156 NOTES — ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 



The Colne Fishery. — ^Mr. J. Horace Round writes to the " Essex County 

 Standard " as follows : " The volume of ' Acts of the Privy Council,' lately pub- 

 lished, contains some references to the Colne Fishery in 1567, which are not found 

 in Morant's work. 



" Early in that year some fishermen ' of the townes of Roughehedge, Dolyland, 

 and other townes thereaboutes ' complained to the Lords of the Council that the 

 Bayliffs of Colchester had ' commanded that none of them should use their 

 acustomyd trade of tra3ding oisters and other fyshing in the water of Colne 

 without their lycense, and be also bounde in recognisaunce to bring all such fyshe 

 as they shall take to Xew Hythe at Colchester and there unlade the same, with 

 other condicions not heretofore used or to them knowen ; and for that they have 

 caused vii. of their botes to be taken on the water, affirminge that they will sell 

 the same for the breche of the said order.' Thereupon the Council, ' fearing lest 

 this quarrell may brede such hart burninge in the complainers that they will, for 

 revenge of that which hath ben offerid unto them, forbeare their accustomyd trade 

 of uttering such fyshe [as] they shall take at the towne of Colchester,' — instructed 

 Lord D'arcy, of St. Osyth's, to order the fishermen to continue supplying the 

 inhabitants of Colchester with fish, and the Bailiffs to let them continue fishing 

 pendente lite, and to restore their boats. Both parties were ordered to appear at 

 the next Assizes, 'and to ende the quarrell yf they so can,' and, failing this, to 

 come up to London for the hearing of the case. The Council were desirous 

 ' that such auntient pryviledges as have been granted to that towne should be 

 observid and kept.'" 



" Culch," "Cultch," and *' Cutcb.'' — The trial on June 19th last of five 

 Tollesbury fi.shermen for " Piracy " in preventing certain men from Burnham 

 from removing dead oj'ster-shells or " Culch " from the " common " or public 

 grounds at sea near the mouth of the Blackwater (which resulted in a triumphal 

 acquittal) led to some discussion as to the exact meaning and spelling of the 

 word. The substance is well known — the refuse oyster-shells, stones, etc., form 

 an admirable nidus for the reception of oyster-spat, and were it not for the 

 presence of the culch on the grounds the gathering and culture of the oyster 

 would be impossible. The several spellings given above are current, but some 

 correspondents attempt to draw a distinction between the " culch " and " cutch." 

 An " East Anglian Sailor " writes : — " I have always heard the word ' Culch 

 used with reference to refuse, etc. (to wit) : ' The mass of stones, old shells, and 

 other hard material of which an oyster-bed is formed.' Cutch is the spawn of 

 the oyster, and adheres to the Culch or Cultch. I believe the latter words to be 

 quite local, and might have had their origin from cultivate, which means ' to till, 

 to prepare for crops, to foster, to raise by cultivation, etc' This is real!}' what 

 the ' Culch ' is so valuable for — to raise, ioster, and cultivate the Cutch or 

 spawn, commonly called spat." 



Dr. W. M. Young, of the Suffolk County Asylum, Melton, writes that the 

 correspondence thereon recalls "a little comedy (with its under-current of tragedy) 

 which was of daily occurrence in this asylum for many years. The principle 

 figure in the scene was the daughter of one of Nelson's ' sea-dogs,' who has only 

 recently died at an advanced age, after many years of mental aberration of a 

 particularly unique character. Her language, as befitted her descent, was as 

 ' robust ' as the most thoroughgoing believer in heredity could desire. She lived 

 entirely in the ways of the centur3'"s beginning ; the peculiarities of its end were 

 of no interest to her. " I do not wish to imply that this latter was part of her 



i 



