GUDGEON. 31 



In point of flavour the Gudgeon approaches that of the Smelt or Sparling, and in my 

 opinion is one of the best of fresh-water fish we possess. It is a pity, from a gastronomic 

 point of view, that the Gudgeon does not exceed the length of six or seven inches, which is 

 the size denoted by the "two palms of the hand without the thumb" of Ausonius. 



The following is Giinther's description of the Gudgeon: — "The height of the body is 

 one fifth or nearly one fifth of the total length (without caudal) ; tail compressed ; snout 

 obtuse, with the upper profile convex ; eye a little behind the middle of the length of the 

 head (in adult specimens). Barbels not extending beyond the centre of the eye (in adult 

 examples), frequently shorter. A series of round blackish spots along the lateral line, some- 

 times confluent posteriorly. Dorsal and caudal fins with transverse series of black dots." 



The fin rays are 



Dorsal 9 — 10. 

 Pectoral 15. 

 Ventral 8. 

 Anal 8. 



The English word Gudgeon comes directly from the French goii/oii, that from the Latin 

 gobio, which must be referred to the Greek Kw^lo^. The expression "to gudgeon a man," 

 i.e. to deceive him, may have originated from the ease with which a Gudgeon is taken by a 

 bait, as Gay sings — - 



"What gudgeons are we men. 

 Every woman's easy prey! 

 Though we've felt the hook, again 

 We bite and they betray!" 



Or it may have reference to the ease with which so delicate a morsel as a Gudgeon is 

 swallowed. According to the French expression given by Rouchi {Pa/o/s of the Hainaitlt, 

 Wedgwood's Etxmolog. Diet.), Cha passe cotne un gotivion, meaning "that which is easily 

 swallowed;" so also Faire avaler dcs gouvions, "to make one believe a lie," literally "to make 

 Gudgeons be swallowed." On this point Latham, in his Large Dictionary, (s.v. gudgeon) observes: 

 "Of Gudgeons having been swallowed with particular ease there is no very good evidence; 

 though there is a good deal in favour of the Loach having been so treated. The Loach is 

 said, in most notices, to have been not unfrequently tossed off in toasts, or swallowed in a 

 glass of wine, by the gallants of the Elizabethan period. It is suggested, then, that the 

 Gudgeon when suggestive of credulity is the Loach, How much the two fishes have in 

 common is well known. Both keep on the ground ; both are marked or mottled ; both have 

 a beard or wattles." 



