HISTORY OF DECOYS. 115 



largely upon Decoys, having never seen but one rational writer on the sub- 

 ject, and he has manifested that he knows nothing of the theory.' The 

 author, unfortunately, never carried out his intention of writing ' rationally ' 

 upon decoying, with a knowledge of the practice added ; and decoys them- 

 selves had almost become things of the past before any accurate description 

 of their construction and working was written. 



" Such was the early life and training of this eccentric individual. Of 

 his summer occupation, when following his calling, the following quotation 

 from page 1 1 will give some idea : — 



" ' Born in a coy, and bred in a mill. 



Taught water to grind, and Ducks for to kill ; 



Seeing Coots clapper claw, lying flat on their backs,* 



Standing upright to row, and crowning of jacks ; 



Laying spring nets for to catch Ruff and Reeve, 



Stretched out in a boat with a shade to deceive. 



Taking Geese, Ducks, and Coots, with nets upon stakes, 



Riding in a calm day for to catch moulted Drakes ; 



Gathering eggs to the top of one's wish. 



Cutting tracks in the flags for decoying of fish. 



Seeing Rudds run in shoals 'bout the side of Gill sike, 



Being dreadfully venom'd by rolling in slake ; 



Looking hingles, and sprinks, trammels, hoop-nets, and teamings, 



Few persons I think can explain all their meanings.' 



"The above is a most interesting catalogue of the numerous out-door 

 occupations of a Fen-man, and of the modes and engines formerly used in 

 fishing and fowling. It is impossible here even to enumerate, much more 

 to describe in detail, the various forms of nets and snares employed at the 

 time Hall wrote, or the ingenious resources made use of for approaching 

 fowl, as well as the mullifarous nets and devices for cajjturing the fish which 

 so abounded. Of his winter occupation Hall says nothing ; but, doubtless, 

 reed-cutting occupied much of his time ; his domestic Geese also required 



* " This, doubtless, alludes to the defensive attitude assumed by the Coot when fighting 

 or Iiard pressed. Gill sike, mentioned lower down, is the name of an old drain in the Hol- 

 land Fen ; and slake is, probably, an accumulation of stagnant mud. In a Commission of 

 Sewers, 1616-17, slake is more than once referred to as a stoppage of the water (Wells' ' Bed- 

 ford Level,' vol. ii. p. 47, &c.). As to the meaning of ' crowning of jacks,' I can only venture 

 a suggestion, that it was most likely some method of capturing Pike, probably by striking them 

 on the head with the ' quant-pole ' used for propelling the boat, when they lay in shallow water 

 at spawning time." 



