OF A SALMON. 21 



to his family, " by prescription of himself and his 

 ancestors having held the same beyond legal 

 memory." The serjeancy of the Dee extended 

 from Eton Weir to Arnoldsheire.* The service 

 consisted in clearing the river of all nets impro- 

 perly placed there, and of taking them to Chester 

 Castle to be condemned ; on account of which 

 service he claimed certain of the nets, together 

 with the fish taken in them, and also the privilege 

 of a ferry-boat across the river at Eaton. f It 

 appears that the weir at Eton existed at this 

 time, as certain tolls are granted to Eobert de Eton 



* The locality of Arnolds-hire, Arnolds-heire, or Ar- 

 nolds-hare, has been a matter of some dispute. Ormerod 

 and others place it opposite Chester Castle ; Lysons, 

 with greater reason supposes it to be the Red Stones 

 near Hoylake ; but a consultation of the deeds and 

 papers relating to the Serjeancy of the Dee, among 

 the muniments at Eaton Hall, (to which, by the 

 courtesy of the Marquess of Westminster, we bave 

 had free access) shews the locality to have been, either 

 the Point of Ayre itself (as the penultimate of Arnolds- 

 heire suggests) or some spot in tbe immediate neigh- 

 bourhood. 



t Tbe charge for ferrying being somewhat singular ; 

 "for which be shall be paid by the neighbours according 

 to their pleasure, but shall receive from every stranger 

 if he has a horse and is a merchant, one halfpenny; if 

 not a merchant, the payment to be at his option" 



