38 THE SCOTCH EAST COAST HERRING FISHING. 



CONCLUSION HISTORY AND LEGISLATURE STATISTICS 

 SHOWING PROSPERITY AND WEALTH MUCH REQUIRED 

 AND EXPECTED IMPROVEMENTS REFERRED TO. 



There is very little authentic imformation to be had 

 regarding the Scotch herring fisheries before the sixteenth 

 century. Having gradually risen from obscurity by slow 

 but steady degrees, it was then in importance in close 

 rivalry with the Dutch. There is mention made of the 

 fishings as early as the I3th and I4th centuries, and as 

 in the I5th century it must have left its mark on some 

 of the jold records of that time, surely, by diligent search- 

 ing, some information might be got at once interesting and 

 valuable. 



From 1630 to 1650 a further impetus was given to its 

 prosecution, was successful, and apparently every year 

 proved a steady increase. In 1676, a reaction set in, and 

 its downward career was swift. The companies then in 

 vogue were utterly quashed. However, private enterprise 

 was quietly persevering, and thanks thereto, the herring 

 fishing had by the end of the century actually got ahead 

 of the Dutch. 



From 1695 to 1707 success attended the enterprise and 

 efforts of improvement. But the next seven years again 

 saw a retrograde period, and the fishing nearly ceased 

 altogether. This probably principal national industry was, 

 by the stupid and complicated regulations and laws of the 

 Legislature immediately after the union, nearly suppressed, 

 and that at a time when its supremacy over other nations 

 was most promising. In the years 1714, 1720, 1727, 1750, 

 bold attempts were made to revive the trade. Large 



