20 THE GANNET 



" Ommer," which is another spelHng of Norwegian Imhre, 

 and means a loon. 



Earliest known references to Gannets. — What must needs 

 be the earhest mention of this bird by name, at all events 

 in English literature, is to be found in the ancient Anglo- 

 Saxon poem of Beowulf,* where the words " Gannet's bath " 

 are used as a figurative expression for the sea : — 



" Manig otherne 

 Godum gegrettan 

 Ofer ganotes bseth." 

 [0}:e]i ^anore]- ba-tS], 



I have only quoted three lines. The whole passage is 



thus translated by Mr. Kemble : — 



" Between the tribes of the Geats, and Gar-danes, 



there shall be peace, and contention shall rest, the 



hostile malice which they before endured ; that our 



treasures should be in common, whilst I wield the wide 



realm ; many a one shall greet the other with benefits, 



over the Gannet's bath." 



Mr. Kemble says the events described in the poem took 



place in the fifth century, and that the date of the writing of 



it was subsequent to Augustine's Mission, A.D. 597. 



Professor Skeat observes {inlitt.) that the handwriting is only 



* " The Anglo-Saxon Poems of Beowulf," cditcnl by Jolin N. Komhlo, 

 1833, Vol. I., p. 120, and II., p. 76. 



