326 



DORY 



tints of these different colours pass in rapid succession 

 over the surface of the body. The membranes of the 

 flexible portions of the fins are light brown ; those of 

 the spinous portions are much darker. 



" A large portion of the dorees supplied to the 

 London fish market is brought by land carriage from 

 Plymouth and some other parts of the Devonshire 

 coast. Being a ground fish, they are little or none 

 the worse for keeping till the second or third day. 

 Montagu, disliking the toughness of a fresh-caught 

 dory, says they are most palatable after keeping two 

 days. Fish for the supply of the London market was 

 not brought by land carriage until the year 1761. 

 Steam boats seem likely to effect another change. In 

 the summer of 1834, a cargo of salmon from Scotland 

 was deposited in the London market within forty 

 hours." 



The dory is not a very common fish upon the 

 British shores ; and its appearance is apparently ca- 

 nricious as well as local. It belongs to warmer seas, 

 and therefore it is never found on the north and north 

 east coasts of the island, and very rarely on the east, 

 and not, we believe, further to the northward than 

 the coast of Norfolk, upon which it may be considered 

 more in the light of a stray than of a regular visitant. 

 On the south-west coast it is much more common, 

 being sometimes abundant on the shores of Cornwall 

 and Devon, though rarely further to the eastward. 

 In Ireland it comes round both ends of the island, as 

 far as Waterford on the south, and the coast of Antrim 

 on the north. From this we may conclude that it 

 should be found all along the west coast of that island. 

 Thefe are, however, some difficulties attending both 

 the places and seasons of resort of those wandering 

 fishes to which the dory belongs. Though classed 

 with the mackerel family, the greater number of which 

 are surface fishes, and migratory in shoals with con- 

 siderable regularity of season, the dory is described 

 by Mr. Yarrell, and all those who have the best 

 opportunities of ascertaining its habits, as being " a 

 ground fish." From the structure of the fish, the 

 habits of the rest of the family, and the situations in 

 which this particular member of it is found, we should 

 not be inclined to give it so deep a situation in the 

 waters as that of an absolute ground fish ; though it 

 certainly does inhabit lower down than most of the 

 others. According to Mr. Couch, it follows the 

 shoals of pilchards, and also feeds on the cuttle, which 

 is not, any more than the pilchard, an inhabitant of 

 the sea bottom ; and the same authority, and we 

 believe he will not be questioned as to the accuracy 

 of his facts, mentions that the dory is seen floating 

 along with the current, which again is not the habit 

 of a ground fish. The produced filaments, the singu- 

 lar shape, and the means of entanglement which the 

 whole external structure of the dory presents, clearly 

 point it out as a fish which has not much command 

 of itself in the water, and therefore as one which must 

 be to a very great extent at the mercy of every cur- 

 rent in which it happens to be taken. But at the 

 same time the structure of the fish corroborates the 

 facts mentioned by Mr. Couch, as to the floating of 

 this fish being nearer the surface of the water than 

 the bottom. We are not acquainted with any habitual 

 ground fish with a compressed body, at least with the 

 compressed body so placed as that its motion in the 

 water is, with the most extensive dimension, vertical. 

 All the flat fish, which are ascertained to be bottom 

 ones, have the breadth of the body turned the other 



way, and there is not one of them furnished with fins 

 bearing the least analogy to those of the dory. Their 

 organs of motion are all constructed for acting most 

 effectively either upwards or downwards, and they 

 are in general short, and continuous round the extre- 

 mities in the flattened direction. The organs of the 

 dory are, on the other hand, chiefly constructed for 

 lateral motion, without any powers of ascent and de- 

 scent so strikingly indicated as we find them in the 

 flat fishes. If, therefore, the authorities are correct 

 in stating that the dory is a ground fish, it forms a 

 curious anomaly to the generality of fishes which 

 have that habit, and may be regarded as being as 

 great a curiosity in natural history as it is in the 

 annals of superstition and gastronomy. It is well 

 known that Quin, who was equally remarkable for hia 

 comic powers in the theatre, and his epicurean pro- 

 pensities at the table, contributed mainly to bring this 

 fish into that public notice which it has since enjoyed ; 

 and as the circumstances of this case are calculated to 

 throw some light both on the fish and the man, we 

 shall venture to give an anecdote riot, we believe, 

 generally known, which Mr. Yarrell quotes from a 

 manuscript of the amiable and indefatigable Colonel 

 Montagu. " It is now," says the colonel, " about 

 sixty years (at present, 1835, it is nearer eighty) since 

 the celebrated Mr. Quin, of epicurean notoriety, first 

 discovered the real merit of the doree ; and, we be- 

 lieve, from him originated the familiar, and we may 

 say national, epithet of ' John Dory,' as a special mark 

 of his esteem for this fish ; a name by which it is 

 usually known in some parts, especially at Bath, 

 where Quin's celebrity as the prince of epicures was 

 well known, and where his palate finished its volup- 

 tuous career. Notwithstanding the numerous anec- 

 dotes recorded of this gentleman, as famous for his 

 love of good living as for his excellence as a comedian, 

 and who shone equally as a ban vivant as in the cha- 

 racter of Falstaff, we may be allowed to record one 

 more in honour of both the person who brought the 

 doree into such high estimation and of the fish itself. 

 An ancestor of ours, a Mr. Hedges, was an intimate 

 friend of Quin, and was induced by him to take a 

 journey from Bath to Plymouth, on purpose to eat 

 ' John Dory ' in the highest perfection, not only from 

 procuring it fresh, but with the additional advantage 

 of having it boiled in sea water, a matter of very 

 great importance to the palate of Quin. As this 

 journey was purposely taken to feast on fish, their 

 stay at Plymouth was not intended to exceed a week, 

 by which time they expected to have their skins full 

 of doree ; but that no opportunity might be lost, Quin 

 left strict charge with the host at Ivybridge to pro- 

 cure some of the finest doree he could get for his dinner 

 on his return, fixing the day. Whether our celebrated 

 epicure was disappointed in his expectations at Ply- 

 mouth is not recollected ; but that he might have the 

 provided fish at Ivybridge in the highest perfection, 

 and remarking that the place was too remote from 

 the coast to obtain sea water for dressing the dorees 

 anticipated, he ordered a cask of sea water to be tied 

 behind his carriage. Unfortunately the weather had 

 been stormy, and no fish of note could be procured. 

 Every apology was made by the host, who assured 

 him that an excellent dinner was provided, which, he 

 had no doubt, would be to his taste, but no fish. The 

 disappointment, however, was too great to be borne 

 with patience ; after having made a water-cart of his 

 carriage, and the appetite having been set for John 



