232 Salmon Fisheries of Great Britain. [ 



industry not necessity, but the view of gain is the mother of inven- 

 tion. Markets were now accessible, and the difficulty was only to fur- 

 nish the supply. The first approach to sea fishing was in the Solway 

 Frith, where what was termed lake or tide fishing was now introduced. 

 It consisted simply in enclosing the pools on the sand-banks, by means 

 of netting, extended upon stakes fastened upright in the ground. The 

 net thus constructed was partly moveable, opening on the seaward side 

 like a valve, with the flood-tide, and closing again as the tide receded ; 

 and the fish, which had entered the net as the tide flowed, were thus 

 detained as it ebbed. A very accurate and animated description of this 

 mode of fishing may be found in REDGAUNTLET. 



The demand for fish increasing, about 1797 the Solway fishers extended 

 their operations to the Frith of Tay at first with nets of the same construc- 

 tion as those of the Solway tide-nets. But soon they perceived, that, 

 when the tide-net was shut by the flood ceasing to operate upon the 

 valve, there were still many fish playing round the net ; and that, when 

 the ebb began, there were as many running downwards, as had before 

 been moving upwards. The sagacity of the fisher seized on the fact, 

 and accommodated his instrument to the double opportunity. He 

 changed his plan of attack. Instead of forming his net with a moveable 

 or floating valve, he constructed, by means of netting extended on stakes, 

 labyrinths or chambers of such intricacy, that, though the mouth was 

 always open, and the fish could enter easily in truth, were led almost 

 necessarily to enter the net, if they once approached it yet they could 

 not so readily get out again. In the same way he constructed other 

 entrances to receive the ebb-tide, as well as the flood, and thus caught 

 the fish, by the same net, both ways. Such was the origin of stake-nets 

 a new era in salmon-fishing. The success was prodigious ; 7>000 

 were taken by a single net in one season ; and fishing stations, which 

 had previously let for a few pounds, yielded one, two, and even three 

 thousand a year. This splendid career was, however, soon checked : 

 the proprietors of the upper streams were alarmed ; lawyers were em- 

 ployed ; and lawyers, with their quibbles and quiddities, proved " water" 

 was water, whether salt or fresh'; and thus brought stake-net fishing 

 within the terms of some ancient acts, which never contemplated the 

 thing itself. 



Thus interrupted in the Tay, and fairly or unfairly excluded from 

 Scotland, the Solway fishers took their nets, and turned their steps 

 towards Ireland. In 1810 or 1811, they rented the fishings of the Shan- 

 non, and erected their nets on the shores of the lower river, on the 

 estuary of that noble stream. In the upper part of the river, the corpo- 

 ration of Limerick had a large weir, stretching right across from bank to 

 bank. The stake-nets were placed full twenty miles below where 

 before there had never been any salmon fishing, and where, indeed, the 

 breadth of the estuary is nearly two miles, and deep enough to float a 

 man-of-war or an Indiaman. They were erected on the shallows left 

 dry on the receding of the tide, and did not on an average extend above 

 a hundred yards from high- water mark. Their success was wonderful : 

 280 salmon were thus captured at a single tide. The Corporation took 

 fright : the adventurers were prosecuted under an act prohibiting stand- 

 ing nets, as hurtful to the commonwealth of the nation, which the Cor- 

 poration and the courts interpreted to mean the commonwealth of the 

 Corporation ; and the fishing was quickly put an end to though, under 



