THE FISHERIES 59 



The herring fishery was by far the most important of all the 

 sea fisheries, and as this fish was found in greatest abundance 

 on the British coasts, foreign fishermen were attracted hither in 

 great numbers. It was with reference to the herring fishery 

 that exclusive claims were raised by England in the seventeenth 

 century, and it is desirable at the outset to understand the 

 policy which was pursued previously in regard to it both in 

 England and Scotland. At what period foreign fishermen first 

 began to frequent the British coasts is uncertain ; but we know 

 that within fifty or sixty years of the Norman Conquest fisher- 

 men from Flanders and Normandy and doubtless from other 

 countries visited our shores and carried on a fishery for 

 herrings by means of drift-nets. An important fishery was 

 established at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, on the east 

 coast of Scotland, in the early part of the twelfth century, and 

 it was shared by fishermen from England, Flanders, and France, 

 who paid tithes to the monks of the priory on the Isle of May. 

 This monastery was founded by King David I. before the 

 middle of the twelfth century, and was endowed by him with 

 the manor of Pittenweem in Fife, and by Cospatrick, the great 

 Earl of Dunbar, with a house and "toft" at the village of 

 Duiibar, both grants being of value in connection with the 

 fishery. King William the Lion (A.D. 1165-1214) confirmed 

 these grants, and addressed missives to " all his good subjects 

 and the fishermen who fish round the Isle of May " command- 

 ing them to pay their tithes to the monks as they were paid in 

 the time of his grandfather, King David (A.D. 1124-1153); and 

 he prohibited them from fishing in their waters or using the 

 island without license from the monks. 1 This very early claim 

 to the right of exclusive fishing in the sea is characteristic of 

 the policy of all the Scottish kings. It was repeated on several 

 occasions, the royal mandate being sometimes addressed solely 

 " to all fishermen who fish around the Isle of May " ; and that 

 some of them were foreigners appears to be shown not only by 

 the statement above given, on the authority of contemporary 

 monks, but by the size of the vessels, some of which had four 

 hawsers, and paid much higher dues at the neighbouring 



1 " Prohibeo etiam firmiter ne quis decimas suas eis injuste detineat sicut habue- 

 runt in tempore regis Davidis super meum forisfactum et ne quis in aquis eorum 

 piscari presumat . . . nisi per eorum licentiam." 



