at a Distance from the Sea. 143 



lead to the knowledge of collateral facts. The instance allud- 

 ed to is found in the Description of Zetland by John Brand, 

 published in 1701 ; and as the statement is interesting, and the 

 book in which it occurs of considerable rarity, we give the 

 passage in the words of the author : 



" A gentleman in the parish of Dunrossness told one of the 

 ministers in this country, that about five years since a plough 

 in this parish did cast up fresh Cockles, tho' the place where 

 the plough was going was three-quarters of a mile from the 

 sea ; which cockles the gentleman saw made ready and eaten. 

 How these shell fishes came there, and should be fed at such 

 a distance from their ordinary element, I cannot know, if they 

 have not been cast upon land by a violent storm, much of the 

 ground of this parish, especially what they labour, lying very 

 low, and the sea hath been observed in such storms both to 

 cast out stones and fishes ; or if these Cockles have been found 

 in some deep furrow, from which to the sea there hath been a 

 conveyance by some small stream, upon which the sea hath 

 flowed in stream tides, especially when there is also some storm 

 blowing. If only shells were found, such as of oysters and 

 the like, the marvel would not be great, seeing such are found 

 upon the tops of high mountains, at a greater distance from 

 the sea, which, in all probability, have been there since the 

 universal deluge ; but that any shell-fish should be found at 

 some distance from the sea, and fit for use, is somewhat won- 

 derful and astonishing."* 



When Dr Hibbert was recently in Shetland, he was led by 

 this curious passage to make inquiry on the spot regarding 

 these cockles, but could procure no information on the subject ; 

 and the surface of the soil being covered to some depth by 

 drifted sand, precluded further investigation. 



Professor Wallace, it may be mentioned, found oyster shells 

 in Bagshot Heath, too recent in appearance to be character- 

 ized as fossil, of which the origin is not known ; and modern 

 experiment has proved that shell-fish may be transferred from 

 salt to fresh water with impunity, though it is difficult to 

 believe that the ingenuity of our ancestors exerted itself 

 in providing such articles of luxury in such a way. The 



* A Brief Description of Orkney, Zetland, Pi ghtland- Firth, and Caith- 

 ness,&;c. By John Brand, pp. 115, 116. Edinburgh, 1701. 



