THE HISTORY OF DUTCH SEA FISHERIES. 13 



the shores of England and Scotland, may likewise have 

 had something to do with the decline of the Zealand 

 herring fishery.* At any rate, the next considerable pro- 

 gress in the fishing art was accomplished by men from the 

 North ; for it is stated that the first large herring-net was 

 made at Hoorn in 1416,! and though the dimensions of 

 this net are of course unknown, its fabrication appears to 

 have contributed much to the rise of the trade. Leastways 

 the latter became an object of legislation and warlike pro- 

 tection soon after the said period. 



John Duke of Bavaria and Count of Holland issued 

 regulations on the fabrication and marking of herring 

 barrels and the curing of herrings in 1424.! Though no 

 historical mention of cod fishery is made at the time, this 

 branch of the fishing trade must also have been then 

 practised to a certain extent ; for the two great political 

 parties which divided the country under the Counts of the 

 Bavarian dynasty took their noms de guerre from it. The 

 Bavarian coat-of-arms bears some resemblance to the 

 scales of a codfish, and the followers of the first count of 

 that dynasty, who wore his colours, were accordingly nick- 

 named codfish (Kabeljauwen) an appellation from which 

 the opposition party took occasion to style themselves 

 Hooks {Hoekscheii}, and thereby transmitted to posterity 

 a certain proof that cod was fished for in this period, in 

 something like the manner in which it is caught to this 

 day. 



* This reason is alleged on p. 12 of the Committee's Report of 1854. 

 But without further adstruction it is not apparent why the Zealanders 

 could not fish off Yarmouth as well as off Sweden and Denmark. 



f Velius, Chronijk van Hoorn, pp. 32-3. Brandt, Historie der 

 vermaarde Zee- en Koopstad Enkhuizen, p. 17. Wagenaar, Vader- 

 landsche Historie, iii. p. 499. 



% v. Mieris, Charterboek^ vol. iv. pp. 728, 739. 



