THE BRITISH HERRING FISHERY 



diffidently, knowing full well that his catch amounts to 

 nearly half as much again. 



"Maze," "cran," etc., it should be explained, are semi- 

 local terms. The measure for herrings differs according 

 to the neighbourhood. The three generally recognised 

 are the maze on the west coast of Scotland and the Irish 

 Sea generally (mease in Devonshire) ; the last on the east 

 coast of England, and the cran on the east of Scotland. 

 The last-named equivalent to 26f gallons makes the 

 fish sold by bulk ; the other two by numbers. The east- 

 coast fishermen reckon the warp (i.e. 4 fish) as their unit ; 

 and 33 warps, or 132 fish, make a "long hundred"; 1320 

 fish go to the thousand, and ten thousand (13,200) = a 

 last. 



The west-coasters reckon 123 to the long hundred, 

 and 5 long hundred (615) to the maze. Mr. Frederick 

 Pollock, however, makes the Devonshiremen arrive at 

 their maze in a totally different way. Their unit is a 

 cast, i.e. 3, or as many as can be held in the hand ; 51 

 cast = a quarter maze (153) the number, he points out, 

 of the miraculous draught mentioned in St. John xxi. 11 ; 

 and 4 quarter maze = 612. 



Now that the sails are set the men are free to break- 

 fast ; for, unless they have come a long way from home 

 in which case the fish has still to be sprinkled with salt 

 there is nothing more for them to do till the question 

 of selling arises. The getting rid of the fish will also 

 differ in various districts. In many parts the boats will 

 have a good-sized harbour to run into, and the fishwives 

 will be waiting on the quay to buy up the catch as fast 

 K 145 



