528 ON THE PRICE OF FISH. 



Besides herrings, sprats, called by this name, and also Sper- 

 ling and ephemerides or epimeri, are found. In the accounts of 

 Magdalen College, Oxford, soon after the beginning of the six- 

 teenth century, I found them called ' appuae,' a word which 

 much puzzled me, till I thought of the revival of letters, the 

 study of Greek at Magdalen, and the harmless pedantry which 

 gave the Aristophanic name atyvai to the homely sprat. In 

 the latter part of the period the use of smoked and salted sprats 

 disappears. The barrel of herrings appears to be (Vol. Ill, 

 p. 311, i.) two kilderkins. 



SALMON. This fish is frequently purchased, but generally 

 salted, and by the barrel. Fresh salmon are however found at 

 Canterbury in 1404 at the enormous price of js. each ; at 

 Bicester and Cambridge in 1439, where the prices range from 

 lod. to is. yd. ; at Oxford in 1450 at from is. ^d. to is. lod. ; 

 at Netley Abbey in 1455 at is. ^d. ; at Cambridge in 1461 at 

 is. 3</., and in 1463 at is. id. ; at Oxford in 1471, a cheap year, at 

 5< ; at Wymondham in 1492 at i s. id. ; at Cambridge in 1495 at 

 8|df. ; at Wymondham in 1497 at is. ; at Thornbury in 1507 at 

 3^. In 1529 the king pays is. each for five fresh salmon. In 

 1530-1533 Durham purchases large quantities of fresh salmon 

 and grilse at by no means low prices, both by the single fish and 

 the seam of a dozen fish. In 1554 fresh salmon at Oxford cost 

 is. 8d. each ; in 1556 is. lod. ; in 1559 2s. i\d. In 1562 Cam- 

 bridge pays is. None of these prices, except those of 1404 

 and 1507 (the latter is the cheapest year of the whole period, 

 by the way), equals the price paid for the Thames salmon of 

 1313-21, Vol. I, pp. 610-12, and none comes near that of the 

 Gloucester salmon of 1327 (ib. p. 610) except that of 1404, 

 which exceeds even that. 



Salmon was far more commonly sold salted, and by the 

 barrel. The barrel was divided into two kilderkins, four 

 firkins this word is spelt very variously and eight eyttcn- 

 dales, also with some variations. In later entries the barrel 

 is called doleum, a pedantic word, the use of which caused 

 me some difficulty at first. But though doleum should mean 



