222 FISHES OF THE FIRTH OF FORTH. 



mouth St Peter took the tribute-money, on which occasion 

 he is said to have left the mark of his finger and thumb 

 on their sides, as both of these fishes possess this charac- 

 teristic marking. But another version of the legend will 

 enable the lover of such stories to leave each in possession 

 of an equal honour, for St Christopher, in wading through 

 an arm of the sea, having caught up a Dory, is reported to 

 have perpetuated the circumstance by impressing on it the 

 mark of his finger and thumb. A long time elapsed be- 

 fore this fish was used as food in Britain. Quin the actor 

 and bon vivant established its edible reputation. " It is 

 now, adds Colonel Montagu, about sixty years since (from 

 1814) the celebrated Mr Quin, of epicurean notoriety, first 

 discovered the real merit of the dory, and we believe from 

 him originated the familiar, and we may say national epi- 

 thet of John Dory, as a special mark of his esteem for this 

 fish ; a name by which it is usually known in some parts, 

 especially at Bath, where Qiiin's celebrity as the prince of 

 epicures was well known, and where his palate finished its 

 voluptuous career." 



" Mr Couch considers the Dory as rather a wandering 

 than a migratory fish, and its motions are chiefly regulated 

 by those of the smaller kinds on which it preys. When the 

 Pilchards approach the shores, the Dory is often taken in 

 considerable numbers. In the autumn of 1829, more than 

 sixty were hauled on shore at once in a net, some of them 

 of large size, and yet the whole sold together for nine shil- 

 lings. It continues common until the end of winter, after 

 which it is more rare, but never scarce. The form of the 

 Dory would seem to render it incapable of much activity, 

 and it is sometimes seen floating along with the current ra- 

 ther than swimming, yet some circumstances favour the idea 



