232 THE HERON AND HERONRIES 
The proper terms used in carving these wild-fowl were :— 
for the Crane, “displaye that Crane”; for the Heron, 
‘‘dismembre that Heron”; and for the Bittern, ‘‘ unjoynt 
that Bitture.” These curious facts were taken from a book 
printed A.D. 1508 (Archeologia, Vol. ii., p. 172.); and the 
usual price of the Heron seems to have been XIId. Occasion- 
ally, a specimen or two may be seen hanging at one or other of 
our fish-shops in the town, I fear only for attraction, as they 
rarely find their way to our tables, owing—as people suppose— 
to their being unfit for human food. Opinions, however, differ 
in this respect. One will tell you that they are excellent eating, 
while another will tell you that they are ‘‘ beastly.” Speaking 
from experience, I cannot say much for their high qualities, 
although I found their flesh much better eating than many of 
the wild-duck which are often served up at our tables, 
especially if the latter have been feeding on our estuaries up to 
the time of their being killed for the market. I sometimes 
fancy that the original method of preparing the Heron and 
other wild-fowl for our tables have been entirely lost to our 
modern cooks. I don’t suppose that I have rediscovered the 
method, but I find the following quaint entry in the Arche@ologia, 
quoted from Muffet’s Treatise on Food, London, 1655 :— 
‘To render Storke, Bitter (Bittern) and Herone, fit to be eaten, 
chose the youngest and fatest, for they may be eaten so with 
much spice, salt, or onions, and being thoroughly kept in a 
draught of old wine.” ‘‘If they be dressed without their skins 
they relish far better, according to the French and best 
fashion, who also stuff them full of sweet herbs and draw them 
with fine and small lard.” 
During the seventeenth century the Heron seems to have been 
in season (regardless of the law), every month except April and 
May. 
There is, in the Archeologia, a copy of a very curious old 
manuscript, dated 1605, entitled ‘‘a Breviate touching the order 
and government of a nobleman’s house; ” which is really a list 
of wild-fowl, &c., for each month of the year, in which the 
Heron is given, except for the months of April and May 
(Archa@ologia, Vol. xiil., pp. 340-372.) 
In looking through the various works referred to, I have been 
interested in the various ways in which the word Heron is 
spelt; thus—Heronne (2), Heronshaw (1), Heronfewe (11), 
Hernne (3), Herone (3), Heron (6), the latter being the way we 
spell it at the present day. 
In a rare old book entitled ‘“ Pharmacopeia Londinensis,” 
printed 1685, are some of the most remarkable passages relating 
to the uses of birds and animals, for medicinal purposes, that I 
ever read. There is one relating to the Heron, as follows: 
