14 



old street petition, " Please remember the grotter ! " The 

 children who give utterance to it do so without much refer- 

 ence to its appropriate day, which should really be the 

 Festival of St. James, on the 25th July. The legend runs 

 that when the remains of that holy man were being brought 

 from Palestine to Spain, of which country he was the 

 patron saint, a knight and his horse fell overboard. The 

 knight was saved without his horse, and, on being rescued, 

 the knight's clothes were covered with clinging oysters. 

 This miracle, associated with the presence of the body of 

 the saint, was the origin of the oyster grotto. However 

 that may have been, and, although the incident did not 

 occur in these parts, there is much that is ancient and full 

 of an old-time interest, about the occupation of the oyster 

 dredgers and tiatsmen of Whitstable ; and for the rest, 

 there is much scope for thought in the practical details of a 

 fishery which is, in some respects, unique, and on which 

 modern skill and science have had so little effect. The 

 following notes have not been put together with a view to 

 the scientific treatment of a deeply interesting subject, on 

 which there are already many books of zoological value. 

 Moreover they contain references to a few things having 

 but a remote connection with their title, though perhaps 

 not less attractive to the general reader, especially to those 

 who live on the east coast of Kent, and others who go 

 there for rest and change. It may, perhaps, be fair to say 

 that they are an attempt to describe a thoroughly English 

 marine industry, of which so little is really known. Such 

 notes must almost of necessity have somewhat of a mosaic 

 effect ; but even as mosaic work, viewed by a comprehensive 

 eye, has a distinct charm, so the collection and preservation 

 of various fragmentary notes, which otherwise might 

 escape notice, may possibly be worth publishing. 



