23 G DEEP-SEA FISHING. 



dates from the time wlien the first houses of the town 

 were huilt, if we may credit the traditions and records 

 on the subject. Indeed the site of the town appears to 

 have been the resort of fishermen for some time pre- 

 viously. 



Swinden,^ in his account of the probable origin of 

 Yarmouth, speaks of Saxon adventurers landing in 

 Britain after the retreat of the Romans, and says, 

 " Among the rest came Cerdick, the tenth in descent 

 from Woden, with his son Cenrick, and as many men 

 as he could transport in five ships. These landed at a 

 place which, from their leader, was called Cerdick- 

 sliore ; now, according to Brompton, Yarmouth in 

 Norfolk." 



In a note, at page 15, he then quotes the conclusions 



of Manship (who wrote in 1619) about the origin of 



Yarmouth : — ' And now by pregnant probabilities, it is 



my opinion very clear, that from the landing of Cerdick 



in anno 495, now 1124 years past, this sand, by the 



defluxion of tides, did by little and little lift its head 



above the waters ; and so in short time after, sundry 



fishermen, as well of this kingdom, viz. of the Five 



Ports (being then the principal fishermen of England), 



as also of France, Flanders, and the Low Countries, 



yearly about the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, 



resorted thither, where they continued in tents made 



for the purpose by the space of forty days, about 



the killing, trimming, salting and selling of herrings, 



to all that thither came for that purpose; whereunto 



did resort the merchants of London, Norwich, and other 



places to buy herrings during the season, and then 



departed ; as those fishermen who kill fish at AVard- 



house use to do at this present. So in short time after, 



* Jlisfory and Antiquities of Orent Yarmouth, p. 5 (1772). 



