RELATIVES OF THE OYSTER. 207 



abundant shell is the periwinkle ; next in order as to fre- 

 quency is the oyster, which, as well as those who had it as 

 a large item in their bill of fare, has passed away from our 

 coasts. Save in some of the nooks of our Firth, as at 

 Cromarty, Altirtie, and Avoch, we know not where a small 

 dish of them could be procured. As third in order, in this 

 mound, is the mussel, and then the cockle." 



Mr. Gordon further adds that similar refuse-heaps are 

 found all round the shores of the Moray Firth, and that 

 the farmers gradually cart them away to serve as manure 

 or top dressings. These shell-mounds, Sir John Lubbock 

 states, are actually called " shelly-meddings " by the fisher- 

 men of that district. 



Cockle, mussel, and oyster shells, are often discovered 

 in great quantities on the sites of Roman stations. 



The following quotation may be considered not to be 

 in strict accordance with the foregoing accounts of kjok- 

 kenmoddiiigs, but the analogy is so close, and the informa- 

 tion so interesting, that I have ventured to insert it here 

 instead of its relative chapter. 



In the " Report of the Commissioners of Fisheries in 

 Maryland, January, 1880," is the following account of the 

 oyster- fisheries in Chesapeake Bay, given by Mr. U. H. 

 Brooks: "The town of Crisfield, Maryland, is situated at 

 the junction of the two sounds of Pokamoke and Tangier, 

 two large and wide but shallow sheets of water, whose 

 muddy bottoms abound in oysters of the best quality. 

 The town is one of the most important centres of the 

 oyster-packing industry, and is built in the water, upon the 

 shells of the oysters which have been shipped to all parts 



