 
 be had for money." 
 
 In Edward III.'s reign complaint was made by the 
 Commons of the realm, " That the people of Great 
 Yarmouth do encounter the fishers bringing herring 
 to the said town in the time of the fair, and do buy 
 and forestall the herring before they do come to the 
 town. And also the hostelers of the same town ; 
 that lodge the fishers coming thither with their 
 herring, will not suffer the said fishers to sell their 
 said herring nor meddle with the sale thereof, but 
 sell them at their own will, as dear as they will, and 
 give to the fishers that pleaseth them, whereby the 
 fishers do withdraw themselves to come thither, and 
 so is the herring set at much greater price than ever 
 it was, to the great damage of our lord the king, of 
 the lords, and of all the people." Upon this a statute 
 was made, called the " Herring Statute," by which 
 it was ordained that no herring be bought or sold in 
 the sea, nor until the cable of the ship be drawn 
 to land. Fishers to be free to sell their herrings 
 to whom they will, without hindrance from their 
 hostelers or any other, but only between sunrise 
 and sunset. 
 
 No one to buy herring to hang in their houses at 
 a higher price than 4os. per last, " but less in as 
 much as he may." No one to go by land or by sea 
 to forestall herring, "but the herring shall come 
 freely, unsold, unto the haven." 
 
 " No pyker to make buying of fresh herring in the 
 
HERRING FAIR. 63 
 
 haven of Yarmouth betwixt the Feasts of St. Michael 
 and St. Martin" ; " no vessel called pyker, of London 
 nor of none other place, shall enter into the said 
 haven, to abate (pur encherir, to enhance or raise), 
 the fair in damage of the people." 
 
 All hostelers to be sworn before the wardens of 
 the fair to receive their guests well, to aid them 
 reasonably; and for every last of herrings, sold 
 through them to another, they were to receive forty 
 pence, and to be responsible for the payment by the 
 purchaser ; but on herrings bought for themselves 
 they were not to receive commission. The hundred 
 herring was fixed at six score, the last at ten 
 thousand. 
 
 Yarmouth people were to sell a last of red herrings 
 bought for 4Os. fresh, if sold within forty days, at 
 half a mark gain, and not above. London carriers 
 attending the fair were to carry a last of herrings 
 from Yarmouth to London for one mark, and not 
 above. 
 
 Two lasts of shotten herring to be sold for the 
 price of one of full. Two lasts of shotten red herring 
 to be sold one mark dearer than one last of full red. 
 "And that the same barons and bailiffs of Great 
 Yarmouth cause to be kept these present ordinances 
 in all points, and to be cried in every Sunday between 
 St. Michael and St. Martin's upon the pain to lose 
 their franchise." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TOWN WALL AND HAVEN MOUTH, AND THE 
 OLD TOWN. 
 
 N 1260 Henry III., upon petition of the 
 burgesses, granted them permission to 
 enclose the town with a wall and a moat, 
 but nothing of much importance seems 
 to have been done for many years. The 
 great plague which ravaged the town in 
 1349, swept off 7,052 souls, being most of the inhabit- 
 ants, reducing the trade and the town to a very low 
 condition. The wall was still unfinished 126 years 
 after the grant had been made. For the purpose of 
 building the wall the town was empowered to collect 
 a custom upon all goods imported and exported. 
 This was afterwards supplemented by voluntary con- 
 tributions from the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. 
 The wall contained a compass of about 2,238 yards, 
 having ten gates and sixteen towers. After finishing 
 the wall, a moat was made round the town, with 
 bridges at each gate ; the moat being deep and wide 
 
OLD YARMOUTH. 65 
 
 enough for boats to pass with their lading to any 
 part of the town. 
 
 Afterwards, when "great guns" came into use, the 
 town was further strengthened by mounts and rave- 
 lins, etc. In Henry VIII.'s reign the walls were still 
 further strengthened by being rampired, which work 
 was not completed until the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 
 when, in consequence of the sending out of the 
 Spanish Armada, the work of fortifying the town was 
 pushed on. A boom was also erected between the 
 two jetties across the haven, and two men appointed 
 to take charge of it, with instructions to have it 
 opened and shut at convenient times, but by no means 
 to leave it open during the night. 
 
 The sea has been for centuries waging a contest 
 with the river Yare, rejecting any acquaintance with 
 its waters by casting up a sandbank in front of what 
 should be its natural exit. This is the sandbank 
 upon which the town is now built. In consequence 
 of this antagonism between the fresh and the salt 
 waters, the river has been deflected out of its course ; 
 its principal channel, which entered the sea to the 
 north of the town, being entirely stopped, forcing the 
 waters to pass through the southern one. It might 
 have been hoped that the waters of the three rivers, 
 being confined to a single channel, the Yare would be 
 able to maintain, at least, an even contest with its 
 ancient antagonist ; but the sea had too many sands 
 in battalion order at hand, which it was continually 
 flinging forward, so that the mouth of the river, which 
 was between Gorton and Lowestoft, became so ob- 
 
 E 
 
66 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 structed that in the time of King Edward III. naviga- 
 tion became so dangerous "that few ships of burthen 
 could safely enter in, or go out." 
 
 This put a stop to the trade of the town, and the 
 people petitioned the king for liberty to cut a haven 
 nearer the town, opposite to Gorton, which was granted 
 them; but after considerable expense this only served 
 them twenty-six years. The sea got the better of 
 both people and river. Another petition was made 
 to King Richard II. to cut a haven still nearer the 
 town, and permission was given, as was also the right 
 to levy I2d. for five years upon every last of herrings, 
 brought into the town. Sixteen years later, A.D. 
 1408, this haven was rendered useless from the same 
 causes, and again resort was had to petition to 
 Henry IV., who granted the request, and bountifully 
 contributed, out of the customs taken at Yarmouth, 
 the sum of ;ioo per year for five years towards the 
 expenses, which sum was only received in part. This 
 haven was maintained successfully, but at great ex- 
 pense, for 100 years ; by which time the charges were 
 found to be insupportable. Some little help was 
 given by a remittance of " fifty marks parcel of their 
 fee-farm for the term of six years." Afterwards some 
 further help was given of a like character, as the town 
 had lost very much of its trade. In 1508 the people 
 petitioned King Henry VII. for liberty to cut out the 
 mouth of the haven much nearer unto the town than 
 the former. " This, with their own labour and ex- 
 pense, they maintained for twenty years, when, for a 
 fifth time, they became suitors for liberty to cut out 
 
OLD YARMOUTH. 67 
 
 another haven." " But stormy wind and sea prevail- 
 ing, the mouth of that haven . . . was choked." 
 The people became so impoverished by this continual 
 contest, that they could no longer support the charge 
 of keeping an open way to the sea, yet it was im- 
 peratively necessary that something should be done. 
 It was decided to sell some of the church plate, orna- 
 ments, and robes ; by these means, and by contribu- 
 tions from town councillors and aldermen, .1,816 
 was raised. With this sum, in the third year of 
 Edward VI., by the king's permission, the townsmen 
 began their sixth haven, this through mismanagement, 
 after considerable further expenses, was not completed 
 after eight years, and was obliged to be stopped up. 
 It was then determined to make the seventh and, 
 happily, the last attempt. This, after being begun, 
 was seriously damaged by the sea, upon which " The 
 town was advised to send for some experienced 
 workmen . . . whereupon by means of Henry 
 Manship . . . was brought over a certain Dutch- 
 man, a man of extraordinary knowledge and experi- 
 ence in works of that nature, called Joyse Johnson, 
 who was appointed to be the master of the works." 
 
 The work of makingthehaven was duly accomplished, 
 and although it has ever been a constant expense to 
 maintain the victory won, the victory has been gained 
 over the sea, though doubtless more might yet be 
 done to make the port of Yarmouth suitable for ships 
 of a much heavier tonnage than can at present gain 
 access to the harbour. The mouth of the haven is 
 protected by two piers jutting out into the sea at 
 
68 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 right angles to the previous course of the river. One 
 of them on the Suffolk coast, just under the Gorle- 
 stone cliffs ; the other on the Norfolk side upon the 
 sands. Both piers are of timber : the southern one 
 turns the river face to face to the sea, being mightily 
 strengthened by concrete packing. At this point the 
 slightest breeze is quite sufficient to provoke a re- 
 newal of hostilities, at which times the sea madly 
 charges both piers, more especially the southern one, 
 dashing over it with impotent rage. Joyse Johnson's 
 work, begun in 1568, remains to this day a record of 
 his honesty and of his wisdom. It has had to be 
 supplemented largely since then, as his plans were 
 not fully carried out, probably for the want of money ; 
 as the inhabitants for many years afterwards were 
 constant petitioners to the reigning sovereign for 
 help to maintain what had been won after such great 
 contest. 
 
 The town of Great Yarmouth is built upon the 
 east bank of the river Yare, at its junction with the 
 Bure, the Waveney having added its waters higher up. 
 Opposite the junction of the Yare and the Bure 
 stands the Parish Church, named after St. Nicholas, 
 built about 1123, by Herbert, surnamed "Losinga," 
 i.e. a " liar " ; who, on account of alleged simony, was 
 enjoined to build this church and others. The church 
 has three aisles, the middle one being the longest, 
 measuring within the walls 230 feet, the breadth of 
 the three aisles being 108 feet. The Norman tower 
 with Early English windows, and the spire, the fisher- 
 men's well-remembered landmark whilst yet far out 
 
"ROW 120." 
 
70 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 at sea, spring from the centre of the building. It is 
 said to be the largest Parish Church in the country, 
 its porch being larger than the Church of St. Lawrence 
 in the Isle of Wight. An organ was erected in it in 
 1545, but the one now in use was built in 1733, since 
 which time it has been several times enlarged, its 
 pipes now numbering over 3,000. 
 
 The town wall at the north rested upon the river 
 Bure, from which it proceeded east for a short 
 distance, thence south, and again east, so as to 
 enclose the Parish Church and yard, from which it 
 proceeded south, taking a curve almost parallel with 
 the river for a distance of somewhat over 4,500 feet ; 
 it then turned to tlie west, and rested upon the river 
 Yare. The town was thus protected on the west by 
 the river, and upon its other three sides by the wall. 
 
 The old town is built in blocks with exceedingly 
 narrow streets, called " rows," which are numbered 
 i to 145. The rows in some instances are less than 
 three feet wide, but generally they measure from four 
 to six feet. 
 
 On account of these narrow streets, which are 
 mostly paved with cobble stones, the old town has 
 been likened to a gridiron, the rows representing 
 the bars of the grid. In these rows are yet to be 
 found interesting relics of some of the houses of the 
 wealthy inhabitants of the olden time, the upper 
 storeys of which, occasionally projecting over the 
 lower walls, shut out considerable of the little sky 
 left by the narrow way. The houses of the well-to- 
 do of former days, situate in the rows, are now turned 
 
OLD YARMOUTH. 71 
 
 into warehouses, sail lofts, and smaller tenements for 
 the poor. The rows are still traversed by the old- 
 fashioned troll-cart, a long narrow vehicle without 
 sides, running on two low wheels. In order to 
 economise space, the wheels are placed underneath 
 the hinder part of the troll, which is higher than the 
 front, and very similar in appearance to the ancient 
 " British war-chariot " (see page 40). 
 
 Of course it is impossible for two of these to pass 
 each other, and the pedestrian must needs, on meet- 
 ing one, press into a doorway, or be content to 
 retrace his steps. Fortunately the town was not 
 dependent entirely upon the rows for means of pro- 
 gression, as these were intersected at right angles 
 by one or more wider streets, according to the width 
 of the town. The principal houses were built along 
 the quay side, which is over a mile in length, and for 
 a portion of its distance ornamented with an avenue 
 of trees. There the merchant prince watched from 
 his windows the vessel loading his herrings for the 
 sunnier skies of the Mediterranean, or his fishing 
 boats unloading their silvery spoils from the bleak 
 North Sea, or the dusky collier from Newcastle with 
 its black antidote to the familiar north-easter. 
 
 The greater portion of the town wall is now gone, 
 but there are several " bits," with an occasional tower, 
 yet preserved, welcome to the lover of the pencil as 
 affording an opportunity for securing a reminiscence 
 of a pleasant visit. The town possesses one of the 
 largest market-places in the country, covering nearly 
 three acres of ground. The market is well served 
 
72 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 and attended, especially during the visiting season, 
 when the thousands of strangers greatly add to 
 the liveliness of the scene. The market days are 
 Wednesday and Saturday. 
 
 SOUTH COAST TOWER. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 /I , MODERN ' TOWN. 
 
 N important feature of the modern 
 town is the New Town Hall, a red 
 brick and stone building in Queen 
 Anne style, freely treated, built at 
 an expense of 40,000 ; which was 
 opened by H.R.H. the Prince of 
 Wales, in 1882. It is built upon the site of a former 
 one, upon the quay facing the river. The toll-house, 
 in existence in 1261, situate in Middlegate Street, is a 
 very interesting relic of early times, with a front well 
 worth seeing. It is in a very good state of preser- 
 vation considering its age. It was used in after years 
 as a gaol, and was the scene of Sarah Martin's self- 
 denying labours ; who, in spite of her own poverty, 
 found means of visiting the prisoners, helping them 
 to a more human state of mind, and mitigating the 
 cruelty of the prison treatment usual to the times. 
 A few of the old houses still remain in the town, but 
 they are mostly hidden under modernized fronts ; one, 
 facing the river, reputed to have been built in 1596, is 
 supposed to be the one in which the death of 
 Charles I. was determined. Near the Parish Church 
 
 73 
 
THE OLD GAOL OR TOLL-HOUSE. 
 The Scene of Sarah Martin's Labours. 
 
 74 
 
MODERN TOWN. 75 
 
 is the Fisherman's Hospital (with a figure of Charity 
 in the square yard, and one of St. Peter under a cupola 
 over the inner gate), built by the Corporation one 
 hundred and eighty years ago, for the accommodation 
 of twenty old fishermen. The population of the town 
 at the last census numbered nearly 45,000 ; this is of 
 course largely supplemented in the summer months by 
 thousands of visitors. There are also churches and 
 chapels, with charitable institutions incidental to a 
 town of the size of Great Yarmouth. It is approached 
 by three lines of railway, two of which belong to the 
 Great Eastern Company, and one to the Eastern 
 Midland, and in summer time by steamers from 
 London. There is also a steam-packet service with 
 Hull and Newcastle. There are several points of 
 interest in the neighbourhood, as Somerleyton Park, 
 the seat of Sir Saville B. Crossley ; the old Roman 
 ruin of Burgh Castle ; Caister Castle, with its pictur- 
 esque tower ; and for those on fishing intent there 
 are the celebrated Norfolk broads. 
 
 The modern town occupies the space between the 
 old town and the beach, along which has been made 
 a magnificent marine parade over three miles long. 
 Here, facing the German Ocean, are the principal 
 hotels and fashionable lodging-houses, and the 
 splendid beach, the all-day-long delight of childhood 
 and the welcome invigorator of the wearied. 
 
 The beach begins at the harbour's mouth, some two 
 miles to the south of the town, and extends far away 
 to the north, being from 100 to 150 yards in width. 
 The sea at Yarmouth always presents a lively scene 
 
76 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 from the many vessels and steamers passing through 
 the roads, as well as from the numerous fishing 
 vessels belonging to the port. There are three piers, 
 and, during the season, the usual bathing-machines 
 and pleasure-boats. At the height of the season the 
 visitors number from twenty to thirty thousand ; and, 
 in addition to the regular season, there is a quieter 
 one extending up to Christmas. From its exposed 
 easterly situation, the coast of Great Yarmouth is 
 subject to fierce storms, especially during the winter 
 months, when wrecks are frequent and lives lost are 
 many : happily many are also saved through the cour- 
 age of the life-boat crews. But it is while following 
 their dangerous occupation far out in the North Sea 
 that our fishermen run their greatest risks, and where 
 so many lives are swallowed up by the cruel waves. 
 
 " But men must work and women must weep, 
 Though storms be sudden and waters deep." 
 
 In 1877 eighteen fishing vessels and 116 souls were 
 lost in a single storm, leaving 118 children, 55 widows, 
 and 12 aged parents unprovided for. 
 
 " For men must work and women must weep, 
 And there's little to earn and many to keep." 
 
 A special fund was raised, which was nobly con- 
 tributed to by London, to meet the severity of this 
 loss. There is a small permanent fund invested for 
 the benefit of the dependent survivors of those fisher- 
 men who have subscribed to it, but these only 
 number some 300. The Mayor of the town is the 
 chairman, and Mr. G. T. Watson, manager of the 
 
MODERN TOWN. 77 
 
 Sailors' Home, a fine building facing the sea, is the 
 Secretary, who would be glad to acknowledge con- 
 tributions for the relief of foreign as well as home- 
 born shipwrecked sailors. South of the town, upon 
 the Denes, so often covered by the brown swaths of 
 the fishermen's nets, there was built in 1817, in com- 
 memoration of Lord Nelson, a Norfolk man, a 
 lofty fluted Column, springing from a massive square 
 pedestal. The Column is surmounted by a ball rest- 
 ing upon caryatides, and above this is placed a fine 
 figure of Britannia. The Column is 144 feet high, 
 and is ascended by 217 steps. From the top may 
 be seen, in fine weather, Norwich Cathedral, and 
 a magnificent view of the roadstead with its pano- 
 rama of ships and steamers, the distant sea with 
 " ropes of smoke lacing the sky " against the horizon, 
 uncoiled by the far-away steamers hasting on to a 
 foreign port. 
 
 The Fish Wharf, upon which is built a large shed 
 750 feet long and 40 feet wide, was constructed in the 
 year 1869 for the better accommodation of those 
 engaged in the staple industry of the town. It is 
 situate a mile from the Town Hall, lower down the 
 river, just outside the south end of the town. In 
 front of the shed is a landing quay, 40 feet wide, 
 paved with granite cubes ; below this, at a distance 
 of something over 1,500 feet, and nearly opposite the 
 Nelson Monument, is a ferry to the village of 
 Gorlestone. All along this line of riverside during 
 the height of the season, herring boats are moored 
 with their noses to the quay, packed as closely as they 
 
78 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 can be placed; sometimes 
 even two and three boats 
 deep ; the herrings from 
 the outer tier being passed 
 in baskets over the decks 
 of the two inner ones ; the 
 boats alongside the wharf 
 delivering their herrings ; 
 while those lower down 
 the river, having freed 
 themselves from their 
 burden of fish, are again 
 busily engaged taking in 
 fresh stores preparatory 
 to their next voyage. Oc- 
 casionally during the sea- 
 son the whole of the space, 
 from the beginning of the 
 fish wharf to some dis- 
 tance beyond the ferry, is 
 occupied by boats deliver- 
 ing their catch of her- 
 rings; and the shed and 
 the wharf, with an aggre- 
 gate space of about 10,000 
 square yards, are covered with wicker baskets, called 
 swills, each holding five hundred fish, awaiting sale or 
 removal to the different curing premises. The boats, 
 as they complete their delivery of fish, have to seek 
 at once other quarters in the river, to make room for 
 those arriving with later catches. 
 
 NELSON'S MONUMENT. 
 
0ixr 10 C00k % 
 
 rng, 
 
 " Of all the fish of the sea, Herring is king." 
 
 " Herring in the land, 
 Doctor at a stand." 
 
 " Red Herring ne'er spake but e'en [once]: 
 Broil my back but not my weamb." 
 
 N former days, before new fashions had 
 led men astray, causing us to "take a 
 forgetfulness " of the worth of the herring, 
 it was not thought unworthy of a place 
 before kings and nobles. If it were the 
 denizen of some distant sea, found swim- 
 ming in solitude instead of in schools (which are 
 sometimes to be measured in miles), and if every 
 herring were sold at a crown per scale, it would doubt- 
 less be as highly prized as any other foreign novelty. 
 Its merits have long suffered an undeserved eclipse ; 
 but at length the delicacy of the bloater and the 
 savouriness of the ham-cure are again causing the 
 herring to be recognised as worthy of the attention of 
 all who estimate worth by quality rather than by cost. 
 
 79 
 
8o THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 The real Yarmouth bloater, which is in season from 
 August to December, is purposely cured with the 
 smallest possible modicum of salt and smoke, just to 
 retain the delicacy of the fresh fish for a few days ; 
 the slight smoking and salting adding to, as well as 
 preserving, the original flavour. Of course, with such 
 slight curing the bloater will not keep like the ham- 
 cure, which by the mode of its preparation acquires a 
 distinctive value of its own. It may be observed, 
 that by over-cooking this class of cure the fish be- 
 comes very dry, and consequently over-salt ; so that 
 palates which are very susceptible to this condiment, 
 should choose that mode of cooking which will keep 
 the fish from becoming dry. Acids, such as lemon, 
 cut up fat, and in this way assist digestion, bringing 
 this pleasant addition within the reach of those who 
 might otherwise find them indigestible. 
 
BLOATER CURE. 
 
 No. i. 
 
 Open the fish, remove the gut, and place on a dish 
 before the fire inside upwards. Toast a thin slice of 
 ham over the fish, and serve with lemon inside a ring 
 of mashed potatoes. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Cut off the head, and split the fish open down the 
 back. Take out the backbone and roe, or milt ; 
 grill, skin downwards without turning. Serve hot. 
 
 NO. 3. 
 
 Cut off the head, and draw out the gut without 
 opening the fish ; place on a gridiron over a clear 
 fire, turning occasionally. Serve hot, with pepper 
 and salt. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Should the fish be found too salt when cooked by 
 either of the previous methods, place it in front of a 
 quick, clear fire, whole, i.e. without removing the head 
 
 81 - 
 
82 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 or opening it ; turn occasionally, and when cooked 
 cut off the head, split open, and remove the roe or 
 milt Spread a little butter over the inside of the 
 fish, and squeeze a few drops of lemon upon it. Serve 
 hot 
 
 TO POT BLOATERS OR HERRINGS. 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 Open and place inside to inside in a dish as many 
 herrings as wanted, putting minced shallots, or bay- 
 leaves, and a sprinkling of flour between each herring. 
 Fill the dish with spiced vinegar. Bake very slowly 
 till the bones are soft Eat cold. 
 
 ROES AND MILTS, 
 No. 6. 
 
 When the roe or milt is not cooked with the her- 
 ring, it may be cooked and served as follows : 
 
 Grate the uncooked roe of a ham-cured herring 
 over hot buttered toast. 
 
 Break into a buttered frying-pan one egg for each 
 roe or milt ; place a roe or milt across each egg while 
 cooking. Eat with mustard and lemon. 
 
 Pound the roe in a mortar with an anchovy, and 
 serve with bread and butter, or hot buttered toast. 
 
 The hard roe of the ham-cured fish need not be 
 cooked, but cut into thin slices and eaten with toast 
 
COOKING. 83 
 
 or bread and butter. A little mustard is a pleasant 
 addition. This will be found a delicious relish for 
 tea. 
 
 HAM CURE. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Remove the heads and tails from two herrings, 
 split them, take out the roes or milts, and, placing the 
 insides together, fasten with skewers, one on each 
 side ; place on a gridiron over a clear fire for three 
 or four minutes, turning them several times. When 
 done, separate, and rub a little butter on the insides. 
 Serve hot with slices of lemon. Eat with mustard. 
 
 How to serve the roe or milt. See Recipe " Roes 
 and Milts," page 82. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 Cut off the head and tail, split open down the back, 
 take out the backbone, and gut, leaving in the roe or 
 milt. Take a thin slice of bacon, the size of the 
 opened fish, and lay it over the inside of the fish ; 
 broil through the bacon, turning the latter as needed. 
 Serve with slices of lemon, and mustard. 
 
 No. 9. 
 HORS D'OEUVRE. 
 
 . Take two or more herrings, cut off the heads and 
 tails, strip off the skin, and remove the backbone, and 
 gut. Place between the two herrings a small lump of 
 
84 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 butter, sweet herbs, or minced shallots, or mushrooms, 
 or pieces of bay-leaf. Sprinkle the whole with fine 
 bread crumbs, bind in buttered paper, and grill slowly, 
 or bake in moderate oven twenty minutes. Cut the 
 bandage, and serve in the paper with slices of lemon. 
 
 No. 10. 
 
 Fold a piece of paper once round the herring, and. 
 place it in the oven or broiler without removing the 
 head. Let it cook gently for fifteen minutes. Split, 
 serve with slices of lemon and cayenne. By this plan 
 the herring retains most of its oil. 
 
 No. ii. 
 For Those who Object to the Oil of the Fish. 
 
 Make incisions through the skin across the herring, 
 place on the gridiron over a quick fire for about three 
 to five minutes, turning frequently. Wipe off surplus 
 oil, and serve. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 Cut off the head, but do not open the herring. 
 Cook over or in front of a quick, clear fire for three 
 or four minutes ; turn frequently. When done, split 
 open, and serve hot. 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 Grill the herrings whole over a clear fire for about 
 four minutes. Cut off heads and tails ; open, remove 
 
COOKING. 85 
 
 gut and bone, lay on dish inside upwards, and place 
 on each fish a poached egg, and serve with parsley 
 round the dish. 
 
 No. 14. 
 
 Cut off the head, open, and remove the gut, place 
 in a dish ; cover with cold water' from eight to ten 
 hours, dry with a cloth, and grill over a clear fire ; 
 when done spread a little butter on the inside. Serve 
 with lemon and mustard. 
 
 No. 15. 
 
 Place the herring whole in a frying-pan full of boil- 
 ing water ; let it simmer from three to five minutes ; 
 remove, and dry before the fire ; cut off the head, and 
 serve with butter and mustard, and hot buttered 
 toast. 
 
 No. 1 6. 
 
 Place the herring whole in a dish of boiling water, 
 cover close, and let it remain for five minutes ; then 
 remove and grill for two minutes. Serve without 
 opening. 
 
 No. 17. 
 
 Remove the head and gut, cut the fish into lengths 
 diagonally, one inch wide ; place in a basin, and pour 
 on boiling water ; cover close. After standing about 
 five minutes place the pieces on a dish, dry in the 
 oven, and serve with butter and mustard. 
 
86 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 NO. 1 8. 
 
 MARINES. 
 
 After steeping the herrings in water a few hours, 
 according to their saltness, place them in a dish of 
 milk into which one or more uncooked mushrooms, 
 according to size, have been broken ; let the herrings 
 remain in this for half an hour; remove, egg and 
 bread crumb, and place in oven till brown. Serve 
 with bread and butter. 
 
 No. 19. 
 
 MARINES. 
 
 If found too salt, steep the herrings in milk or 
 water from two to twelve hours ; drain, skin, and 
 bone, and place in sufficient milk to receive them, 
 mixed with a large teaspoonful of mustard, a tea- 
 spoonful of minced shallot, and another of dried 
 parsley. Leave the herrings half an hour in this, re- 
 move, egg and bread crumb them, and place in 
 moderate oven till brown. Serve with buttered toast. 
 
 No. 20. 
 
 Place in a stew-pan enough milk to cover the her- 
 rings, a lump of butter, sufficient flour to thicken 
 slightly, a sprinkle of sweet herbs and pepper ; stir 
 till it comes to the boil. Having opened, gutted, 
 boned, and skinned the herrings, cut them across, and 
 place in the pan till hot through ; turn all out on a 
 
COOKING. 87 
 
 hot dish, sprinkle over a layer of bread crumbs, place 
 in oven to brown. Squeeze over a few drops of 
 lemon, and serve. 
 
 No. 21. 
 For Luncheon or Breakfast. 
 
 Cut off the head, split open, remove the backbone, 
 soak for two hours in warm milk and water. Cook 
 through the back on gridiron over a clear fire. Serve 
 with butter and mashed potatoes. 
 
 No. 22. 
 
 Split the herring open down the back, and lay it 
 in an ordinary pie-dish, cover it with boiling water, 
 and cover it down close for ten or fifteen minutes, 
 according to the size of the fish. Take out and lay 
 on a cloth for a few seconds to remove the moisture 
 (do not rub the fish), and dry in front of fire or in the 
 oven. Serve hot on fish d'oyler, skin upwards ; eat 
 with buttered toast. The roe may be treated the 
 same as the herring in this case. 
 
 No. 23. 
 BALLS OR CAKES. 
 
 Sufficient mashed potatoes, one tablespoonful of 
 Spanish onions cut up very fine, one egg well beaten, 
 one herring skinned, boned, and chopped fine. Mix 
 all thoroughly together ; form into cakes or balls, and 
 fry for five minutes in butter. Serve with lemon. 
 
88 THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA. 
 
 No. 24. 
 SALAD. 
 
 Cut up fine one Spanish onion and the flesh of the 
 back of a ham-cured herring ; make a dressing of one 
 tablespoonful of milk, one teaspoonful of mixed 
 mustard, and another of vinegar, a little pepper 
 (Cayenne if preferred), the hard roe of a herring 
 grated up fine. Mix thoroughly. Lettuce in place 
 of onion if preferred. 
 
 Bloaters keep longest when hung on a line separate 
 from each other in a current of dry air. 
 
 Ham-cured herrings should be kept in a dry cool 
 place, in their original packages, covered down, and 
 removed only as required for use. 
 
 YARE FISHERY WORKS. 
 
tsit io & Herring- wring < 
 BY A VISITOR. 
 
 [From The Eastern Daily Press, August 25th, 1881.] 
 j 
 
 S a visitor to Yarmouth, I was de- 
 sirous of seeing something of the 
 process by which the fish delivered 
 out of the smacks are converted 
 into " bloaters," and so I went down 
 to the Fish Wharf, at the south end 
 of the quay, hoping to be able to have my curiosity 
 gratified. The Fish Wharf is a model wholesale 
 market. From the boats moored alongside the quay 
 the herring are delivered out of the hold and counted 
 into big baskets, called " swills." These swills are 
 contracted round the middle, so as to have the form 
 of a figure " 8," and these are placed upon the stand 
 of one or other of the salesmen, who offers them by 
 auction. Most of the buyers are fish-curers, who 
 have extensive premises in and around the town, 
 where they conduct a business which has attained for 
 Yarmouth a celebrity such as no other fishing port 
 
 8 9 
 
90 VISIT TO A CURING ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 enjoys. I was afforded the opportunity of following 
 a lot of freshly-caught herring to one of these estab- 
 lishments the Yare Fishery Works over which I 
 was shown by one of the proprietors, Mr. C. Stacy- 
 Watson, who I observed had just had the honour of 
 taking a noble lord over his extensive premises. 
 Messrs. Stacy- Watson's establishment is a short dis- 
 tance behind the Fish Wharf. It has been constructed 
 on the newest principles, and has been fitted with the 
 latest improvements, so as to economize time and 
 labour. This fish-curing establishment is in the form 
 of a parallelogram. When the swills of herring have 
 been brought by the long carts into the yard, they are 
 carried into a brick-floored building, entered by slid- 
 ing doors, called a " barfe " house. Here the herring 
 are sometimes heaped up in " cobs," that is, in piles 
 varying from eighteen inches to three feet high, the 
 preservative salt being sprinkled over layer after layer 
 of fish. Under this process the herring acquire that 
 degree of saltness which the curer deems necessary. 
 In the " barfe " house are several huge tubs or vats, 
 in which the herring are next washed, so as to remove 
 the loose salt and scales, and any dirt which may 
 have got among them from the time they were caught. 
 The next process is that of " spitting " them. This is 
 done by women. The " spits " are rods of wood, four 
 feet long, with pointed ends, which are inserted 
 through the gills of the fish. As each " spit " is filled 
 with fish, it is placed in a " room " in a drying-house. 
 This word " room " has, however, a meaning which 
 differs from the conventional term. These herring 
 
VISIT TO A CURING ESTABLISHMENT. 91 
 
 drying-rooms have'neither floors nor walls. They are, 
 however, very lofty, those in Messrs. Stacy-Watson's 
 new establishment being about twenty-five feet from 
 the rafters to the roof. The rafters at the base of the 
 rooms are six feet above the brick floor of the drying 
 house. From these rafters, nearly four feet apart, 
 spring a series of stout uprights, which reach to the 
 roof, and across these, from side to side of the build- 
 ing, parallel with the rafters, are stout rails, at inter- 
 vals of about eighteen inches. There are thus formed 
 a series of narrow, floorless compartments with skele- 
 ton walls. These are the drying-rooms. The spits, 
 full of herring, are handed up to a man, who places 
 them on the horizontal rails, so that the fish extend 
 across the room. When one pair of rails is filled, the 
 man fills the next lower pair with the spits, taking 
 care to place each spit exactly under the other. 
 W r hen a room is thus filled, any one standing on the 
 floor can look up amid the spits of herring to the 
 roof. On the brick floor, oak dust, shruff, or billet, is 
 placed and ignited, and then the process of smoking 
 begins. A herring is subjected to only one or two 
 hours' smoking to convert it into a " bloater." 
 
 These curing-houses of Messrs. Stacy- Watson are 
 fitted with improved windows for regulating the 
 heating and ventilation. The old-fashioned plan was 
 to have sliding windows, similar to those in use on 
 the upright sides of greenhouses ; but when a drying- 
 house is filled with smoke, it is difficult for a man to 
 adjust such means of ventilation properly and expe- 
 ditiously, for it must be done quickly, as a drying- 
 
92 VISIT TO A CURING ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 house filled with smoke cannot be entered with 
 impunity. By means of long weights, which counter- 
 balance the windows, Messrs. Stacy- Watson's men 
 can walk round a curing-house and open all the 
 windows to a fixed point in the short space of time 
 in which they can hold their breath. The " ham- 
 cured " herring, having undergone a special process, 
 are subjected to the smoke for a considerable period. 
 When they are sufficiently cured, they are collected 
 and packed in barrels. These barrels are sold by 
 weight, not by the number of fish they contain. 
 Herring are pressed into the barrels by means of a 
 small circular screw-press till the requisite weight is 
 secured. Messrs. Stacy-Watson & Co. make their 
 own barrels, of well-seasoned material, and have at 
 the present time 6,000 in stock. This is done that 
 they may guarantee sound packages for their fish, 
 which they export in large quantities to Italy and the 
 Levant. When the barrels are duly weighed and 
 packed, they are branded according to the quality of 
 the fish. I found the coopers employed on the 
 establishments busily at work making barrels, to add 
 to the huge store which now nearly fill the several 
 chambers. There is another branch of the herring- 
 curing business to which my attention was directed. 
 In the floor of a long building I observed seven deep 
 cement-lined tanks or vats, which I learned were 
 pickling vats. These seven vats will hold 660,000 
 herring. After the herring have been kept in these 
 vats for a time, they are packed in barrels and sent 
 away, chiefly to the Emerald Isle, where they are 
 
VISIT TO A CURING ESTABLISHMENT. 93 
 
 purchased by Paddy to eat with his potatoes. An- 
 other class of prepared herring are " gypped " herring, 
 that is, herring which have been eviscerated, and are 
 then salted and dried. These are sent in large quan- 
 tities to the Baltic. From this establishment alone 
 thousands of barrels of herring are yearly sent out of 
 Yarmouth, principally to Ireland, the Baltic, Italy, 
 and the Levant. 
 
 BLACK FRIARS TOWER. 
 
MEANINGS AND DERIVATION OF WORDS. 
 
 1. BARF HOUSE, shed or open ground-floor, where 
 
 first stage in curing herrings takes place. 
 
 2. EARTH, shelter, a ground-floor. 
 
 3. COB, supposed to be from the Welsh cwb, a 
 
 compact mass. 
 
 4. GYP, Per. giepen, to gape. 
 
 5. HERRING, from the German " Her," or in modern 
 
 spelling, " Heer," an army, great number, 
 multitude, with the idea also of unity. 
 
 6. LAST, lastage or lestage. Derived from the 
 
 Saxon last, a burden in general, as also par- 
 ticularly a certain weight or measure ; for, as 
 we say a last of herrings, so they say ein last 
 corns (last wines, i.e. two tons), etc. 
 
 7. LOVES, Dan. lufte, "to air." Ger., luften, "to 
 
 lift," so as to expose to the air. 
 
 8. MAUND, Fr. mande, an open basket. 
 
 9. FED, an osier basket with lid. 
 
 10. RIVERS, Dan. rive, to lacerate. 
 
 1 1 . ROARERS, Dan. rare, to stir about 
 
 12. Row, Fr. rue, a street. 
 
 13. SWILL, Gael, suil, a willow. 
 
 94 
 
SIIK: 
 
 Highest Award 
 
 H I Gr EC E S T .A.'W.A.iR, ID S , 
 
 Cured Herrings. 
 Special Prize. 
 
 Anti-Pilferage 
 Package. 
 
 C. STACY- WATSON & CO. 
 
 received the ONLY AWARDS 
 at the National Fisheries Ex- 
 hibition, Norwich, and the 
 Fisheries Exhibition, Gt. Yar- 
 mouth, for HAM- CURED HER- 
 RINGS & ANTI-PILFERAGE 
 PACKAGE, and the only Prize 
 Medal awarded at the Interna- 
 tional Food Exhibition, London. 
 
 AND TWO 
 
 DIPLOMAS OF HONOUR. 
 
 First Prize 
 
 Ham-cured, Export, and 
 Pickled Herrings. 
 
 Special Prize 
 
 HerringB Preserved 
 in Tins. 
 
 C. STACY- WATSON & CO., 
 
 CURERS AND PACKERS OF THE 
 C E L E B R A T E D 
 
 HAM CURE, 
 BLOATER CURE, 
 WHITE SALTED IN PICKLE, 
 
 REDS, ETC. 
 PACKED IN BARRELS, BOXES, AND TINS. 
 
 For Prices and Particulars address 
 
 C. STACY-WATSON & CO., Yare Fishery Works, Gt. Yarmouth. 
 
 "THE SILVERY HOSTS OF THE NORTH SEA." 
 
 WITH HISTORICAL SKETCH OF QUAINT OLD YARMOUTH; 
 
 AND RECIPES 
 HOW TO COOK THE YARMOUTH HERRING. 
 
 By C. STACY-WATSON. 
 Price, cloth gilt, is. 6d. ; coloured stiff covers, is. 
 
 LONDON: "HOME WORDS" OFFICE, i, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.G. 
 
 GREAT YARMOUTH : C. STACY- WATSON. 
 
 95 
 
PRESS NOTICES. 
 
 "THE GREATEST DELICACY OF THE SEASON WHAT is 
 IT ? Tastes differ, and there is abundance of choice ; but after 
 honey (which the young folk consider to be always in season), 
 we should say, just now, a real Yarmouth Ham-cured Herring 
 at breakfast, following upon an early morning stroll to promote 
 the hunger which is the best condiment at every meal, would 
 carry the verdict. A family box from the inexhaustible Yar- 
 mouth stores of Mr. C. Stacy- Watson, was tested the other 
 morning in our presence,, and there was no questioning the re- 
 sult. ' Less meat and more herring,' would not be a bad medical 
 prescription especially for the breakfast table. Economy and 
 health would be equal gainers. We ought to add, take care how 
 you t cook ' your herring when you have ' caught it.' Like cook- 
 ing a potato, it is no doubt a very simple process, but it may not 
 the less be regarded as a triumph of the culinary art. Mr. 
 Stacy- Watson has issued a book of hints how to cook herrings. 
 There are dozens of ways ; and his suggestions will be invalu- 
 able in the kitchen." Hand and Heart, October 26th, 1877. 
 
 " Tot's . . . parents and friends much appreciated the 
 breakfast delicacies, which are the best Yarmouth bloaters, Ham- 
 cured by Mr. C. Stacy- Watson." Myrds Journal, December 
 ist, 1876. 
 
 " If our readers want a cheap breakfast-table luxury, let them 
 try Bloaters and Ham-cured Herrings in their season. They 
 may rely on Mr. Stacy- Watson, Great Yarmouth, to supply the 
 best of the best. We speak from experience." The Fireside, 
 1880, p. 241. 
 
 96 
 
PKESS NOTICES. 97 
 
 " A CAPITAL BREAKFAST RELISH. The majority of people 
 get tired of ham, bacon, and eggs for breakfast, and long for a 
 change. Such persons we advise to try the Ham-cured Yar- 
 mouth Herrings sent out by Mr. C. Stacy- Watson, of Great 
 Yarmouth. Although they have been advertised in our columns 
 several weeks, it was only a few days ago that we had the op- 
 portunity of tasting them, and after trial we can recommend 
 them as a very capital breakfast relish. They are sent out in 
 boxes of various sizes." Coventry Standard, March gth, 1877. 
 
 " As I have mentioned on previous occasions, the ' sportive ' 
 features of the exhibition are, in my estimation, of small account 
 in comparison with those connected with the great industry of 
 our coast. The ' herring ' is the staff of life to hundreds all 
 round our seaboard. Future exhibitions will probably do some- 
 thing more to foster and encourage the catching and curing of 
 this remarkable and prolific creature. The herring employs a 
 larger amount of capital engages more fishermen gives more 
 work to boat-builders, net-makers, curers, and innumerable 
 other handicraftsmen and demands a larger sacrifice of life 
 than any other fish that swims the sea. It is breakfast, dinner, 
 and tea to thousands of the poor, and the occasional luxury of 
 the rich. Whether as * Bloater ' or ' Ham-cured' it is alike use- 
 ful and delicate. It has made Yarmouth everywhere famous. 
 Packed in Messrs. C. Stacy- Watson and Co.'s thief-proof, Anti- 
 pilferage Box, which I am glad to see has obtained a diploma 
 of honour, the ham-cured article goes to all parts of England, 
 and indeed of the civilised world, and then, delicately cooked, 
 with just a masterful squeeze of lemon to soften its flavour and 
 imbue its own rich aroma with another, it makes the produce of 
 the pig vulgar, and becomes a food for lords and monarchs as 
 well as for labourers and artisans. But why do I write thus 
 about the herring ? Simply because it is the foundation of a 
 great industry, and to suggest that in future exhibitions this fact 
 should be to the front." Eastern Daily Press, May 7th, 1881. 
 
 " We must also draw the attention of our readers to a simple 
 yet admirable adaptation to the necessities of the fishing trade. 
 This is in the shape of packages for the better preservation 
 
 G 
 
98 PKSS NOTICES. 
 
 and carriage of cured herring. They are exhibited by Messrs. 
 C. Stacy- Watson & Co., of Great Yarmouth, who have ob- 
 tained what we understand to be the only diploma for the 
 article in its marketable shape. These herring (which are 
 exhibited in bulk, not as samples or specimens of cured fish, 
 but as packages taken from stock) are * Ham-cured ' by a pro- 
 cess known only to this firm. They also obtained a diploma 
 for their Anti-pilferage Package. This appliance is designed 
 to meet a long-felt want in the trade, that of securing consign- 
 ments of fish from the petty thievery constantly going on 
 amongst the servants of public carriers, much to the annoyance 
 of merchants and consignees. Messrs. C. Stacy- Watson & Co.'s 
 invention differs from the ordinary square box, primarily in its 
 being wedge-shaped. The expediency of this is obvious when 
 we point out that an iron band is passed over the thinner, and 
 knocked down cooper fashion to the thicker part. This of it- 
 self would make the package very secure ; but, in order to 
 render it more so, nails are driven through holes bored in the 
 iron band for that purpose. Herrings thus packed are proof 
 against pilferage ; but in the improbable event of an attempt 
 being made to extract the contents, the appliance is made self- 
 detecting by placing a label over the iron band, and covering 
 the entire surface of the lid, the address card being fastened 
 in the centre of the label and over the band. Thus protected, 
 the package is safe, and in the case of any tampering a sure 
 clue is afforded to the discovery of the delinquent ; and when 
 the advantage is considered, viz., the receipt of goods well packed 
 and in perfect condition, there is not the least doubt that they 
 will reap their reward in an increased demand for their excel- 
 lently cured and securely packed commodities." Eastern 
 Daily Press, May 7th, 1881. 
 
 " Messrs. C. Stacy-Watson & Co., of Yarmouth, are to the 
 fore with cured goods, and what is termed their ' Anti-pilferage' 
 package, for both of which they have secured diplomas. All 
 can test the eatables for themselves, and we recommend a trial. 
 The box, however, must be seen or used to be appreciated as 
 it ought to be. It is one of the simplest and best inventions 
 we have seen for many a day, and perfectly calculated to 
 
PRESS NOTICES. 99 
 
 accomplish the purpose to which it is devoted. The firm have 
 done for fish-packing what some ingenious mechanics say they 
 have accomplished for locks, made them unpickable. We will 
 not discuss the question of locks that is a matter we must 
 leave to experts and rivals ; but Messrs. Stacy- Watson & Co.'s 
 invention is perfect. It consists of a wedge-shaped instead of 
 a square box. Here is the great departure from the old 
 practice. An iron band is made to slide from the thinner to 
 the thicker part, when it is nailed to the box, and the lid thus 
 securely fastened. In order, however, to render the box a 
 tell-tale should violence be attempted, the label is placed over 
 the iron, and as the lid must either be broken or the iron band 
 be disturbed, the evidence would be complete of some one's 
 guilt, and inquiry would in all probability lead to detection. 
 But supposing the genius of thievery overcame the obstacle, it 
 would occupy so much time, that the result would not only be 
 dangerous, but annoying and profitless ; so that in every way 
 this simple invention is a great improvement, and a perfect 
 security against that petty crime, pilfering. This firm charge 
 no more for the new package than they did for the old, thus 
 showing their desire to meet the wants of the public, and to 
 secure them the full quantity of articles they order and pay for. 
 Much vexation is avoided, disputes rendered almost impossible, 
 and a vast amount of temptation prevented. This invention is 
 little to look at, but its value has been found in practice, and its 
 increased usefulness and demand are the best test of success." 
 Norwich Argus, Special, April 2 7th, 1881. 
 
 " The herring-curing process is a most important industry, but 
 there are, of course, different methods employed. The Ham- 
 cured Herrings, as they are styled, are undoubtedly a choice 
 breakfast delicacy, and of the excellence of those prepared by 
 Messrs. C. Stacy- Watson & Co., of the Yare Fishery Works, 
 Yarmouth, we can speak in terms of unqualified praise. Caught 
 between October and December last, these delicious fish are 
 now in splendid form, but they will retain their good qualities for 
 twice as long a period as has elapsed since they came ashore. 
 This firm, we understand, treat a vast number of barrels a year, 
 and the novel recipes they give for cooking the fish should be 
 
ioo PRESS NOTICES. 
 
 procured from them, as a perusal will put the cook up to ' a 
 wrinkle ' or two not before understood. We are surprised this 
 firm got no more than a diploma of honour." Norwich Argus, 
 Exhibition Edition, May 4th, 1881. 
 
 " Of those Harn-cured Herrings, prepared by Messrs. C. 
 Stacy- Watson & Co., we can speak, as we have before 
 spoken, in terms of unqualified praise. This firm has hel 
 a foremost place in the Exhibition with their Ham-cured 
 Herrings . . . and their new invention the l Anti-pilferage 
 Package,' for both of which we are glad to see they have 
 obtained diplomas of honour, the only awards for either." 
 Hand and Heart, May 2oth, 1881. 
 
 "HAM-CURED HERRINGS. This breakfast-table relish is 
 again ready. Mr. C. Stacy- Watson, of Great Yarmouth, is ac- 
 quiring a wide reputation for the supply of these charming 
 Ham-cured Herrings. We have tested them now for some 
 years, and each year we are disposed to say we appreciate them 
 better, though we hardly see how that is possible. A Family 
 Box direct from Great Yarmouth, will make a welcome gift in 
 any home. We advise our readers to try it." Hand and Hearty 
 September 7th, 1880. 
 
 "YARMOUTH HERRINGS, ETC. At the recent Fisheries Exhi- 
 bition, Norwich, prominent among the exhibitors were Messrs. 
 C. Stacy- Watson & Co., the well-known fish curers and ex- 
 porters, and the sole proprietors of what is known as the * Anti- 
 pilferage Package/ of the celebrated Yarmouth Bloater and 
 Ham-cured Herrings. These specialities are very good, and 
 deservedly popular wherever they are known." Australian and 
 New Zealand Gazette, June 25th, 1881. 
 
 " FISHERIES EXHIBITION, GT. YARMOUTH. C. Stacy- 
 Watson & Co.'s exhibits are numerous and excellent in every 
 particular. First, we may notice a plan of his herring-curing 
 buildings on South Denes Road, and which will hang fifty 
 lasts, and also tanks for pickling fifty lasts (over a million- 
 and-a-quarter herrings). There is a stand specially devoted to 
 C. Stacy- Watson's toothsome Ham-cured Herrings, and his far- 
 
PXSS NOTICES. 101 
 
 famed ' Anti-pilferage Package ' for which he received a diploma 
 of honour (the only award given for either) at the recent Norwich 
 Exhibition. It is needless to expatiate on the merits of the 
 * Anti-pilferage Package,' as its merits have already been fully 
 acknowledged." Yarmouth Gazette and North Norfolk Con- 
 stitiitionalist, July 23rd, 1881. 
 
 " Messrs. Stacy-Watson & Co. showed the Ham-herring in 
 addition to the ' Anti-pilferage Package/ The quality of these 
 fish was demonstrated by Mr. Watson opening a package in 
 our presence. These were last year's fish, packed in April of 
 the present year, and when the box was opened they were found 
 to be as sound and full-flavoured as when they were packed. 
 The Anti-pilferage Package, invented by Mr. Watson, has been a 
 great success, and is everywhere spoken of in the highest terms. 
 It thoroughly answers its purpose, namely, prevents pilfering in 
 the passage of the goods from one place to another. Numerous 
 testimonials have been received as to the success of his pack- 
 age, and although its introduction and make entail a consider- 
 able addition to the cost as compared with the old style, no 
 addition of price is made." Yarmouth Independent, July 23rd, 
 1881. 
 
 " 'HAM-CURED ' HERRINGS. As tasteful as ever, this break- 
 fast delicacy ought to be found on every breakfast table. 
 Messrs. Stacy- Watson Co., of Great Yarmouth, have made 
 the 'Ham Cure' quite famous." Church Standard, February 
 1 6th, 1883. 
 
TESTIMONIALS. 
 
 " COUNTY ANALYST'S OFFICE, London Street, Norwich, 
 October, 1877. 
 
 " I hereby certify that I have made a very careful examination 
 of some boxes of Bloater and Ham Herrings, as sent out by 
 Stacy- Watson & Co., of Gt. Yarmouth, to ascertain whether 
 they were smoked with oak wood, or with common and cheaper 
 materials as is too often the case. The result of my examin- 
 ation has perfectly satisfied me that they are cured with oak 
 smoke ; and I may further add that it is seldom I have tasted 
 any herrings equal to them in flavour and quality, and certainly 
 have never had them surpassed. 
 
 " (Signed) FRANCIS SUTTON, F.C.S., 
 " Fellow of the Chemical Societies of London and Berlin, 
 Public Analyst for the County of Norfolk, Borough oj 
 Gt. Yarmouth, etc? 
 
 "March, 1881. 
 
 " Sirs, Since I made the original examination of your 
 Bloaters and Ham Herrings in 1877, I have repeatedly com- 
 pared them with the fish sold in fish shops and by travelling 
 salesmen, with the result that your method of curing finds pre- 
 ference at the table, and the genuine oak flavour is always the 
 same. 
 
 "(Signed) FRANCIS SUTTON." 
 
 From the Rev. CHARLES BULLOCK, B.D., Blackheath. 
 " To my taste they are exquisite. I regard you as a bene- 
 factor of the country." 
 
TESTIMONIALS. 103 
 
 From J. HUTTON, Rector of Stilton. 
 
 "Your Family Box of ' Ham-Cured ' Herrings is of excellent 
 quality." 
 
 From F. BARLOW, Mayor, Cambridge. 
 
 " The Herrings duly to hand, and very good indeed ; so good, 
 that I shall be glad to receive another box." 
 
 From W. H. OLLEY, Esq., Savage Gardens, London. 
 " Kindly forward to the above address two packages of the 
 same fine description of Bloaters as you sent me last year." 
 
 From A. E. RUTTER, Esq., Summerside, Shaftesbury, Dorset. 
 
 " Will feel obliged by Messrs. C. Stacy- Watson Co. 
 forwarding a barrel of their 'Ham-Cured' Herrings, which 
 were so delicious last season." 
 
 From T. C. PENNY, Esq., Little Dartmouth, Dartmouth. 
 " Box of ' Ham-Cured ' Herrings has given great satisfaction, 
 and friends inquire where they come from." 
 
 From J. H. THOMPSON, Delifield Road, Charlton* 
 " The Herrings sent last season were splendid." 
 
 From G. JENNINGS, Esq., Elvaston Castle, Derby. 
 " If you have any Bloaters or Kippers, please send the Earl 
 of Harrington a box to above address. You have sent them 
 here before." 
 
 From JAMES SMALE, Hales Street, Southwark, London. 
 " So very fine in flavour. I should like you to send me six 
 boxes of the same kind just sent." 
 
 From VISCOUNT HARDINGE, South Park, Penshiirst, Kent. 
 " Lord Hardinge would be obliged by your sending him a 
 box of fifty Bloaters, same as before." 
 
104 TESTIMONIALS. 
 
 From JOHN HEAD, Esq., Somerton, Somerset. 
 " The barrel of ' Ham-Cured ' Herrings has arrived, and they 
 are very good. Some of my neighbours have taken a part, so 
 that I require another barrel as before." 
 
 From THOMAS CASELY, \a, Kentish Town Road, London. 
 " They are really very fine. I don't know where such a quality 
 get to when they arrive in London, for we never see them." 
 
 From ROBERT MCCRACKEN, Esq., 38, Fenchurch Street, 
 London. 
 
 " The Bloaters are really delicious, which fact was demon- 
 strated by the manner in which they disappeared from my 
 breakfast table this morning." 
 
 From Mrs. W. VIGOR Fox, Comberbech House, Northwich, 
 Cheshire. 
 
 " Encloses P.O.O. requesting Mr. Stacy- Watson to send her 
 a box of his ' Ham-Cured ' Herrings, which are much liked." 
 
 From J. R. V. BRYANT, Esq., St. Michael's Square, Pembroke. 
 " The fish are very good, and the box cannot possibly be 
 opened on the way." 
 
 From HENRY RIBBAND, Esq., Bonchurch, Isle of Wight. 
 " The Bloaters you sent me arrived safely, and were most 
 beautiful. Kindly send me another 90 box as soon as possible." 
 
 From FRANCIS SUTTON, Esq., County Analyst's Office, 
 
 London Street, Norwich, March, 1883. 
 " I have great pleasure in telling you that the barrel of ' Ham- 
 Cured ' Herrings which I bought of you at the end of last year, 
 and also the box had at the beginning of this year, turned out 
 of first-rate quality, and possessed the same rich oak-smoke 
 flavour as those which I originally examined in 1877." 
 
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN. 
 
 DEAN CONNOR, one of Her Majesty's Chaplains, writes : 
 " Her Majesty permits me to say she has read and approved of it with 
 much pleasure." 
 
 THE WEEKLY PENNY NEWSPAPER. 
 
 "THE CHURCH STANDARD:" 
 
 &n Ellustratcti Journal anti 
 
 The Art Journal says : " The art is as gopd as the literature." 
 The Derby Mercury says : " We are more pleased than ever with the 
 thorough manliness of tone, its outspoken comments on passing events, and 
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 THE NEWS DEPARTMENT COMPRISES : 
 
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 II. In Parliament: A Digest of the Debates during the Session. 
 
 III. Leaders on the most prominent Topics of the Day. 
 
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 OTHER TOPICS. 
 
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 *,* This Series has included Portraits and Biographical Notices of the 
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 ARCHBISHOP OF YORK. 
 
 SIR WILFRID LAWSON, M.P. 
 
 GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. 
 
 J. B. GOUGH. 
 
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 THE BISHOP OF DURHAM. 
 
 MR. ROBERT RAE. 
 
 THE BISHOP OF BEDFORD. 
 
 THE REV. CANON FLEMING. 
 
 MR. A. SARGANT. 
 
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 CANON BASIL WILBERFORCE. 
 
 MR. F. SMITH. 
 
 THE BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER. 
 
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 Biography by H. G. REID, Author of " Old Oscar," etc. 
 
 Selection from Speeches, etc., by A. J. SYMINGTON, Editor of "Men of 
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 Volume III. H.R.H. PRINCE LEOPOLD, K.G. 
 
 Life and Addresses. With Portrait by T. D. SCOTT. 
 
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 Volume IV. SIR WILFRID LAWSON, Bart., M.P. 
 
 With Portrait by T. D. SCOTT. 
 
 Biography and Selection from Speeches, etc., by FREDERICK SHERLOCK, 
 
 Author of " Illustrious Abstainers " etc. Introductory Note by the 
 
 Rev. CHARLES BULLOCK, B.D. 
 
 The "Talks" in these volumes will deal with "the politics of home" 
 the most important politics of all which pre-eminently concern the domestic 
 and social happiness and prosperity of the people. Each volume is com- 
 plete in itself. 
 
 London : " HOME WORDS " Office, i, Paternoster Buildings, E.G. 
 
WORKS BY THE LATE FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL. 
 
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 ''SPECIMEN-GLASSES" FOR THE KING'S 
 MINSTRELS. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. Prefatory Note. Introductory. 
 I. The Rev.W. Pennefather's Hymns. 
 II. Charlotte Elliott's Hymns. 
 
 III. Dean Alford's Hymns. 
 
 IV. Bishop Wordsworth's Hymns. 
 
 V. Hymns by Charitie Lees Smith and 
 Mary Bowly. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 VI. Hymns of Joy. 
 VII. Hymns for Sufferers. 
 VIII. Hymns for Sufferers (continued). 
 IX. Seven Clerical Hymn Writers. 
 
 X. Mission Hymns. 
 XI. Mission Hymns (continued). 
 
 II. 
 
 Eighth Thousand, cloth gilt, with Portrait and Illustration of Astley Church and the 
 
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 ECHOES FROM THE WORD: FOR THE CHRISTIAN 
 
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 Advent. Epiphany. Easter. Whitsuntide. 
 
 Christmas. Lent. Ascension. Trinity. 
 
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 MUSIC FOR FESTIVALS, ETC. 
 
 By the late FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL. 
 I. 
 
 " O'ER THE PLAINS : " a Christmas Carol. 
 
 Words by the Rev. W. J. VERNON, B.A. 
 
 II. 
 "THE GOOD OLD CHURCH OF ENGLAND." 
 
 Words by the Rev. W. BLAKE ATKINSON. 
 
 III. 
 "GOD BLESS THE BOYS OF ENGLAND." 
 
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 The late FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL. 
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 "WITHIN THE PALACE GATES:" 
 
 A Memorial Volume by the Rev. CHARLES BULLOCK, B.D., Author of "The Way Home," etc. 
 "A touching tribute." The Record. 
 
 LONDON: "HOME WORDS" OFFICE, i, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.G. 
 
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"HOME WORDS" PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 MAGAZINES FOR THE HOME. 
 
 Edited by the Rev. CHARLES BULLOCK, B.D., 
 
 Formerly Rector of St. Nicholas', Worcester, Author of "England's Royal 
 Home." 
 
 THE FIRESIDE. 
 
 THE NEW VOLUME, RICHLY BOUND, fs. 6d., CONTAINS 
 
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 Christ Church, Surbiton. 
 
 Other Serial Works by well-known Authors. 
 
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 HOME WORDS. 
 
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 CONTAINS : 
 
 1. Five Thousand Pounds. A 
 
 Tale. By AGNES GIBERNE. 
 
 2. Rain and Shine. A Tale. By 
 
 EMMA MARSHALL. 
 
 3. Our Church Portrait Gallery. 
 
 28 Portraits. 
 
 4. The Bible Mine. By the Bishop 
 
 of SODOR AND MAN. 
 
 5. President Garfleld. By H. G. 
 
 REID. 
 
 You." By E. B. 
 
 6. Fables for 
 
 PROSSER. 
 
 7. The Home Songster. (Various 
 
 Authors.) 
 
 8. How they Lived in the Olden 
 
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 10. Young Folks' Page. Etc., etc. 
 
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 T.d. Monthly. New Volume, vs. 
 CONTAINS : 
 
 1. Wordsof MinistryintheHome. 
 
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 5. The Sunday Bible Hour. 
 
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 vigour and moral excellence com- 
 bined." Hastings and St. Leonard's 
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