THE POSITION OF DECOYS. ii 



But at last came a radical change. An old man named George 

 Skelton emigrated from Friskney, the home of Decoys, to Norfolk. He 

 at once condemned the large Norfolk lakes as Decoys ; he plainly showed 

 that on such extensive waters the fowl were out of reach of the Decoyman 

 and his allurements, that the birds had not sufficient shelter thereon, and 

 that from their size it was not possible to keep them clear of ice. He 

 put his words to good proof, for Lubbock tells us that " Mr. Huntingdon 

 of Somerton being about to form a Decoy out ot a low and overgrown 

 part of his marshes at Winterton, engaged an elderly man named George 

 Skelton from Friskney, in Lincolnshire, and desired him to state the size 

 which he preferred for his Decoy. To every one's amazement, from two to 

 two acres and a half was the space wished for ; workmen were put on, and 

 the Decoy in miniature, as compared to others in Norfolk, was soon com- 

 pleted. Other Decoymen laughed when told of the petty puddle in which 

 Mr. Skelton chose to exercise his skill. But laughter ceased and amaze- 

 ment began, when, in the second year of his superintendence, Skelton took 

 i,ioo teal in seven consecutive days." 



Till the end of the last century, Lincolnshire was certainly the county 

 most famous for Decoys, and in which a greater number existed than else- 

 where. Pennant records that 31,000 ducks were caught in one season in 

 ten Decoys in the neighbourhood of Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, and adds that 

 the Decoymen " would be glad to contract for years to sell their ducks 

 at 5d. apiece." 



At the Ashby Decoy, in Lincolnshire, even in comparatively recent 

 times (1834-1868), the Decoy Book accounts for just 100,000 ducks in 

 thirty-four seasons of catching. 



Now, though Lincolnshire had great returns, other counties did won- 

 derfully well, particularly Essex, with its immense estuaries and their 

 feeding grounds to attract the fowl. 



The Essex Decoys were individually famous ones, and rivalled in 

 number those of Lincolnshire and Norfolk. Suffolk contained a fair 

 number, but Cambridgeshire and other adjoining counties only a few. 



Yorkshire boasted several in its eastern division, about the great 

 marshes of Holderness. Dorset and Hampshire had one or two each, 

 Kent a couple. There were a score or so in Ireland, none in Scotland, 

 and but few in Wales. In Somerset, especially about the vast morasses 



