302 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 126. 



heather is dry enough, to set fire to it and burn 

 large tracts of it, in order to get rid of the old 

 woody plants. The young heather which springs 

 up from the roots produces much better and more 

 palatable food for the sheep. In this process, 

 which takes place at the same time in a whole 

 <listrict (viz. when there has been no rain for some 

 time), the whole air becomes loaded with smoke, 

 and a very misty state of the atmosphere is pro- 

 duced. It is the general belief throughout the 

 south of Scotland and in the Cheviot range, that 

 this burning " doth draw downe rain." 



Luckily this season, though there has been 

 much moor burning, the general expectation has 

 been agreeably disappointed, and the weather has 

 now continued perfectly dry for several weeks, 

 and appears likely to do so for some time to come, 

 to the great delight of the farmers, as most pro- 

 pitious for sowing their grain of all kinds. J. Ss. 



Lammermuir. 



THE FISH CALLED " VENDACE. 



(Vol.iii., p. 301.) 



A short time since, an eminent naturalist directed 

 my attention to Yarrell's History of British Fishes 

 <2 vols. 8vo. 1836, and Supplement, 1839), with 

 reference to this curious fish. 



Mr. Yarrell does not attempt to identify the 

 vendace with any foreign species, nor to answer 

 the question, who introduced them in Lochmaben? 

 However, his account of the other species of the 

 genus Coregonus in' Great Britain is well worth 

 giving. 



The species of the genus Coregonus are nume- 

 rous in Europe, and several of them are so similar 

 to each other that they are often confounded. 



" Some writers have even considered the Vendisse of 

 Ijochmaben as the same with the Powan of [Loch 

 Lomond] Perthshire, the Schelly of Cumberland, the 

 Gwyniad of Wales, and the Pollan of Ireland. This is 

 not the case, for the Pollan of Ireland is distinct from 

 the two species of Coregonus found in Great Britain." 



" The Gwyniad is very numerous in Ulswater and 

 Other large lakes of Cumberland, where on account of 

 its large scales it is called the Schelly. The fish is not 

 unlike a herring in appearance ; the Welsh term Gwy- 

 niad has reference to their silvery white colour." 



Izaak Walton notices it at the end of chap. xiil. : 



" Nor would I have you ignorant of a rare fish called 

 a Guiniad," &c. 



The Pollan is principally found in Loch Neagh, 

 also in Loch Derg and Loch Erne. Mr. Thomp- 

 son, of Belfast, says : 



" The habits of this fish do not, with the exception of 

 having been in some instances taken with the artificial 

 fly, differ in any marked respect from those of the 

 Vendace of Scotland, or the Gwyniad of Wales, and 

 are in accordance with such species of Continental 



Europe as are confined to inland waters, and of whose 

 history we have been so fully informed by Bloch." 



In 1 835 Mr. Thompson published some observa- 

 tions on this species. The earliest notice of it that 

 he has seen, occurs, Jbe says, in Harris's History of 

 County Doum, 1744. 



" The Vendace or Vendis (Coregonus Willughhii)- 

 Vendace, Jardine ; Vangis and Juvangis, Penn, Brit. 

 Zool, vol. iii. p. 420. ; Vendace, Knox, Trans. R. S. E., 

 vol. xii. p. 503. 



" But little is known of this delicate fish," says Mr. 

 Yarrell, " beyond what has been published by Sir 

 William Jardine, Bart., in the 3rd volume of the 

 Edinb. Journal of Nat. and Geog. Science, and by Dr. 

 Knox. The Vendace is only known in the lochs in 

 the neighbourhood of Lochmaben, in Dumfriesshire. 

 Sir W. Jardine says, ' The story that it was introduced 

 into these lochs by the unfortunate Mary, Queen of 

 Scots, is mentioned by Pennant in his description of the 

 Gwyniad, (and it is likely that his information was de- 

 rived from this vicinity,) and is still in circulation. That 

 the fish was introduced from some continental lake, I 

 have little doubt, but would rather attribute the cir- 

 cumstance to some of the religious establishments 

 which at one time prevailed in the neighbourhood, and 

 which were well known to pay considerable attention 

 both to the table and cellar. The introduction must 

 have taken place by means of spawn : the fish them- 

 selves could not be transported alive even a few miles. 

 They are not confined to the castle loch, but are 

 found in several others, some of which have no com- 

 munication with that where they are thought peculiar. 

 In general habits the Vendace nearly resemble the 

 Gwyniad, and indeed most of the allied species of the 

 genus." 



Mr. Yarrell gives representations of two magni- 

 fied specimens of their food. Jabltzbeeg, 



MACARONIC POETRT. 



(Vol. v., p. 166.) 



Perhaps some of the correspondents of "N. & 

 Q." who take an interest in this style of composi- 

 tion are not acquainted with the two following 

 productions, which appeared at Oxford several 

 years ago, the author of the first being an accom- 

 plished first-class man, and, I think, a member of 

 Worcester College : 



1. "Viae per Angliam ferro stratae." (The 

 Railroads) ; 



2. " Poema Canino-Anglico-Latinum, super ad- 

 ventu recenti serenissimarum Principum." (The 

 Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria.) 



The perusal of Mr. Cornish's curious commu- 

 nication (Vol. v., p. 251.) also reminds me of the 

 subjoined clever and amusing verses which were 

 written by a talented friend and schoolfellow, 

 whose premature decease occurred about two years 

 ago, and which appear to be well worthy of pub- 

 lication. It will be seen that the words, which 



