CHAP. XXI. 



THE CtODAVTT. — THE GOLDEX PLOTEE. 

 DOTTKELL. — THE CrELEAV. 



" The Knot, that was Canute's bird of old, 



Of that great king of Danes his name that still doth hold, 



His appetite to please was fiirre and neere soiight. 



For him, as some have said, from Denmark hither brought." 



Drayton. 



The knot, which frequents the fens, and is taken in 

 the same way as the ruffs, may be here described. The 

 knot is said to have been a favourite dish with Canute, 

 King of England ; and Camden observes that its name 

 is derived from the monarch's knute or knout, which, 

 in process of time, has been changed to knot. 



These birds are caught in Lincolnshire and other 

 fenny counties by nets, into which they are decoyed by 

 stale birds, carved and painted so as to represent them- 

 selves, and placed within the range of the nets. Their 

 numbers are so considerable that Mr. Pennant states 

 fourteen dozen have been ta.ken at once. They are 

 fattened in the same way as the ruffs, and some 

 persons prefer them for the table. 



The season for taking them is from August to No- 

 vember, after which they disappear with the first frost. 

 The weight of the knot is four ounces and a half ; length 

 K 



