HISTORY OF DECOYS. 105 



horses, cattle, sheep, and geese ; one man alone, Mr. Pedlcy says, having 

 sometimes a stock of 2,000 old-brood geese. 



The Wildmore Fen was chiefly occupied by horses, a particular breed 

 of the latter known as Wildmore Tits being in great request. These 

 animals were generally of a grey colour, not large, and were said to be of 

 Arabian descent. 



Great numbers of sheep were also depastured in Wildmore Fen, one 

 owner clipping as many as 1,200 sheep in a year. Mr. Pedley says that, in 

 1793, 40,000 sheep rotted on Holland and W^ildmore Fens alone ; nor was 

 this the only evil, for the number stolen was incredible ; they were driven 

 off by night in whole flocks. 



The East Fen, not effectually drained till 1867, had been a morass 

 and bog from the earliest times ; large pools of stagnant water being- 

 dispersed throughout it. In Dugdale's time these pools numbered sixty- 

 one, besides many smaller ones, and they were all so connected 

 by channels of water that a boat could pass from one to the other. 

 Close to these pools were the Friskney and Wainfleet Decoys. Mr. 

 Pedley, before quoted, gives an amusing account of the East Fenmen. 

 It appears that in the summer season, when the waters had receded, 

 large districts were exposed, covered with coarse grass called fodder. 

 Every person having a right to this Fen had the privilege of emj^loying 

 two labourers, and with them they would go into the Fen the evening 

 before midsummer-day and lie down to wait for a gun fired exactly at twelve 

 o'clock (midnight), then all would rise and set to work. By mutual 

 agreement all the fodder each party could mow a path round became 

 private property. After completing one circle they hastened to find fresh 

 ground to encircle in like manner, as long as any grass remained unclaimed. 



After this they completed at leisure the mowing of those parts they 

 had previously cut a path round, and so every one usually obtained an 

 ample supply of food to serve his cattle with throughout the winter. 



That Lincoln abounded in wildfowl more than other counties in 

 bygone days there is no doubt. The vast bay known as the " Wash," as 

 well as the sluggish rivers that emptied therein, would bring numberless 

 fowl to the shores of the county, afterwards to find their way to the inland 

 marshes and fens, wherein they doubtless nested in immense numbers. 

 In the extreme north of the county the great estuary of the H umber 



p 



