THE LAWS OF ANGLING. 471 



fish, in danger of committing Larceny ; for, that the 

 taking fish out of a pond, without the consent of the 

 owner, falls within my Lord dole's definition of that 

 crime, no one can doubt that reads it. His words 

 are, " Larceny is the felonious, and fraudulent 

 c taking and carrying away, by any man or wo- 

 ;c man, of the mere personal goods of another nei- 

 " ther from the person, nor by night in the house 

 " of the owner," 3d Ins t. 107. and a little after, 109. 

 he expressly says, " Larceny may be committed of 

 " fishes in a. pond." 



Now, though to make the taking any personal 

 thing felonious, reason and the law require, that the 

 party should do it animo furandi, see Bracton, 

 Lib. 3. Fol, 150. Fleta, Lib. \. Cap. 36. which 

 we will suppose no angler to be possessed with : Yet 

 whether by the word pond, we are to understand 

 ponds at large, is perhaps of some consequence for 

 him to know. 



It is a rule in law, that personal goods, and things 

 severed from the freehold, shall go to the executors, 

 and not to the heir: Wentworth's Office of an 

 Executor, Chap. 5. and so shall fish in a trunk, 

 or the like, ibid, but Lord Coke, in his Commen- 

 tary on Littleton, Fol. 8. tells us, that fish in a 

 pond shall go with the inheritance, because, says he, 

 * c they were at their liberty, and could not be gotten 

 <c without industry, as by nets or engines." 



From hence we may conclude, that fish in ponds 

 cannot be said to be mere personal goods ; and then 

 it follows as a consequence, that of such fish larceny 

 cannot be committed ; and we may further conclude, 

 that the word ponds, in the above passage, must mean 

 only stew-ponds, cisterns, or other such small recep- 

 tacles of fish. 



Many wholesome laws have, from time to time, been 

 enacted, to prevent the destruction of fish : but they 

 are so numerous, that I must refer the reader to the 

 Statutes at large, or to the Abridgment published by 

 a late worthy and learned friend of mine, John Cay, 

 Esq. deceased. 



